Danse Macabre

at miyu’s comment, akio grins. he leans slightly toward her, faking offense. “hey, don’t blame me! he’s the one who made me a power-hungry god,” he jokes, gesturing towards jinseo before his gaze settles back on miyu. “but i get it. mayari’s stance makes sense, even if apolaki can’t see past his own pride. he probably thinks compromise is weakness… i would definitely be team mayari, but i have to put myself in apolaki’s shoes if i want to portray him well.”

there’s a short pause and he looks more thoughtful now. “you know, it’s kind of fascinating. you have two people who want the same thing: peace and order, but completely different visions of how to get there. i think that’s what makes the rivalry hit harder. it’s not just about power, it’s about belief, about values.”

it’s impressive how deeply jinseo has thought about his campaign. there’s reasoning behind everything, and miyu is excited for the product the trio will ultimately produce.

However, he also has an interpretation that they may not agree with but one he had also considered as he was studying the tale. "The stabbing is unintentional. But that is also the turning point of the tale, wherein Apolaki realizes that he cares about his sister more than making a point." He pauses as he takes a sip of water to gather his thoughts. "Which then leads me to another theory I had when I was told this story for the first time..."

"I always thought it went with how much Filipinos valued community and selflessness. Those are values they take pride in even today. So I leaned a bit in that direction, but of course, being power-hungry and wanting to be respected are also innate qualities in anyone ambitious enough to prove their worth.... which in the end, the siblings are trying to do. Prove they are worthy of ruling the world following their father's reign."

being selected as a model for elysium’s upcoming perfume collection is a milestone—even for someone already in the spotlight as an idol. today’s meeting with @lgcmiyu and @lgcjinseo, however, has him equally excited and nervous. with his limited experience as a model, he wouldn’t want to bring the brand down. he did gain some skills over the past year and has even started viewing modeling differently. it’s not just about poses and angles. there’s more nuance and variety. he was already briefed on the general idea behind the concept for the commercial. he finds it captivating and creative and is looking forward to learning more about it directly from the brand owner. what an achievement, he thinks. to actually own a brand. 

when miyu and akio step into the meeting, jinseo greets them with the calm presence of someone who knows exactly what kind of magic he wants to create. as jinseo explains the campaign’s vision, akio listens attentively, leaning forward with genuine interest. he nods at various time, absorbing every word. after a moment, jinseo asks if they have any questions. “will there be dialogue, or is it more visual storytelling?” akio asks. “and are we focusing more on the rivalry or unity between them? or both?” 

As Akio and Miyu step in, Jinseo gives them both fresh fruit juice and some light snacks, given that he's not sure how they liked their coffee. This was going to be a slightly long meeting, knowing how he tends to go off-tanget when lore-building. He might as well stop them from growing hungry. He tries making the story as interesting as he can, but he likes to think the story itself is already fascinating without his extra theatrics. Turning to @lgcakio, he smiles. "That's actually what the production team is debating on behind the scenes," he admits with a soft, sheepish chuckle. "That's why we'll be shooting both versions and see which one the production team likes more, I'm afraid." He knows it's an extra step, but this is a more ambitious production team he'll be working with, one that specializes in action-based concepts.

With the second question, it's much easier to answer. "Maybe a bit more on the rivalry, especially when you two start sparring," he says without missing a beat. "Because you two portray gods with equally strong personalities and powers, who happen to be advocating for two things. One wants total control, the other believes in splitting it equally, so again fighting for different things." Turning his attention to @lgcmiyu specifically, he adds. "During the pre-colonial era, women in the Philippines took on important leadership and spirtual roles in society, which is why Mayari feels so strongly about ruling equally."

“Ah!” She had hesitated trying any of them in case they overwhelmed the studio, but his words were encouraging and she couldn’t hold back. Opening the sample, she carefully sprays some on her wrist and waves it around before smelling. “Oh, that’s so nice!” Her reaction is genuine and perhaps a little louder than normal, followed by a pleased smile. “I want to eat it!” She comments, taking another moment to smell again. “Very sweet and warm and comforting— perfect with some tea, I suppose.”She’s still very much listening to Jinseo, whatever reservations she had about him won over by the sweet smell and his genuine knowledge. “Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I can see how maybe something more fruity might add something different than…” she hums in thought… “something more musky, I suppose. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not the most versed on notes and the technical aspect. Typically, I just go off what I know I like, but I have heard that mixing scents has become rather trendy— or at least I’ve heard more and more about people who make content on layering. Is this something you take into mind now?”

