i want to clarify something. i have not and did not push anyone out of the group. as much as what people might have said about me. i have expressed to the admins (off anon) when people have made me uncomfortable, with screenshots and proof. this has in turn resulted in people leaving. all i’ve done is openly express my discomfort with problematic and emotionally abusive behavior towards myself. that’s it.
that being said -- there are currently others still in the group that had just as much to do with “pushing people out” as i did. yet, they’re someone you’re “comfortable” enough with to make a separate server including them? that doesn’t seem very fair but i guess they'll never own up to what they did.
if you had a problem with me -- i’m sorry. sorry that you couldn’t talk to me about it. i mean that sincerely. i offered open communication within my post, and still no one approached me. i can’t do anything more than that when i don’t know who i’ve upset. i’m upset it had to come to that in the first place.
i’ve sent in my unfollow. im tired of feeling drained over something that’s supposed to be a fun hobby. thank you to everyone that’s become my friend during my time here. and thank you to the admin(s) for trying to create a fun space.
please remember the admins have created this group in their free time, for free. stop treating them like they can fix your problems by reading minds or guessing. you don’t know how much work they’re doing behind the scenes. just because they don’t do something for you on the spot, doesn’t mean they’re not doing something that somebody else already asked for before you. stop being selfish.
and yeah this means im not the admin (since i know some people were guessing). good luck everyone. i hope the group becomes fun again for more than 3 people.
Jooae set her containers somewhat snugly into the rather overpacked fridge as Minkyu made room. The 3-D jigsaw puzzle was nothing unfamiliar to her, though, and she made good work of fitting the last few in place before shutting the door.
“It’s always about adjusting and normalizing things, I suppose,” she mused, carefully folding up the bags so they’d be easier to carry back upstairs to her own dorm. Her eyes scanned the room briefly, curiosity coloring her features as she took in the pile of shoes, the laundry piles, the freshly cleaned dishes. The lived in feel of the space made her feel happy, although her fingers itched to help organize a little bit.
His final comment was another nudge she felt towards the door on his end. The last thing she wanted to be was a bother so she straightened her back and offered him a polite smile. “I’ll get out of your hair then. But like I said, if you need anything at all please let me know. I know things are a little crowded here…” She trailed off and shrugged her shoulders, making her way back to the main door to the hallway. “Whatever I can do.”
Living with so many people, you could never really say a dorm containing twentytwenty looked clean. There would always be clutter, too many things belonging to too many people all trying to share a space that was obviously far too small to fit all of them. But, they managed. They had to. There was an unspoken system in place, one of that stopped them from killing each other when they were all practically sitting on top of one another and a little too close for comfort.
Minkyu longed for the day he could finally live alone.
Pushing people away was something most often Minkyu never intended to do, but it just sort of... Happened. His mouth verbalizing thoughts his mind hadn’t realized he was thinking yet. There was an inward wince when Jooae announced she’d be going so soon, and while he wasn’t unhappy about it he did feel guilty about the fact he knew it was him that was practically pushed her out the door. The one thing his manager had asked of Kyuu when they’d first found out about the mess was to please, please be nice to the Atlas artists.
“Would you like me to return the containers when they’re finished with? I’m sure it won’t take long.” The performance leader was referring to the rest of the men that lived here, no doubt they’d be inhaling the food the moment they knew it was there for them.
ft. @vldmoonsoo, @joonbinvld
mentions of. @gyuminvld, @vldmars, @vldhyuck
Everything was set up just for him. A table and a chair in one of the Summit Media dance studios, a wall decorated with balloons spelling out MINKYU in large letters, completed with streamers from twentytwenty’s staff. There was a cream cake decorated with various fruits on a table that was only to be eaten by him ( unless he decided otherwise ), ready to celebrate his birthday. In the years since debuting with his group, the dancer had come to dislike birthdays less and less. When he was still at home, they seemed like an excuse for his parents to give backhanded compliments and criticism, hidden behind expensive gifts. Now, he had people to celebrate with. Thousands of them. Even if those people could only see him through a screen and he couldn’t see them at all.
Instantly as the live was finally turned on, the flood of PS started pouring in. The chat was filled with heart emojis, OMG HI!!! I love you, and of course Happy Birthday!! It was hard not to smile, knowing there had been people waiting for him to go live all day. He knew this especially because he’d been watching twentytwenty’s mentions on twitter and instagram, and through the day in between birthday wishes ( and even edits ), there had been people asking when he was going to come and say hello. Who was he if not The Nation’s Boyfriend? Of course he was going to. They knew him well.
