hello friends this is long overdue but i wanted to put out a general plot call for both jiho and @lgcsomin! (but i'll put a post up on her eventually) i've been slacking severely with writing and plotting bc i was travelling, moving countries, figuring out life, etc etc etc. ANYWAYS, welcome to all the new people who i've missed welcoming <3
with that being said, please
LIKE THIS POST for general plotting bc jiho needs more friends and people to interact with and talk to that aren't his members (no shade to the other v&a members)
i'm also available on twitter or d*scord (young_story) if you would prefer that, just lmk your user. i'll be including a re-intro to jiho under the cut since he's been around since forever and i haven't made an update post in ages. i wrote one up months ago and never got around to posting it LOL and i think it might help with plotting? idk dfjsdfjhsdfkj.
lee jiho, leader of v&a and also v&a's subunit agito, main dancer, lead vocal, born october 31, 2000, 23 years old
mock kprofiles / about page
he was scouted while in line for the men’s washroom at his school’s music festival and he thought he was being scammed at first. he actually put off calling the recruiter dude back for a long time until someone joked that he had the looks to be an idol and he suddenly remembered it and called as a joke and to sate his curiosity
he had no dreams whatsoever of being an idol and was pursuing a career in business, hoping to open his own cafe one day.. it's still his dream but he's put it on the backburner for now because he's found that he really does enjoy being an idol
was convinced by a close friend to audition since he’s always been good at singing + dancing even if he was usually just fooling around with friends either at karaoke or when they booked a studio for fun
he auditioned with singing (he sang iu’s hold my hand) and doing a little freestyle dance that was requested of him and surprisingly passed the audition and became an official legacy trainee in january of 2018
his parents were kind of ??? when he told them and originally weren’t very supportive because it was so sudden and he’s not usually *that* spontaneous but as he started settling into being a trainee and enjoying it, they’ve come around and now are his biggest fans
also it probably helped that jaesun and jaehwa were in the company (they’re cousins on their moms’ side)
during his trainee days, he really stuck to himself and only worked to better himself. he never really saw anyone as a rival and only saw his past self as his rival and wanted to continuously become the better version of himself. he was always Peak Introvert so the way he made friends was that he was awkward enough that extroverted people would come and take him under their wing LOL
he was pretty popular from the very first season of future dreams and was one of the front runners for all seasons he participated in, and eventually was confirmed to debut in season 3 of future dreams, and later debuted as the leader of agito on august 27, 2021
was entirely shocked that he was given the leader role because he’s such an introvert and didn't think he did too well during all the times he was in the leader position but has since sort of stepped and grown into the role and loves it now
he’s notoriously confident in himself, and has always been though it might have been slightly Extra before, he truly thinks he deserves to act that way now LOL
i always liken him to a cat (his official emoji on bubble and translation accounts is 🐱) but specifically a cat who’s owner has told him “no, don’t you dare” as he holds eye contact and then immediately smacks the bottle off the table without a second thought
he’s currently working on writing and producing songs, wanting to write and produce a full song for agito one day (i want him to become the bang chan/hongjoong of agito) as currently has the most credits for lyric writing in all of the new gen of legacy artists
is notoriously known to spend the majority of his waking hours in his personal studio (the v&a members tend to come and drag him home at night)
aside from v&a stuff, he’s publicly known for being a model and also for putting out a lot of covers on v&a’s youtube channel
he recently put out a studio choom dance cover and he’s very proud of it and is somewhat interested in possibly acting more but he's happy with what he's doing and what he's accomplished so far
some plot ideas
he's pretty well known as a workaholic so more people to text him and force him to do things other than work on days off would be nice tbh
friends from his trainee days! or even friends from uni that knew him before he became a trainee and joined legacy and are surprised to see him around
if you're a fan of him, he's always very warm and accommodating and does his best to give advice and be a good sunbae
honestly people who dislike him could be a fun dynamic bc he would be confused (not as to why people hate him but he doesn't really know how they would know enough about him to hate him LOL)
making friends at the convenience store at night when he steps out to get 2am ramyeon bc his stash has run out
admittedly i'm rly bad at coming up with plots but i would love to brainstorm and see where that takes us
after he had returned from his solo tour in japan, he had realized that he hadn't gone around to give his friends his album. it was an oversight on his part, considering that he had planned to do something like this from the moment he had learned of the comeback happening. but, of course, it had turned out to be much busier than he had originally thought he would be.
as it always turns out to be.
but now that he's returned, jiho heads over to a few of his friends' apartments, wanting to at least drop off the album and maybe some snacks or something. he's not expecting most of them to be home, considering that it's the middle of the day and he hadn't wanted to bother any of them either.
he does ring the doorbell on yura's apartment out of courtesy, fully not expecting her to be home. he stalls for a moment, wondering if he should just gently place the album in the mailbox or put it in front of the door since it was in a bag, when he hears some sound from behind the door. was she home?
