– "i'm still here."

VYBE (바이브): 마음 따라 뛰는 건 멋지지 않아? M/V

uploaded by: limeentertainment 5,537,112 views, Published July 19, 2025 duration: 0:00 - 03:35

— HELLO: COUNTDOWN (@ VYBE.LIME)

"i thought so," seonghan says, the same unsettling smile stretching across his lips. "you might get addicted to the brightness of it all. soon enough, even someone like you will forget what it's like to be stuck down here with the likes of me."

seonghan doesn't say much, when siwoo starts playing—no criticism, no comments, eyes glued to the way siwoo is pressing his fingers against the piano. it's a childish nursery rhyme he doesn't need to be hearing at this age, but he doesn't move from his seat, listening to the melody as it takes shape in his head, colors meshing together—an aurora in the night sky.

"even if you're lonely, you have a long list of people desperate to keep you company. although, you already have your own special trainee waiting to catch up to you." he thinks it must be nice, to be wanted, to be needed—seonghan has never wanted anything, so he can't say for sure what it would feel like on either end. "the washed-up trainee will end up quitting, or carry on until he reaches the stage as an empty vessel of sorts. but i'll keep watching you, while you're still shining up there." that's his future, he has no preference.

"since when does humpty dumpty include inappropriate curse words?" seonghan questions, picking apart siwoo's addition to the lyrics. "you've been a little less fucked up lately, you've become someone who can't afford to lose any of this," he gestures to the piano, then to the training facility—everything, that siwoo had worked hard to achieve. "it's a good thing, having something you're desperate to keep."

"i hate summer," he replies, "it's too bright. i love winter, even though the days end early, i love it when it gets dark. my favourite is when it rains, haha. it's fucking freeing," he plays a few more keys mindlessly, a melody he's unsure of making it's way across the room. melancholic, but bright all at the same time. "bright things and i don't really match. it gets to a point where it feels like i'm burning, so i need to come back down quickly. so no – i won't forget what it's like to be stuck down here. i'll visit often."

another melody, a softer version of humpty dumpty, as his gaze falls onto the keys of the piano, following his own fingers. at the mention of a special trainee, siwoo smiles, feels something tight in his chest, like a warm hug. "yeah," he replies, and he imagines jay's expression, his face, "maybe i suit one bright thing after all," he whispers to himself.

again, seonghan speaks, and siwoo listens once more. his fingers don't stop, serve almost like a song, playing in the background of seonghan's monologue, his words that mirror his own thought process. siwoo wonder's momentarily if this is why he and seonghan had gotten along so easily at the start?

"you can do it... are words that a sunbae would typically say to a trainee talking about being washed-up and an empty vessel. but i won't say shit like that, it's meaningless," he laughs. he turns to seonghan and playfully taps his chest with a finger. "you say you're an empty vessel, but maybe that's just space waiting, and look," he plays another melody, different from humpty dumpty, something he'd thought of on the spot, soft and calming, before he turns to look at seonghan again, "even the hollow parts of you are echoing with a melody when i do this, right?" he wonders, briefly, if he's fallen in love with music, though it's something he'll never quite admit.

still, at seonghan calling him sunbae, siwoo rolls his eyes, and playfully kicks the boy's leg with his own. "fucker, am i your personal jukebox?" he doesn't press on though, just catches sight of seonghan's gloves and sighs. "fine, but i'm sick of children's rhymes. you're gonna have to sit here while i come up with shit on my own," he replies.

it's true, he thinks to himself, as the reality of this cruel, ridiculous situation sinks in, god really does hate me.

the threat of his probation already looms heavily and horrifyingly over his head like the freshly sharpened blade of a guillotine. the last thing he needs is freshly debuted idol ryu siwoo gloating in his face because he's korea's shiny new sweetheart while ren is elbow deep in cat litter and espresso.

maybe siwoo didn't see him. maybe he can sneak away and make the new guy ring him up. maybe it'll be a favor for everyone; the new guy is probably a fan.

"ren?"

"shit," he utters to himself, accidentally.

"ren? is that you?"

