𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫,

[lgcdom]

   INTRO \ PROFILE \ ANALYSIS

  

JAN points ❌ sns ❌ fansite ❌

BEHIND THE SPOTLIGHT JAN/31 thread w/ sena ✅✅ ✅✅ ✅✅ reflection solo ✅

YEAR END CEREMONIES FEB/7 req 1 ❌ req 2 ❌

PROJECT TVA FEB/7 stats profile ✅

VNA MISSION MAR/28 balance headcanon ❌

[lgchyuk]

sweet & sour, a starter for @lgcdom

hyuk didn’t have the habit of reaching out like that, he’d normally be summoned by his friends for a night out or just a coffee - they occasionally invited him for a party but called him boring when he didn’t drink along with them.

but after hearing minjun complaining about it on their kakao chat, hyuk decided to take some action. again, he felt he wasn’t the perfect person for that task and, considering the cat/dog relationship they had, it’d probably be a disaster.

hyuk smirked, finding it amusing, worth a shot - he missed teasing the guy anyway

kakao chat: >> [doominic] dinner at 7, my place. mom’s cooking. >> [doominic] heard someone reffering you as an insufferable prick. im jealous. >> [doominic] btw, congrats on our debut

[lgcdom]

they weren't friends.

correction: they were friends back when his family took hyukjae in.

but then hyukjae thought he was too good for them and left them for a better life. dom hadn't forgiven him for that.

the lingering resentment had, for the most part, dissipated with dom's newfound career path; he had other priorities than lying awake at night, wondering why the hell his family wasn't good enough for hyuk to stay.

still, his heart stirred a little at the kakao chats.

he blamed his stomach and left the messages on read ... only to show up at hyuk's parents' place at precisely 7pm. it was impolite, he knew, but hyuk was also impolite to walk out on him twenty years ago.

"they're not for you," dom greeted, shoving the bouquet of flowers into hyuk's arms the moment the door opened. "i just didn't want to show up empty handed."

but they were for hyuk—sunflowers and daisies, reminiscent of the fields they used to run around in. it was dom's backhanded way of congratulating hyuk on his debut, too.

[lgchyoseop]

for your entertainment

dressed up as a student for a magical academy… hyoseop felt like he looked truly stupid. when he was asked to make up a mascot character for himself, he hadn’t expected all of this to come next. and hyoseop wasn’t the best at variety, so he wasn’t sure what legacy was expecting from him during this show, but hey, hyoseop would try his best, for the fans. 

he finds himself along cheol, or dom, he’s still not entirely sure what to call the other, he’s still not very familiar with the other. the other is wearing the same costume, so now they can look like dumb and dumber. he doesn’t know how much effort the other will give, but hyoseop is competitive and might just force dom to do better, if the other doesn’t meet his expectations. “so, cheol” he places his hands on his arms, “are you ready to give all of this a try?”.

the game has been explained, and in hyoseop’s opinion it sounds weird and dumb, but variety challenges have a tendency to be weird and dumb. delivering drinks with obstacles and then finding the one who ordered it based off a vague description, blah blah blah. “five orders within fifteen minutes” he places his hands on his hip “we can do that, right?”.

<3 @lgcdom

[lgcdom]

while hyoseop felt like he looked stupid, dom knew he looked stupid. he hadn't worn a school uniform since his time at eton college, and even then, he felt like the spitting image of british prat that was one breath away from snarling, my father would hear about this! the stylist choosing a slick-back hairstyle didn't help this image either.

he digressed.

"of course, we can do it." dom was already gearing up to run for his life. he was not going to lose to the other teams. "just don't drop the drink on the way back." ( big words for someone who gravity had a vendetta against. )

the horn blared. strawberry matcha latte for the one who's a fan of yours—the board read. dom barely took it in before he shot off. "this way!" he motioned at a clear path to the drink station, feeling a little smug for catching it before the other team.

then a whistle blew. a security guard stepped out in front of them.

"this road is closed," he said. "you will have to detour."

"what do you mean closed?" dom gestured furiously at the drink station that was only a few metres away.

the security guard repeated the same line without blinking.

dom scowled. were they testing their teamwork? he glanced over at hyoseop, brow furrowed as he tried to convey his thoughts. one of us needs to distract him!

