behind the curtain

“oh, hey,” minseok looked up from where he was slouched over the mixing board in the l3thal studio, knowing he wasn’t the image of productivity at the moment. in his defense, he was years into knowing he was the most productive when he worked long into the night and not sitting in the studio in the middle of the afternoon, not even looking at any of his lyrics. “i mean, i could show you the super exciting pile of cables i’ve been slacking off on moving, but it feels kinda shitty to make you clean up when i should’ve done it already.” he glanced black over at his computer, deciding that asking the intern for her opinion on engagement ring options for his girlfriend wasn’t the best plan either. “you wanna help pick the track list for this mixtape? i’ve been staring it for a like week and the order still doesn’t seem right.”

“no, no. not shitty. you’re helping me get a very nice hoodie,” she insisted, hopeful for work-- even if it was work that he himself was neglecting. besides, she was bomb at cable management. at the second suggestion, though, she smiled. “i’ve never been asked to help with actual like... music stuff before. besides sorting album prototypes for concept designers to go over later. that sounds really cool, actually...”

“i mean, i need help getting my grandmother in her late eighties to answer her phone, but i’m pretty sure she’d just hanging out with her chuch-lady friends right now,” jaeho, with only the slight lift in his voice to help show that was supposed to be a joke for an answer. he paused, not knowing if he should say its fine or if chunja really did want more things to do before her boss noticed she was done for the day.

“i was just gonna mark the floor for the next subunit dance practice video,” he gestured with the orange roll of tape with one hand instead of the phone he had in the other, “do you wanna help with that? if you just want to stand in the middle of the mirrors i can put the tape down on the other side of the room.”

“damn, be right back. i’ll just go find her and give her the message,” chunja retorted jokingly, offering the idol a wry smile. not really part of her job description, nor doable, and definitely a joke, but honestly? at this point she was so desperate to not be sent home early that she’d consider it. after his genuine suggestion, though, she nodded. “i can definitely help with that. way more fun than sorting pushpins by color, which was the make-work job i invented for myself as a last resort...”

Daul was in a world of his own when Chunja asked her question, snapping him out of his thoughts. He had to look around to make sure he was the one being talked to real quick. “I mean - I lost my notebook somewhere in the dorms last week. I gave up after a while of trying to find it, but you could maybe help with that?”

“i can definitely help with that-- organizing is my superpower. it’s why they’ve kept me around so long,” she retorted, only half joking. “all twelve of you live at the dorm, yeah? sounds like an absolute mess. no wonder it got lost.”

“Which, I guess I get but it’s super annoying,” Noeul said. “If someone’s bringing their A game, and they sound good, don’t touch it and move on to editing a different group.”

“Well, I can definitely see that annoying your mom - mine was pretty pissed off when I bleached my hair all over,” Eli snorted. “What color are you thinking?”

“you know, i haven’t gotten that far,” she admitted with a laugh. “maybe pink? or is that too basic-- does every girl go pink the first time they dye their hair?”

“i doubt you’d get arrested. fired for sure, but they could just cancel that card and get a new one,” lia assured her with a laugh.

“still! i like my job-- i don’t want to even think about fucking up that badly.”

“i think it’s a thing with korean moms, too. i remember back in the states, my friends could have conversations with their parents that i could never dream of having,” dylan commented

“yeah.... but i guess wishing for that is useless, you know? nothing we can do to change it. just have use our found families...”

“i was lucky– i got to keep them. and i still get to use them. i just had to take media training before i could post on them regularly, and have to run my posts by someone first. just to keep the image clean. but there’s rarely any issues there,” he explained.

“yeah, to be honest, you don’t seem like the super controversial type,” she laughed. “that’s super nice, though. i bet they all blew up after idol project.”

“you totally rock it, too. and it’s trendy but also stands out in korea. i say stick with it.”

“i guess i will! definitely more me than like...streetwear, so i really can’t complain,” she laughed

“i guess that makes sense– it’s not for everyone. did you ever think about it when you were younger?”

“i can’t say i did,” chunja admitted. “i always loved idols, but it was always a fan thing. i wanted to know them, not be them.”

“imagine if you lost that shit, though,” lia pointed out. “that’s like losing a skeleton key to the internet or something.”

“god, lia, don’t even joke about that,” she whined, covering her face with her hands. “i wouldn’t just get fired. i feel like i’d get fucking arrested.”

“fair, but if your mom’s anything like mine, they take those as the same thing.”

“i mean... yeah...” she trailed off with a little laugh. “it’s totally a respect thing, and i get it, but it’s a bit much.”

“oh, chunja, you’re in safe company. you’re not my type either,” he assured her with a little laugh. “yeah, i got pretty big on instagram as an ulzzang. and was kind of popping off on tiktok in it’s early days. that was the impression i got….not to be conceited, or anything.”

“damn. not my type solidarity, then. tight,” she laughed “did you get to keep your socials, or did millenium do the thing where they put you on lockdown? because honestly, if you were that big, that seems like such a waste...”