"yeah," ren finally concedes, clearing his throat as he reluctantly straightens up, as if he wasn't just childishly hiding from his creative rival like the sad little lead of the worst disney channel original movie ever made, "sorry, there was, um." quick, think of something. anything.

"i dropped. something," brilliant. very convincing, "welcome in, or. something."

he hates this so much. he hates that he's running on three hours of sleep and showed up to work bare-faced and is wearing a café apron covered in silly little pins given to him by his two fans and three regulars and siwoo is here, looking tall and proud and picture perfect.

ren had been a mentor, and siwoo a contestant back then. yet, despite the fact that this isn't exactly the same setting, the roles do feel oddly reversed.

siwoo can't hide the look of surprise on his face - of course he's well-aware of the fact that trainees can take on part-time jobs ( though he hadn't done so himself ), but to see ren here is still… odd, to say the least.

they'd had their big argument on television, and in truth siwoo really didn't recognize him, and his confusion was genuine. though he knew now, why ren had reacted to negatively to his presence.

if not for his surprise, siwoo's sure he would've made a snide comment about the customer service. but he doesn't; that and the fact that he's well aware that cameras are being turned to face him, photos being snapped.

he turns to where ren is gesturing and sees a group of young women peeking in to look at him. "ah, yeah. it's fine, it's still -- i'm not used to it, but it's not as crazy as it was at the start," he replies.

he does notice a girl in particular, hold her phone up, recording both him and ren's interaction. and so he places a finger over his lips in a 'hush' gesture with a his idol-like smile and bows.

"you work here?" he turns back to ren, still a little taken aback. "i heard the drinks here weren't bad, and it' was really hot outside, couldn't stand it."

there is no particular reason why seonghan is here.

he’s seated in the corner of the room on a stool before the piano, an instrument he doesn’t know how to play quite well. maybe when he was at the age of six, with his mother looming over him as she tightens her grip on a ruler, readying them over his tiny hands. his knuckles are already red, skin peeling open as he continues to press on the keys. she’s waiting for him to make a mistake—any mistake—but a stupid kid will inevitably mess up, even when he’s trying not to. it always hurts, but only for a while—he’s counting on the feeling to turn numb, even though the marks glare at him furiously.

in the present, seonghan has practically lost all ability to play a melody on the keys, musical talent effectively down the drain. his mother wouldn’t have approved, if it were up to her he’d be a master at this point, sucking off of his abilities to fuel her own dying dream. he never felt the need to return to the piano, sensing no creativity to nurture a nonexistent passion. he’s just here, a trainee in lime, passing with the bare minimum. an empty vessel, one that they probably think can be shaped into a controllable idol.

seonghan hears siwoo come in before he sees him, eyes still fixated over the black and white keys in front of him. it’s different than the hand-me-down he has back home, worn down and untouched for years. he never cared to look at it, not ever since his mother passed—no more stinging pain on his fingers.

for some reason, siwoo is wiping the keys clean—the minuscule amount of germs and dirt slowly disappearing, although there will always be a few persisting. he doesn’t really say anything, offering siwoo nothing but a hum, allowing the boy to do whatever. siwoo is the sunbae now.

i didn’t know you could play the piano, siwoo says. the statement pinches at seonghan’s skin; uncomfortable. he starts picking at his gloves, rubbing them, jabbing them—despite this, he laughs a little. “i can’t. maybe twinkle twinkle little star, but that’s all.”

"no way," siwoo says, softly laughing as he shakes his head. "it does get too fucking bright up there though." he takes in a deep breath, his fingers resting against the keys of the piano.

a moment passes before he plays the first few keys of twinkle twinkle little star, humming the lyrics. "twinkle twinkle little star, how i wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a fucking diamond in the sky," he sings softly. and then he pauses, laughing at how stupid he feels.

like an odd sort of reflection -- siwoo feels like the fucking star in the nursery rhyme now that he's debuted, as though a diamond illuminated by the moon; yet he knows better than anyone else that he isn't any star, far from it. "i wonder if the star in the nursery rhyme gets lonely. maybe he needs a washed-up trainee up there," he says.

it's been months since his debut, and he's still a freshly debuted idol. a rookie that has to watch his every move, the company keeping close tabs on him, and the media probably ready to pounce on any mishap at any given moment. with the added role of leader, siwoo thinks he might go a little insane unless someone drags him back down to earth quickly - his head close to exploding from the lack of oxygen up there.

