louie kim

“Yeah, I know that.”

Louie was an introvert, everyone knew that. And on top of that a homebody who stayed home whenever he didn't have promotions. He loved staying home. But still, If he was the only one in the group who enjoyed his free time doing nothing, didn't that mean he was lazy? Maybe Nichkhun said that so as not to upset him, when in fact he thought otherwise.

Minjun spent most of his time in his studio composing songs for JYP artists. Taecyeon, Junho, and Chansung became actors and rarely stayed home on recording days. Nichkhun and Wooyoung sometimes participated in variety shows. But he was not doing anything. That's why those words bothered him so much.

It was when he was watching television in the dorm, feeling bored, that something caught his eye. He turned up the volume with the remote. The show was called Knowing Bros, it was its pilot episode. He barely recognized a face or two, as he was not used to variety shows.

“They need to answer questions?” He murmured, tilting his head. “I could do that.”

“What?” Asked the manager walking into the living room.

“Hyung, I want to be part of this show.”

The manager took a look at the television for some minutes. He folded his arms, looking to Louie. "Do you even know who are these people?”

“They're famous?”

“See, this is the problem.” He sighed, shaking his head. “This is a variety show. Like every other show, the hosts need to be funny and spontaneous. All of them have experience in this field.”

“But I appeared on some shows before, with the members.”

“Right, I remember the hard time you gave the hosts because you were too quiet. Your fans were angry thinking they cut your time on-screen on purpose.”

“My Korean was not good back then, that's why.”

“Louie, you need to talk and be funny. Are you able to do that?”

He understood what the man meant so he did not take any offense by his clear lack of trust. Louie knew he was not a bright and friendly person, being the most serious in the group, to the point that even staff and other employees in the company kept a distance from him. If there's a person perfect for this show, that would be Taecyeon or Wooyoung, not him.

But there was something else that most people didn't know about him, not even his fans: Louie was the type who hated being in his comfort zone, however comfortable it was. That's why he became an idol, in the first place. It seemed challenging enough to make him leave the Royal Academy of Music and move to South Korea.

“I know, okay? But you saw the way Jinyoung hyung spoke some days ago. If I don't change, I'm sure he'll be disappointed in me.”

“I'll talk with the PDs of Running Man and other shows where you can appear as a guest. Being a host is too much for you.”

“Hyung, if you don't help me I'll go see the PDs of this show myself and even beg on my knees.”

“Yah do you want to embarrass the whole JYPE? You punk!” He screamed pointing at him, “how can a JYPE artist beg on his knees, do we look like beggars to you?”

“So help me out.”

The man sighed again, covering his face with both hands and taking a long breath. “Fine, but don't get angry if they scold you for not doing the job properly. I said you're not cut for it.”

Of course, he would not show up on the broadcast station without even knowing the members. Later that same day, he grabbed his phone and started searching about everyone on the screen, opening multiple navigation tabs. The cast was surprisingly mixed between comedians, hosts, a singer, an idol, and even a former basketball player.

“I'm back,” Junho said entering the apartment taking his shoes off.

“Junho-ah.”

“Hm?”

“I am funny?”

“Nope.” That was his only answer before he opened the door of his room and locked himself inside.

“Aish, that brat.” He clicked his tongue, having missed the timing to throw a pillow on him.

Of course, Junho wouldn't find him funny. In fact, Louie could be funny if he wanted to. The problem was whether Koreans would find his type of humor entertaining.

The show's cast was almost complete since its first episode, so the director was caught off guard when he went to JTBC to say he wanted to participate.

“It says here you're not much familiar with variety shows. Why do you think you would be a good addition to the cast?” The director asked.

“I know I lack in experience, but everyone has a start point. Having a new face can be refreshing for the audience as well. The idea of trying to guess the answer to another guest's questions is quite amusing and I want to try it.”

And that's how he made his first appearance in episode three. This was mainly due to the effort his manager made to promote the company's name, saying it would be an advantage and boost in views to have both a JYP and SM artist on the same show.

