okay so i really like spreadsheets so i took the liberty of compiling the spots everybody has shown interest so far, just in case anyone wants to take that into consideration.
just reminding everybody that this is obviously not set in stone, i did it for myself so i thought it’d be cool to share :) anyway spreadsheet is here.
okay so i really like spreadsheets so i took the liberty of compiling the spots everybody has shown interest so far, just in case anyone wants to take that into consideration.
just reminding everybody that this is obviously not set in stone, i did it for myself so i thought it’d be cool to share :) anyway spreadsheet is here.
10 things i can’t live without. (base online) self para 011.
location: a studio in seoul
date: october 2021
notes: sunghee filming their ten things i can’t live without video. featuring their manager. warning for some talks of body image and dieting.
During the early days of debut, Sunghee had struggled considerably with being in front of a camera completely by themselves. It was awkward, to say the least, having to stand there and speak to a camera and stare at the staff that stood behind it. No amount of variety training during their trainee years had been enough to make Sunghee comfortable with it. What had done the trick though, to the point where now they could easily go through an entire filming for a personal reality show — like Sunghee’s Sincere Cooking Show — was just having experience. Their year as an MC as well as the gigs as a radio host plus the reality had truly taught Sunghee how to be more comfortable in a situation like this.
They still didn’t enjoy talking about themselves all that much, but Dimensions had insisted they filmed this video now so it could be released during the down time between Unity’s comeback and the repackage. Sunghee relented, took the things they were supposed to, and arrived at the studio thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled filming so they could go through the whole process of getting their makeup and hair done.
It felt weird to have so much preparation be done just for their sake, but Dimensions did have a lot of money to spare when it came to Unity, considering how much money they made for the company, so. Sunghee would just accept it for what it was. Once everything was set up and the cameras started rolling, Sunghee smiled.
“Hi everybody, it’s Unity’s Sunghee,” they bowed their head, hands resting on the table. “And I’m here to talk about the ten things I can’t live without. Honestly, most of my list is pretty boring and kind of obvious, but I think the fans are going to think it’s fun to know, at least?” Sunghee chuckled, reaching for the first item. “The very first item is well, my phone. I think I can say the brand, right?” The director nodded and their question. “Okay, so, my phone. I use my phone for everything. Calls, e-mails, speaking to my family, all of that. It’s always with me. I have an iPhone 12 that I got a few months ago. I know the fans joked about me getting an iPhone after so long using other brands, but I have an explanation for that, actually! It’s because my laptop stopped working last year and I ended up buying a MacBook. For compatibility reasons, after my last phone stopped working, I decided to get an iPhone, but I think the other phone was just as good as an iPhone. It was mostly for work, I swear!
“And from there we can go to the next item, which is my laptop,” Sunghee put down their phone, reaching for their laptop. They had to cover some of the stickers with a weak adhesive as they were slightly inappropriate for broadcast and they showed the laptop to the camera. “Like I said, I got it last year. It’s a MacBook Pro, I carry this with me everywhere as well. I work on my music here, and I also watch films and all of that. It was difficult learning how to use it after so long using a PC but now that I’m used to it, it’s also pretty good.”
Returning the laptop to the table, Sunghee tugged on the sleeve of their shirt to show the next item.
“I swear I’m not getting paid to do this promo!” Some staff chuckled behind the camera and Sunghee smiled. “But the next item is my Apple Watch. I’m not really good at remembering everything I have to do and there’s a limit to how much my manager noona can do it for me, so the watch just reminds me to do things like drink water or eat. I’m a very forgettable person and these reminders pretty much save my life.”
Shaking off the sleeve, Sunghee grabbed the next item. “Also I promise there are things other than tech here, but I also cannot live without my headphones. I don’t really like those in-ear phones? I know everybody owns Air Pods nowadays and I do have those as well which I use mostly to go to the airport and stuff like that, but I prefer these bluetooth headphones. They fit on my head nicely, they aren’t tight so they don’t give me a headache and, most importantly, their noise cancelling is really good, so I can work on music in peace.” Sunghee also wore them even if they weren’t listening to music, just for the protection the noise cancelling offered.
“Stopping with the tech for a bit,” setting the phone down, they reached for their necklace. Sunghee had pondered whether to talk about it or not, but they had noticed how much the fans spoke about their necklaces and their bracelets, so they thought it would be better to address it some way, even if it wasn’t completely honest, to get the rumours to settle down. “I used to have the really bad habit of biting my nails,” false. “So I started using these chewable necklaces instead. They are really good for settling nerves and making me feel less anxious,” true. “And I own them in a bunch of different colours, so they can match whatever I’m wearing.”
