* 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑.

that got deep a little too fast — he feels his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, feeling his words stutter now as he realizes how he could be coming off as. “ — not that i’m trying to lecture you or anything, i’m definitely in no position to do that anyways. wow,” he lets out a breath, “i’m not used to getting so serious,” he lets out a very, very exaggerated shudder. “that feels so weird, let’s never do that again.” jino laughs, head shaking as if to get that out of his system.

going against the grain, gyuris features twist into something sour, playfully so, an attempt at poking fun at the older man. "wow, didn't think you'd actually go all big brother mode on me here . . . is this you trying your hand at method acting, because if it is, you're nailing it." she keeps her tone flat, a brow raised slightly in question, her expression held for only a moment or so before she breaks the facade. a smile grows upon her lips, eyes crinkling at the corners, a light laugh leaving her as she lightens up. "i appreciate the words, don't worry so much."

today’s class was no different; they helped him to detox from the hard week of training and news of another cycle of debut workshops and tight schedules for the legacy family concert. he’s been there and done that before, but the more time passes, the more yoojin feels he’s getting closer to the point it’s all or nothing for him.

that’s why he decided to extend his stay in the studio - it was good to be somewhere else other than the legacy walls - a simple change of scenario was better than a breath of fresh air. 

so, using the free time he still had - he had been warned about someone else using that room later that day, he used his already warmed-up body to work on his choreography routine, one of his personal favorites.

it wasn’t until he took a turn after trying one of his acrobatic stunts and landed facing the door that he noticed he wasn’t alone in the room. he immediately checked his watch to see if he was late, and his alarm didn’t warn him, but he still had three minutes left.

and truly, gyuri is curious. she's always found it fascinating how some are more in-tune with their bodies than others, coordination being both an inherently known and learned skill. while far from being able to label herself as a dancer, she can certainly hold her own when it comes to less advanced routines, so seeing another with a much more obvious skill level is always a treat.

prior to their first meeting, hyunhee ensures that she has both ichika’s and gyuri’s favorite drink order down. it took a lot of poking and prodding trying to extrapolate that information from their respective managers, but in the end she hopes it’s a nice surprise alongside the pastries she had purchased from the local bakery.

“welcome, welcome.” she ushers the two of them into the small conference room. hyunhee full of smiles and buzzing with energy from the energy shot she’d downed just thirty minutes prior. “i’m so happy that you two were able to make it! please, help yourselves,” she gestures towards spread in front of the group before plucking a blueberry muffin up for herself.

“i thought we could have a little informal meeting before we get started with filming. you know,” she smiles at both of them. “so we can get to know each other!”

Leaning back against the hallway wall, Ichika idly reads the general rundown of the commercial, covertly glancing up at the other young woman in the vicinity. It’s not that she’s trying to be rude; she had said hello before, but at the end of the day, she can’t fully fight the way her shyness might come across as disinterest. Which she’s not. At least not at this very moment, but she can’t say she knows Gyuri very well, and normally it takes a bit for Ichika to fully warm up to people. She could say the same for Hyunhee, but the model hasn’t arrived just yet, and at least as the brand owner, she assumes she’ll be a good ice breaker. 

As if on cue, a ray of sunshine bears down on them, and Hyunhee ushers them inside. Still clutching the brand information her manager had provided her, and her bag, Ichika makes her way inside and consciously takes a seat close to where Hyunhee has deposited her goods. 

“Oh!” It’s only then that she truly gets a look at the pastries, and a small, genuine smile creeps across the idol’s face. For many years she had tried to deny it, convinced that it went against whatever image she thought suited her, but in the last few years, Ichika’s sweet tooth had become less of a secret and more of a fact known across Crystallis’ fandom. “These look lovely!” Small, delicate fingers instinctively find their way to vibrant berry tart. “Thank you,” she adds with a small nod, venturing to offer her smile to both women. 

