you'll be made of ashes too

Eunyoung watches Ruby with shining eyes. She leaned over the table with her chin resting on her palm some great five minutes before the younger realized that she was still at the table. She doesn’t mind losing this battle, though. Being the daughter of two owners of a restaurant, Eunyoung has learned how much a good meal can mean to people, and she imagines it’s the same for Ruby. Being away from home and everything that entails mustn’t be easy, and food is such a good way to fall on a nostalgia train. Eunyoung is happy that she can offer that to someone still, even if she’s not following in the same footsteps as her parents.

She chuckles and motions to her mouth so she can tell Ruby where she needs it cleaned. “You just look extra excited to have a good hotpot, I imagine. Nothing to be sorry about in the slightest,” she reassures the younger with a warm smile and takes advantage of that cue to straighten her back and dig into her meal, as well. “You’re very welcome, Ruby. My parents would be so very proud of me for feeding my juniors well. Next time, when we both have free time, let’s pay them a visit to Jeonju. They’ll feed you all the most delicious dishes,” Eunyoung promises with a playful wink.

Eunyoung shakes her hands in front of her and laughs awkwardly. She bites her lip and sighs tentatively. “I can’t believe it still. In the meeting we had in January, we were told that they didn’t have the means to give us any comebacks this year. I was honestly thinking we would be disbanding, and then suddenly our song comebacks and ends up charting.” She leans back on her chair, and when she sighs this time, it’s with humor. “I’ve said this before but it feels like a dream, or like someone is trying to play a prank on us. We charted higher than Polaris! How crazy is that?”

ruby quickly reaches for the napkin and dabs the corner of her mouth, careful not to smudge her lip paint. “you’re too kind,” she blushes, feeling embarrassed for having forgotten her manners. even if eunyoung herself is gracious enough to excuse it, ruby can’t help but feel self-conscious regardless. she perks up at the mention of visiting eunyoung’s parents in jeonju, nodding enthusiastically at the idea, “i’d love that!”

taking a sip of her water to soothe her burning throat, ruby feels a pang of sympathy as she listens attentively to eunyoung’s musings. being confronted with the harsh reality of the industry is uncomfortable, a reminder of the elusiveness of success. “that must’ve been so hard to deal with,” she remarks, suddenly feeling her own heart sink at the fleeting thought of a similar fate befalling andromeda. shaking it away, she smiles at eunyoung.

“that’s quite the feat for sure,” ruby agrees, “but i’m not particularly surprised. “rollin” is such a catchy song. i’ve been having it on repeat since it was released.” she recalls a time when the song wasn’t being played practically everywhere she went. all the while, she dedicated hours in the studio practising the choreography and, other times, humming the song to herself. “it was only a matter of time before everyone else got on the wave as well.” 

—  姐姐 [ sent 22:04 ]: jiejie  —  姐姐 [ sent 22:04 ]: im hungry ):  —  姐姐 [ sent 22:05 ]: do you wanna go get tteokbokki?  —  姐姐 [ sent 22:05 ]: they can spare us for ten minutes

living with other people has always been a little strange for ruby. back in shanghai, she was accustomed to having a room of her own, never having to share her treasured personal space with anyone else — one of the perks of being an only child. when she’d moved to korea, the constant noise and antics by her fellow trainees in the dorms were overwhelming, especially since she lacked the vocabulary to fully comprehend most of what was going on around her.

at this point, though, ruby has grown to not mind it. in fact, she finds comfort in the constant company of her members, a balm to the longing ache she sometimes feels from being away from her hometown. more often than not, she’s thankful for having debuted in a group which she considers not too small, nor too large. it feels almost like a family, her members akin to siblings she wished she’d had growing up.

[...]

“you’re doing great, 10/10. great student.“ he elaborates, giving a thumbs up to the camera “how are you finding it? i think you are really doing great. it’s a rough dance.“ minhee adds, because well, its is a rough dance, he still finds it that way. 

“i mean it!” ruby chuckles at minhee’s quick dismissal of her compliment. this is one of the things she appreciates about him — his humility, despite his accomplishments as someone who’s been in the industry longer than she has. it makes him an approachable senior from whom she can seek mentorship for her budding choreography-making aspirations. and a friend, too, at times when she needed one the most.

she inserts herself in the frame next to minhee, adjusting the angle of the camera. she makes sure to keep a slight distance so as to not invite the potential ire of stellas for standing too close to their beloved oppa. “everyone, you agree with me, right?” she addresses the imaginary audience. 

