“oppa, are you just going to stare at the camera? say something!”

immediately he turns to look at the camera, away from the comments and laughs shyly. “oh! sorry! i was really fascinated!” he laughs. at that he clasps his hands together and notices that the viewer count has increased, there’s a good number of people watching him now.

“everyone! it’s our one year already!” he beams, and he claps his hands together, smiling wide. “can you believe it’s already been one year with per_se? i wanted to celebrate it with all of you, that’s why i decided to do this vlive!” he continues, and he watches as the number of hearts continue to increase. “it’s something really special to me, and something that i think could only be achieved thanks to our fans! i can say thank you a million times but it’ll never be enough,” his words are sincere as he speaks, and he knows they aren’t face-to-face, but he hopes that his genuine gratitude can reach them. “i was going to write a long... cheesy... instagram post... but i wanted to be able to share this moment with all of you!” he smiles.

from the corner of his eye he spots a comment that says “do you miss hugo?” but he ignores it –– he has to. he’s not too sure if he’s allowed to speak on it, if the company might come after him if he does. it’s not exactly a situation that he can speak so candidly about.

the vlive proceeds, and haknyeon continues to read other comments. “what have you been doing lately?” a comment asks.

“me? i’ve been practicing of course~ i’ve been working really hard on my rapping and dancing and singing too! i want to make sure ceo hyunbin doesn’t call me a terrible singer!” he adds the last part cheekily, referring back to when the ceo had called him a terrible singer on television. it’s not as though hyunbin would watch these vlives, right? he’s sure a little playful jab wouldn’t hurt. 

another comment catches his attention. 

“i didn’t know you were friends with anna!” 

he smiles as he answers, “we are! anna noona and i went to the same highschool! she’s a year older than me and we didn’t see each other much in highschool since she was a trainee back then, but we got a lot closer after i debuted! she’s a dependable senior!” 

“are you close to convex?”

“definitely! i have a few friends in convex~ we’re buddies!” he smiles widely. it’s always fun to talk about his friends, and the friendships he’s made. “sang–– ah, link, haru, micha and i were actually all in a dance crew before we became trainees. it’s crazy right? then i became a trainee, and then link hyung, then micha, then haru... then we all debuted! they’re really close friends of mine! and they’re really talented too! how can i not be a consta when they have so many handsome members right?” he cheekily raises his eyebrows. “ah... but my bias is actually jinwook sunbaenim,” he laughs before he makes a heart with his hands. “jinwook sunbaenim, i love you!”

more comments continue to flow in, and it’s getting a little tough for him to read them one by one. but he notices the interest in his idol friends, and decides to speak about it.

“other idols i’m close to? i’m really close to de:code’s shion and a.c! jihoonie... seonho...” he calls out their name playfully. “i remember crying at jihoon’s graduation because i was sad that he was leaving school! super embarrassing right? but that’s how close we were,” he smiles fondly at the memories, and makes a mental note to check on jihoon. “and i’m really close to seonho too! we have a lot of history together,” he smiles, but ends it at that –– he isn’t going to disclose just how much history they have of course.

“of course i’m close to and*roma! they’re our sister group!” he says with a smile. “darae noona is like my nova mum! she took such great care of me when i first entered nova, i’ll forever be grateful to her!” he beams. “speaking of which, and*roma just had a comeback so be sure to listen to the song lots! i’ve been listening to it nonstop because it’s so good,” he holds up his phone and shows the and*roma album that he’s liked on melon. “and*roma is the best!” at that, he puts a thumbs up.

“if darae is your mum, then is hui your dad?”

haknyeon laughs out loud before he nods his head. “yes! you are one hundred percent correct!” the accuracy in that statement has him giggling a little more. “actually, let me tell you a funny story about hui hyung and i! when i first entered the company, hui hyung was like... a legend! like a legend among legends in the b-boying world! so of course i had to ask him to practice with me and help me train, right?” the comments begin pouring in with yes huidong oppa is a legend! and haknyeon nods. “and once while we were training, he was teaching me how to do this trick. it was really tough, but after trying a few times i got it! i was so happy and excited that i looked up at him and i said thanks dad! i called hui hyung dad!” he’s giggling as he tells the story, his encounter with hyung. he doesn’t think he’s shared this story anywhere else before, but what better time to share it then now during his vlive, right? “that was so embarrassing! and he just looked at me all surprised,” at this, he attempts to imitate huidong’s expression at that time, but he’s still laughing. “hui appa, hui appa,” he adds, smiling as he reads the comments, most of which were full of laughter. 

