⭐🌏💤⚠️🌼

but, ah, there's the question. skyler expected it, he always does, he knows dehua's appearance at his side usually lead to him checking up on him somehow. he might hate the idea of sharing the weight with someone else, the idea of someone else carrying the world alongside him when he thinks (truly, genuinely believes) he should do it all on his own and lighten everyone else's load, but… there's a part of him that accepts it from him.

not that he has a choice, in a way—or at least, that's how skyler would try to explain it. he knows dehua does as he pleases most of the time, and if he decides that their leader needs help more than anything else, he'll jump to the chance. he's tried telling him that he's more than fine, yet somehow at least thing on his list of duties for that week would end up being done hours earlier. it's the way dehua works, and as much of it is an antithesis to skyler's entire being, it's… oddly comforting, in a way.

maybe because it's one of his groupmates, maybe because it's the one person who constantly tries to be there for him no matter what, but there's something about being seen by someone who already knows you at your lowest—and vice versa.

"you're being pretty curious…" skyler tilts his head upwards ever so slightly to look at him as he teases, tempted to try and tilt all the way back to make direct eye contact with the taller man, but he knows that would likely only stress out the stylists by messing up his hair too much (dehua running his fingers through his hair should be fine enough, he thinks.) "i wonder if someone plans on doing something with this information…" his hands find dehua's own as they rest on his shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze then shaking them as he was well aware of the outcome of his curiosity.

but he shakes his head afterwards, mostly towards himself; he'd have to tell him anyway, as he would the rest of the guys. with a shallow sigh, he continues, "management wants us specifically to go through the set an extra time after however many run throughs we need." he glances up at the ceiling as he speaks, thinking. "so if everything comes together right in about... three runs, add another one to that. since this is the first time we'll be performing color, and surf is still new too, they really want to make sure it's as perfect as can be." their combined countless hours working in the practice rooms to get each movement and line down just right, thinking about it all causes brown eyes roll as he adds with a sarcastic smile, "no mistakes."

this much is nearly enough, anyway – the softness. he's always thought softness, ease, suited skyler most. not that he'd ever say as much out loud, (gross) but the sentiment was implicit in his doting.

dehua blinks with feigned innocence, but can't fight down the smile at having been caught. "what? who, me? can't i just be curious about my leader?" fortunately, the expectation for wonder to go above and beyond with this many eyes on them is one that he'd expected. the good part is that it's more or less a shared goal, there were only so many opportunities to farm for fans among a sea of other idols' fandoms and something going wrong could be the difference between wonder climbing up another few rungs of the proverbial ladder and them being the topic of conversation for all the wrong reasons by the end of the weekend.

instinctively, he's always been a bit of a pessimist, but there's little more he has faith in than wonder as a collective talent. "we'll be great. and, if we aren't, that won't be your fault." he says matter-of-factly. "i'm hard to keep up with, so really, all you guys need to do is watch me and hope you can fall in line with my brilliance." he adds, ever-playful.

kyunghee could admit that dahua was a bit of a distraction, one that she was happy to have. there was a bit of relief that he had actually shown up. despite knowing each other for a years at this point, she had shared a different world with him. one more focused on her future dreams and career. but she had been convinced to host an end of the summer party by her friends. this would be their last year in high school and they had wanted to go out with a bang.

kyunghee wasn't interested in bang and with more compromise on her part, they had something. it wasn't overly loud, people were enjoying themselves to her home and her service while she ran around as the host. being called whenever someone needed something, pushed into ordering just a bit more. there was just a reason but it had been time to take that first step.

kyunghee ushered the other in with a smile, though she hadn't said much until they made it to the kitchen. oddly, enough this was one spot in the house was that was free from traffic. another thing she insisted on. there were tables with food, the entire living and dining room. They didn't have a pool but there was enough space in the bag that she had been able to get a few water related activities up. In short, there were enough places to be, bathrooms and sinks to use. The kitchen had become her safe place.

as if anyone wanted to help her in here away. kyunghee frowned at the thought for a moment but she looked at dehua with a smile. "i'm glad you could make it, do you want anything to drink? there is food and snacks as well.." she wasn't being polite about it, "if fact…it'd be a help if you managed to pack any of this away, i'm pretty sure i'll be living off left overs for the next month so."

