marionette

after having his pictures taken, haneul is escorted into a room where the rest of the trainees assigned to his group are waiting to pick up their id. a big yawn escapes from his mouth while he stretches out, slightly exhausted from the long hours he makes as a student and trainee, and he quietly joins the others. it shouldn’t take much longer before they’re done, he thinks, and his mind starts to wander to what he should eat after he gets out of here. he hasn’t cooked for himself in a while, maybe he could try one of the recipes his parents sent over a couple of weeks ago; hopefully his dorm mates won’t be too upset if he ends up burning anything, but those are worries for later. he smiles to himself.

he doesn’t expect his thoughts to be disturbed by confetti raining from the sky, much less by one of his senior trainees clinging to him, and he can’t help but giggle at the other. cute. it takes more than a few pieces of paper falling from the ceiling to get him—and it helps he was too lost in thought to jump at the surprise like kangmin did, but that is something he doesn’t want to admit, even to himself. the staff ushers them towards the bathrooms so they can clean themselves up before they retrieve their ids. haneul doesn’t understand why it matters if there’s confetti in his hair or on his clothes for him to pick it up, but doesn’t get the chance to question it. maybe they’re just being considerate, he thinks to himself. yeah, that must be it; the legacy staff is pretty cool.

“it’s good practice for the future though, isn’t it?” he asks when kangmin speaks to him, ever the optimist. haneul plucks a piece of confetti from the other trainee’s hair and chuckles. “let’s get cleaned up quickly. don’t want to keep everyone else waiting for too long!” he pushes the bathroom door open, allowing his senior to go in first before following after him, and only then does he notice the room is filled with balloons. “what the—” but much further than that he doesn’t get because one of the balloons pops and this time it’s haneul’s turn to yelp in surprise while finding cover behind kangmin. it isn’t much use when he’s surrounded by them, but he isn’t thinking about that right now. “i hate this,” he whines loudly, “i want to go home.”

“maybe, but surely there’s other ways to practice? ways that don’t involve us getting scared half to death?” the complaints accompanied by pout and slightly reddened cheeks as haneul brushed confetti from kangmin’s hair, the other trainee hastily shaking his head to clear away any more wayward pieces of paper once haneul’s withdrew.

ugh, what a mess, acting like this in front of a junior. still, kangmin internally took a breath in and let a well practiced smile grace his features. kicking up a (bigger) fuss would only reflect badly on the both of them, after all. “at least it was only confetti. that’s easy enough to clean up, after all.” he mused as they walk down the hallway, eyes darting around suspiciously, still expecting someone to jump out at them. kangmin says nothing, but he can’t help but be wary. it was just too quiet. unless he’s just overthinking it, an occurrence that was completely normal for him.

“still, I suppose it could be worse, right? i mean what else could happ--”

words come to a suddenly halt as they enter the bathroom to see it adorned with balloons, every inch seemingly covered in the things. “you gotta be kidding me,” were the first words that left his mouth, brow twitching a bit in annoyance and a grudging kind of respect at the lengths the staff were willing to go to in order to fulfill their pranks.

any further commentary is halted before kangmin can even speak it, the sound of a balloon popping causing him to cringe away in shock. though it is nothing compared to haneul’s reaction; of crying out and hiding behind him. despite it all, a small smile forms on the senior trainee’s lips at the reversal in fortunes for them.

“what happened to this being ‘good practice?’” kangmin good-naturedly throws back the other’s words at him before shaking his head. in all honestly, he couldn’t say that he disagreed with haneul in the slightest. but the quickest way to get home was to endure all this nonsense, was it not?

@lgchaneul​

when it came to prior experiences with the company seniors, unfortunately kangmin had already realised by now that there was no telling when someone was really to take him by surprise and whenever something was a legitimate event he should be caring about. april's fool was, however, always a day to be suspicious, but unfortunately he had forgotten all about the passing of months in the midst of repetitive training and preparing for his last year in university. needless to say, even if he had imagined something being on, this year the prank was masqueraded so much like an actual event that it was only when drowned in confetti that kangmin first began thinking something was off. after all, how did one get that much glittery pieces stuck in a ceiling fan?

of course he had already been taken utterly by surprise when it fell down, even going so far as to let out a loud embarrassing yelp and cling to his nearest trainee colleague who had been filling out the forms alongside him. a junior in training, but much closer to himself in age than some of the other people in the company which often gave him a sense of reassurance. of course he admired those who had moved against their youthfulness and the limitations it might implore on them and actually pursued their dreams from a young age, but kangmin couldn't help but admit that there was often a gap in mental age between himself and the much younger trainees, even more so a sense of jealousy.

dowsed in confetti they were urged to go change to be more presentable for the photo session, and although kangmin was definitely expecting a follow up, he had no way of knowing when or how it would come. suspicious glances were shot around the hallways they made their ways through lest someone should jump out from behind a corner and cover them in whipped cream or something like that. it seemed haneul noticed his jumpiness, and kangmin felt a bit sheepish at that. instead he attempted to strike up a conversation.