But just like the manager said, variety shows were not something Louie could get used to fast. The first meeting with the cast was awkward, the first episodes did not reach high views, nor did he appeared much on-screen, everyone seemed to be funnier than him, especially Heechul, he was a natural host.

Eventually, Junho would tease him, asking if he was really part of the show. Nichkhun and Minjun were nicer about it, saying it was a good experience for him.

“To be honest, you're funnier in English,” Taecyeon said, and Nichkhun nodded.

“So the problem is the language, not me.”

“I'd say both.” They heard Junho's answering from the kitchen.

“Shut up.”

He did not want to be just eye-candy on the show, so he worked extra hard trying to fully understand Korean humor and how he could use it his own way. One day, he finally found the answer. As a Korean born in America, Louie had that unique flavor of a foreigner, so he started to mix Konglish a lot and be less conscious of his accent, answering questions with confidence. Although sarcasm was not familiar for Koreans, he worked hard in trying to convey it with his tone of voice and expressions.

By episode 46, the PD started to praise him more, his responses were creative and he figured out how to interact with everyone. Since most of the guests were women and girl groups, he had to get used to acting like a 'straight guy', which was not difficult as he's been doing that since 2PM's debut. He also tried not to get too excited when a boy group or an actor showed up.

“Hyung, you were funny on today's episode. Why are you so different at home?” Junho asked as they were getting prepared to perform on a music show.

“Shush, let me sleep.” Louie had his eyes closed and arms crossed while he was sat on the couch.

“See?! This is what I'm talking about.”

Unfortunately, the energy he spent while recording had to be recharged by spending most of his time alone. They were also promoting Promise (I'll be), which meant more energy to dance and sing. Still, he was pleased to be busy. It did not take more than five minutes for him to fall asleep when they got home.

“Chansung-ah, scold him for me.”

“Yah, stop bothering Louie hyung. He's tired.” Chansung did as asked.

“Everyone is tired, why he's the only one grumpy?”

“Lee Junho, if I get up from here, we're going to have a real fight.”

“Stop it, you two.” Nichkhun realized what was happening and intervened.

“He's always like this when we have promotions, why are you even asking?” Wooyoung tried to light up the mood, which made Taecyeon laugh nodding his head.

“Get ready, we're next!” Minjun clapped his hand to get their attention.

To celebrate a year since the first episode of Knowing Bros, the team organized a party at a small restaurant. Due to the team's size, half of the tables in the restaurant were occupied by them. They ordered snacks first, but it did not take a long time for the tables to be filled with bottles of soju and beer.

“Come on, let's drink!” Woon Hyuk, the director shouted with the beer glass raised.

Everyone cheered in response, also raising their glasses. The beer tasted too strong, so Louie decided to stick with soju and bulgogi skewers as a snack.

“Louie, your cup is empty already.” Heechul, who was sat right next to him, noticed.

“The maknae's glass is empty! Let me fill it for you~” Hodong already seemed to have had quite a bit of drinking, as his tone seemed cuter and he was doing aegyo without even noticing.

Louie quickly held out his glass for the man to pour more, politely thanking him. In fact, he didn't want to drink that much, just eat, but it was rude to deny a drink offered by an older person.

But the thing is, everyone there was older than him. First, it was Hodong, then Soo Geum, Young Chul, Jang Hoon, Sang Min, Kyung Hoon, and even Heechul. He already had 7 glasses, the director also wanted to pour a drink for him.

“Aigoo, your face is already red. Good job, drink more.”

“I think... I need to eat, director-nim.” His words came out slurred.

“Nonsense, we came here to drink.” The man shook his head, finishing pouring the liquid.

“One shot, one shot!” Kyung Hoon started and everyone followed him.

Louie had no choice so he drank it all down, not leaving a single drop. The burning sensation made him frown, the men shouted with excitement, and little by little he regretted having come. It did not look like they were drinking just to celebrate, they all wanted to get wasted.

