BETTER.

Sitting down with his friend, the older idol began to put everything on the table for them to choose from, the snacks easy to pick at before filling two glasses with the soft drink he’d brought over. “Let me know if you want a glass of water or anything too,” he tried to remind Kiki with a soft smile, humming out as he finally looked up to see that he had begun to set up Street Fighter. It was a game that the dancer hadn’t played for a long time, but he was sure the muscle memory would come to him when it was time to play against the trainee.

Taking the controller that was offered to him, the man settled back into the couch that was his, waiting for the game to finish loading up so they could pick their characters and their map. Not that the map really made a different, it was just pretty. “Why’d you pick Street Fighter, do you play this game much?” He questioned, locking in his own character before picking one of the peperos out of their pack and popping it into his mouth, chewing on it and sucking it into his mouth while he waited for the game to start. “I don’t think I’ve played in… I don’t know how long. Could be years. But, I think I could still beat you.” The tone was teasing, cheeky smile still obvious.

.

crossing his legs on the couch to get comfortable, kiki was glad to have hyunsik around — the man had a way of just putting the trainee at ease even in the unfamiliar space and, for that, kiki was thankful. reaching forward, he grabbed the glass filled with the soft drink and took a sip of it with a smile as his senior was already offering to get him something else to drink if he wanted it. “i’ll be okay with just this, i promise.” he grinned at the other, holding the controller excitedely as he watched the game load on the screen.

at the question, kiki couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. “no, not really.” he shrugged as he attempted to remember the character names, squinting at the screen because he didn’t have his contacts in. “my friends used to play it a lot when i was in high school and they made me learn to play with them. i’m entirely banking on muscle memory here.” he laughed again, finally picking his character and locking it in. “i still think i can beat you, though.”

The offer from the young trainee to help him with the snacks and the drinks caused a smile to appear across Hyunsik’s features, one that expressed fondness towards Kiki. It was almost as if everything the younger did caused the dancer to smile. Even before Jeju Island he had felt a similar way towards the guest who was now in his house, but the trip had only helped to bring them closer. Shaking his head, he brought his hands up to shake those too, chuckling slightly before he spoke.

“No no, you’re a guest. You can pick out a game to play while I get some things. I won’t take long.” Really he wouldn’t. There were a few bottles of soft drink he could bring over, and some packaged snacks. Kkokkalcorn, pepero, shrimp chips, and if they wanted something else sweet he might have some chocopies he had been planning to save for a special occasion. Entertaining a guest was definitely a special occasion in it’s self. Holding everything he could in his arms, along with two glasses for their drinks, he joined Kiki where his television was set up. “Did you find everything okay?”

.

kiki couldn’t help but return the smile made in his direction, only wanting to be a good guest for his senior. he didn’t want to intrude nor be rude, especially when hyunsik had gone out of his way to invite the trainee over because he knew he was feeling overwhelmed by the number of people at his company. hyunsik was a good person, better than most — and kiki made a mental note to tell him that at some point. 

“okay, if you’re sure.” he hesitated again before going towards where he’d seen the games and picking the first title he recognized — street fighter. it wasn’t a game he’d ever been particularly good at, but it was one he knew all the commands to and wouldn’t make too much of a fool of himself. taking it out of the box and doing his best to set it up as quickly as possible, he settled on the couch just as hyunsik returned with his findings. “yeah, i did.” he assured the other with a grin. “you could’ve asked for help, you know. just cause you could probably bench press me doesn’t mean you have to carry everything by yourself.” he laughed and shook his head, glancing over all the snacks that were placed in front of them. waiting until hyunsik had settled, he handed the other a controller with a grin. “let’s see just how bad we both are, hyung.”

While Taewoo could act like Kiki leaving him and going to purchase another drink if he didn’t like the first one was an overreaction of sorts, he knew he would do the same for his friend if the roles were reversed. As much as he protested himself, he knew in that situation he wouldn’t be taking no for an answer, too stubborn in nature with how much he wanted to do the best for someone he cared about. Tilting the head of his glass just so, he clinked his drink against Kiseok’s, unable to hold in the smile he felt when the other started toasting him.

