jooheon will admit, in a heartbeat-- that he is not the sharpest tool in the shed. this isn’t in relation to book smarts but rather-- he is very aware that he can be a bit slow on the uptake on most, if not all topics and happenings going on around him. but as he sits at the kitchen counter, resting, legs dangling from his stool, spoonful of yogurt sticking out of his mouth (he snacks, while they cook, this is the way the world works)-- his eyes stay fixed on his cousin as she flits about the kitchen. and he is happy to see her mood lifted in the slightest, of course, but there’s one little fact niggling at the corner of his mind every time he’s met up with his beloved cousin recently.
his eyes narrow as he pulls the metal spoon from between his lips, setting it down in the half eaten cup. he jumps off of the stool and joins her in the kitchen space again, rummaging around to pull out cutting boards and whatnot, eyes glancing at her very conspicuously every few moments. “so. hey. nahee--” he starts before he turns to look at her fully, cat-like eyes squinted. “you’ve been spending a lot of time with someone lately-- how’s that going?”
ghost hunting. definitely something kang joon always wanted to try. of course it was different from what he had imagined when he was a kid, but this also seemed to be much fun. now kang joon of course knew how his closer range of friends would react upon meeting a ghost, so there was nothing new and exciting to see. and since their last bro date went so well, kang joon just decided to ask joohoney out again. plus he didn’t knew his costume from last year yet. and he was pretty much in love with his 9s costume and had to share it with the rest of the world. as future actor he felt like putting on masks and costumes was a way to evolve his expression even more.
[/txt: joohoney] hey dude, gonna ask you for a brodate again. are you gonna say yes? ;)
[/txt: joohoney] this time without gomu coz he doesn’t like this kind of stuff.
as soon as he had put down his phone, he stood up from his bed, stepping to his closet and took out a box in which he stored his previous halloween costumes. several pieces were carefully folded in there, each of them holding special memories. memories of happiness, of warm moments with friends and lovers. kang joon liked events like these, they were fun and demanding. he liked to hang out with friends and get to do more than just partying or dancing and drinking. halloweens so far had been successful. got to make this one just as successful and fun.
to be honest-- jooheon has not gone out much in the last few weeks, though he really hates to admit it. he’s gone into full homebody mode-- spending his days going to classes and going to home-- switched out all of his short sleeves for big sweaters and his favorite berets and beanies-- and spending his days at home wrapped up in large fluffy blankets. so here he is-- laying on his stomach underneath a mount of blankets, lazing like a cat-- fully content.
he’s about to doze off ( he really is like a large cat-- ) when his phone vibrates and he jolts awake. he blinks at the bright screen, rubbing at his eyes slowly as he picks up his phone. he stares at it, blinking slowly as he becomes more alert, sitting up and yawning before he texts back excitedly.
< to: joonie-hyung >
[ sms ] of course !!!!
[ sms ] wait where are we going.
jooheon gets out of bed and slides his feet into his slippers and begins to shuffle around his apartment, tteok padding around at his feet and trailing after him as he gets ready to go out anyway.
she knew this would be hard, but it’s harder than she thought it would be. when nahee’s left alone, the lingering feeling of guilt starts to swell in her chest - that she’s out having fun, here, when she should be at home under the covers just thinking or even watching sad movies. that’s how you get through a breakup, right? not by going to a festival, no matter who it was that dragged her out.
but the crowd seems to be heading to one place in particular, and that’s the little stage set up for concerts. she supposes it’s time for luxe to start their set, and with nothing better to do - moreover, in the hopes that she’ll stop feeling the guilt and the anxiety that threatens to clench her fists at her side - she too, heads over. she doesn’t expect to see jooheon there waiting though, but since he is, she isn’t too surprised to see him with his hands full of the festival food.
“ my cousin, the foodie.” she muses in amusement, sidling up next to him and eyeing all the treats. “ are you really going to eat all of that in the time span of just one song?”
the mood of the festival is right up jooheon’s alley.
he is happily travelling between stalls, looking at the different foods and knick-knacks, eyes bright and twinkling at all the different events happening. he’s really like an overgrown child– his gaze sparkling as he reaches out every now and then to poke at a bubble with his fingers, or bklow them away from his face and watch as they drift off to the sky. and this is how he entertains himself, hovering close to the stage, waiting for the show to start, as he waits for nahee, a drink in one hand and a bag of assorted stall foods in the other. he perks up when he sees her headed his way.