“On the topic of nails,” Sunghee dropped the topic as fast as they could, reaching for the pouch on the table. “I didn’t know whether to show these or not but my manager noona encouraged me too, so here it is.” Opening it, Sunghee took out a couple of bottles and a few pack of stickers. “These are the things I use to decorate my nails. It also helps me not biting them, but I just like making my nails colourful. I used to be insecure about it, but seeing how much the fans enjoy them, I decided to learn how to pain them myself and now I carry these with me everywhere. It’s really good to pass the time when we’re backstage, and whatnot. Some of the make up noonas will even let me paint their nails sometimes, and I’m getting better at it, so I’m proud of myself for it!”
“Going back to tech real quick,” Sunghee put the bottles and the stickers back in the pouch, pushing it aside and grabbing the console. “My Nintendo Switch. I have both the normal one and the lite that I usually take with me to work, but I brought the normal one today because I wanted to show you that it’s customized.” Sunghee moved it closer to the camera, showing it around. “I managed to get it in a maroon colour, because of Unity, and I thought it looked pretty cool, doesn’t it? I play video games all the time, it’s my favourite way to pass the time and what I usually do during my days off. Most of my friends have it as well, so I also play a lot of co-op games, and it’s very fun. I recommend it to anyone who wants to play games.”
Putting the Switch down, Sunghee realised their throat was starting to hurt so they asked to pause the filming for a moment so they could get a glass of water. A hair stylist came in, fixing their hair a little bit, as did their manager with the vitamins they should’ve taken an hour ago. Sunghee downed them, slightly embarrassed, and the woman patted their shoulder and chuckled at them.
Starting back again, Sunghee grabbed one of the last few items. “Okay this is a bit silly, but the other thing I can’t live without is pumpkin juice? The fans know that my cheeks are very chubby still, no matter how much dieting or exercising I do, and they get very swollen sometimes. The best thing to get them to go down a little bit is to drink some pumpkin juice. I do like the taste too, so I always carry these around with me or have my manager carry it for me. If you haven’t tried it you should because they are really good!”
“On the topic of food,” Sunghee let out a nervous laughter, reaching for the massive bag resting on the side of the table. “So. I usually prefer to work during the night and I also struggle a lot with insomnia, so I end up taking a lot of late night snacks. My favourite snack currently is Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. I don’t eat it with milk or anything, just pretty much straight out of the bag, and I currently have this bag that is almost done and another full one at home.” Sunghee looked behind the camera and laughed again. “My manager is shaking her head at me, she keeps telling me to eat healthier snacks, but I can’t help it. I’m not really good with food textures, but the taste in this one is so good that it doesn’t bother me as much.”
Sunghee took a deep breath. “Last but not least,” they reached on the floor for the rest item, setting the pair of sneakers on the table. “High top Converse. I have almost one of each colour at home. I wear these with everything, I swear. The only thing I don’t do with them is practicing because they are uncomfortable for dancing, but I usually switch out of my practice shoes and straight into one of those as soon as we’re done practicing. Yeah. I just really like them, I think they are comfortable and they match any outfit.”
“Oh, we’re done, are we done?” As the staff started clapping, Sunghee released a sigh of relief, smiling at the camera. “Well, those were the ten things I can’t live without. Why don’t you share what your ten things are? I can’t wait to read all your lists! Bye!”
As the director screamed cut, Sunghee’s shoulders sagged and they allowed themselves to rest back against the chair. Their manager was the first to show up at their side, offering them more water and a Capri Sun, which they drank eagerly.
“Do I still have more to do today?” They asked, standing up, putting their phone in their pocket and helping their manager gather their stuff.
“One meeting and one quick photoshoot for company stuff and you’re free,” she patted Sunghee’s side as they sighed. “Come on, you can do this.”
Sunghee was very much so correct in their assumption about Jaewon. The leader of Unity cared about his members more than anything else, Samsoo knew that for sure. Not only had they spoken about it in the past, on more than one occasion, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the second eldest member of the group cared about them. Even if he didn’t say it often, Samsoo could see it in his actions. Although that was most likely because he knew Jaewon so well. It was easy for him to see things about Jaewon that no one else could really see. But apparently, since Sunghee had made that observation, Jaewon had gotten better at showing that side of himself. “You’re right. He does always have your best interests at heart. He cares about you guys more than you think he does - trust me.” Samsoo pursed his lips as he thought about their question. He wasn’t a dancer, but he could understand where they were coming from. Unity’s choreography hadn’t upped in difficulty, in fact he was sure they hadn’t done anything more difficult than their earlier songs like Cherry Bomb and 7th Sense, but it was more difficult to move around during rehearsals and performances, if only just a little bit. “It’s not about your age. We put an extra amount of force on our joints and muscles, so they wear down faster. Talk to some idols who were active in the early to mid two thousands and ask them how their joints feel even though they’re only in their late thirties or forties.”
