silent but deadly

“yeah…” he admitted with a pout. he just really didn’t like change. he only let theo touch his hair with the promise that they were going just a few shades different, not an alien color. “do you like it at least?”

“i do. i think it suits my face. and it’s a lot lighter and easier to maintain for me,” she answered, assuring him. “you’ll get used to it, i’m sure...”

“It’s risk versus reward thing, I guess… they think making something as punchy and exciting as possible will help their bottom line and the clicks the videos generate confirms that the risk is worth it for them. They really need to be held accountable, it’s just not right.” 

“i mentioned it to dita offhand, but i haven’t gotten to catch up with the others yet,” sumi replied. “i…. don’t have tiwi’s number,” she admitted, embarrassed.

“oh! i do. and i can give it to you-- it’s probably important you have it,” thet commented. “we wouldn’t want to get separated while touring one day and not be able to contact each other....”

he didn’t even question her– he knew just how she felt. “yeah, i didn’t want to either. i see how hard creed works, and i’m happy for them, but it scares me,” he admitted after reading her note. he liked communicating this way. he felt like a secret spy or something. “yeah, exactly! and like…they can’t sugar coat because of time restrictions. and they can’t be seen playing favorites. they just have to cut to the point.”

i think that’s why i like byulbit so much. there’s a lot of time to rest

she imagined he’d understand-- scope seemed very similar, at least.

hopefully i can remember that and not take too much to heart. i’m a little sensitive sometimes.

“are you going on the show?” rae asked excitedly, taking a sip of his strawberry milk. “oh, that’s so exciting! well…i didn’t ever think i was going to win. so being able to just go in and learn was fun. and make new friends– because i knew i wasn’t going to make it, they all weren’t threatened by me as much as others so they were nice to me. i guess….. my tip is to listen to the judges. it might sound like they’re just being mean, but everything they say, they’re saying to help you.”

she nodded, adjusting her bangs gently. she was more nervous than anything, really. she didn’t think mnet was going to be to kind and accommodating for her.

‘ i don’t think i’ll win. i don’t think i even want to win’

she wrote. and she meant it. it seemed like too much pressure, and she already knew she was debuting with byulbit. she didn’t want to have to put in as many hours as somi had before somi withdrew.  she listened intently, nodding along with this advice. 

‘ i guess they’d have to be meaner than usual because of the show. better ratings. ‘

he watched her write, smiling back brightly and nodding. “of course– i don’t want you to not be able to eat today just because you’re not feeling well. i mean….i don’t know your circumstances or what’s going on, but you know what i mean. anyway, i’ll be right back.”

she smiled as he went off, nervously playing with one of her rings while she waited for him to come back. the fact that he was so kind to her, and he didn’t even know her...it meant the world. he was a kind, kind soul. and once he returned, she was sure to show her thanks.

while they ate in comfortable silence, thet quickly wrote down another note

‘ you were on idol project, right? i’m going on the third season. do you have any tips?’

“she’s too good– she deserves it. she could be a superstar, but not if higher keeps giving her music videos like that.”

“i really hope they get it together, because it’s not because of lack of resources. it’s lack of effort. and ginny doesn’t deserve to be shunned.”

“Honestly, if it was maybe a younger person who didn’t know better it wouldn’t bother me so much that something like that slips past. But it’s giant content farms, they have the resources to hire researchers if they’re dealing with stuff they didn’t know.”

“okay, cool,” he answered, smiling. “do you know what you want? you could write it down and i can order it for you? or you could point at the menu! or do you get the same thing every time? then maybe the clerks will know…”

thet scrambled to find her backpack, pulling out a notebook and flipping to a fresh page, scribbling down in her best korean handwriting (she still wasn’t used to the sharp angles, so different from writing in burmese...) her order. after a moment, she wrote ‘thank you ♥’ before passing it to him with a grateful smile

“yeah…it’s really kind of terrible what they did to poor ginny…” chaemi commented with a frown. “she deserved so much better. her debut could have been incredible.”

“i really hope her next song is incredible. it won’t make up for a botched debut, but it’s something good for her anyway, right?”