“that’s me!” he laughs, nodding his head, “that’s going to be my goal…” he chuckles, “just kidding i don’t want to get indigestion–” he grins, holding his drink out to her in, “wanna try? it’s… pineapple something, i’m actually not quite sure. but it’s good!” and like that he links his arm through hers, humming happily.
he’d wandered the festival with different people that he’d met along the way, ( not that they planned to come together... just happened to be in the same place at the same time ), and he’d lost his cousin in the throng at some point. so... he amused himself as a jooheon would-- buying more snacks, and a lot of water, and strolling through the festivities, reaching out and popping some bubbles along the way-- like a child, honestly.
the ball pit catches his eye and he slows down, humming and debating playing around in it a bit. the area didn’t seem too busy ( so he couldn’t be judged ), and he’d avoid the stampede of children. or-- so he thought. it seems that as soon as he leaps into the pit... a storm of children follow him in ( although, he really, really should’ve expected this. kids love him for some reason ). and soon, he’s half laughing and half crying as he tries to maneuver his way around while dodging screaming kids trying to crawl onto his back.
to his slight relief, he sees some older kids and maybe even a few fellow college kids join in on the chaos. but chaos it still is. and weakly, shoulder deep in the colorful plastic balls, an arm shoots out as he weakly utters “someone help--”
The blue, cloudless sky was perfect for some outdoor activities and since Kang Joon had some free time on hand, he wanted to visit the Bubble Festival with one of his friends he didn’t got to meet that often because of his busy life style. So he flopped down to the floor, next to Gomu and swiped over his smartphone screen just to have his little pupper tapping the screen with his nose. “You wanna choose my bro date, Gomu?” Kang Joon asked his Shiba Inu after petting his head. The name his dog had tapped on was of a dude Kang Joon only had good memories of cute laughter and sweet dimpled of.
[/txt: Joohoney] hey dude, wassup! Gomu seems to miss ya :D wanna go on a bro date with me?
As soon as he pressed the send button, he held onto his phone in full anticipation. Jooheon wasn’t a buddy of years yet, but sometimes it felt like it since the two of them clicked really well. They seemed to have character traits similar to each other, so it was easy to enjoy time with him. Hopefully he got to meet him up today as well.
jooheon lays sprawled out across his bed, face buried in the new comics he’d just bought... so he’s a nerd-- sue him. and he did want to go to the festival he’d heard about, of course, but he wasn’t too keen on going by himself surrounded by a crowd of people he may or may not know. so here he is, burrito-ed into his bed, reading some comics.
he does finally move when his phone lights up next to him, and his eyes light up as the message as he sits upright almost immediately, taking his phone with him.
< to: joonie-hyung >
[ sms ] !!!! :DDD u read my mind hyung. let’s go let’s go! tteok will be happy to get out too~
and that’s enough motivation for him to roll out of bed and get dressed, fix a beret over his uncombed, untamed bed head-- fading a sea foam green at this point, and running around his apartment to locate his pup. he gets him ready as well, finding his collar and leash to put it on-- and soon tteok’s tail is wagging in anticiaption as he knows they are about to go out.
< to: joonie-hyung >
[ sms ] ready when you are! ^ 0 ^
⊏ TO : bb honey pot 🍯 ⊐ i’m not really hungry ..
⊏ TO : bb honey pot 🍯 ⊐ it’s not a good day, jooheonie. i’m just gonna be at home
⊏ TO : bb honey pot 🍯 ⊐ … i mean, um. sorry, if that sounded mean ;;;; i just .. broke up with aron, so i don’t want to do anything or eat, but i hope you like them a lot though
⊏ TO : bb honey pot 🍯 ⊐ make sure you watch baymax for me ;u;
< to: bb sugar lump >
[ sms ] ...
[ sms ] do you. want me to come over?