[lgcakio]

akio blinks a few times, his hands still parted in the same amount of space the box he was holding used to take up.

okay. that was… something.

a muscle in his jaw tenses up before he smooths it out, exhaling quietly through his nose. he’s had people be cold to him before, but this? dom looked at him like he was some kind of inconvenience just for existing. and yet nothing in akio’s memory adds up. their only real interaction was that weird snack-under-the-door incident months ago. that's hardly grounds for open hostility.

he stands there for a moment, lips pressed thin, as he tries to force his irritation down. they’re teammates now, roommates even. whether dom likes him or not, akio isn’t starting their first day with pointless tension. “…right,” he mutters under his breath, turning toward the remaining boxes. “welcome to versus, i guess.” still puzzled, still a little pissed, but determined not to make it worse, he leaves the boxes exactly where they are and grabs his coat to head outside.

— act ii —

akio froze in the hallway, having just come out of his room to grab a glass of water. he’s used to the silent treatment by now, by dom avoiding any and all contact with him. when your unit is only comprised of four members, one of them ignoring your general existence unless he absolutely has to acknowledge you is very noticeable. but this… this is different. dom isn’t avoiding him right now, he’s panicking.

akio hesitates. he really, really shouldn’t. dom will probably bite his head off the second he wakes up. but watching him twist into the cushions, mumbling like he’s being hunted and breathing too fast… he sighs, stepping closer despite his better judgement.

he crouches beside the couch, fingers reaching out before he can talk himself out of it. “dom?” he whispers, nudging the man’s shoulder cautiously. “hey… hey, wake up. you’re having a nightmare.”

another nudge, a bit firmer this time, eyebrows frowning in worry. he really shouldn’t care what happens to a guy who obviously hates him, but what kind of person would that make him? “hey, come on, dom, wake up. it’s just a dream, you’re fine, you’re okay.”

[lgcdom]

dom's eyes peeled open.

a blurry face came to view, accompanied by a gentle voice and a ray of sunshine that draped over the figure's shoulders as if it were a cloak. an angel? it must be. someone up there must've heard him tossing and turning and pitied him by sending down their kindest angel whose touch warmed his bleak soul.

dom blinked. then he blinked again.

the golden aura that swathed the angel had begun to fade, leaving him behind in a dark room that pricked the hairs along his arm. the blurry face slowly sharpened. it was akio.

...

IT WAS AKIO!!!

"get away from me," dom snarled, sitting up and back so fast, he nearly bonked his head against akio's. a quick whiplash of heat crawled up his neck and rose to his face—never before had dom been so glad that they were shrouded in darkness.

what was akio doing? was he trying to sneak up on him? was this a part of some elaborate hazing attempt? it's been a couple of weeks and the members hadn't done anything to him yet ... which meant that they were definitely scheming something vile.

dom clutched the blanket close to his chest as if he were a fair maiden that was caught in a state of undress. his eyes narrowed.

"what were you trying to do?"

he wasn't going to be taken alive, even if they did send their strongest soldier.

[lgcxnari]

nari had blinked at him, slow and disbelieving, as if he’d suddenly started speaking a foreign language. one moment she had been explaining (calmly, as casually as possible) that she and minjun had dated years ago, for a handful of months, both of them barely out of childhood. and the next, dom was staring at her like she’d confessed to a crime deserving of prison time. 

“what?” she echoed, brows furrowed as she tried to follow the dizzying turn his mood had taken. “oppa… it wasn’t serious. we were practically kids, it wasn’t–” she let out a breath, shaking her head as if suddenly deciding she should not be apologizing or justifying herself. “why are you acting like this?” but he kept going, as if he didn’t even hear her. each new line from him only deepened her confusion. ‘i don’t like him’. ‘you can do better’. he said it so firmly, so decisively, that she could only stare at him with a baffled expression on her face.

“you don’t like him? i can do better?” she repeated, the words sounding even more judgmental and wrong now that she was hearing them coming out of her mouth. “you don’t even know him! for the record, he was very respectful and sweet! she got defensive, not necessarily to defend minjun’s honor, at least not entirely. it was also to defend her own honor, because the way dom was speaking… it was as if she were some kind of airhead who couldn’t be trusted to make the right decision for herself. who did he think he was, acting all high and mighty like that? 

“it ended, we stayed friends, that was it! no need to make it such a big deal. and don't be mean to him!” she watched him tear at the napkin and drink the milkshake with urgency, his sunglasses suddenly back on as if he couldn’t even bear to look at her. it made her want to scream… or cry… or both. but mostly it made her feel… weird. she couldn’t shake off the part of herself that felt happy at the thought of him reacting strongly. if he didn’t care, that would be a worse sign, right? she just couldn’t be sure of his motive, and that’s what ticked her off. “don’t scold me like i’m a little kid.”

her cheeks puffed into a pout as she took a sip of her soda. “whydontyoudatemeifyouresoworried,” she muttered incoherently in broken german, crossing her arms. she didn’t want to glare at dom, so she avoided looking at him, instead letting her eyes flicker to the window.