HELLO i am looking for a GUEST ( debut artist [ idol, actor, model ] OR trainee ) for jiho's segment on off the clock! they will be talking about a hobby that connects them, so if your muse does any of the following hobbies, pls comment and i can write a starter :3
when he had first started with this career path, his parents had been unsure. in hindsight, which parents wouldn’t be unsure when their only son decided to pivot from being a business student who had aspired to open his own cafe to an idol trainee? he’s sure they were only worried—considering that he himself had been worried as well, about changing from a full-time university student to a part-time one while balancing idol training?
it was a crazy change and he’s not surprised that they were skeptical about it.
but jiho wasn’t the type of person to do things without putting his all into it, and it had turned out fine, hadn’t it? he’s doing well, having made a name for himself. not only in agito, but now as a soloist as well.
even so, he knows his parents are worried about his future. he might be a decently popular idol now, but what about 5 years from now? 10? 20? hopefully he could pivot his career into something ludicrous, or maybe he would just end up opening the cafe he had always dreamed of. at least he had done what he had deemed his goal of being a good son, and had bought them a new house and a new car and paid it all off. it was the least he could do to thank them for raising him when he was younger.
that being said, his future isn’t his problem to worry about yet. his current problem is that his parents had surprised him by getting tickets to one of his japan tour stops and he had been nervous all night before that concert. he knows they support him, have been happily doing so since he debut but it’s still somehow so nerve wracking to perform in front of them. it’s not even the first time for him to do that, but the first time abroad.
he had found out which seats they were in and had found them in the crowd before the concert started, surprised that the eterval around them had seemingly figured out who they were and were all chatting happily. or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on his part. he doesn’t really know concert culture, so he’s a little be uneducated on what everyone could be talking about. would his parents be boasting about him being their son to the fans around them? was that wishful thinking?
either way though, he would easily admit that he's happy they're here. he wonders if the staff are planning to pan the camera towards them at all, and he selfishly hopes that they do.
it's not everyday that he gets to perform for his parents.
he's already planning on what he'll say to them when they come to visit him backstage after everything.
HELLO i am looking for a GUEST ( debut artist [ idol, actor, model ] OR trainee ) for jiho's segment on off the clock! they will be talking about a hobby that connects them, so if your muse does any of the following hobbies, pls comment and i can write a starter :3
he's never been on a tour on his own before, and it's making him really appreciate the v&a and agito and lgc boys tours that they had done before. he's not really someone who looks and wants attention from others, or needs the company of other people to get through the day or whatever, but he does feel like he misses having other people to banter with while they pass time.
of course, he has the backup dancers who he's worked with for years now, at this point, and it helps a little. it's fun, if he's honest, connecting and getting closer with people who he's known for so long but never really had the chance to talk to like this. especially once the practices and rehearsals are over, and they're all winding down with food and snacks.
it does make him miss yushin though. they've been roommates for so long now, that sleeping on his own in his own room feels a little weird. that the hotel room is dead silent.
he guesses that his thoughts are just that he could never do this full time, probably. he doesn't mind having his solo, and getting to do a tour like this for jiho fans alone, but he does miss everyone else.
this just means that he'll have to do his best on this tour, and bring back good souvenirs for everyone and hope that they all get to do this together again soon.
but for now, the concerts are what he needs to focus on.
"a math question?" jiho echoes, a bit surprised and he grins despite it all, moving closer to the other idol. "do you remember where it was?" he asks, curious to see if he could solve it. he wasn't the best at math, but he had done enough during his business classes (pre-debut) that he thought that maybe he could take a shot at it and do well.
maybe.
"i have a clue to where the final site is supposed to be but i won't reveal it just yet," he says, looking a little amused. he thinks he might have an idea to where it is in general because of the hint, but he kinda wants to keep it a secret for a bit longer. for the content, you know?
he's hoping that with the two of them, they might solve more quests easily but now he hopes that hyoseop remembers where the questions he wasn't able to solve were so they can (hopefully) go back to clear them all.