[ sms ] i can just. keep you
[ sms ] company :c
leejhoney LONG TIME NO SEE IG. ok but yeah hi guys, no new uploads for the next two to three weeks or so. i will be uploading vids sporadically on my VLOG turned MUSIC interest channel, however! pls check out JHONEYDAY on youtube to keep up with me.
but yeah, before then, pls check out my latest vid (the last for a while) uploaded today! i made some… donut cake.. tried to create that cotton candy/boba concoction thing. see link in bio! have a great day guys~
also thanks to my lovely cousin @knhs2 for my hair. ima leave it like this for awhile… but maybe i’l buzz it next. hah.
she’s not been feeling well the past few days - not in the physical sense, but emotionally. and in those moments, nahee has a tendency to retreat from everything, to relapse and to repress by hiding herself from the world. she draws the blinds, she keeps a darkened room and from within, she doesn’t move.
jooheon is a sun that shines bright no matter where he is. they’re very different, they always have been no matter if they’re family or not. he rolls into lives when he will, bringing blinding light and laughter with him. on days like today, nahee can’t handle the sun, but for jooheon, she tries. especially when he comes knocking at her door, probably with no way of knowing the hurting of her heart.
she shuffles at his call, towards the door - there is no smile on her lips, but still she pulls it open to greet him. “ jooheon -ah.” she says quietly, musters up the smallest smile. “ i can .. do my best … what have you got in the bags?”
and jooheon’s expression falls a bit once nahee opens the door-- he glances at her and with one look he knows it’s a day for soft clouds and soft words-- but his smile stays in place. however, it’s gentler, not as imposing as he wraps one arm around her in a soft hug. “sorry for showing up unannounced.” he’s cheerful as always, his bright aura not dimmed, just quieter.
he doesn’t pry, knows his eyes are questioning, but his smile stays on his face and he leaves it, won’t touch it unless nahee wants to. so he clears his throat and shuffles past her to put the contents of his bag on the table. “i got some hair dye-- i got like a few different ones, and some stuff the noona at the store said i needed... i don’t know what any of this is though.”
he straightens up and scratches his head, turning to look at her and waddling over to wrap his long arms around nahee’s shoulders in a bear hug. “could you help me? i wanna try something new.”
( MGA SEASON 4 // WILDCARD ROUND )
#4022 lee jooheon -- performing KANG BAEKHO.
– intro < 0:00 - 0:37 > // rap < 1:12 - 1:40 & 0:37 - 0:53 >
-- outfit | lyrics 1 | total time: 1:21
jooheon is jittery-- for several reasons.
one, his hair is bright blue. it’s already faded a bit in the two or three days since he’s dyed it-- but it is, obviously, still quite noticeable. he’d freaked out initially after the impulsive decision, but it’s grown on him ( and of course, his hairstylist whom he trusts and loves did an amazing job for him. ) in that regard, he tries not to feel too out of place. two? he is holding his small table and his briefcase like box of equipment that he’s chosen to use today. the last time he’d showcased this, it hadn’t even made it on screen.
he was hoping to make more of an impact with it today.
he takes his time with his clunky luggage as he moves up and onto the stage. he bows at the panel of judges-- trying not to stare too hard less he get nrevous and drop all of his stuff. he sets up swiftly and efficiently, setting out a small piano, his laptop on top of a rack set up on the table, and his sound mixing board. once everything has been connected quickly, one hand grips the mic to adjust it as he clears his throat. now.. now he stares straight at the judge panel and flashes his dimpled smile.
“hi! i’m lee jooheon. twenty two years old and a student at konkuk university. i regret not being able to show more last time-- so like you said, i’ve focused on one area and am hoping to show you a different performance. i hope to be versatile, and show lots of different stages from now on!” he bows his head briefly.
with that, he turns the volume up on his equipment, lowers his head, rests one hand on the piano and grips the microphone in the other, mouth hovering close to it. his stance has changed, posture less skittish, more relaxed.