[lgcdom]

fuck paper straws, dom thought as he chewed on the cardboard end of one. this is the worst invention ever. whose brilliant idea was it anyway? politician ryu. definitely politician ryu. there's a reason father hates him. he pulled the straw up to swirl the chocolate bits—only for it to catch at the slits in the lid. seriously, fuck these straws!! who cares about the environment!!!

"... respectful and sweet ..."

nari was still talking about minjun. correction. she was still defending minjun. dom didn't get it. who in their right minds would defend their ex? better question: "why are you still friends with an ex?"

this was nari they were talking about. if minjun had broken her heart, she'd make his life a living hell and dom wouldn't hear the end of it. if she'd broken minjun's heart, then she wouldn't want anything to do with him because that chapter of her life was over. it didn't make any sense. there was something more that she wasn't letting on—

"what?"

dom didn't know much german, but he's sure that he'd caught the words date me. he stared at her through his sunglasses, his heart thundering in his ears as his brain worked over time to connect the dots. nari randomly bringing up her ex ... talking highly of him ... defending him ... then telling dom to date her ...

oh.

that must be it.

dom's fingers fell from the paper straw. a flicker of hurt crossed his eyes, mimicking the way his lips pressed into a line. his jaw was set, and he looked as rigid as ever.

"i'm not going to be your rebound," he said slowly, quietly, measuring out each syllable with great care to avoid letting on how hard her request punched him in the gut. had this been anyone else, dom would've spat fire at them for the audacity.

but this was nari.

he liked nari.

[lgcdom]

season's greetings — deciding to be a carrot hc

against his better judgment, dom consulted his three elder sisters again. of course, they laughed in his face. the first few suggestions were an entourage of the worst vegetables to identify with: bitter melon, onion, and brussels sprouts.

(dom went off to sulk in a corner. he knew they were just poking fun at him, but still, after twenty-something years and a respectable career, he thought they'd finally treat him as an equal.)

carrot came up when they were having carrot cake for dessert. it was clementine's idea. dom immediately shot it down because who would want to be associated with a carrot? but ever the creative one, clem argued that carrots were versatile just like him. and they could also be made sweet just like him. not to mention tigers—like dom's emoji—were also orange.

dom told her those were stupid reasons, and that he'd rather shoot himself in the foot than have to explain why he chose a carrot. not that he'd have good explanations for any vegetables.

anastasia, the sensible one, told him to say it was his favourite vegetable. dom pushed back and insisted that he didn't want to lie because what if the fandom came to associate him with carrots. that would be his worst nightmare.

(then just be your favourite vegetable. / "i don't have one." / okay, be one that you eat. you eat your vegetables, right? / "...")

to save his ass from another nagging session, dom decided on a second thought that he did like carrots. he liked them very much!

so that was that.

[lgcdom]

behind the spotlight — post-interview reflection wc. 294

"kwon sena ... sunbaenim—" he added the last part hastily. even though he spoke formally in the interview, it still felt strange calling her that. sena, he later found out, was younger than him by three years, and yet she spoke and held herself in such a mature manner, dom thought it'd been a typo on her kprofile.

that was what he spilled to the post-production interviewer first. "i knew she was the leader of nova, so i had this idea of her that was ..." older? was that appropriate to say? his sisters often told him to never talk about a woman's age. maybe it was better to avoid it all together. "... that she was born with traits to make an effective leader—having the confidence, understanding people, knowing when to step in or step back. i thought it came easily to her."

"but she made it seem—" made it seem. why did he phrase it like that? it sounded like he was calling her liar. bloody hell, he did need to work on his public speaking skills.

he tried again. "i learned that these traits can be developed over time, and that what you see on stage is a result of years of pushing yourself to become whatever you admired in others. i think sena ... sunbaenim is a lot more courageous than she lets on. not many people can take on the responsibility of being a leader and do it well, and she was only eighteen or nineteen at the time of her debut. most of us wouldn't be ready to lead anything at eighteen or nineteen. but she tried, and maybe that's why she's where she is and we're where we are."

a pause.

"i think we can all learn something from that."

