setting: some bbq restaurant, seoul, mid april 2022
with: @fmdruby
with both andromeda’s latest promotions and calypso’s sudden return to music shows now behind them, there was a tiny pocket of time created, just a little less busier than both groups had been before and yena had quickly taken the opportunity to snatch huifen with her to go for bbq and drinks together. after all, their latest achievements called for celebration. or that was at least the excuse yena used to placate both the younger girl and her own conscience.
it was a bit the anti-thesis to taking someone under their wing that she and ruby had. after all, yena wasn’t incredibly good at being a good example. what she was, very good at, was teaching her juniors all the little tricks and things that their company didn’t want them to know, anything that would be considered troublesome. hence why she was pouring the younger a glass of soju, gently nudging it closer to ruby as she finished the pour. “there you go, no achievement is completed without celebratory soju.” yena nodded sagely, as if she was instilling some great wisdom on the younger. “also it makes the food all that much yummier. so come on, drink up, you’ve deserved this and tonight is my treat!” if this would go well, yena would consider taking ruby properly drinking with her, skipping out on the dinner part.
out of all the seniors ruby is fortunate to have look after her, yena stands out in her own way. to call her a bad influence would be unfair — despite her personal reservations surrounding some of the behaviours yena’s encouraged for her, ruby admits that they’ve led her to some fun experiences she never would have pursued on her own otherwise. growing up on a tight leash meant ruby tended to approach the world with more apprehension than the average person, but with yena around, she at least feels more secure in venturing into uncharted territories.
“thank you,” ruby receives the glass of soju and downs it in one go. she grins at yena. “you know you’re not slick, right? i know by now that any evening that starts off with alcohol with you is going to be a wild one.” she returns the gesture and pours the drink into yena’s glass. “i won’t say no to whatever you have in mind, though. it is a time for celebration, after all.” previously, she would have hesitated from willingly going with it, being hyper-aware of the image she is meant to keep up as an idol. over time, she’s learned to relax into it a bit more.
still, there’s a certain nervousness bubbling in the pit of her stomach alongside the excitement. “i mean, within limits, of course,” she finds herself disclaiming. drumming her fingers on the table, she asks, “what do you have in mind?”
Eunyoung watches Ruby with shining eyes. She leaned over the table with her chin resting on her palm some great five minutes before the younger realized that she was still at the table. She doesn’t mind losing this battle, though. Being the daughter of two owners of a restaurant, Eunyoung has learned how much a good meal can mean to people, and she imagines it’s the same for Ruby. Being away from home and everything that entails mustn’t be easy, and food is such a good way to fall on a nostalgia train. Eunyoung is happy that she can offer that to someone still, even if she’s not following in the same footsteps as her parents.
She chuckles and motions to her mouth so she can tell Ruby where she needs it cleaned. “You just look extra excited to have a good hotpot, I imagine. Nothing to be sorry about in the slightest,” she reassures the younger with a warm smile and takes advantage of that cue to straighten her back and dig into her meal, as well. “You’re very welcome, Ruby. My parents would be so very proud of me for feeding my juniors well. Next time, when we both have free time, let’s pay them a visit to Jeonju. They’ll feed you all the most delicious dishes,” Eunyoung promises with a playful wink.
Eunyoung shakes her hands in front of her and laughs awkwardly. She bites her lip and sighs tentatively. “I can’t believe it still. In the meeting we had in January, we were told that they didn’t have the means to give us any comebacks this year. I was honestly thinking we would be disbanding, and then suddenly our song comebacks and ends up charting.” She leans back on her chair, and when she sighs this time, it’s with humor. “I’ve said this before but it feels like a dream, or like someone is trying to play a prank on us. We charted higher than Polaris! How crazy is that?”
ruby quickly reaches for the napkin and dabs the corner of her mouth, careful not to smudge her lip paint. “you’re too kind,” she blushes, feeling embarrassed for having forgotten her manners. even if eunyoung herself is gracious enough to excuse it, ruby can’t help but feel self-conscious regardless. she perks up at the mention of visiting eunyoung’s parents in jeonju, nodding enthusiastically at the idea, “i’d love that!”
taking a sip of her water to soothe her burning throat, ruby feels a pang of sympathy as she listens attentively to eunyoung’s musings. being confronted with the harsh reality of the industry is uncomfortable, a reminder of the elusiveness of success. “that must’ve been so hard to deal with,” she remarks, suddenly feeling her own heart sink at the fleeting thought of a similar fate befalling andromeda. shaking it away, she smiles at eunyoung.