“Hello my lovely PS!” Is how he started, short and sweet with a bright smile across his features and a double handed wave. The camera had a good view of the table in front of him, and his decorations behind. Comments continued rolling in about how nice it looked, how handsome he looked, and how yummy the cake looked. “Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I have been reading them all. Thank you so much. I have been well, I’ve had a good day. I hope you all have, too.”
Immediately, he began reading some more of the comments ( as many as he could with more and more people joining the chat ). “Who gave me the cake? Ahhh, this cake is from the staff here. I had a cake with my team last night, too. It was delicious.” Pausing, he licked over his lips, intently watching the screen and reading comments regarding him eating well before continuing. “What did I get for my birthday? Ohh I got many nice things. You mean from twentytwenty? They have all wished me a happy birthday. Like always, Gyumin was the first at midnight.” The dancer smiled as he thought about how excited the younger always was to celebrate others. It was a trait that caused him to feel fond for his group member. “Hyuck hasn’t gifted me anything for my birthday, shocking right?” Minkyu faked a teasing gasp, letting the chat speculate on his words for a few moments before continuing. “He’s promised to cook a delicious meal for tonight after the live, making it specially for me. If the others members are nice to me I might share it with them.”
Pausing, the performance leader winked at the camera while he continued reading. Still, he had to consider something else another team member had done for him, regardless of how... Tense their relationship had been as of late. “Mars actually gifted me something really nice. He uh, he ordered me this stuffed bear online... I wish I had it with me so I could show you, but he had an outfit made for it similar to the one from our Aju Nice music video, like the ones we wore with the suspenders...” Minkyu had to pause once more, smiling and biting at the skin at the corner of his lip before continuing. His trademark habit PS would know well. “If you squeeze it, it sings one of my lines. Like a voice recording. I thought it was very creative. The group is joking that he ordered two and is keeping one for himself to sleep with.”
More comments began pouring in about MARS BEST BOY, and right now, it’s not something Minkyu could disagree with. Regardless of their prior argument, he had put thought and effort into getting the performance leader something nice for his birthday. “I also was given a very pretty shirt from our fearless leader, Joonbin, and Moon-” Almost as if they’d been summoned when he spoke their names, Kyuu looked up and behind the camera, noticing the mentioned members subtly attempting to enter the room. Although, Joonbin was trying to motion in a way that explained he wasn’t actually here. Furrowing his own brow, the dancer watched his leader get onto his hands and knees, as if he was crawling and staying low to avoid the camera. Moonie on the other hand didn’t seem to be bothered. The dancer wasn’t sure if they’d come to ‘join’ his live together, but either way they both seemed to have very different ideas of how they wanted to be featured.
“Here is Moonie, just who I was going to talk about-” As he was finishing his sentence, he was cut off by the slightly older group member rushing into the frame, wrapping his arms around Kyuu’s shoulder and planting a big, dramatic kiss to his cheek with a smack sound and a loud HAPPY BIRTHDAY! No doubt it was purely showmanship for the reaction of PS watching, and it definitely threw him off. “Yahh! I’ve had my makeup done~” Kyuu complained in a whine, noting Moonsoo had simply wandered in bare faced. Right now, he couldn’t imagine doing so himself, not with their filming of One Fine Day during the week. He couldn’t push the other member away though, not while the fans could see him. Instead, he pat gently where he’d been kissed, looking into the screen of the smart phone to make sure he hadn’t wiped off any of his foundation. “Since you’re here, I was just going to show off the watch you bought me.” Holding his arm up to the camera where the watch settled around his wrist, the one he’d just inspected his cheek with, he held his hand behind it ( almost like an influencer ) so those watching could see the gift he’d been given.
While all of this was happening, a stray hand belonging to their leader had appeared in the bottom screen, blindly reaching with a fork it seemed he’d prepared earlier in an attempt to take some of Minkyu’s cake. Cake he himself, hadn’t had a chance to taste. With his member still draped over his shoulders, it was all he could do to slide the cake away from the stray utensil, slapping at the hand gently. If he wasn’t on camera, he knew the cake would be gone, and there’s every possibility his own hands would have been slapped twice as hard in return. Still, he was going to take the opportunity while he could to act a bit cheekier than usual towards Joonbin. “I haven’t even had any yet, I would kindly share if simply you said please~” It was obvious he was speaking to Joonbin under the table, even though PS watching in their homes didn’t know it was Joon trying to steal the cake. Of course, comments of WHO IS THAT??? could be read, if he were paying attention.