[lgcsena]

sena is a bit surprised to see dom suddenly seem to hesitate in his response to the next question. she's not sure why at all- it seems like a normal question to her. she wonders if something in particular has happened- no, i shouldn't think that way, i don't even know him that well. she stops herself from questioning deeper. time and place. however, in that moment, she decides to offer him her point of contact after filming is done. she probably would have anyways (it makes sense to her that she maintains a point of contact with other idols in the agency for collabs and such), but also because frankly, she really empathizes with his response in a number of ways.

to be fair, sena herself during her trainee years had been one to slack off on some occasions. there were a few times when she skipped training to go on some kind of teenage adventure. as much as she wanted to be an idol, she wanted the chance to be a normal kid too, something she didn't get much of growing up as the daughter of a celebrity. at the same time, though, through her experience as a leader she has realized how important deadlines are, especially when it comes to knowing choreography, having their blurbs and such ready for their season's greetings and album inclusions, and more. one missing piece could completely push production behind. not to mention, sena too struggles to understand the how people could be so different from herself. she never understood people who would be friends with people just to talk shit about them behind their backs, or people who would become close with someone just so they could "expose" their secrets, or people who only become friends with you to climb the social ladder. it all seems like a waste of time to her, and yet it's so common in the industry.

"it can be stressful," she notes. "there's a lot of times where i just don't understand why something can't get done on time or correctly." she's careful with her words, wanting to avoid calling anyone out directly or letting someone know she's talking about them. you never know who will turn that against you. and she just sticks to the issues dom mentioned- no need to explain all her trust issues on video. "when it's making me angry or anxious, i try to think about what i, myself, can control in that moment. i do whatever i can to put the control in my hands. and it doesn't necessarily mean becoming overly bossy or doing the work for them, either. sometimes 'taking control in the situation' is literally just reminding people that they have something they need to get done and helping them get the resources to do it if they need it."

[lgcdom]

"but then they don't do it," dom grumbled.

so it's out of your hands! he could almost hear his second eldest sister, blair, retort in his head while waving her hand in a frivolous manner. she had a laissez-faire attitude for living life. let things be, whatever happens, happens—everyone's so stressed about everything, and that's why you'll all develop wrinkles first. she wasn't wrong. the entire ahn family, except for her, had matching forehead lines. dom's came in over the last few weeks.

( his eldest sister, anastasia, said it was due to dehydration. that was her go-to excuse for everything. looking like shit? dehydration. feeling like shit? dehydration. if water was truly the miracle solution to all his problems, he would've overdosed on it by now. unfortunately, water was not the one-stop cure-all. dom still looked like he had been put through a wringer, and he felt it even more. he had to give it to the makeup artists. they really knew how to fix up a dark under-eye. )

that was what he found himself fixated on as his brain recalibrated a response—sena's under eyes. from where he sat, she looked perfectly fine for someone who had her hands full wrangling a group that, as she recalled, made her occasionally angry or anxious. she was careful with her words, but dom figured it couldn't be about anyone else. the social life of a debuted idol, as he knew it, could only be found within their group.

"i think there's a fine line between letting people handle themselves and letting them walk all over you. generally speaking."

so much for being agreeable. they would probably cut this part out. and he would probably get another round of media training, lest they fear he'd start having opinions during meet and greets. ( which. good god, he was not looking forward to. having to sit there and smile and humour bad pick-up lines? he'd rather shoot himself in the foot. )

"if you—i don't mean you specifically, just uh, generally speaking—but if you don't assert yourself as the leader, wouldn't the structure collapse? for example, i was a leader for a student society. we had to do a lot of fundraising and advocacy, but most of the members were legacies that only wanted the title on their record. reminding them to do things gave them a choice not to do it. so i stopped, and if they didn't remember to do it, they would be dismissed." ... though they would be re-inducted a few days later when angry letters from parents piled up. but it was the lesson learned that counted, right?

[lgcsena]

in all honesty, sena's not sure if she believes him. these days, she's felt like her entire experience as a leader is just a major case of imposter syndrome. as much as she wishes she was a natural born leader, she knows there's so many places where she's just... not. she is horrible at dancing. she struggles to have much of a sense of self anymore, despite always trying to encourage the other members. but she tries her best. she puts on a smile, and that seems to get her by.

she thinks about what dom says, about strictness, comparing it to herself as a leader. "i think there's a balance," she notes. "yes, there are times where we do have to get down and work," she says matter-of-factly, "but sometimes it's okay to relax and just play around.