She hums happily when she takes a bit, but all thoughts of complimenting the treat fall away when Hyunhee seems to magically procure her goodie bags. Quickly covering her mouth with one of her hands, Ichka places the tart down on a napkin and reaches out to receive the bag. “Oh, this is so kind, thank you.” She sets the bag down on her lap and carefully pulls one of the clips out. “Ah, it’s so cute. I’m assuming this baby one? This cream color is so pretty.”

gyuri can't say she knows either woman very well, but that initial distance hasn't ever been cause for issue before. collaboration was an inevitable constant in their lines of work, a line interacting the differing worlds of idols, models, and actress'. she'll grow to know both woman soon enough, is determined to do so, so the gifts hyunhee offers once their meeting begins are accept with gratitude. "you didn't have to go through all this trouble, thank you!" and truly, gyuri means it. grand gestures, while appreciated, have never been something she's required, especially upon a first meeting like this. this simply shows her that hyunhee, as she'd initially been anticipating, was a nice person.

she doesn't move to open her gift bag right away, instead watching as ichika opens hers, eyes wide and lips pulled into a happy grin. instead, she makes to take one of the pastries options in the table, her lack of a proper breakfast that morning thanks to a faulty alarm clock taking momentary president. a chocolate chip scone, still rather warm and just as delicious as it looks. there's no muffling the noise of satisfaction she makes upon her first bite, scone gone in only a few bites, and gyuris brows furrow slightly. "you picked out some delicious treats— thank you for being so thoughtful, hyunhee-ssi!"

finally, gyuri takes a moment to look through the gift bag. reaching inside, her fingers take hold of the largest clip, gaze firm. "you were right to call this one super, it's perfect for those with long, thick hair!" taking a moment, gyuri clips her hair up. "how do i look?"

“if you lean, i’ll lean and if we both lean — maybe it’ll lean us into the right direction.” he laughs, eyebrows raised in a jestful jiggle as if to say ‘see what i did there’, “from what i’ve seen with your scenes with sujin-ssi, you’ve got it on lock.”

with food ordered and soon to be on the way, gyuri finds herself relaxing slightly, hands clasped together with satisfaction. "ah, i can't wait— now that it's officially on the way, i'm realizing just how hungry i actually am," she shares, brows raising slightly as she looks at jino.

“however, maybe going overboard is just the contrast i need to make sure i play my own part right.”

surely, he could not pass up her offer in helping gyuri get immersed into her role. and while his own experience of having an older sibling far differed from the character that his role would portray, he found himself slipping into this 오빠-동생 relationship with ease. 

was this his true calling?

( where art thou long lost younger sibling? )

gyuri felt she and jino already had pretty good chemistry, the older having continuously been nothing but kind and welcoming upon first meeting. if any pair could pull this off, as minor as their characters relationship was within the grand scheme of the shows main plot, it was them.

nevertheless, perhaps that’s exactly why dongha finds himself easily immersed in the art form of drawn media. anything is possible, truth be told, dongha believes every art style is beautiful in its own right. there is no mold to fit, in his eyes. no beauty standard that needs to be adhered to. still, there comes a time when art is brought forth in reality. or something close to it.

when he first caught gyuri from the corner of his eyes, it felt as if he met the 4d clone of one of his beloved characters from his discontinued manhwa. naturally, dongha rubbed his eyes profusely before confidently doubling down on that connection. he has always been rather shameless though, so he found no issue with bringing this up to gyuri herself.

“i swear, when i saw you, i thought i was transported into another world! like, directly into the manhwa itself. do you know that trope?” he starts off, already going on a small tangent before properly answering gyuri’s questions. “it really felt like i was… isekai’d… into that fictional world. that has its own genre.”

dongha was about to say that he started working on that webtoon before he even knew of gyuri’s existence—however, that would expose his true identity. instead, he pulls up the twitter profile of his other secret identity—he made sure that he logged out of it, of course!

"idekai'd? is that the term for that sort of plotline?" the verbiage is something she isn't familiar with, but the general idea is. there have been plenty of shows she's seen over the years that utilize that very trope as a main plot point. vaguly, gyuri thinks she'd find a role like that enjoyable to act as in a future production. "i'm learning so much today. i'll have to look more into that later— especially the source material for this lookalike character, too!"

live the moment, they said.

well, hyuk could be living the moment waiting for someone to bring him those damn pastries, not waiting on a ridiculous line at the bakery at that time of the day. he had stuff to do (no, he didn’t). 

sometimes he didn’t know why he paid too much attention to what people - namely his two stupid friends - would tell him. yes, he was a spoiled brat but he just didn’t know why he’d have to go through all mundane experiences when he could just ask someone to buy those pastries for him. what kind of universal enlightenment he’d be getting by staying standing on a line like that?

“aish, can’t they move faster?”

hyuk heard the girl speaking just behind him and chuckled. the feeling was so genuine and mutual, he decided to turn around, finding the person vaguely familiar, even if she was hiding behind a mask and a fluffy mint colored hat. 

ordinarily, having to wait in line wasn't an issue, both her patience and respect towards those who worked in customer service ( specifically, customer service within the food industry ) being rather high. she's simply having an off day, the weather a little too frigid, her alarm having gone off a little too late that morning for whatever reason, her timeline for the day skewed in a way she wasn't a happy camper about. now, standing in a line she was usually good at beating rush hour on any other day while running late?

yeah, she's a bit annoyed— mainly with herself, but annoyed nonetheless.

( he can already imagine jiah getting a kick out of this, surely citing that he was definitely getting a taste of his own medicine right about now but jino is all but bemused, instead he feels rather flattered by the similarities he sees in gyuri and his own personal role as his sister’s very own annoyance )

trying but failing to keep his laughter at bay, quickly raising a hand to his lips to pass it off as a cough as he nods, already bringing his phone up to his face — another cover to keep him from turning faces as he feels almost taken over by his giggles — and bringing up the food delivery app. 

“alright, alright — calm down, now, i’m sure we can find a spicy noodle shop nearby.” he’s about two seconds ready from jumping for joy at the idea that he would be quenching this singular craving he’s been having for ages — cutting it out for his role hadn’t been the plan but somehow …. here he was, weeks without a spicy noodle meal in sight.

jino, from gyuris perspective, has a much better understanding as to what being a younger sibling is like . . . because he is a younger sibling. his reaction serves as motivation, as approval, in a way, an unspoken positive towards her choices in character exploration.

"i personally believe there's no such thing as going overboard when it comes to getting into characters, but . . . let me know if i take the bit too far, please? the last thing i want to actually become the annoying little sister in the wrong setting," gyuris words are light as she speaks, a happy grin spreading across her lips. it's not often she loses herself, and while it's sometimes entertaining, she'd rather it not be over something as simple as noodles.

he was mature — at times — reliable, attentive, steadfast and most-importantly, doting! jino was sure he could slide into such a role like a well-fitted glove; and his worries were probably unfounded.

probably being the right word as he steps in line with gyuri at the on-site canteen, hands stuffed into his pockets as he resumes a role akin to a brotherly figure; it wasn’t like this was their first time meeting, but it was his first time getting to know her on the level that their roles expected of them. 

“are you sure you’re fine with what we have on set? i can probably order something here.” he’d probably also have to order an extra box or two of food for their staff but it was a small price to pay to foster that sibling attachment that he’d read in their scripts. “should i guess what you’re craving?” a pause, “you look like a spicy cold noodles kind of person.”

her characteres connection with jinos, as a result, is one she finds herself happily intrigued to explore. while their dynamic might not be anything incredibly integral to the show, it would still help in fleshing out their roles in the grand scheme of things, offering deeper understandings into who they're both meant to portray. plus, it's always nice to get to know her seniors on a better level.

so, taking the time in getting a meal together at the on-site canteen is something gyuri gratefully agrees to when the opportunity arises. she isn't a picky person, so there isn't a need to fuss about their eatery of choice, an easy grin spread across her lips as she settles in line beside jino. "there's no need to go out of your way, really!" at first, she reassures, hands held up in front of her lightly. then, she thinks. "actually, that's not a very little sister like thing to answer with, is it . . ."

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CELEBRATE 2025 HAPPY GYURI DAY AT THE LEGACY CAFÉ!

IN COLLABORATION WITH LEGACY ENTERTAINMENT X NAM GYURI DC GALLERY

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