{ contact : 내 소울메이트 }

{ 📨 ➺ 내 소울메이트 } guess who’s birthday it is today?! yours! lol { 📨 ➺ 내 소울메이트 } happy birthday!! { 📨 ➺ 내 소울메이트 } on another note, i have a favor to ask… can you come help rearrange my room? this bed is too heavy for me to do it on my own. { 📨 ➺ 내 소울메이트 } i promise i’ll buy you some food as payment for helping me..…

{ message to → refuel our tv }

let’s... uhm... pretend i actually did an intro post first time around shall we. anyway yes, hi, i’m shino (28, they/them) and i’ve been at lgc some times before even with kangmin here lmao whoops. things haven’t been too good mentally and when i thought i would be fine because i hadn’t been on a warning list and could actually prioritise sleeping while i was feeling tired for a change i woke up to finding him dropped the next morning. so here we are again i suppose. i have all intentions of actually being more active this time around because i realised how hard it hit me to lose him and that was really unexpected so i’d rather not end up in a situation like that again.

with that said, i do hope to get more active with people other than That Guy who’s totally not taller than kangmin is and who he’s totally not crushing on so for now i’d like to fill in some event spots if possible considering i’m actually a bit busy for the remainder of the week and would like to save plotting and other rping for when i’m not house sitting! so like this post if you and your muse could be interested in threading with kangmin for any of the options below:

side event 14, group 8 muses: 0/1 roster photos 0/1 prank reaction

siwoo knows that he and kangmin both come from different backgrounds, in a way. the way that his own parents weren’t as strict as kangmin’s were was one thing that had siwoo feeling even more like he wanted to stand up for his friend and protect him, though it wasn’t just because of that reason alone, but he wasn’t exactly going to put that out there for the whole world to know, much less kangmin. one way to show the other male that he supported anything that the other did was by encouraging kangmin’s dreams and being there for him through it all.

if it hadn’t really been for kangmin getting into legacy, siwoo would have honestly never thought of auditioning for the company himself, most likely having gone elsewhere. so, in a way, he had partially joined legacy because of the other without telling him the whole truth. it was one of the two big secrets that he had never told kangmin, and never would tell him.

the memories come to an end as he hears kangmin speaking to him, smiling tenderly at the other male as he usually did when they were together. “you compliment me way too much.” he jokingly says to the other before gently nudging him and making his way back over to his own little work area to get started on his own task.

siwoo begins with pulling together his ingredients for the sauce, eventually starting to mix everything together in a certain order as he also occasionally begins to add in little taste tests here and there to make sure things are running smoothly on his end. when he hears his name being called once more, a smile graces his lips as he turns his head to look over at kangmin as the other speaks, shaking his head slowly before responding. “don’t worry about that part. the sauce i’m making will have just the right amount of seasoning so you’ll be fine with what you’re doing now.” he reassures his friend before continuing with what he’s doing, the smallest chuckle coming from him as he thinks of just how cute kangmin is.

siwoo’s words did not ring true within kangmin’s mind, and he offered a slightly displeased expression when his friend said that he should compliment him less. if one were to ask kangmin, the guy had so many good sides to praise that there would never be a moment to stop doing so. as siwoo went back to his own station kangmin muttered a low “that’s not true” under his breath. siwoo had always managed to captivate him right from the moment they met back in middle school: from his free spirit and his outgoing personality, he was everything kangmin didn’t know a person was allowed to be and more. 

although knowing it to be infatuation, kangmin liked to assume it was directed at the way of living rather than the person himself. he had learnt to acknowledge that the happiness he felt around the other was just siwoo’s attitude rubbing off on him.

the fact that he wanted to compliment siwoo and the fact that siwoo spend a lot of time on his mind was probably also because they had spent so much time together growing up; the more you were with a person, the more they occupied your mind... or something like that. it had to be that, because it was only siwoo who could make that strange heat rise to kangmin’s cheeks, the very one that was currently rising the more he thought about it. this was completely normal, right?

siwoo remembers the day that kangmin had been accepted into legacy as a trainee, being excited for his best friend because it was such a huge step for kangmin. though there had been that part of him that had also been slightly upset at the fact that they were practically being separated from one another, kangmin at the time becoming more busy due to his training schedule at the time. after a few months, siwoo had decided to take on the challenge of auditioning for the company as well, more self-conscious in a way due to having failed a few past auditions at the time. it was at this time that siwoo had told himself that, if he didn’t make it into legacy, then he would give up his dream of becoming an actor.