He shook his head. “I’m not telling you to not be aware of yourself, I’m telling you to.. hm, I guess getting lost in yourself would be an accurate description? Let your mind wander a bit. Don’t focus on the music or dancing because it should all be muscle memory by the time you walk on the stage to perform for an audience.” Samsoo could see why Sunghee had taken his advice not exactly like how he had meant it. “I probably should’ve worded that a little better.”
When they were on stage, Sunghee’s brain was always in overdrive. Their in ears were custom made to also offer an extra amount of muffling, so Sunghee didn’t have to deal with exterior sounds on top of everything else that was going on. From the moment they stepped on the stage to the point they left it, Sunghee was constantly aware of not only the lyrics of the songs they had to rap and sing, but also of the choreography they had no option but to bring to the front of their mind. Whereas others could do what Samsoo was suggesting, to simply allow for the muscle memory to take over, there was a lot at stake for Sunghee if they weren’t aware of their moves at all times. Anything too sudden, anything too unexpected could throw them off. No wonder they reached every single end of touring or promotions in a complete state of burn out, needing at the very least a couple of days away from everybody to function like a human being again. Perhaps the stress Sunghee was constantly putting themselves through because of their job wasn’t truly worth it but, they couldn’t help loving some aspects of being an idol, such as the making music one.
“Maybe, but it’s okay, hyung,” Sunghee smiled up at the man, reaching out to take Samsoo’s hands and use them as leverage for them to stand up. Their legs immediately complained, and Sunghee knew they were going to have to put them in ice water before the next rehearsal. They sighed internally. “I get what you mean. I think I just have to push through, though.” Sunghee thought back to the rest of what Samsoo had said, tilting their head to the side. “Do you think we’re going to still be active in our thirties and forties? Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I want to do this for another decade.”
Honestly speaking, the predicament that Rioh’s fallen into is one that he never, ever expected to be involved in—especially at the gym of all places. Typically when he works out, he’s all alone; isolating himself from everyone else in an attempt to conceal his identity. Now that he decided to try and connect with a person he recognized, he’s treading into foreign waters whose tides aren’t relaxed, but rapid—causing a flurry of varied emotions to stir up inside of him. Over the last while, his sights have spent ample time admiring Sunghee’s physique, their conversation’s flowed in a rather easy fashion, and the other’s questions seemed to come from a place of true intrigue as opposed to just being simple niceties, and all of which are making the younger male feel curious; making him feel heard. Even though he’s enjoying himself, he’s slowly able to pick up on the blatantly obvious tension between them—one that seems to have grown massively in just a short amount of time. In truth, it’s giving him a little bit of whiplash, and he’s not sure if he likes how it feels… and what’s more is that he has no time to stop and think about it.
Just then, Sunghee breaks the brief silence with their answer, and at the revelation of their age, Rioh swallows; finding it almost unbelievable that someone who looks so youthful is a good bit older than he is. “O—Oh, that’s cool! I wonder if we’re both Pisces… but I’m technically a cusp, I think? Aquarius and Pisces or somethin’… a friend of mine looked up our charts once upon a time.” His ramblings continue to make it clear that he’s nervous, but that doesn’t seem to deter the elder of them at all. Instead, he’s interrupted by their sudden statement, and it’s then when his eyes grow wide—remaining open as his lips are kissed; those strong fingers clutching onto his chiseled jawline keeping him in place and creating more intimacy all at once. In that instant, he wonders if Sunghee can hear ( or feel ) his heart pummeling his chest—its rhythm relentless, erratic, and it only gets worse when the doors swing open and more people shuffle inside. It’s almost as if the world is standing perfectly still, and he has no idea if that’s a good thing given their location, their circumstance, and the overall randomness of it all.
Once the kiss is broken and they’re alone once more, he swallows again; biting his lower lip. “I, uh… don’t really know what to say…” He utters after Sunghee, honestly unsure how he should feel after that. They don’t know one another that well, but he can’t deny that it felt nice to be touched in such a manner “Which is rare for me, heh… w—what was that for?”
