#woong packs

[seoktized]

jealous sex with jiwoong .... you go on a vacation with him and the rest of the members and you guys stay at a beach house that's right next to the ocean and you wear skimpy little bikinis and that just boils jiwoong's blood because he doesn't want anybody else seeing what belongs to him so he sneaks you away from the beach back to the beach house and fucks you mercilessly making sure that you're loud enough so the members can hear you moaning his name when they get back ><

eee wearing bikinis that barely cover your ass while jiwoong seethes cause he notices his members checking you out..

it doesn’t get any better cause when you guys are at the beach you’re on your stomach, your tits pressed together and your ass is all on display for lingering eyes. “woongie? you okay?” you ask innocently, not knowing how much jiwoong wanted to take you right there on the beach and show everyone who you belonged to.

“can we go back to the house?” he replies and you’re quick to pack up your things, letting the others know you’d be back at the beach house. once you guys reached the house, jiwoong quickly set your belongings down and turned towards you.

he paused for a minute before you saw him smirk, mischief written all across his features. jiwoong grabbed your hand and spun you around, pressing you against the front door. “j-jiwoong?” you squeak. he stayed silent as his other hand went to your bikini bottoms, pulling it and letting it snap against your skin. “had to sit there and watch the others drool over what’s mine..” he said lowly.

jiwoong sunk to his knees, now eye level with your clothed cunt. “you don’t know how bad i wanted to take you right there.” he continued as he pulled down your bottoms, your soaked cunt now on display for him. “woong- please!” you whined, pushing your hips in his direction. “patience, princess..” he chuckled before standing up, moving to free himself from his shorts.

he took his now free cock in his hand, sliding it through your folds making you both groan. jiwoong positioned himself before pushing his length into your cunt, filling you up in one go. “jiwoong-!” you cried out, your legs feeling like jelly as jiwoong’s pace was merciless. “so fuckin’ tight!” he groaned.

you felt his grip on your hips get tighter as he plowed his hips against yours. loud moans fell from your lips, jiwoong’s cock hitting your sweet spot with every thrust. “you’re so loud, princess,” he teased, “showing everyone you’re mine, huh? say it.” he ordered. you opened your mouth to speak but all that left were moans. jiwoong stilled his hips, “c’mon. say you’re mine,”

“i’m yours woongie-! all yours!” you cried out, pushing your hips back to feel some friction. “mm good girl.” he smiled before he began to move his hips again, this time his hand going around to toy with your clit.

your hands scratched at the door in front of you, anyone who was passing by could hear your pleas and moans due to how loud you were. “jiwoong ‘m gonna cum!” you moaned. after those words left your hips you felt the knot in your stomach snap, jiwoong’s name leaving your lips as you came.

jiwoong didn’t last much longer, quickly releasing his warm seed into your cunt. “they should be back soon, let’s go clean up, love.” jiwoong said as he pulled out, quickly reaching down to pull your bottoms up, not wanting you to waste any of his cum :3

[zeroseuniverse]

Safety First

╚══•●•══╝

Seok Matthew X Fem Reader Word Count: 1K Warnings: None really aside from Reader being Ji-Woong's Sister

If there was one thing in the world that she knew for certain it was that her brother adored her, Jiwoong was undeniably her number one person in this world and if someone so much as breathed in her direction, they would be interrogated like they just committed 3 counts of murder. Even so, he did love the fact that most of his friends took to her like a brother when he wasn’t around, so it wasn’t a surprise when he invited her to go camping with them. She mostly stuck to her brother's side, but Gyuvin, Taerae, and Yujin would occasionally kidnap her to cause some sort of chaos, which is actually what led her to this moment, funnily enough.

The four stood in front of their 6 friends, all four deciding to look at their surrounding areas as if they didn’t see the 6 sets of shocked and amused eyes directed in their direction. “How in the world did you guys end up soaked, there’s no water near here?” Hanbin wondered, causing Taerae to look more sheepish than the others.

“So, remember how you told me to dump the cooler earlier?” He smiled sweetly trying to butter up his hyung, only earning quirked eyebrows in response, which caused him to huff and cross his arms.

“Taerae packed water guns so we used the water to fill up water guns, we had a war, which Yujin and I won by the way!” Gyuvin snitched, earning glares from his accomplices.

“Well, you four will be sitting in Jiwoong’s car since it has seat covers, we already packed your bags into the truck so no change of clothes,” Hao explained earning pitiful nods in return.

“I call shotgun since I won!” Gyuvin hollered trying to run to the front seat only to get pushed back by Jiwoong.

“I don’t sit next to wet rats, You four wet rats can sit in the back, Matthew is riding up front since the truck has minimal space,” Jiwoong stated, earning a glare from his sister.

“Um I’m the only girl, why am I being put in the back with these three giants and how do you expect us to fit?” 

“You will start to smell in about 20 minutes, and I don’t want to be smelling it so closely, You guys can figure it out.”He smiled falsely at her before he and Matthew went ahead getting into the car.

“Sometimes I think he likes Matt more than me,” She grumbled watching as her accomplices tried to gauge the size of the back seat, “At least it wasn’t Gunwook…He’d take up the whole damn seat with his shoulders.” She joked, earning a giggle from Taerae and Gyuvin and a smile from Yujin. 

“How about you lay across our laps?” Yujin offered, which earned three shrugs in agreement, and so the three giants got into the back seat lifting their arms slightly so it would be easier for her to climb over, however, they didn’t anticipate just how painful it would be with her moving across them, her knees and elbows pressing on their muscles in all of the wrong ways. 

“Ow!”The various yelps echoed through the car earning laughs from Matthew and Jiwoong and sputtered apologies from the girl. The girl quickly got off of the boys instead taking position curled up in a ball in front of Yujin leaving all of the boys with a free lap. 

“You guys are seriously going to have her sit on the floor?” Matthew asked incredulously, he looked at the girl in concern.

“She’s the smallest, it’s a tight fit man.” Gyuvin defended looking down at her a little shamefully. Matthew assessed the situation quickly, if he gave up his seat to her there was no way the four males could sit comfortably in the back, if he moved Taerae to his seat, since he was broader, and instead moved to the back he could move her onto his lap so that everyone could sit comfortably, that seemed to be the easiest route. 

“Taerae, switch with me,” Matthew suggested with zero hesitation earning confused looks from the four in the back, he didn’t stop to look at Jiwoong, who had a small smirk on his face hoping this would have happened. 

“No, it's fine! I’m okay right here.” She reassured, Matthew ignored the girl simply giving Taerae a stern look, the switch didn’t take long, Matthew was then sitting in the seat behind Taerae, swiftly hoisting the girl up into his lap and placing her sideways. After a started yelp, she looked at Matthew with wide eyes, but the man was simply reaching for the seatbelt, securing it around both of them, his hands then moving to place themselves securely on her hips. “Matt, I can sit on the ground. I don’t mind, I don’t want to get you all wet.” She stammered only to be met with the sweetest smile directed up at her from below, the man moved some of the wet hair out of her face and as the red crept up her neck and to her ears, he could simply only look at her like she had a face full of makeup and was dressed in a ball gown, it was odd how she had never noticed the look the boy had given but seeing it up close she recognized it.

“Just stay here, it’s safer.” He spoke so softly she barely heard him, and as the road trip began, their position slowly moved to a more comfortable one, her arms now wrapped around his neck, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder as they both watched TikTok on his phone, giggling quietly to each other about each one, she moved her eyes from the screen for a moment, catching her brothers eye in the mirror, he had a larger smirk on his face and approval glittering in his eyes. She was almost shocked at how okay he was with her sitting on his best friend's lap, but maybe she could understand, he had always expressed how good he thought Matthew would be with a girl, always trying to talk him up to her. She trusted his approval so with that thought she slouched back into Matthews's arms leaning her head on top of his just embracing the moment. 

[riikive]

SUKIDAKARA ⌕ 최범규

masterlist

pairing. crush!beomgyu x fem!oc | genres. soft, fluffy, romance, high school au. etc. | warnings. none. just fluff | word count. 1,2k

notes. listen to sukidakara beomgyu cover while reading this oneshot! I apologize that it is rushed at the end. But I hope you like it!

Sitting in her classroom as her classmates were running around the school. It was break time for the whole school. She laid down on her desk as she heard the person in front of her talking to their friends. She had a huge crush on them but couldn't ask them out. She overheard other girls’ confessions, and her crush politely rejected them. She ran away before he could see her eavesdropping.

“I got no chance,” she thought as she looked through the window. Her crush was laughing and joking with his friends. “Hey, Beomgyu, why do you keep on rejecting the girls who have asked you out?” One of his friends asked. Woong leaned a little closer to hear what he had to say. “Well, I just don't have feelings for them,” Beomgyu shrugged. She glanced up, looking at his friends giving him nods. “But why?” Another of his friends asked.

“I just don't and don't want to hurt them even more.”

rest under cut

“Understandable.”

The first school bell rang, singling students to head back to class. Woong sat up and got her things out for her next class. She watched her classmates enter. Then, the second bell rang, meaning classes should begin. Two minutes later, her teacher came and taught the class.

At the end of school, everyone was leaving, but she stayed behind. She was finishing writing notes that she missed while she was taking a nap before going home. She was so busy writing the notes that she didn't see Beomgyu walking to his desk in front of her. He glanced at her before walking away with the items he had forgotten. “See you later,” she muttered as she saw him walking out of the classroom.

After a few minutes of silence, she decided to pack up and call it a night. She exited the classroom and walked to the entrance. Changing out of her indoor shoes and into her outdoor shoes before stepping out of the school building. The sun was going down for the day. The sky was beautiful and warm. She walked to the train station.

Once she arrived at her house, she put her passcode in before entering. Walking to her bedroom in the empty house. Her parents were busy with work, so she was alone once again. She sighed as she entered her bedroom. Grabbing some clean clothes before running to the bathroom to take a shower.

She lay on her bed with a towel wrapped around her neck, reading some messages and replying to them. She stared at her phone, wishing she had her crush's line number, but she couldn't have the confidence to ask him. She sighed before drying her hair and went to bed. She laid back on her bed and turned off the lamp. Thinking about her crush. He was cool, talking to his friends and classmates. He was cool, making everyone around him laugh. He was cool, just by being cool.

Beomgyu was lying in his bed after showering and working on his assignments. He watched the time tick by minute by minute. His heart was beating faster as he remembered looking at his crush for a brief moment. She was cute trying to finish up her notes. She was cute when she was sleeping during lessons. She was cute being a tomboy.

She didn't like him because he was cool.

He didn't like her because she was cute.

He was cool because she liked him.

She was cute because he liked her.

The next morning, Woong woke up earlier than usual, making her look prettier than before. She put on her school uniform and put on a bit of perfume. Then, she grabbed bread from the dining table before running out of the door. Walking to the school after exiting the train station, she spotted Beomgyu with his friends. He was laughing and making his friends laugh.

She slowly walked behind them. Listening to their conversations in secret. She sort of wished he would turn around right then and look at her. Once she entered her classroom, she went to her seat and sat down. Laid on her desk, watching her classmates enter the classroom. She saw her crush enter the classroom and greeted everyone. Closing her eyes before falling asleep.

Opening her eyes, she saw her crush sitting on his seat across from her. His back was facing her. She noticed school was over. Why is he still here? There aren't any after-school activities today. Closing her eyes, hoping it was just a dream. But opening when realizing it wasn't. Woong just lay there in the comfort of the silence. Nobody spoke a word. She slowly fell asleep again.

Opening her eyes again, she let out a sigh before sitting up. Her crush left, and now it was only her. She noticed her notebook on her desk. Picking it up and opening it, she saw new notes. She doesn't remember putting any notes today. Did her crush do it? For her? She blushed at the thought of it. She quickly got up and packed her bags. Carry her notebook with her as she walked out of the school.

Two hours before, Beomgyu was talking to his friends as they were leaving the classroom. Group by group, all of his classmates left. He got up from his desk and turned. A smile quickly formed across his face. “Cute,” he mumbled. He quickly sat back down looking at his crush behind him. Adoring and admiring her sleepy face. He noticed she was wearing perfume. She doesn't usually wear perfume to school. He wondered why she wore it today. He then looked down and saw her notebook. Carefully he took it and flipped some pages. Then decided to write the notes she missed when she was sleeping.

Woong was reading the new notes before going to bed. She smiled at the handwriting on the paper. It was unique and different from any of the boys in her school handwriting. It was pretty just like him. She shook the thought away before closing the notebook and letting her eyes close.

“Woong-ssi?” She quickly looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw Beomgyu looking at her. “What should I do to ask a girl I really like?” Her heart dropped. Does he have someone he likes? “Well, I would just tell your crush that you like them.” He nodded. “What do you want the person who has a crush on you to ask you out?”

“Well, I am not sure. I guess I want them to be honest about their feelings before telling me.” Beomgyu nods again. “I have a question too. So I have a crush－his heart dropped a beat－I am too nervous to ask him out and I saw he rejected a lot of girls. I am scared to ask him out too. What should I do?” He thought for a second before answering.

“I would say just go for it. Maybe he likes you back. You will never know.” She hummed. “Thanks.”

Two hours later, Beomgyu asked her to meet him outside the courtyard during the break. She was now walking to the courtyard. She spotted him sitting down. He quickly stood up once she was in front of him. “Woong, I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“I like no love you.”

Her eyes widened before she pointed at herself. “Me?” He nodded. “Would you be my girlfriend?” She smiled excitedly before hugging him. He was startled at first but quickly hugged her back. “Of course!”

taglist. @beomurang

© 2024 — all rights reserved to user riikive, please do not steal, plagiarise, or translate any of my work without prior permission from me !

[ohdudedhesflirting]

Everything about the final of boys planet that made me feel (good or bad) :

In remembrance of Moonbin

Zhang Hao & S Han Bin looks at each other during the signal song

Most of the eliminated trainees being there

Zhang Hao in his inrtoduction/ recap of himself when he played the violin

Jongwoo explaining he had always been lonely

All of the fans in the audience with their banner, voting

Haruto :( Wumuti :( Kuan Jui :( Woongki :( Mingyu :( Hwan Hee :( Seung Hwan :(

The modified version of Here I am for the stars masters

The letters of the star masters for the trainees "Your smile make people happy"

ZeroBaseOne/ZB1. Its not pretty but not as ugly as a wifi password typpa name, could have been better, could have been WORSE

Kamderella #KamdenYouWillAlwaysBeFamous

"My jelly noona" Seok Matthew, 2023

All of the PR videos are just some guys with a camera, a budget, and their little guy minds

Bummed that Matthew didnt get the killing part but Hao slayed it so (also kinda figured it out when they were pushing that narrative lol)

Jelly Pop was genuiely so cute and felt so good

Hot Summer team only thinking about foods when doing shopping for their pr video (they just like me fr)

The disclaimer before the hot summer video ?? Staff did NOT want to be associated with what the trainees did

Bummed that Ji Woong didnt get the killing part but it was expected. He truly slayed every little bit he had.

JiWoong vocals. Thats it.

The screams whenever Ricky performed ? So true

Just Tae Rae existence is a blessing and I needed to talk about it.

