hello friends!! juls here, coming to you with some news. lately my mind has been terribly scattered and my mental health hasn’t been the best, and so my muse for jisu has been practically nonexistent. i’ve been struggling to write for her for a bit now, and i think it’s time to let her go and take a break. maybe i’ll come back another time, when i’m feeling better, but for now, this is it for my 3rd (4th?) stint in rookies. see you all soon!! remember to drink loads of water and take care of yourselves <3
the walk from her house to the gym is a very familiar one to jisu. it’s not that she’s a gym rat but she does visit the fitness installations fairly often. keeping in shape is something her mother had always instilled in her, and building stamina had become one of jisu’s goals the moment she had decided performing on stage was going to be her future. of course, with all of her ballet, tap and modern dance classes some people would say it’s enough, and it certainly helps with cardio, but she somehow has always felt that she needed more than just dance. and that’s where her almost daily visits to the gym come in.
the building is not far from jisu’s place, and she makes it there soon after leaving home. it’s late enough in the evening that the place isn’t that busy anymore, and so jisu has her picking on the machines. she’s making her way to one of the elliptical machines, when she spots a familiar face. with a smile on her face, she changes directions and walks up to one of the guys exercising a few meters away. with a tinge of mischief in her expression, she covers his eyes with her hands, and with a cute voice, talks into his ear. “byeongkwan oppa, who am i?”
hello friends! i have finally created a plot page! it is here so please like this post if you’d like to plot! it’s also totally open to modifications, so if something there kinda fits but not really and you’d like to do it, just come chat to me!
alternatively, i still need to do my charisma starters, so if you’d like one of those, just reply to this post with a word/emoji and i’ll get some done asap!
he’s practising his lines in a dimly lit studio, pacing along in front of the wall length mirror, when a voice joins him, making him jump slightly. it’s a girl he’s not met before, but despite the unexpectedness of her arrival, he beams - he’d been wishing for someone to recite lines with, and here’s someone who apparently knows them off by heart.
he skips over juliet’s line that goes next, ‘hist, romeo, hist!’ and continues to his next line. “it is my soul that calls upon my name. how silver-sweet sound lovers tongues by night, like softest music to attending ears.”
it’s not like jisu knows every single play out there by heart. but, she is nothing if not a theatre fan, and as such, there are some classics she does know like the palm of her hand. romeo and juliet, of course, is such a classic. not to mention, she had played the juliet role back several times, back in middle school in new york and a couple years ago at sopa. the screenplay is recent enough in her mind that the lines automatically come to her when she hears romeo’s line.
she’s not sure what exactly made her spontaneously join the other boy’s rehearsal like that, except maybe that she is a theatre kid at heart, and she doesn’t always have total control over her mind and body. thankfully, the boy doesn’t seem too disturbed by her appearance and impromptu recitation, judging by his wide smile and continuation of his lines. encouraged by his reaction, jisu comes closer to the boy -hopefully a classmate of hers and not some random stranger reciting shakespeare lines in a dimly lit studio. she quickly slips into character, forgetting all about that vocal lesson she has in an hour and imagining herself in fourteenth century italy, on a rose-covered balcony. “romeo!” her voice is hushed and soft, as she would do on stage, and there’s a spark in her eyes that could easily pass for infatuation. “at what o’clock tomorrow shall i send to thee?”
the sun is out today, yet a scarf is wrapped around jisu’s throat as she walks around the k-arts campus. she’s just started classes, and the mazelike corridors of the buildings are really not helping her get any idea of where she is. they all look the same to her, and the class numbers make it even more confusing. this is an arts college, not a sciences one, couldn’t they have named the rooms after famous artists instead of with digits? she’s just left her stage performance 101 class, and she has an hour to eat and find the vocal lessons class, and she’s no closer to find it than she was ten minutes ago, when she actually left the other classroom. on top of that, this part of the building seems to be deserted, for some reason, so there isn’t even someone to stop and ask for some help.
after five more minutes of aimlessly walking, jisu decides that’s it. she’s done searching on her own. she’ll just knock on any classroom’s door and ask whoever the teacher in it is where the damned room is. what is her luck, that the first few doors she tries are just as empty as the corridors. frustrated and about to abandon her search and just walk all the way back to reception – if she can find it, that is – she decides to try one last door before giving up.
to her surprise, the room is actually occupied, and jisu just stands there for a second, the person inside still unaware. before she can actually speak, the boy inside, all alone in the room except for jisu now, starts reciting some lines from no other than romeo and juliet. jisu is caught in his interpretation and, before she quite realizes what she’s doing, she jumps in with juliet’s lines, her actress soul just taking over her. “a thousand times the worse, to want thy light. love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books, but love from love, toward school with heavy looks.”
winter singer contest performance
┗ just you, not now by grace
┗ wc: 802 w/lyrics | 579 wo/lyrics
seoul is cold in the winter. it’s one of the things jisu loves about the city, the fact that the seasons are so clearly marked and so extreme. there’s a knitted scarf around her neck, making sure her throat is protected from the chilly weather. she’s always been mindful about staying healthy during the colder seasons, but specially so about her throat not getting hurt. it is, after all, her money maker, and jisu can’t really fathom what she’d do if she couldn’t sing.