"i think which i choose depends on what the occasion we're prepping for is or what we're doing at that time. for example, if we're practicing for a comeback or a major performance that's coming up very soon, i'm definitely going to be keeping the focus on that, because those are huge deals. but if we're still in the really early phase of preparing, and i know we have plenty of time to prepare, and things are looking good so far, i think it's okay to let loose and just have fun with it. that way, we don't burn out when it becomes time to get serious. though, i think whether one or the other is the worse choice depends on the circumstances, which is what leaders tend to have to decide. and usually... i just hope i make the right decision, actually. sometimes it's just trial and error to find the balance."

[lgcdom]

dom disagreed, and perhaps that's why he could never be cut out to be a leader. try as he might to understand sena's time and place way, it only applied to those who cared and wanted to get things done. in his experience, if there was no motivation to do better, people simply didn't; they would continue to 'play' and push the boundaries of how long they could 'play' while work piled up.

naturally, dom bit his tongue to these thoughts. not only would it look bad on camera, but he didn't want sena to think he was argumentative in any such way. his father had drilled into his head that connections were everything, and while dom fundamentally disagreed with that as well, he didn't want to test it with someone who was only offering her perspective.

"yeah, i suppose you have a point"—was how he chose to answer before drawing the next cue card. "how do you handle working with someone very different from you?" dom looked up and right at the producers standing behind the camera. was this question for him? were they trying to tell him something?

he swatted away the paranoia.

"admittedly, i ... have difficulties with this." to no one's surprise. "sometimes i don't understand why people do the things they do ... —uh, for example, when they have a deadline but choose to push it off until the last minute then they're scrambling to get it done the night before. i've encountered a lot of trainees like that with their lyrical evaluations." he gave a pause. maybe they would want to cut that out. "i'd be stressed if i were in a group with them."

[lgcsena]

sena thought about dom's worries, thinking about how it must feel to suddenly be compared after never having been for a while- it's a thought that's foreign to the girl. she's always been compared, whether to her own mother, or to other celebrity kids, or her group members of course. maybe that's how she learned to deal with it so well, at least externally.

"maybe you could use that to your advantage?" sena thinks aloud, as she hears that dom plays classical piano. "for example, i really like writing in my free time, so i took advantage of that interest and started studying lyricism. maybe you could take what you've learned from playing piano and apply it to something in your idol life?" since sena has never played piano, she isn't really sure what that would look like, but she's sure something exists.

"alright," she says instinctively, grabbing the box and rummaging for another question. "have you ever had to step up and lead even when you weren’t ready?" she laughs as she reads it. "this almost feels like it's about me," she jokes. this is basically the whole experience she had when she was announced as the leader of nova. "i honestly just decided to try out to be a leader on a whim. i never thought i'd actually be chosen," she admits. "so i had no idea what it entailed, and i had to go in completely blind. but i've learned a lot through it."

[lgcdom]

leading wasn't a strange concept to him.

... which was ironic, seeing how he felt like a lost duckling waddling behind his group mates. but there was a time in his life where he wore that leader badge with honour: in his home, on the playground, and for charities and organized societies. only, his leadership style was nothing like sena's.

"really," he answered in a way that gave him more time to clamour for the right words. "you seem like you were born to be a leader." that was what he truly believed—that some people were just born with certain traits and talents. even though sena expressed that she'd learned a lot in the process, he couldn't see past the confidence that she exuded from this conversation alone.

it was kind of like she was meant to be like this.

that only made him wonder what he was meant to be like.

"i don't think that's something i was born with. not— ... not that i intend to be a leader." jiho and yeonwoo were already doing a great job at that. "but the few times i lead, i was told that i was too strict." that was a nice way of saying that he ran his people like the military. at home, he was a stick-in-the-mud. at play, he was no fun.

"it's hard to find that balance between pleasing everyone and getting things done. someone's bound to get upset so you just have to choose. ... i always chose getting things done." he paused, brow furrowing again. "but at what point is that the worse choice?"

[lgcmjun]

minjun did not understand their new member, dominic. he, of course, could understand being the new kid on the block, not knowing their dynamics - hell, he was one of them until last year and it was hard, always feeling like he was walking on eggshells, until akio paid him and junkyu meals and everything fell into place.

but he could not do that with dominic, because dominic was someone who put up a wall as high and cold as the game of thrones one. and it wasn’t for attempts, minjun did try a few times, making small talk, and asking for anything that could make them bond, but it was in vain.

he could feel the older’s eyes on his back whenever he walked around their dorm, and now that they were sharing the kitchen, it felt like he was about to murder him anytime.

minjun was about to ask him, in another failed attempt, if dominic wanted to wait for their meal, it was his turn to cook for the team, and nothing made minjun prouder than his cooking skills - he was sure dominic wouldn’t be able to resist. but, again, he was hit with harsh words.

minjun sighed, a frustrated groan escaping his lips as he threw the spoon he mixed the sauce inside the pan, his attention now on the other man, “no. you’ll know i’m done when i stop using it. you can wait or eat with us when the food is ready. your choice.”