Keeping one eye on the hand that still was attempting to help it’s self to some cake, the performance leader wrapped an arm around Moonsoo who was dramatically wrapped around him like a cat as he tried to continue with the live. “What did you wish for when you blew out your candles yesterday? Ahhh, definitely not this.” Clearly, he was referring to Moonsoo where he seemed far too comfortable resting against him for his liking. “But if I tell you what I wished for, it won’t come true~”
After some poking, prodding, and playful pulling of his ears from Moonie, eventually the twentytwenty member became bored and announced he was leaving, placing a tender kiss to the top of Minkyu’s head ( once again, for PS’ benefit and not Minkyu’s ) before doing so. In that time, the birthday boy had almost forgotten about the man still huddled under the table, that is, until he finally went to take a bite of his own cake, and was met with a fork trying to do the same.
Rolling his eyes ( fondly, for the camera ), he pushed his birthday cake towards Joonbin’s fork, helping him out with a piece before taking his own, humming out with how delicious it was. “You know, I think PS would prefer it if you came out and said hello.” Instead, he was met with a peace sign that could be seen on the live, Minkyu unable to help the laugh that spilled from his lips as he pulled the cake away from him again. “Okay, you don’t get any more cake unless you come out, then.” They both knew the performance leader wouldn’t finish it himself, and at least three quarters would be left to the other boys and even the staff when the live was over. However, he knew PS enjoyed him being on their side, wanting them to see other members who don’t host lives as often as Kyuu does.
Finally turning his attention back to the chat on his screen, he took a strawberry from the top of his cake with some of the frosting, eating them while he read some more comments from his fans. “The silver hair looks so good on you, oppa! Ahhh, thank you. I’ve never dyed my hair and I wanted to try something different. I’m glad you like it.” Bowing his head, he smiled and finished his bite before continuing. “Someone should have bought lip balm for Kyuu’s birthday so he stops biting his lips... I do have lip balm! I put it on at night time, biting my lips is a habit. I don’t realize I’m doing it most of the time.” As if it were planned, he sucked his lower lip into his mouth, the motion of him chewing on his skin obvious. Maybe that one was on purpose. He did love to give fan service, after all.
The next twenty or so minutes were filled with Kyuu quietly playing some of his favorite songs on his phone, singing along sweetly, and talking to PS. He couldn’t explain the warm feeling he had in the pit of his stomach when staff were signalling it was almost time for him to wrap up, but he always felt it when he was able to spend time with fans. It’s like was he was born to do it.
“Oppa did you enjoy your birthday?” Reading the question out loud caused Minkyu to think. Should he be honest with PS? “You know, I haven’t always liked birthdays... But since joining twentytwenty and debuting, PS have made it very special for me every year. I...” Trailing off, he inhaled through his nose, not really sure what he was feeling. It was quite bittersweet that his family was the reason he didn’t like birthdays, but these people on the other side of the screen had made him feel otherwise about it. He could even go as far to say he liked birthdays because of his members, too. “I did enjoy my birthday, and I have you all to thank very much for it. I spend a long time reading comments and messages from you all, and even though I can’t always reply, please know I see them. I appreciate every one of them.” Bringing a hand up to his lips, he blew a kiss to the camera, followed by a finger heart. Minkyu wasn’t sure if he’d ever really have the words to describe how much the support of PS meant to him. “I do have to go. Like I said before, have a delicious dinner waiting for me. Thank you for your kind comments and birthday wishes. I hope you all have a good night. I love you~”
With the final sign off, Minkyu gave one last wave and kiss to PS before he leaned forward, turning off the live. Slumping back into his seat, he signalled to staff that he needed a minute before he headed back to the dorm. Occasions such as this only pushed Kyuu to work harder, and he only hoped PS could see that. It’s all for them.
“Gaining experience even if the project doesn’t turn out as well as we hope it’s a success.” She would learn from it, to do better, or to focus on something else. But she saw his point and accepted that he was right, because the drama doing well would open many doors for her, and if it didn’t, it would close another. There was no point in dwell on it for now, stressing about it was just unnecessary because there was no way to tell the outcome right now. Saeun would wait until it aired to worry about it. She smiled at the noise, finding it somehow cute.
Oh, she knew that he didn’t say so because he wanted it to flop. Minkyu was being realistic, and it was quite refreshing having someone who told her things as they were and not as they thought she wanted to hear, it kept her feet on the ground and her perspective on the right place. But she didn’t feel like talking about it, because while she knew she had to consider all the possibilities, she also was in such a good mood, better than she had been in weeks, and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could. “No, thank you. I’ll have some sparkling apple juice instead.” Saeun wasn’t someone who knew how to drink, she knew it would be quite irresponsible of her to drink more than she should knowing her limits and have Minkyu dealing with her in such state. Besides, she was in the middle of comeback preparations, having two drinks was more than enough for now.