“that’s quite the feat for sure,” ruby agrees, “but i’m not particularly surprised. “rollin” is such a catchy song. i’ve been having it on repeat since it was released.” she recalls a time when the song wasn’t being played practically everywhere she went. all the while, she dedicated hours in the studio practising the choreography and, other times, humming the song to herself. “it was only a matter of time before everyone else got on the wave as well.”
she beams, clapping her hands. “i’m really excited for calypso’s comeback!” she hums, tapping her chin in thought. “i wonder if the single will be another song similar to the vibes of “rollin”.” leaning forward slightly, she grins cheekily. “care to give me a spoiler?”
— 姐姐 [ sent 22:04 ]: jiejie
— 姐姐 [ sent 22:04 ]: im hungry ):
— 姐姐 [ sent 22:05 ]: do you wanna go get tteokbokki?
— 姐姐 [ sent 22:05 ]: they can spare us for ten minutes
— joohyun-ie ♡ [ sent 22:06 ]: ah why must you tempt me like this ㅠㅠ
— joohyun-ie ♡ [ sent 22:06 ]: i thought of just going for a full meal after we wrap up
— joohyun-ie ♡ [ sent 22:07 ]: ...but i’m so hungry
— joohyun-ie ♡ [ sent 22:07 ]: where’s the nearest place we can get tteokbokki?
living with other people has always been a little strange for ruby. back in shanghai, she was accustomed to having a room of her own, never having to share her treasured personal space with anyone else — one of the perks of being an only child. when she’d moved to korea, the constant noise and antics by her fellow trainees in the dorms were overwhelming, especially since she lacked the vocabulary to fully comprehend most of what was going on around her.
at this point, though, ruby has grown to not mind it. in fact, she finds comfort in the constant company of her members, a balm to the longing ache she sometimes feels from being away from her hometown. more often than not, she’s thankful for having debuted in a group which she considers not too small, nor too large. it feels almost like a family, her members akin to siblings she wished she’d had growing up.
”what’s it like for you?” ruby blurts out, as she steps into the elevator of the apartment building with hyojung. she reddens, realising that her question may have seemed out of the blue since she’d been musing about it to herself, rather than aloud. “living by yourself, i mean. after being in the dorms with your members.” she feels the need to explain: “i was just thinking about how i’ve adjusted to living in the dorms. i found it a bit hard at first. i think it’d take some adjusting again, too, when i start to live on my own like you.” she smiles. “i’m so used to being around the girls now.”
“you’re doing great, 10/10. great student.“ he elaborates, giving a thumbs up to the camera “how are you finding it? i think you are really doing great. it’s a rough dance.“ minhee adds, because well, its is a rough dance, he still finds it that way.
“i mean it!” ruby chuckles at minhee’s quick dismissal of her compliment. this is one of the things she appreciates about him — his humility, despite his accomplishments as someone who’s been in the industry longer than she has. it makes him an approachable senior from whom she can seek mentorship for her budding choreography-making aspirations. and a friend, too, at times when she needed one the most.
she inserts herself in the frame next to minhee, adjusting the angle of the camera. she makes sure to keep a slight distance so as to not invite the potential ire of stellas for standing too close to their beloved oppa. “everyone, you agree with me, right?” she addresses the imaginary audience.
“ah, thank you,” ruby inclines her head in response to minhee’s approbation, “i’m trying my best.” she nods in agreement. “that’s right, it’s really quite tough. it’s such a powerful dance that requires a lot of strength to pull off. but i’m enjoying the challenge.” her muscles may be fatigued and her body drenched in sweat, but the process is fun so far. above all, she looks forward to the feeling of accomplishment by the time they nail this cover.
“as we’re preparing for this, we’re also helping polaris do a cover of andromeda’s ‘secret’.” she turns to minhee. “how is that going for you? i was looking forward to seeing you do the choreography—” she smiles, “—but i’m honoured that polaris even has the time to spare to do a vocal cover of our song.”
stage name: ruby
birth name: zhang huifen
nicknames: shanghai princess, jang ruby
position: main dancer, vocal & rapper
nationality: chinese
birthplace: shanghai, china
birthday: 25th october 1998
zodiac sign: scorpio
known family: -
trainee period: 2 years and 10 months
official height: 168cm
blood type: a
mbti: infj
special skills: touching the opposite side of her ear (ref: x), making bird chirping sounds
hobbies: food hunting, dancing, shopping, watching movies
favorite food: ramen, black pepper beef stir-fry
favorite color: vermillion red
role models/inspirations: lily, jin xing
ideal type: someone who is thoughtful and kind
facts:
prior to debuting, she was featured in quantum’s error music video as the female lead
she was the brand ambassador for vivlas cosmetics from august 2020 to february 2021
she helped choreograph the dance for andromeda’s comeback, dreams come true
she danced to lily’s genie at her audition
she likes horror/thriller movies
she loves cats
she keeps a notebook to track all the best places to eat
she recently picked up pole-dancing
she is incredibly flexible
she loves horror/thriller movies
she is very organised and can’t stand when her living space is messy
she is lactose intolerant but likes strawberry milk
coming towards the tail-end of practice, ruby feels close to death. she chugs down her bottle of water and wipes the sweat dotting her neck with a towel, trying to catch her breath. when the staff gives her a gopro mounted on a hand-held tripod, she swallows down the exasperated groan threatening to escape her throat and instead mutters a mindless, “thank you.”
