miss understood

it's that feeling that keeps him going ( the monetary reward helps too, of course ), inspiring him to continue forward and advance in his career. the life of a stylist is a rather grueling one, often waking up earlier than his girls so that he can make sure everything is prepared beforehand. the last thing raebin wants is an article of clothing out of place, no matter how small it is. he's a perfectionist—moreover, whatever falls short on his end could reflect badly on the girls. they've already gone through so much, bombarded by several trains of hate that never seems to end. at the very least, raebin should make sure to minimize that as much as possible on his side.

harsh and mean isn't a trait that raebin wants inherently associated with his personality, but he had always been rather blunt in conversations. while he'd never put any of the girls through his more scathing words, he does scold them sometimes if he manages to figure out that they haven't been taking good care of themselves. it must be overbearing to stand on the receiving end of raebin's lecture, but who else will do it if not him?

raebin was quick to raise an eyebrow when hana strolls into the room, sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose. he hadn't exactly said anything, not at first, allowing hana to walk further inside and settle on her chair—albeit keeping his gaze on her. it's only when she makes no motion to take off the sunglasses, does raebin decide to say something. "are you going to keep that on you the entire time? i don't think that's part of your outfit today," raebin points out, tapping the object with a finger. "take that off, unless there's something you're trying to hide from me?"

pushing that terrible lie aside, she looks back up at him as she starts to try to explain. "i just... couldn't sleep really well last night. i didn't mean for it to happen." she tries to keep her eyes on anything else but raebin, not wanting to see what expression he'd have on his face, knowing she made his job a bit harder.

it was one of the few positive traits hana felt like she had; being easy to work with. from her mom giving her a big hug for being "the best" when she went back to work for a few more hours at night to fix something a junior employee messed up, to teachers telling her she was a "joy in class" because she was the perfect combination of quiet and smart, and to now showing up for her personal schedules on time so the crew can head home to their own families on time. some called it being professional, she called it being able to stay out of the way.

knowing she had now done the exact opposite of that made her eyebrows knit ever so slightly. now, raebin had to figure out how to fix her eyebags so they weren't as noticeable, which meant that could make her a few minutes late for her schedule for the day, which meant that she was holding up more people. all because she can't fight the urge to put her phone away for five seconds.

her mask is laid nicely on her face, cap pulled lower than probably needed and outfit maybe a bit too cozy for the spring weather. she doesn't mind, she has learned the hard way to keep her image lowkey when going out. "please, it's a pleasure!" she says, smile wide in hana;s direction. "i got so excited when you invited me, i heard about all the cute stuff that were going to be here but didn't feel like coming alone. so you really helped me out here." she explains, shoulders bumping lightly with the other.

hana can’t hide the short, soft laugh she lets out from listening to jules whining; without even seeing the pout on her face, she can imagine it very clearly. she raises her hands out of her pockets and shrugs, “okay, you can buy me one thing. but i’ll try to get you something back. i think that’s fair, right?” maybe she can get her one of the special plushies they have here, or win something in a game? she was already trying to think up something to match the effort jules puts in to treating her.

but hana’s eyes light up once she asks her about going to take the pictures, before looking off to the side almost immediately afterwards. “... i would like to, if that’s okay.” her ears start to tinge red from embarrassment, and she wonders if she almost looked as excited as the children running around. not expecting jules to start pushing her to the mascots, she almost trips over her own feet at first before catching up to her pace. “crap-! but, um, we can do that. thank you…”

the festival lights stretch ahead in soft pinks and whites, like they’ve stepped into a scene from a drama—one of the expensive ones, with real budget and too many filters. heejin can still hear the echo of their last chorus buzzing in her head, but it’s not the critical kind of buzz. this time, it’s the kind that says maybe—maybe—they really did good.

hana’s voice pulls her back, and heejin turns her head just in time to catch the soft flicker of red at the tips of her ears. the sight makes her grin, wide and warm, though she has the decency not to tease her about it. not too much, anyway.

“you’re welcome,” she says gently, bumping her shoulder against hana’s as they walk. “don’t worry, i won’t tell the others you got all soft on me.”

her voice drops into something more sincere, soft around the edges even as she keeps her eyes on the path ahead. “but for real—you were great today. like, really great. you always are, but tonight? i think they saw it too.” she doesn’t say who they are—whether she means fans or critics or the girls or just herself—but maybe it’s all of the above.

hana’s jab about the confetti makes her laugh—really laugh, the kind that bubbles up without thinking. “listen, i’ll take a surprise confetti ambush over last year’s bubble machine malfunction. i was basically soap-sliding across the stage like it was an ice rink.”

the food stalls come into view then, lights strung between vendor tents like glowing vines. the smell of frying batter and melted cheese is practically magnetic. they’re not the only idols drifting toward the stands, but the mix of fans and locals have mostly given them space—polite nods, a few whispers, a couple camera flashes that flicker and disappear just as quickly.

“dibs on that one,” she declares suddenly, pointing at a donut so aggressively pink it looks like it was dipped in bubblegum and guilt. “actually, no. i’m invoking Leader Privilege. it’s mine. unless you wanna fight me for it.”

her eyes slide sideways, playful now. “fair warning, i’m stronger than i look. years of carrying girl code on my back.”

and then, a beat softer—because it’s hana, and because moments like this don’t come often enough—she adds, “but… i’ll let you win if you really want it. just this once. don’t get used to it.”

hana lets out a soft “hmph.” and crosses her arms at heejin promising not to tell their members, though she lets herself bump her shoulder back against hers’. it was too easy for her to feel embarrassed during times like this, which in return made her attempt to act nonchalant.

she still keeps her eyes on anything else happening around them instead of looking directly at her. the people chatting around them as they walked past. the cherry blossoms petals on the ground almost looking like the confetti from a few minutes ago. anything to keep her centered and not thinking too closely about heejin’s words and everything the group’s gone through so far or else she might just start blinking furiously to hold back any tears threatening to fall, which is even more embarrassing.

“that… means a lot. thank you." she hesitates for a second, taking a small breath before speaking again. "… i think… we’re really finding our footing now. all of us. and like you said, i think people are noticing that.” despite her monotonous voice, hana felt like there was something genuine underlying there. she hopes heejin could notice it too.

her shoulders finally relax once she hears her laugh, and hana can’t help but let out something of a hum of a laugh back. “at least after that incident went viral, they didn’t use a bubble machine anymore. we truly are trendsetters.”

hana knows she should still be on, even while they wade through the crowd to grab some greasy snacks; just because she’s not on stage doesn’t mean there aren’t still fans looking at them, if the flashes from people’s phones show anything. but just this once, as she plays with the strings of her jacket to calm her steadily beating her, she wants some peace after a performance and she’s thankful it seems like the fans who notice them are willing to give them that much.

“haah? calling Leader Privilege on a donut doesn’t seem fair.” she says that, despite the evident pout on her face. it goes away once heejin jokes with her again, opening her mouth to let her have it only to blink in surprise when she concedes easily. “really? … well… okay. in that case, you can have the cheesiest corn dog i find.” the corners of her mouth upturn ever so slightly. “i'm serious, and i'm not taking no for an answer.”

hi, idols! as an apology for the pause in operations on the main and the lack of monthly schedules, we come bearing gifts... an ask meme! this isn't the honesty hour that was mentioned a while back (as that will be used as part of our next event), but we think it'll still be lots of fun. check under the cut for all the details!