There was a harsh reality of the entertainment industry that Minkyu had been exposed to at what was likely too young of an age. If you perform badly, word will spread. Not that he’s ever performed badly of course, but the circle of mothers pushing their children into any acting, singing, or performing opportunity they can find was quite small when he was much younger, and Kyuu’s mother had a natural ability to remember faces ( and bad performances ). If there had been a child from Kyuu’s last audition that happened to be at the same audition as him in the future, his mother didn’t hesitate to voice her opinion about them. To her son, to the casting directions, to other mothers. Whoever would listen, really. His words if anything, were more of a warning. People talk.
While Minkyu wasn’t much of a drinker, he liked to think he had a high tolerance. If he actually did, was to be seen. Still, he nodded at Saeun, not saying a word before heading to the bar to order himself another drink -- and an sparkling apple juice for Saeun. He ignored the look from the bartender as he handed over his credit card, returning shortly after with both of their drinks in hand. “So,” is how he began, already sipping at his own straw as he handed the other over. “Are you busy tomorrow? Is that why you aren’t drinking more with me?”
Joonbin nodded sympathetically and then glanced towards the kitchen, his stomach growling at the reminder of food. He hadn’t eaten much that day, which was an unfortunate habit he’d found himself struggling with as of late. He rested his hand on his stomach as if that would calm it down.
“I’ll definitely grab some after I change,” he said, sliding his glasses from his nose so he could drag his hand down his face. The exhaustion was hitting him hard. “Have you eaten yet? It’s pretty late.” He put his glasses back and then returned to his room so he could quickly change into an oversized sweater and sweatpants, leaving the door open so they could continue their conversation.
His hands moved quickly, tossing his belt and shirt and trousers on his bed. “Oh, I also ran into Sehoon-hyung today. Remember? The trainer that quit after we debuted. He couldn’t stop praising Aju Nice. I told him we’d all have to get lunch sometime. The whole group, I mean. He seems like he’s doing well. He’s working for a smaller company now.”
As could be predicted, Minkyu hadn’t eaten yet. Usually right now he’d be in one of the practice rooms, deep in his own head and picking out minuscule movements that needed to be worked on. He had to be perfect. This also meant he wasn’t used to eating at this time, that is unless Hyuck decided to pay him a visit with something he’d made himself. “No, not yet,” he called out as he watched his leader walk off. Even watching him walk away he could tell how tired he must be with the way he held himself.
Scrolling through twitter as Joonbin continued speaking to him from the next room, he absentmindedly raised a brow as his leader mentioned the trainer Minkyu had definitely long forgotten about. Really, he couldn’t see the benefit to him to going out for a meal with someone from a smaller company, but, it couldn’t hurt to have connections everywhere. You never know when you’ll need them.
“I suppose that means he has taste,” Minkyu commented with a small, sly smile, part of his words a joke. The other part, thinking that obviously he should like Aju Nice, who wouldn’t? “If you organize it, I can show up. Unless I have a schedule planned.” Of course, he had his Inkigayo responsibilities, and a solo debut to think about for the future.
i woke up to this morning to a message from the admins informing me i’ve upset someone/people in the group. they weren’t able to give me any names though. if i have done something, it’s truly never been my intention to hurt people here and i’m really sorry. i love this group a lot, and i would really like whoever i’ve hurt to message me so we can talk about it? it’s okay if you don’t want to, but i would much rather talk about and work through any problems i may have caused like i have tried to do in the past. thank you ❤
As he watched his leader’s eyebrows raise, he knew if this were any other situation that he’d have more than a few words to say about the tone of voice the younger had used with him. Right now, he was a little too preoccupied ( and anxious ) to care anyway. If he was going to complain about the way Kyuu spoke to his senior, he could do it later. Right now, he simply wanted to go home. Well, the temporary home they were forced to live in, anyway.
Finally, as Joonbin voiced that they could go back, he could feel his shoulders slump and his body relax a little. Although while they were both still outside, he’d likely be at least somewhat tense, eyes darting around constantly watching for any sasaengs or gossip blogs just waiting for a candid. Usually, Minkyu didn’t care nearly this much about people following him, he was used to it and it was safe to say he didn’t engage in anything incriminating. Today was just... Special. Following closely, he wasn’t really sure what to say to him. That is, until. “Thank you.”
who: @minkyuvld
when: 200825
where: Summit Media’s building
There were many words to describe Beam ‘dedicated’ was one of them, the young woman always made sure to keep herself on top of her game that meant she practiced all the time, even when her schedule allowed her some free time to rest she decided it was better to spend that time perfecting her skills, after all her group’s debut was coming fast and she wanted to be more than ready to lead her members to a successful debut. As every day went by she felt more and more pressured about reaching perfection so she walked through the hallways of the building that over time seemed more like a second home to her, she knew the way to her training room by heart not even needing to look around her to know where she was going, it had become a habit of hers to get lost in her thoughts whenever she was walking around the hallways and boy did she have things to think about.