Staffs giving us the videos of the snoring that took place in the dorms. Truly exposed them.

The performance of Not Alone. I cried. Cried even more when I saw that the trainees were crying.

Learning that Zhang Hao & Jiwoong only started to talk to each other during the Say My Name era

Jiwoong debut !!!

Jiwoong forgetting the name of his group

Yum Seo breaking down when the debut of Gyu Vin was announced. At this point I was sobbingwith him

Gyuvin sobbing while learning the new, giving his speech while sobbing. I cried X100 harder at this point

Gun Wook : "Jun Hyeon I made it. Thank you so much" SOBS

Gun Wook : "I'm happy with just becoming friends with you" I was at my second pack of tissues

Ricky : "I feel awesome " (Please I would have loved Zhang Hao reaction with him taking the joke that far)

Him giving us the meaning of his tatoo (which mnet always covered up) ???

Matthew debut !!! Ppusamz will live on <3

Matthew having a snot problem during his speech

Jiwoong and Matthew <3

Han Bin pat to Matthew and their hugs

Zhang Hao ranking first (I did NOT expect that) (Not complaining tho cuz imagine a violin solo on his solo ???? Take my money) he slayed

Kuan Jui breaking down on the floor on the news of Zhang Hao #1 god im gonna miss them together so much

S Han Bin & Zhang Hao bowing to everyone simultaneously which made it look it they just got married

JiWoong giving butt pat to litteraly everyone when they were getting up the stairs

The eliminated trainees hugging each other

When the show ended and we saw ZB1 going down the stairs to hug the trainees my heart broke definitely

[itaerae]

day off — k. jiwoong

pairing: bf!jiwoong x reader

synopsis: your boyfriend finally had a break after a long week of jam-packed schedules. the two of you decide to spend the day trying all sorts of pastry recipes! what could go wrong ?

word count: 0.5k

warnings: flour fight ! (not proofread)

author notes: i saw the situation regarding jiwoong on twt today, i’m so incredibly disappointed in wakeone. it is that hard to treat your idols like humans, my gosh. wishing jiwoong and the boys get better treatment soon ᴖ̈ happy reading my loves ⟡

—

“uh, babe..” you looked up, staring at the boy who sheepishly fidgeted with the buttons on the oven. “yes, love ?” you replied, holding up a recipe for caramel scones. “how do you preheat the oven.. ?” jiwoong was rubbing his nape, obviously flustered.

he was so cute, you could hardly stifle your laugh. looks like he caught on though. “hey ! don’t laugh at me, this is my first time baking in the kitchen !” he whined, crossing his arms like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “okay okay, why don’t you prepare the ingredients while i preheat the oven then ?” you chuckled. “will do !”

after a couple minutes, you turn away from the preheated oven, admiring the sight that greeted you. jiwoong seemed to be concentrating hard on measuring the right amount of ingredients. and you wouldn’t lie, he looked quite attractive like this.

“busy staring, m’lady ?” he wriggled his eyebrows with a playful smirk. you rolled your eyes jokingly. “is it a crime to stare at my own boyfriend ?” you inquired, raising your own eyebrows. “hmm, i suppose not. but i’ve finished the ingredients !” he flaunted, staring like a proud kid waiting for compliments. you chuckled, “well done, jiwoong. though, it would have been more impressive seeing you preheat the oven.” you took note of the little pout that now formed on his face.

“hey, (name) !” you looked up from your mixing bowl, greeted by a grinning jiwoong. “wha—” before you could finish your sentence, flour blocked your vision. coughing, you wiped off the excess flour from your face. “oh kim jiwoong, you’re on !” you exclaimed, huffing as chasing him around the kitchen with flour in your hands.

the sound of laughter and squealing echoed the comfy living space. eventually dying down as both of you got tired with your childish shenanigans. safe to say you both were now a complete mess. “hahah ! babe you look like an unseasoned chicken right now !” jiwoong laughed, clutching his stomach.

“very funny, jiwoong. see as we look alike right now.” you sneered, a hint of playfulness still lingered in your tone. “now, help me clean up so these poor scones can get made.” and that’s how you spent most of the afternoon, cleaning up the flour mess in the kitchen.

“woong, the scones are done !” not even five seconds later you heard his footsteps rushing in. he immediately picked one up and took a bite, having to take a breath due to the heat. “babe, why didn’t you tell me they were hotttt” he whined in betrayal. “love, i just took them out of the oven..” you mentally facepalmed.

he huffed, but stuffed his mouth full anyway. “these are so good !” you laughed, he looked like a chimpunk stuffing it’s cheeks. “thank you woong, but you might wanna slow down before you choke.”

“yeah yeah.. but we should do this again, today was so fun !” he exclaimed, feeding you some of his scone. “we can bake any time you want love, i’m just glad you enjoyed your day off.” you gave him a small kiss, thanking him for the piece of scone.

taglist: @kpoprhia , @wonswife

[royaltysuite]

Hiya! It's the anon who requested the Park Joong Gil NSFW request and I loved it soo much!!. I am back with another request, if you don't mind! 😝😝

So can you do a fluff/romantic imagine this time of Joong-Gil and reader being connected by the red thread of fate and being soulmates forever. Thanks again! 😃

I'm glad that you loved the previous oneshot. Thank you so, so much for requesting another one. I hope you enjoy this one as much as you did with the last one.

Summary: A cold, stoic man with a bubbly, cheerful woman....What are the odds that the two were fated to be with each other? At a team bonding trip, Y/n is put in the spotlight about her lovelife and as she begins to shy away from the conversation, Jung-gil joins in and shuts it down with a couple words and a kiss...

Warnings: None except for overwhelming fluff and romance.

A/N: Commissions are always open! Send me a message with your choice along with your request. Also, if you want to be added to the blog's taglist, leave a comment on this post.

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Y/n's Pov

"Everyone, listen up. The Director has decided that since we've met her expectations of the team's performance, she is rewarding us with a vacation......as a team. So, go ahead and finish up the last bit of work you guys have then pack. Meet me near Seoul Tower in an hour." Ryeon announced, her tone dead though the look in her eye said different.

"A vacation? Hmm..." I chimed, surprised by the announcement. "Yeah, I thought it was a joke at first, but the Director doesn't really make jokes." "Okay then, I'm gonna go home and pack a bag. I'll see you and the guys later."

Standing from my chair, I grabbed my pass and reports before stalking out of the office and down the hallway. As I continued my stroll, I found myself in the grand hall where as usual, reapers filled the area. I walked up to the main desk. "Here you go, Mr.Baek. The modified reports on the incoming souls. I didn't realize how big a mistake I missed in the original draft."

The silver-haired octuplet hummed in approval and accepted the papers from my hands. "Anyways, how are you doing today? Are you getting enough sleep?" I trailed off into a small conversation and soon, an hour passed.

Making my way up to Seoul Tower, at the top of the hill, I could see the figures of the Risk Management team and a few other reapers. "Did I get here late?" I asked, noticing everyone standing around.

"No, everyone is here. Come, the hotel's this way." Jun-woong replied. He led everyone to the nearby hotel and just by the look of the building, it was pretty expensive. We all entered the hotel and received our room keys from another Baek octuplet. As I made my way up to my room, I ran into a solid figure.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I gasped in shock, not expecting anyone to be there. "Watch where you're going, ya runt." The man in front of me snarled. The comment threw me off and I blinked, not sure of how to respond. My silence seemed to tick him off even more than necessary.

He began making his way towards my still figure as the hall filled with even more bodies. Ryeon and the others soon joined the crowd and went to put space in between me and the guy. That is, until a familiar face appeared.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A deep voice spoke from behind me. Turning around, I came face-to-face with Jung-gil. I was surprised at the sight of him and so was the other guy. So surprised that he managed to slink away from the large crowd.

"Was that guy bothering you?" Jung-gil asked. "Not really, I just bumped into him by accident and he called me a runt. Other than that, I'm fine. What are you doing here? I thought you were escorting souls tonight."

"I was. I just finished up so I could join you." He said, placing his hands around me. "Aww, you didn't have to do that." I was awed by the small confession, seeing how out of character it was of him to admit. Standing on my tip-toes, I placed a kiss on his cheek. Small gasps rang out and I was reminded that it wasn't just Jung-gil and I in the area.

Peeking out from over his shoulder, I saw Jun-woong and Ryung-gu with their jaws dropped and Ryeon looking proud. The remaining reapers around were surprised by the man they viewed to be as cold so caring to someone.

"Boys, cough it up." Ryeon chuckled as the guys struggled to speak. I laughed at the scene in front of me before pulling Jung-gil with me to my room. "Just ignore them." "I already did."

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Author's Note: Here you are, Anonymous! It's a bit shorter than what I had originally planned, but I hope you enjoyed it just as much. On the other hand, commissions will remain open throughout the Christmas season. Inbox requests will be added onto my W-I-P list. With that being said, Happy Holidays and Stay Classy~~~

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet Episode 11: Recap and Guide

Hey, fellow Star Creator! Are you ready to have your heart smashed to smithereens? …. No? Me either. In fact, I'm late getting this recap to you because it was hard to type with my heart next to me in a basin of saline solution. But I managed.

Let’s go!

At 0:38, we start off with the boys hanging out at their dorms after their third mission, high fiving each other and expressing some anxiety about the upcoming eliminations. They have to pack to go home now for a while. The staff has set up a photo booth for them to make some memories.  In case anyone thinks that there’s animosity between Woongki and Zhuang Shai Bo, there definitely isn’t.  

The trainees go back back home, awaiting the next elimination ceremony. 

Pretty sure that’s Ricky, just being mysterious and painting roses in a graffiti covered studio, because how else would Ricky spend his time when he’s not performing?

We spend a little time with Han Yujin and his very popular pretty mother. We also see Keita and Kum Junhyeon hanging out with Eunho from Younite and Hwi from Ciipher -- it seems that Junhyeon used to be a trainee at Rain company and trained with some or all of the Ciipher, which explains how they both know Hwi, but I’m not sure the impossibly faced Eunho fits in (seriously, who has a face like that? He looks like a Bratz doll come to life, in a good way). I also don’t know how we never knew that Junhyeon and Keita have been friends this whole time??? They’re just out having a meal and talking about how young Kum Junhyeon was when they used to train together. We see a lot of other stuff, including Kim JiWoong at a dog cafe, even though he’s apparently allergic to dogs. They’re all visiting with friends and family.

Then we see the guys all packing to go back to Planet Camp, even though many of them know that they probably won’t make it through this elimination ceremony. It’s pretty sad. But remember, they’re all going to be ok, right, team? A lot of them are signed with good companies and will probably debut in 2025, if not sooner. So deep breaths. It’s ok!

Then we visit with Park Hanbin, who is wearing a very soft looking blue sweater, as if anticipating future MNET shows. He says he’s worried about not being able to debut. Park Hanbin, you silly goose. You’re going to debut whether or not you make it into Bepler. Listen to BPR Noona. I know of what I speak.

6:15 Now it’s time for the elimination ceremony!

So, I actually watched the live streaming ceremony, which popped up on my phone as I was getting ready to go to sleep. Cannabis is legal where I live and so I might have been particularly ready to close my eyes, you know? But I watched, my eyes blinking heavily, because I wanted to know! The things the boys were saying weren’t translated, so I was only able to catch the gist. Also, the live broadcast was just a raw feed of them, and without the editing and background music, it felt like I was watching a first rehearsal. 

Anyway, as usual, we start with the boys backstage talking about how nervous they are -- us too, guys -- and then coming out in small groups based on their most recent challenge mission. They do various kinds of schtick, and once their whole team is out they do a combined schtick. It looked heckin’ awkward in the live broadcast, but edited down it looks much better.

Here’s the order they come out:

Kim Tae Rae, Na Kamden, and Zhang Shuai Bo (Switch)

Keita, Park Hanbin, and Yoon Jongwoo (Switch)

Wang Zi Hao, Ollie, and Haruto (Supercharger)

Woongki, Takuto, Seo Won (Supercharger)

Zhang Hao and Lee Jungheyon (Over Me)

Ricky, Chen Kuan Jui, Jay (Over Me)

Sung Hanbin and Han Yujin (Say My Name)

Yoo Seung Eon, Seok Matthew, and Kim Ji Woong (Say My Name)

Hui (Lee Hoe Taek), Hiroto, and Lee Seung Hwan (En Garde)

Kim Gyuvin, Kum Junhyeon, Park Gunwook (En Garde)

And who is their Star Master this time? In the live broadcast, she stood with her back to the camera for just a few seconds and then came in, but of course, in the edited version, there’s 15 minutes of guessing first. 

But it’s Jeon Somi! 

I would impale myself on those spikes every time I moved slightly, but she makes it look good.

If you’re not familiar with Jeon Somi, she is a successful soloist who went through the reality show gamut. First she was on a show called Sixteen, a reality competition show that created the kpop giants Twice (you know, the ones who sing “Feel Special”). She didn’t make the lineup of Twice, but she got pretty popular from being on the show. Then she was on the first season of Produce 101, the precursor of Girls Planet/Boys Planet, and ended up pretty much killing it, taking first place in the final episode and becoming the “center” of project group IOI (pronounced “eye-oh-eye”). Check out their song Very Very Very if you want to see what IOI is like.

After IOI disbanded, Somi became a soloist. I love her song Birthday -- my fella doesn’t like much kpop, but for whatever reason he loves Birthday. (He specifically loves how she she says “eyyy”.) Despite it being a pretty great song, Birthday wasn’t a huge hit because she was “f a a t “ at the time (she absolutely wasn’t, and even if she was, it shouldn’t matter, but people can really be The Worst, and also her stylist didn’t know how to dress a young woman with actual boobs). Anyway she has other songs now, like Dumb Dumb, and she’s frighteningly skinny now, so she’s a lot more successful. I think she’s always been a sparkly fun person. I wish she’d given her cue cards a bit of a read before she came out on stage, but… whatever. Oh, and if you’re wondering, she’s 22, half Korean and half white, and was born in Canada.

The boys go crazy when they realize it’s Somi -- Kamden says he won’t be able to sleep tonight, and a few of the others talk about how tall she is. She’s 5’8, which is fairly tall for a girl, especially in Korea. 

She reads some usual stuff off a cuecard, and then adds, “It’s not easy being on a survival show, is it? I remember HATING this studio myself” (as in, when she was on Produce 101). The boys give her some serious snaps. 

We find out that people in 182 countries voted a total of 31,750,293 votes, and that trainees ranked 1 through 18 will survive. We also find out that during the first phase of the announcement, they’ll only be announcing trainees from 11 through 17 inclusive, which is only seven people, so this is really silly. 

After that, in the live broadcast, Somi said something that MNET translated thusly: “I know how much effort and sweat they have put into this far because not only I but so many world star creators are sending their cheers to them. Believe in your time and the sweat dedicated, and get with it to the end.” That part didn’t make it into the final airing, as far as I can tell, but I think it’s funny. She read it at top speed, sounding like a bored flight attendant reading the same safety instructions for the millionth time, and not looking up from the cue cards once. Maybe that’s why they didn’t air it.

Anyway -- so now that the stakes have been established, we bring up two teams to start with: Switch and Engarde. 