Sunghee’s life is a constant exercise of self-awareness. From when they were a child up until now, Sunghee’s always supposed to think things through a dozen times before doing them. They are not necessarily impulsive by nature — Sunghee just naturally functions in the rhythm that works best for them, the rhythm their brains are attuned to, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a naturally thoughtless person who will jump head first into things without thinking about the consequences. If anything, whenever Sunghee isn’t practicing the skills they had to learn in order to navigate social life more easily, they just… Exist. Lost in their own head, in their own thoughts, keeping quiet and humming under their breath. They know it’s something that has the potential of weirding others out, but they don't think it’s a bad way of existing. When there are social relations and interactions to account for, however, Sunghee has to bring themselves to real life, train their brain to think the way other people do in order for them to reach a middle ground.
Assumptions are a terrible thing for someone like Sunghee to make. Missing some social cues and context as easily as they do, it means Sunghee works three times as hard to truly grasp what other people are feeling. They don’t have the support of body language or even facial expressions, so they have to take everything at face value, trust others’ words. It’s a bold move for them to kiss Rioh since there’s not much there for them to latch onto, not in a language that their brain is fluent in, at the very least. It’s just wishful thinking that had them crossing the distance, that had them pressing their lips together. And when they break apart and it’s useless for them to so much as hope to know what Rioh was thinking just by looking at him, Sunghee quickly feels their stomach sinking.
“I’m sorry,” they shake their head, rushing to stand up. Their palms are sweating and they have to wipe them against their shorts, before flapping their hands. Sunghee doesn’t bother to keep it in, not knowing that any attempt of suppressing their natural reaction is not going to bode well for them in the long run. “I should’ve asked, I shouldn’t have kissed you without permission. That was wrong of me, I’m sorry.” The thing about every single advance of theirs in the past is that they had always included spoken words, not merely actions, at least not in situations when Sunghee hadn’t already been made aware that those were welcome. This is not one of them. “I should go. I’m sorry.”
two friends available and with jeonghwa at the same time? she’d have thought it was a company approved event. but, no, it was probably just her manager’s worst nightmare. not that jeonghwa cared all that much, but they could rest assured in learning this place was almost their sole playground.
to jeonghwa, that was a great turnout, mooostly because part of offering this hangout meant teaching sunghee how to skate, not only something done much easier without twenty speedsters flying past her, but also a hands on activity that was best for minimal amounts of cameras. after sitting down to lace up their shoes on a bench, jeonghwa rifled through her bag and pulled out two knee pads, then handed them to sunghee with a, “put these on first.”
getting started, jeonghwa hopped onto the rink without a care to the small rolling her skates took. “alright, gimme a hand, and hold onto this wall, then get on. it’s not hard once you’ve got your balance right.” only… someone was a little speedster, and a heckler at that. she called back, “hey! i’m a pro! and i’m the pro helping my friend like a good person!” jeonghwa flung a foot back while continuing, “i’d kick you if you were closer.” then, jaeyoon was closer, but jeonghwa didn’t care to actually get a kick in. -skates hurt to be kicked with. “should i be offended they’re not playing a lucid song? i think i’m gonna be offended, i’ve decided.”
Unity’s schedule, instead of becoming more flexible as time passed, as one would expect from a now senior group, it almost felt as if it only became busier. The last time Sunghee had proper time to work on something other than Unity related things was, maybe, the beginning of the year. Ever since, they had been stuck in a packed schedule full of Unity, Champion and a couple of solo schedules, such as mcing and the variety show. They enjoyed being employed, for sure, but sometimes it was exhausting not to have some free time to just do something fun.
Not that Sunghee thought roller skating was fun. No, not at all. They were not a fan of it at all. Sure, they could ice skate but the minute they put skates with actual wheels on them and was forced to go on a rink? It was almost as if all the balance they learned from ice skating went away. Sunghee had considered rejecting the invitation, but both Jeonghwa and Jaeyoon were their own brand of stubborn and Sunghee knew they wouldn’t live it down if they didn’t go. But they weren’t happy about it.
“Why do you two enjoy this so much?” Sunghee asked, doing as Jeonghwa said and holding onto the wall. Their helmet was on the tighter side and that only added to the discomfort. If Jeonghwa wasn’t there, Sunghee knew they would have given up already. At the start of a Unity song, Sunghee sighed. They were hoping not to be recognized tonight, but maybe they were past a point where they could go out and expect no one to know who they were. A terrifying thought. “And why would you want them to play a Lucid song? Isn’t this embarrassing?” Sunghee reached out to hold onto Jeonghwa’s hand, looking at Jaeyoon. “I mean this from the bottom of my heart but I hope you fall.”
