𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘.

i did, yeah.. i stayed pretty close to the resort most of the time to take advantage of the whole, i don't actually have to be anywhere side of it all? a part of me does feel bad for not treating the itinerary as mandatory and going to absolutely everything on it but i think the hot air balloon ride on day two did me in a little. not at all, shownu hyung and hyungwon are busy with promo right now and the rest of us are kind of doing our own thing so i can make it work, i'll get my flight sorted. and dinner would be nice but either way it'll be worth it just to see you, i'm good even if all i end up doing is following you around - i'll try not to get in the way too much.

aish, here i thought you were just as wicked minded as i am. remind me never to share my revolutionary ideas with you ever again, especially when you're just going to shut them down for morality purposes. would we really hand out free trials? it's not spotify, it's dream texting™, imagine me saying that last part while a rainbow appears overhead. so that's a no on the mistaken booty call? here i thought you were actually going to give me the details. no, it's a naturally dried cleansing juice, but go ahead and think i'm that boujee for adding caviar straight into my drinks. i mean.. it's going?

to be fair you agreed before we started talking about bringing random (unsuspecting?) people into it, which i'm all for but also makes me worry a little bit about what else you have up your sleeve; remind me not to automatically agree to anything you try to talk me into for my own safety. unless you think we could get people to pay for it? throw the jingle from those "the more you know" commercials into the ad and it'll be perfect. if you have no idea what that is i'm just going to accept that i'm old, but still right. it's a no but i can tell you about how i gave up after that and played overwatch: super thrilling, 12/10. there are probably people out there who would do that, untapped market for caviar manufacturers. do i take that as a positive or are we not sure yet?

a couple of my bandmates have since we debuted, but other than the singing part and giving input where needed it hasn't been something i've really been a part of aside from a few songs? i have been thinking about getting into it more since i've always enjoyed sitting in on them and watching the process, so i've been trying to write a bit, even if i end up being the only one who ever sees what i throw down. it's cool that you all have that in common though and it must've made growing up fun, did you and your brother take lessons together?

i know, but still. i am glad that you enjoyed it though, it was nice to get a few days away from everything. but i honestly wouldn't mind, i'm not sure if i'd be able to get there for your show tomorrow night but i could fly out and then we'd at least have some time before the one on the 26th? if you'll be tied up in rehearsals or anything for part of that i can always hang out at the venue until you're done for the day, grab you food if it all ends up running late.

no, we can do that. i'm sorry we didn't get to see each other exactly as we'd planned to but i hope that you had a good time in napa. when's your last day? i don't have another show until the 4th of june so am on a bit of a break right now but if you're busy up until then we'll make something work, i can always escape for a day or two if i have to.

how have you been man? i feel i've been stuck in my own world so i haven't been caught up on everything going on. i did manage to listen to the new Monsta X song and i love it a ton. it's been a constant on my playlist. @minhyvkl

i've been good! completely understand being stuck in your own world, that always happens to me when i'm busy with tour so the napa trip was a nice little break. we're not headed out again until the beginning of june now so i'm hoping to be able to see family before then if i can. i'll pass that on to the others but thanks, man, it's appreciated. i saw that you have a new album dropping soon, have you been busy with that or are you working on something else right now?

It's grand news, eh? I think it helps that we shoot a season in advance, so by the time one comes out, we've already filmed the one after, so they seem more willing to keep it going. No sure if that's actually the reason, but am no gonnae complain. Got a few things just waiting on a confirmed release date, including next season of Slow Horses, of course. There's an animated movie I did a voice for, Pride and Prejudice series, Berlin Noir series... it's been a busy year.

how long does it usually take to finish a season? i know there are a lot of people who thrive on being busy like that - i'm one of them at times - but hopefully filming them so close together gives you at least some kind of a chance to have moments at home, too? see family and such in between it all, even around anything else that you might be working on. but i heard about the noir series, it's based on a book trilogy, right? crime novels? i'll have to watch out for it!

i know what you mean, if i did stay within the realm of music i think i would've ended up doing something more behind the scenes? or painting, which i guess falls into the "arts" category, but i wouldn't say i'm good enough to really do anything serious with it.. although i guess it'd be different if i'd pursued schooling. did you grow up playing?

Sleep took priority so I missed out on the hot air balloon tour. Honestly, I'm not super sad about it. I think I made up for it by ordering amazing French toast instead. What about you? Did you end up doing it? @minhyvkl

i did and the view was amazing, don't get me wrong but i can't lie and say i didn't question my decision after, at a least a little so you might have been the smart one for sleeping, bonus breakfast on top. having the trip be four hours made it so that about every sixty minutes any fear about the whole thing resurfaced? you think you've finally calmed down? universe: joke's on you. did you end up checking out any of the other planned activities?

Me neither, mate! I'm very much more of a "please just tell me where to be and when" kind of guy, so I'd most likely just follow the itinerary. The idea of going fully off-book sounds fun in theory, but in practice... not so much. Maybe wander around vineyards, tasting wine like I know what I'm talking about (I don't), and nodding thoughtfully at words like "notes of oak" as if I can detect anything beyond "this is nice." Do you have anything you've heard about it that you'd like to do?

i don't know if it's because i'm so used to things being that way with work, where someone else is - more or less - in charge of making sure that i get to where i'm supposed to be but honestly, same? i think the weirdest thing that i've ever heard someone compare wine's taste to was pencil shavings and i ended up leaving that encounter thinking that i was the problem because a few other people agreed with them. is there some sort of wine-related skill we're supposed to unlock after completing a series of tests? is it only for the elite? because i'm right there with you, "good" or "not good" is about as far as i go. i ended up just doing a lot of wandering but did go for the bike ride the first day, jet skiing the next. what did you end up getting up to?

oh, i could never. if you do, i'd easily root for you. being that high in the air definitely seems terrifying but i can only imagine the view as well. knowing me, i say i won't do it but if someone ask me to do so with them, i would. already know i'm gonna be soaking up the pool and taking the time to just relax. wanna be able to push away any stress i'm feeling.

i went for it and i'm just going to say that i'm glad i wasn't on the ride that had more people - less witnesses to my terror, less chance of it being recorded by someone to be passed around later? maybe? but the view was definitely worth it and i hope that you did manage to relax and get in any activities that you wanted, too. it's crazy how fast the last couple of days have gone by, it almost feels like we still just got here.

not to completely expose myself here, but after i got that offer to be in a bts music video, i've been diving deep into kpop. like real deep. deep enough that i'm a few episodes into no mercy now. what they put you guys through was so brutal. is this a usual thing in the industry? i'm sure it helps with team bonding, at least. also congrats on the new album! it's a regular feature in my home. @minhyvkl

if it helps that happens to me on occasion which might be even worse when i work in it? i don't always have time to sit down and watch content from other groups but when i do it ends up being a whole thing and before i know it i'm halfway through a youtube playlist (we won't talk about how long it is, what are numbers). but it's pretty standard, yeah - it's one thing to throw twists in for the drama but the way parts if it were handled definitely wasn't right. thank you, though! i caught the music video when it dropped and it's really good, is it the first one you've worked on?