After the tenth glass, he didn't even know how many hours had passed. Louie looked at the glass and laughed for no reason, which attracted the attention of a man sitting next to him.

“Okay, I think it's enough for you.” Heechul took the cup from his hand. “Guys, Louie's drunk. I'll call a taxi for him.”

“Aish, 'm not drunk. Gimme that!”

He didn't know how, but he ended up outside the restaurant, crouched down as he watched the annoying lights of cars passing back and forth.

“Here, drink this.” Heechul handed him a bottle of water. “It'll get you sober.”

Louie lifted his head to look at the man. He grabbed the bottle but didn't let go of his hand, still staring, which made Heechul react with confusion.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothin... you're cute.” A smile appeared on his face. “Want to go somewhere quiet?”

“Don't fall for me, I'm too pretty for you” he joked, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

Louie chuckled, probably not even understanding, and let go of the other's hand. He opened the bottle, drinking as much water as he could before pausing to breathe.

“You're different.”

“How so?”

“The normal thing is to react with disgust.”

“Let's say I'm used to it.”

“So are the rumors fake?”

“I'm straight, if that's what you want to know.”

“Ah...” His voice sounded disappointed, and he lowered his head. “I thought... we were the same.”

Had Louie been sober enough, he would have seen Heechul's face become more serious.

“I'll pretend I didn't hear that since you're drunk. Get up, I'll call the taxi.”

“Why you never address the rumors? They must be annoying,”

“People can say whatever they want, it's part of my image as an entertainer anyways.” He shrugged, crossing his arms.

“Haha, I should've doubted it. If you were really gay, you would try to do anything to hide it, as it would ruin your entire career,” he said, pausing for a few seconds, “that's what I'm trying to do. Hide from my fans, from the members...”

“Is it hard to hide it?”

“When I realized I would never be able to be myself if I became idol, it was really difficult Then I debuted, we started being called the Beast Idols, and more and more I felt out of place and guilty.”

He knew that was the fate of any gay idol trying to survive in a boy group. Louie was not the type to get depressed about something like that, but the members of 2PM became like family for him. His real family knew about it, but the members didn't.

If they got uncomfortable or even wanted to disband, the guilty Louie was feeling would be far worse.

“Aish, I hate to drink. It makes me think of useless things.” He drank more water, trying to get sober.

“Louie, I-”

“I'm sorry sunbae, can you please call the taxi? I want to go home.”

Heechul sighed out, quietly nodding his head. He took out his cell phone and called the number, giving the address where they were. In a few minutes the car showed up in front of the restaurant, and he helped Louie get into the vehicle, careful not to bump his head.

Being a little soberer, he at least managed to remember where he lived and told the taxi driver. He paid the man and got out of the car when he arrived at the apartment.

After leaving the elevator, he struggled to type the door's password, getting it wrong a few times. That's when the door opened, and Lee Junho was looking at him as surprised as he was.

“What the hell, hyung!”

“Damn door, who put such a difficult password?” He entered, forcing Junho to step back.

“It's 2am already, were you drinking?”

Louie didn't answer, kicking off his shoes at the entrance and walking barefoot inside. Junho shook his head, arranging the shoes and following the other.

He silently watched Louie take a packet of instant cooked rice and heat it up in the microwave, pouring a small quantity of hot water and mixing it with the remaining kimchi. Whoever invented instant rice deserves an award, Louie thought while eating.

“And you always complain when you have to drink with us...” Junho muttered, hoping the other would hear.

“I had no choice.”

“Yeah, yeah, I believe in you.”

Since Junho was awake, he would at least wait for the other and go to bed. Louie didn't take long to finish eating, but he kept staring into space.

“Hyung? Hyung, don't sleep here. Look at me,” said Junho holding his face.

The maknae's face showed surprise as he saw the tears in his eyes. Louie turned his face away, pulling Junho's hand away.