“let’s go.”
he begins playing the first few notes on his tiny keyboard-- building up a steady rhythm and melody before he cuts on a switch so that the sound loops. he taps on his laptop to start the pre-made track (a hymn-like chorus of voices), adjusting the volume and the sound quality. finally, he moves to the far end of the table and starts the rest of the beat adding kicks and snares, tapping each square button at a stacatto pace, slowly getting faster before he loops that as well and pulls his hands back completely.
he grabs the microphone off of the stand and holds it close to his mouth, eyes finally looking up at the audience calmly, his lips twitching upwards with each line falling from his mouth. they fix unwaveringly on a point somewhere in the distance, directly ahead of him as he moves around in front of the table so he can move back and forth freely.
he’s far less hesitant than his first performance, his high tone voice echoing back at him from inside the studio-- he puts as much power into the lyrics as he can muster-- the inspiration of his lyrics drawn from the old school songs he used to listen to back in middle school, when he began listening to hip hop after snagging some old records from his dad’s store.
he moves animatedly back and forth across the stage, his hand motions a mix of waving and a mix of emphasizing the strong beats in the rhythm. he stops moving and rocks side to side in place, side profile facing the panel and he’s looking up now and away from the audience as he bounces in place.
still there’s so much left until my times comes
i'm better match to a tortoise than a bunny
i’m practicing again without ceasing
while you’re in bed i get ready for my work day
i’m kang baekho
he ends facing the edge of the stage once again, his last line strong but calm as he fixes his stare on the judges one more time. the track in the background ends and his demeanor changes- his blinding smile and that one dimple back again as he bows at the judges and brings the mic to lips one more time.
do first-- think later. that’s the motto that jooheon has been operating as of late, apparently. so honestly, before he even realizes what he’s doing, he’s left his netflix binge and his scattered pages of lyrics and mess of tangled equipment cords behind, and is headed to the nearest department store. he emerges shortly with a plastic bag full of supplies. his next stop? his cousin’s.
he’s mentioned it a few times before-- in passing, and briefly, he never really thought he’d go through with it. but here he is, knocking on nahee’s door with the bag of hair dye and other stuff (that he’d searched on the internet) sliding down to the crease of his elbow. honestly-- even though it wasn’t her known area of expertise like makeup was, he wouldn’t trust anyone else near his head with chemicals.
“nahee--” he sing-songs. “i need some help, pretty please!”
the camera flickers onto a close up of jooheon’s eyes, marred by the glare of his glasses reflecting in the lens. he pulls back completely so his upper body is fully seen, and flashes his signature dimpled smile at the camera. “i’m doing something a little different today,” he clears his throat, adjusting his frames.
he lifts up a rectangular device with several colorful squares and knobs, “ta-dah! this is my first ever piece of music making equipment,” he announces proudly. “i got it a few years ago and i’ve used it a lot, just never for anyone to see,” he laughs. “but in todays vlog, i’m going to live mix for you guys. I’m using a preloaded track from 88 rising-- it’s a super popular song right now,” he hums.
he hooks everything up, holding up a smaller square device with circular buttons, “this is my newest one, i’m still working on it!” he makes a show of stretching his arms out and cracking his knuckles. “alright, let’s go!”
the camera screen goes dark briefly as he readjusts, setting it up a bit higher. once settled, he turns to his laptop and it can be seen reflected in his glasses as he clicks around. he turns his whole body to face the camera directly once again when he’s all set up, and starts tapping around on his machine. “here we go.”
he starts slow, recreating the steady beat of the original song before he taps a button, turns a knob, and a rip of the original vocals blare through the speakers. he adjusts the volume to blend the sound of joji into the background and clears his throat, the lights on his equipment flashing as he pulls his hands back and opens his mouth.
eh i remember our story
i perfectly predicted this story, it’s statutory
it’s still hard for me, our distance
only scars that can’t be erased grow bigger
yeah
the moment everything changed
i still can’t understand, why did i do that?
i’m still in here
blankly waiting for you here, waiting for you
without you, i can’t breathe
i can’t stop, my breath is quickening
blow your air into me
that’s all i wanna do, there’s no other way
i just need to find you between all the memories
but there’s nothing, i’m only resenting you
i wanna say where is the love
the words are a bit awkward coming from his mouth-- they’re his lyrics, but all he really has on romantic relationships (especially complicated ones, like in the mood of this original song) is those he’s seen from dramas or movies. even so, he delivers them with he hopes enough conviction-- something he hopes to get better and better at as a performer.