When she finally reached the door of the training room she was so absorbed by her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice the noise coming from inside the room, music and steps were perfectly audible but not to Beam, for her everything was quiet but the voice inside her head, she twisted the door knob opening the door and she let herself in quickly shutting it behind her, eyes glued to her phone, after a couple of seconds she finally looked up, the sight revealing the wrong training room, something that had never happened to her before and to make things more embarrassing there he was Minkyu, the last person she thought she was going to run into that day, her cheeks immediately got flushed if someone knew how bad it sucked to be disrupted like that it was her “Hey, I didn’t mean to.” Were the first words that she managed to let out “I’m so sorry to interrupt your training session.” She bowed slightly showing her respect for her senior since they knew each other from around but they didn’t really have a relationship of any sort.
The performance leader had never gone out of his way to engage with the trainees of the company, unless it was something his company had instructed him to do ( usually for content they could film and not out of genuine concern for them ) or, if they’d sought him out first. First and foremost, Han Minkyu focused on himself, and his own career. Secondly was twentytwenty, but even they weren’t exactly what you could call a close second. The dancer holds such a high regard for himself that there were several notches in the mental ladder he’s created between himself and his group. Even further down is where you could find the companies trainees. So, when he heard the room to his training room door open, and saw a young woman a vaguely knew to be Beam, he was less than impressed.
Once she noticed exactly where she was, Minkyu raised a brow and turned off the music with his phone, the sudden silence in the room between them almost uncomfortable. There was a free hand on his hip as he waited for her to explain herself, and why exactly she was here. From the sound of it, it had been an accident. Although, he wasn’t sure with how nervous she seemed to be. “Okay. What are you still doing here?” His breathing was still somewhat labored, heart rate still high from the routine he’d just been running through, his shirt clinging to his clammy body. As he waited for an explanation from the woman he ran a hand through damp hair, his bangs falling and resting against his sweaty forehead once more, his effort almost meaningless.
Jooae hauled the food inside, smiling gratefully when Minkyu relieved her of one of the bags. Her arms were lined with angry red marks from her struggle with them on her way to the trainee dorms; hopefully it would be worth it. From what she and Odum had tasted before packing everything up, it had tasted pretty good.
“I couldn’t find anybody to help me,” she explained with a shrug. “Besides, I made it. No harm no foul.” She followed Minkyu to the kitchen, relieved to finally be letting go of everything and making sure they were safely on the counter. She started taking the containers out of the bags so they could be put in the fridge and she could take the bags back with her.
“Hm?” she asked somewhat distractedly, before the question belatedly registered in her mind. “Oh! Yeah. Actually it took me half a day. I definitely started to appreciate being in a group of five. It was definitely… an overwhelming experience.” She noted his tone, however, and hurried up her work so she could get out of his hair. “If you or anybody else need anything, feel free to ask me for help! Just being in this dorm is stressing me out, granted it’s probably from memories more than anything, but still. I’d be happy to help.”
Raising a brow, Minkyu listened to what Jooae was saying. She was right, she made it. If the bags really had been too much of a hassle to bring, the young woman was the person who made the food, packed it, and set off with it all. Leaving a few containers to lighten the load and keep for herself definitely could have eased the struggle. But, she chose not to. Suddenly, all the internal guilty the twentytwenty member could have felt about her good deed dissipated in almost an instant.
As the SNC member began unpacking, Kyuu moved a few things around in the refrigerator to make room for the new containers to pack in after what Hamin had brought a few days before. Thankfully, there were some heavy eaters in the group, so it likely wouldn’t last long.