“mmhmm” he nods his head “it was something about the average age in type zero and vna” he shrugs “besides not knowing how to do the math, i also couldn’t figure out how old everybody is…. besides me and… well, besides my own age, i don’t know anyone else’s age for certain”. good job hyoseop, a clap on the shoulder or something, he really wasn’t contributing to the team much, at least not yet. “ah, where it is? it’s somewhere on this floor… i know that much, since i basically haven’t been anywhere but this floor”.
“eh! what do you mean you won’t reveal it? what happened to being teammates!?” hyoseop places his hands on his hips, surprised by jiho’s comment. “personally i have no idea… i’ve managed to gather a few clues, but they’ve just made me more clueless” he shrugs. “i wasn’t build for this sort of thing… if they had me run or swim, or at least something physical, i would’ve aced it, but solving riddles?” he shakes his head “i’m kind of just relying on the rest of you… but let’s find some more riddles you can solve, so you can be more sure of your final answer”.
he blinks, a little curious about that but deciding not to ask for any elaboration from hyoseop. it was something that he had learned immediately, everyone's birthdays and birth years, so he could speak to them with the appropriate amount of respect due to whether they were older or younger than him. so, he was pretty sure he could figure out this question.
"do you remember where the question was? i'm pretty sure i can do it," jiho says instead of anything else, a little amsued as he starts calculating it in his head as he waits for the other to lead the way towards said question. "i asked everyone's birthday right away, so i'm pretty sure i remember them all," he adds, in way of an explanation.
grinning at what hyoseop had said, jiho nods in agreement. "they only gave me a small hint of where the location was, but it's a pretty good hint," he says, humming a little bit and he wonders if it would be worth it to just head there right now, now that he's found someone else to bring with him. but a small part of him wonders if he's wrong.
he's wandering the halls, having found a handful of questions and quests that he had managed to solve on his own. hopefully, he would find another member soon, considering the fact that he hasn't feels weird to him. the mall is pretty big, but that didn't mean that it was impossible to run into someone else right? especially considering that v&a (and staff) were the only ones supposed to be in here now.
he's in the middle of that thought when he spots someone down the hall, having turned into the area he was in and he shushes the camera directors so he can sneak over to ... hyoseop.
instead of scaring the other like he had originally been planning to, he stage whispers "hyoseop-ah~" down the hall, hoping to get the other's attention.
when hyoseop turns, jiho waves with a grin on his lips, beckoning him over.
hyoseop had truly not been particular good at this, wandering around with his mascot in his hands, attempting (underscore on attempting) to solve riddles and find clues. he met a math problem once, attempting to figure it out, only to leave the riddle behind, he knew he wasn’t solving that. he’d… very much not been the biggest help for the group today, and he kind of just wandered around like a lost child, hoping he would soon meet someone that wasn’t the camera crew.
when hyoseop hears someone saying his name, he at first believes it’s a camera man telling him he’s done something wrong or that time is up, luckily neither of those two is the case. “jiho!” there’s quite a lot of excitement in his voice, a hopeful expression on his face, as he’s finally not alone in all of this. “how’s it going for you? i got a math riddle not too long ago that i’m still angry i couldn’t solve it” he shrugs “my strategy since then has pretty much giving up on the hard riddles and only spending time on the easy ones” he pouts “not sure if that’s the world’s best strategy though…”.
"a math question?" jiho echoes, a bit surprised and he grins despite it all, moving closer to the other idol. "do you remember where it was?" he asks, curious to see if he could solve it. he wasn't the best at math, but he had done enough during his business classes (pre-debut) that he thought that maybe he could take a shot at it and do well.
maybe.
"i have a clue to where the final site is supposed to be but i won't reveal it just yet," he says, looking a little amused. he thinks he might have an idea to where it is in general because of the hint, but he kinda wants to keep it a secret for a bit longer. for the content, you know?
he's hoping that with the two of them, they might solve more quests easily but now he hopes that hyoseop remembers where the questions he wasn't able to solve were so they can (hopefully) go back to clear them all.
he's wandering the halls, having found a handful of questions and quests that he had managed to solve on his own. hopefully, he would find another member soon, considering the fact that he hasn't feels weird to him. the mall is pretty big, but that didn't mean that it was impossible to run into someone else right? especially considering that v&a (and staff) were the only ones supposed to be in here now.
he's in the middle of that thought when he spots someone down the hall, having turned into the area he was in and he shushes the camera directors so he can sneak over to ... hyoseop.
instead of scaring the other like he had originally been planning to, he stage whispers "hyoseop-ah~" down the hall, hoping to get the other's attention.
when hyoseop turns, jiho waves with a grin on his lips, beckoning him over.
the whole concept behind their dolls was a great one, in jiho's opinion, and he really thought the whole concept was really fun. and the fact that they were being blindfolded while going to the mall to film this little thing was also fun.
it had been a while since he had gotten to film any variety shows with the other members, so he was pretty excited to do it, even if he was blindfolded right now.
he makes a sound as the blindfold is removed, and he's handed his little dumpling plushie. honestly, he's not quite sure what had possessed him to come up with the concept of ddyunyangi but seeing it in physical form only confirmed that he was a genius. that was off topic though, and he spends a couple minutes looking over the little plushie and reading the card, to make sure he didn't miss anything. he's a bit too aware of the timer, but he knows that if he misses a clue right now, he would be annoyed with himself if they were to fail.
