#besiwoo

— HELLO: COUNTDOWN (@ VYBE.LIME)

it’s like whiplash, how easily everything fell apart in under a few weeks. at least, that’s how siwoo is acting, when jay told his boyfriend that his sister will be moving out, leaving jay all to himself in an empty apartment that he’ll have to live—and survive—in. jay didn’t consider this change too earth shattering, at least when it came to his abilities to live to another day. he does feel lonely though, the constant presence that he has never been separated from suddenly gone, with very little time for him to process that change.

“yeah, she’s moving out,” jay repeats, because it looked like @besiwoo needed that fact slammed into his head. “it was really sudden! i told her—it must be because of a debut project huh!—but she neither confirmed nor deny. i’m sure she’s not allowed to mention this to anyone… it’s so obvious though, isn’t it? just like how it was so obvious with you,” jay laughs, remembering the day siwoo confessed to his fixed debut within the christmas season.

“it won’t be that bad, you know?” it’s clear that siwoo has no faith in jay’s survival skills, which is fair, but jay doesn’t need to be coddled. “you look sooooo worried, like you’re about to burst. or kidnap me. whichever comes first!” another laugh escapes his lips as he reaches out to rub between siwoo’s eyebrows. “my sister won’t be around, you’ll be super busy with debuting… hm, i’m suddenly all alone, huh?”

jay doesn’t allow himself to dwell on his own conclusion, letting out a dramatic sigh, quickly flaring up his antics—that’s what he always does, when he feels a twinge of emotions he knows he can’t deal with. “it’s been a while since i felt all alone! but this is my chance to eat… cup noodles!” he jokes, ignoring the reality of the situation later on. yeah, this is how he should play it out—he’ll be fine, there’s nothing to worry about.

there's some tension on her team for the finale. she feels like that's an understatement, too. for one, ren hates two members of the team. he's managed to keep it together, but nayoung knows him and knows he's barely holding it together. siwoo and jay also seem to be good friends whose powers combined may lead to disaster if not handled properly. she's pretty sure luciel and siwoo still have some sort of beef, too. all in all, it's a mess, and it shows in their performance. it's a total lack of synergy, and nayoung has little patience for it all. so she does what she usually does: tries to solve the problem as soon as possible.

nayoung knows it won't be easy, and doesn't expect her idea to fix everything. she just hopes it helps. she knows there's a possibility that it'll backfire, but nayoung is also aware that sometimes confrontation is necessary to work through any negative feelings toward one another. if this activity ends up starting a fight, it's probably a fight that needs to happen to clear the air and let the group as a whole move on and focus more effectively.

naturally, not everyone was happy about the exercise, but they ended up relenting and agreeing to participate. she had them draw pieces of paper numbered 1-7 to determine the order they sit in in the circle.

fate would have it be that some of the team members with the biggest problems with each other are seated together. luciel is seated on her left, and siwoo next to him, followed by inho. next is jay, then ren, and seira rounds out their circle, seated on nayoung's right.

"okay, let's go left in the circle. say something nice about the person to your left, and share something you're proud of yourself for related to next gen," she reminds everyone. "i'll start."

"i'm proud that i was able to help two teams take first place this season," she says, and she hopes it doesn't sound like she's bragging, or taking all the credit for it. "and of the team members, of course," she adds for good measure.

next, she has to say something nice about luciel - or jihyun, as she should probably call him. "i like that jihyun is good at handling criticism and applying it quickly, even if it's hard to hear." she's talking about her calling him forgettable. he certainly took what she said to heart, and earned praise from the judges last episode.

"okay, your turn," she smiles at him, and it might actually be uncharacteristically warm.

when chaerin first met siwoo on next gen as a participant and special coach, she didn't think their connection would extend this far. however, he got signed to lime ent, where she happened to be, and now it almost seemed like she could never get away from him. she says that with affection, of course.

getting to join what seemed to be a huge project was exciting, and even though it may not be her debut project, she was aware that if she did well in this performance, it would look good for her later on.

"looks like you can never get rid of me," she stated as she watched siwoo walk into the practice room. she had arrived a bit earlier to warm up on her own. the last thing she wanted to do was be a nuisance to the boys. chaerin was here to help them and make more of a name for herself. she didn't want to bring them down in any way.

"want to get something to eat after this?" he had had something before but tae considered himself a bottomless pit. "i should've brought some snacks with me actually, i don't know why i didn't think of that." it would've been easy to stuff something in his bookbag. "or maybe going light was the right option, you never know when we might have to take off."

of course, workshops again on top of project green, halloween stuff, and his university studies. briefly, luciel considers taking another break from the semester. he didn’t think he would feel this exhausted, it’s a first for him in a long time. so at some point during the training, he spaces out. it’s rare for him to space out for a while during training. fortunately he wasn’t caught for it, it’ll be humiliating otherwise. so he nudges siwoo, whispering softly, “i missed out on what they were talking about earlier, refresh me for a bit there? was it anything important?”

dropping so much in ranks had scared seira a bit. she’d made it to top five, just to drop to the very bottom, she was lucky she hadn’t been eliminated. it feared her a bit, felt like since her rank was so low, she was closer to elimination. she didn’t want to be eliminated, this show had suddenly become so important to her, this was a second chance, if she didn’t make it, then what? did she need to give up the idol dream forever? she refused that, she would prove she deserved to be here. she came in early, stayed late, continued her practicing at home even.

seira has never had much confidence when it comes to dance, but she’s figured, if she wants to stay in the show, then she has to begin having confidence in the things she does. she decides to help a fellow member on her team with the dance, it’ll hopefully grow her confidence in dance, and maybe it’ll give her some leader skills. “hmmm, for that part, it looks like you’re not moving your arms fast enough? you’re having great facial expressions though, and you fit the vibe well, i might have you help me with facial expressions” she shows the other a smile.

@besiwoo

ryu nicky is not supposed to be here right now.

he'll admit, there's some thrill to it. he's not really breaking any rules, not sneaking around behind his dad's back or doing anything nefarious at all. maybe it's just the sense that he's in control of his own life, making his own decisions, and doing things that are better for him and not just the whims of a crazy woman who he will never be good enough for. this is all in an effort to avoid her anyway; nicky would be perfectly happy never seeing the witch he called a mother ever again. if it wasn't for siwoo, he'd be running into her right now; a costumed charity gala taking place on the other side of town for the wealthy of seoul to celebrate halloween and feel good about themselves. fuck that.

wandering around the city streets, surrounded on all sides by bustling crowds, somehow feels more comfortable than any of those charity events. nicky's pretty sure his dad only started bringing him because he didn't want to leave him alone at home. it's fine, nicky has never minded being alone, but sometimes they're fun. at least when siwoo is there he's not the only person under 50 in the room. this is probably more appropriate for their age anyway; nicky's not one for excessive partying, but isn't that what young men in their early 20s are supposed to do? at least the diverse activities around the city mean that he doesn't have to do anything stupid to have fun here.