“I never have lived away from the dorm, so I have nothing to compare it to,” the dancer commented absentmindedly as he continued with the task, putting the next few containers away. He barely counted living at home as living alone, because he was either out training for his next acting audition or whatever his mother was fixated on at the time, or he was being monitored. Alone only physically. “I understand, being in a space with thirteen would be overwhelming for some. It was for me at first. Don’t feel like you have to stay.”
it’s the instantaneous reaction the younger boy gives that the lively interest inside yeseul’s eyes. the blunt remark that seethes no thought, something natural that comes about when the cameras are set aside. it pulls the edges of her lips in to a crisp smile with eyes steered towards the apartment’s settings off to the side. “warn people? didn’t atlas tell you staff was coming over to check on things?” yeseul questions, sarcasm blatant in her tone for she has no intentions to go over formalities and structures with someone she’s not responsible for.
her fingers tap away on the touch screen, marking various numbers down on the notepad she pulls out — amusement comes from minkyu, and she finds him more than a spectacle he relays himself to be in front of the cameras. “support you — you know, what is it the people say these days? the solo stan? i don’t know exactly what it means, but i do know that i wanted to manage you the second i saw that backhanded comment behind the scenes.” because blunt grandeur, crass bravado was something charming and rare in an industry plagued by faux images and wannabe perfection — something especially notable in summit artists. “they don’t think you’ve trashed it, but they’ve asked me to jot a few numbers considering someone filed a maintenance request. i had to double check on it.”
“I think you give the company too much credit, they don’t care enough about us to talk to us,” the idol mused with an indifferent shrug as he approached the kitchen sink, rising out his glasses before leaving them amongst the rest of the clutter. It wasn’t spoken in a way that was malicious, he didn’t expect Atlas to care about them. They’d already accommodated them enough to get a good image in the face of the public. Actually caring for those that weren’t their own was likely one step too far. He didn’t doubt any other company would be the same, Summit included.
An amused scoff leaves Minkyu’s lips as Yeseul calls herself a solo stan. He knew plenty of those online, constantly hash-tagging this or that about Minkyu being too good for the rest of the group, about them holding him back, and so on. While he agreed with him in a way, it’s not something he was ever going to voice outside of his own mind. “They have you doing maintenance? They really are trying to save money,” he hummed out as he leaned against the counter, raising a brow at the manager. “So, what was it? That made you uh, solo stan. I guess you have an eye for talent.” While he could take a number of guesses himself, it was always nice to hear opinions from an outside perspective.
if hyuck opened up twitter and scrolled through a few p.s. accounts for an understanding of what their fans thought of him, he would find an overwhelming amount calling him twentytwenty’s mom. it came from a series of things, but it was definitely a narrative summit media adored to broadcast. he didn’t love the comparisons, but he supposed he could see where people drew them from. his regular attempts to wrangle his members, specifically kyuu, into healthy eating habits, did remind him of how his mom had to wrangle the twins. he finished opening all the boxes of food, uncapping one bottle of water for himself.
watching kyuu eat reminded him of all the comments from fans about how their sweet princely boyfriend han minkyu ate so well. he had wanted to snort the first time he heard it, but it was nice for kyuu to actually eat a meal rather than attempt to photosynthesize, or whatever it was he thought he could do instead of eating for energy.
“thanks, it’s my mom’s recipe.” it was one of the first things he got a hang of cooking, other than ramen and making rice in a rice cooker. he put the water bottle down, sitting across from kyuu on the floor. “i taste-tested while i was cooking.”
Surely there were those within the Summit Media walls that assumed with his habits, Minkyu was a slave to those who insisted idols look a certain way, the body standards expected of those on the stage. Really, if you knew him well, a lot of his terrible eating habits were accidental. If he was sat down with a meal in front of him, not in the middle of an activity that he knew would benefit him more than wasting his time on a meal, he could eat very well. Because of this, P.S assumed Minkyu ate well all the time. You couldn’t blame them, since if they’re eating on camera it would be a time that falls into those categories of nothing better to do than to eat.
Deep down, he was thankful for members like Hyuck. While he wasn’t skinny he could definitely stand to put on a little weight. The stylists often became annoyed when they measured him one week, and he returned with different measurements the next. This often happened when he was working hard for a comeback, too preoccupied to think about anything else.
“So you’re going to join me?” The younger mentioned, looking over at his group member as he put a piece of fried chicken into his mouth. It wasn’t asked in a way that insinuated he didn’t want him here, he was merely curious if he had somewhere more important to be. “What have you been working on lately?” He asked a follow up question, mumbling around his bite. Really, as of late he’d been too focused on himself and the situation at Summit, so he hadn’t had much time to be interested in his other member’s schedules.
At his answer, she only nodded and drank a little more. That was good, she imagined it would be spectacular just like everything about him. Hyuck and Saeun rarely talked about their own groups and their members, she didn’t keep up with TwentyTwenty as she did with younger groups and trainees, because they had a great leader and she knew that it was none of her business. But she was glad that Minkyu was considering, or who knew, maybe even working on a solo project already, because he had talented and a lot of stage presence, he would do amazing in whatever he decided to ever do.