“i actually have a lot of funny anecdotes with all the members! like that one time jungwoo hyung and i got matching couple bracelets but we lost them and had to get new ones! and when i accidentally back hugged ricky hyung when i was still a newer trainee! that was actually quite scary,” he shudders a little, “but we’re closer now of course! and when hosung hyung and i went on an adventure in morocco!” these are fond memories of his, and he almost lets slip a memory he’s shared with hugo, but catches himself before doing so. 

he’s careful not to let his expression slip, and quickly he turns back to the comments. 

“can you say i love you noona?”

haknyeon reads the comment out loud and looks at the camera. “okay! be sure to record this alright?” he smiles. “noona, i love you!” he says, before he continues. “and for our male fans, hyung, i love you!” lifting both his arms, he makes a heart shape over his head.

“hyung loves you a lot junju”

he giggles at the comment and makes a heart finger. “i love you more hyung!” he says, scrunching his nose in an attempt to cutely show how serious he was at loving. 

another comment immediately catches his attention, and at this haknyeon bursts into laughter.

“5 hyunbin sajangnims or a 5 year old hyunbin sajangnim?”

he’s laughing as he reads the comment. usually you’d expect to see this question about the members but seeing one about your ceo is something he honestly didn’t think would happen. 

“ah... do i have to answer this? i’d rather not...” he replies. “it’s so funny just thinking about it. imagine me bowing 90 degrees to a five year old and greeting him with hello sajangnim!” he laughs. the image itself is funny to just think about. “for this... pass!”

haknyeon continues to read the comments, unaware of how much he’s been talking –– mostly because he’s having such a great time communicating with the fans. 

“put on some filters!”

“filters?” he repeats, fiddling with the screen. “ah... here we are!” he begins to play with a bunch of them, from a cat filter, to one of him in a beret, to a filter of him as a dinosaur. 

he opens his mouth wide, like how a dinosaur would and smiles. “this is how much i love you!” he says, and he attempts to open his mouth even wider, only to accidentally choke on his own spit. 

there’s a lot more talking during the vlive, most of which is full of haknyeon thanking the fans, and sharing stories that he can remember. like how nervous he was during their debut, and how happy he was when they celebrated his birthday with him. it’s only when a notification saying “your phone is at 20%” pops up, does he gasp a little.

Wendy couldn’t do anything else but nod in approval when the dancers of AND*ROMA presented the choreography they came up with. She doesn't know much about dance when compared to singing, but she couldn't help but wonder why they weren't allowed to come up with their own choreography more often. It's probably the same reason she isn't allowed to write any songs for the group.

She may not be one of the better dancers, but Wendy knows how to study whatever is presented to her. It's a skill she picked up from figure skating, piano, guitar, and ballet classes before joining the ranks of Nova Entertainment.

The concept for this cover is a rather exciting one. It's more in line with what suits their current age group, to be honest. Wendy feels like they're all too old to dancing around while waving lollipops or using a fake cute voice. They are so way beyond that age, so when the dance line proposes an edgier, more mature cover, Wendy is one of the first to say "Yes!"

Honestly, Wendy would have been fine being in the background for most of the dance. She isn't part of dance line and would have been fine if they got most of the spotlight. However, she was delighted to learn that all of them got their moment to shine. All of their dancers deserve so much better, and she hopes this cover shows exactly how good they are as a team.

Before she realizes it, D-Day for recording has arrived. Unlike recording for actual music videos, there's none of the usual nerves that comes with it. The dominant feeling she has is excitement. After all, this is a surprise gift to the fans after winning their first music show. After all, they were gifted with a win, they should give back as well.

To get people hyped for the video, Wendy has taken it upon herself to post a teaser photo of the cover. It's nothing too fancy, but she had to get AND*ROMA's name out there in any way she can.

Her part in the choreography isn't too hard to follow; however, Wendy had to spend a chunk of her time trying to push her hair back in a sexy, but subtle way. She only hopes she doesn't screw up when recording actually happens.

Recording was as fun and exhausting as it could be. After all, they're shooting the same dance over and over again. At least the other girls are a whole lot of fun to be with. She can't imagine being stuck in a studio, recording the same thing over and over again with anyone else.

so, she decides for a new video to play some of her favorite summer hits for fans -- albeit boring, juhee couldn’t really find any other way to spend with fans outside of reviewing her latest dramas she’d been binging on the side of their promotions and juhee wasn’t sure she was ready to cause fandom wars over dramas.

she can be seen fixing the phone in front of her in the car, her voice vying in and out as she laughs at something being said off-camera by their manager before she’s handed the snack that the studio had gifted them upon their departure from the studio. now that they’ve comeback juhee was getting more and more used to their radio appearances.

“hello everyone ~ did you just hear me and sun -- i mean darae unni on the radio? we were on sbs power fm! if you didn’t hear, maybe you can re-listen on their website!” her hand waves huge as she sets down her snacks in her lap and claps her hands to get rid of the crumbs that had stuck to her palms. “long time no see ~”

“i hope everyone has been well!”

