#yurabe

@yurabe

"so you just gave up?" nicky frowns at the girl across from him. it had been his idea to meet for coffee, a rare instance where he initiates contact and actually tries to be a good friend. he knows yura is tougher than she looks, so he cannot for the life of him figure out just what would make her drop out of a competition show she was actually doing decently well on. "you've got more on-screen experience than the other contestants combined and you really just said... 'nah, i'm good, i'd rather be a loser'?"

his fingers drum against the paper cup, too irritated to sit still. of course nicky wouldn't invite an old friend out just for a friendly chat, to catch up. no, he always needs more purpose than that. this time, it just happened to be that he felt that yura needed a wake up call. he could never understand laziness, squandering one's own potential at the expense of their own dreams. just what had possessed her?

maybe she decided that singing and dancing wasn't actually for her, that the idea of being an idol just wasn't worth it once she got an up close look at that universe. nicky could understand that, maybe. but even then, she should have just turned down the callback and made room for someone who actually wanted to be there. it's selfish, it's irresponsible, and nicky just can't put himself in those shoes.

@yurabe

welcome to the burned out ex-child actors club, nicky can't help but think, sitting across from evelyn yura han in the cafe they had run into each other at completely by coincidence. nicky was honestly shocked that he still recognized her, and that she him. it's been well over a decade since they last saw each other at casting calls and auditions, since the both of them held in the tears and did exactly what their mothers wanted them to do, all the while convincing the children it was something they wanted to do.

nicky wonders, briefly, what his therapist would say about this. would she be proud of him for confronting his past instead of running from it? or disappointed that he put himself in a potentially triggering situation and did nothing to avoid the fallout. he supposes the answer must be in however this interaction goes.

"you're not as tall as i expected you to be now," he admits, blunt as ever despite yura being someone he would consider a friend. nicky is nothing if not honest with his friends. she's actually kind of short, he observes silently, wise enough not to say that one out loud. "i didn't even know you were still in korea," he admits. he wonders if he should have contacted her before this, maybe shared the name and number of his therapist with someone he knew has been through similar things as he has. or maybe yura is handling that just fine on her own, he doesn't know.

back when jueun was waiting for her turn at the next gen audition, she recalls one of the girls asking to have a tangerine she has brought. they weren't made for consumption, so she could only say no with an expression of regret. although she wasn't sure if the other would make it through the first round of auditions as well, she still made sure to bring a few tangerines, just in case.

so when jueun spotted the familiar face in one of the practice rooms, she quickly grabbed a tangerine and headed toward her way. "hey!" she exclaimed before quickly getting on the ground beside her and rolled the tangerine her way. "i remembered!" she said with a giggle before beginning to stretch beside her.

@yurabe

it's probably not healthy how quickly yejun felt responsible for hangyeol's entire wellbeing. it's almost certainly not healthy how being away from him for more than twenty minutes makes him feel anxious, like something will happen in his absence that he could have prevented by being there. yejun knows that he shouldn't feel guilt for what happened; none of it was his fault and there way no way he could have known what would happen. still, he can't help but think what if? what if i had done more? what if i had been there?

that line of thought does no one any good, though. and while yejun can't necessarily control what he feels he can control what he does. which is why he agreed to meet yura for coffee not far from hangyeol's apartment, a place yejun has called home while helping his friend recover. it's good for him to get out; when he's not battling anxiety over his friend, he's fighting off the constant lethargy that has him seriously considering dropping out of school and becoming the family disappointment again. god, the holidays were a nightmare. and lunar new year is here as well, ready to torment him with more family time he wishes he had a better reason to skip.

seira figured she had a tendency to befriend people she was often among. during her idol days she was quick to stick with her group, quickly growing close. now she didn’t have any group anymore, she wasn’t an idol anymore, and she had to make new friends. it was just easy befriending your coworkers, you saw them so often, could talk about the good and bad experiences at work together. seira saw yura as a friend, but perhaps more like a “work friend”. seira wanted a friendship that was more than just being happy they had work together, so the two agreed on joining the xmas market.

“i’m glad to see you outside of work” she shows a smile to the other. “i brought my backpack with me, to carry things and because it fits my outfit” she chuckles, turning slightly so yura can see her backpack. “i haven’t gone shopping for a while, i have a habit of buying stuff i don’t need” she shrugs. “all these lights are so beautiful” she looks up, eyes widen and smile on her lips.