“No, not so soon.” It wasn’t like she would wrap up one drama and start filming for another the next day, but it was in her plans to continue acting. She had truly enjoyed the experience, she knew she had done well, and while they still needed to see what the public thought, she was pretty confident that the drama would do great. They had a wonderful cast and the scripts were beautiful, and she knew that at least Hamin oppa was part of the OST; all of that just told her that she had nothing to worry about. But Saeun had always been a positive person, she didn’t want to worry about things going wrong. “It will be. Why wouldn’t it? We have worked hard, we enjoyed filming it, and that makes it successful already. It was a great experience, so even if the public doesn’t find it as good as we hope for, at least I have great memories.”
It seemed as if Minkyu blinked and his drink was empty, the sugary sweetness of the syrups in the cocktail making it ridiculously easy to drink. Thankfully, the area of the bar they were at wasn’t too busy, so it wouldn’t be much of an inconvenience to get himself another one. For once, he would let loose a little, even if the person he was with wasn’t his first choice in company. Saeun was... Fine. Out of all the Iota members, she would likely be his first pick there. At the very least if he had to spend his Sundays with someone, it was her.
“Do you need me to get you a dictionary? I don’t know if you have the right definition of success,” he commented, slurping at his straw until it made that obnoxious noise as he tried to continue to suck up the remnants of his drink, making the most of it before he put in the effort to go to the bar. Swirling his straw around, he closed one eyelid so he could get a better look at the bottom to make sure he really hadn’t missed anything. “No use having great memories if they won’t employ you again after the show is a flop.” Pausing, the twentytwenty member pursed his lips before making eye contact with the Iota leader again. “If it’s a flop. I’m not hoping that it is, I only believe it’s more useful in the long run to be realistic, than optimistic. You can properly set expectations that way.” If he wanted to have a good night, now wasn’t the time to coach his label mates on their career choices. “Do you want a refill?”
ah, seyong had missed this. minkyu was so snarky. that kind of passion for everything he encountered was so absent from yong’s life that being on the receiving end was invigorating in and of itself.
then again, he’d even reacted this way when they were younger. minkyu surely has no recollection of him as clear as seyong’s, the older yoon brother having been absent from jinju since 2003. how far away all of the petty bickering and excited giggles were from their currently reality.
way back when, han minkyu had been a lot less… standoffish. a stickler for the rules, undeniably, but it was difficult to dislike him given how cute he was. seyoon had never once agreed, but perhaps seyong was just biased as he grew older. plus, the stuck up need to win always added a lot more competitiveness to their usually repetitive playground visits.
“of course not!” there’s little to do but ignore minkyu’s aggression. just like back then, pandering to his spurts of annoyance never did anyone good - the least of whom, minkyu himself.
he looks over his shoulder, watching a gathering group of trainees gossip over the summit idol who’d clearly just found himself void of a training space; “you might be beloved outside these premises, but those kids have to claw at one another in packs for practice rooms. we are severely under resourced.”
there’s no way minkyu would believe how the atlas kids scampered around him, so he ignores mentioning the fact he’d thoroughly frightened a group of grumbling teens to allow joonbin some time alone. it’d been exhausting having to speak to them, and he had no intentions of repeating the instance.
“what do you say to a meal? with an artist’s discount, nonetheless?”
Most of the memories in Minkyu’s mind of his and Seyong’s childhood were in fact, planted there by the older soloist himself. With the twentytwenty member being so young at the time, he didn’t actually have his own thoughts and recollections about the time, stories told by the older having worked their way in and created some kind of story to suit himself. For all Minkyu knew, everything he’d ever been told could be a lie. Regardless, it was all he had aside from the odd picture or two he’d seen over the years to put them together. His parents had never cared to keep such images of those they now considered beneath them.
It was still hard to believe there had been a time where Minkyu and Seyong were in each other’s lives, and the dancer felt anything other than annoyance and disdain for the older man. All he could simply do is take his word for it. Not that he was planning on letting on that he might believe him. Papillon, if anything, was known to be an excellent storyteller through his music. Why not this, too?
Usually, Minkyu would somewhat try to entertain trainees around him. At least for a couple of minutes before becoming annoyed and leaving them to their own devices. Today with Seyong in front of him, he simply couldn’t be bothered.