First Round of Eliminations 

Here are the 12 trainees who are waiting to hear their fate, in order of their rank in episode 8:

6 Kim Gyu Vin Love Me Right - K / Love Killa/ En Garde

7 Kim Tae Rae Back Door - K/ Man in Love/ Switch

8 Keita Kill This Love - G/ Zoom /   Switch

9 Park Gunwook Kill This Love - K/ Tomboy/ En Garde

10 Kum Jun Hyeon Back Door - K /Gang /    En Garde

11 Hui Love Me Right - K / Tomboy /En Garde

13 Park Hanbin Hot Sauce - K   /   Law/ Switch

15 Yoon Jong Woo Back Door - K /Home/Switch

20 Na Kamden Back Door - G /Law /Switch

21 Lee Seung Hwan Danger - K/ Gang /En Garde

23 Zhang Shuai Bo Back Door - G/ Feel Special /Switch

28 Hiroto Very Nice - G/ Rush Hour/ En Garde

Somi announces that they’re going to announce the trainee who is 11th place, who got 2,365,604 points. It’s someone who did the killing part.

Then she gives the clue that the person in 11th has the family name “Park.” Well, that’s either Park Gunwook or Park Hanbin. Gunwook doesn’t want to be announced in 11th place; Hanbin would be delighted to be in 11th. So they sort of awkwardly grin at each other from across the aisle. 

At 17:13 And then we find out that it’s Park Hanbin! So they’re both happy! Everyone is proud of him and a little surprised.

Look how happy Z-Bo is for him, and everyone else, too! That’s their fearless leader! 

He says, “I won’t be able to be the shiniest star on Boys Planet, but I want to be the one and only star. Since this could be my last chance to shine the brightest, I’ll try to give a great performance.” Somi tells him he shines brightly already, and his gives her a huge, eye squinting grin. That’s doing to be a “happy memory for a sad day” for him -- one of those happy memories you return to when you need a boost. But hopefully Hanbin won’t have too many sad days in front of him.

Kum Junhyeon says to Park Gunwook, “he didn’t deserve the low ranking,” which is so true. Park Hanbin has been great since the first day. It was just hard to get to know his personality at first.

In the live broadcast, Somi asked him to show his “favorite facial expression,” and he did, but it’s all so weird. Does anyone else think that Kpop is getting a bit too codified? Can there be any mystery or general stage technique that isn’t parsed down into the tiniest bits? Anyway, that doesn’t make it into the final broadcast, which is all for the best 

As Hanbin walks up to lonely seat 11 all by himself, Jay says, “Park Hanbin serves and deserves,” which is a great way of putting it. 

Here’s the floor plan to help you figure out who is sitting where as the episode goes on-- that’s P-Hanbin in 11th. 

This is where the live broadcast ended, so I was a mixture of happy (I was so stoned and sleepy and just wanted to close my eyes) and contented (at least my Park Hanbin is safe!) and furious (seriously, MNET?). But that’s all they gave us, the fuckwits. 

Rank 12 is next, and it’s someone from En Garde, someone who stood out because of best friend energy, so that could be a lot of people. 

We find out that it’s Park Gunwook! He’s fallen from 9th place to 12 -- everyone is shocked, and there’s a silent pause before people start applauding. That peach, Lee Seunghwan, who probably isn’t going to make it through this elimination, gives him a high five and tries to cheer him up, but he looks really sad.

Sad, but still cute! I like the ruffly hair.

Ok, everyone’s super surprised that he fell out of the top9, but I’m not that surprised, really. Don’t get me wrong, I still quite like Park Gunwook and am rooting for him to succeed in life. I’ve heard that some people dislike him, but I think he’s essentially a sweet guy who jokes around in uncomfortable situations. I also think he’s talented, with a loveable face, and I hope that Jellyfish will figure out some way to promote him if he doesn’t make the top 9 here. 

That all said, he’s been showing the same part of himself again and again on the show. It’s that super masculine, powerful style of dancing that he always does, you know? I think people are just a tiny bit tired of the powerful powerhouse of power. I feel that way a tiny bit myself. I didn’t need him to do something super cute like Say My Name or something mega sexy like Over Me, exactly, but I think I would have liked to see him in something more like Switch -- something that requires a different, more lighthearted style of dancing. I think he can do it, so I hope that he can show that in the next episode. 

Who’s next? Rank 15. Who could it be?

It’s someone known for his unique facial expressions, and it’s an extrovert, so it could be a lot of them -- not Keita, Hui, Hiroto, or Lee Seunghwan who are introverts, but any of the rest. (Is anyone else surprised to hear that Kim Taerae is an extrovert? He comes across as more of an introvert -- probably MNET editing striking again.)  Anyway, it could be almost any of these six…

And at 22:45 we find out that it’s Yoon Jongwoo, who had been ranked 15th in episode 8. 

Everyone is super surprised, including Jongwoo himself. I think he was expected to be eliminated after his ignominious treatment in episodes 9 and 10, but seriously, watch his fancam from Switch. He’s such a good dancer and performer. He’d be a benefit to any team he’d be on. I really hope he does a cover of Over Me and puts it up on Youtube. Just putting that out into the universe. 

Kum Junhyeon and Kim Gyuvin have given up on casting spells. 

Who’s next? Rank 16. Who could it be? 

Park Hanbin mutters to himself, “This is daebak.” I should have mentioned this in an earlier recap, but for those of you newish to K-culture, “daebak” means something like “amazing” or “surprising” or even “cool.” Sometimes people just say “daebak” as an exclamation, in which case it means something like “wow!”

Everyone is anxious but Zhang Shuai Bo, who already knows that there is a 99.99999% chance that he is eliminated. He probably didn’t even pack anything in his suitcase. His new brown hair looks nice, though. 

It’s someone who’s rank has fallen, and someone who never had a killing part. That could be a lot of people. 

And at 25:49 we find out it’s Kum Junhyeon. (The Viki subtitler spells his name Guem -- the G/K sound in Korean is sort of halfway between G and K, so you see it either way depending on the transliteration system in use. And there’s a lot of variation in how people transliterate vowel sounds in Korean, which is one of the reasons I learned to read actual Korean sybmbols!)

Kum Junhyeon has dropped a lot from 10th place. I don’t have a specific theory as to why he dropped, but I kind of think that he’s stopped looking like one of the it-crowd, somehow. Put on a team with Gunwook and Gyuvin, he sort of faded into the background. I like Junhyeon a lot -- he’s charismatic, funny, open-hearted, and a really great singer -- and hope he debuts, but I don’t think he’s going to debut with Bepler. I think he knows that too -- he looks like he’s going to cry. 

We hear from each of them. 

Yoon Jongwoo says, “Since I came here without expecting anything, my memories here are so precious. I kept telling myself to be in the final, at least. And I ended up being here. I’d like to thank the Star Creators who support me one more time.” 

Park Gunwook says, “I really wanted to be on stage one more time. My goal coming here was moving on to the final.  Thankfully, I’d be able to join the final with such a high ranking. I’m relieved. I’d like to express my love and gratitude to the Star Creators who support me.”  

Then Somi asks Gunwook to do something aegyo, and he chooses instead to do something kawaii instead. He says, in Japanese, things like “I love you! I like you a lot!” (The on-screen words are transliterated Japanese with Korean translation underneath.)

Side note: “aegyo” is a thing in K-culture. It’s when idols and other performers do over-the-top, cloying, saccharine cuteness as a… mini performance. It’s quite popular among Koreans, and is often requested by variety show hosts, but international audiences often don’t like it. Personally, I don’t like it, but it’s not my culture and it’s not my place to say “stop doing thing because I don’t like thing,” you know? Though I really do wish they’d stop. 

Anyway, Gunwook speaking Japanese spurs Kum Junhyeon to do his speech in Japanese as well, and he sounds like a first semester Japanese student. It’s much cuter than his old “I am 5 years old” shtick, though, I’ll say that. 

So, this group takes their seats, and everyone wonders, Who’s next? But there isn’t anyone else in this group. 

Though the show plays danger music to make it seem otherwise, it’s fair to assume that Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, Keita, and Hui are probably in the top 10. But unless Na Kamden, Lee Seung Hwan, Zhang Shuai Bo, or Hiroto is ranked 18th, they’ve all been eliminated. 

The trainees think that Lee Hoetek/Hui might have been eliminated, but that seems extremely unlikely. The people who’ve been voting for him as of episode 8 are probably going to keep voting for him -- he just hasn’t done enough to attract new people to him. I don’t think he’ll make the final lineup, but I don’t think he’ll be eliminated today.

Then Somi announces that she’s heard that “on a beautiful day, the trainees spent a day full of doubts and suspicion.” 

Oh no.

It’s… 

30:05 FILLER TIME

If you’re not into Kpop -- and even if you are a little into it --  you may not know about the whole ecology that surrounds idol groups. There are these variety shows, such as After School Club and Weekly Idol, shows where idols come on and get made fun of and forced to do silly things, like dance to their songs at 2x speed, or chicken fight, or answer trivia questions, or whatever the show feels like doing to them. 

There’s also a custom of idols creating content specifically for their fans, to hold up their side of the parasocial relationship. They joke around, they play games, they cook or eat food, and most importantly, they talk to the camera like it’s their girlfriend and talk about how much they miss their fans and want to see them again. This stuff makes me uncomfortable, but I know a lot of people like it. 

Anyway, all the “filler” stuff we see on Boys Planet is a good introduction to the kind of content you often see on shows or videos like these. As such, even though it’s filler, it’s actually an audition for a big part of the job that they’ll be doing as idols. Plenty of idols are known as much for their reality show appearances as for their performance skills (if not more so). 

That said, there isn’t a lot to say about this stuff -- it’s just cute fan service. Here’s a super quick recap:

The boys gather outside at an area with big platform tents, on what must have been a lovely sprint day. Park Hanbin is wearing that same soft looking blue sweater, and Kim TaeRae is wearing a sweatshirt that says Thrasher on it, with just enough dark tape over the logo that they don’t have to blur it. My 17 year old self fainted dead away when she saw that Thrasher logo. Is there anything cuter than a skater boy? (Other than my fella, who is the cutest boy of all boys.)

The trainees are told they will have to dress like cute animals and spend a self-sufficient day in the forest - - which is complete bullshit, but that’s ok. 

First, they have to put on loose pajama pants without using their hands -- which is an excuse to help each other and touch each other’s crotchal areas with their feet and teeth -- in order to choose which team gets to wear which animal outfit. That part is actually pretty fun to watch, especially when Chen Kuan Jui uses his powers of stretchiness to get’er’done.

Once they get their animal outfit on (they’re just big loose onesie outfits), they’re all told that each team will have a “raccoon” in it (basically, like a mole -- someone who ruins everything) and that they have to figure out who it is. They have to go into a tent one by one to find out if they’re the raccoon or not -- it’s not as if they choose to be the mole. If the team can figure out who’s the raccoons amongst them, then everyone else wins the prize, but if they don’t, the raccoons win the prizes. The stakes are high.

Say My Name comes in first and chooses unicorn. 

Switch comes in second and chooses something red; I can’t tell what it is. 

En Garde comes in 3rd and chooses dinosaur.

Supercharger comes in 4th and chooses something pink; I can’t tell what it is.  

Over Me comes in last and chooses something black. 

Over Me’s raccoon is revealed immediately as Lee Jeonghyeon, and he says, “thank you” and that he’s confident he can do it. Just more MNET spotlighting him to try to get another K-group member in the top9 if possible. 

They’re hungry and have to play a game where they spin around until they’re dizzy and have to poke at a board with ingredients written on it. The best things are in tiny boxes, which are hard to target. But most of the trainees get at least something decent for food. 

Then they play another game to win dessert -- prizes range from shaved ice to “healthy tea” -- and this game is my least favorite Korean reality staple, “Scream in the dark.” It’s this game where they all wear huge headphones that block out most sound, and have to shout at each other and read each other’s lips. This game is played on all the idol shows, and it’s really not my favorite. Maybe it’d be more fun if I were a fluent Korean speaker…? Also, it’s obviously going to be hard for non native speakers from G-group. 

This part goes on for approximately 3,791 years, so if you’d like to skip to the end of it, go to 49:18. 

After that, the boys discuss who amongst them could be the raccoon (mole). We find out that each raccoon has a purple raccoon symbol stamped on his foot. So they choose who among them is the raccoon and then that person has to reveal their foot. 

Though Over Me’s team seems to suspect Lee Jeonghyeon, they cast out Jay, almost as if they are the general public viewing the show. Of course, Jay is innocent.

Switch team picks Keita, but he’s innocent as well. Turns out the mole was Park Hanbin! Back when he found out that he had to be the mole, he said -- with his face hidden and voice distorted -- “I can’t lie!” and collapsed on the floor. But he was good at it after all! Have I mentioned lately that I really like Park Hanbin? Because I do.

Say My Name team picks Sung Hanbin, and he’s also innocent. Turns out it was really Han Yujin. Interestingly, when he was chosen as the mole, he said, “I’m good at this kind of thing.” A rare glimpse into the personality of Han Yujin.

Supercharger picked Wang Zi Hao, and he is in fact the mole. 

En Garde team picked Kum Junhyeon, and he’s also innocent. Turns out the real mole was Park Gunwook. 

The raccoons have won! Their prize is a variety of high fashion outfits -- in other words, their animal onesies. (Ten bucks says they all got to keep their onesies anyway.)

And that’s the end of the filler!

56:50 SECOND ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS

They joke about the game for a bit longer, and then go back to the eliminations. 

Next up will be the other teams: Supercharger, Over Me, and Say My Name. 

Ricky says to Jay, in English, “Let’s survive together.” Kim JiWoong leans over to Matthew and says, quoting from Love Killa, “Oh I’m sorry, did I make you anxious?”

Here’s everyone who’s up on the chopping block, in case you would like a refresher as to who is who. I’ve listed their most recent rank as well as their three challenge missions.

1 Sung Hanbin Love Me Right - K / Tomboy / Say My Name

2 Zhang Hao Kill This Love - G/ Tomboy/ Over Me

3 Han Yu Jin Back Door - K   / Law / Say My Name

4 Seok Matthew Kill This Love - G/ Love Killa/ Say My Name

5 Kim Ji Woong Back Door - K /Love Killa /Say My Name

12 Jay Love Me Right - G/ Home /Over Me

14 Ricky Back Door - G/ Rush Hour /Over Me

16 Haruto Love Me Right - G / Zoom/ Supercharger

17 Yoo Seung Eon Very Nice - K Home Say My Name

18 Seo Won Very Nice - K Love Killa Supercharger

19 Wang Zi Hao Kill This Love - G Law Supercharger

22 Chen Kuan Jui Kill This Love - G Butterfly Over Me

24 Lee Jeong Hyeon Love Me Right - K Gang Over Me

25 Takuto Danger - G Rush Hour Supercharger

26 Cha Woong Ki Very Nice - K Feel Special Supercharger

27 Ollie Hot Sauce - G Zoom Supercharger

Who’s up first? 13th place. Who could it be? 

