second wind ;

by mid-afternoon, rachel wonders why farmers in general aren’t as appreciated as much as they should be. even though it’s only for a day, it feels like she’s learned more already in a few hours than she would have anywhere else. depending on the farmer, some wives would wait all day at the edge of the fields with cool towels and water for workers suffering from heat stress, and every hour someone was doing a fresh water run for the ones still out in the field.

sure, the sun would make for an unsightly tan, and the humidity kind of made her feel like dying at any given moment, but rachel was happy to help, and based on the elders’ appreciation towards them for their volunteered time, rachel really intended on going back in the future to help more. there definitely was no shortage of work to be done, and based on conversations with a few of the other farmers, even winter was a busy season too.

easily described as a natural-born leader, rachel’s headstrong determination and palpable confidence make her more than ideal candidate for the entj personality type. as great as the type titled ‘the commander’ is, known for being efficient, energetic, confident, strategic, and inspiring, they are also (and rachel incredibly so) known for being stubborn, impatient, arrogant, and rather poor at handling their emotions. an entj’s obsession with efficacy or perfection can often make them appear cold and ruthless, especially in a professional setting. for entj’s, failure is not an option.

in enneagram types, rachel scored most high as a type eight with only a 2% difference between it and type one. type eights are known as assertive and passionate, and are considered more ‘doers’ than thinkers, willingly making tough decisions and prepared to accept the consequences if things go wrong. dubbed, ‘the challenger’, type eights are always seeking to challenge themselves and improve in any area they can- for rachel, this goes hand in hand with her nearly type one score, being called ‘the perfectionist’.

as a slytherin, rachel tests steadily as 100% of one- perhaps insomuch as their ruthlessness or cunning, but more in how closely guarded she keeps herself. rachel’s results are burned slytherin primary and slytherin secondary. slytherin secondaries are most aptly described as adaptable, known for being multi-faceted (or in modern terms, capable of showing a different face to different company ‘two faced’), it doesn’t feel as a betrayal of themselves to present differently when they feel the situation calls for it. as a burned primary, however, rachel’s slytherin tendencies show in that she has a strong desire to form lasting, deep relationships, but previous experiences causes her to hold most at arms length, preferring to keep a mildly distant approach to relationships.

until she’s singled out one morning schedule, asked to stay behind- which only gives rise to embarrassment and frustration. “you’re not putting in full effort during training,” coach kim chides her, as if she were parent to a stubborn child. rachel sighs, knowing she’s been effectively noticed. “as a trainee it’s your responsibility to put in the same amount of effort as we put in to you.” oh rachel knows, but she’s not about to bite back with how she felt singing practically useless since it wasn’t her goal to become an idol anyway. “yes coach,” she responds, shamefully, but only for the fact that she was caught, and not for holding back in the first place.

“look, kid,” a steady hand rests itself on her shoulder as rachel’s gaze is met. “you’ve only been here a few months, and i’d hate to be starting on a bad footing with you. you have potential, or you wouldn’t be here. don’t waste the opportunities given to you.” sufficiently scolded, the trainee nearly responds with an automatic ‘yes ma’am’ as if it really were her mother she was speaking to, instead nodding mutely.

when told that they have to create their own characters, rachel’s mind starts churning right away, exploring possible aspects of the universe and just what she could be- if her character was exceptionally skilled or rather bad at being a knight, how she would choose to reflect herself within it. her mind focuses so quickly that at first, rachel doesn’t hear her dismissal, only noticing when the trainee next to her nudges her and points at the staff in front, looking at her expectantly. her cheeks colored, and she bowed her head as she left, though her mind still whirred with possibilities, all other thoughts set aside as she began working on her ideas.

The prompt is tiny, much different than the audition prompts she would receive when she was younger, but perhaps there’s a certain expectation in the freedom of such; a test of an auditioner’s creativity, they way that they can make a scene work with only so little to go on.

thankfully, rachel is not all too unfamiliar with making things up on the spot- or rolling with the punches thrown her way. she reads over the premise of the show intently, studies the main characters’ given backgrounds as if they were her own, but standing in the audition room, with these freshly given instructions, her mind whirs at the possible ideas- entirely too many of them to comb through in only fifteen minutes.

so she takes her time, games out in her head which ones are most appealing, which ones the other actor could bounce off of (kim heejin, today) with ease. she prefers it this way, though, building a rapport between herself and another actor rather than acting a monologue, though she does enjoy her fair share of them.

“i’m tired.” heejin leads, and rachel nods, playing the role of a supporting friend, and recalling her own time in high school. “ah, we shouldn’t have stayed up so late watching the new movie,” she whines, “my neck hurts from watching the screen for so long,” rachel sighs, “did we really have to watch the whole documentary for your report?”

“hello hello, yours truly,” she greets her camera with a grin, “do you have goals for this year? i’m sure you do, right?” she banters easily, animatedly discussing things with a nobody as if she were talking to a friend. “well, my goal this year is to become a better dancer.” she concludes satisfactorily. it was a passion she used to have, still had, really, that she had let fall by the wayside in favor of honing her acting skill- only staying just enough in shape to keep up with the others (and regretting it, lately). “i used to dance a lot when i was younger, but then i fell out of it, and now, i look like i have no skill at all compared to most of the other trainees, right?” she laughs, “it’s okay, we can be honest with each other, i have thick skin.” rachel teases, “so, my goal is that by the end of this year, i can do a full choreography while singing, as if it were a live performance. i can do it, right?” she nods, “we’ll work hard toward it, and i will report back when i’ve completed my goal!”

she’s so comfortable on camera that it’s almost funny to imagine that she gets stage fright. 

“ah, i love the green ones,” she comments as she pulls a bag of the haribo gummies out. “i used to pick all of the green ones out when i was a kid and give them to my brother.” the memory is a fond one, though you can see the homesickness in her eyes for only a moment before the mask is back, the grin returned as if nothing ever happened. “do you know the best way to eat them?” she questions, looking at her camera as if carrying a conversation with a friend while she tries to open the bag. “ahh.. it’s too hard to open. i’ll need scissors before i can show you, so let’s move on.” rachel laughs again. “oh! i have these,” she laughs, “vitamin vitamin seeeeee,” she singsongs, moving out of the camera’s frame for a moment before returning, two bottles of vita 500 in her hands. “my dad introduced me to these when i moved here, and i’ve loved them ever since. they’re so good, right?” she gives a pause as if she expected a response, before opening one and drinking it. “they’re good for your health too- the immune system recovers more quickly with lots of vitamin c. did you know that?”

“hmm..” she doesn’t talk for a few moments, deciding to unpack the basket fully before discarding it to the floor next to her bed. “there’s so much, ah.” she laughs, though her hands immediately reach for the weighted blanket. “ah.. i’ve been thinking about getting one of these for so long,” she hums, holding a corner of it up to her cheek. “it’s so soft too, i think this is going to be really nice to sleep with. let’s put it on now, hm?” 

when she reaches forward to pick up the camera, she accidentally brings it too close to her face and pulls back with a laugh, “whoa, maybe not that close, huh? sorry, sorry.” rachel smiles, setting it down on her dresser so that she can clear off her bed, and spreading the grey blanket across it. “ah..it’s time to sleep now anyway, isn’t it? let’s look through the rest tomorrow, deal?” she picks up the camera again and blows a kiss, “everyone sleep well!”