Jinseo smiles as he observes Ichika's reactions to the perfume. "Right? It smelled so good I wanted to eat it when I first smelled it." This is why Jinseo chose that among the scents he gifted Ichika. "Yeah, for even with something like vanilla, it can smell like caramel or whiskey, depending on what you do with it." Humming at the question, Jinseo wonders how much he can yap without boring Ichika and the listeners. "Yes, and no," he admits. "I get that layering is a way to create a scent that is unique to you, and I sometimes do that as well. But then, I also think of the people who are too lazy or busy for that but still want a scent that they can call their own. I get that not everyone has the time, energy, or know-how to layer scents accordingly, and I want people to smell good and feel confident without complicating things too much."

“Ah-” She smiles when he mentions knowing her preference, and a small laugh escapes her. “I don’t know if food-base fragrances suit me, but, yes, am quite partial, so even I’m sure I can enjoy the samples one way or another.” Maybe it was less the gifts and more his demeanor that put her at ease; either way, it was good to know that even if she had to do this alone, with a man, it may not be so bad. “Oh, this one looks lovely— I think it’s very hard not to like vanilla or those sweet-milky scents,” she comments while pointing out one of the samples she had pulled from the bag. “But fruit is quite good too! Very fresh.” 

"I guess now would be the best time to try them while they're trendy," Jinseo says with a nod. "That one you're holding reminds me of freshly-baked vanilla madeleines," he says with a fond smile, remembering that he got that one because he liked how it smelled. "It made me hungry when I first sprayed it. I hope you enjoy that one." Humming, Jinseo nods along. "Vanilla is generally one of the easier to like scents, but it's also so versatile, that it gives a different vibe depending on the notes paired with it. Meanwhile, fruit tends to be very sweet most of the time, but if paired with unexpected notes, they can come out fresh or maybe even darker..."

clearing his throat, sanghyun’s mind was formulating the best way to express what he wanted to say. “the lines,” he said as he turned his head slightly to @lgcdom. “what inspired you to write about this?” sanghyun paused, wondering if there was a “beat around the bush” way of saying that even he’s (mentally) in pain reading the four lines. hearing @lgcjinseo’s question, sanghyun suggested as he held onto the paper, “based on this, i could imagine a tune with lots of percussion instruments, but i’m not sure if he had the same idea in mind.” while placing the sheet of paper on his lap, sanghyun opened his notebook to find the page where he had written his lyrics. but he stopped midway as sanghyun glanced over to see jinseo’s assignment and it was just like he expected.

“it does seem like it would suit something i’d hear in an anime soundtrack.” he commented, mostly to take additional time to gather his thoughts but at the same time, it was to help him slow down before showing his work. “…as for mines,” he paused, finally arriving at the page where it was filled with scribbles, which was unlike of him to do. “i don’t think the teacher would appreciate me including some english words, but…i’ll learn more later.” he admitted, showing what he had written to the two of them.

say la la la la la la la la la la la la la la 今日は全部を忘れて( forget everything today ) 一緒に叫ぼう let's sing it loud ( let’s shout together, let's sing it loud ) 今日は全部を忘れて( forget everything today )

as dom stood there, eyes fleeting between jinseo’s and sanghyun’s lyrics, heat began slowly rising up his neck once more. they had both written their lyrics in japanese—of course, naturally, since this was a japanese composition class!—and yet here he was, clutching his own lines written in korean and english. not that he had a choice. his japanese was comparable to a babbling three year old.

but he had to celebrate the small wins. when he was writing, he did envision heavy percussion, something along the lines of punk-pop. so even if his lyrics weren’t as strong ( he gathered that much from how … dodgy @lgcjinseo and @lgcsanghyun sounded ), at least they saw his vision.

there was one other problem.

dom narrowed his eyes on sanghyun’s lyrics. jinseo’s was easier to read since he knew most of the kanji characters, but sanghyun’s … today … forget. context clues! context clues! the next line was let’s shout together. wait. huh??? “is this supposed to be an anthem?” okay, there’s probably a nicer way to speak to his senior but—

He knows Dom is definitely wrong, but he's going to be nice about it. After all, they're all here to learn and help each other.

"If you were talking about mine, then I guess it's yes and no at the same time. I wanted a song that had youthful summer vibes, but it's not exactly class is out vibe." You know that awkward moment when you realize you're the most fluent person in the room? Jinseo supposes he has just had that lightbulb moment just now.

Shrugging, he turns to the other two. "Any of you good at instruments? Let's test our theories and apply the composing techniques we learned." It's one thing to explain the concept in paper. Fleshing out the song with both a tune and lyrics might help them all see how they can fix their respective compositions.

