we are

“I have to say, there is very little stranger than being a forty-three year old man with four children already, and getting into a pregnancy scandal,” he admitted, rubbing his hand over his face with a little laugh. It was the first time since gabe was born that he’d been back at the higher building– he was just in and out, getting some stuff so he could do some work from home while on paternity leave. but gabriel was old enough to not be a sobbing mess when away from lucille, so andrew thought he’d bring the baby along in a little carrier, so his friends at work could meet him. “seems the place hasn’t burned down in my absence, so that’s nice to see at least.”

“give me a little credit. i have the skill to hold this place together,” shinwoo retorted, leaning in to give the baby a little smile and a look. “congratulations. when most guys have a midlife crisis, they get a new car, not a new baby you know.”

“do you think i could redo the take we did yesterday?” hanse asked, running his hand back through his hair with a sigh. “i know it’s a pain in the ass, but i had an idea for a run. i think it would enhance the arrangement.” @shinwoorv​

he sighed. it was kind of a pain in the ass, but they both knew hanse had been off the day before. the song would be better if the maknae got another shot. “whatever,” shinwoo said gruffly. “one hour’s all you get. let’s go. make it count.”

“you know what could be fun? scandal bingo,” solhee said sarcastically with a grin. “it’s january– why don’t we try to predict what some spotlight nonsense that will happen this year will be? because with spotlight…..something’s going to happen. it’s just a matter of when.”

“it won’t be 2021, but that whole company is going under. sorry,” sam retorted. “it’s only a matter of time. the groups you have are dying, and the groups you’re debuting aren’t big enough to fill the void.”

“i’ve made higher burn any footage or images from early legacy,” he said, being hyperbolic. “i don’t think anyone looked good in 2012.”

“real talk, do normal idols get like…training on how to not have an out-of-body experience every time they’re on some sort of variety? because it’s been five years, and i still feel like i don’t know what the fuck i’m doing. also covering my tattoos is such a pain in the ass, but that’s besides the point.”

“the last time they taped me up for a variety show, it looked like i was wearing a neck brace made of human skin. it’s hell,” shinwoo grumbled. “a fucking bat on my neck is so immoral, but you have people out getting eyeliner tattooed on their fucking eyelids, and you don’t see their faces getting blurred.”

“you know, seeing more and more altos in kpop has been really refreshing the past few years,” jinjoo admitted. “in my first groups, they always made me rap because my voice was deeper, even though i’m not a great rapper. and even when we cover old reign songs, i usually do yein’s old parts, because they’re more rap-centric. i dunno– i guess it just means a lot that more and more companies are letting good altos sing, and not relegating them to less important roles just because their voices are a little deeper.”

“it’s bullshit. you never see that with men-- a man with a higher voice or a nice falsetto is always featured,” shinwoo scoffed. “we would have never made you rap again. frankly, you’re not a good rapper. but you’re a good vocalist-- it wouldn’t have made sense.”

“i know my comeback probably would’ve done better if i’d done the traditional music show circuit, but i honestly don’t know that i can bring myself to care,” jenny mused. she was proud of her album, and the two singles she’d released, but while well received, both she and siren were aware it had under-performed win-wise. “i think i’m just too old to keep up with all of it any more. like, i love my music, but brave new world promotions provided more than enough rushing between programs for this quarter. i have no idea how people manage such crazy schedules.”

"we’ve made a point not to promote as much anymore-- maybe you should consider doing the same with luss,” shinwoo answered. “i’m busy. yanlei has kids. donny’s acting. we go on the big two music shows, and a couple of us at a time will go on shows like radio star. maybe one big variety show as a group. we’re big enough that we don’t need music shows to be successful, and it’s not worth the headache.”