#kianbe

the kim family’s music store is sort of like a second home.

well, maybe that’s not really accurate. that feels too...permanent, for someone that doesn’t really even have a first home; doesn’t even know if home exists. it’s just a saying. he likes it here. that’s what matters.

everyone is friendly and knows his name and kian’s family keeps inviting him over and he keeps politely declining because despite the amount of therapy he’s been to, it’s still hard to accept help–– or kindness, really ––from anyone. normal, loving families make him uncomfortable, at no fault of their own whatsoever. whenever he sees decent parents with a happy child he feels both relief and envy at once, because they don’t have to experience what he experienced. that’s great for them. not so great for joomi, but what’s done for him is done now, and he tries not to think about his parents too much anymore. he just quietly hopes his mother is still alive and reminds himself that he was their responsibility, not the other way around. they failed him, so in the end, he owes them nothing.

thankfully, most of the time, when he’s in this music store, he doesn’t think about any of that. he browses the instruments and talks to familiar faces he runs into; looks at sheet music to steal ideas and checks to see what kind of cds and records they still sell in this digital age.

this time, he also checks around for anything that might benefit his new band, still in the works. he’s planning ahead, though, for future shows and rehearsals, because he’s determined to make it work and for someone that is rarely enthusiastic, he’s excited about this. he is, of course, not the most confident in his ability to head a band. it’s not just performing with most of the spotlight on him, but booking shows, directing the other band members, leadership; everything. he figures the performance can’t be any worse than anything he did on next gen, so he can at least do that much, and the rest...he can learn on the job, right? he can do it.

there is one very special thing he’s at the shop for on the band’s behalf; make that a special someone. he’s been, for lack of a better term, shopping around for people to join the new band, and he’s pretty sure kian is high on the best possible candidates for a bandmate list. joomi knows he’s incredibly talented. he can probably fill any role in the band, and he’s also incredibly kind and eager to do...just about everything he does.

joomi is a little worried about exposing him to the scene though. kian is also quite innocent and a bit naive. it’s not a bad thing; it just might be bad if he wants to safely join a punk band and remain safe. it’ll be a big responsibility for joomi to look out for him, but the pros outweigh the cons. he can’t resist at least asking. 

he strides up to the counter, nothing but some guitar picks and guitar strings to buy, but he’s happy to see kian behind it. “hey. i was hoping i’d see you,” joomi says with a close-lipped smile. “do you want some small talk about what we’ve been up to or do you want me to jump straight to what i have to ask you? nothing bad.”

— HELLO: COUNTDOWN (@ VYBE.LIME)

truthfully noel didn’t know a lot about fansigns before actually becoming an idol. considering he was an idol now, he knew weirdly little about the idol world, he’d been asking his k-pop obsessed sister a lot of questions lately. noel mainly became an idol to dance, but it was fun interacting with fans, but damn was there a lot of fansigns. for some reason trainee noel thought he’d be able to remember the name and faces of every fan he met, now he’s not so sure, even though he’s good at remembering names and faces, he’s struggling like hell right now. 

they’re taking a break from the whole ‘sitting down and talking and signing’ and now the members are interacting while fans yell questions here and there. spotting kian ( @kianbe ) standing alone, noel finds his way over to the other, not without grabbing something first of course. he sneaks up on the other before placing a tiara on the other’s head that some fan gave noel and asked him to pose with.

joomi doubts he could've avoided the teasers if he tried. news about vybe's debut is plastered across every part of the online kpop sphere.

it's not like he wants to avoid them, anyway. he has friends in the group he's happy for. haneul, especially, has wanted this for years – he knows.

and yet he can't help but wonder...what if lime didn't drop jinyoung? what if it was jinyoung's face in the teasers – jinyoung named the group's visual, jinyoung chattering excitedly to joomi about achieving his dream? it makes his heart ache, even after months. he's pretty sure he's doomed to a life of some kind of missing jinyoung in every universe. he just wishes this was one where at least jinyoung was happy. at least he could call him and tell him congratulations and that he loved him.

he's a little sick of all of the yearning now. he's mostly through his moping phase now, at least – mostly. with the help of therapy, he's made it to a place of resigned acceptance of the situation and his feelings about it. he's still sad. he'll probably be sad for a while. it's not stupid, and there's nothing wrong with that, no matter how it feels.

for as bittersweet as it is, there is still someone in lime's new boy group he wants to call and congratulate. in some other universe, he probably calls jinyoung and tells him to tell kian congratulations too. maybe jinyoung doesn't pick up, so joomi calls kian and tells him to tell his idiot boyfriend congratulations instead.

in this universe, he just calls kian. he knows he's likely busy, so he expects to go to voicemail. he mentally prepares himself for the message he wants to leave as the phone rings – and then kian picks up.

"oh, hey," joomi greets him, unable to hide his surprise. it is pretty late at night, but he thought for sure kian would've been practicing or sleeping. "i didn't wake you up, did i?"

— FIRST CHAPTER: HELLO (@ VYBE.LIME)

— TEASER 001 (VER A) (@ PROJECTGREEN.LIME)

@kianbe

six months in europe both flew by and dragged on oh so slowly. in some ways nicky thought the day he returned home would never come, and in others he has no idea where the time went. he knows he should be grateful for the experience, that the course he attended can only help him in his future should he decide to pursue the entertainment industry once again. but while he was there, he often wondered if it was a waste. it was clear to him that there was somewhere else he'd rather be, someone else he'd rather talk to than the dozens of foreigners he struggled to relate with. nicky can barely relate with most of his own countrymen, after all. it was a lonely, bitter six months in some ways. but also the best thing he ever did, based on what he learned.

all said and done, nicky can't wait to see kian again.

his father is working again and while nicky had planned on just taking a cab home, he's never said no to kian's company before. why should he start now? he'll admit, there's a level of anxiety fluttering around in his chest. kian will always be his best and closest friend but... what about everything else? the sloppy confession and tentative kisses, date nights and falling asleep to the sound of each others' breathing. nicky knows better than to assume that they can just pick things up exactly where they left them off. he told kian, six months ago, don't wait for me. kian has never told him about anyone special in his life in the six months they've been apart, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been a suitor, someone better at showing kian the love he deserves, knocking on the other boy's door. it scares nicky. as much as he knows kian owes him nothing, he doesn't want to find out how jealous he can be if someone else has what he covets.

the position reveals were as expected. being lead vocal suits luciel, he has no qualms about kian holding the position of main vocalist either. it’s clear as day that he holds an immeasurable amount of passion and love for singing, so the boy deserves to hold onto it with pride. not to say that luciel himself is lacking that passion, he simply believes this direction is the best. after all, singing is only something he picked up rather recently. he still has a long way to go.

in the practice room during their vocal warm ups, luciel sits down next to their youngest. he throws him a reassuring smile, gives into the urge of ruffling the boy’s hair, “the baby has gotten himself a great position, how does it feel? we’re all proud of you.” he starts off the training session with some gentle words of encouragement. luciel never found a good opportunity to practice one-on-one with kian, it’s their first. “you’re talented, kian. but if you have any worries lingering at the back of your head, be sure to let them out.” after observing and living with him for a few months, he notices that the boy has a tendency to be emotional over things, and being too harsh on himself. “it’s always alright to trust your hyungs, and you have five of them too.”