Usually, the Kostion leader was a chatter box. He could talk about anything with anyone, but the kind words from someone he felt so strongly for were enough to render him speechless for a moment. It was all he could do to look down at his glass, gaze fixated on the bubbles rising to the surface of his drink before he finally took a sip. His face scrunched from the new taste, but it wasn’t bad, going in for a second sip to show his friend that his reaction wasn’t a negative one. “Thank you… I really, really appreciate it. I appreciate you. Truly.”

.

when it came to taewoo, kisoek could go on for hours and hours if he was given the time but, for now, his short words would have to be enough because, if he kept going, he knew exactly what this would turn into. so he held his tongue and sipped at his champagne in silence, eyes glued to his best friend for his reaction. one it was obvious that the other didn’t hate the drink in his hand, kiki couldn’t help but properly relax and smile at the other, proud of himself for having gotten something his friend liked and silently thanking the sales lady that had helped him for the same reason.

sitting in silence for a minute, something about taewoo’s words just... overwhelmed kiki. he couldn’t explain it even if he tried, something in the pit of his stomach bubbling and suddenly popping all at once, leaving the soloist simply feeling. staring down at his glass, he swirled the amber liquid around for a few turns as he chewed on his bottom lip before returning his attention his attention to kostion’s leader. after a moment of hesitation, instead of replying, he leaned forward and kissed the other, with probably more feeling than he was supposed to show.

by this point in his career, gyumin’s used to regular hair salon appointments, but with his new role as seo dohyun, going to get his hair blowed out every morning is now a necessity more than ever before. what once was sufficient to just put on a hat on a bad hair day with no schedules now requires a trip to the middle of seoul at 6am in the morning almost every day since filming for the drama seems to be nonstop. he’s grateful that twentytwenty isn’t actively promoting right now, or else he’d probably be passed out in his chair right now, instead of animatedly making conversation with the hairstylist and finding out when and wear he had gotten all of his tattoos. it’s rare that he meets people outside of summit media, and it’s rare that anyone in korea has any tattoos, let alone inside his company’s family-friendly, child-proofed walls. but this hair salon had been recommended by my first first love’s team, not summit’s, and there seems to be more ink than skin on this hyung’s arms.

but then he sees kiki walk in through the door, and and he wishes that he had been asleep. is it too late to feign sleep now ? the answer seems to be yes, seeing how they’ve both made eye contact.

“ oh, hi, kiseok-ssi. ” it’s not that he dislikes kiseok. not really, but he definitely does not like him. but it’s not that doesn’t like kiseok. or that he’s indifferent about him. it’s complicated, in a way that it shouldn’t be, considering that this exchange on its own just about doubles the amount of time they’ve ever spent in each other’s presence. “ what brings you here ? ” he winces. his hair, probably.

gyumin and kisoek’s interaction had, up until this point, been very short and not so sweet. really, they had no reason the interact — they weren’t a part of the same company, and kiki was still a trainee whereas gyumin had debuted almost three years ago. still, for short interactions, most senior idols could at least pretend to like him, mostly because, most of the time, they’d never really spend any significant amount of time together, yet the twentytwenty maknae’s feelings seemed to be out in the open, easy to read from the uneasiness that engulfed the room whenever the two of them had to share the same space.

sitting down in the only other available chair (which of course turned out to be right next to the idol) kisoek wondered if it was too late to reschedule his appointment. he knew it was — with b3tru just around the corner, his free time had been slashed down to almost nothing and he was forced to take what he could get, which today was a chair and what was going to be an uncomfortable morning.

While Taewoo loved almost everything about being an idol. The performing, the crowds, and all the friendships he’d made, it definitely wasn’t his first love. That was, and always would be, the circus. Maybe not in the traditional sense, with the tent, the animals and the seedy carnival folk as it was often portrayed as in the movies. It was the art. The theatrics, the acrobatics, and all the different amazing acts. While he was living in America, a young Taewoo had been fortunate enough to learn a lot of different styles of performing from a lot of different people he travelled with, bringing his skills back to Korea with him. If anything, his performing was responsible for him even being part of KMG. So when he and Kiki found themselves with a rare free day together, he asked ( insisted ) he show or even teach his best friend some tricks.

