* // WANT YOU BARE.

however, for now, she's kept most of her thoughts to herself. the most she's probably done is spill some opinions to raebin as he's always open to listening to her thoughts, but she never expected it to go anywhere. "the coats look pretty with the chorus, though," she stated with a chuckle. they got in the way from time to time, sure, but overall, she believed it looked nice with hot's choreography.

everything seems to be decided for them, down to what they wear. it's the harsh reality of an idol's career, something raebin would never fully understand or be able to place himself in ( which he's honestly grateful for ). "are you sure? the last thing i want is for you to force yourself to compromise between comfort and style... even though you have to, sometimes." he trusts the members and their professionalism, he's certain they're able to handle everything so far.

hi, idols! as an apology for the pause in operations on the main and the lack of monthly schedules, we come bearing gifts... an ask meme! this isn't the honesty hour that was mentioned a while back (as that will be used as part of our next event), but we think it'll still be lots of fun. check under the cut for all the details!

the perfume workshop was an idea from her company.

they wanted areum to film another vlog for her youtube channel, so in true ydh fashion, they'd given her a list of potential activities to choose from, made the necessary arrangements, and sent over a camera the following day—a process with a generous amount of agency when compared to how she first started out, where her company had seen how bad she was at talking to a camera on her own and had given her a literal script of things to say and do.

but that was eight years ago. since then, they've eased on the extent of their micromanagement, and areum likes to think that she's gotten better at improvising too.

for instance—inviting raebin to come with her wasn't part of the original plan, but he was the first person she'd thought of when she saw perfume-making on the list. her company had picked out a popular boutique perfumery, and she knew her friend was interested in potentially starting his own brand in this field. she'd pitched this workshop to him initially as field research, but really it was all an excuse to catch up and explore all the trendy shops and warehouse cafes in seongsu-dong with someone who she knew had the same eye and appreciation for good design.

"hello arua! today i'm with a friend at a workshop class where we're learning how to make our own perfumes. i've been meaning to find a new scent for spring, so this really couldn't have come at a better time!"

holding her camera in one hand, areum checks the monitor of the flip-out screen and stretches her arm to pan the interior of the perfumery—sleek, modern, minimalist, and surrounded by walls of essential oils shining in their glass vials.

"the store itself is so pretty too. it has the atmosphere of a garden while also looking like a really stylish laboratory, doesn't it?"

areum sets the camera down on the stainless steel counter of their workstation and picks up the clipboard, explaining briefly to her viewers the purpose of the questionnaire in the process of creating their ideal fragrance profiles before looking down at some of the questions — describe your ideal day. do you like to stay in or go out? what's your go-to drink?

more than that, it’s nice being able to spend time with a friend, especially someone as busy as areum. full-time idols are always hard to catch, raebin understands that, he never took it personally. besides, he works with a group of them and often has to follow them around throughout their schedules. still, he does appreciate that areum clearly thinks of him, inviting him to join her in attending the workshop despite not needing to. it goes to show just what type of friend areum is, someone that raebin wouldn’t want to trade for the world.

as soon as areum turned on the camera, raebin mostly stayed quiet. not because he’s bitter or upset that areum is turning their day out into content—he’ll always support her grind, and he’s flattered he could be part of it in some way—but because he has no idea what to say in front of a camera, knowing it’s for an idol’s youtube video. his friend makes her usual introduction to her audience as raebin starts with the questionnaire.

it’s only when areum addresses him directly, does he finally speak. “i mean, they do have to dissect our personalities to figure out our signature fragrance, i suppose.” he replies with a laugh, looking back down at the aforementioned questionnaire with a raised eyebrow. “at least they designed it pretty, makes it less boring to fill out. actually, is this scented? i swear i’m picking something up with my nose.”

raebin’s gaze flickers to the camera for a brief moment, muting his voice to a whisper—then again, he’s not sure that would stop the mic that’s presumably attached to areum from picking up his voice. “if i say something weird—i don’t know what weird means by the way—you could edit it out, right?” the last thing he wants is to mess something up for areum, he’s aware of how strict ydh could be.

