once a little one

well look who it is... it's juju ( noel+mattheo mun)! bringing you my third muse, i hadn't planned on bringing her in yet, but she was whispering in my ear that she wanted to join the rp asap, so here we are! i hope you'll all welcome her with open arms ~~~ please like this if i can message you for plotting!

info under the cut!

profile , history , plots

chaerin understood the struggle of juggling between training, work and just life in general. it's why she had quit her job as a teacher's assistant as soon as she became a trainee. it's not like she had three bodies. eventually, she knew it'd tire her out, so she had to learn to let go of a few things here and there. that's why she wanted to take seira out. she wanted to show her that it was important to train, yes, but it was also crucial to learn how to juggle everything else in life as well. "we can always say it's research, too! we'll be watching artists perform and can apply it to out skillset as well." with that, she gives seira a playful wink. "oh! there are a bunch of food trucks around! if you're really hungry, i think there were some steak cubes, but if you want a lighter snack, i think they had hot dogs and whatnot!" chaerin only had a brief view of the options around, but there had to be something that would satisfy seira.

seira wanted to quit her job, she truly did, but she just couldn’t. spending more time on practice and nothing seemed fun, but seira did need a roof over her head and food on her plate. while her dad wanted to help, he didn’t really have the money, seira’s brother and dad sometimes sent money, while her sister acted like she didn’t exist. man did seira miss her brother and dad, but she just couldn’t handle being around her sister. seira just hoped that eventually, she’ll be able to quit her job and hopefully become a full-time idol instead.

“so smart you are chaerin!” seira claps the other on her back “this is research, let’s say that! i do think we’ll learn a thing or two here, the people performing here are real idols who are talented and have probably trained for a while, it’ll be interesting to see how they perform” she nods her head.

she rises to her feet and offers a hand to help the stranger up, brushing imaginary dust from her skirt once she’s steady. “emotionally though? yeah, i’d say we’re both in critical condition. but…” she leans in slightly, voice lowering like she’s sharing secrets. “if we go three stalls over, there’s a grandma who runs a tteokbokki booth. and i heard if you tell her your favorite idol’s name and she might give you a sympathy skewer for free.” a beat. a smirk. “unless it’s someone disrespectful. then you’re on your own.” she straightens, wipes her palm on her shorts, then sticks it out properly. “i’m sooyoung. serial snack smuggler. occasional food psychic. you?”

watching her hotteok flying into the air and dropping to the ground felt like someone held her heart so tightly it hurt, like the death of a family member wouldn’t have hurt as much. not only did the hotteok look good, it smelled so good too, and now seira can only wonder what it tasted like. for a few seconds she wonders, can she eat it? staring at it though, she has to decide that, no, she probably can’t.

there’s clear disappointment in seira’s eyes, and it does take a few seconds to realize what has happened, luckily the other victim hasn’t suffered the same terrible fate as her hotteok. “now i’ll wonder for the rest of my life what it tasted like” she pouts “it should’ve been something boring like water i dropped, but it had to be the most delicious smelling food ever” she shakes her head.

stevie grins, giving a little whoop of congratulations. "that's awesome, seira! hey, that's progress to me! all it takes is a little bit of time and hardwork, and you'll be like...a crazy all rounder or something. i believe in you!" "oof." stevie resists the urge to grimace at the idea of everything they're expected to do as an idol. stevie knew it was a whole book full sort of things, but hearing it displayed like that...damn. and he's sure that's not even scraping the surface, probably. "one step at a time! hah..." the surfer blinks at that. "i mean...i guess it kind of is?" stevie's brows furrow as he thinks about it; stevie thinks that dancing sticks much better with him than trying to attempt to control his breathing while singing or holding a tune. "everyone's got their own talent that comes more naturally to them. doesn't mean it's impossible though! and hey, i'm sure your voice could do well with like, lower range stuff." stevie doesn't know a damn thing about vocals and what it means technically, but oh well. "we can give each other pointers." stevie grins. "eh? me? i'm okay." he holds up his hand and gives a so-so motion. "i'm not like, great or anything. i think my singing is about on par with it." a snort escapes him, shaking his head. "but i'll take any help i can get! even a different view point would probably help me out a bit, i think. doesn't hurt to try!"