Hormones seem to cause far more problems for Rioh than anything else, and being at the gym with Sunghee has made him realize that once again. It’s only natural to feel an attraction to an individual, he knows that—but he wishes he was better at keeping his composure whenever an influx of rose-tinted adrenaline starts pulsing through his veins. Truth be told, whenever he’s in the presence of a handsome person, he already suffers from the quickening heartbeat, and the butterflies, and the nerves that make it difficult to speak, and basically every other embarrassing reaction someone could have in that situation. So, needless to say, whenever he’s close to them in more physical fashions, those emotions and reactions only spike higher up—rousing blushes to appear on the apples of his cheeks and chills to percolate down the length of his spine; his mouth dry with the wanton lust that he doesn’t know how to control yet. His lack of experience, overall, is also a major contributing factor in how he holds himself when he’s feeling vulnerable in such a manner.
So, even though he’s merely meant to be spotting Sunghee to ensure that they don’t get crushed under the weight they’re lifting, Rioh can’t help but let his eyes wander along the toned musculature of his senior’s arms, or around the curvature of their pectorals, or the tiny bit of their exposed abdomen from their shirt riding up.
Being that he doesn’t yet know what it feels like to be treated so tenderly ( and so carnally ) by another person, he’s extremely curious to know what occurs when two beings come together in sweet sensuality, but at the same time, he doesn’t know if he’s one-hundred percent prepared to dive right into the titillating waters of lust. It’s a game of tug-of-war that he, sadly, plays with himself more often than he’d like to admit. Though, when Sunghee speaks and asks him to do the same exact thing he’s been doing for another rep of ten, he nods his head; almost forcing a smile to pull at the corners of his lips despite his body heat rising exponentially.
“O—Of course!” He confirms, then goes back to keeping track of each pump—doing all he can to sway his mind into a more innocent and pure direction. He’s not ashamed of feeling this way, but he knows it’s not necessarily appropriate to act on those inclinations in an obviously public space—especially given his ( and Sunghee’s ) stance as a “celebrity.” Moments later, he finds himself calling out “and ten!” and watches the older of them sit up; their eyes meeting as Sunghee asks their query.
Unsure how to respond, Rioh’s first knee-jerk reaction is to chuckle; the blush that’s been ever-present on his face deepening into a scarlet. “I—I’m twenty! How old are you?” While he’s pretty sure that he knows the other’s age, he figures that returning the question is fair of him. “I just had a birthday in February… coincidentally, my birthday landed on the day of Hot Topic’s finale!” Rioh begins to ramble, reaching a palm of his upwards to place on the nape of his neck out of shyness. “It was the best birthday present ever to get second place…” This always happens when he’s feeling a little anxious, and he hopes and prays that his comrade doesn’t mind.
Twenty. Sunghee only vaguely remembers being twenty. Not because it’s been that long of a time, as Sunghee is only twenty-four now, but because existing as an idol skews your perception of time a little bit. At twenty, Sunghee was already an idol for a little under a year, and there has been so many new experiences ever since, so much hard work and sleepless nights, that it genuinely feels like it all happened a decade ago. Sunghee has aged ten years in half as much time, or at least that’s how they feel most days, when they think back on their debut days and how innocent and small they had been back then. They like to believe they’ve matured too, a lot, in the way they relate to other people, in the way they feel about themselves, in the way they make themselves understood to others. Four years has been enough time for Sunghee to become a slightly different person, one who can handle this type of conversation more easily than they would’ve been able to back then.
Four years is also enough time for them to have realised that it’s okay for them to feel things for people, and for them to know the difference between the types of feelings. They are… still in the process of knowing what to do about that, to the point where Sunghee can’t help envying their friends who are much more comfortable handling those situations than they are. What would Jeonghwa do in their place? Or Jaeyoon? Jaeyeol? Every decision that has brought them close to someone has been a spur of the moment decision, an impulsive decision that, ultimately, Sunghee didn’t regret much, or at all even. Worst case scenario, they get a rejection, right? And Sunghee can’t hope to try to figure out what people are thinking before they say something, so.
“Twenty-four,” Sunghee says, taking a deep breath. They smile when Rioh mentions his birthday. Twenty. He’s so young. But isn’t Sunghee as well? “My birthday was in March. I guess our birthdays are close.” Sunghee considers asking for Rioh’s zodiac sign, but if they continue speaking they are going to lose the last nerve they have so Sunghee looks around, makes sure to check that they are truly alone before they turn to Rioh. “I hope I’m not reading this wrong.” Sunghee reaches out, taking hold of Rioh’s face. They pause for a moment, eyes scanning his face before pressing their lips together.
