snow in california

@rkmomo

jaebum loves animals.

he truly does -- if he could be surrounded by animals 24/7, he would do it. he doesn’t mind that the fur gets on his jeans, that wet doggie kisses sometimes smell, that cats sometimes throw up their hairballs on his lap.

just his luck, he supposes.

but he thinks he could have been a puppy in a past life -- and he’s not kidding at all. he’s dead serious.

but cats have a special, warm place in his heart -- his family has been cat people for as long as he could remember, and his mother even brought her cat from hawaii when they moved to korea initially, a cat that he loves very, very much actually and that he loves dearly.

so when he found out there was a kitty cafe near his new place, he flipped out, basically almost had a mental breakdown. he’s been going there frequently ever since he found out about it a few months ago.

he’s been going there so frequently that he’s now considered a regular, and a lot of the cafe staff now know him as the smiley, red-headed boy who sometimes gets a little too emotional over cats. he doesn’t mind the title, though -- and the staff know it as well.

he walks in with a small smile and bows to momo, a waitress that he’s especially been into close contact with ever since he started going to the cafe.

jaebum’s passion has always been singing.

ever since he was a little boy back in the tropical sun of honolulu, he’s been humming rhythms, developing his skills as a vocal entertainer as soon as he could speak. he remembers performing for his mother in their quaint island cottage’s living room -- the proud smile on her face egged him on, kept his momentum going, and has been the main motivation for his continuation of the pursuit of stardom from his voice.

he wants to be able to evoke emotions into other people merely from his vocal ability, and in his humble opinion, he’s getting there, as he definitely has made an impact on others from his voice.

he’s extremely thankful that he can share his experience as a singer unto others now as well, being one of the newer teachers at a private vocal tutor in hongdae, right near nova -- convenience and whatnot. his hours had to change due to his trainee status ( of course he had to make his boss and co-workers swear to secrecy of his status ) to weekends, but it’s definitely not that bad.

jaebum is now officially romantically involved with jackson, his longtime roommate and friend ( aka xrkjacksxn, who was played by song jieun and shin jimin’s mun, jen ). jackson got jaebum a ring to commemorate their official status as a couple, and jaebum now wears the couple ring occasionally -- he wears his ring with a few other rings whenever he wants to wear it just to divert attention from the one ring that would be on his finger if he didn’t stack rings on his fingers.

his whole world stops.

everything freezes; no movement, no sound, not even one breath.

welcome back to nova, he had heard, don’t screw this up this time, jaebum-ah. this is a miracle that we’re actually letting you back in -- your audition was phenomenal, however, and we sensed you weren’t going to give up until you came back.

now here you are.

i won’t mess this up again, i promise! he exclaimed, crimson locks moving freely under nervous, excited fingertips -- his heart pumps a million, no, a billion miles a minute. he realizes that not only has he done this once, he’s done this twice.

twice shouldn’t have happened, though -- there shouldn’t have been a falling out, there shouldn’t have been a break in between. but he supposes in that break, he’s grown so much more, he’s readied himself even more.

but he also acknowledges the fact that he’s way from ready, that he’s no where near as mature and skilled to debut -- they’re not going to give him that debut out of the blue just because he’s been through this another time, just because he’s been acclimated to this process once before. no, this is just a milestone -- a milestone that, in his opinion, should have never happened, but such is life, he supposes.

a milestone nonetheless, however -- a milestone that’s leading him on the right path again, the path that he had once ventured off of for a quick moment.

he’s glad to be back.

I, IM JAEBUM, HAVE READ NOVA ENTERTAINMENT’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY TO FOLLOW THEM DURING MY CONTRACT PERIOD. I UNDERSTAND THAT FAILURE TO ABIDE BY THESE TERMS WILL RESULT IN THE SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF MY CONTRACT. I VOW TO INVEST MY BEST EFFORTS INTO MY LIFE AS A TRAINEE AT NOVA ENTERTAINMENT. SIGNED, IM JAEBUM

so as a excited, endearing smile creeps up on his face, that smile that’s been there since before the first time he’s signed this contract, he signs the document.

there’s no time to mess around anymore, he’s set his sights on this path for as long as he’s breathing.