free, baby!

“we’ll just pretend like that’s from swelling or meds or something. no one needs to know how weepy i am,” biyi snorted. “bet– if we ever get a win as full 12, you’re gonna cry. i guarantee,” she teased. “you say you’re kidding, but i’ve talked to wes– he’s losing his mind. he’s such a good man, but good lord, he needs to focus on you guys! i have andy here to take care of me. i don’t need him checking up on me every hour, even though i appreciate it…” 

“oh bet? i would say what stakes, but i’m gonna win, so i wouldn’t make you part with your money like that,” suda teased in return. a mock-solemn look passed over her face. “it’s true - i think wes has reached peak dad panic. one of his kids is in the wars and the other 11 are loose in the wild...it’s a wonder the poor dude hasn’t exploded already.” she shook her head, smiling. “he really needs to worry less. i love how much he cares, but most of us are grown ass women now, as much as i joke about us causing chaos. we need him to stay sane so he can support us when we really need it.”

first of all, bar the couple I have done the replies for today, I've decided to drop all other threads on all my characters. i’ve been struggling with muse for a while and though i enjoyed all my past threads, i think it would help me get back into things to start largely afresh, and i am very happy to pick up a new thread with anyone whom i’ve dropped one with!

“i know. it made me and andy cry when we were watching it live. be honest– how puffy and weepy did i look in the congratulatory selfie?” biyi said with a tiny smile. “oh, come on now– i barely even got to see you cry onstage! i need to see you cry now and tease you to make up for lost time, obviously!” biyi made a tiny aww noise, clutching her chest and letting her own eyes water up a little “yeah, a big baby. my baby. i love you– i’m going to try to heal as fast as i can, okay?”

“you were a little puffy, i’m not gonna lie,” she giggled, though the attempt was somewhat ruined by another little sniffle at the end. “and you’ll never see me cry again! i am a paragon of keeping it together, obviously.” suda kept a straight face for all of ten seconds before pouting. “I love you too, unnie. you’d better! we’re kind of lost without you - i think wes is struggling to divide his worry between you being hurt and us maybe burning the dorm down. i’m kidding!” she clarified quickly, not wanting biyi to worry. she was kidding, mostly - they were as fine as they could be, but also wes probably wouldn’t put it past them. “don’t worry too much and let andy look after you, then you can accept the trophy when we win the next one.”

“i get it, but also like…. imagine being the underwhelming older brother to that,” he snorted. he wasn’t bitter. that bitter, anyway. “yeah, but i bet every new group worries. unless they’re from, like, spotlight.”

suda narrowed her eyes slightly at the comment. while an only child herself, she supposed she could imagine that would be upsetting, but even so.... “i mean, i guess? but honestly that sounds more like a you and your parents problem than a missy problem.” the girl shrugged. “spotlight groups seem to have the issues once they’re readily established - to me their deal is worse.”

“obviously i am– fussing is my job!” biyi answered stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. “i do too! you losers went and got our first win without me! i haven’t won anything since bar bar bar– this is so not fair!” she whined, though she was mostly teasing. she was so proud of terra.

“yeah - and i’m the temp filling the position until you’re better!” suda narrowed her eyes fake-angrily at biyi, copying the position the other girl had assumed. “hey, we dedicated it to you!” suda’s expression changed totally, an emotional frown appearing. “shut up, you’re gonna make me cry again! the fans haven’t stopped making fun of me since the encore stage got released.” she pouted. “we wish more than anything else you would’ve been there. it’s not fair you had to miss it. i’d trade that trophy in an instant for you to be better, though you probably wouldn’t even let me!” realizing a watery edge was appearing in her voice, the girl abruptly sniffed and straightened. “fuck, what am i, a baby? pull it together, suda.”

“it’s okay– i’m not offended or anything,” hoa laughed. “quyen and i just got here. i didn’t really expect to be fluent any time soon. my part in mo mo mo was so small, but i struggled with it so much. like i shared most of those lines with jinhee, and i still had to record about fifty billion takes.”

“i feel that,” suda commiserated. “even being as competent with korean as i am now, when i do rap parts...i might have decent flow, but you wouldn’t believe how many times i’ve heard ‘suda-yah, diction!’ over the intercom in the recording booth.” she laughed, partly at her own horrible impression. “like, it’s not my fault i’m trying to rap in technically my fourth language, we’re doing our best, man.”

“i’ll trade you,” hoa answered with a laugh. “i’ll speak korean, and you can struggled with korean and be fluent in only vietnamese. then you won’t even need to pretend!” she teased

“okay, touche,” suda chuckled. “sorry, that was a bit insensitive. you’ll get there, though - i already knew bits of other languages when i moved here but it still took me 4 years to get semi-fluent.”