It’s short lived as the sound of the doors of the gym opening has Sunghee quickly letting go of Rioh and drawing back, head bent down as they pretend to check their watch when they are in fact just attempting at hiding the slight flush of their cheeks. The people who had come in walk past the weights room towards the treadmills in the next room, and it’s only when their voices are distant enough that Sunghee looks up. “I-.”
only a half second’s eye lock before jeonghwa looked away caught sunghee’s change in expression. a couple beats belated as recognition set in, she chuckled. despite what some might say about her, she rarely ever intended to cause those kinds of reactions in people. to her, sharing the other part of her carrot was a friendly gesture, mixed with a slight bit of attempt to shut them up. then again, they were just really easy. god, imagine sunghee in a relationship… how would their dick survive with all those moments of casual intimacy?
“it’s not my fault if you’re not charming enough to get out of things.” a tease, a jest, her grin split and turning up to sunghee, side knocking into theirs once more. she stretched out her fingers, and started on the dough, which settled her energy to say, “besides, you and i both know the expectations for girls are different.” the dough wasn’t that far off. soon enough it’d be ready for proving, so jeonghwa gave it her best job, properly stretching, pushing, and knocking the air out of the dough. “ah, love whisper, yes.” jeonghwa’s eyes wandered momentarily, as she sought out whatever bits of professional thinking she could. “it’s a bit of a jump, after fingertip, but it’s gone right back to the core of our normal realm. and we have lore, you know, a storyline in our videos. our reverie are way better at figuring that stuff out than me, though. sometimes i end up being as clueless as the video version of me.” she turned her head towards sunghee, then, and as she spoke, her lips spread more and more by the word, “did you watch it? was i your favorite part?”
If Sunghee thought hard about it, they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint even a single time they had actually tried to get out of things. Even during their training period, before their trainers were made aware of them being autistic, when the trainers treated Sunghee in a way that Sunghee genuinely felt impossible to handle, even then Sunghee had pushed through. Against their therapist’s or their mother’s wishes, even. Sunghee thought that was the reason they were invited for Champion, after all. They were good at what they did, sure, but there were other members in the company who were as well, yet rare were the ones as committed to a strict work ethic as they were, especially because Sunghee relied on one to be able to navigate being an idol. “They are different, yeah, but I know for a fact that the girls also get strength training. Especially Lucid. All of your choreography is very demanding, so I’m sure it requires for all of you to be in peak physical condition.”
Sunghee followed Lucid’s releases just as they did every other release in the company. They cared, about Lucid as a group and about Lucid as Jeonghwa’s group specifically, so of course they’d pay attention to that. But Sunghee would be lying if they said they were devoted to trying to figure out their lore like Lucid’s fans were. They enjoyed some of their music, mostly from a musician’s perspective. “I watched the music video, yes, I thought it was very… innocent? Not in a bad way. Like you said, after Fingertip, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Reminds me of your first releases in the normal realm. I thought all of you did great. The choreography in the water was pretty fun to watch too. Did you have a hard time filming that?”
The eldest member of Unity had never really been one to shy away from physical affection growing up and even coming into adulthood. It was honestly, or at least it was only what Samsoo could assume, because he had never really received that much physical, or emotional, affection from his parents or older brothers growing up. His sister was the only person who he had skinship with within his family. Being around his Unity members had given him the chance to properly express his emotions through being physically affectionate, which Samsoo always took the opportunity to do. He had eventually rubbed off on their youngest member of Unity, Ting, who was even more affectionate than he was. That being said, he was never one to force his physical affection on anyone. If he got the vibe or feeling that someone wasn’t feeling it or it made them uncomfortable, he would stop without a second thought. “Normally I’d say yes, but you got to remember that Jaewon’s usually the one that holds us up during dance practices the most. Do you think he’s trying to kill us all?”
He pulled his hand away from Sunghee’s hair when the younger pulled away from him to lay out flat on the ground. “I don’t know, I’m not one of your Champion members or managers, but I can only assume that they’d be pretty upset. I know that our managers and staff get pissed off whenever we’re late or one of us skips a practice. Do you really want to bring that down on yourself when you can avoid it by showing up?” He offered an apologetic smile. “Here’s some advice - try to disassociate from yourself when you feel overworked. Your body goes on autopilot and you don’t really notice you’re getting tired. Now don’t do this all the time - you don’t want to end up really hurting yourself.” It wasn’t the best advice, but it was the best Soo could offer for that particular predicament.