“So I’ve noticed. Perhaps if their artists made them more money Atlas would have better resources to offer,” he countered with a raised brow, pursing his lips as he continued to keep eye contact with the taller man. “You’re inviting me to a meal and you’re offering a discount, not to pay?” Minkyu scoffed as he spoke, licking over his lips and chewing at the skin. A bad habit he’d had for years. “Why should I do that?”
she feels like a slave within her own company, the first time she’s felt the grasp of helplessness underneath atlas’ orders. today, her priorities aren’t stuck inside the borders of snc, but instead she’s filling in for some sick staff making sure the boys in summit are assimilating nice to their environment. never one to dip her interest in other groups besides her company’s own, she keeps quiet as her fingers tap the passcode to the dorm she’s to inspect for the day. a few beeps and she’s in — she can see the mess of mangled shoes, and the musty scent of leftover dishes not done by the day.
she tip toes across the wooden floors, silence echoes. then all of a sudden — she sees him, business layers sweep right past her shoulders. “kyuu from 2020? i once saw you being a dick to someone back stage,” it blurts out of her mouth without a thought, filter-free and her eyes glimmer something warm and in-awe. “right after fan service to a camera, and straight to being a dick on stage — that’s when i knew. i needed to support you.” and it’s then when she catches herself slip away from professionalism, a tongue grazing her bottom lip in a heavy sigh. “sorry about that. i’m son yeseul, manager of snc — staff of atlas. it’s why i’m here today, to check up on your dorms.”
The temporary living accommodations for the twentytwenty boys inside the Atlas building was, in short terms, chaos. Their moving in had happened quickly, so much that belongings had practically been thrown into rooms for them, leaving the members to rummage through and find their own things for themselves. For the most part, they ended up simply sleeping in the room their stuff had ended up in, too knocked down to try and do things right. Besides, maybe having a different room mate for a few weeks would help to spice things up. It was safe to assume that with them becoming assimilated with their new, makeshift home, they hadn’t thought about simple things such as tidying and cleaning.
Exiting ‘his’ room, Minkyu had two glasses in his hands to take to the kitchen, ready to be washed ( or placed down in the sink and forgotten about for days ) when a woman in the space surprised him, her words causing his body to jolt with surprise. “Geez. Warn people when you let yourself in.” Looking her up and down, at first he didn’t recognise her, ignoring her comment about being a dick. She was probably right, no use elaborating on it. That is, until she implied it was a good thing. “Support me?” He questioned cautiously with a raised brow, continuing on his way to the kitchen. “Why, does the company not trust us and think we’ve trashed it or something?” While his question was valid, looking around it wasn’t too far of a stretch from the reality.
the atmosphere in the borrowed atlas records dorm was less than stellar, each of the thirteen members seemingly doing their best to keep it together in front of the rest of the team but, with time, cracks were slowly coming to the surface. from an outside perspective, the group was soaring but from the inside, it seemed more like they were freefalling — luckily for the group as a whole, it didn’t seem like summit had caught on yet, which meant they couldn’t have fallen that deep yet.
still, that thought did nothing to comfort moonsoo, who went from upset to angry in seemingly three seconds flat, a testament to how bad his insomnia had been recently. minkyu’s harsh tone and loud rummaging dug at the vocalist’s nerves even more than it usually would, clutching the counter even harder than he was a second ago.
“you don’t own the kitchen either, asshole.” he muttered just loud enough for the dancer to hear, knowing that that was what he wanted. if minkyu wanted a fight, he would get one — fighting with the other was easy and familiar, something he felt like he could actually control.
standing up straight, moonsoo turned to face the other, a mix of rage and exhastion in his eyes. “do you ever think about anyone but yourself? does it ever occur to you that the universe doesn’t revolve aroun han fucking minkyu?” he spit the words out with more bite than necessary, frustration from everything that had been happening recently bubbling to the surface. much like any other time they fought, kyuu was an irritant, but never the actual source of moonie’s anger.
Once he’d acquired the spoon and chopsticks ( taking longer than necessary to ‘find’ them in the drawer to create more irritated noise ) he slammed closed the cutlery drawer, jaw clenching as the dancer turned his body to make eye contact with Moonie. Of course he doesn’t own the kitchen, but he wasn’t in anybody’s way, telling them to shut up before they’d even spoken. However not wasn’t the time for logic, now was the time to be irrational and stubborn.
At the very least, Minkyu knew when he was being irrational and stubborn. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong. Not to him, anyway.
Perhaps deep down a fight is what they both needed, a way to vent out frustrations without dragging anyone else into their problems. Fighting between the two of them was easy and familiar, and aside from the one fight that caused the no hits to the face rule to be put in place, nothing had ever been hurt except feelings temporarily.
“No.” Minkyu answered, leaning prominently on one leg, folding his arms across his ( puffed out ) chest with the cutlery still in hand. Licking his lips, he raised both of his brows, waiting to see what else Moonie had to say. That is, before he decided he wanted to keep talking. “Why would I think about anyone else when they speak to me the way you do? Next time, get out of my way sooner or I’ll shove you harder.”