“all rounder i’m not sure about… a good rapper yes, decent dancer maybe, good at singing? probably not…” she shakes her head. “not that it bothers me, you can’t be good at everything” she shrugs “i know i’ll never be particularly good at singing, so i choose to focus on rapping and dance instead”. “yeah… one step at a time, there’s so much to learn, it’d be impossible to learn it all at once”.

“yeah, there’s probably people out there who thinks singing is easier, but it’s probably good it’s like that? that we’re talented in different fields, an idol group needs that, needs it all” seira nods her head. her old group didn’t really have that, some of her members could sing, none of them were particularly good at dancing, and seira as their main rapper couldn’t really rap.

ITO SEIRA AT 2025'S WATERBOMB!

while seira had joined waterbomb for the performances, she might just have used more time on eating than watching performances. the performances were fun to watch, and seira liked imagining herself standing on that same stage some day, but, no matter how good the performances were, she kept getting distracted by food. when the smell hit her nose, she simply couldn’t resist and her legs automatically walked in the direction of whatever she was smelling.

it happened again, she smelled hotteok and a few minutes later the hotteok were in her hands, too focused on her food though she doesn’t really watch where she’s going, and suddenly she’s walking right into someone, the terrible part? she drops her food. “no! no! no!” she immediately sits down, looks at the delicious hotteok which has now gone to waste, and then she remembers someone else than her hotteok might be hurt too. 

“ah! are you okay? so sorry, i wasn’t looking where i was going” she pouts.

seira was having quite a lot of fun at waterbomb, it felt like lately all she had been doing was practice and work, it was nice to finally do something else. the weather was hot, and seira had looked carefully through her closet to find a cute outfit for the weather, landing on a white skirt and a crop top with cherries on it, her signature pigtails had been added as well, as lately, seira almost always had her hair up in pigtails. her make up was minimal, she figured with the hot weather and the lots of water, it might vanish anyway.

she’s enjoying the performances, and it’s fun to imagine that some day she’ll be up on that stage. as much as the performances are great, seira keeps finding herself buying more and more food, never feeling full. “i know we didn’t eat long ago, but can we find something to eat again?” seira looks at hyejin with puppy eyes “i can smell something delicious, i’m curious what it is! and if i can smell it, that must mean it’s nearby” seira smiles to the other.

"it's nice to get out of the practice rooms sometimes, don't you think so?" the biggest perk of waterbomb, in chaerin's opinion, was simply being out in a vast area with the sky shining brightly. sometimes, chaerin couldn't even find the time to take a walk outside with all the practice she has. so, this was a nice change of things. seira hadn't been a trainee as long as she had, and chaerin wanted to ensure that she didn't spend as much time locked up in practice room like she did. sure, improving and learning new things was important, but chaerin also wanted to show seira that sometimes they just needed this fresh air. "is there anything you wanted to do first?" there were food stands and a bunch of people around with their water guns. it was enough for chaerin to simply be here, so she wanted to give seira the option to pick and choose what they did next.

seira was quite excited about being at waterbomb, all the performance were amazing, and seira could stare at the stages and hope that would be her one day. plus, she was along a friend which made it all even more fun. it wasn’t her first time at waterbomb, and last year went pretty well, so seira was assuming this year would go pretty good as well. 

“it’s nice to be out of practice and not having to work” seira shakes her head slightly “if i’m not practicing, i’m working, or at least that’s what it feels like” she shrugs. “but yeah, as much as i love practice, it can be kind of nice to do something else, something that’s fun in another way” seira smiles to chaerin.

"i think any service job can be hard. you never know what you're going to get with customers no matter where you go." stevie's eyes flicker up to the ceiling in thought, lips jutting out into a pout absentmindedly. "supermarket probably wouldn't be hard. might get boring. and around holidays? that's probably pure nightmare fuel. but probably something to consider!" "you have time!" stevie assures, waving a hand around. "it's not like they're going to debut you tomorrow, or something. you've got time to get into your own rhythm, and sooo many resources on hand. i believe in you!" stevie grins at the other girl, shooting her a thumbs up. "and if you've got me helping from the sidelines? c'mon! everybody better watch out for you in the future!" "ooh. mandarin is cool." stevie lets out an interested noise, nodding his head before considering his own answer. "french, maybe?" stevie tilts his head. "i took a french class in high school and i think with enough time, i could probably learn it. maybe."