thankfully siwoo had, of course, passed the auditions and was able to once again be with kangmin. the memory of how he hadn’t told kangmin, rather surprising him in person once things were settled and he was officially a trainee, was one that he still couldn’t forget even now as the two of them are there doing this whole vlive together that the company had set up for the trainees and artists for the fans, and of course for the lucky senior artists that would be receiving the ‘gifts’ that everyone prepared. the funny thing about his and kangmin’s vlive? well they were making something for bae siwoo.

coming to a pause on his own task of checking which ingredients they had, siwoo’s head quickly turns to give kangmin his full attention when he hears his name being called, his usual bright smile gracing his lips as he makes his way over to his friend. “what’s up?” he asks as he gently drapes his arm around the other’s shoulder before listening to what is being asked of him. “hm… we could do pasta, but…” he can’t help but chuckle softly at the last two words that come from kangmin. “you ‘think’ you know how? i feel like i might be doing most of the work today..” he jokingly states as he gently tightens his grip on his friend before letting his arm drop to his side, stepping to the side a bit.

“i’m joking, but we can definitely get some pasta made up in time. we’ll just have to make sure that we keep it warm for when we deliver it to siwoo sunbaenim.” he gives a small nod of encouragement to kangmin as he says this. “if you work on the pasta i can get the sauce for it going.”

one thing about growing up the way he had was that despite having incredibly many different skills drilled into him from a young age, none of them had really been practical for living an ordinary life and taking care of himself. only after moving from home had kangmin for the first time realised that he couldn’t just expect people to cook and clean for him and while he was pretty alright with the cleaning by now, the cooking had never really interested him much. as long as he managed to eat he didn’t really care what it was.

fortunately it seemed on siwoo’s confidence that they didn’t share the sentiment. for a moment kangmin was hit by a sudden interest in siwoo’s cooking and a selfish wish for this dish to be dedicated to him, but there was no way he could voice that. but maybe he could sneak in a taste testing session. that would count right? and it wouldn’t be weird in any way right?

“you’re a blessing,” he admitted with relief as siwoo took upon himself the tast that would no longer be more difficult. as far as kangmin knew it was incredibly hard to cook pasta the wrong way as long as you made sure it wasn’t under or over boiled.

which meant... he just needed something to cook it in really. 

anything from baking and cookies was daeho favorite ( aside from rapping and dancing ). so he spent the night prior making heart shapes cookies with sweet messages for everyone. daeho didn’t understand the hype of all of this valentine stuff but if he had to share the love, he’s happy to do so with with these chocolate, and sugar cookies. each heart shape cookies was place in a clear bag tied together at the top with a red ribbon that he spent curling himself. 

aimlessly wandering around the legacy building, he did his best to be discreet about his mission for the day. “psst!” he called out. daeho has not yet to meet this stranger but everyone deserve something sweet to brighten up their day right? he approach the male and handed him the bags of chocolate and sugar cookie. “enjoy! I hope these satisfy your sweet tooth”.

note on cookie:

it was unlike him to put so much effort into something that was going be devour later on. however, he had some time to kill and surprisingly enough this was relaxing. the night prior keeho had made sure that everything was done. each bag of sweet had a note attached to it. there wasn’t any thought to it. he just wanted to add something punny, to the sweet.

the plan was blend in. all the sweets were hidden in his duffle bag ( a clean one  - dont worry no smelly practice or gym clothes in there ). with some to time to spare he walked into a random room where an unattended bag was in plain sight. quietly walking over he dropped his valentine sweets and left before being notice. 

the note attached :

“Why did the husband get his wife a kitten for Valentine's Day?

@lgcnicky​

frankly, nicky isn’t the biggest fan of this legacy entertainment tradition. he’d much rather keep to himself, keep his head down and pretend not to notice the holiday upon them. but he supposes that he’d only stand out more if he boycotted the event entirely… plus, he has to get rid of these chocolates somehow. the best thing he can do is just hand them all out as quickly as possible.

he tucks the little baggie of sweets into kangmin’s training bag when it’s left unattended. he doesn’t actually know who the bag belongs to, to be honest, he just knows he needs to get rid of the sweets as soon as possible. and the opportunity was there in front of him, so he takes it.

if kangmin thought the last bag he managed to find in his belongings had a very distinct lack of identifying features this one did even less so. seemed more like the work of a guy than the last one had so there was more hope in this one, but kangmin was absolutely certain that if it had been from that guy there would have been some kind of telling feature about it.

    honestly, jiho didn’t really expect to have time to participate in this year’s valentine tradition. he had thought he might be too busy, considering he had mostly been practicing for a lot of different things and writing constantly. but with a stroke of luck, he had been in and out of the legacy building and could sneak some candies and chocolate to people that were there.