“What happened? Did someone harassed or offended you? No, you would curse them off, you aren't the type to cry for these things.”

“Nothing happened,” he replied in a low, barely audible voice, “Junho-ah.”

“Hm?”

“Sorry.”

“Okay, I forgive you.”

“Do you even know why I'm apologizing?”

“For being boring and no-fun?”

“Gosh, I hate you.”

Junho wiped Louie's eyes with the sleeve of his pajamas. He didn't insist on questions, just told Louie to go shower and sleep. Those words were far better than any comfort.

“We created some accounts for you and all you need to do is answers the questions we prepared. Starting with Twitter first.” One of the staff explained again.

He nodded, holding the mouse and scrolling through the tweets they supposedly chose.

“The questions are boring. Can't I chose myself?”

“Oh... y-yes, you can.”

The manager who was accompanying him sighed, noticing all the staff surprised at his bluntness. At the same time, he had more than ten years as an idol, so it was not like he would be scolded by something like that, although he was in the past.

“Hi, this is Louie Kim and today I'll be going undercover on the internet,” he read the script out loud looking at the camera, with his usual monotonous voice that became a mark of his personality.

As expected, there were a lot of tweets with questions. He understood why they choose the questions in his place. One of them caught his attention right away, and that's the one he answered first:

Q: Give me a few tips to do a perfect Bitch Resting Face.

“Be dead inside, it'll come naturally.”

Q: Your opera songs are my lullabies.

“Are you saying it's boring? ID MyManTaecyeon,” he read the account name out loud, pointing at the camera. “I'm telling Taecyeon this.”

Q: 5 Junhos or 5-year-old Junho?

“Neither.”

Q: Can we expect a solo tour in Europe?

“I would love to, especially in Italy. Almost all of my operas are in Italian, I want to sing it on its homeland.”

Q: What are your plans for 2021?

“Being healthy and making money.”

Q: Tell us your thoughts on Song Joong Ki's Italian in Vincenzo.

Different from others tweets, this tweet had more than text. Louie looked at the staff and they nodded showing it was okay, so he moved the mouse and clicked on the thumbnail, shortly a video started. He let an "oh" escape when he noticed what the video was about.

Along with this question, he answered others questions from the fans, and then the interview was finally over. It took less than 30 minutes, and he got back in the car again.

“You really should learn how to filter your mouth,” the manager said, shaking his head.

“What, did I do something wrong? They said it was good.”

“How can you call the questions boring in front of them? And your reaction... Oh God, should I ask them to cut that part?”

Louie shrugged as if it wasn't his problem, looking at his phone.

April 01, 2021.

The cast of Vincenzo was filming a Couch Talk for the channel The Swoon, answering questions and promoting the drama after two months since its release. As it was almost over, the three were relaxed, which seemed the best moment for the staff of The Swoon to show them the extra content they had prepared.

“Actually, we have one more thing.” The female voice talked, making them pay attention to her.

“There's more?” Song Joong Ki asked, surprised.

The other two looks at the woman while she brought a laptop to a short table in front of them that it was not visible in front of the camera, “Taecyeon-ssi's bandmate, Louie, made a recent interview and he reacted to Vincenzo.”

“He did? I didn't watch it.” Taecyeon said.

“As he speaks Italian, a fan asked his opinion on Vincenzo's Italian.”

“Really? That's going to be interesting.” Yeobin smiled, looking at Joong Ki. “Sunbae, you better prepare yourself.”

“Wait, wait, I'm not emotionally ready.” His words made everyone behind the camera laugh.

Although his intention was clearly to make them laugh, it was visible on his face a little bit of hesitation and nervousness. Soon Louie's face appeared on the screen and the video was unpaused.

The first scene was the one of Vincenzo speaking when he was in Italy until the scene of him on the airplane. Louie was watching it with focus, concentrated.

“Why is he speaking like he's in The Godfather?” He asked, looking at the staff.

Taecyeon obviously was the first one to burst in a laugh, and then Yeobin. An awkward smile appeared on Joong Ki's face, who was caught on surprise by the question.

Soon the first scene of him in Korea was shown, when the character is seen swearing and telling the dog to shut up. A frown could be seen on Louie's face, as he folded his arms.

“Looks like he learned to swear first than speak. Also, Italians don't do that che vuoi hand gesture when they're cursing.”

Joong Ki closed his eyes as if he had been stabbed with a knife, while Taecyeon had his mouth and eyes open wide to laugh even louder. Yeonbin's shoulders were shaking, she covered her mouth looking at the screen and then to Joong Ki.

The party scene was shown and Louie's seemed to frown even harder, tilting his head. When Vincenzo raises the glass and says his next line, Louie immediately clicks on the pause button.

“What did he say?”

Once again, they repeated the scene and the line, Louie paused it again. For some moments he seemed to freeze, looking at the screen, and then at the camera.

“Buona serata, mademoiselle? Mademoiselle?” His face was in utter disbelief. “That's french!”

Taecyeon almost convulsed, at this point he was not even looking at the screen anymore, just hearing it was funny enough. Yeonbin noticed Joong Ki's face, which was bright red even on the ear. He tried to cover it with both his hands.

“He looks so offended, that's hilarious.” Taecyeon gasped some air to say that, “I can't breathe hahahaha.”

“Sunbae's red like a tomato!” Yeonbin pointed out.

Since the video was short, these were the only scenes he saw, but the expression on his face said much more than words could.

“Well, I can see that his teacher really made an effort to teach him... teach the swearing first.”

“Stop, pause the video. I'll seriously die.” Taecyeon was also red, but for a very different reason than Joong Ki.

“I'm not criticizing him, he really had a good pronunciation... when he cursed.”

Even Yeonbin who was trying to hold it started giggling. Joong Ki was staring at the ground, looking too embarrassed to look at the screen.

“But that hand gesture is not it, Vincenzo. Go back to Italy and learn again from the natives.”

“S-Should I get on my knees and apologize to all the Italians?” The staff laughed again when he said that.

“Ah, that was the best laugh I had in a while,” Taecyeon said wiping the tear on his eyes.

“Me too, Louie's so funny.” Yeonbin agreed.

Turns out the surprise was successful and so they uploaded the video on Youtube without cutting the reaction. On the same day, the views were over 500k, and the fans on Twitter were going berserk sharing the links of both videos. Overall, everyone found it funny and none of the fandoms tried to start a petty war.

November 28, 2021.

They had to attend the Asian Artist Awards that day, which meant waking up early, spending more than three hours in the dressing room to prepare their visuals, and rehearsing the choreography. They also had to wear masks, much for Louie's dislike since he couldn't breathe at all in those things. He was not in a good mood. That's the truth.

“What's with him?” Minjun asked Nichkhun.

“He said he's sleepy.”

Louie got really sensible when he was sleepy, which is why they rarely woke him up, otherwise, they would spend the whole day with their ears buzzing. Waking him was taken as a personal offense, but they needed to do it since their schedules were tight that day.

The dressing room was stuffy and loud, so he said he was going to go a take some air before the start. Clueless about the fact that he wanted to be alone, Taecyeon followed him, wanting to buy a coffee from a vending machine.

“Here, It'll help you get awake.” He offered the canned coffee.

“You know I hate these types of coffee.”

“Now now, don't be picky.”

“Tsk, I don't want it.”

He took out his cell phone and looked at a black screen, frowning. Taecyeon did not say anything for some seconds, watching the bothered expression on the friend's face.

“You're waiting for his call? You know, the rich chaebol.”

“No comment.”

“Come on, you should call him first and tell you miss him.”

“I'm not waiting for anyone. Go back to the dressing room.”

“Oh, hyung!” Taecyeon looked over the other's shoulder, waving his hands.