"i like humpty dumpty," siwoo says, playing the next song, singing the nursery rhyme with his own added expletives. "all the kings horses and all the kings men, couldn't put fucking humpty dumpty back together again." he hums. "kind of fucked up, like us," he adds.

he's ready to push aside everything to smile, hold their hands, and makes sure to tell them how much he appreciates the support. he knows they wouldn't be here without the support. he doesn't mind doing the aegyo either, always ready to give hand hearts in many different ways.

usually he'd be more anxious when meeting strangers but he's trying his best with their fans. he wants them happy and doesn't need to be an awkward mess. plus he knows one of the other members are around if he needs a bit of comfort. it's just a lot though and he's trying to wrap his mind around it.

the camera flashes as he and seojun interact. briefly, siwoo wonders which fansite this is - his or seojun's? and if it'll make it's way to twitter. he'd used to track his name religiously, but has found almost no time to do so anymore. "here, you can have some of mine," siwoo offers, passing his coffee to the older male. "i think i've had too many today. anymore and my heart might fly out of my chest," he jokes.

he doesn't mind sharing his drink either, and it is true, siwoo feels as though he's got too much caffeine in his system, he should probably cut down a little bit.

SUNGHOON: bite me | trend wave 2025

jay almost misses siwoo slipping something into his pocket, a testament to just how easily he could, physically, fall apart with his unfocused brain and scrambled thoughts that never bothered to remind him to eat, drink and sleep. "what's that?" jay questions, fishing the mysterious device out of his own pocket and examining it closely with a hum. "oh, this thing. are you going to track me now?" he doesn't mind—he probably should. "do you need to charge this? i've never had one. i spent all my rich kid money on vtuber streaming equipment that's been rotting in my room since i became a trainee."

clearly, that's not the point siwoo is trying to make though. jay keeps the airtag, fingers wrapped around the little machine, fiddling with it as if siwoo had gifted him a toy and not a device that's meant to serve as some sort of gps that keeps track of his movements. it's only when siwoo touches his head gently does he pause, looking back up at the other boy—properly study siwoo's features, tired, bags under his eyes, thoughts of jay and debut probably pounding in his already fucked up head.

he hasn't been able to look at his boyfriend in a while, their schedules clashing far too often despite the two of them being in the same building every now and then. siwoo is frowning, when he'd usually mask himself with a stupid fake smile that jay can point out. it's a little too bad jay is strapped to the seat of an audience for the foreseeable future, he thinks.

are you going to be lonely? siwoo asks the question of the genuine concern, but jay has a hunch that there's an answer siwoo wants to hear, even if he won't admit it. "feeling lonely isn't anything new. we'll be okay, won't we?" jay replies, lifting his other hand to hold onto siwoo's, letting out a small laugh; tight, restricted. "haha, you look like shit. don't look like that on your debut stage." another laugh, this time slightly more carefree than the last. "anyway, dating is all about compromises and stuff, right? i'll be fine!"

in truth, the thought of becoming leader had scared him, not because he felt as though he lacked the ability to be an authoritative figure ( siwoo could be a pretty stubborn asshole if he wanted to ) but because he wondered just what qualities lime must have seen in him, to give him such a huge role. still, these were thoughts he found no time to process, instead they linger in his mind, loud and noisy, but siwoo has found little to no space to attend to them.

and now this - hearing about jay living alone. he feels a tightness in his chest. it's worry mixed with something else, but again siwoo doesn't allow himself to breathe. a part of him thinks that he might have forgotten how to, always on high alert now.

so instead, his eyebrows remained furrowed as his mind busies itself with loud noises, but nothing coherent. he feels like it might burst at any moment, and while this feeling isn't new, it's amplified.