"okay, so i can get a clue to the ascension site," jiho says aloud, aware that this was going to be turned into a fun show for the fans to watch and processing everything internally would not be as fun for them.
he quietly leaves the area that he's in, thinking about when he should use the hint and if it would be too early to use it right away. he doesn't ask yet, scouring the area he's in for clues and trying his best not to miss any.
in the end, he decides to not be so cautious for once, considering it's been maybe 30 minutes out of their three hours and he hasn't even run into another member yet, and use the hint from his class. turning to the camera man and the staff tailing him, he holds up the card. "i want to use my hint," he says, once he's confirmed that he can share this information once he has it.
he receives the hint and stares at the card it's written on, humming a little to himself as a smile spreads across his lips.
"alright," jiho says, looking up at the camera and nodding, as if accepting a mission or something. mostly he's here to have fun, and get to do some acting, right?
tokyo really does feel like a second home to him almost. he used to think that about los angeles, considering how often he used to visit there in his youth, but it's changed since he debuted in agito. it's a bit funny, if he's honest, thinking about how his family used to visit his cousins in the states a lot but after becoming a member of agito and promoting in japan, how that fact has changed.
he’s always enjoyed being in japan, and he’s always known that he would love to spend a lot of time here. and being able to promote his music there too, was just an added bonus.
he had a lot of ideas of what to do during his vlogging that he was experiencing decision paralysis the night before he assigned days off. part of him wondered if he should just try to do a little bit of everything, but then he wasn’t sure if that would be too much 1) for him and 2) to try to fit into a single tokyo vlog for his concerts.
either way though, he knew he wanted to go eat sushi, and he debated on whether he should eat at a revolving sushi restaurant or if he should go to a more expensive one. but, perhaps, kura sushi was the better option because more people would relate and the novelty would be fun for others who might be travelling for the concerts.
either way, he has a fun time filming the different dishes he takes and the ones that he orders on the little monitor, considering that he had actually come on his own this time so he can vlog in peace. he's careful to keep his voice down though, having managed to snag a one-person spot with the barriers up. he grins, showing off his little soy sauce concoction on one of his favourite seared tuna nigiri dishes, and then orders ice cream too, just because he can.
and because of how kura sushi works, he plays the plate gacha a few times and wins a little eraser from whatever the popular anime collaboration was. (he should probably ask his friends, and see if it's something he should keep since he's not caught up with the current anime seasons.)
he takes the camera with him as he walks arounds the area, stepping inside a sanrio store and searching out something cinnamoroll as eterval have dubbed his sanrio equivalent. he shows off that he's buying a small keychain, wondering if jiho fans would end up buying it too. it's a fun little trip, and it only serves to get him more excited for the concerts.
osaka wasn't an unfamiliar city to him. over the years in agito and v&a had him coming to japan relatively often enough, considering they did a japanese promotion almost once a year since debut. or something like that, he wasn't 100% sure but he knows he's been here before.
but, he's never been given free reign on how he explored it. of course, he still had staff and his manager with him, but it's still incredibly freeing to be able to wander around without a schedule really.
the first stop, of course, was dotonburi. he had never really been given that much time to explore, and there were a handful of things he had scouted out ahead of time that he wanted to try. he would have to get some souvenirs for his members too, and maybe he'll text akio and see if he would want him to bring back anything specific.
either way, jiho has the time of his life exploring dotonburi and getting some shopping done. he doesn't buy too much, and he feels a bit bad for the staff that insists they'll hold it for him, but he acquieses after they insist a few more times. he makes a mental note to get them a nice present.
it's really a testimony of how hard he had worked on his japanese that this doesn't even feel like he's really too far away from home, the language flowing easily off of his tongue as he chats with the workers and vendors. filming it all is also super fun, getting to do it in the vlog style while his staff stayed out of view of the camera lens.
the last place he decides to go, for the first day at least, is to go eat gyukatsu. it's something he's had before, in seoul, but he knows for a fact that it'll probably be better in japan.
he insists that it's his treat as he ushers the staff members around him into the seats at the bar at the gyukatsu restaurant they step into, and he greets the restaurant staff politely as he asks everyone to order and whatnot.
the food is brought out, and jiho carefully films it all, before he finally starts cooking the meat on the little stone grill. and, the beef quite literally melts on his tongue the moment he eats the first piece.
he wonders, immediately, if they'll have time to come back again before they have to leave osaka. honestly, he's just glad to have had the chance to treat his team to this before they left because he really feels like this would be a missed opportunity otherwise.