“No,” Sunghee shook their head. “I think… even if Jaewon hyung is a bit grumpy all the time, he has our best interests at heart.” Now, Sunghee didn’t think that necessarily applied to Champion as a group, but they couldn’t deny that Unity’s leader had never done anything to make them doubt his position as the group’s leader. “Have you noticed that our choreography hasn’t really gotten harder but somehow rehearsing is becoming more difficult? Do you think I’m too young to be complaining about my age? Because maybe I’m reaching that age where dancing as often as we do starts being more painful than it used to be.” There was always a possibility for that. Sunghee tried their hardest to care well for their body and it wasn’t as if they were out of shape in any way, but being an idol was demanding. More than people could imagine. And he trained for a few years before that. No one’s body could handle all that without some struggle, could it?
Sunghee thought over Samsoo’s words. Dissociating. Putting their body on autopilot. Sunghee considered what that meant for them. For someone like Sunghee, who had to be hyper aware of everything they did at most times of the day, who could only afford to truly relax when they were by themselves or with only a few trusted people, the thought of not having control of what they did was more terrifying than enticing. “Can’t do that, hyung,” Sunghee rolled their shoulders, bringing their arms over their head and stretching them. “I don’t want to deal with people’s assumptions when I’m on autopilot. I don’t think I even know what it feels like to not be aware of myself all of the time.”
make a wish. unity resonance pt 1 came out on may 3, 2021 with title track make a wish. sunghee thinks make a wish is a fun song to perform. they don’t think it’s their best song when it comes to the contribution they give to it, but they think it does the job and that’s what truly matters. from the album their favorite song is still misfit, though, even if they regret not being given the opportunity of contributing to the lyrics. aesthetic 015.
punch. the unity zone repackage was released on november 24, 2020, with the title track being punch. to this day, sunghee doesn’t get why or how punch is unity’s most successful song. if the biggest criticism to their music they get is that it’s too loud and noisy, how come punch managed to chart so high? they are pretty neutral towards the song too. sunghee doesn’t hate it but doesn’t love it either, and it’s just pretty forgettable to them overall. aesthetic 014.
as with pretty much everything in their life that sunghee is scared of (but not to the point of it being debilitating to them), sunghee reckoned that the best way to get over their fear of needles was to just… put themselves through being stabbed by them as often as possible. originally, it wasn’t in their plants to get tattoos at all because they didn’t think that dimensions would allow them to do it or that they’d actually find something they wanted to get tattooed. but that’s gone by now, especially because unity got explicit permission for it (within reason) and because sunghee is trying to live lately without thinking too much about the decisions they make.
in order, these are the body modifications they’ve done so far:
PIERCINGS:
the typical ear piercings. before they even debuted they had both their ears pierced and through the years they added two extra piercings to the lobes of both ears. then early last year they got a helix piercing on the right ear as well as a conch one in the same ear. earlier this year they also decided to get a rook on the left ear. the refereces are here and here, and yes they are both nct ten.
an eyebrow piercing. that’s obviously the most recent of all. they weren’t going to, in the first place, especially because again, they didn’t think that dimensions would even remotely allow them to… and sunghee was right about that because they didn’t! but sunghee has never ever, in all the years unity has been a group, misbehaved even slightly, so when they showed up with an eyebrow piercing a couple of days ago, sunghee mostly got some scolding and was told they aren’t allowed to get another piercing or tattoo for a couple of months, which is fine by them. here is the reference.
TATTOOS:
the first tattoo they got was of an alien taking care of plants. sunghee was absolutely high when they decided they were going to tattoo this, not gonna lie. they were just scrolling through their feed when they saw a tattoo similar to that and they were like oh i want this. they got it a month and a half ago, and it’s on their left forearm. the unity make up staff is pretty happy that 90s love excuses long sleeved outfits because they do not want to know the headache that would be to cover that. here is the reference.
the second tattoo they got was literally just last week and it’s of a snake wrapped around their right thigh. it was another impulse tattoo, but they’ve been wanting to get a tattoo with oozy (that super famous korean tattoo artist) and sunghee managed to snatch a vacant spot the tattoo artist had. they originally wanted something more trippy but dimensions said a hard no and they mostly got away with that. they will get back to get a tattoo with them one day so they can finally get the r rated tattoo of their dreams. here is the reference.
