#danielxrk

@danielxrk

he has to remind himself, over and over, that daniel said it was okay for him to come over. he has to tell himself that wanting his friend’s company and support doesn’t necessarily make him a burden. he has to convince himself that if he breaks down, for real this time, in front of daniel, he won’t also abandon him.

woong’s feet feel heavy, like lead, the whole walk up to daniel’s door. he hesitates on the stoop anyways. daniel had said he’d leave it unlocked, but there’s something unsetting and uncomfortable about walking into someone else’s home. he had that feeling the first several times he walked through the door at his stepfather’s place. now he supposes he’ll have to learn how to get used to entering a new doorframe, somehow. someplace.

the hesitation lasts a moment too long to be comfortable, and woong settles on knocking as he lets himself in. it eases the stress just a little bit to at least announce he’s coming in beforehand.

“daniel?” he shuts the door behinds him, kicks off his shoes and nudges them over to the side, out of the way. but woong stays in the entrance until he’s invited further in, just in case daniel is actually too tired, already asleep, or otherwise busy. training is hard work, so woong has been told. maybe that’s why he choked before he even got the chance to walk into his trc audition.

and even now that he’s here, admitted some sort of weakness just by reaching out in the first place, woong has no idea how to share what lays so heavily on his heart with his friend. it’s here, all around them, filling the apartment with an insufferable tight bubble, begging to be popped and released. but woong doesn’t know where to start. daniel knows some of it; he’d know about the star bright casting call, about woong switching majors. he wonders if daniel might be able to guess the rest; being kicked out for being in a band isn’t too dissimilar to what’s going on right now.

it hadn’t been that many days since the exciting news but it was bubbling up inside of her-- maybe that was why it happened. when she walked the halls of sphere and spotted daniel she grinned widely at the younger male, waving her hand excitedly, “daniel,” she mused as she skipped in his direction, she could have done a better job at hiding her happiness but... no, she was debuting, after almost two years as a trainee and a survival/reality show last year she was finally going to be standing on a stage again.

“great day today,” she exclaimed but outside it was cloudy and they had been advised by the forecast to bring an umbrella-- sooyoung’s face was as bright as the sun would have been if it was out.”

maybe she shouldn’t be so obvious but could anyone really blame her? it had been a journey, shorter journey than some but that didn’t make hers less hard, even if it had been shorter-- she had the potential to debut already last year but she hadn’t been good enough but now she was good enough, at least she thought so-- her debut song would be a ballad, even if the pure concept didn’t suit her ( at least that is what she thinks ) -- she would be debuting and in august.

ft. @danielxrk

though she’s ecstatic about the new changes in her trainee life, that didn’t mean she wasn’t upset about them as well. don’t get her wrong, it was great being able to have a chance to debut as an idol. hell, mina would like to say she’s often found herself dreaming about it. but, of course, even if she did get to see familiar faces (chungha, gahyeon, yoorim, yuzu) more often than she did before, she’d have to give up being able to be in more evaluations with daniel. no longer would she be able to go to him for help as a new trainee anymore. he was practically her way of getting through these months easily because she could rely on him. if she had help, she could simply go to him for his aid. 

but, of course, they’re still able to talk with each other. after months of usually interacting the most with him on sunday nights, she wasn’t going to let him be mina-free that easily. the picnic was the perfect opportunity to get in some bonding time with her brother. and all goes good, but mina, being the bratty little sister that she is, has to play around somehow. so she makes a bet with him that if she finishes the entire basket of food before they even get to the event, he’d have to get an airbrush tattoo with whatever mina wanted it to say (”kang mina is the coolest and i smell like socks”).  and if she didn’t, vice-versa. 

sunmi’s main hope for this class was that her attendees leave with a new sense of self. she knows that everyone gives it their all to their best skill and while that’s not an entirely bad thing, it can be a hindrance in their industry. that was a point she knew she had to make during the first part of her lecture.

“we all have to keep in mind that our industry all idols are expected to be multi talented. yes, you’re expected to be great in your strongest skill but then there comes a time where companies will expect more of you... and if you spent no time diversifying yourself then you will suddenly find yourself failing more than you find yourself passing. this is where your greatest strength suddenly becomes your weakness.”

she knows for some, they might not understand because they’ve never been in that situation. so this is why she had prepped and researched real life examples (including herself) to support her words. “there are some people who can’t find a balance to when they should use their best talent and when they shouldn’t. there comes a time in competitions and especially in training where if you keep doing the same thing it looks boring it comes off more as a gimmick. it becomes unimpressive and dull.”

sunmi had noted that a certain example of hers had actually joined her class. it was a surprise addition. she hadn’t anticipated on him being there. she had half a mind to scratch out his mention from her lecture but it was a main example. maybe she could turn it into something more positive: an example of someone diversifying themselves and no longer relying on their crutch.

“we have mr kang daniel here with us today,” sunmi starts with a nod towards him. she knows it seems sudden to be called out like this. she hopes it goes well. “you were on the mgas, right? two seasons?”

Now that Daniel’s mentioned it, Moonbok can’t really get the thought of this evaluation being a ‘light’ version of the MGAs. 10 teams vying for the attention and praise of the CEOs of the Big Five. Thankfully, there seems to be no threat of elimination this time round, so the stomach churning nervousness isn’t there any mores. (He’s still nervous, of course. But nothing like back then.)

That doesn’t mean Moonbok intends to lose.

@danielxrk

of course, when she hopes that the mgas will come back for her she wishes it to be in the form of a swarm of fans expressing their love. instead, of course, she needs to watch freaking kang daniel walk into her classroom. her classroom! the audacity. nakyung’s acting skills are reserved solely for moments like these. she smiles but towards somewhere else. it’s like ignoring the people you went to middle school with when you spot them at the mall. the problem is, of course, she’s supposed to help all these people with their questions.

@danielxrk

he vaguely remembers dabbling in beatboxing a few years back, but he can’t recall exactly what it was for. he’s fairly certain it was for some evaluation or workshop of some sort, but he can’t remember for the life of him the specifics of it, and he doesn’t know if that reflects badly on his memory, or if it goes to show just how long he’s been a trainee at trc. but he supposes that doesn’t matter at the moment. what matters now is that he feels like he’s learning from scratch all over again, having not taken so much as a follow up lesson after the fact, and that means at least a year of having what he’s learned go untouched and unpolished; he can barely even remember the basics anymore.

               ╰☆╮ A DREAM IN A NIGHTMARE ╰☆╮

Bang Bang Bang (line distribution) | @danielxrk, @rkrose, @chrxsrk Beautiful Target (line distribution) | @jkookrk, @rkharuto, @rkxjongsuk

Sungmin knew that the breezy evaluations (at least in his opinion) were too good to be true. He had been waiting for that one evaluation that really challenged him. He didn’t have to wait long. As soon as the staff entered the room, he had a feeling of dread. Once they opened their mouths, his whole body sank. Not only did they have to perform two routines, but one had to be a concept they were dreading.

This should be fun.