"You're probably right, hm?" He nods his head respectfully at the man's response, holding himself back from being upfront about his stubborn ideology. His own reputation could remain hidden in front of the senior artist. He twists the cap, downing half of the liquid content in one go. Truly nothing was better than cold water after rounds of run throughs of a choreography. He refrains from touching his hair, wanting to avoid the styling chair for the remainder of the shoot. "I am curious about something..."
"I might be overstepping though, and you don't have to answer." He lifts his head to glance up at the man, attempting to make eye contact. "How do genuinely juggle different projects?" It wasn't a secret that the man was preparing for a comeback, and here, he was standing next to him like time could be bent and no indication of exhaustion on his face. Despite wanting to say he could understand the level of sacrifice needed to be in his position, the man's experience as leader of his group and solo artist was a unique experience in the company.
Frankly, he wasn't envious, but he was impressed by the man's tenacious attitude and ability to be calm, cool, and collected. "Would you prefer to be able to solely focus on one project at a time, or do you always put the group first?"
he nods, letting the younger continue speaking even though he's sure noeul probably would've asked him even without the permission from him. he's been doing his best to give off the vibe of a cool sunbae, ever since groups started debuting after v&a so he's hoping it's working out for him. he doesn't want people to think he's cocky or arrogant or anything, considering he's really anything but. despite the fake confidence he used to put out before debut.
the question comes though and jiho is stuck thinking about the answer. he hadn't quite realized how his schedule might look to someone outside of it, and it makes him reconsider everything for a moment.
"i like being busy," is what jiho settles on after a moment of thought, and he knows that it's not a good reason or explanation of any sort but that's all he really has to say for himself. "i always put the group first," he adds, answering that question without hesitation. "i think if v&a succeed, that's all that matters," he pauses though, thinking a little. "i don't think i would've gotten the chances i have without v&a doing well, so i want to ensure that future first."
"everything else will fall into place if i work hard to promote my group first, you know?"
While Noeul had been pleasantly surprised by the special project, he was more appreciative that the MZSD members had been invited to join and that their schedule had even allowed them to do it in the first place. His group was preparing for an unconventional comeback, and this brief project felt like the first time in a long time that he could enjoy himself from start to finish. He couldn't recall the last time he had properly felt free of the self-imposed pressure, and bound by his responsibility over the group's success.
Maybe, he was finally getting his head above water. It was interesting to see the evolution of some of senior artists, especially Jiho. He had worked with him several times, but had never once approached him to get to know him beyond coworkers. In fact, he didn't find Jiho intimidating, or unapproachable. He had always felt outside of the group due to his uncertainty as a non-debuted artist. He stared at the man first, lips parting to speak, but words refuse to escape them. He glances at the water bottle in Jiho's hand, accepting the offering respectfully with both of his hands.
"It's a high praise coming for you, hm?" He utters, inwardly cringing at the respectful tone of his voice. He wanted to be more casual, but what was casual in front of Lee Jiho. "Thank you! Do you have any pointers?"
he's never quite sure how to react to some of the younger idols in the company. or well, technically not in the company, but in a sister company of sorts. in general, he's never sure what to say or how to act around younger idols in general because in his mind, he's still a rookie idol. it's weird to think that he isn't.
at least noeul doesn't seem to be one that actively looked up to him as a role model or something, though it's possible that he's just bad at reading people. he remembers when he had first debuted, and had been greeting the senior legacy artists and had felt awkward. perhaps this was one of those cases, considering that they didn't really know each other aside from passing in different past projects.
it's not that jiho is going out of his way to befriend any one person or anything, but he doesn't think it's a bad idea to talk to some of his hoobaes more.
"is it?" jiho teases in response, feeling his idol persona bloom in front of the cameras and other staff and people in general. he looks a little amused, opening his own water bottle to take a sip. "glad you think so," he adds, so it doesn't seem like he's selling himself short. he's aware of his reputation, at least. "i probably don't have anything to say that you haven't heard before."
