#rkyeri

“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.

“where are the other members? i think they should be back at the dorms by now.” meiqi glances at the door that everyone disappeared through a while earlier. “i decided to stay back to talk to you guys and impress you with some dancing! i’ll wait a little longer though, so more of you can join.”

she answers random questions for a few minutes, things like what’s your favourite starbucks drink? (cotton candy frappuccino) and dogs or cats? (both). then, there’s a fan requesting drama recommendations, and meiqi can’t help but promote one of her best friends.

“have you guys watched revenge note 1? isn’t the actress for ho goohee so cool?” meiqi, herself, has been keeping up with the episodes as they come out, watching them before she falls asleep. “everyone, please support eclipse’s anna and watch the webdrama! i promise it’s good!”

meiqi leans in closer, squinting to read the comments. “are you and anna close? yes! me and yerim-ie went to school together and we still talk a lot.” as she speaks, meiqi unlocks her phone and scrolls through her photo album. finding a cute selfie of them, she turns the phone around to show it to the viewers. “this is from the time i went to visit her at a photoshoot for a chicken cf. security almost kicked me out because they thought i was a crazy fan!” 

she shows a few other pictures of her and yeri, some from high school and others from the rare times they were able to meet up. she also shows pictures of the food truck she had sent yeri on set of her webdrama, and the selfies with gourmet ice cream that she had received in turn.

after rambling about how much she loves her friend (and probably boring most of the viewers), meiqi remembers what she had initially promised she would do and quickly stands. “right! i said i was gonna dance for you guys. why didn’t you remind me?! you guys just let me go on and on about yeri!”

her laughter rings out as she disappears off camera to plug her phone into the speakers. meiqi presses play and then runs backwards as the first few notes begin to filter through the practice room’s speakers. she takes a few steps back to make sure her entire body is in the frame, and then she’s doing the infamous point dance of up and down.

she’s seen some idols get shy after attempting the dance, but meiqi doesn’t falter once. she’s in her element with this song, this concept. she knows the dance considerably well for someone who hasn’t formally practiced it. that’s not to say meiqi wasn’t blasting it around the dorms for a good week, singing into her toothbrush and dancing in her bed. 

she performs it up until the end of the first chorus, before approaching the camera once again with a proud grin. “what do you think?” she asks the viewers as she settles onto the floor again, tilting her head inquisitively. meiqi reads the comments as they come: as expected of meiqi! and jfkdjsjkdg QUEEN. she laughs loudly, basking in the compliments that come in every language. “ah, wait, what did you say? dance meiqi-ne? i like that!”

“are you an olympia? yes, i love luxe! i’ve been following them since they debuted!” meiqi clasps her hands in front of her chest dreamily as she thinks about her favourite group, and now her seniors in the industry. “they have really good music and i think they’re all so pretty! one time, i met ella—i think it was last year during the halloween party. we both dressed up as royalty and she approached me first! it was kind of embarrassing though because i was still technically a trainee and i kept stuttering… but she didn’t make fun of it even once. still, i hope she doesn’t remember that.” 

meiqi presses a hand to her forehead, embarrassed that she’s shared one of her weak moments. she’s still smiling, though, giggling even, because she holds the memory dear. 

she remembers that she’s doing a vlive and removes her hand so that the fans can get a proper look at her rosy cheeks, and so that she can keep reading the comments.

“what other groups do you like?” meiqi strokes her chin, pretending to think. “and*roma?” she chuckles at her own (poor) joke. truthfully, she doesn’t know if there are other groups that she’s really a fan of; she might like their music or know the members, but no one can compete with luxe. might as well promote herself—though it’s stupid, considering 99.9% of the people watching this live must be fans of the group already.

“show us more dance covers!!! wow, so you guys don’t wanna talk to me, huh?” she purses her lips to hide the teasing smile, but it doesn’t quite work when she reads the onslaught of incoming messages that protest and promise that they enjoy talking to her. 

to appease the fans, she pushes herself off the floor and dusts off her shorts. meiqi reaches for her phone and presses shuffle on the playlist she had prepared beforehand. it’s filled with the latest songs that she’s learned and a few older tracks that she likes.

she starts with she’z. to anyone who knows her personally, it might come as a surprise because meiqi has never been a fan of the group. their concept was always too cute for her liking, but their recent releases were right up her alley. unfortunately, she only knows the chorus for dumhdurum, so she fast-forwards the song until then, and starts dancing.

dolls by k.arma is next, another group that meiqi likes. the sophisticated sexiness of the song caught her attention almost immediately upon release. to a lesser extent than luxe’s songs, meiqi has replayed it many times, and after only a handful of times watching the dance, she had picked up on most of it. so, she performs from the beginning until the end of the chorus just as she had done with up and down.

she lets the rest of the song play at a lower volume as she returns to read comments. compliments, compliments, compliments. god, she really loves this. “so cool~ do you know any convex songs? yeah! one sec!”

meiqi searches through her music library and clicks on boom boom. she doesn’t know the choreography as well as the other songs she’s performed, but she thinks she can make it work anyways. besides, she knows the point dance exceptionally well, so she exaggerates that part with a laugh.

she’s having fun. after practicing high heels all of last month, a part of meiqi dreaded being in the practice room. she just associates it with a bad time now, but being able to dance freely to songs she actually likes is oddly liberating. and maybe she just enjoys being praised by faceless strangers who love her.

“oh! there’s also this new group,” meiqi starts once she’s completed the chorus. she taps on gorilla, and raises her voice to be heard over the music. “do you guys know de:code? i went to meet them backstage during promotions because i’ve known seonho since…” meiqi counts on her fingers, but it’s useless. “i actually don’t know. but it’s been a long time! he’s like a little brother to me, so i was shocked when he debuted with such a cool concept!”

cupping her hands around her mouth, meiqi shouts out, “a.c., i’m your biggest fan!” before launching into the chorus’s choreography. 

she’s been dancing so energetically for the past half an hour or so, that she’s finally broken a sweat. her breathing is irregular and heavy now, so she rushes to turn off the music. meiqi plops down in front of the camera, making an x with her arms. “no more dancing, guys! i’m so tired!”

catching her breath, she reads through more comments. “what about per_se? i’ll learn their dances properly and show you guys next time, okay? sorry everyone, and sorry to my seniors.” she presses her hands together and bows her head in an apology.

it’s getting late now, and meiqi really needs to return to the dorms. as much as she doesn’t want to leave, wants to continue talking to fans and dancing to her heart's content, she wasn’t lying about being tired.

“i think it’s time to go, everyone. no, don’t leave? what? you guys have to sleep too, you know! not just me!” she runs a hand through her hair, all oily from the sweat of a long day spent practicing. ugh, is it obvious to the fans that she really needs a shower? she sure hopes not.

“i promise we’ll see each other again soon,” she says earnestly. even if she doesn’t plan on going live again for a while (they’re far too busy right now), and*roma is preparing for a comeback. the fans may not know it, but she can assure them that it won’t be long until they’ll see her again. 

“goodnight, everyone!” just like she’d started the live, meiqi ends it with a wave and a smile. the manager confirms that it’s over before meiqi falls back onto the floor, letting the day’s exhaustion take over her body. “that was fun,” she says aloud, not listening to whatever the manager responds with. probably something about getting ready to go back to the dorms, or maybe scolding her for talking so much (has it really been over an hour since she went live?).

she hadn’t noticed so much time had passed, a stark difference to recent practices where all meiqi did was count down the hours, minutes, and seconds until they could leave.