im not failing math anymore

it was very late, but that was the plan-- most of the staff were gone from the new age building by this point, but songyi knew theo would still be up, probably fixing a hem or something else stylist-y. she had the practice room all set up. it was time.

wiggling her way into the styling department, she found him at his vanity organizing his makeup. songyi skipped up behind him, throwing her arms around his neck from behind and meeting his eyes in the mirror, so she knew he could see what she was saying. “are you done here? i have a surprise! limited edition! you have to come see now!” @rvxtheo​

“You’ve got a point… filming can take a lot out of you too, but it’s probably more-so when filming abroad than anything when you’ve got the time difference and jet lag to deal with,” Yeong replied. “It is smart, and it seems to work best for her.”

“yeah, i don’t think new age has those nefarious purposes. we all know i’m no stranger to fetish if that was really their goal,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “well, i think that goes for most people who appear brave. but the fact that you keep pushing through is what counts.”

“gross. don’t tell me about that i don’t even wanna know,” songyi objected loudly, biting back her giggles and looping her arm around the older girl’s. “whatever. you’re just being nice so you can steal my lines next comeback.”

“doing it fast isn’t how you do a good job. i want it to be even,” he insisted chidingly, pausing to look her in the eye in the mirror. “yeah, i adore you. and you shouldn’t be surprised by that, because i’ve told you that before. now, we’re two thirds of the way done, okay?”

“and i want it to be done!” she cried out childishly, reaching for him from where he was behind her chair and trying to catch his hand. “no you,” she grumbled, bouncing her foot on the floor, unable to come up with something better and to embarrassed to reciprocate. “how about you get three thirds of the way done?”

“you’re finally getting to be the center of attention. i think that’s plenty to be excited about,” solim soothed, rubbing her daughter’s back. “you’re the main focus of the entire chorus. words or not, i think that’s significant.”

“the lyric videos on youtube are gonna look so dumb,” she muttered tearfully as her mother held her. she was technically an adult now-- she felt so silly for getting so worked up over this. 

“yeah, it sucks. but it’s getting better. and there’s really nothing we can do about it– getting upset is only gonna harm us.”

“i know and i’m really trying but it’s so hard not to take it personally,” songyi muttered.

“I can’t begrudge them for having the project groups be their main priority–since they bring in the most fans, more likely. And more money, by that extent,” he replied. “Honestly, to this day I have no idea how Yein managed those first couple years. I guess having been in a group already and having experience didn’t hurt.”

“it’s a learning curve. we’re the first big group new age has ever done. it’s probably hard going from deviant and all the units to trying to balance twelve girls,” mija pointed out, trying to offer comfort.

“whatever. it’s not that hard, i don’t care what people say. they just like making missy the center of attention,” she grumbled, but she felt bad. it wasn’t missy’s fault.

“ombre’s are nice and feathered. and the color covers all the hair. at this rate, you’re going to have giant blonde spots because you didn’t work with me,” he insisted, sighing deeply. “i adore you, so much, but i need you to work with me here, okay?”

she groaned deeply, rolling her eyes again and sitting on her hands-- maybe that would keep her from fidgeting. “you adore me, huh? that’s a new one,” she grumbled, face contorted in concentration. she just wanted to move. “do it. fast. like ripping off a bandaid.”

“is that why so many of the songs assigned to me are so…..schoolgirl? to try to disguise me?” daiyu asked with a playful smile. “please– you have more confidence than most of our group combined.”

“i hope so. i would say it’s some sorta fetish thing, but it’s always presented really well, so they’re probably trying to hello fellow kid you,” songyi retorted. “no, i’m just loud. on the inside i’m crying.”

“well, they’d better. because i appreciate the comments, but i’d appreciate having a thriving career even more,” ahki snorted.

“you will. you’re a baby. not like me, but close-- people don’t even debut by your age sometimes. you’ll be great someday,” songyi insisted.

“Right, I had a feeling I was mixing things up… stuff hasn’t really been that involved for me for a while now, since I’ve been around for a while. I think groups are definitely more involved too,” Yeong said. Since he was the one who wrote and produced most of his own music for a while, he was mostly just left to his own devices. “Yeah, a lot more like busking than anything. I’m not really a top priority for New Age anymore, so my schedules are mostly like that.”

“she would absolutely torture us if you did that. please don’t– she’ll make it our worst routine yet just to spite you,” daiyu giggled, patting songyi’s head. “hi high was cute. i did like so what, though, even with how hard it was. i felt like a bad bitch.”

“you’re a bad bitch no matter what-- you don’t need a song for that,” songyi said dramatically. “it made me feel like a bad bitch, though, and that’s a real achievement.”

mija pouted a little, adjusting songyi’s hair over her shoulder. “you’re gonna have a much bigger part soon. i promise. you’ve worked so hard and you deserve it.”

“you know that, and i know that, and even all the fans know that, but no one else does clearly. otherwise things would already be better.”

“that makes sense– if i were her i probably wouldn’t want to talk about it either,” solim answered, tying up one braid with an elastic and going to work on the other side. “well, maybe don’t tell them that. i’m sure they know, but being told that could hurt their feelings. and be a little rude. how’s your schoolwork looking? have you caught up since promotions ended?”

“they said it first! i’m only saying it because they both said they’re bad leaders. it’s not rude if they’re the ones who decided that,” songyi answered with a tiny whine. she sighed deeply. “on track to graduate. no failing grades. mostly caught up. it’s all fine...”