"did... did you invite me here to..." he paused, rubbing his arm through the sleeve of the too big, too crisp button up shirt he'd borrowed from an older trainee. he'd had to pawn off some of his meal allowance for the week to keep him from telling on him for even being out right now, so he'd felt especially justified in pulling it from the shared wardrobe in the dorm. "shouldn't we be dancing or something? you don't have to baby me, you know, i can get it myself." he made no move to start partaking in anything, instead crossing his arms and quirking an eyebrow with a playful petulance that was practically synonymous with his existence.

there aren't many things that could affect yubin's moods if anyone were to ask her. however as the season changes from cerulean skies and the smell of salt water to cool breezing woody scent and longer golden hours; along with the promotion of the group's recent comeback, there's a sort of weight that sits heavy on her shoulder.

she isn't sure if she wants to approach her fellow members to talk about it since she would be unsure of where she could really start of ― or for the matter of fact if she even had wanted to talk about it at all. it's odd truly, she is normally good with words if her own composition isn't proof of it but recently even her writing and arrangements seem to be all over the place. the worst part of it was her inability to admit that she might be hit with a sort of slump. a standstill roadblock. a lost of musing. anything but to openly admit that she could no longer write.

( there were also some rumors about the group's future being at stake and what not. whispers of them being possible backburners since yoon sunyoung would have to return to her original responsibilities. others being the talks about each of the i:ris' members intentions of pursuing other walks of life. if the individual activities and free time they're given isn't a telltale sign of the impending motion until the inevitable discussion, then let it be known that yubin remains oblivious to the whispers passing around. )

instead of thinking about the future she has to take before she gets scheduled for any meeting, she choose to run away from any obligations. at least for today.

her heart longs to be with the sea. maybe she might even stay overnight at some unknown accommodation if she could not catch the last train back but that would be for her concerns later. for now, she's got her disguise on ― she's got some clip on extensions so her hair would not be a dead giveaway to who she is, a nice cap to cover her face and nothing too fancy. with a ticket to gwangdo, she boards the train and takes a window seat.

in her defense, she should not be surprised if anyone were to take a seat next to her especially when it's a public transport and she would have minded her own business the entirety of the ride, however as she turns just to catch a glimpse of her seatmate, she recognize a fellow labelmate junior.

he always comes back, of course, (because it's not like he has anywhere else to go, anyway,) but when you're an introvert in an industry that necessitates being surrounded by people for nearly every waking moment of your life, you find ways to cope.

his own sociability complicates things a bit, his outgoing nature an asset as much as it is a curse. that, on top of wonder's increasingly startling rise into success, their name slowly inching into the same conversations as seniors in a way that had once only been the thing of dreams, and a face that had been on magazines nearly as soon as he'd debuted, makes it difficult to truly disappear. he's gotten good at it, he thinks, though he's sure there are creepshots of him on various streets across korea floating across egg profiles on twitter.

tonight, for example, he's dressed in dark, baggy clothes far outside of his usual color palette, a black beanie pulled down low enough to cover his hair, eyebrows and his admittedly very distinctive ears and a half-worn sanrio-themed face mask (it was the only kind he'd packed, okay).

either way, he's, in his opinion, a very normal level of startled and surprised when the random patron he sits next to on the train addresses him by name. he whips his head to the side, eyes wide as he looks at the culprit.

that said, he felt more at home when there was constantly things to take care of and prepare for, knowing wonder was busy was ultimately a good thing; it meant they were successful, that people wanted to see more of them. it still led to him pushing himself so hard to prioritize work over his own health, and then that led to him being on edge.

that’s why only a loud sigh leaves him when their manager gives him yet another new detail he needs to pay attention to amongst the other five things he’s been told in the past 20 minutes. he wanted this, the blinding lights shining down on him, a reason for being, so he has to take the good with the bad.

speaking of the good, while he’s in the middle of scrubbing his face with his palm (as if he was trying to physically wipe the frustration and exhaustion away of the past few weeks from his mind, thank goodness they weren't in makeup during this rehearsal), he feels the temperature around him get a bit chillier. he pulls his hand away to find dehua’s reflection looking back at him, he cracks the first smile he’s had all day and even manages out a joke as he mumbles, “me? no, i’m completely fine. it’s the typical, usual trainwreck, so it’s manageable.”