“i suppose there’s ups and downs to every job out there” she shrugs “having been an idol before, i know it’s not all sun and shine, there’s downparts to it too, still, i wish to debut once again”. “a supermarket isn’t the worst idea, it’s probably not what i want to do for the rest of my life, but temporarily it should be fine? besides, i kind of just want a break from being a barista…”. “which jobs have you had so far? maybe you could let me know which is the easiest or something?”.

“there definitely was a time where i feared i’d never get good at dancing, but i’ve improved a lot, sure, still not the best, but if i continue practicing then i think i will be good enough some day” she nods her head “and, i’ve got the one and only stevie to help me become better, one of the best dancers i know” she sends a smile the other’s way.

"it's like...i don't know. i've never been super into photography as an art form, so i'm not sure how angles work. sometimes lighting is something to consider too-- but also..." sua takes a careful glance around. "you think they took that into consideration? it's a workshop after all..." sua frowns. "maybe you can take a couple and i'll rate them? pick out your best ones. if you trust me to, that is." sua keeps her expression focused, even as seira makes her poses and faces next to her. there's a few times where she's sure it looks like she's holding back a laugh-- but if sua keeps those for herself and not as proof of the workshop, who's going to stop her? the artist hums in response to seira's question, flipping through the selfies thoughtfully before turning her phone towards the other trainee. "pretty good. i like this one," it's one where seira's pouting, head tilted just to the side. "this is a good pose. hm. maybe try this angle but a liiittle higher? and keep it centered. what do you think?" sua flips through the other ones she took, glancing over at seira. "is there one you like, too? don't just listen to me. this is your face, after all."

“i find it easier when there’s a professional taking my pictures rather than myself” seira shrugs. “professionals know what to do, knows about the lightning and tells me how to pose, when i have to do it all myself it feels so… awkward?” seira hums. “i figured in the beginning it was part of my charm how my selfies turned out, weird and shaky, looking like i didn’t even know i was taking a selfie, but if i debut again, i kind of want to give my fans some actually good selfies”. “we can uhh… we can try that” she nods “it feels a bit weird for you to rate my selfies, but it might work?”.

"i think no matter how many years it is, debut is scary for any trainee." yuji hums thoughtfully. while yuji's been here for a decent amount of time now, she knows she'll still have so many things to work on after debut as well. the journey never ends, and all she can do is aspire and continue to improve. yuji blinks at the barrage of words, smile twisting a bit to be more wry as she shrugs. "not sure. timing, perhaps?" yuji dismisses it; she asks herself the same thing, but patience is the only thing she can offer. all she really can do is sit and wait. "it was after i performed." yuji recalls. "i think i sang...a rock song? alternative? i heard it performed on a music show and really liked it." "it is, isn't it?" yuji smiles sympathetically, reaching out to pat seira gently on the shoulder. "it's okay. you'll get used to it. with time, it comes easier. soon enough you'll be begging to do something more exciting." at least, that's how yuji found herself to be. seira could be different, but if she keeps up with wanting to be an idol, or at least wanting to do idol adjacent stuff-- she sure's she could tough it out. "aw. i try." yuji's smile turns sweeter. "you're just as nice. and seriously-- it's okay to get nervous, but know you've got what it takes, okay?" the older reassures. at seira's comment, she lets out a surprised laugh. "cute. thank you for...your future support? i'll cherish it forever."

“i was rather quick at debuting the first time, i’ve heard of people that train for ten years before debuting” seira nods her head a bit. the thought is rather scary, if it takes seira ten years to become skilled enough to debut, she might never debut. she knows she’s not old, but newer idols become younger and younger, and sometimes seira questions, if she takes too long to be good, will she be too old once she’s finally good enough? seira tries to stay positive, worrying all the time won’t help with anything, but she still can’t help but worry sometimes. 

“one of the harder things this time around is that i have a job now, once i finish training i can’t home to rest, i have work to do” seira shakes her head, a pout on her lips. “but i’ve been told you get used to the hard practice, and i hope so, because at the moment my body almost always hurt after dance practice”. “i wanna get better, and hard work is needed for that”.

"i feel like they're the...starter pack pet. like, if you can take care of a fish, then you're ready for the next level. honestly, they can be really pretty, but they belong in the water. not trapped in glass the size of a small tv." sua laughs at the idea of seira becoming a chinchilla lady. "if you ever get a bunch of chinchillas, you have to let me know. i'll come help you take care of them." sua frowns. "...yeah, you could say that." she mumbles. "they're just...ugh. unpredictable. one moment they're just soaring through the sky and the next, their trying to peck my nose off." unable to help herself, she chances a look around-- as if speaking about them will somehow make a bird appear to prove sua's point. "you're so brave," sua bemoans, frowning as she wraps her arms around herself at the thought. "i might even speedwalk. sometimes they just...have them out and about and i can't deal with that." she shakes her head sharply. sua makes a beeline for the alpacas, reaching out to grab seira's sleeve so she doesn't lose the other girl. she takes charge in getting them the food cups for it, bringing one over to seira before she glances over at the alpacas. "they look soft. i want to pet one so bad..." she mumbles to the other girl, edging closer to one as she tries to get their attention.

“yeah, aren’t fish the kind of pets a parent lets their kid get to test out if the kid is able to take care of a pet?” seira tightens one of her pigtails. “i’m going to get a pet some day, it was such a big wish for young seira, so old seira will fulfill that wish” she nods. “but even if i had the time and money right now, it wouldn’t work out in case i debuted… i suppose a pet really is a thing for old seira and not young nor current seira” she pouts. “i’ll let you know, i’ll even let you name one of them”.

“animals are so unpredictable, and some birds definitely have too much courage, they’ll just come and randomly get close to you… it’s cute when it’s a cat or dog, not really as cute when it’s a bird” she shakes her head. “thank you, i honestly think i’m more stupid than brave, but in the end, what’s the difference?”.

"better than me!" stevie chirps, unconcerned and still ready to learn, none the less. "and that's a loooooot more than me, wow." and now she's at studio delta, which likely means there will be more instrument playing coming her way. by the time she debuts, stevie's sure seira will be a piano god. "aw, me too! we can be stupid twins." the surfer grins. "even if we take it baby steps at a time, we'll still improve. that's the way i see it!" "g note? okay. so is it like..." stevie eyes the keys on the board, facial features pinched as his brain scrambles for what he means. he taps the black key raised above the previous one he just tapped. "does this make it...flat? or sharp? should i just wing it and go?" he tilts his head at the sheet music in front of him, then glances back at the keys, then back up. "it just looks like madman scribblings to me. a youtube tutorial doesn't sound too bad..." stevie digs out his phone, perking up a bit at the mention of children songs. "oh! that sounds like a fun idea." stevie could get down to that idea. as he opens up his phone for a tutorial, he glances over at seira to answer. "spongebob is the first to come to mind, i'm not gonna lie to you." he admits with a laugh.

“i hope i’ll get to practice my piano here as well in studio delta, the company seems to encourage their trainees to be able to play an instrument” she nods a bit “but at the moment i have to kind of focus on my dance… since that’s what i suck at” she pouts “man… how did i ever debut before with the poor dancing skills?” she pouts for a bit before she turns to look at stevie and a small laugh escapes her lips. “stupid together sounds good, we can be dumb and dumber”.