[lgcdom]

wow. rude as hell. what happened to respecting those who were older? had korea changed that much since he came back from england?

dom folded his arms across his chest. "well, then, hurry up." he gave minjun a pointed look like really? you're going to hog the soy sauce? as if he was one to talk—he was already taking up half the fridge with his own replica of items because he didn't believe in communal milk.

but soy sauce was different. that stuff lasted forever. it could've been purchased by jaesun for all he knew. ( if that were the case, then he and minjun were squabbling over liquid gold. )

"what are you cooking anyway that needs that much soy sauce?" not that dom was interested in it or anything.

[lgcxsarang]

sarang nodded her head understandingly, about to speak when the waiter appeared to take their orders. once they left, she tried to regain her train out of thought. sarang was fairly sure her father didn't intend on her study in an english speaking country and even her aunt and uncle ended up moving back to korea.

at his question, sarang found herself a little surprised but it made sense. they hadn't had much of a relationship before. she was sure she did something to offend him and he hated her. "yep it's not perfect but i'd say i'm close to being fluent."

she didn't add on that it was self taught, not fostered by her environment. "i'm comfortable switching in and out, i was focused on learning japanese and now that i have that down, i've been focusing on english."

[lgcdom]

"i'm more comfortable with english," dom said, switching over with ease once sarang confirmed that she did, in fact, know the language.

it was a strange preference. he was only abroad for a few years, but something about speaking in a foreign tongue felt ... distant. like sarang wouldn't be able to parse the subtleties of his korean and see how anxious he was about everything.

"my japanese isn't good. i was put in a workshop for it before, and it's too fast. or at least, compared to korean. and especially compared to english." by fast, he really meant there was a lot of syllables all at once. "did they—uh, the company—make you learn it too? or were you just interested in ... it?"

[lgcdom]

project tva solo — 🐯 + 😠 = cheollangi 철랑이

dom was not creative.

okay, he was creative but only into the lyrical, compositional sense. but when it came to making a mascot? he had no idea where to start, other than with his own emoji, the tiger ( which was voted on by his family—and by that, we mean his sisters thought it would be funny if he was a prickly hedgehog, but their father overruled their decision ).

his first idea came in a stroke of supposed brilliance—a tiger in a hedgehog costume. it was the ideal way to combine everyone's idea ... only it was immediately shot down by the very three who suggested a hedgehog in the first place. that would look stupid, blair told him from the couch across the room. hey, be nice! he's trying. always clementine to the rescue, even though it's clear on hers and anastasia's face that it was a bad idea.

he frowned. naturally. as he did whenever his efforts were met with disapproval. but the disapproval was short-lived. clementine snapped her fingers ( a quirk when she had a "good idea" ). her eyes gleamed. that's it. you should do the frown emoji. blair snorted. that would make the little guy sad. you should do the angry emoji. you know, the one with the scowl. that one looks like you. dom started to argue that he didn't look like that at all ( while very much looking like that in the moment ), but long story short, blair's idea won.

cheollangi 철랑이 was born from cheol 철 ( dom's government name ) + horangi 호랑이 ( tiger ) and visually looks similar to this. cheollangi's profile exaggerates dom's own personality and preferences. he's loyal, courageous, but also very easily flustered. his likes include spicy foods and energy drinks ( both to his detriment ), and fast cars. he dislikes injustice, sour candies, and hot weather.

dom spent an hour driving around the city for cheollangi's favourite food and drink. he wanted something that wasn't boring ... but in the end, went with something incredibly basic: a burger with no cheese and extra pickles and a chocolate milkshake. much like dom, these are cheollangi's "secret pleasures" so he's usually not seen with them.

cheollangi is an extrovert in disguise ( 1 ). he's often separated from the rest of the group and acts like he doesn't want to befriend them, but it's evident in his longing gaze that he does. he doesn't give up once he sets his mind on something; his motto is "bite on and never let go" ( 2 ). when he has alcohol sweets, he becomes weirdly sentimental ( 3 ).