“Taecyeon, you're here too.”

Louie looked back, seeing a familiar face, and soon recognized it. Song Joong Ki was dressed in a suit that seemed of high quality, his hair tucked back. Although he was using a white face mask like them, it was easy to recognize him.

“Wow, you look so cool.” Taecyeon gave him a thumbs up. “You're certainly taking a prize home this night.”

“So do I hope.” His eyes got smaller as if he was smiling behind the mask.

“Will you make a speech in Italian if you win?” Louie asked, making the actor immediately look at him.

“He's the actor I worked with when I was filming Vincenzo, Song Joong Ki-s si. And he's Louie, a member of 2PM.” He introduced them to each other, with an excited smile on his face.

“Ah...Ah, so you're Louie! Nice to meet you.”

"Hyung, Louie speaks a good amount of Italian.”

For a brief moment, Louie looked down at the hand that Song Joong Ki raised for a handshake. Then he looked back at the other, finally holding his hand.

“You see, I've met one or two mafiosi. They like fancy things such as opera. Want me to introduce them to you?”

“Mafiosi? Um, I-”

“Ride bene chi ride ultimo.”

Only silence remained when Louie said that. He tightened his grip on the man's hand and finally laughed, startling the actor.

“Nice to meet you. If you don't mind, I need to use the restroom, excuse me.”

“Not at all! Please.” He politely gestured with his hand, bowing as Louie bowed back.

When Louie disappeared into the hallway, Joong Ki finally looked at Taecyeon, who had a grin on his face as he tried to hold back the laughter.

“He said something about killing me, right?”

“Hyung, he was joking hahahaha”

“No, no, no. How can someone joke with a dead serious face like this? He should be an actor if he can do that.”

“That's just the way he is, don't mind him.”

“Does he really know real mafias?”

“Well, I'm not sure about this one. He met a lot of people when he was studying overseas. But he's joking, probably.”

“Probably?!” He held on to the wall, appearing to have lost strength in his legs.

Whoever came up with the idea of having Song Joong Ki sit next to the members of 2PM deserved a pay raise. After the event, fancams were uploaded all over the internet. The funniest thing was that Song Joong Ki spend most of the time side-eyeing Louie instead of watching the performances, anyone could tell he was nervous. On the other hand, Louie did not bat an eye on him for the rest of the award show.

Sitting there with the noise of music and screams blasting in his ears was tiring, their performance was even more exhausting. At the end of the show, all the celebrities present politely shook hands to say goodbye, but Louie rushed to get out quickly. He wanted to get to his apartment soon and sleep until noon of the next day.

He finally managed to breathe the fresh night air when he was out of the venue, although it was cold. Walking across the parking lot to look for his manager's car, he spotted a familiar car. The red dye and its extravagant design made the other stop walking.

The high beam was turned on, making him cover his eyes. He heard the car door open and close, forcing his eyes to adjust to the light and see the silhouette of the man who carried a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“Good job today.” Kang Hoon walked closer to him, showing his usual gentle smile.

“Why are you here?”

“You didn't look well this morning, it made me worried.”

“Tsk, you could have sent a message...” Louie muttered, averting his gaze.

“I had a lot to do as well, sorry. Take this as an apology.” He handed him the bouquet of flowers.

“Who said I need your apology?”

“Aigoo you must be tired, come here.” Kang Hoon opened his arms, ready to hug him.

“Don't! We're in public.”

Louie dodged the hug attempt, causing Kang Hoon to pout in protest. He didn't try to hug him again, getting the message.

“Then let's go home and cuddle there.”

“Whatever.”

He entered the car, taking out his phone to text the group's manager and tell him he was not going home with them so they did not need to wait. The response message soon came, asking where he was, Louie answered saying he was already far.

Louie looked at the bouquet of flowers and then at the man who was driving. Although the tiredness having drained all the good mood that could make him affectionate, he still smiled discreetly, feeling a warm sensation in his heart.