#s;olo

over the months, chanyeol’s noticed a change.

as of late, the more senior artists of the five companies under the samsung group have begun to show up less and less on the spop channel, leaving room for the newer groups who have debuted to appear more. he can hardly complain about this; after all, there really isn’t anything to complain about. everyone seems nice and friendly, and a few people show up more than once, allowing him to feel a bit closer to those kind of guests.

more often than not, though, the members of those groups appear on a rotation, most likely to keep a variety even when the number of groups appearing isn’t that high, and chanyeol has nothing against this either. it’s very surprising, though, when he walks on set to find a familiar face standing there with one of her fellow groupmates.

how long has it been since he’s been able to see jennie face to face?

even though they almost feel like strangers now, a smile spreads naturally on his face when he sees her, and he immediately goes to greet her as well as her group mate. if he recalls correctly, she had been added to the group later than the other members, though she’s been there for such a long time now that he’d almost forgotten that fact.

to be honest, even though he’d already been chosen as one of the hosts of the spop channel shows before, he’d still had a few doubts that he would get chosen again to reprise his role. luckily, that didn’t turn out to be the case, and he’s able to once again take on the mantle and keep learning and growing and interacting with seniors who can impart so much wisdom on him.

of course, he had been sad to see minhee go at the end of the contract renewals since she had been there with him since the beginning, but as the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens, and that open door came in the form of being able to host a show with his cousin.

it’s her third recording for the show, and while he can barely call himself one of his seniors when he’s only been doing it for six months prior to her landing her own gig on the show, he still feels like he has so much left to teach her, or maybe that’s wishful thinking. she’s grown so much since getting signed to the same company as he is, and while he does enjoy watching her improve, it’s almost bittersweet, like one day, she won’t need him anymore. is that how parents feel when their children leave the nest?

if anything, he’s spent even more time practicing for this evaluation than usual, and not because he lacks confidence (even though he does) but because he still feels at a loss. things like star signs and astrology have always been lost on him, and to have to base an entire performance on that has him struggling to hold onto something that will steady him.

but even if he can’t quite grasp the overall theme and concept of the performance, he at least has the song itself to focus on, it’s cute and upbeat vibe giving him just enough to, as they say, fake it til he makes it. the lyrics are playful and carefree like he is, and it’s easy to fall into that rhythm and persona once the music begins and the performance starts.

throughout the entire song, he has to do just as much singing as he does rapping, and while he’s put in more time practicing his singing this time in an effort to make up for his lack of talent in that department, he still struggles to find the right note at times, and though his bright and cheerful expression doesn’t show the disappointment and panic he feels, anyone with a trained ear like the coaches would be able to hear it and pick up on it right away. hopefully they take into consideration that he is not a singer.

it doesn’t help that the choreography is so high energy, but he tries his best anyway. at least the movements aren’t too sharp, and there isn’t too much emphasis on synchronicity, allowing him to put more of his individuality on it and focus on other things rather than getting it just perfect.

in all honesty, he doesn’t really know much about it. all he knows is that a lot of people claim that it’s real, that the planetary positions on one’s birthdate can determine a person’s personality or outlook on life, and he’s never really believed in it. he’s a much firmer believer in the effects of society and a person’s surroundings shaping a person, but far be it from him to judge or stop anyone from believing in what they like.

still, that doesn’t mean he quite understands the month’s evaluations. he’s not quite sure how any of this will help him on his path, but he’s diligent as always, spending many a night simply looking up his zodiac sign (which he learns is sagittarius) and all of what are supposed to be his predetermined traits.

he is, in fact, so at a loss with this evaluation that he leaves a lot of the decision-making to his group mates, fellow sagittariuses---saggittarians?---including the song and the line distributions. that means he has a lot more singing lines than he’d like or is used to, and that also means he has to put in more time dedicated to a craft that he just doesn’t have much interest in. but hey, maybe that’s the whole lesson he’s supposed to be taking here.