"I can play a piano, a bit of drums, guitar, and those DJ turntables but we don't have the turntables in here," he volunteers as he walks over to the piano and sits on the bench. He had already planned ahead and experimented with notes for his assignment. They sounded rough in his head, but he will cross that bridge when they get there. "I'm sick of playing around with mine for now. Any of you want to volunteer your lyrics and potential composition suggestions?"

What's a job you'd like to try aside from your current profession?

For a job related to my college degree, maybe a political analyst? I've always liked observing how our current political landscape will affect our daily lives and observing how people decide who they want to lead them. Back in city hall, I was mostly on the ground, helping draft ordinances and policies that would benefit us. I'd like to be on the more academic side of it this time.

it was why sanghyun was left in a bit of confusion when one of the trainees had introduced himself to him and as he tried to connect the pieces together between what cheol ( @lgcdom ) and jinseo ( @lgcjinseo ) said, he had one possible guess as to what had happened the week before. “and i’m lim sanghyun, pleasure to meet you as well.” he introduced himself as he bowed his head. as sanghyun listened and remained quiet, he shook his head the second he heard jinseo’s question. while he may have spent the last few weeks in between schedules practicing on his dancing, he was quite certain that he didn’t experience any negative encounters.

he was proud of himself for keeping it together—but then jinseo laughed and dom’s idea to remain half-decent went out the window. he remained in his bowed position as his cheeks flared. they burned even more when jinseo and sanghyun both introduced themselves as if dom didn’t know who they were! and if that wasn’t humiliating enough, sanghyun recognizing him as the person who left took the cake.

dom straightened up with a snap.

and now he was staring at—what seemed like—two wolves in the eye. @lgcjinseo appeared friendlier, but that smirk and the anecdote that he once fought someone was enough to raise the hairs at the back of dom’s neck. @lgcsanghyun was quieter, more aloof … and that honestly made him scarier because what was he thinking??

“yes,” dom answered, still stiff. he cleared his throat and tried again. “i took the instructor’s feedback into consideration and reworked my lyrics from last week. could you two— … i would appreciate any thoughts—if … if you don’t mind.” to save himself from saying anything more embarrassing, dom held out two sheets of paper. printed on it in 12pt, double-spaced, times new roman were the following lyrics:

Turning serious, Jinseo then peers into the sheer of paper. "Uh... I'm not sure what you had in mind, but I suppose I can see the vision after reading it five times?" He's not a lyricist by all means, but he likes to think he knows sketchy-sounding words when he spots them. "I think it all depends on the story you're trying to tell," Jinseo says, recalling some advice they got the week before. "And also, what kind of tune are you thinking of doing with this?"

Jinseo then opens his notebook to where his assignment was handwritten in Japanese, again, attempting to exercise his proficiency in the language.

進め 君の元へ (Moving toward where you are) 夜明けはすぐ目の前 (The light of dawn is right in front of my eyes) 何十回 何百回 描いていた (Drawing tens and hundreds of times) 幼いままでずっと 焼きついた景色を (The scenery engraved in my mind in my immature days)

"In this case," Jinseo said, pointing to the words on the page. "I was thinking of making this one almost like a pop-rock upbeat tune. Almost like an anime soundtrack, if you get my drift." Turning to Sanghyun, he adds, "How are your lyrics going?"

charms japan radio week 4 guest : @lgcjinseo

Being the lone host for an episode is not something Ichika feels uncomfortable with, but considering Yujin was supposed to be with her today, the small, sudden change manages to do something to her equilibrium. Why, she can’t say, but for the first 30 minutes after her arrival, she finds herself drifting uncharacteristically. There’s no way the staff doesn’t catch it too, but by the time Jinseo arrives and they’re ready to broadcast, she manages to find her footing. 

dom was determined to win back his dignity.

you see, he had embarrassed himself terribly. he’d walked into the workshop room last week, saw jinseo and sanghyun, immediately turned on his heel, and walked right out. in his defense, he thought he’d gone into the wrong room! why else would a couple of highly regarded models be in a lyric composition workshop?

but alas, after triple-checking the room number, he confirmed that it was, in fact, the right place to be. so he had to do the walk of shame back. and of course, naturally, he avoided all eye contact with the two and only contributed minimally through flushed cheeks and a quipped tongue.

this week, he decided to be better.

Although he has to admit, seeing trainees still get intimidated by either Sanghyun's or his presence is amusing. So he schools his face into a neutral mask as the new guy approaches them. unsure of what's going to happen next.

He doesn't expect an apology for it, so he can't help but burst out laughing. Once he calms down, he turns to Sanghyun in some confusion and back to the trainee in question before shrugging. "I can't speak for Sanghyun over here, but apology accepted. My name is Kim Jinseo, pleasure to meet you." He bows his head back. "Although I'd like an explanation for said behavior."