𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉

“flattery before a festival,” she muses, tapping one manicured nail against her mic pack like she’s thinking it over. “i see you’re pulling out all the stops.” but her smile’s already blooming in full, no coaxing needed. she doesn’t say it, but it means something—to hear jiho sound genuinely okay. to see that nervous energy finally smooth out into something steadier.

she swats gently at the air near jiho’s shoulder as the other lets out her dramatic gasp. “yeah, well. you deserve two cookies. but don’t let it go to your head,” she warns, even as she’s clearly amused. “you pull that pouty look one more time and i might toss in a whole bakery. we can’t have that.”

they’re surrounded by noise—muffled commands, static checks, the hum of excitement rising just outside—but she blocks it all out for a second, tipping her head toward jiho, voice quieter now. “you’re right. we are going to rock this. no one-hit wonder shit, okay?” she taps her knuckles once lightly against jiho’s knee. “you’re solid. you’ve always been solid. i think the crowd’s gonna know that by the end of tonight.”

a beat passes, then she adds, “…but if you do mess up, i’m blaming it on the cookie. too many thoughts of sugar, too much chaos.”

that's why she's just thankful that this last comeback was more successful than she expected. it almost felt like they were allowed to get back on their feet with the success of hot. "i'm not going to mess up. a main dancer never messes up!" with that, she raised her fist up in the air to show her determination before cracking out into a fit of laughter.

with a smile, she grabs heejin's hand before giving her a firm nod. with that, they stepped out of their car to make their way over to the performance area. it's been a while since jiho's been out and about like this—she much enjoyed spending time in the dorms instead—so it was nice to get a look of the cherry blossoms.

it's a beautiful day. seoho starts steering the two of them away from where a crowd is steadily growing near a stand that seems to sell waffles. it's one thing to be here on his own, checking out the offerings and shopping for gifts to bring home with him. it's another to be caught in public with jiho, even if the chance is unlikely. he doesn't want to so much as imagine the rumours they might wake up to.

"i had coffee earlier. they dye the foam pink, it was very pretty to look at. great for instagram." not that he'd snapped a picture to post; sometimes, seoho thinks that he should try to remember doing that more often, but he always forgets anyway. "and i got these macarons for my mum. they really went all in with the theme."

"wow, they really went all out with the theme." having just gotten here, she hadn't had a chance to look around properly just yet. she leaned over to glance at the macarons seoho had picked up, making a mental note to herself to buy some for her members before she headed back home as well.

hi, idols! as an apology for the pause in operations on the main and the lack of monthly schedules, we come bearing gifts... an ask meme! this isn't the honesty hour that was mentioned a while back (as that will be used as part of our next event), but we think it'll still be lots of fun. check under the cut for all the details!

it's okay (he's learned to swallow his pride more than once over the course of the years).

and so, he gets off the stage to remedy the blow of his own pride with a liquid bandaid. except, it's not so easy when midway through he's caught in a comment that probes his attention to a face he hasn't pinned a name to just quite yet. no re-introductions, no frills — he goes straight in for the attack. "it is a new song, and you know my whole discography?" his mouth is pulled thin in one of those lazy, uneven smirks that pigments itself innocuous.

"well, i really liked who, you. i think everybody in class was singing that back in school. then there's half moon and meter, which i also really loved. oh, instagram too!" jiho didn't want to appear like a total fangirl because, truthfully, she wasn't a fan like that, but she really did enjoy a lot of his releases. she's talked about it in interviews as well, so it was public knowledge.

the lights are already pink when they arrive. not just from the stage setup—though that’s part of it—but from the sun sinking behind the trees, casting everything in that familiar spring hue. soft, filtered. like something out of a drama. the kind with a happy ending.

heejin doesn’t believe in signs, not really. but something about the timing—this festival, this comeback, this little sliver of calm before the show—makes her feel like maybe things are shifting in the right direction.

it still doesn’t stop the nerves from crawling up her spine as they wait backstage. they’ve done this a hundred times, but this is the first spring festival since their comeback started gaining traction. HOT is charting, the fans are louder than usual, and there’s actual momentum behind them for once.

it’s exciting. it’s also a little terrifying.

she gives jiho a gentle nudge with her elbow, subtle but grounding. “you good?” she asks, voice low and even. just enough to cut through the bustle of stylists, staff, and equipment buzzing around them.

“i think i got told to smile four times already,” she adds, lips quirking into something dry. “like we’re not in our hot era now.” a beat. “literally.”

there’s a slight pause, filled by the sounds of someone testing a mic and a crew member yelling about cable tape, before she glances over again.

“we’ve got this. just do the set like we rehearsed, and afterward—” she leans in a little, conspiratorial now, “—i’ll buy you cherry blossom cotton candy. maybe two. if you share.”

she doesn’t wait for a real answer. just lets the offer hang there like a promise. soft and steady. the same way she always does when it counts.

she can't hide the smile that creeps up on her face as she stares out the window as they approach seokchon lake for the festival. while she never got scared of performing in front of people, she had to admit that sometimes, just sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if there was somebody in the crowd that may have left a hate comment about them back when that was a regular thing to do.

turning her head at her leader's voice, she gave her a firm nod. "totally fine," jiho says and she actually means it. "maybe they just want to see your pretty smile." with that, she leaned over to bring up the corners of heejin's lips before plastering a wide grin on her face as well.

jiho lets out a faux dramatic gasp as hands fly all around them. staff members are trying to get some last minute fixes in to their makeup and outfits while the soundcrew is checking their mic packs. "two? you spoil me too much," she stated with a chuckle.

"deal. we're going to absolutely rock this performance." she understands why heejin's trying to hard to assure that jiho's feeling well with all the concerns and worries she's poured out to her before this comeback. however, it's been proven that they won't be one-hit wonders, and that's enough for jiho to be confident that they'll definitely get back up on their feet.

seoho isn't as much of a fan of cute as he's sure some of his fans would want him to be. he's seen the tiktoks, has browsed the imagines on twitter (when it was still twitter - he's in a better place now, meaning off the app), he's had a lot of fun laughing at the edits that depict him with flower crowns and a frankly unhealthy amount of blush. kuro isn't know for that sort of image, which is probably why there's that vocal part of his fanbase that loves leaning into it.

but fuck it: the barista hands him a cup of coffee with cherry blossom pink foam and a pastel pink sleeve and it's not like seoho can't appreciate it. he buys flower-shaped macarons and snaps a picture for his mum of the display. and then he sets out to find himself a quiet corner somewhere to at least attempt to avoid the camera of whoever is bound to recognise him when he tugs down his mask to try the colourful candy he'd bought with the intention of bringing it home and the knowledge that the attempt would be futile the moment he started passing it around for the staff backstage.

that's why she's here herself. not really for the aesthetic photos and whatnot but because she can't recall the last time she's really had a day to herself like this. girl code will be performing here in a couple of days, but she knows that she won't be doing much looking around that day, so she's decided to check it out on her own.

jiho's got a cap and mask on, trying her best to stay disguised when she thinks she spots a familiar face. before she can really register who it is, he approaches her first, and that's when she realizes that it's seoho. before she can even say hello, he's offering her some candy, and she can't really say no.

lotte world magic island | april 2025

tw: tba!

w/ @nocelestialz

despite having seen the other around the midas building, jiho couldn't say they were exactly friends. acquaintainces, for sure, and she had a lot of respect for nymth and everything they did, but she was still looking forward to having their mutual friend in the middle for the day.