“What do you want to see first? I have my specialities, but I can do pretty much anything,” he spoke with a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck as he bragged just a little. The Kostion leader wasn’t one to be full of himself, but his circus tricks were the one thing he allowed himself to have and be proud of. “I can juggle, do some acrobatics – I might even be able to teach you to flip! Supervised, of course. But I promise it’s really easy to learn. I’m really good on my unicycle, uh… One of my favorite things is the devil sticks. I used to light them on fire but I set the alarm off one too many times in the dorm so they only let me do that in the park now.” @vldkiki​

.

though kiki knew his friend’s story, it always seemed to surprise him when he did tricks or reminded the other just how flexible he was. taewoo was one of a kind, an idol with skills that most, if not all other idols from the big three couldn’t match. he constantly left kiki amazed, unable to describe the feeling of watching his best friend do things he’d only seen on tv or on youtube. naturally, when the other had insisted that he could teach the trainee a few things on their shared day off, he’d jumped on the opportunity immediately.

now, standing in front of taewoo, he didn’t feel so confident. taewoo had been doing this for years before he’d even met kiki and hwas just... so much more than kiki could ever be. still, his enthusiasm was hard not to match, especially as he went on and on about what he could do.

standing there, kiki couldn’t help but stare at taewoo but nothing but fondness in his eyes as he spoke. “i don’t think you can teach me how to do a flip, but i’m sure it’d be just as exiting to watch you do one.” he laughed, shaking his head. he’d seen plenty of taewoo’s skill demonstrations before, but that didn’t stop him from feeling amazed every time he saw it again. “my hand-eye coordination is also really bad, but juggling does sound fun.”

You’d think that Naøs the idol would be much more confident than Hyunsik, the man who played him. In a way that was true, there are things he put on his body on stage that he would never wear outside of a performance, or outside of a photo shoot. But, after years of being put down by Atlas staff regarding their music, and his place and position within the group, he was kind of beaten down. Hyunsik the man, had never faced the brutal feedback and onslaught of criticisms that Naøs had thrown at him for the last decade ( and then some ). It had taken a while, but the ability to separate himself from Naøs and Hyunsik had almost been life saving. Definitely, it had been career saving,

Because of this, there were people new to his life who were often surprised by his change in character when they were alone, and away from work.

“I’m kind of shit too, if I’m being super honest,” Hyunsik chuckled, smiling fondly over at the younger man. Overall, unless it was League of Legends and he didn’t need to aim, he preferred adventure games over most. Or ones where he was able to make the decisions for his characters to change the story. So, when he had to get competitive, he was pretty bad at it. It likely didn’t help that he doesn’t particularly have a competitive nature. “Well, do you wanna get comfortable on the couch and I can bring over drinks and snacks?”

.

having been a fan of mon:star for so long, sometimes it still felt surreal when he got to spend time with hyunsik on his own — it felt like a privilege to see a different side of the idol, to see him as a real person, just like a friend would. of course, they were friends but sometimes, in kiki’s head, the sixteen year old he’d once been still screamed every time he remembered that fact. still, he was glad to have a friend like hyunsik, someone kind and sweet who allowed him into his home just because he knew kiki was having a rough time with the summit media idols that he was now sharing a building with.

hyunsik’s admission only made kiki laugh softly, shedding the bit of nervousness he’d felt when he’d walked in. sometimes, he still struggled with making new friends, especially when it was more than a cordial relationship. “are you sure you don’t need help?” he asked, unsure of what he should be doing. it was often that he was a house guest and, when he was, it was usually at the kostion dorm, where he was more than aware were everything was. “i know you’re strong and all, but you don’t have to carry everything yourself.”

“my backpack! i have pretty much everything i need on a daily basis in there, from a change of clothes to snacks — it’s nothing fancy, but it gets the job done, you know?” 