Someone who’s noted for their talent (thanks, that’s unhelpful). It’s someone from Over Me. We see Park Hanbin with his hands folded, as if in prayer -- he’s hopeful it’ll be his WakeOne teammate, Lee JeongHyeon. 

At 1:01:00, we find out it’s Jay. 

We see that Jay’s Korean support is painfully low -- only 62,829 votes, while everyone else announced so far has had 200,000+ -- while his global support is super high --  1,400,606 while no one else has broken into the millions. He’s a little sad because he’s dropped another spot, and it’s looking less and less likely that he’ll make top9 in the end.

Honestly, at this point, I think it’s better for Jay that he *not* debut in Bepler. Looking at what’s going on with Kepler, all the fan wars and stuff, I think he’s better of not in that kind of situation. Who wants to debut based on global vote and then have to go to fan meetings in Korea where literally no one acknowledges you? He’ll have a more fulfilling career using this as a spring board to make his own music and release it mostly online, the way that B.I. and Jackson Wang do. Let K-netz hate him all they want, and let him just sing in English like he’d probably prefer to do. I’d much rather have B.I.’s career than, say, Park Jihoon’s. (Though I do absolutely love all three of the songs I linked to, for the record. But Jihoon’s stylist noona deserves serious sanctions. His whole MV team does. Send them to the naughty step for a few hours to rethink their choices in life.) There’s life after Boys Planet and it doesn’t have to involve Bepler. 

Who’s next? 14th place. Who could it be? 

Someone indispensable -- so team Supercharger hopes it’s Haruto, as do we all, right? Haruto is everyone’s unproblematic fave. 

At 1:02:34, we find out it’s Yoo Seungeon.

Yoo Seungeon is signed to Yuehua, along with current trainees Ricky, Zhang Hao, Han Yujin, Ollie, and Kim Gyuvin, and eliminated trainees Brian and Ji Yun Seo.  He really is quite young to debut, and doesn’t really need to debut right now -- it seems quite likely that Zhang Hao and Han Yujin will make the final lineup, and Ricky and Gyuvin have a decent chance, so the Yuehua team that debuts in 2024 or 2025 will start off with a lot of momentum. It still can’t hurt for Seungeon to have more exposure, so it’s nice that he made it. He seems like a sweet kid and a genuine talent. All that said, I’m so worried about Haruto I can’t think straight. 

Who’s next? 17th place. Who could it be?

Everyone is hoping that it’ll be themselves, and this is so painful. Cha Woongki tries to keep from hoping. The person is known for their rapping, so of course I’m hoping for Haruto, but there are a lot of rappers here. 

Somi says that the person has two “ng” consonants. 

Korean reading time! The little circles you see in Korean have a few different roles. Often, they’re silent, like when they come before a vowel. For example, the family name “Lee” (which is really pronounced more like Ee) is spelled 이, as you see above on Lee Jeonghyun’s name. (That straight up and down line thing is the -ee part. You also see it in the final syllable of Woongki’s name -- 기.) When you see the circle thingy at the top of a name, it’s more like “w-” sound. When it’s at the bottom of a word, it’s a -ng sound. That’s why you see it in the top and bottom of 웅 for Woongki (and for Kim JiWoong, also) and in 왕 Wang. You also see it in the bottom of Lee Jeonghyun’s second syllable. 

Of course everyone has tons of little circles in their names since they do so much work in Korean writing -- even before I could read Korean I could always tell Korean from other writing systems by the little circles. 

Who could it be in 17th place? At 1:05:05 we find out it’s It’s Lee Jeonghyeon. He burst into tears, which seems to surprise his fellow WakeOne trainees Park Hanbin and Kim TaeRae. Of course people are happy for him but sad that they (or their other friends) didn’t survive. 

We get told that without the benefit, he would have been in 19th place. 

The surviving trainees get to make a speech. 

Jay says, in slow English (probably to make it easier for non-native speakers to understand): "To all my friends and family watching from all the way back in the states, I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in every week and screaming at the television.” Somi, who is Canadian and fluent in English, says “Blow them a kiss!” and he does.

Yoo Seung Eon says, “First of all, I never imagined that I’d survive in a high rank of 14, so I feel like I’m dreaming. I have no words to describe how I feel right now. Also, thanks to my Say My Name teammates who created the greatest performance, I really love you.” 

Lee Jeonghyeon says, “At every survivor announcement, I was always on the verge of disqualifications. So today, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to make it. But I’m really grateful to the Team Over Me who practiced hard, so we could get benefits.” Then he says, in extremely halting Chinese and Japanese, things like “I love you” and “thank you”, with Hiroto and other trainees helping him from the sidelines. 

They take their seats, and Lee Jeonghyeon regains his cool. 

1:09:00 THIRD ELIMINATION SEGMENT - TOP 10

So, let’s look at the list of trainees, in their episode 8 ranking order. Those marked in green have already been seated in 11th through 17th place. 

1 Sung Hanbin 2 Zhang Hao 3 Han Yu Jin 4 Seok Matthew 5 Kim Ji Woong 6 Kim Gyu Vin 7 Kim Tae Rae 8 Keita 9 Park Gunwook 10 Kum Jun Hyeon 11 Hui 12 Jay 13 Park Hanbin 14 Ricky 15 Yoon Jong Woo 16 Haruto 17 Yoo Seung Eon 18 Seo Won 19 Wang Zi Hao 20 Na Kamden 21 Lee Seung Hwan 22 Chen Kuan Jui 23 Zhang Shuai Bo 24 Lee Jeong Hyeon 25 Takuto 26 Cha Woong Ki 27 Ollie 28 Hiroto

Speaking of falling out and making room, Somi reminds us all that Park Gunwook has fallen out of top 9, leaving a space for a new person. From context, the only person it could be is Ricky -- unless in some weird world it’s Hui. I just don’t think Hui is doing well enough on the show to make top9.  So yeah, given the obsessive nature of of Ricky’s fandom, I’m assuming he’s a lot of people’s one-pick and will probably be in the top 10, along with Sung Hanbin, Zhang Hao, Han Yu Jin, Seok Matthew, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, Keita, and Hui. I’m trying to think, could any of these have fallen out of the top 10, leaving room for Haruto? And I don’t think so. I think Matthew will have fallen a few ranks, but I don’t think he’s fallen out of the top 10.  And Hui -- I think he’s more nervous than he has to be. But we’ll see. 

Next up, we find out the “candidates for 9th place”, ie, the people ranked 9th and 10th. And it’s Hui and Matthew.

Hui is relieved, as he’s been thinking the whole time that he’s been eliminated, while Matthew is resigned to what to him is bad news. Matthew was ranked 2nd and then 4th, so falling to 9th or 10th is a steep drop. I really wish he’d just been sweet and nice about the part switch, because he did a great job in Say My Name -- I think the best in the group -- and he definitely lost some fans. I’ll add, however, that he might have lost those fans anyway as we moved from pick-3 to1-pick. The dynamics always change a lot when we get to the 1-pick.

Matthew and Hui come up to the front to find out who came in 9th -- and it's Matthew.

Matthew says, “I want to thank all the Star Creators for allowing me to stay in the Top 9. Hanbin hyung, Ji Woong Hyung, Yujin-ee and Seung Eon-ee, I was just so happy to be with you. I want to become more cool like Hanbin hyung and JiWoong hyung.  Thank you, and I also hope we’ll all be successful together.” Really putting on those retro-rockets, huh? I hope it helps -- I think he’s a great performer and would make a good member of Bepler.

Hui says, “I came worrying that I may have to go home today. I really want to thank the Star Creators for allowing me to get such an unexpectedly high rank. I also wanted to thank my En Guard team members who’ve worked so hard with me. I would like everyone to stay with me to the end, and although I cannot give amazing benefits like Boys Planet, I will becomes an amazing Hoe Taek and I will show you a good side of me.”

As Matthew goes to take his seat, you can hear Yoo Seungeon rush over to give Matthew-hyung a hug. Jay also comes over and says something in English but I can’t quite make it out. 

Next is 8th place. Who could it be? Well it’s one of Ricky, Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. And at 1:16:42, we find out it’s Ricky! 

Ricky says, “It’s so cool to enter the Top9 for the first time. I can’t believe it. Honestly, the sofa looked so comfy that I wanted to try sitting in it at least once. I will show an even more improved version of me during the final stage.” The show makes a big deal out of how “sofa” is probably not a Korean word or the right word for these chairs, but, whatever, everyone knew what he meant.

We hear Jay call “Ricky!” and it’s honestly very pleasant to hear someone pronounce it like that. (Not going to say “correctly,” just… correct to my ears, you know?)

Side note: with his hair styled down like this, I actually don’t recognize him. I mean, I know it’s him, but my brain doesn’t believe me. 

Now it’s time to find out who is in 7th place. Well it’s one of Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. 

And at 1:18:39, we find out it’s Kim Gyuvin.

I like the return to a messy mop of hair. 

He says, “I want to thank you all for allowing me to end up in such a high rank. Through this final stage, I will prove to you why I need to debut.” Then he adds in uncertain Japanese, “I will become a more improved GyuVin. I love you.” Hiroto coaches him from the other side of the room.

I mean, I know that that interim ranking showed him really low, but it never occurred to me for a second he’d fall below 17. I think he might have been worried, though. He’s gotten some hate online. He sits down in the comfy chair and gives that weird smile of his. 

Next is 6th place. Who could it be? Well, it’s one of Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, or Keita. Because it’s someone whose rank improved, it’s either TaeRae or Keita.

At 1:21:17, we find out it’s Keita. Nice! I knew he’d make it. I’m glad to see his rank improving. His Korean support is low, but his global support is insane. He’s the first person to outscore Jay in the global vote. (He outscored Jay’s Korean support, as well.) 

Keita says, “I am just so happy and grateful to be able to move onto the final. I will keep doing my best.” Then he bows. That’s Keita for you. 

Next is 5th place. Well, it’s either Han Yu Jin, Kim Ji Woong, Kim Tae Rae, or maybe Zhang Hao. The person is popular with teenagers, and his charming point is his shy smile. TaeRae doesn’t have a shy smile, but Yujin does. 

At 1:22:58 we find out it’s Han Yujin, who at previous eliminations was 4th and 3rd.

Lee Jeonghyun turns around to look up at Park Hanbin and wonder out loud, “What place is TaeRae in?” Again, all three of them are signed together at WakeOne. And hopefully will all debut together ASAP. 

Han Yujin says, “To the Star Creators who have shown me much love ever since Na Bina was released,  I will work even harder from now on.” Then he adds in Chinese, “Hello. I’m 17-year old Han Yujin. I love you all. You’re so pretty. Thank you.” It doesn’t sound too bad to me but I don’t know Chinese.

Somi teases him about his legendary “Noona, I love you” thing and she asks him to say it to her. (Other trainees watching, including Kum Junyheon and Kim Gyuvin, mutter that they’d be happy to tell her that too.) He says, “Somi-Noona, I love you!” and Somi melts. It’s actually pretty cute, even though I have very little patience for this shiz.

As he goes to his seat, he’s mobbed by some of his friends, including his Yuehua teammate Ricky, who jokingly asks him to say “I love you hyung” to him, and his other Yuehua teammate Kim Gyubin, who seems happier for Yujin than he was for himself. 

Next is 4th place, who only scraped past 5th place by a few thousand points -- I’ll do a point analysis at the end of this recap -- and it’s obviously  Kim Ji Woong or Kim Tae Rae, or maybe Zhang Hao. 

Almost immediately we find out it’s Tae Rae. 

Hair stylist noona was really feeling the ruffley bang look today, wasn’t she? 

TaeRae says, “To my Star Creators who have always supported me, thank you so much. I will do my best to repay you for your love and support with an even better performance on the final stage.” Then Somi makes him do a big weird laugh and it’s… weird. But he’s still cute. 

He goes to take his place, and someone runs to hug him -- I’m pretty sure it’s his WakeOne teammate Park Hanbin.

Somi says she’s going to announce top 3, and Chen Kuan Jui says, in a big, bright, almost-not-sarcastic voice, “who on earth could it be? I’m so curious,”  Big snaps for that, CKJ.

Obviously it’s Kim JiWoong, Zhang Hao, and Sung Hanbin. 

Ok, so the show reminds us that the top placing trainee in the final episode will get to do a solo song on the group’s debut album, and we’re shown a clip of Kepler performing, with a focus on the first-place-winning Kim Chaeyoung. Thing is, though Chaeyoung came in first (and though she’s talented and sweet and I like her), she is definitely not the most popular member of Kepler these days. I checked a few different random rankings and she was ranked anywhere from 4th to last depending on which list I looked at. She has fans, definitely -- I’m sure plenty of people like her! -- I’m just saying that she’s not the runaway queen of the group or anything. Focusing on her just reminds us that it doesn’t matter AT ALL who comes in first, not even on the final episode, and definitely not now, a week out from first. 

(Side note: Another example of this is Ni-Ki from Enhypen. He finished in fourth place in the show I-Land, and spent some time in the unfavored zone for the trainees, but is now the runaway king of the group, with his fancams showing millions of views. The public who votes for reality show trainees aren’t necessarily representative of the entire Kpop viewing population.)

Despite the show basically shoving that fact in our face, it continues to act as if we really care who will specifically will be first, second, and third. Also I think we all know who is third. But WHO COULD IT BE?

At 1:28:49, we find out it’s Kim JiWoong. 

He says, “I am grateful and think of it as an honor to be able to provide comfort and happiness to others. Thank you.” I actually adore this guy. He’s a complete mystery of a human and I adore that. 

Then there’s some dumb bit where Somi makes him do aegyo and it goes on way too long. 

So now it’s time to announce who came in first between Zhang Hao and the impossibly, ridiculously perfect Sung Hanbin.

They say a lot of the normal, “what if confident, but polite?” type things, and then we find out that apparently Sung Hanbin helped Zhang Hao with the “Over Me” choreography to add some waacking elements. They weren’t even on the same team, and Hanbin still took time out of his schedule of providing solar power with his smile to go help his friend. 

And at 1:34:19, we find out that Hanbin has taken first again. 

He says, “Well, for this past Artist Battle mission, there was such a big benefit on the line, so I wasn’t really able to predict this. Please continue to cheer for me so I can run for the finish line, shining as bright as I can. My Say My Name members, I love you.”

Hao says, in his halting way, “I am so grateful and happy to be able to rank 2nd place again. I will continue running without stopping. Please continue being happy through my passion.” Then he adds in extremely halting Japanese, “motto ganbarimasu” -- kind of “I’ll keep going/ I won’t give up.”  His vote tally shows that he is more than 800,000 points ahead of 3rd/4th/5th place (which are almost a tie).

But it’s nothing compared to Sung Hanbin, who is more than a million points ahead of Hao. 

Sung Hanbin is dominating first place in a way we’ve never seen on the produce series. To put this in perspective: 

In Produce 101 season 1, Jeon Somi and Kim Sejeong traded off between 1st and second, with Somi actually falling to 4th place at the 2nd elimination before finally finishing in first.

In Produce 101 season 2, Park Jihoon, Kim Jonghyeon, and Kang Daniel held first place at different times. 

In Produce 48, Sakura, Lee Gaeun, and Jang Wonyoung held first place at different times.