“ah, thank you,” ruby inclines her head in response to minhee’s approbation, “i’m trying my best.” she nods in agreement. “that’s right, it’s really quite tough. it’s such a powerful dance that requires a lot of strength to pull off. but i’m enjoying the challenge.” her muscles may be fatigued and her body drenched in sweat, but the process is fun so far. above all, she looks forward to the feeling of accomplishment by the time they nail this cover. 

stage name: ruby birth name: zhang huifen nicknames: shanghai princess, jang ruby position: main dancer, vocal & rapper nationality: chinese birthplace: shanghai, china birthday: 25th october 1998 zodiac sign: scorpio known family: - trainee period: 2 years and 10 months official height: 168cm blood type: a mbti: infj special skills: touching the opposite side of her ear (ref: x), making bird chirping sounds hobbies: food hunting, dancing, shopping, watching movies favorite food: ramen, black pepper beef stir-fry favorite color: vermillion red role models/inspirations: lily, jin xing ideal type: someone who is thoughtful and kind

facts:

prior to debuting, she was featured in quantum’s error music video as the female lead

she was the brand ambassador for vivlas cosmetics from august 2020 to february 2021

she helped choreograph the dance for andromeda’s comeback, dreams come true

she danced to lily’s genie at her audition

she likes horror/thriller movies

she loves cats

she keeps a notebook to track all the best places to eat

she recently picked up pole-dancing

she is incredibly flexible

she loves horror/thriller movies

she is very organised and can’t stand when her living space is messy 

coming towards the tail-end of practice, ruby feels close to death. she chugs down her bottle of water and wipes the sweat dotting her neck with a towel, trying to catch her breath. when the staff gives her a gopro mounted on a hand-held tripod, she swallows down the exasperated groan threatening to escape her throat and instead mutters a mindless, “thank you.” 

approaching minhee, ruby fiddles with the gopro. “this choreography is no joke. i’m winded,” she huffs. even with the strength training she’s done lately, she’s finding it challenging to nail each move to polaris’ ‘i need u’ just right. the dance demands the kind of energy and power not typically present in andromeda’s performances, making every move she tries to hit look feeble. she makes a mental note to put in extra hours the next time she’s at the gym. 

before turning on the gopro, she checks in the studio mirror to make sure that she doesn’t look too disheveled (she suddenly regrets not filming before getting to work earlier) and takes a deep breath. filming vlog-style videos has never been her forte, forcing her to be confronted with her own awkwardness. she’s gotten better over the years, however. and she figures she might as well do her least favourite part of this whole cover-swap thing with someone she’s comfortable with.

halfway through lunch, ruby’s eyes are glistening with tears, her throat burning. yet, she continues relishing the tingle of spice with every bite. as she chews, she hums in enjoyment, inhaling the familiar smell of the fragrant soup and letting it numb her tongue. suddenly conscious of the woman sitting in front of her, ruby reaches for a tissue, effectively dabbing her runny nose and stifling her embarrassed laughter at the same time.

“sorry—! i must look like a mess right now,” ruby shakes her head. far too many times, she ends up losing herself in the midst of a gastronomic experience. “it’s just that it’s been so-o long since i’ve had really good hotpot.” she offers a meek smile at eunyoung. “thanks for indulging my craving.”

ruby lets her gaze linger on the other woman, feeling a rush of gratitude towards her. in a place where she has often times felt like a total alien, eunyoung is one of the few that make her feel most at home. ruby considers herself lucky to have a senior so willing to look after her like this — being taken care of isn’t something ruby is accustomed to, but she figures she can afford to get used to it.

thank you so much for the warm welcome so far, it’s been a hot minute since i last rp’ed on tumblr but i’m excited to be back! i’ll get to everyone’s dms soon but before that lemme get this intro outta the way to get the ball rollin.mp3. i have some plots on here but i’m always open to brainstorm too so pls leave a heart if you’d like to do that wif me <3 you can find a tl;dr on her history and personality below: