I NEED AN UPGRADE.

the mess isn't exactly horrible either, and he decides to busy himself with the task at hand. the faster they're done, the faster they'll get to rest ( hopefully ). it helps too that he's doing the task with isak, the two of them standing side-by-side. the more he concentrates, the less he'll have to interact with isak. the both of them hadn't had the best of relationships, and wenjun had always remained confused as to how to approach isak. clearly they were both trainees under the same entertainment, and wenjun had never been the confronting type, or the type to hold grudges despite how terribly he'd been treated.

in his mind, his time with isak hadn't always been completely filled with arguments and wenjun feeling lesser than he should. there were times when isak would look at him in ways that made wenjun's heart flutter, times where he'd yearn for his touch ( though of course, that was long over now ).

"it's not that i'm bad at cleaning," he protests, immediately disgruntled by the fact that wenjun (or anyone) would call him bad at anything, "it's just that i really hate it. these hands weren't meant for this kind of work... oh, look at them, they're so ugly." he holds up his fingers for wenjun to see the wrinkled mess that they've become. isak scowls at his own palms. "do you have any hand lotion? this is going to be so bad."

cleaning duty sufficiently shirked, isak can focus his energy on building rapport with the imaginary audience watching their every interaction. while he's really just being himself, he knows that there's also a character to be played here; a more likable version of shin isak that's made for the public to digest, adore, admire. "you take such good care of me, wenjun," he speaks softly, sweetly, perhaps more so than he had even when he had called wenjun his own. "i don't know what i'd do without you."

either way, he's not too mad about it. he's been trying to 'branch out' or whatever since coming to korea and this is definitely ... that.

he had kind of zoned out, not really paying attention to what was going on now since almost everything has been finished and he doesn't really need to be in 'on' mode anymore. when someone starts speaking, it takes iseul a moment for him to react and realize they're talking to him.

"you and me both." he grins at the other young man and lets his eyes wander up and down as the other stretches, admiring the glimpses of skin and muscle underneath that he's treated to. it's innocent enough; just a quick once-over is enough for him to appreciate the masculine form. "can you believe i can't sleep without the distant sound of car alarms now? crickets and wildlife keep me up all night." saying it aloud makes him realize how impatient he is to go home; hopefully the homeowners return soon.

A deep voice snaps Haneul out of his reverie. He takes his hand away from where he was petting the sheep to look at who was talking. Chuckling, Haneul takes pity on the trainee in question. "She won't bite, right, little missy?" The sheep bleats at him softly before he turns back to the other trainee. He takes the pail of feed as he playfully rolls his eyes. "But fine, Isak, right?" Haneul smiles, his free hand back to petting the sheep. "I'll help you out this time."

"but that doesn't make for very interesting television, does it?" he defends himself, as if he knew all along that the feed is not given directly to the animal but dumped into the trough instead. "you know everyone wants to see us pet a lamb or something." not that he's getting any closer to those beasts than necessary now; he takes an extra step backwards as the hungry sheep start to approach the humans with the feed pail.

◔ ┈ LOADING … TRAINEE PROFILE INITIATED !

SHIN ISAK ( READ MORE HERE )

AGE 21 ( 30 JULY 2002 )

TRAINED FOR 2 YEARS AND 6 MONTHS ( SIGNED JULY 2021 )

              INTRODUCTION VIDEO FOUND … PRESS PLAY ?

there’s half a second before his expression falls into place, a moment when his face is nothing but void, empty space with no emotion, or thought, or humanity lingering in the look in his eyes. no sooner does the viewer blink before the man on screen is flashing a wide, toothy smile. somehow there’s the faintest predatory aura about him, despite nothing physically intimidating about him. some hidden intensity lurks below the surface. “it’s nice to meet you,” he bows politely, his manners nothing short of superb. “my name is shin isak, but you knew that, didn’t you?” he laughs, but then covers his vanity with simple fact: “it should say so in the title, right?” “i plan to be a well-respected actor that no one can say no to casting someday. please look after me well.” he bows again, and then comes the fun part: “today i’ll be showing you how fast i can cry! i’ve always been good at bringing up tears on demand, so today we’ll be timing it so you can see firsthand how quickly i can tap into all my emotions.” he holds up a stopwatch, ready to show the viewer. “ready? go!” he clicks the start and the counter beings ticking away as the young man looks down at his feet, his face twitching this way and that as he calls up tears to his eyes. the clock reads ’00:00:24:58’ as a single tear drips down his cheek. “less than half a minute, see?” he seems pleased with his own result. “you should try it too. i’ll look in the comments to see if anyone beats my record!” an expert at engagement; surely he believes that his video will get a lot of love from new fans. shin isak signs off not long after, singsonging his hope that everyone subscribes and looks forward to him in the future.