In Produce X 101, Kim Yohan and Kim Wooseok traded off in first place.

In Girls Planet 999, Yurina was in first place in ep 5 and didn’t even make it into Kepler. Shen Xiaoting was in first place for most of the rest of the time, and then only made it into Kepler in 9th place, and Kim Chaeyhun came in first despite not ever ranking above 8th place before that. 

Granted, all four Produce seasons were known for straight up vote rigging, so maybe one person really was the most popular the whole time. But regardless, Sung Hanbin’s DOMINATION of first place is completely unprecedented in previous seasons of this show, with or without vote rigging. If he comes in first on Friday morning, it will be something we’ve never seen before on this show. 

Anyway, our top 9 is seated. Hey, if this is the debuting team, I’ll definitely follow them. 

1:36:26 Chair 18

This is the part where they announce who is ranked 18th, ie, the very last survivor. I’m not going to go in much depth here because this part isn’t fun to recap, you know? 

Haruto notices that Supercharger is still completely seated in the gallery -- no one has made it through the elimination. That’s the worst. 

Here’s who’s left, with their episode 8 rank. 

16 Haruto 18 Seo Won 19 Wang Zi Hao 20 Na Kamden 21 Lee Seung Hwan 22 Chen Kuan Jui 23 Zhang Shuai Bo 25 Takuto 26 Cha Woong Ki 27 Ollie 28 Hiroto

Who’s most likely to take that last spot? I hope Haruto, but really it could be any of them other than Z-Bo, Takuto, and Ollie, in my opinion. Let’s find out. 

Somi announces the FOUR candidates for spot 18 -- that’s so cruel. 

They announce Wang Zihao, Na Kamden, Cha Woongki, and Hiroto -- representing China, USA, Korea, and Japan.

Of course, this means that Haruto, Seo Won, Lee Seung Hwan, Chen Kuan Jui, Zhang Shuai Bo, Takuto and Ollie all have been eliminated. 

I can’t believe it about Haruto. The way he hangs his head just breaks my heart. I don’t even want to screen cap it. I didn’t see it coming so it was just a punch in the gut.

I’m sad for all of them, really, but aside from Haruto, I’m also especially sad for Lee Seunghwan, who, you may not know, already went through the reality show ringer once and was a member of 1the9, a group whose promotions were severely impacted by covid-19. Poor Seunghwan -- luck just never seems to be on his side, though he’s handsome, sweet, and talented. 

Side note: I was all up to date and ready to get this recap out on Saturday or something, but I just… didn’t… want to write it. I watched the whole thing taking quick notes to use as the basis of my recap later, and when Haruto was eliminated I just fast forwarded to find out who did survive and then turned the episode off and didn’t come back for several days. So if that’s how you’re feeling about it, me too. I guess maybe Haruto didn’t look like a viable candidate, so people gave up? Or maybe people thought that other people would vote for him, that he’d be safe? It’s strange to me that Hiroto beat Haruto in the final ranking. Nothing against Hiroto at all, but I’m just surprised. 

Anyway, let’s finish this. 

21st place turns out to be Hiroto, the only eliminated member of En Garde. From his spot on stage, Park Gunwook mutters to himself, “If we’d just gotten 1st place….” A general to the end, worrying about his troops. I will hear no talk about Gunwook being “mean” or anything like that. 

Hiroto says (in slow, careful Korean), “I didn’t get a good result because I was lacking, but…” (Woongki interrupts quietly, saying “that’s not true,” and Somi looks heartbroken) “...I am happy if the Star Creators were happy while cheering for me.” It’s a very sweet speech.

Somi says, “You are not lacking!” and Hiroto’s face lights up. She continues: “None of you are lacking! All of you here are amazing!” There, that’s my girl. That’s my Somi. 💓 She is so much more human than pretty much any judge or host we’ve had on the show so far -- well, Sunmi was great too, but she was barely there. Somi knows exactly how these trainees feel and relates to them as equals, even though she’s successful and they’re not there yet. I’m glad she’s here. I bet she made this easier for them.

Next we announce 20th place: It’s Woongki. 

His final speech is at 1:39:55 and it’s great. He says, “When I said that I would appear on Boys Planet, people told me that what I want is different from what I can do, that my time is up, and that I would learn to face reality. But I feel like that’s not true. Through Boys Planet, I was able to learn more about my potential as Cha Woongki. Woongki boy is just beginning. Thank you!” and then with a bright smile, he bows. Yeah, Woongki! 

Somi says, shaking a cue card in the air for emphasis, “Don’t give up on your dream!” And Woongki cheerfully says, “I won’t!” 

Finally, we announce 18th place, which means announcing 19th place at the same time. 

18th place turns out to be Na Kamden. Jay practically falls out of his chair in relief, and we see Z-bo’s face is lit up with happiness. Ollie gives him a congratulatory hug -- probably the whole English speaking crew got pretty close at the show. Other trainees gather to console Wang Zi Hao, who is taking it in stride, as he takes basically everything in life. 

Kamden says, “Honestly, when I wasn’t called before, I was organizing my thoughts and emptied myself of expectations.   But thank you so much for allowing me to stand on such a large stage as the final.” Then he adds in English, “Love you Mom!” and then in Korean says, “I made it to the final!” 

We check in with Wang Zi Hao. he says, in Chinese, “I was grateful to be able to experience these times together with everyone. I will treasure the fact that I was able to make good memories with you all at this starting point of my life. Thank you.” He’s such a sweetheart. Haruto mentioned that Wang Zi Hao joined Supercharger voluntarily in order to help Haruto -- isn’t that sweet. There’s often a G R E A T   A G E N C Y   R E S H U F F L I N G following a show like this, so I’m hoping that WZH ends up signing at another agency so we can see more of him in the future. 

Somi wishes the ten eliminated trainees the best, and we pan over them. Haruto seems to be having the worst time of it -- the rest saw it coming, at least. 

Here is the complete final ranking -- filling in the last few spots with some help from the internet. 

Sung Hanbin

Zhang Hao

Kim Jiwoong 

Kim Taerae

Han Yujin

Keita

Kim Gyubin

Ricky  

Seok Matthew

Hui

Park Hanbin

Park Gunwook

Jay

Yoo Seungeon

Yoon Jongwoo

Kum Junhyeon

Lee Jeonghyeon

Na Kamden

Wang Zihao

Cha Woongki

Hiroto

Haruto

Chen Kuan Jui

Lee Seunghwan

Seo Won

Ollie

Takuto

Zhang Shuai Bo

Sung Hanbin is 1,046,481 points* ahead of Hao, who is 816,760 points ahead of 3rd place. However, JiWoong, TaeRae, and Yujin are all within about 25,000 points of each other, making them virtually tied. Then there’s 432,355 points between Yujin and Keita, so that puts Keita down kind of a tier. Keita is only 51,928 points ahead of Gyuvin, making them almost tied. The next few ranks are all about 130k-150k apart from each other, like a stair case, but then there’s a big gap (311,148) between Matthew and Hui. But from Hui down to Na Kamden, they’re all pretty close together, like 6000-60,000 apart --  especially if you remember that Lee Jeonghyeon got that 200,000 point benefit. 

*I say points because they’re not straight up votes, due to the K/G weighting thing.

What I’m saying is that unless something drastic happens, I think that Sung Hanbin and Hao will be 1-2 on Friday; JiWoong, TaeRae, and Yujin all look like locks as well, and from Keita down to Matthew, things could easily move around, but it’s not looking super-duper likely that many people from Hui down to Kamden will end up in the top 9 -- unless Park Hanbin continues his meteoric rise and Matthew continues his sharp fall.  If you're curious, here's the ranking of the top 18 if only Korean votes decided things:

Sung Hanbin

Kim Tae Rae

Kim Gyu Vin

Han Yu Jin

Kim Ji Woong

Zhang Hao

Yoo Seung Eon

Na Kamden

Kum Jun Hyeon

Park Hanbin

Hui

Lee Jeong Hyeon

Ricky

Park Gunwook

Yoon Jong Woo

Seok Matthew

Keita

Jay

And here's the ranking if only Global votes decided things:

Keita

Zhang Hao

Sung Hanbin

Jay

Seok Matthew

Kim Ji Woong

Han Yu Jin

Ricky

Park Gunwook

Yoon Jong Woo

Kim Tae Rae

Hui

Kim Gyu Vin

Park Hanbin

Kum Jun Hyeon

Yoo Seung Eon

Lee Jeong Hyeon

Na Kamden

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

So... the next phase is the one-pick vote. I could rant at length about how dumb the one-pick system is in terms of creating a sustainable group. Groups that are truly successful tend to have multiple members that are popular among fans. There’s a popular boy group that I personally like only 2 members of, so I really can’t consider myself a fan of that group. Meanwhile in Exo, I basically can’t pick a favorite because I really like almost all of them. So letting us vote for multiple members would tend to create a situation in which the group is all loved by all the fans.

The rest of the episode was the boys preparing for their next song, and I have to admit, I don’t much care about those two last songs. The performances happen AT the finale, once the audience has already voted, so there’s kind of no point to them.  

Here are the two groups for the two songs:

Hot Summer Sung Hanbin  Kim Taerae  Kim Ji Woong  Ricky  Lee Jeong Hyeon  Kim Gyuvin  Han Yujin  Keita  Yoon Jongwoo  

Jelly Pop Hui  Yoo Seung Eon  Zhang Hao  Park Gunwook  Kum Junhyeon  Park Hanbin  Jay  Na Kamden  Seok Matthew 

Who knows, maybe I’ll recap the rest later, but I wanted to get this posted. 

Hope you’re all doing well, and I hope that your one-pick makes it. 

[fcble]

In which Byeonghwi has a crush. FEATURING: Lim Byeonghwi, Kim Gicheol WORD COUNT: 6.8k SETTING: September 2016 WARNINGS / NOTES: Smoking. This was not supposed to be this long but here we are. Happy pride month.

Halfway through Byeonghwi’s third year of middle school, he gets a new seatmate. It’s not his choice. Haeju, who sat there for most of the year, has transferred somewhere else. Sitting alone was lonely in the beginning, but Byeonghwi is used to it. His friends always tell him how jealous they are that he gets two desks to himself.

All the space is luxurious, until the day an unfamiliar boy with headphones wrapped around his neck and a skateboard tucked under one arm walks into the classroom seconds before class starts. His entrance is intercepted by the teacher, who forces him to introduce himself to the class.

The new boy does a quick, half-hearted bow. He slouches as he stands. The top three buttons of his uniform shirt are unbuttoned, and his tie is crooked. “I’m Kim Gicheol. I moved here last week.”

Byeonghwi can’t imagine why anyone would choose to move out here, to such a small city, where the greatest attraction is a railroad connection.

Gicheol takes the only seat left in the classroom, right next to Byeonghwi. He would fit in better in the back, where a group of boys and a couple of girls are dressed almost exactly like him, missing only the skateboard.

Next to him, Byeonghwi feels uptight and a little self-conscious in comparison. He shifts slightly to the left to give Gicheol as much space as he needs. He spends the rest of the morning so consciously aware that there’s another person next to him that he doesn’t hear a single word about what they’re supposed to be learning. 

When it’s finally lunch time, Byeonghwi expects Gicheol to gravitate towards people more like him. He doesn’t expect him to make a beeline straight for him in the crowded cafeteria.

Gicheol’s lunch tray hits the table with a loud thunk, interrupting Byeonghwi’s conversation with Jundae.

“You don’t mind me sitting here, do you?” Gicheol asks, sitting in the empty seat next to Byeonghwi without giving him a chance to say no.

“You’re the new boy,” Chaewook says with his mouth full from Byeonghwi’s other side. “I’m Chaewook. Byeonghwi’s neighbor and best friend. We’re not in the same class.”

“That’s Jundae, and that’s Woong,” Byeonghwi says, introducing the two other boys that sit across from them. “They sit in front of us in class.”

“It’s so unfair that everyone except me was placed into the same homeroom,” Chaewook complains, still eating.

Jundae shrugs. “Not our fault.”

After that, the conversation turns to Gicheol. They grill him for his backstory to learn that he moved to Jecheon from Paju with his mother and grandmother. He doesn’t have any siblings, but he did have a dog until they moved. The dog stayed behind in Paju with one of his cousins. The only thing he won’t talk about is why he moved.

“I won’t stay here for a long time,” Gicheol says. “I’m going to move to Seoul. I want to be an idol.”

Byeonghwi exchanges a glance with Chaewook, and then they both break out in laughter. Even the usually stoic Woong cracks a smile. Maybe it’s unfair, because he’s just met Gicheol. But Byeonghwi can’t picture him, with his skateboard and his sloppy uniform, singing and dancing in perfect synchronization.

Gicheol stops eating. “It’s not that funny.”

“You don’t look like an idol,” Jundae says. 

“I know.” Gicheol stabs a gamja jorim with both his chopsticks. “It’s my stupid dream.”

“I didn’t say that,” Jundae says. “But whatever, if that’s what you think.”

Gicheol becomes Byeonghwi's friend very quickly. If he had to describe him in one word, it would be cool. There’s no looking past it. Gicheol is cool. He rides a skateboard and listens to loud American rock music and carries a pack of cigarettes in his back pocket.

Even after his status as the new guy wears off, he still stands out. He dresses himself differently and holds himself differently. Byeonghwi is entranced. He starts making excuses for the two of them to hang out without anyone else.

He learns more about his boring city through Gicheol’s tourist eyes. Everywhere is new. The mall, frequented by only the most geriatric citizens, becomes a place of endless fascination. He explores the parks and side streets and alleyways. He hikes out to the mountains and rivers, goes for swims in nothing but his underwear, shivering the entire time. He smokes his first cigarette in an abandoned rail tunnel, coughing while Gicheol thumps him sympathetically on the back.

The one thing Byeonghwi doesn’t have the courage for is skipping school. He’ll be in high school soon, and then university, and he simply can’t afford to miss a day. Gicheol skips, every now and then. Byeonghwi covers for him, saying he’s sick or his mom’s car broke down, even when lying makes him feel like he’s riddled with guilt. He doesn’t know where Gicheol goes or what he does, just that he always returns the next day without fail, saying nothing about his absence. 

“Where do you go, when you aren’t in school?” Byeonghwi asks once he finally builds up the courage to do so.

The abandoned rail tunnel has become their spot. The two of them sit there now, padding the hard ground with old blankets stolen—borrowed—from Byeonghwi’s house. Most of the light comes from a flashlight laying on the ground, to supplement the little sunlight that trickles into the man-made cave.

In response, Gicheol pulls out his pack of cigarettes and flips the lid open, offering it to Byeonghwi. Confused, Byeonghwi takes one. Gicheol follows suit. He lights them both for the two of them, and inhales deeply before he says anything.

Gicheol exhales a cloud of smoke. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to laugh.”

The lit cigarette dangles from Byeonghwi’s hand. He’s gotten only marginally better since his first time. “I won’t laugh,” he promises.

“I go to auditions,” he says.

“Auditions?” Byeonghwi repeats.

“Auditions to become a kpop idol,” Gicheol clarifies. 

That wasn’t the great secret Byeonghwi was expecting. “That’s it?”