he shuts everything off once the ticking beat comes to an end and grins at the camera. “that’s all for today. have a wonderful day guys, see ya’ll next time!”
in all honesty he had been pretty charmed by the other so far (but who would be able to withstand those dimpled smiles anyway) so the content of the youtube channel could have been whatever, though it sounded pretty good in his ears. “you cook in your videos?” girls would probably squeal at how much boyfriend material jooheon was and kang joon could just agree. he had been living by himself for a while now, living the independence instead of being a burden to his grandmother, so he had took on some cooking skills as well. kang joon felt like he wasn’t a bad cook, but he hadn’t the confidence to share his skills online. furthermore he hadn’t a problem with people broadcasting about themselves eating, even though he tended to avoid them since they made him hungry. “i don’t see eating broadcasts often because i get jealous about the food.” he laughs and nods. the wish to converse with people was comprehensible, he himself had days where he felt the same, though he sometimes felt the opposite as well.
“vlogs sound nice as well. it’s refreshing to watch those.” curiosity lies in the nature of the human. it was interesting to see what others do in their freetime. kang joon shifts in his position, while glancing to the door. still no new customer. nonetheless he was ready to jump up anytime. “well both, though i did focus on the piano.” the older liked to reminiscene in memories, he was fond of them, as the piano was the connection to his mother. a gentle smile tugged on his lips, as he enjoys his new friend’s bounciness about helping with a mv sometime in the future. his smile turns into a shy, as he nodded at jooheon’s question. “yeah, i do…” it might be better to not boast about it too much. “cool, both gomu and i are excited for our playdate!” he chuckled before taking out his phone. kang joon felt like he was hitting on him, when his cheeks blush lightly. even though he had become a little rusty in flirting. “do you mind giving me your contact information then?”
“i do!” jooheon grins. “i really like cooking,” he hums. “also, i figure it would encourage healthier eating rather than me always ordering delivery?” he laughs, “but sometimes i go out and vlog at restaurants or something or the other,” he nods, as if affirmingi himself. he laughs at the other’s statement, and without hesitating offers, “i can cook for you sometime! i like cooking for my friends,” he hums, as if he hadn’t met kangjoon literally just that day -- possibly not even an hour ago but he’s so comfortable speaking with him that it feels like they’ve been friends for longer.
“i don’t really do much in my vlogs though,” jooheon chuckles, scratching at the side of his head. “sometimes it’ll just be me and tteok, or me giving tteok snacks, or just me going to another district or something. my life’s not very interesting,” he laughs bashfully, ruffling his own hair before both of his hands wrap around his coffee cup, sipping from it before he forgets about it completely. “that’s cool! i played piano for a while before,” jooheon smiles, “i kind of took it for granted though, i need to refresh my memory.”
“and you still help out here too?” jooheon blinks, eyes widening as he whistles softly, “that’s amazing! it must get pretty hectic, huh?” the boy could only imagine, but even so seemed awestruck. “tteok and i are excited too,” he beams, “he’s been getting restless!” and he blinked at the phone being offered to him, a slight blush crawling onto his cheeks and over his nose to mirror the other’s as he startles and takes it, “oh. oh yeah, sure!” he types in his number and hands the phone back to its owner, “just send me a text and i can save you in mine too?”
she still twists the bag of treats behind her back - she hadn’t expected to come face to face with an employee of the junkyard, and the thought of speaking to him when she hadn’t gotten her courage up for that yet makes her wary. it took enough time for her just to come and give a treat to the dog that everyone and anyone told her to stay away from, let alone to talk to the greased up boy who speaks to her in short sentences. nahee wonders if he’s mad at her - she wouldn’t blame him. after all, technically .. she is trespassing, all because she wanted to see a lonely dog.
now that she’s come to this conclusion, ultimately she’s recognizing that this could have been a bad idea. “ oh ..” still, there is disappointment. her shoulders slump a little, and the look on her face is probably a little crestfallen - after all, regardless of recognizing this as a bad idea, she still worked hard to gain the courage to say hello. “ he just .. looked hungry and - ..” nahee trails off, biting her lip and not quite looking the boy in the eye. lonely. she finishes the sentence in a thought, wondering if he’d know what she was trying to say.