approaching minhee, ruby fiddles with the gopro. “this choreography is no joke. i’m winded,” she huffs. even with the strength training she’s done lately, she’s finding it challenging to nail each move to polaris’ ‘i need u’ just right. the dance demands the kind of energy and power not typically present in andromeda’s performances, making every move she tries to hit look feeble. she makes a mental note to put in extra hours the next time she’s at the gym.
before turning on the gopro, she checks in the studio mirror to make sure that she doesn’t look too disheveled (she suddenly regrets not filming before getting to work earlier) and takes a deep breath. filming vlog-style videos has never been her forte, forcing her to be confronted with her own awkwardness. she’s gotten better over the years, however. and she figures she might as well do her least favourite part of this whole cover-swap thing with someone she’s comfortable with.
“hello ~” ruby waves to the camera, “andromeda’s main dancer ruby here. today, we’re practising a cover to a song you may know very well...” she imagines a drum roll in her head before continuing, “it’s ‘i need u’ by polaris!” she flips the gopro towards minhee. “as the genius behind the choreography, how do you think we’re doing so far?”
halfway through lunch, ruby’s eyes are glistening with tears, her throat burning. yet, she continues relishing the tingle of spice with every bite. as she chews, she hums in enjoyment, inhaling the familiar smell of the fragrant soup and letting it numb her tongue. suddenly conscious of the woman sitting in front of her, ruby reaches for a tissue, effectively dabbing her runny nose and stifling her embarrassed laughter at the same time.
“sorry—! i must look like a mess right now,” ruby shakes her head. far too many times, she ends up losing herself in the midst of a gastronomic experience. “it’s just that it’s been so-o long since i’ve had really good hotpot.” she offers a meek smile at eunyoung. “thanks for indulging my craving.”
ruby lets her gaze linger on the other woman, feeling a rush of gratitude towards her. in a place where she has often times felt like a total alien, eunyoung is one of the few that make her feel most at home. ruby considers herself lucky to have a senior so willing to look after her like this — being taken care of isn’t something ruby is accustomed to, but she figures she can afford to get used to it.
“anyway — craving aside — today isn’t about me, it’s about you,” ruby’s smile grows into a grin, “i’m so happy that ‘rollin‘ is doing so well. you deserve this so much.” she adds, as a jest, “even if that means you have a lot less time to spare for me now that you’re busy.”
hellooo i’m ami, she/her and here’s my muse ZHANG HUIFEN aka RUBY ✨ (yes i totally derived inspiration from svt woozi’s song)
thank you so much for the warm welcome so far, it’s been a hot minute since i last rp’ed on tumblr but i’m excited to be back! i’ll get to everyone’s dms soon but before that lemme get this intro outta the way to get the ball rollin.mp3. i have some plots on here but i’m always open to brainstorm too so pls leave a heart if you’d like to do that wif me <3 you can find a tl;dr on her history and personality below:
history
born on 25th october 1998 and raised in shanghai, china
grew up being pushed into doing beauty pageantry since she was very young, which was tough on her
her popularity started to decline as she got older, her mother became even harder on her than she already was
in her teen years, huifen came across lily and idolised them, aspiring to become an idol herself (both to get away from her tough home life and to pursue her own dreams)
auditioned for bc ent., didn’t make it because she bombed her audition out of nerves
opted for dimensions and got in, flew to seoul and trained for 3 years after she left high school
of course, trainee life was hard especially because of the cultural/language barrier
debuted as the main dancer in andromeda with the stage name ruby (but she also goes by ruby rather than huifen on a day-to-day basis)
currently happy just doing her thang as the main dancer, improving her skills and trying out choreo-making
personality
shy and reserved with most, playful and warm with the few that are close to her
although dimensions tends to market her as an elegant visual, “shanghai princess”, etc., on variety shows she shows a childish side to her
very competitive despite people tending to underestimate her bc she’s soft-spoken
if she sets her mind on something, she will get it. quick learner
kind and considerate, almost to a fault
can be distrusting of others, a lot of times she’s sceptical about people getting close to her as a means to an end
random wanted connections besides the ones i have on my plots page:
people who helped her learn korean when she was a trainee
seniors in dimensions! #dimensionsfambam
lily members she can have a fangirl moment over
dance mentors/dance buddies/dancers who teach her choreography-making
senior idols who have a soft spot for her and look after her
baratheonpilled
blakekathryn
andulkaphoto
theartofmadeline
prguitarman
origamiaround
jbbartram-illu