[lgcyushin]

being around dom... yushin was always the first one to ensure that he welcomed any new members into the unit in one way or another, and they've all been unique in their own way. but being around ahn cheol has definitely been an experience thus far. and in the spirit of livening up the dorms and practices a bit ( when v&a did practice together ) -- hell yea!

there's a large part of him that loved babying a lot of their younger members, especially since yushin was always the oldest, no matter the rotation of units, but he doesn't need to baby dom, no, no. yushin feels like he's floating or coasting in a way when he's around their newest member, in the best way possible. he can't really describe it, only exist in the situations that they get themselves in to. hey - he's not the leader of any of the subunits or the units, yushin can be here for a good time without scolding if needed. but of course, he's not going to set dom up for failure either. it's like a tingle in the air as he can practically feel and see the way his group member's eyes react, the impending doom... tension...

overhearing the situation happen before him, everything seems to happen in slow-motion, and he exchanges a look with dom before yushin's eyes are wide in return and he smiles brightly, moving over to clap the younger man on the shoulder. "ahhh, nice to meet you guys," he starts off slowly, trying to reel dom in before he even has the chance to begin. "i hear you're a longtime fan of v&a? you seem familiar," yushin quips, though he doesn't recognize the fan in the slightest. it's a possible guess, or maybe she's a versus-only-stan. "i'm guessing you caught dom's debut stage! so...? what did you think?" he pats around his pockets, wondering if he happened to have a pen on him. the company wasn't really against them taking selfies with fans, but sometimes a good signature was more helpful in getting the fans to let them go off in their merry way out of here. yushin doesn't exactly want to bring up anything with prior members or prior songs in association in case it made the situation worse for dom, after all - so present or future might be the best.

[lgcdom]

shooting himself in the foot would've been less painful.

because that's what it felt like when yushin, his supposed saviour, came over and began egging the girls on. ... okay, to be fair, yushin was only doing what they were trained to do: smile, entertain them with small talk, sign a few things, and thank them for their support. but surely, surely there were other options like coming up with an excuse to leave, or staging a scene to distract the girls, or just straight up grabbing dom and fleeing!

yushin didn't do any of that.

instead, yushin seemed delighted to be looped into this conversation. was this a hazing attempt? did yushin hate him? was he trying to get dom to make a fool out of himself so netizens would rally up and trend #LegacyKickDomOut???

while he was trying to sus yushin's behaviour, the first girl rambled on, gushing about being recognized by her agito bias ( yes, i've been to 5 fansigns! ) all while rummaging her purse for a pen.

no, not a pen.

a lipstick.

oh my god, how can i forget to bring a pen when i know we were going to be in this area—ah, damn it, i don't have my stickies either! do you have something to write on, unnie? nothing? ahh! why today of all days! she pouted but then, suddenly, to his horror, she brightened right up. you can sign my arms!

"i don't think that's wise ..."

she wasn't hearing him, and despite her friend's insistence to stop embarrassing yourself, she tugged her sleeves up and presented her arms to them.

now dom was really looking like a deer in headlights. he hadn't been trained on this, but it felt wrong. should he just sign and get this over with? but what if it ends up on social media? what if it kickstarts a trend of signing on skin? even worse, what if it gets misconstrued that he was marking—

dom glanced over to yushin, eyes shaking. is this a good idea????

[lgcxnari]

nari stirred her drink with the straw as she tried to decide how to answer. she mentioned minjun in passing, but now that dom’s question hangs between them, she almost regrets saying anything. it felt embarrassing, somehow, to tell him how she knows of minjun. like she did something wrong.

her first instinct was to deflect. “do something?” she repeated, meeting his eyes briefly only to dart them down again. “no, not at all. he’s very sweet.” at least to her. she couldn’t testify for everybody else, but he’d never been anything but nice and respectful with her. a small laugh escaped her, meant to be light but sounding suspiciously nervous. she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. a very telling sign to anybody who knew her closely.

her throat suddenly felt dry, and she took a sip of her drink before going on. while she would very much have liked to brush the subject off and switch to something else, there was something in dom’s gaze that let her know it would come back up again eventually. he was debuting with minjun after all. wasn’t it better if she told him herself, rather than wait until he learned from someone else? not that it should have mattered, really. but to her, it did. it always did.

“a few years ago, we… dated, i guess.” she didn’t guess, she knew very well. it was admittedly one of her ‘longer’ relationships. a few months, though she couldn’t recall anymore how long exactly. it hadn’t been the life altering, heartbreaking romance she read about in novels. mostly sweet, safe, fun. they parted amicably, no big dramatic fight, neither left torn up about it. she hesitated before going on, searching for the right phrasing. “just wanted you to know, in case it was brought up, somehow.” she decided to leave the ‘take care of him’ for another time. 

her gaze drifted back to dom, studying his face again for a moment longer than she meant to. looking for what he wasn’t saying, what he kept buried as he so often did. she’d learned it was best not to pry too much, but to just be there when he was ready to talk. “you really are debuting…” she said softly, almost to herself. it was bittersweet. overwhelmed with pride at knowing his hard work was finally paying off, but sad that it meant they wouldn’t be having as many moments together anymore. she’d be sharing him with thousands of people. while it was selfish to want to keep him to herself, she couldn’t help feel some type of way about it.