the times square mall is busy, most seoulites seeking refuge indoors where there’s heaters and hot food. jisu makes her way to the center of the place, where events take place. there’s a high raised platform and a small crowd gathers around it. a boy is singing on the stage, an emotive ballad that perfectly fits the “winter” theme of the contest jisu is also singing for. she watches his performance for a little while, but it isn’t long before she makes her way to where the organizers stand. after giving her name and leaving her coat and scarf in the little backstage area. jisu starts to warm up her voice.
a few minutes later, the organizers call her name, and so jisu makes her way up to the stage, her steps confident and a bright smile on her face. there’s a small keyboard set up for her, a mic over it, and she sits down carefully at it, making sure the bench and mic are at the right height before she speaks. “hello, everyone, i’m choi jisu and i’ll be singing just you, not now, by grace,” she says into the microphone, projecting her voice and enunciating clearly. “i hope you enjoy this performance.”
she plays a few chords on the piano before she starts to sing, voice clear but soft, waiting for the chorus to build up. there’s emotion in her voice, and her facial expressions perfectly match the bittersweet lyrics of the song.
you tried to hold me but i'm pulling away
i don't know what to say, you know i can't stay
why'd you try to stand in the way?
i hear the whispers, that you're no good for me
baby we're so young, saying i'm the one
do you even know what you wanna be?
as the pre-chorus starts, her voice starts gathering strength, more passion infused into the singing. her piano playing matches her singing, the deep chords making her voice stand out even more.
skyline, the city lights, well maybe both of us are getting hurt
this time i gotta try, so baby please don't say another word
when the chorus hits, that’s when jisu really shines, belting the notes like she loves to do. she stays perfectly in pitch, managing to reach the high notes without her voice cracking. it’s clear she’s enjoying this, enjoying the spotlight on her and the performance, emotions easy to read on her face like an open book.
boy, there's no wishing on a star tonight
cause i don't love you anymore
so darling if you love me, let me go
oh, i've already made up my mind
cause i don't love you anymore
so darling if you love me, let me go
after the first chorus, she moves on directly onto the bridge, having decided to do an abridged version of the song. her voice softens, almost a whisper, before it builds up again. she might not have experienced heartbreak like the lyrics tell before, but she is an actress after all, and embodying emotions and feelings she hasn’t necessarily been through before it’s something that comes natural to her after so many years performing.
we both know the truth is
we both know the, we both know the truth is
i don't need a single word, this love will never die
and i don't wanna do this
i don't really wanna have to do this
and it tears me up inside
to look you in the eyes and say…
the last chorus comes around, and jisu lets out the big guns, her voice soaring even more than before if possible. it’s a short ending, with her voice driting softly and the piano playing a few last melancholic chords before it goes quiet.
boy, there's no wishing on a star tonight
cause i don't love you anymore
so darling if you love me, let me go
oh, i've already made up my mind
cause i don't love you anymore
so darling if you love me, let me go
when the song finishes, jisu takes a deep breath, letting her emotions calm down before she looks up at the public, directing them a sweet smile as they clap. “thank you so much,” she says honestly, “i hope you enjoy the rest of the show too!”
hello friends! it’s your local turtle juls here! (who also plays sophie) i come to you with a new muse that’s been cooking for a while but i only had time to bring her in just now: choi jisu (aka lia from itzy). please give her lots of love and plot with her!! under the cut there’s a bit more info about her and some rough plots :3 if you’d like to plot please like this post and i’ll slide into your ims asap!!
about jisu!
born in seoul to an orchestra director and a failed actress turned rich housewife/stage mom
moved to ny at age 4 due to her father getting a new job there, and she loved it
move back to seoul at age 12 and has been there since
looooooooooves ( i cannot emphasize it enough) musical theatre; it is her life and passion and she’d do anything for it
went to sopa (just graduated) and currently attends karts for musical theatre (starts her first year in feb)
did pageants when she was younger but it really wasn’t her thing so she left it - much to her mom’s chagrin
has received piano & ballet lessons since she was five, tap dancing since she was eight, singing since she was nine and hip hop dance since she was twelve. she’s also received ballroom and swing lessons, but none of the styles have captured her heart like tap does
starred in all of her school plays, as lead roles, and has been part of a couple of ensembles for musicals both in ny and seoul
has a youtube channel, jistars, where she posts song and dance covers, mostly of musicals, but there’s a bit of everything there
a really good singer, a pretty decent dancer
hardworking, honest, a bit proud, a bit conceited, overachiever, competitive
plots!
rivals! someone also interested in the musical theatre world who tends to go for the same roles jisu does (preferably female as there’s more role overlap, but male works too!)
bffs! jisu doesn’t get close to many people, but the few people she does, she gets really close. like, “we go to each other’s houses to nap” close
crushes! jisu is a hopeless romantic, and as such, gets crushes so often it’s almost impossible to keep track of them (mostly male, but also some female ones!)
collabs! jisu is always happy to collab with others, whether on a dance or a singing cover (as long as you don’t overtake her spotlight)
cousin(s)! jisu’s father is from seoul, and her mother is from chuncheon, and both have siblings so jisu could technically have several cousins on both sides!
karts students!
sopa (ex)students!
that’s it for now!! i’ll reply to all messages and get to plotting now :D
kianamaiart
dailybridgerton
ellievsbear
prguitarman
blakekathryn
stormborns
gummygunk
origamiaround