The chaste kiss pressed to Taewoo’s shoulder felt like he’d been shocked with electricity, even through the layer of clothing separating his skin and Kiki’s bare touch. He couldn’t describe it properly, swallowing thickly as his mouth became dry, leaning froward to clear his throat. To hide the action he reached for the glasses he’d brought from the kitchen, shuffling away enough so he could turn a little more to his friend’s direction, holding them out so he could pour the champagne for the two of them.

Perhaps, the alcohol would help for more than just celebrations. His nerves felt like they were going to bubble over like the champagne had threatened to as they popped the cork together.

“No, no you don’t need to do that,” Taewoo assured his friend. Even if he didn’t like the champagne, he would stomach it. Not that he thought he wouldn’t like it, it was just a new experience. The leader wasn’t like Noah, turning his nose up at most foods and drinks that were foreign to him. “It’ll be fine, I promise. Anything with you is always fun.” There was now the usual grin across his features as tried to assure his friend, waiting for Kiki to pour.

.

though he did his best to hide his feelings for the kostion leader, sometimes kiki wondered if he was too obvious, if his actions gave him away — taewoo was such a loving person, the soloist could only ever bask in the comfort of having the other near him. with a smile, he let taewoo move away and poured the champagne into the cups he was holding carefully, placing the bottle down on the table once they were filled enough.

“i know i don’t need to, but i’ll still do it.” he knew taewoo would act like he liked the drink even if he didn’t but kiki liked to think he knew him well enough to be able to tell if he was faking it or not — and if he was, he’d run out and get something better, just to see the blue haired man smile. taking one of the glasses from taewoo, he gently clinked the glasses together. “to you. words can’t express how proud of you i am. you’re amazing, taewoo.” he spoke proudly, letting his feelings slip into his words for just a second. in this moment, he was glad they were alone, as he knew how obvious it would be just by looking at him that he thought the stars in the sky shined just for the newly debuted idol.

with his blue hair starting to show dark roots, the only plan for the day had been to go get those fixed before anyone at KMG could point it out. as he sat in the waiting area, his thoughts wandered aimlessly as he heard the door open again, bringing his attention back to the present moment. eyes turning in the direction of the sound, he hadn’t expected to make direct eye contact with twentytwenty’s maknae, someone kiki still wasn’t sure if he actively liked him or disliked him — their interactions were usually short and dry, but the trainee also didn’t want to assume anything. offering a polite smile to the other, he waved once he got the other’s attention. “hi, gyumin-ssi.” ( @gyuminvld​ )

“honestly, probably a good pair of shoes. i go through them pretty quickly because of dance practice and general tomfoolery but it’d probably be a good idea to splurge on a solid pair of shoes that would last. that, or maybe acne studios’ green wool single-breasted coat.”

What’s your favorite seasonal activity?

“it depends on the season, honestly! in summer, i really like surfing but in winter, i’d say probably any activity that involves snow. i just like being outdoors.”

“beyond the rainbow, without a doubt in my mind. they’re an LGBTIQ foundation who do a lot for the community in korea — i actually used to volunteer for them when i was in high school. i hope to be able to work with them at some point and help them out as much as they helped me and other LGBTIQ people around the country. i mean, i think it’s obvious why they’d be my first choice but i really do care about the organization, and i’m thankful they fight as hard as they do for everyone to be considered equal here.”

“summer! there’s so much to do and to see, and it always feels like it ends too fast. i used to go surfing all the time before i became a trainee, i miss that. i don’t know, i just think summer’s the best.”

“probably not as well as i should, honestly — i’m okay with attention, for the most part, but i don’t do well with crowds, especially on my own. i’ve never been claustrophobic before, but being in the middle of a crowd is just... i don’t know. it doesn’t happen often though, so it’s not something i worry about a lot.”

“i honestly don’t know! i’ve tried acting and liked it quite a bit, so that’s something i’d like to explore more, i think. my debut is still a ways away, so i think i’d like to do as much as KMG will let me before then — but i’ve got no solid plans.”