[lgcdom]

"what?" dom blurted before he could even stop himself. dated?? minjun?? a few years ago??? he frowned—tried not to, tried really hard not to—but his face couldn't settle on any other expression. really, though? minjun? what's so great about him? he's just some guy. sure, he's nice. but nari wasn't looking for nice.

... not that he knew what nari was looking for, but surely, nari would want more than nice. when they were kids making up scenarios and playing pretend, she was always the princess, the fairest in the land that had many stuffed animal suitors, and yet she always chose the prince or the knight in shining armour ( played by yours truly ) who wasn't always nice. at least, not to the other suitors.

but dom wasn't a prince. and minjun wasn't the giant teddy bear suitor that was his eternal enemy. still. minjun?? what??? it would've been fine ( he supposed ) if nari were more nonchalant about it, but he caught how her eyes darted away. and then how she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear like she always did when she was nervous—what was she nervous about, though? nari was rarely nervous.

unless.

unless.

she still had feelings for minjun.

..........

..................................

"i don't like him." he didn't even know the damn guy!!! never mind the fact that nari was trying to change the subject to his debut—who cared about his debut when there was a more pressing issue at play??? "you can do better." it sounded a little judgmental. okay, it sounded a lot judgmental, because he was judging her. what happened to flying to england to marry one of the princes there? ( totally not the reason dom studied there, by the way. that was a total coincidence. )

dom stared at her. a thousand fake scenarios of them together ran through his head like war flashbacks—them holding hands, them going on dates, them ki—GOD NO!!! he reeled back in his seat as if he had been struck by lighting. it damn near felt like it too.

he busied himself with his chocolate shake. tore at the napkin. put his sunglasses back on because he did not want her to stare deep into his soul and see how ... flustered? ... disappointed? ... heartbroken? he was.

"not that i can tell you who to date or not to date." casual, noncommittal. much better. "but seriously?" SWERVE!!!!

[seyoonlgc]

Geez, what's gotten into Dom? Seyoon recalled this man only losing his chattiness around women.

"Nope, I don't wanna." Seyoon grinned, bratty. "You never cared before. How come you want to know now? I always return the car clean, don't I?"

He did. Since Dom was nice about lending his vehicle, Seyoon figured he could at least practice decent hygiene. For once in his life. In fact, he wiped this car down more carefully than his own nightstand - no hair, no smudge, nothing. A serial killer would be proud.

"I am just kidding. I'll tell you. Stop being so uptight." He shoved Dom lightly. Friendly. "And the answer is painfully obvious. Chicks, of course." Seyoon shrugged. "Or uh, just one lately. Singular." If this guy was hoping for anything juicier than this, he'd be disappointed.

And now, onto more important things.

"Shall we get nachos?" He was already looking up places on his phone. "Oh, and don't worry - we didn't fuck in or on this car." Seyoon tossed out that sentence absently, distracted by a menu.

[lgcdom]

his eyes narrowed.

he knew seyoon's type. he hung around seyoon's type, called them his best mates at one point in his life. if the rumours were indeed true—seyoon's behaviours weren't really proving otherwise—then this story only had one ending.

and if there was a genre dom hated most, it was tragedy.

"don't be vulgar." as if dom gave a fuck about that. he had quite a mouth on him himself and usually wouldn't care for swearing, but when seyoon dropped that expletive in reference to minnie, it was just as he said—vulgar. "you're talking about minyoung, right?" if he was, then dom's going to lose his head. if he wasn't, then seyoon's going to be the one to lose his head.

he signalled into the left lane.

merged. passed the nachos place.

"do you like her?"

[lgcdom]

his first introduction to wicked came from watching sunyoul's cover of defying gravity in the original key. his second came from the 2024 rendition of wicked, where he was awestruck by jonathan's musical number. choosing to be PRINCE FIYERO for halloween came naturally after. he opted to put together fiyero's outfit from the promotions instead of the one worn in the movie, embellished with a matching dark blue cloak for added flair. for the carpet, he chose the piano version of dancing through life, which he transcribed and played himself. and yes, he did do a little dance number down the carpet—he had to commit to the bit!