“a-ah, i forgot to introduce myself. eh? everyone knows who i am?” she says, her eyes widening as she reads the comments. “eh, no way ~” she laughs, her nose crinkling before shaking her head. “i’ll introduce myself anyways for the new ones just joining us!” juhee remarks as she watches the viewer count rise.

“hello guys ~” her hand does and﹡roma’s signature greeting hand motion, fingers spread apart as she waves her hands, “twinkling and sparkling! hello ~ i’m and﹡roma’s new sky, as far as the eye can see, sora -- nice to meet everyone !”

“okay, now we’ve got that out of the way -- i’m here today to ..” she imitates a drum noise while fiddling her fingers along her lap. “dugu-dugu-dugu ~” 

“show off a few of my favorite songs from this summer. now that autumn is coming, i think it’s nice to look back at some of the songs that kept me company this summer!” 

“first! of course, i can’t not promote our newest song, high heels. if you haven’t listened to it yet -- here you go! did you see our music video? wasn’t it so cute? it was my first time practicing with heels -- i tried dancing with them before but i’m still kind of not used to it.”

she reads the comments before proceeding, “ah? any wishes for this comeback?” she hums as she thinks, “mm -- would wishing for a first win be too ambitious? i think everyone wants a first win but we’ve been working really hard for this comeback so i hope we can get a special reward such as a first win for all our efforts!”

her hand shows off her phone, the last of and﹡roma’s album drowned in the background so that juhee could play the songs from her phone. “now you’ve probably heard this song before -- luxe sunbaenim’s ‘ up & down ’ .” 

she grins proudly, “i’m not sure if many of you know this, but a few weeks ago and﹡roma did a cover of sunbae’s song and i had ashe sunbae’s lines and i was so nervous. it’s a concept we’ve never done before but i think we did it justice, though i’m nowhere near as good as ashe sunbae. i haven’t met her yet but i really hope to! she seems really cool!”

she had played a short snippet of up & down -- knowing for sure that everyone and their mothers had already heard of the song enough ( it was playing nonstop in almost every store possible since it’s release, it seemed ) -- before changing the song to a song by their brother group ( laughable considering juhee had yet to meet any of their members ), per_se.

“and next is per_se sunbaenim’s new song, ‘ o sole mio ’ , since it released it’s been stuck in my head for ages. even while we were preparing for ‘ high heels ’ i was playing it -- maybe i’ll do a cover of the choreography. it is really nice. i really like the move they do with their arms.” she reenacts the move while the song plays with a laugh. her eyes focus on the comments, letting the song play in the background. “i’m glad you guys enjoy the song too. it was a nice sound for the summer, right?”

“there’s also this american artist i’ve been listening to a lot these days, his name is giveon -- one of the new songs off his new album is my favorite. it’s called ‘ this ain’t love ’. please listen to him, his voice is really nice!”

“also samuel seo sunbae’s song ‘ soon ’ is so nice, when i go to yoga on my off days i always have this playing in the background.” she quickly changes the song after giveon’s finishes to sameul’s -- cutting out the song that had almost started in between. “it has this nice almost dance-like vibe but it’s also still nice for easy listening.”

as soon finishes, juhee pauses the next song so she can introduce it properly. “this one isn’t a new song but i just found it and i love it. i’ve never been in love before but this song kind of ... makes me wish i have.” her voice softens slightly as her gaze drops to her phone, it’s for a moment before she re-focuses her stare to the screen in front of her. she laughs at the comments that suddenly come flying. it has her sheepish at the sudden words of love coming from the fans. it’s all so new -- being told she’s loved, especially from people she hardly knew. “it’s called ‘ love ’ and from the lyrics i can understand it’s about a friend falling in love with their friend and wanting to stop pretending that their relationship is ‘ just friends ’ -- does anyone relate to it? ah, a lot of you? aw ~ i wish i could give you all hugs.”

“last but not least -- i also found this producer, called dept, and i really like his songs. they’re more rnb than pop but i think their sound makes for nice winding down music. i think it’s the best way to end the v-live, too. so let’s listen to this song well before we say goodbye ~”

her fingers press play, “it’s called ‘ summer again ’.”

juhee let’s the last song play in the background as she reads the comments, one of them catches her eye and she has a laugh -- “ah, you caught me. they’re not really upbeat or ‘summery’ -- my music taste is kind of moody, i think? at least that’s what my friends tell me.”

it’s the smallest part of juhee that she was willing to share with her fans -- even if most of the rest that she shares is unlike the real her. the smiles she shows, and the upbeat attitude she dons for shows is much unlike her actual persona but she keeps them on -- hoping that just an ounce of this smile could become real for her.

for juhee, she wished she was just the slightest bit more upbeat.

unfortunately, her music tastes failed to portray this wish.