then he feels the touch of jay's hands against his and siwoo feels like he's pulled back down to earth for a moment. his eyes fall onto the clasped hands and finally, finally, he remembers to breathe through his nose. "i'm not an idiot," siwoo replies, "i can't look like this on my debut stage. i'll lose everyone that became my fan because of my face," he half-jokes. by now, he's gotten a little more comfortable with the concept of being nothing but a 'visual', but it's self-derogatory as usual.

compromises and stuff. siwoo can't hold back his laugh, maybe jay is better at this relationship thing than siwoo is.

yeah, i'll be lonely so don't be gone too long. siwoo smiles, rests his forehead against his boyfriend's. but there's an unspoken truth, that after debut, siwoo will be gone for a while. his text messages may become sporadic, his calls less frequent, and his presence in jay's life - these thoughts run through his head.

she shouldn’t even be out today. it was supposed to be a stay-home, clean-up-the-chaos kind of day. but somewhere between unpacking the last box labeled “things that don’t have a place anymore” and finding a hoodie she swore she’d already returned—one she hadn’t even realized she kept—she just… needed air.

the convenience store felt safe. impersonal. quiet. a space where the only decisions she’d have to make were between banana milk or coffee, sweet or salty.

and then the door chimed, and that safety shattered.

she heard him before she turned. that familiar cadence, low and easy, as he mumbled something polite to the cashier. and suddenly, she was right back there—standing in a shadow she’d spent months trying to walk out of.

she should leave. she should pretend she didn’t see him.

but her feet don’t move. and when he turns, eyes meeting hers across aisles stacked with instant noodles and cheap energy drinks, it’s too late to pretend they’re strangers.

the words tumble out before she can stop them, soft and painfully casual. “…you’re still drinking that awful soda, huh?”

somehow he’s managed to crawl his way to a convenience store on one of their off days. a place siwoo typically wouldn’t choose to go to, but there was something about the normalcy of everything that deluded him into feeling like he was … himself again. he picks up a can of soda, and almost reaches for a pack of cigarettes before he stops himself, and opts for some gummies instead.

as he thanks the cashier, and makes his way out, his gaze falls onto his soda - briefly he remembers the words of someone he’d let go long ago. she’d probably call me out for this fucking awful drink, he thinks to himself, before he lifts his eyes, and he’s met with the very same person his mind had lingered towards.

how long has it been? siwoo thinks. months? a year? somehow, despite wearing his mask, sooyoung could still recognize him. he wonders how, and then realizes it would have been even weirder if she couldn’t.

siwoo thinks this is a bit of a stretch. their days are filled with nothing but music shows – day after day, he enters a new building, new stage, and performs the same song. there are a few fans he sees rather often and he does wonder how they get the time to visit music shows so often. he doesn't question them though, knows better to keep his mouth shut and to be thankful that vybe has any support at all. by now he thinks he's surprisingly used to this routine. wake up, salon, building, rehearsal, wait time, performance – something of that sort. still, at the end of every show, they're made to stand on stage, watch as other groups receive the weekly music show win. he sighs as he looks at the television in the waiting room, watching as a fairly popular group performs, before he turns to look at noel. gently, he nudges his teammate with his elbow. "i think they might win first place this week," he says, gesturing to the group on the screen. "when do you think it'll be our turn?" he asks, voice a little faint. "i thought we stood a good chance with our debut but..." he shakes his head, "i really want to win one day."

noel truly couldn’t wait for vybe to get more songs so he wasn’t forced to perform the same songs over and over again. noel is lucky enough that their songs are at least to his taste, that he isn’t forced to perform a song he doesn’t even like. but with the million of times he’s heard vybe’s song by now, he ended up removing it from his playlist, it was almost overplayed for noel. performing was still fun, even though it was mostly the same song, but noel loved dancing, and he was happy he’d gotten to dance a lot lately, though there hadn’t been a lot of breaks lately.

with a sigh, he forces himself to smile. yeah, it’s true - this might not be their time. he’s not sure when exactly is their time, but it’s not this, he thinks. “our song isn’t even mediocre,” he catches himself slipping, before stopping. right, he can’t say more, can’t allow his persona to slip.