he'd started off with some odeng at first, thinking it would satisfy his cravings and he'd be able to head home after that, but right next to that cart, the smell of ddukbokki had him moving over to buy a bowl for consumption. he walks and eats at the same time, thinking it'd tide him over as he heads home, but then he sees piping hot bungeoppang being prepared and he simply cannot resist, especially when he can see the steam wafting up into the air.

one thing leads to another, and then another after that, and before he knows it, his arms are full of food he cannot possibly finish all at once---at least, that's what he thinks. but when he finds a spot to sit and enjoy the cool night air, people watching as he eats, he soon finds all of his containers empty and his heart full.

it's been so long since he's allowed himself to let go like this, to just sit and relax and do practically nothing, and it's refreshing. it feels like a rest almost, and it has him feeling like he can take on anything in the world.

it's been six months since this opportunity unexpectedly landed in his lap, six months since he'd become the unprepared, inexperienced, excited host of the spop channel's iqs. back then, a six month contract had seemed like a long time, but now that six months have passed, it seems like it all went by in the blink of an eye. as the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun, and for the past six months, he's been having a blast.

he can't help but feel nostalgic about it when he arrives on set, seeing all the familiar faces, the staff working hard to put on a good show, the professional atmosphere, the instantly recognizable setting. even though they'd already held auditions again for the next six months and he's already aware that he'll be staying on for six more, it still feels like he's hitting some sort of milestone. perhaps part of it has to do with the fact that it's minhee's last day, like the end of an era, and by the time filming has completed, he feels bittersweet, happy to get to continue, but a bit sad that it's his co-host's last show.

but with each ending, there comes a new beginning, and he's looking forward to continuing his tenure as one of the hosts of iqs with gahyeon, especially when he learns that the new incoming host for the show is going to be none other than his younger cousin, who he feels he's grown closer with ever since she joined trc, and he imagines they'll grow even closer thanks to this new development.

he'd always known that modeling and posing for photographs would come with the territory, what with album photoshoots and endorsements a part of the norm, but he never really put any effort into learning or perfecting it until months after he'd been signed, and even now, had only recently begun putting more effort into getting better at it; it's a mere coincidence that he'd been focusing more on it when the evaluations for august had been announced.

most of the people he'd talked to when it came to choosing the location seemed to struggle with making a choice, or at least spend some time thinking about it, but for whatever reason, his choice had been immediate. perhaps it has to do with the fact that people would assume he'd probably choose the arcade, or the club, but going to hanok village seemed like fun---dressing up in traditional attire and acting like he was the star seemed like a fun idea.

but once he gets in front of the camera, he realizes just how inexperienced he still is when it comes to these things, and hearing all the direction he gets from the photographers and staff really drives the point home. it isn't off-putting or discouraging, though. it actually makes him want to do better and be better, and hey, if he can make bank off becoming a model in addition to his income as an idol and musician, he's not going to complain about it.

he feels a bit of pressure to do well, seeing as how he's just lay down the foundation for a friendly rivalry with such a comment, and it only gets worse once they get to the dance segment. when he had auditioned for the role of emcee back then, he never would have imagined that, after seeing how he moved during the auditions, they would still ask him to do it, but there he stood, staring flabbergasted at the screen, wondering how in the world he's supposed to combine the two dance moves together. he could hardly do one of the regular choreographies on their own!

but, of course, he has to give it his all. if not for himself, then at least for gahyeon, who probably also had not signed up to have him as her teammate ever. and he, as an emcee, can't, in good confidence---ah, who is he kidding? as host and designated judge of this show, chanyeol can and will abuse his power for the sake of entertainment.

and abuse it he does. he's well aware that his performance is a total zero, but through his infallible logic (read: bullshit) he awards himself a perfect one hundred out of ten, even despite the protests. naturally, he also gives gahyeon a two hundred out of ten, and the opposing team a respectable nine and a half out of ten.