“hey, i don’t choose the concepts. i just take the general ideas doona unnie wants to incorporate and put together the routines. i’ll pass it along though,” yein said teasingly. “i guess it’s just all the more reason to keep your endurance and cardio up, huh?”

eyes widening, suda shook her head frantically. “no, no, my cardio is fine! yay, endurance! haha...” she accentuated her words with a fake little air punch before laughing. “oh my god, unnie i take back everything i said, just don’t make me work out even more, i think i might die.”

“i guess what i just don’t understand is why your group needs twelve members to do the work of, like, six,” sera answered, moving on for another jab. whether it was an intimidation tactic, or insecurity, or what, sera was unfortunately unyielding. “really, why are songyi and rosie even there? like i’m the clear star of iris, but at least i let the other girls have lines. you, hinata and missy are really greedy, aren’t you?”

“i guess that’s up to our ceo to know. why don’t you ask her, instead?” suda officially couldn’t wait to get out of this conversation. she had thought the girl would back off, but she simply went in harder. had she known this would be the result, she would never have even spoken in the vicinity of the girl, let alone to her. “i’m sorry, i wasn’t aware iris was a self produced group? i think you mean the production team assign your lines, just like ours does. and, i also think i should probably go.” while sera’s comments did sting, hitting a true nerve when suda thought about how upset songyi often was at her lack of lines, she was also just an asshole. “nice talking to you, but standing here and letting you insult my career isn’t my idea of a fun afternoon,” suda shrugged. “so i actually don’t have to stay to listen to it.”

“unfortunately, people love to watch celebrities deteriorate. think of amanda bynes. or lindsay lohan. or charlie sheen. the press would report on you non stop, and people would call you a messy queen.”

“eh, i don’t really want to be messy. not any more than already, at least,” she revised with a laugh. “it’s kind of sad that people get so focused on people who are struggling, but i do kind of get it. it’s like not being able to look away from a car wreck.”

“oh, i trust you all. and i trust wes even more. i’m not too worried– more just a doting mother who’s concerned about having no one to dote on,” solim laughed, smiling fondly at suda. she didn’t know all of the terra girls very well, but she liked all of them. they seemed to mesh well together, and she liked anyone her daughter liked, as a rule. it seemed like songyi was in good company, with a lot of good influences around her. “well, good for you for taking initiative and following your dreams. terra seems like a great fit for you.”

“yeah, wes is a good surrogate dad, for sure!” suda let out a giggle. “nah, moms will always have someone to dote on, even once kids are all grown up. my mom sending care packages all the way from thailand every month like she thinks i’m not eating at all are enough proof.” she smiled at solim warmly. while she always did her best to be a positive older influence on the younger members, knowing she had the trust and approval of songyi’s mom meant a lot. “hey, thanks! i do love it. i know that the industry and the way that idol groups work naturally facilitates the whole ‘found family’ thing, but...i really think we have something special here. musically and personally. it’s kind of crazy, honestly.”

“oh,” he replied, scratching his head. for someone who was kind of known for exuding utter nonsense, he really didn’t pick up on when others were joking well sometimes. “that does make sense. i am sure you’ve all bonded quite a lot, what with training and then debuting together.”

“yeah...sorry, sunbaenim,” she reiterated, playing awkwardly with a stand of her hair. “i’ve known her since she was like, fourteen, so the unnies are literally watching her grow up in front of us. i didn’t exactly expect to gain younger siblings when i moved here, but i love her so i’m not complaining.”

“no, you’re right. we’re, all twelve of us, big dumb clowns. we can’t blame the fans for being clowns if we ourselves are the true clowns around here,” she snorted. “listen, all i know is that so much of our content has me being bitter and jaded. i want to believe you, but part of me really thinks i’m here to just take y’all out,” she laughed

“yeah...sometimes i get a bit offended when i see fans say we’re acting like crackheads but we do be out here. though i guess that’s why they like us because they’re exactly the same, i mean have you seen some of the fan content?” she shook her head with a snort. “i mean, maybe you are. i hope not! but who knows whats going on inside our ceo’s head. not us!”

“oh, you don’t need to remind me– i know. if she’s not telling me how popular is, then mom is talking about it over the dinner table,” casey sighed. “good for all you guys, i guess. you seem to be growing so that’s good.”

“eh, she’s proud of herself, she should be! i would’ve been freaking terrified if i was in her position, being first out of the gate by myself. thanks, though. i joke but we were worried for a while there.”

“your group members’ll eventually catch on, so if you don’t mind being called out on it as a bit on a variety show in a few years, i don’t see why you couldn’t keep on going,” he snorted.

“i mean, i already get called out on variety shows. apparently my brain to mouth filter is non existent,” she shrugged, laughing. “kind of the antithesis to my ‘concept’ but fans already know i’m the goofy one off stage, it’s not a stretch.”