this isn't new, not really, but after years of watching skyler shoulder the brunt of the weight that comes with the responsibilities that are quite simply built into the very foundation of what it means to be an idol, dehua had come to recognize the signs of when skyler was starting to buckle. usually, he'd do his part, quietly taking on a few pieces of the load, handling them himself and tossing them off to the side as if they'd never existed at all, other times, he'd show his support by being cute, cuddling up to him the way a needy cat might their owner, knocking things off the counter, smaller, easier things for him to fret over in lieu of every other massive deal that begged for his attention.

with time, dehua had learned to pick his battles and knew better now than to push too hard when what skyler really needed was a pull, a second to breathe. he'd hunt down their manager later and ask enough leading questions that he'd have a handful of tasks to sort through while skyler agonized over them all.

"mmh, thank you." dehua's eyes twinkle mischievously as he lightly scratches skyler's stomach, comfortingly smoothing both of his hands up his friend's torso until they land on his shoulders as he straightens up. "for you, maybe green? neon green? i think your face is nice enough that you could get away with it," he teases, squeezing skyler's shoulders before reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, playfully flopping his fringe around. "and get a buzzcut while you're at it."

short ver.

king of saying the most ridiculous shit with a straight face like. dangerously good poker face

but he’s a genuinely warm, calm, even person, he’s just a little stoic when he’s not performing or feeling particularly passionate about something

i think his idol self and his genuine self aren't that far removed from each other but he definitely puts it on a little more when he's on camera bc he's a Professional Entertainer

despite being pretty introverted, he's the kind of person to break the silence and comfortably start a conversation with new people; he’s not remotely shy, i’d almost say he were confident and outgoing to a fault, if it weren’t such a strong suit

suuuuper artsy guy, his parents are such cultured and explorative and expressive people that it sort of poured over into him and he is always seeking new ways to express and discover himself

he sets aside whatever free time he has to create things, he enjoys crocheting a lot and i think he makes it a point to make Things for the people he cares about because hes not the best at being affectionate with his words

i feel like he’s someone that’s never completely satisfied, part of that is definitely because he’s a spoiled, but i also think that he’s someone that’s constantly seeking growth and evolution and to Be the best version of himself

chronically bored and understimulated so sometimes he does things literally just for the plot

he cares a lot about how he’s perceived (not really publicly, at least not completely, but definitely interpersonally) even though you, ironically, probably wouldn’t guess as much from a conversation with him.

he honestly reads as someone really truly settled into themselves with clear goals and interests and that’s partially true but he’s also in his twenties so lmao

speaking of being a young, warm-blooded man, he’s down… pretty much always but with some very clear terms and conditions because he doesn’t want to waste a body obvs

he’s very Flirty, very Fun, but ethically

misc ver.

personality-wise, i drew a lot of inspiration from idols like ten (wayv), jeonghan (svt), seongmin (cravity), new (tbz) and sakuya (nct wish). not super high energy necessarily, but excitable and highly opinionated, self-contained, mischievous, endearing, fully realized as an individual, expressive and a bit of a "princess" in the sense that he'll pretend not to understand things sometimes just to get people to do it for him lol #toxic. there's the added bonus of him being very easily misinterpreted/misunderstood and getting into slight attitude controversies because of how high the standard is for idols under kh entertainment. something something textbook aquarius etc etc.

he's very secure in himself, and his only real sore spot is how he feels he measures up in terms of skill in comparison to his members/peers. on an objective, mun-perspective note, he isn't bad at singing or dancing, but he's unremarkable and has had to work really hard to get where he is (vocally, i'd say he's had the same journey as idols like ten (who went from being delegated as a rap member at debut with pretty low-skill vocal lines to someone competent enough at singing to carry a solo career and act as a prominent vocalist in his subunit) and is audibly probably similar to yujin from and2ble/zb1 or jeno from nct dream where he's decent/pretty good but nobody's writing home about his voice; dance-wise, he's definitely along the lines of a new, renjun or a joshua/jeonghan) and i think that's something he's struggled a lot with in terms of his ego, because he honestly grew up living life on easy mode, so being told he sucked harshly and often as a trainee did, in fact, humble the shit out of him.

he's lowkey a study on pretty privilege and some of its pitfalls, but in a chill, low-commitment way because i don't really want to get too dark and angsty with it (haha, unless....)

plot ideas

THE FOUR SEASONS (2025-) 1x03 Eco Resort