Gicheol takes another drag from his cigarette. “I should have made you promise not to laugh and not to ridicule me.”

“I'm not,” Byeonghwi protests. “I thought you would say something else.”

“Like what? We've known each other for months now. What did you expect?”

Byeonghwi is too ashamed to share his thoughts. He has a hard time reconciling the playful, energetic boy who's become his friend with the person who walked into the classroom that fateful day. He says as much.

Gicheol laughs. “I wear the uniform like that because it's ugly as fuck. Skateboarding is faster than walking. Smoking…” He trails off. “Halmeoni and Eomma always did it around me. I thought it was normal. Halmeoni’s so absent-minded. She doesn’t notice if a pack or two disappears.”

Byeonghwi side-steps his words. “You travel to Seoul by yourself?”

“It isn’t hard after the first time.”

Byeonghwi could never do that. Traveling around his hometown is one thing, because he's lived in the same place his entire life, and he knows exactly what it's like. Traveling some five or more hours across the country to a much different, much larger city is terrifying. 

“If you’re not going to smoke, I’ll take that,” Gicheol says with a nod to the lit cigarette still in Byeonghwi’s hand.

Byeonghwi hands it to him wordlessly.

Something changes again between the two of them. Gicheol reveals more bits and pieces of his life. His dad left when he was seven. Becoming an idol is the easiest way he can think of to be a celebrity, in hopes of impressing and reconnecting with his father. The real reason he moved was for his grandmother’s ailing health, because she hoped the countryside air would be better for her.

Byeonghwi does his best to be open-minded, though he wonders how Gicheol’s mom can run a household and raise him and take care of her own mother all at the same time. He accompanies Gicheol to the local dance studio on Thursdays after school, the one day a week Byeonghwi doesn’t go to hagwon or have soccer practice. He was previously unaware such a place existed.

Gicheol fits in there with the same ease it took him to become one of Byeonghwi’s good friends. He greets everyone by name, introducing Byeonghwi as they go along to an empty practice room. 

It’s dingy and a bit dark, even with the lights on. The floor reminds him of that of a gym, complete with scratches and scuff marks. The opposite wall is covered with floor to ceiling mirrors. A bar around waist height spans the length of another wall.

Byeonghwi drops his backpack to the floor, shutting the door behind him. “Do you ever have an audience?” he asks.

“I used to, before I moved.” Gicheol connects his phone to the room’s speaker. “Sometimes I’d perform with some friends.”

“I’ll be your audience.” It comes out much more eager and enthusiastic than he intended.

Gicheol doesn’t seem to notice. “You would? Thanks.”

Before long, Byeonghwi becomes a fixture. Not in the regular dancer sort of way, but more like a furniture fixture.

“You can't come here only to watch,” Gicheol says.

But Byeonghwi likes watching him. He likes sitting on the floor or standing off to the side, entranced by the way Gicheol makes the music become part of him. It’s obvious to him, who knows nothing about music or dance, how good Gicheol is. He’s like a different person when he dances, and in a good way. Byeonghwi loves seeing him so clearly skilled and impassioned.

“I’ll teach you,” he offers.

Byeonghwi laughs nervously. “You don’t have to do that.”

Then he thinks about all the new and exciting and enjoyable experiences he’s had with Gicheol that he never would have had otherwise. He thinks about how Gicheol’s sole after school and sometimes weekend activity is coming here and dancing. He can’t take his words back.

“I want to,” Gicheol insists, oblivious to the turmoil in Byeonghwi’s head.

Byeonghwi pretends to be reluctant as he agrees.

So he becomes not a furniture fixture, but a human fixture, always in the company of Gicheol. If he knew what Gicheol’s teaching style was like, he would have accepted without hesitating at all. Gicheol can’t describe with his words what he wants Byeonghwi to do, so he positions him in front of the mirror and guides him through the movements.

Every place on Byeonghwi’s body that he touches sends another pulse of warmth through him. Each evening, he remembers all of the individual touches, whether it was a gentle guiding nudge, or a full movement of his arm.

Byeonghwi picks it up fast. It comes as a surprise. Part of it, he thinks, is that maybe he has a natural disposition for it that he never would have found otherwise. The other part of it is that he finds himself overwhelmed with the need to impress Gicheol.

The surprise when in his voice when he says, “You’re pretty good” is the greatest thing Byeonghwi has ever heard. 

He flushes at the compliment and makes it his main goal to please and surprise Gicheol, in pursuit of that same feeling over and over again.

As time passes, Byeonghwi is able to keep up more and more. He practices on his own without telling Gicheol: well within the confines of his bedroom, on sleepless nights when he can’t think of anything other than what he’ll do the next time they see each other. 

They learn kpop choreographies, because that’s what Gicheol has to know. Byeonghwi is only along for the ride. He sits back and watches as Gicheol stares at a video on his phone, moving one arm and his legs as he starts memorizing the moves. It takes him a few rewatches for him to get the general gist of each dance. Then he’ll teach the steps to Byeonghwi, who has yet to master the art of learning from watching a video on a tiny screen.

It amuses them both to no end that Gicheol is always the one out of breath by the end of a song, when he’s been dancing for much longer than Byeonghwi has. Outwardly, Byeonghwi blames it on the years he spent playing soccer. Inwardly, he knows it’s because he’s around Gicheol. If Gicheol asked him to jump, his only question would be how high?

“Something is going on with you,” Chaewook declares one evening. They're sitting on the floor of Byeonghwi's living room, supposedly working on their homework. A plate of sliced watermelon and some rinds sits between them.

Byeonghwi is doing his homework. Chaewook is eating.

“Nothing is going on,” Byeonghwi says.

“You're acting strange. Like you're not really here.”

“How can I do that?”

“Somehow.”

Chaewook has four older sisters. It seems to make him more susceptible to emotions. It's also why he likes to spend evenings at Byeonghwi's house.

He snaps his fingers. Byeonghwi looks up.

“I know why,” Chaewook says. He swallows the rest of his food quickly. “It has to do with Gicheol.”

Byeonghwi feels his heartbeat quicken in his chest and a surge of heat rush through his body. “It has nothing to do with Gicheol,” he says.

Chaewook stares him down. “You spend more time with him than you do with me. It's suspicious.”

“You count?” Byeonghwi says, deflecting the accusation, because it's true. He's been blowing off his friends a lot lately with excuses—his parents need him to run errands, he isn't feeling well, he has to study extra for the next test. They’re not completely lies. Sometimes Byeonghwi rushes through his chores and spends the rest of the time with Gicheol. Sometimes he tells himself he’s feeling fine when he’s not, or only skims over his notes. It’s all for Gicheol. Byeonghwi doesn’t know how he existed without him. It’s like his life only started the day the two of them met.

“I don't think it's good that you hang out with him so much.” Chaewook lowers his voice. “I heard he was in a gang in Seoul. Every time he skips school it's to go participate in gang activities. Yookyung-noona told me she saw him at a bar last weekend. I heard he has a fake ID to buy soju and cigarettes.”

Yookyung is Chaewook’s second oldest sister, flirty and flighty and a gossip. Byeonghwi wouldn’t take her word for it, because nothing else he just heard is true. The only one with the slightest bit of truth is Gicheol’s smoking habit. Chaewook would have an aneurysm if he knew Byeonghwi had also participated in it.

“Gicheol isn't from Seoul,” Byeonghwi says. He doesn’t reveal why Gicheol skips school. It feels like their little secret, something he clearly never revealed to anyone except Byeonghwi.

“That doesn’t mean it isn’t true,” Chaewook insists. 

There’s no winning with him. Byeonghwi can’t make an empty promise to not spend time with Gicheol, so he says, “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

He puts his head down and goes back to his work, signaling to Chaewook that he’s done talking about this.

“Let’s go to an audition,” Gicheol says. It’s a freezing January evening, but they sit outside anyway, two bundled-up figures on the stone wall bordering the parking lot of their school.

For once, Gicheol isn’t smoking. He sits on his hands instead. “I heard of one next month. It’s a new company, but the founder used to work for SM Entertainment. They’re saying that if you can pass that audition, you can pass an SM one.”

“When is it?” Byeonghwi asks. He doesn’t think he has any of his own desire to participate. 

“February third.”

Byeonghwi runs through the calendar in his head. They graduate a little over a week after that, on a Saturday. “There’s school that day.”

“It’s almost the end of the school year,” Gicheol says. “It doesn’t matter if you miss one day. Have you never skipped class?”

Byeonghwi shakes his head. “No.” He can see his breath, a little white cloud of air that quickly evaporates into the dark sky.

“So let's do it. Once.”

Byeonghwi thinks about it. It never occurred to him that he could make his own choices and not go to school if he didn't want to go to school. Wants have always been difficult for him. He knows what it feels like to want something, that yearning tug in his chest. It's just that the feeling is always accompanied by one of wrongness, quickly followed by guilt.

He doesn't know if it's possible to want a person, but there's something about Gicheol that gives him the same feeling. Byeonghwi makes every excuse he can to spend hours with him, to feel the sparks that shoot up his spine when they sit like this, pressed hip to shoulder under the guise of warmth. It's an unfamiliar yet pleasant feeling, the way his heart rattles in his rib cage so frantically he thinks it might burst out, the way his mouth goes dry and his tongue twists when he tries to speak, when he tries to say things to make Gicheol laugh.

“Okay,” Byeonghwi agrees. “I'll go, once. I won’t audition, but I’ll go with you.”

He thinks about all the time they’ll have together: the almost five hour train rides each way, the rest of the day with the city at their fingertips. 

Gicheol wraps Byeonghwi up in a one-arm hug. It does nothing against the cold, yet Byeonghwi feels warmed from somewhere deep inside himself.

Later, he regrets it. The date of the audition draws closer, and Byeonghwi is forced to confront the reality of lying to his parents. He spends sleepless nights tossing and turning, wondering just how he’ll stomach it all. The thrill of spending an entire day with Gicheol does nothing to dampen his guilt.

His stomach churns in circles when the night before the audition finally arrives. They have everything planned out: Byeonghwi will sleep over at Gicheol’s house with its more absent-minded adults, citing a school project, and then they’ll sneak out early in the morning. By the time the rest of the city wakes up for school and work, they’ll be well on their way to Seoul.

Everything goes according to plan. Gicheol wakes Byeonghwi before the sun, and they slip out the door, shivering, to the train station.

The train is much warmer inside than outside. They sit in one of the middle cars, trying not to call attention to themselves. They're two teenagers and it's a weekday. It's a bit obvious that they should be in school.

Byeonghwi makes this more obvious by working on his homework. Gicheol had let him sit by the window so he could see the scenery on the way to Seoul. Byeonghwi stares at his math homework instead. 

Gicheol doesn't do much. He puts on his playlist of audition songs. There are only five of them. They share one pair of earbuds, the left side for Byeonghwi and the right for Gicheol. Byeonghwi is sick of the songs an hour into the ride.

Other than that, he stares past Byeonghwi out the window and wanders around the train and comes back with food. They eat as the landscape rolls by, nothing but empty wilderness.

Byeonghwi teaches Gicheol the basics of Go. They play on Byeonghwi's phone, passing it between the two of them with each move. It takes a few games for Gicheol to pick it up. Byeonghwi beats him handily six times in a row.

It’s easy to tell when they’ve reached Seoul. They passed through other, smaller cities on the way, but none of them can compare to the glittering skyscrapers and crowded blocks of the capital. It’s an almost entirely new experience for Byeonghwi, who hasn’t been to Seoul since he was six. 

Gicheol leads the way, striding out of the terminal with confidence. He walks faster than he normally does. Byeonghwi hurries to keep pace. 

Eventually, they find their way to the location of the audition. It’s easy to tell that they’re at the right place, judging by the line of teenage boys, young men, and some parents that snakes around the theater where the audition is taking place. Everything in the area screams at Byeonghwi that he doesn’t belong: the polish on every single other person he sees, the speeds at which the crowds move, the undercurrent of grime on the streets.

Gicheol is no exception either. He’s dressed nicer than Byeonghwi has ever seen him, wearing the slightest hint of makeup with immaculately styled hair he arranged on the train ride.

Byeonghwi follows him to a young woman who marks the end of the line. She holds a clipboard balanced on a stack of paper.

“Are you registered or a walk-in?” she asks, sounding bored.

Gicheol flashes her a bright smile and says, “Registered. For Kim Gicheol.”

He emphasizes each syllable of his name and the woman scans her list. Byeonghwi catches sight of name after name after name, words so tightly printed on the page he wonders how she can read it.

She checks his name off the list. “You have your paperwork?”

Gicheol takes it out of his backpack and shows her he's completed it.

The woman nods and turns to Byeonghwi. “And you?”

“I'm not auditioning,” he says quickly, trying to wave her away.

She looks him up and down and says, “You should try.” She hands Byeonghwi a blank form and moves on.

Holding the paper like it's contagious, he looks at the questions. They're all fairly straightforward: name, age, height, weight, talents and skills, on and on and on. 

“You should try it out,” Gicheol says.

“Can I see what you wrote?” Byeonghwi asks.

There are no surprises on Gicheol's paper. It makes sense. Byeonghwi knows his name and age. His desired position is dance. His favorite artist is Infinite. His special skills and talents are acrobatics and his tenacity. Byeonghwi doesn’t think that second one should count, but he is very tenacious.

He retrieves a pen from his pencil case. There's a spot on the paper where he can attach a picture of himself. That's not possible when he's standing here in line. He draws a stick figure self-portrait. He takes a guess at his height and weight, then adds a few centimeters to his height and knocks a few kilograms off his weight. He fumbles answers to the rest of the questions. He lists IU as his favorite artist—that sounds fine. His previous experiences with singing, acting, or modeling—none.

At the front of the line, they’re waved in in groups of ten and led to a backstage dressing room. There, their papers are collected, and they're given instructions of what comes next. The auditions take place in groups, to save time. Each of them will get a minute to introduce themselves and demonstrate their skills for the judges.

Gicheol sits on the floor of the dressing room and takes deep breaths. Byeonghwi has a sudden flood of empathy for cattle. He feels like livestock, with the way they're being herded everywhere. 

He doesn't talk to anyone else. One of the other guys in their group insists on playing his music out loud, very loudly, and practicing his dance. Gicheol stares daggers at his back until Byeonghwi distracts him with an extremely tense game of Go.

Then they move again, up a sloping hallway to one of the stage wings. From here, Byeonghwi can hear everything happening on stage. He listens to one auditionee sing. He doesn't sound bad.

A voice—one of the judges, presumably—says through a microphone, “Next,” cutting off the original singer. 

The next person introduces himself, and an upbeat dance track starts to play over the speakers. A few seconds in, the same voice stops him.

“Is this normal?" Byeonghwi whispers to Gicheol.

Gicheol shakes his head. “They usually see out your whole audition. It's polite, even if your performance is bad.”

This does not bode well for Byeonghwi. He hears only two auditions in full: one rapper who performs a whole forty-five second verse, and one vocalist who introduces himself in four languages before he sings an American pop song in flawless English.

Then it's their turn. Byeonghwi is eighth in line. Gicheol is seventh.

Byeonghwi blinks against the bright stage lights, but he doesn't squint. He tries to stay relaxed, forcing a pleasant expression onto his face. There are about seven people sitting in a row in the audience, mostly middle-aged men. Only the one in the middle holds a microphone. He must have been the one speaking and ending auditions early. 

“You may begin,” the man in the middle says.

The first of Byeonghwi's group is cut off halfway through his song. Byeonghwi forces himself to breathe. It isn't a big deal, if he’s cut off, he tells himself. He never planned to be here. What does he expect?

Two of the people before Byeonghwi and Gicheol get to perform in full. One of them is the dancer with the obnoxiously loud music. Then it's Gicheol's turn. He steps forward, announces his name loudly and fully, and starts his prepared dance routine.

Byeonghwi loves watching Gicheol dance. To be fair, he loves watching Gicheol do anything. Having seen the work he put into his craft and his final performance is a special experience, and one only he gets to have.

The seconds tick on and on. Byeonghwi waits for the inevitable signal that Gicheol's attempt is over and it's his turn.

It never comes. Gicheol's music draws to a close. He strikes an ending pose and holds it for a second, before bowing and thanking the judges. He steps back in line and grins from ear to ear at Byeonghwi.

Emboldened by his friend's success, Byeonghwi steps forward.

“Hello, my name is Lim Byeonghwi.” He bows formally, a full ninety degree bend at the waist. He holds it for maybe a beat too long, and has to push his bangs out of his eyes when he stands up.

“I’ll be singing ‘Shall I Love You Again’ by Kim Dong Ryul.”

Then he starts to sing. He picked an older song—a song the same age as him—because he thought the judges would be older. He was right on that one. Byeonghwi keeps his eyes not on the people evaluating him but the row slightly above them. Since he never heard it with Gicheol, he expects his performance to be cut short. 

It doesn't happen. He finishes his prepared verse and chorus, heartbeat triple what it should be. Then Byeonghwi bows formally again, and steps back into line.

Neither of them pass. Byeonghwi thought their performances weren't bad. At least they were able to complete their auditions. Gicheol has faced rejection so many times it’s normal to him. 

Byeonghwi never entertains the idea of auditioning ever again.

They graduate middle school and start high school. Gicheol misses the second and the fifteenth and the eighteenth days. The seat next to Byeonghwi remains cold and empty.

After school on the eighteenth day, Gicheol calls him. Byeonghwi is on his way to hagwon with Jundae and Chaewook. He slows down his walking pace, earning himself a questioning look from Jundae.

“I passed the audition!” Gicheol says over the phone. The joy in his voice is evident. Byeonghwi wishes he could see his face.

“Congratulations! That’s great,” Byeonghwi says.

He’s happy for him, of course. Gicheol participated in so many auditions, only to be rejected at the first or second phase. It was about time his skills were acknowledged.

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Gicheol says. “I was nervous, because it was only my third time doing a third round audition. I forgot one of the lyrics. But I kept performing, and they liked that. My train’s almost here. I’ll tell you about it when I get back.”

The line clicks.

“He passed an idol audition,” Byeonghwi explains to his friends.

“He’s still into that?” Jundae asks.

“It’s his dream.”

Jundae snorts. “It’s stupid.”

Byeonghwi doesn’t think it’s stupid. He still thinks Gicheol is cool, and so by extension, whatever he wants is also cool.

They continue in silence to hagwon.

Gicheol comes back that night flush with excitement.

“They gave me the offer while I was still there,” he says when Byeonghwi meets him at the station.

It’s late at night, but Gicheol’s energy is invigorating. After a few hours of cramming his head full of Korean history dates, he needs this.

They walk slowly back home. It’s cold, but in a pleasant way, not the piercing cold that somehow penetrates all of Byeonghwi’s layers during the depths of winter.

“They said I could move in as soon as I wanted. The company is small, so I wasn’t sure what they’d offer. They house all their trainees together and I won’t have to pay for anything until I debut.” Gicheol chatters away, more excited than Byeonghwi’s ever heard him.

He’s happy, so Byeonghwi should be too. But what he feels instead is dread. He knew Gicheol would leave eventually. It shouldn’t be so surprising, and it shouldn’t hurt the way it does.

“When will you be on TV?” he asks lightly, burying the dread deep down.

“I don’t know yet,” Gicheol says, looking slightly crestfallen. “I’m only a trainee until my agency thinks I’m ready to debut. I’d do it now, if I could.”

“I’ll wait,” Byeonghwi says, “for as long it takes.”

Gicheol gives him a strange look. Byeonghwi’s heart stops. He’s said the wrong thing, and now Gicheol thinks he’s weird and won’t want to be friends with him anymore and—

“I guess that makes you my first fan,” Gicheol says.

Byeonghwi feels like he’s soaring.

Gicheol loses access to his phone. He warns Byeonghwi of this in advance. It still surprises and worries him when his texts remain unread and unanswered except for a very specific period of a few hours on the weekends. 

Byeonghwi memorizes it. He makes sure he’s available, evading Chaewook and locking himself in his bedroom to smile at his phone screen when Gicheol finally texts back. It pales in comparison to having the real Gicheol next to him. 

Looking back at his old texts after nearly a week always feels a bit weird. He’s sure whatever problems and news he has can’t hold a candle to Gicheol’s new idol and city experiences. He’s afraid Gicheol will see them and laugh, or consider his messages trivial and childish. He’s probably busy making cooler, more interesting friends than Byeonghwi.

But Gicheol responds to everything diligently, reacting appropriately to every message. Sometimes Byeonghwi calls and tells him all of the rumors that popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, following Gicheol’s move to Seoul. They laugh about the ridiculousness of one of the latest reasons: Gicheol is secretly a chaebol heir, who had to flee in the first place because of arguments and assassination attempts over who the company really belonged to.

Byeonghwi brings up some of the older ones too, like the bars and the fake ID. He expects Gicheol to laugh along with those too, until he says, “I do have a fake.”

Byeonghwi stops laughing. “You do?”

“I thought it might be useful, but I don’t use it,” Gicheol says.

There are no situations Byeonghwi would ever find himself in that a fake ID would help him in. He stays quiet, and Gicheol changes the subject.

Byeonghwi continues to send his highlights during the week, and Gicheol responds over the weekends. Sometimes they call, sometimes they text.

And then one weekend, Byeonghwi gets a text with perfect grammar and punctuation. It reads, simply enough, Please stop contacting me. Gicheol doesn’t text like that. He never uses punctuation and drops all his particles. Byeonghwi responds with a number of question marks. His message isn’t even read, despite it still being within the two hour time period Gicheol usually has his phone.

He calls, twice. Both times, Gicheol’s phone rings and rings and rings. Byeonghwi listens to his voice mail message just to hear his voice.

Time ticks on and on. Gicheol never responds. Byeonghwi lies listlessly in bed, staring at his blank phone screen.

A few weeks later, he receives another call. This one is from Zenith Entertainment, with a revision of results from the audition he attended. They want him to audition again. He thinks about Gicheol living in Seoul and the Gicheol-shaped hole in his heart. It’s only been a little over a month since he left. It might as well be a lifetime. Byeonghwi immediately accepts.

The woman on the other end of the line asks if he's available tomorrow. Byeonghwi thinks about how he's supposed to go to school, and tells her he can make it.

The train ride is lonely without Gicheol. He listens to music for most of it, reviewing the few songs and choreographies he does know. He spends the rest of the ride assuring his friends he's fine and hasn’t been replaced by an alien with a willingness to bend the rules who happens to look like him—Chaewook’s words.

From the Seoul station, he navigates to the address he was given. When he checked the map earlier, the building was marked as a copywriting agency. Byeonghwi remembers Gicheol telling him about how the company is new—he remembers every small detail Gicheol has ever mentioned to him—and decides he’ll trust the woman on the phone.

The sign on the building reads “SEOUL COPYWRITERS INCORPORATED,” just like it does online. Byeonghwi stares at it for a moment and double checks his location. He stands on the sidewalk for a moment, weighing his options.

Then the double doors swing open and a young man walks out, dressed in a loose button-up tucked into a pair of slacks. Byeonghwi figures he’s a copywriting employee, until he calls out, “Lim Byeonghwi? For Zenith Entertainment?”

Byeonghwi almost jumps. “Yes, that’s me.”

The young man smiles at him. “I’m Jaeseop.” He holds his right hand out, Western-style. Byeonghwi hurries to shake it. Jaeseop’s grip is firm and solid. It’s oddly comforting.

“I know the signs are confusing,” Jaeseop says as they enter the building together. “The company offices are on the third floor. I keep saying we need our own sign, but apparently it’s easier for me to go up and down every time.”

The first floor appears to be a lobby of some sorts. A young woman sitting behind a computer screen looks up when they first walk in. She turns back to her work as they head toward the elevator. 

The elevator arrives quickly, giving Byeonghwi barely any time to take in the rest of the building’s interior. They ride up to the third floor in silence.

He feels inappropriately dressed. He thought this would be an idol audition with singing and dancing. He wonders if every small entertainment company looks like this.

The elevator opens to a long hallway with doors on both sides. Jaeseop leads him almost all the way down the hallway.

“We’ll be in here,” he says, pushing open a door and gesturing for Byeonghwi to step inside first.

It looks like a conference room. Most of the room is occupied by a long table with twelve chairs. The walls are white and featureless. One of them has a shelf built on it, empty and white and featureless. A projector screen along another wall seems to be only decoration, if that even counts as a decoration.

A middle-aged man, the same one who sat in the middle at the audition, sits at the table with a laptop and a few papers in front of him. The top one is Byeonghwi’s audition form. There are a number of pictures of his face paperclipped to the top, printed on glossy photo paper. He only vaguely remembers taking a few photos on the way out from his audition.

The man faces the door, looking up when Byeonghwi and Jaeseop arrive.

“Have a seat, Byeonghwi,” he says, nodding at the chair opposite of him. Byeonghwi sits.

Jaeseop crosses the room and takes a seat next to the man.

“My name is Lee Taein,” the man says. “I’m the founder and CEO of Zenith Entertainment.”

Byeonghwi surges to his feet so he can execute a formal ninety-degree bow. “It’s very nice to meet you,” he says formally. The only knowledge he has about kpop auditions is what he’s heard from Gicheol, and he never mentioned anything about a talk with his label’s CEO.

“Likewise,” Taein says, sounding amused. 

Byeonghwi doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. He sits back down.

“Let’s start with you,” Taein says. “Tell me about yourself.”

“My name is Lim Byeonghwi,” he begins, like Taein doesn’t know his name. “I was born in Jecheon, and I’ve lived there my entire life.”

Jaeseop nods encouragingly, and Byeonghwi continues on. 

“I’m a high school first year. I was part of my middle school’s soccer team. I stopped playing in high school because I thought I should concentrate on my academics and pursue other interests.”

He leaves it open-ended for them to assume that another interest of his is being an idol. His real other interest is learning what Gicheol is doing in Seoul and asking Gicheol why he stopped talking to him and finding a place for himself in Gicheol’s life. The pursuit consumes him, but Byeonghwi doesn’t mind.

Taein never asks him to sing or dance or model or anything like that. He asks a series of questions that seem to be more about Byeonghwi’s personality. What’s his greatest strength? Biggest weakness? Where does he see himself in ten years? What could he bring to a group? Has he faced any conflicts while working in a team, and how did he solve it?

Byeonghwi answers each one as honestly and thoughtfully as he can while Jaeseop takes diligent notes. He isn’t sure what Taein wants to hear. He wonders if all auditions are like this. He wonders if he should ask if he has to sing or dance again.

“For my last question, I want you to be honest.”

Byeonghwi feels nothing but relief. He needs this—whatever it is—to be over already. He’s sweating through his shirt. It’s sticking to his back and he’s afraid of raising his arms.

“Do you want to be an idol?” Taein asks.

Byeonghwi weighs the question in his head. It seems to him that the obvious answer is yes. He should want to be an idol. He thinks about lying. Would he be able to live with himself if he lied when he was explicitly asked for honesty?

“No,” he answers truthfully, “but with time, I think I could.”

Taein nods, expressionless. “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. You’ll hear back from me with your results in a few days. Jaeseop will see you out.”

Zenith Entertainment doesn’t provide housing like Gicheol’s company does. Byeonghwi doesn’t learn this until after he accepts the final offer and is faced with the extremely daunting task of moving his life to Seoul. It looked easy when Gicheol did it.

He looks at impossibly expensive apartments for a few days, despairing because he has no way of paying or living on his own. He’s beginning to think that maybe this is all over before it even began when Jaeseop saves his life.

Jaeseop, who turns out to be a trainee and not the personal assistant Byeonghwi thought he was, bears an offer from another trainee who lives alone. 

“He’s a few years older than you,” Jaeseop says over the phone. “And he doesn’t have another bedroom.”

When Gicheol still talked to him, Byeonghwi heard worse stories of too many people in too small rooms. He figures two people in an apartment meant for one is nowhere near as bad. 

He barely thinks before he accepts the offer. He learns only a little more about his new roommate: his name is Andrew, he’s American, he has a bachelor’s degree in music composition, he attended the same audition Byeonghwi did—how funny is that?

Byeonghwi’s head spins, thinking more of how close he is to chasing down Gicheol than how he’s uprooting his own life.

He sends Gicheol a text: moving to seoul!!! It sits, unread, beneath the few other sporadic texts Byeonghwi had sent him anyway. If he really didn’t want to talk to him, he would have blocked him or changed his number or something more drastic.

For now, he’s buoyant with hope. He’ll find Gicheol again, and everything will go back to the way it was—the way it should be.

[solarsystementertainment]

Fashion Irritation

The Zodiac members get ready for an award show

The Zodiac dorm was currently in a level of chaos it hasn’t seen yet. The rookie group was nominated for several awards including the Asian Artist Award, which is the event the members were currently getting ready for. Ten of the members were running around the dorm getting ready. They might be trying to find their formal shoes, they might be trying to figure out how to tie their tie. Or maybe they were eating and some sauce fell on to their formal shirt and they were frantically trying to get the stain out.

Arthur had locked himself in his and Merlin's shared room and he was on the brink of tears. He was having a very bad day in terms of his fluctuating muscle weakness and fine motor skills. He was going to need to attend the award show while on his crutches. He's already nearly fallen over five times just in the dorm, so there was no way he was going to walk the red carpet or whatever without his mobility aid.

As frustrating as that is, Astrologers are aware that he occasionally needs crutches due to a childhood accident that flares up from time to time. Therefore it wasn't as frustrating as what was currently happening.

Arthur has spent the past twenty minutes trying to button his shirt. Yes he has been timing it. The thing is, his fine motor skills have decided to leave the building today, and he was still working on the first button. Normally this wouldn't be too much of an issue because he'd just wear a pull-over or find Merlin. Given the nature of the event, he couldn't wear a pull-over. Merlin also wasn't home.

Merlin had frantically run out of the dorm earlier with his garment bag. There had been some kind of emergency at the Venom-mal dorm and Jihye, Merlin's sister had texted him, telling him to come quick. Anyway, Merlin quickly packed up his outfit in his garment bag and told the group that he'd meet them at the venue for the award show.

Either way, since Arthur is unable to ask his boyfriend for help, he's going to need to ask one of the other members for help. It's honestly slightly embarrassing. He's not really embarrassed when Merlin helps him because one, they're in a relationship. And more importantly, two, they've known each other since they were in diapers and Merlin has always been there to help him whenever he needed it. It was almost like second nature. There's just something slightly awkward and embarrassing about having to ask someone for help. Especially when it's something you feel you shouldn't have issues with in the first place. Arthur sighed as he began thinking about which member he should ask for help.

Arthur grabbed his crutches and made his way out of his room. The scene he walked in on was somewhat humorous. His three hyungs were all dressed and looked rather pristine. Meanwhile Taehoon is underneath the pile of animals, who all apparently crawled on top of him for a nap. Jihoon was sitting with Jasper at the dining table doing some kind of homework. Youngbin and Junseok were in the kitchen, fighting over a bottle of hot sauce.The interesting thing is that the three oldest seemed to be watching the others out of their periphery, but didn’t seem that concerned about the chaos. Meanwhile Woong looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

The main thing is that Arthur didn't feel like bringing attention to himself right now. But if he goes into the common area to ask one of his members for help, that's exactly what he'll be doing. Ultimately, he decided to go back to his room and use his phone to text one of them to come and help him.

Arthur turned around to go back to his room. Just as he was turning the door knob of his door, he saw Minseok exit their room out of his periphery. Arthur chose to take his chance.

"Minseok-ah, can I please talk to you in my room?" He asked. Minseok nodded their head and followed Arthur.

"What's up, hyung?" They asked.

"I need help getting dressed." Arthur said, only to get a confused look in response.

"Why do you need help? You look like you're doing just fine on your own." Arthur sighed, once again feeling tears beginning to form.

"I can't get my shirt buttoned. Everytime I try, the button falls out of my grip." Out of the sheet frustration of the whole situation, the tears that had been threatening to come out finally spilled.

"Alright hyung." Minseok said. The younger grabbed either side of Arthur's shirt and buttoned it far quicker than Arthur could have on a good day.

"Thanks, Min. By the way, which tux did you decide to wear?"

"No problem, hyung. I chose the tux with the tails. I'm also going to put my hair in a bun. It'll look great." Minseok said excitedly before leaving the room to finish getting ready.

Now that Arthur’s shirt was buttoned, he finished getting dressed and finally joined the others in the common area. It wasn’t much longer before it was time for the group to leave for the award show. All eleven men were clad in black tuxedos. Some with tails, some without. Arthur was very much still a bit annoyed that he would be walking his very first red carpet while on crutches, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

Merlin had arrived at the venue before the group arrived, and he wasn’t matching the rest of the group. Instead of wearing a black tux, his was navy blue. Jehyuk looked a tiny bit annoyed at that, but there wasn’t much that could be done.

“Lin, why is your tux blue? It was black this morning.” Arthur asked his boyfriend. As much as he’d like to kiss him right now, he didn’t because they weren’t out to the public yet and their company told them to wait a bit longer.

Merlin had a somewhat fond smile on his face as he answered. “Apparently the emergency that Jihye messaged me about was of the fashion variety. Her group is also coming to this award show, but Joey’s tux was apparently too long. Jihye guessed that I’m the same size as Joey, so she asked me to bring my tux over. They only had black thread at the dorm and because of that it would be easier to hem a black tux over a navy blue tux. We switched tuxedos, then I helped with the process of hemming.” Jehyuk looked a little less annoyed at the explanation.

“You do realize that fans of both groups will likely notice the color change right?” Jehyuk asked.

“Yes, we’re all aware. Jihye messaged her group’s manager and he’s in contact with pr. Besides we all know it’s just going to be a rumour at most, if anything comes out. Also it might cause management to let us come out to the public sooner rather than later.” Merlin smirked as he said this. Literally the entire group rolled their eyes, but they had to agree with the point. What better way to get management to agree to revealing a relationship than causing a rumour of a non-existent relationship.

Sure enough Astrologers and Anti-Venom noticed that Merlin and Joey were wearing different colors compared to the rest of their groups. It also wasn’t super long before dating rumours between the did actually begin circulating. Merlin had also been right in that the dating rumour between himself and Joey did cause their company to allow Merlin and Arthur to come forward with their relationship much sooner.

[dreamingkdrama]

Bloodhounds

Genre: Action, Crime, Bromance

Episodes: 8

Starring: Woo Do-Hwan, Lee Sang-Yi, Park Sang-Woong, Heo Jun-Ho

Synopsis: Two young boxers set foot in the world of private loans. Trying to protect their loved ones and help all the poor people affected by the loan shark mafia, they start to work for a legendary president Choi and fight the the bad guys.

Positives: Action packed, but with very well depicted and likabke characters. The main duo is one of the best bromances I have ever seen, they are pure gold. I appreciate the suprising plot twists, fight scenes, intimidating villain and the boxing training scenes... you now what I mean...

Negatives: I would prefer more episodes, this story would deserve to be longer, it was a little bit rushed for me, but this won't be a problem if you are looking for something shorter. I also think that the way how they get rid of the Kim Hyeon-Ju (after some problems with the actress) was not the best thing, when they put all the effort to make her character so well set. Her storyline is not ended very satisfyingly.

Conclusion: Really great action drama with lot of fight scenes, blood, violence and all mafia stuff. The story is really dark, sometimes seems a little bit rushed, but the main two characters are so cute together that it is worth to watch it just for them two. I also give a one point for incorporation od COVID pandemy to the plot.

Action: 9/10 Romance: 1/10 Intriques: 7/10 Blood: 9/10 Whump: 8/10 Friendship: 10/10 Emotions: 9/10 Humor: 5/10

[sexy-lee-min-woo]

[PICPACK] 20230320 Andy & Eunjoo - Woong-Nam VIP movie premiere

Download pack 20+ photos (24MB) https://mega.nz/file/G1A0xIya#uyO1DBiJZc8jDa0bxlvDGHRgth04_flDHS6ckuryhB4

Videos https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCqWnayGaxntio7uXS_Pn6vMq3ocMF_OM https://tv.naver.com/v/34161297

[thrillrs-arc]

❛ ha ! i win ! ❜ -dez @ ryung-gu!

this is new for him, going out after a stressful case. usually he just goes back to the place they're staying without question, but jung-woong had suggested they visit the nearby bar. it seemed to be packed, if he had to guess, people were here for a similar reason; a hard day at work.

almost immediately, he'd been pulled away the other two, forced into a very intense game of pool. he'd been alive for a very long time, played many games, so he was confident he'd win.

but no, apparently it'd been far too long since he played. cause he's lost every game played so far, internally cursing at the fact that he even agreed to play in the first place. “ you know, i thought you were good at first. but now, i just feel like you're cheating. nobody can be that good. ” or maybe they can, and he's just a sore loser.

lilo and stitch prompts. | accepting !!

[k-star-holic]

'Diet' Lim Young-woong transforms into 'mask HERO' ~ Mask Pack 'Mask Pack' Real Daily '

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[otakusmart]

Highly Anticipated Korean Dramas Releasing In August 2023

The world of K-dramas is again set to blaze viewers with a stellar lineup of Kdramas releasing in August 2023.  This month is shaping to be an extraordinary time for K-drama enthusiasts as a diverse range of exciting shows takes center stage.  From heartwarming romances to spine-tingling thrillers, there's something for everyone to look forward to Kdramas releasing in August 2023.  Reflecting back on the whirlwind of emotions that August brought us last year in 2022, with titles like "Poong the Josean Psychiatrist," "If You Wish Me," "Big Mouth," and "Today's Webtoon," this year's offerings promise to be just as compelling, if not more.

Kdramas releasing in August 2023

"Destined with You"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyI4qfN5lDQ&ab_channel=KimRowoonedits One of the highlights of Kdramas releasing in August 2023 is "Destined with You," a tale that intertwines an irresistible romance with a touch of mystique.  Set against the backdrop of Lee Hong Jo and Jang Shin Yu's enchanting love story, the series delves into the intriguing narrative of a forbidden book.  This time, sealed within the hands of Hong Jo, holds a curse that ensnares Shin-yu in its web. With a promising cast featuring Rowoon as Shin-yu and Jo Bo ah as Lee Hong-jo, viewers can anticipate a riveting journey.  Scheduled for release on August 23rd, this drama is poised to captivate hearts. "Mask Girl" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTY9tZk5TY&ab_channel=NetflixK-Content A modern-day exploration of identity and insecurity takes center stage in "Mask Girl."  The drama introduces us to a young woman battling self-doubt about her appearance. She finds solace by creating an online persona, the Mask Girl. However, her newfound confidence takes an unexpected turn, plunging her into an overnight nightmare. Starring Go Hyun-Jung as Kim Mo-mi and Nana as the transformed Kim Mo-mi, alongside an impressive ensemble, including Ahn Jae-hong, Yeom Hye-ran, and Choi Daniel, this series promises to be a thought-provoking journey. "Mask Girl" is set to premiere on August 18th, exclusively on Netflix. "Moving" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZFRw7MSPog&ab_channel=DisneyPlusSingapore For those seeking a thrilling and action-packed adventure with Kdramas releasing in August 2023, "Moving" is poised to deliver.  This star-studded K-drama revolves around a group of teenagers who suddenly discover they possess extraordinary superpowers.  As they grapple with their newfound abilities, their parents embark on a mission to save them from encroaching evil.  With an ensemble cast featuring Ryu Seung-Yong, Han Hyo-Joo, Zo In-sung, and Cha Tae-Hyun, "Moving" is set to premiere on August 23rd, 2023, and available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. "The Killing Vote" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDqHJNmfTgE&ab_channel=PrimeVideoPhilippines Imagine a world where citizens are tasked with a life-altering decision via SMS: to vote on whether a criminal should live or die.  "The Killing Vote" immerses audiences in this morally charged realm, where the consequences of each vote reverberate deeply.  With an engaging plot and a talented cast, including Park Hae-jin, Park Sung-Woong, and Lim Ji-yeon, this thought-provoking drama will premiere on Prime Video and SBS on August 10th, 2023. "Behind the Touch" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQa7ZZFa_EI&ab_channel=NetflixK-Content Mystery and romance entwine in "Behind the Touch," as a veterinarian with psychometric powers crosses paths with a hot-blooded detective.  Their journey unfolds as they collaborate on solving minor cases in their quaint city, and their partnership takes an unexpected turn toward love.  Featuring Han Ji man as Bong Ye-bun and Lee Min-ki as Moon Jang-Yea, this intriguing drama is set to premiere on August 12th, 2023. Audiences can catch it on JTBC and Netflix.

More Kdramas releasing in August 2023

The excitement doesn't stop with these dramas. Mark your calendars for additional Kdramas releasing in August 2023. "First Responders 2" (Thriller) - August 4th, 2023 "My Dearest" (Historical Romance) - August 4th, 2023 "Cruel Intern" (Office Drama) - August 11th, 2023 "My Lovely Boxer" (Sports Drama) - August 21st, 2023

Conclusion 

This August, the K-drama landscape promises a diverse tapestry of stories, from romance and historical sagas to survival challenges and heart-pounding thrillers.  Make sure not to miss out on these incredible shows that are set to grace our screens.  As you immerse yourself in the world of Dramas releasing in August 2023, we encourage you to watch, enjoy, and share your thoughts in the comments section below.  Your reviews and insights make the K-drama experience even more enriching! Read the full article

[just-a-simple-dyke]

Young woongs ace performance for the team mission was so emotional he did so well and everyone was crying n then it cuts to jang minho standing up trying to leave the room and when the staff asks where he's going he just says "to pack my things" in the most deadpan voice the tears just rolled back in my eyes again that was so funny😭😭

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

Haha! I don't know anything but you gave me a new rabbit hole and quite a lot of work! Most 60s movie posters look like this though. It's crazy how much they packed onto the posters back then.

The Hangul part of the title (the text at the left in red) is "어디로 가시나이까" or "Where Are You Going?". The Hanja Part - I had to trace it in the search bar od Naver Hanja dictionary! Translates to "전하" or "Your Majesty", basically how one was supposed to address the King. So, we got the title : 어디로 가시나이까 전하" or "Where Are You Going, Your Majesty?"

A lot is in Hanja, like the actors names and the producers names etc, so I had to plop her into Papago and get it translated from Japanese/Chinese.

The part at the top gave me these results :

Basically the "advertisement", as the "Dong Yang Radio's most popular TV drama".

Im trying to find some cast and crew credits - once we have that, we can search for more info on the net.

Copying the ehite and yellow text on the rtop ight into hanja dictionary gave me "제작 : 김일수" , "Release : Kim Il Soo" and "기획 - 김속기, 안배관" "Production : Kim sok Gi, Ahn Bae Kwan"

the Blue text in the right gave me "답 : 이규웅", "... : Lee Gyu Woong". The Hanja in the beginning was picked up wrong because of the bad quality. But I can't find who this person is...

The text under the blue text om the right have me "원작 - 교본 - 임희재" "Orginal Work - Script - Lim Hee Jae" - which means that there is a separate book or other original piece that this drama was based on, by a writer named Lim Hee Jae.

Thats all I could find for the moment, so I went and searched it up. And I found so much more!

Its not a drama but a movie. Kinda expected given the poster.

It was released 1969.

The cast is fucking crazy for 1969 - Shin Sung Il, Kim Jin Gyu, Kim Ji Mi and Yoon Jung Hee. That's literally the top two actors with the top two actresses. This is one HELL of a star lineup, believe me.

I found a naver blog that talks about it :

What this blog says is :

The production cost around 1억 (100 Million) won at that time which is a CRAZY amount of money for 1969 and even crazier if adjusted to inflation. Like, we could have fed half the Korean population for a year with the costs of this movie.

The plot of the movie goes like this :

At the end of the Korean Empire, when the enlightenment groups centered on Kim Ok-gyun (Kim Seok-hoon) caused a Coup d'etat, Min Young-il (Namgung Won), the nephew of the Empress Myeongseong (Do Geum-bong), seeks help from the Qing Dynasty to defeat the enlightenment groups. Lee Jung-won (Shin Seong-il), who was Kim Ok-gyun's colleague, fled to Japan with the help of Wolhyang (Kim Ji-mi), a popular famed Gisaeng. While he went to Japan, Lee Jung-won's family, which was against the odds, was exterminated, and only his wife In-soon (Yoon Jung-hee) survived. In-soon is in crisis because she caught the sight of Min Young-il, who was once her husband's friend, but Min Young-il leaves In-soon, who had to hide her identity, to Wolhyang, who suggests Insoon starts living with her. After that, In-soon, who became a gisaeng too, lives with Wolhyang, and two women wait while adoring and missing the same Lee Jung-won, but each other do not know that the man is Lee Jung-won. After that, when Lee Jung-won returns from Japan, the film comes to a tragic end.

It mixes facts with fiction and is basically a fictional sageuk.

Soooo yeah! I think I found more than I thought I would. Here you go!

I feel like so much is going on on this poster.

@anemoiawithatouchofobsession, I feel like you might know this old korean drama? IDK