for all her intelligence, hana was not immune to making truly stupid choices late at night, much like most people. what made her think that staying up until 3 a.m. was a good idea, knowing she had a fairly packed schedule the next day? knowing she would have to face a thousand people, smiling and chatting like she wouldn’t be running on sugary iced coffee to keep her going? 

she really doesn’t do this on purpose… most of the time, anyway. it’s just that when she lies in bed at night, she’s alone with her thoughts, and those thoughts usually push her towards doltalk (or, on better nights, towards something innocuous like one of her video games.) the next thing she knows, she’s waking back up at the ass-crack of dawn to her alarm going off, a reminder of the long day ahead.

aside from her busy schedule for the day, hana would have to get past the first hurdle of the day: the critiques of girl code’s stylist. she liked raebin well enough, but he has an amazing eye for noticing someone’s flaws (and additionally reprimanding them for it if it was something easily avoidable.) when she went into the bathroom that morning and saw the way she looked after her late night scrolling session… he was really going to kill her today. even with the skincare routine he recommended to her already, it wasn’t enough to hide the horrible eye bags she had now.

she knows all of these are just excuses, and he would gladly call her out on that; it doesn’t mean she wanted to hear him complain at her, though. 

it's that feeling that keeps him going ( the monetary reward helps too, of course ), inspiring him to continue forward and advance in his career. the life of a stylist is a rather grueling one, often waking up earlier than his girls so that he can make sure everything is prepared beforehand. the last thing raebin wants is an article of clothing out of place, no matter how small it is. he's a perfectionist—moreover, whatever falls short on his end could reflect badly on the girls. they've already gone through so much, bombarded by several trains of hate that never seems to end. at the very least, raebin should make sure to minimize that as much as possible on his side.

harsh and mean isn't a trait that raebin wants inherently associated with his personality, but he had always been rather blunt in conversations. while he'd never put any of the girls through his more scathing words, he does scold them sometimes if he manages to figure out that they haven't been taking good care of themselves. it must be overbearing to stand on the receiving end of raebin's lecture, but who else will do it if not him?

raebin was quick to raise an eyebrow when hana strolls into the room, sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose. he hadn't exactly said anything, not at first, allowing hana to walk further inside and settle on her chair—albeit keeping his gaze on her. it's only when she makes no motion to take off the sunglasses, does raebin decide to say something. "are you going to keep that on you the entire time? i don't think that's part of your outfit today," raebin points out, tapping the object with a finger. "take that off, unless there's something you're trying to hide from me?"

he doesn’t really consider it kidnapping, or dragging raebin here against his will. especially if he’s in the comfort of his own home and raebin’s the one that’s showed up in front of his door. seungjae knows better than most people just how loud ( and in some cases, annoying ) he can be, but that’s never stopped him from approaching someone before.

raebin in this case is of no exception. their friendship had started off a little oddly – like cat and mouse, except there lacked any cat or mouse. and if anything, seungjae had referred to himself as a guard dog, and raebin, something like an owner. he’d been drawn from the start anyway; raebin’s demeanour and reactions more enjoyable than most.

he brings out the strawberry pocky he’d bought – specifically for raebin – and places it on the table. “i think the cashier thinks i have a problem. he asked me why i kept buying these,” he gestures to the snack, “i told him it was a treat,” seungjae laughs.

it might seem a little odd, just how close and how quickly seungjae found himself comfortable in raebin’s presence. there weren’t many instances where they could have worked together, and it wasn’t as though their paths would’ve crossed often either. and yet, somehow, seungjae enjoys the very fact that he feels so at ease, and genuine around the younger boy.

“this is basically kidnapping, just so you know,” raebin informs, eyes glued to his ipad as he makes some minor edits to the design that he had sketched out. “i told you i was busy, but you dragged me here with your persistence anyway. i could report you to a police officer,” raebin delivers coldly—but by this point, seungjae should know that all of raebin’s threats are empty.

he lifts his eyes from the screen for a moment, fixing seungjae with a dead stare, followed by the rolling of his eyes. “you do have a problem. do you always buy in bulk? you should at least add some variety to your purchases, get some other flavours. my hair isn’t even pink anymore,” he says, despite the proof being visibly obvious from seungjae’s point of view. “but i suppose… i’ll always be strawberry,” raebin relents with a sigh, returning his attention back to his ipad, poking the underside of his lip with its pen.