ruby magpatok / YOUNGYOON (영윤).. '95 liner. leader, main vocal, and lead dancer for astrid. when i'm all alone, they show up on their own. they say, "just push them down, just fight them harder. why would you give up on it so soon?" so angels, angels please just keep on fighting. angels, don't give up on me today.
she wasn’t sure how to feel about mr. han. on one hand, he seemed like a really nice guy. people clearly thought so, and liked him enough to arrange this party. on the other, she did recall some instances in which he’d made her cry. maybe it hadn’t been intentional, but did anyone ever address the flaws of industry heavyweights? it appeared as though he were some sort of saint now, untouchable in his greatness. “ do we — do we need to give a speech about mr. han? ” she asked the person near to her. fuck, it wasn’t like the man was dying, was it? this was just a going-away party, not his funeral. but she remained worried that she'd slip up and say something blunt about him.
“ i feel like it’s a bit, ah, hypocritical of me to call you a workaholic, ” said ruby. “ but you are. we both are. i think we need a break. don’t you want to join me? i’m really hungry for some dakkochi, and there’s a stall that’s just a quick walk away. c’mon, i’ll pay. ” | @ofhyeji
with one hand gripping rather … 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 of his tiny plate stacked to the BRIM with multiple desserts, and his other hand wielding a plastic fork with all the grace of a knight with his long sword — his eyes remained narrow ; lips pursed into a mocking 𝙥𝙤𝙪𝙩. ❛ don’t you 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐄— ❜ perhaps it was rather unfair, seeing as min himself was rather … well known for his love of stealing foods ( he couldn’t help himself, he really couldn’t . not when food just tasted so much better when stolen ). ❛ there is an entire table of desserts right over there … keep your sticky fingers to 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 !!! ❜ / 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 .
“ yeah, you got some fucking nerve to talk to me like that. ” despite the harshness and profanity, her response lacked the snippy edge that you could hear in many of her statements, even when she tried to push her irritation down. instead, this was affectionate, though she'd deny it if asked. “ you, of all people. how many wones do you owe me in reparation for all the years i’ve had to put up with you? ” she wasn’t intending to steal from his plate at all, but his sudden accusation made her want to. lithe, tan fingers pretended to pinch from the food he held in his hands. “ mmm, stealing from min tastes so good! ”
「 devon seron. ’95 liner. female. she/her. 」 ✧ don’t look now, but i’m pretty sure that’s ruby magpatok (youngyoon). you know, the leader, main vocalist, and lead dancer of astrid. they’re originally from albuera, philippines and have been under marathon entertainment for seven years. they’re known to be meticulous and virtuosic but are often criticized for being timorous and fragile. ( stanned by faith. 18. gmt. she/her. )
what is Up everyone! i’m faith, 18, ur resident immigrant of filipino descent bringing in an idol of southeast asian descent bc u know I Had To. content warnings for talk of colourism, xenophobia, mental illness, and parental abuse bc this girl has been through ... a lot.
ruby was born in albuera, philippines. most people outside the philippines don’t even see that on a world map. they don’t even see most of the bigger cities in leyte on a world map. that’s how obscure albuera is; that’s how rural as hell the places she lived in were. but she was clever, and infinitely curious about things. whenever she’d drop by a more urban city a bus or boat trip away, like whenever she’d visit her father in cebu, she’d use the internet to find stuff out. she was precocious and kinda more involved than she needed to be when her father read up on overseas job opportunities.
he eventually left to work for south korea when she was about... 7 years old maybe? when she turned 11, however, she followed him all the way there. (he picked her up.) he promised her it would be amazing. there was lotte world, which was like disneyland. and ruby was made to feel like she had earned this. she was the smart sibling, the responsible one. she deserved to experience the loveliness of korea, the blossoms in the spring, the affordable delicious meals, the tall buildings lighting up the night. she was a city mouse at heart and she was built for this, not to waste her life and talents in nowhereville, philippines.
so she arrived here. she got into a good international school, yadda yadda. but then....
but then she became aware of what people thought of her complexion. she was dark-skinned even in the philippines, and grappled with colourism too, but in sk there were some people who just... downright had terrible words for her skin colour. they were so casual yet so hurtful.
but then... her father began penalising her for being a child. he would ask her why she was even here if she was just a burden to him. ‘but you told me to follow you here! you told me i’d have a nice life!’ she’d yell. he would threaten to send her home all the time every time she had a minor slip-up (or ya know, acted like a kid). it was difficult; she knew he was mentally ill, and it was tough for him to be an ofw (overseas filipino worker) who lived by himself. and it was tough being reunited with your daughter but realising she isn’t enough to alleviate your loneliness.
but she also knew none of it was an excuse to treat her that way.
ruby was, as i said, very intellectually inquisitive. however, at this point, she was having trouble envisioning her interest in the sciences and whatnot saving her from this horrible life. she had no relatives in south korea; it was just her and her father. so at 16, she decided to audition for marathon entertainment.
it would’ve been plain fun if not for the fact that this audition was gonna be like, a lifeline. she had so much depending on this audition.
she got in because of how ridiculously strong her vocal and dancing abilities were. (her faceclaim has a really pretty voice, but i figured for something like this i needed a really big voice. so her voiceclaim is jessica sanchez (video link here), aka the half-filipino legend who was ROBBED in american idol. do yourself a favour and bless your ears with the song i’ve linked, if you haven’t heard jessica sing before.)
she was pretty good at speaking korean when she auditioned, having been in sk for 5 years already, but she wasn’t the best. her stage name, “youngyoon,” was inspired by a nickname her first love gave her.
until now, ruby has no idea if that guy reciprocated her feelings. but she does know he made her heart flitter and that he always made her feel beautiful. he saw her natural complexion as a beautiful thing and called her 윤 (sunlight) because of it.
the “young” element, she chose for herself, because she loved what it meant (“flower, petal, brave, hero”).
this has gotten sooooo long and i didn’t think it would but... long story short, she didn’t expect to be the leader. i mean, she knew that no matter how pretty (visibly southeast asian features aside, she did fit korean beauty standards rather well; her nose was delicate and stood tall; she had good eyes and elegant facial proportions; she’s petite and a good height at 5′5″) and talented she was, she wouldn’t be a visual or face of the band or anything.
but marathon believed in her enough to make her the leader? oh shit. she suffers from anxiety and lowkey bpd + is neurodivergent so this was uhhhhhh! both a blessing and fuckin hell for her. like there was no way she’d turn it down but also she was like...... *laughs* im fucked
she’s been doing a great job over the past few years but like. she beats herself up. she thinks the group’s lukewarm reception is because of her even though she rationally knows that astrid are floundering for reasons bigger than just her.
just a few details to wrap this up: she’s very fluent in korean now, having lived in sk for more years than she did in the philippines at this point. she speaks four languages tho. and she’s fine being called youngyoon even irl.
please love us up! i can’t wait to plot with you all.