“reading notes is too hard… it’s basically like learning a new language, and i already know three, i’m really not sure if there’s more space for knowledge in my brain” there probably was, out of the three languages, seira sucked at two, and there honestly wasn’t happening much in that head of hers. “youtube makes it easier, at least it does so for me” she shrugs.

choices.

seonghan doesn't fully know what he's hoping to gain from lime, but that doesn't mean he slacks off by any means. despite his personality, he has a serious work ethic—even if he doesn't quite know what will unfold ahead of him. @beseira has quite the interesting history when it comes to her life as it relates to the idol industry, he can't imagine the determination it takes to keep moving forward even though the world constantly throws obstacles your way. "have you always wanted to be in studio delta?" seonghan questions, raising an eyebrow. "i know a lot of the trainees here have their own personal dream companies. i never had, i simply took the opportunity that was presented to me." for some reason, somehow, that landed him in lime. not that it's a bad thing—seonghan doesn't have a particular preference, not about anything. "is there something about that company that stood out to you?" he asks next, as if he's conducting a job interview for seira. it's small talk mostly, as they catch their breath and take a break after another session of following a choreography. he takes a sip of water too, slowing down his heartbeat. "i heard that they teach you how to play instruments," seonghan points out. "it sounds like they're interested in manufacturing idol-producers."

“no” seira is quick to answer, giving the other a shrug. “when i first auditioned for a company i auditioned for a small company and just figured they’d take anyone in” seira takes a bite of her kimbap, because she’s always eating “and i was right”. “when i first auditioned to join an idol company, i wasn’t actually interested in becoming an idol, i kind of just wanted to escape my sister, and it seemed like a good way to do it” she shrugs again.

“i was a bit more picky my second time around, wouldn’t just audition for any company, i learned that debuting in a company nobody knows isn’t exactly that… uh… good?”. “i auditioned for a lot of companies, studio delta was just the first company to take me in after my group disbanded and i left my old company. i honestly don’t know how i got into studio delta, but i won’t complain, i like it in studio delta”.

“ah well… originally i didn’t care, i was just happy a company like studio delta would take me in, but i’m quite happy i ended up here, they focus a lot on rapping and creating idol-producers, and i like rapping, writing and playing instruments”. 

if anything the snacks she buys will give her a good opportunity to find out more about the other girls. if they don't like what she buys, she can't be faulted for that if they didn't tell her what they wanted, right? and surely they'll tell her what they do like, and she can make a list. she wanders toward the chips section in the store, searching for seira's recommendations. once she finds them, she puts a bag of each into her basket, nodding once to herself in satisfaction. "ah, thank you," she says to seira, realizing she forgot to say so. "do you have any recommendations for healthy snacks? i know some of them can be gross," she decides to ask.

seira’s basket honestly looks like she’s buying for a whole family, but she’s simply buying for herself. seira snacks a lot, like a lot… not as much as she used to now that she’s a trainee, she’s sadly too busy to eat all the time, though she does bring snacks along to practice, and she eats quite a lot of snacks at home. seira can’t help it, eating feels like one of the best reasons for staying alive, enjoying delicious food and snacks, how could she not eat as much as she does when there’s so many delicious things in this world?

at least she lives alone and can’t steal somebody else’s snacks, though that did use to be a problem. in her idol days she lived with her members, who quickly learned they needed to hide their snacks, and that if they bought snacks for everyone it would probably just be eaten by seira. they couldn’t scold her though, they never scolded her, she was their maknae and in their eyes she could do nothing wrong. yes they hid their snacks, but all seira had to do was give them puppy eyes and ask for some of their snacks and she’d get it.

“oh? no ice cream?” seira tilts her head to the side “i think i’ll get ice cream now though, the thought of ice cream made me want to ice cream… now the trouble is just picking which to buy and eat” she pouts, seira’s biggest problem in life: what should she eat?

seira loved the beach, though she wasn’t the biggest fan of cold water, she’d always end up in the water, it could just take some time for her to get fully into it. with the warmer weather, seira was sweating, especially in the practice room, so now she carried deodorant with her wherever she went along with the world’s biggest water bottle. she’d also eaten quite an amount of ice cream, with seira never feeling full, it basically happened that every time she passed an ice cream shop she ended up buying ice cream.

she’d bought two new bikinis for the summer, one pink and one yellow, wearing the yellow today which was covered with bows, so of course she had a bow on each of her pigtails. she’s with yuwol right now, she’s been standing in the water for a bit, only feet into the water and she hasn’t moved for a while now. “it sure is cold” she says as she turns to yuwol, placing her hands on her hips. “but it’s also nice… i’ll just have to get used to the water’s temperature and i’ll be swimming soon” she hopes.