come to think of it, the boy - all alone here, in the junkyard - looks a little like the dog. greased up, and all alone. she wonders if that’s the fate of everything that ends up in a place like this .. forgotten, and left to waste away. “ oh - really?” immediately, she brightens, and nahee smiles genuinely. “ you think so? i had these treats - ah wait, is he your dog? can i give him treats?”
jooheon doesn’t know what he’s doing.
this isn’t normal for him-- there’s no way he would normally offer to let his dog (himself, of course, even though he wasn’t a dog, not really--) meet a random stranger just because they asked nicely. but he’d blurted the words before he’d even thought twice about it. he couldn’t help it-- the girl had looked almost like a kicked puppy herself and he’d already told her that the dog (himself, of course) would come back around.
jooheon thinks he’s ridiculous.
he just nods dumbly, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand as he glances at her, not meeting her eyes directly. “uh. ...yeah.” his eyes dart around the vicinity, eyes flickering over the normal oranges of the sand and the grays and rusted browns of the vehicle parts forgotten in the yard. “well i uh... gotta. do stuff,” he says lamely, giving her one last look out of his peripheral vision, “he should be making his rounds. you can hang out here i guessm i don’t mind. uh. see you,” with that he ducks into the little trailer that looks like a storage shed, leaving her outside.
he gives it a few minutes, about ten or so as he transitions before he slinks out the back entrance of the trailer, hesitating before he trods up to the waiting figure, approaching her hesitantly, ears flat to appear non-threatening.
j.honey - “oh crepe... life + mga update!!”
upload date: 07/10 | length: 9 mins
“hello, what’s up guys!”
the streets are kind of bustling-- people pass by behind the camera every now and then but jooheon is too focused showing his chocolate parfait crepe to the camera as they walk to a quieter place. “i decided to get out of the house for once-- so here we are, on scene, out in public. joining society,” he laughs.
“i’ve never tried this store before,” he muses before he takes the first bite-- and jooheon’s always been super expressive, and his eyes go round and wide and he practically bounces, “it’s really good!” he takes another bite before he holds it out straight to the camera, “wanna try?” he laughs before the treat is disappearing behind the camera as he feeds some to the camera man.
“my dance coach is out with me today,” he explains, retracting his arm. “just kidding. he’s a hyung of mine. who puts up with teaching me how to dance without tripping over my feet. but now we’re headed back to my apartment and then to the studio later!” the video is edited to fast forward, shot of him finishing his dessert blurring past until they’re inside his apartment-- the location familiar to anyone who watches his videos.
“which is what i wanted to talk about! for anyone who watches my videos, i’ve been trying to venture more into music a lot recently-- and for those of you who know the mnet global auditions have just passed. i made it past the first round!” he’s enthusiastic as always, even when he says the next part, “unfortunately, i didn’t make it past the second. but!” he holds up a finger, ever optimistic. “if you happened to see me perform, first of all, thank you so much for watching. i had a great experience-- and there’s honestly so much talent i was blown away. please support everyone on the show! i’ll still be watching for sure, and you are welcome to message and fanboy with me,” he laughs.
“and second, i will be posting much more of my music journey to my vlog account, so please subscribe to that one to keep up with me, and hopefully, you’ll be seeing more of me in the future!” he waves both hands at the camera excitedly, the fingers peeking out from his long sleeves wiggling happily.
“thanks for watching, see you guys soon! camera hyung says bye too. see you later~”
{ ✉ ➨ joohoney } hey dude, i saw the last mga episode last night… are you alright?
{ ✉ ➨ joohoney } I’m sorry you didn’t made it… would have loved to see you around royal!
< to: kangjoonie >
[ sms ] oh no you saw that jaksldjalksjd
[ sms ] i am okay!! i’ll do better next time
[ sms ] omg royal... that sounds amazing. i don’t know how i would do there though TT u TT
[ sms ] i will do my best. they haven’t seen the last of me!