[ tw: possible accidental misgendering? welp. seola is sorry, guys. ]
Photoshoots are fun for Seola to do, considering she doesn’t get to wear such pretty and expensive clothes outside of work. Over the years, she has learned the value of making expressions and having ideas to bring with her on set. Considering she shoots with 7ROPHY most of the time, they can easily bounce ideas off each other, which usually make for some hilarious outtakes. In this case, she can only hope that her partner is someone who a) also has a sense of humor on set, b) has some ideas, or c) is wlling to go with whatever both she and the creative staff come up with.
So her posing around like she’s some secret agent shooting finger guns at the photographer is how her partner finds her. “Oh, hi!” Seola drops the gun hands and bows to the boy in question. Of all Unity’s boy group members, she had to get the one she wasn’t familiar with. Seola will make do with what she has, and she can only hope she doesn’t traumatize the poor guy. “Sunghee, right? Yeah, we are shooting together! Nice to meet you, I’m Seola.” She then offers him one of the props on set. “Don’t be too formal with me. I don’t bite unless you’re into that. Considering we’re going for the happy family image here, we might as well act like it. Got any pose ideas? Because I’m down for anything.” She shrugs. “You can put me in a headlock, or we can do anything funny… I’m game.”
Going out of their way with the intention of getting to know people is not something Sunghee is particularly interested in doing. They have a limited but satisfying circle of friends, and if they somehow step out of it, there’s almost a certainty that something bad is going to come out of it. Or, at least, that they are going to be made to feel bad about themselves in some way. Which is why they also don’t bother socializing much with other idols in their company. Sure, they bump into each other every now and then, but that hardly ever leads to anything else and Sunghee is fine with that. While some people are like Jeonghwa and could befriend a rock, Sunghee is more the type to keep to themselves.
Being asked to treat Seola with some level of informality inevitably causes Sunghee to feel slightly uncomfortable. They know she’s just trying to be friendly, but they… are not friends, are they? Have barely exchanged a few words, even. But it would be rude for them not to respect her wishes, so Sunghee swallows it all down and nods. “Hm, no, I don’t think I have.” At her suggestion, Sunghee’s eyes widen. She’s joking, a part of their brain offers, and even that is not enough of a reassurance for Sunghee to fully relax. “I don’t think that would be appropriate for the photoshoot or… in general, really.” Sunghee hopes they don’t look too scandalized, but they are willing to bet their face is giving away very little. “We can… Just stand next to each other?”
when sunghee had first brought the song to jaeyeol, he hadn’t had to think too hard about whether or not he was interested in joining them on the cover or not. he liked the original of the song to begin with, and the idea and concept they were following for their cover also intrigued him more than enough to say yes. it was fun, and he was more than down for this. yeol probably didn’t as hard as he should on fans and general public’s perception of him and what he put out. mostly with music he was apart of outside of unity, but he enjoyed the songs thus far, that meant something to him at least.
once the director had given them the notice that the crew was all ready he went about putting his own in-ear piece, adjusting it until it was comfortable, as well as getting completely comfortable in his seat. honestly singing live wasn’t super scary to him anymore, but still he had the general performance nerves that never quite went away over the years. as he adjusted himself he quietly hummed the opening bits of the song to himself as some sort of preparation, microphone gripped in his hand. jaeyeol nodded, “absolutely, if you’re ready.”
Sunghee wasn’t a singer. They hadn’t auditioned to Dimensions in order to become one either. From the moment they decided they were going to try their luck in South Korea as an idol, Sunghee knew they wanted to be a rapper first and everything else second. It wasn’t something their parents particularly understood either. Well, their step-father didn’t understand the desire to pursue that path at all, but even their mom, considerate of their feelings and desires as she was, didn’t know what about rapping made it so enthusing to Sunghee. They had never felt like they had to explain themselves to them and hadn’t bothered doing so to anyone else ever since. But whereas their heart had been so set on something for years, as for the past couple of years Sunghee had realized that learning how to sing a little bit better would only allow for them to become a more complete artist, which was not at all a bad idea.
Congratulations was a challenge, to themselves particularly. Even though they would be allowed to do more than just one take, the minute Jaeyeol started singing his part, Sunghee started feeling some unfamiliar nerves. At this point, though, Sunghee had enough experience for them to work through them, even as their fingers started playing with the holes in the knees of their jeans as they started singing. From there, it was just going with the song, the one that had lyrics Sunghee was more than familiar with. Once the first take was over, they allowed for their shoulders to slouch, taking a deep breath as they reached for the bottle of water. “That was- Do you think that was fine, hyung?”