    he pops into the cafeteria to grab something to eat, having been busy the last while practicing and as he’s waiting for his food, he notices a bag at an empty table. he glances around quickly, seeing if anyone was there before popping by and gently nestling a little bag of candy with a cat sticker on it into the bag, making sure it was covered for kangmin to find when he returned.

there was no denying that kangmin was indeed rather fond of sweet stuff (or food in general provided it wasn’t too spicy really) and in this aspect he didn’t truly mind this little tradition all that much. it seemed obsolete in some ways, and defeating the purpose of the actual festivity of gratitude and love to make it a game like this, but he definitely wouldn’t complain about getting chocolates and other sweets.

although there was definitely one person whose chocolates he was hoping to receive over others.

@lgcxsiwoo

when siwoo had first joined kangmin and managed to sign with legacy the latter had been excited to say the least. the half year that passed in between their sign dates had made kangmin worry that he would have to pick between his best friend and his future with the company and during those months he could not even have imagined that they would be sitting here together almost three years later doing one of the very same vlives he would remember their classmates being engrossed with when the service had first launched back during high school.

granted their goals with signing were different, and kangmin had big faith in the fact that siwoo would soon be going a different path than him, but that also meant that he had to rejoice in those moments they could get together.

“siwoo ya!” he called for the other to join his end of the kitchen. while kangmin had initially hoped to be able to do something relating to his own abilities as an artist there was no point in doing so at the cost of his friend’s dignity. in a way siwoo was what could be an interesting singer... he could certainly make sounds kangmin would never be able to. but this was a cooperative gift and thus they had to compromise and do something neither of them were really too confident in, logically.

it had been a year already since he was signed with legacy, and yet, those were the words he was met with all the time lately. during the lessons coaches would ask him to his face. behind his back he would hear concerns based on much the same issue: ‘his voice is so good but he can’t follow the beat at all’. ‘such a shame’. ‘a waste of talent’.

he tried not to let it bother him; not to show it let him bother him; but it always left a bitter taste in his mouth. he didn’t think he was that bad considered he had never taken a lesson in dancing other than the one time he accidentally tripped over his tutor’s feet and ended up breaking his ankle which had immediately made his mother deem the sport too dangerous for him. and even if he was to count that, ballroom dancing was a whole different genre than what accompanied idol music. 

but even if kangmin told himself that it was okay and that he should be satisfied with what he had achieved so far, he just couldn’t really be. not when those around him who joined the same time as he were moving paces ahead. even so, the doubts were always filling him. maybe he really wasn’t cut out for this. maybe his silly little rebellion would prove fruitless and selfish. maybe he was just supposed to move by the strings his mother pulled until she was no longer here.

but then what? if he had no one left to move him, who would be there in the end? a stringless puppet incapable of doing anything? he didn’t want to end up like that either.

a moment of peace followed the wake of a training session where kangmin had failed even more spectacularly than he usually did and was ordered gone from the room until he pulled himself together more. dark eyes that reflected little light or life looked back at him from the wall mirror as he sat in silence for a good moment. contemplating. staring.

“roh kangmin,” he voiced, imitating his coach. “why can’t you dance?”

from behind him a voice answered unexpectedly making kangmin jump in his seated position, arms wrapped around his legs. in the mirror he could see the dance coach who had just lectured him the class before. ‘have you tried looking at it another way?’ she asked, arms crossed as she stared down at kangmin who seemed to do his best to avoid her glance. ‘rather than why you can’t why not think of why you won’t?’ 

kangmin blinked a few times. “i...m not sure i understand--” but before he could finish speaking his words were cut off. ‘oh, i think you do understand, i think you just don’t want to admit it.’ not daring to answer her words, kangmin fell into a crushing silence that she seemed to forcibly uphold to possibly make the weight of her words truly dawn upon him. ‘i can’t hand it to you on a silver platter. these kinds of things is something you have to figure out on your own or you’ll never make it. i just want to ask you this: roh kangmin. do you really want to be an idol?’

mouth gaping open as if to reply, he was immediately silenced with a hush and the order to think about it.

for the rest of the day the encounter replayed itself within his mind, word for word, sometimes twisted in his mind trying to make himself a victim and the coach an enemy. after all whether or not he liked to admit it he had never truly tried to work hard for something he wanted to attain. the closest situation he could think of was trying to uphold his perfect math scores despite the subject never coming easy to him. everything else had been removed from his life if it proved to cause him distress. but that was exactly what he wanted to change. he wanted to work hard for his dreams even if for the time being that was solely his independence and not exactly entertainment as a career. wanted to look back at what he had done and achieved and be proud of himself.