박 지민

"My aim is frankly to be the first." ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲

[happinessxdelight]

니 앞에서 난 먼지; closed

[happinessxdelight]

   A voice startles him, resulting in his Santa Chicken dropping into the water. One more step from beating his high score, too. Chanyeol’s mouth opens in preparation of a hellish rage towards his dongsaeng, but no dongsaeng of his calls him sunbae-nim… “Ah, Jimin-ssi!” Chanyeol stands up, his once sour face now the manifestation of sunshine. His expression only grows brighter with each step he takes towards Jimin, his hands are hiding the CD behind his back. “It’s easy to find our dressing room, right? It’s usually—” A garbled sound of displeasure escapes from Chanyeol as he leans back to let a member, Sehun? Kai?—pass through the two of them. He looks at Jimin sheepishly in apology, and continues, “As you can obviously see, it’s usually pretty busy, so most of the time it stands out when we participate in performances like this. Sometimes we get two dressing rooms!”

   Chanyeol looks around the chaos (commonly known as EXO), getting caught up with the sights and his own mind before looking back at Jimin, finally remembering what he was here for. “Oh right, the CD!” There’s an internal sigh of relief as Chanyeol reveals the disc and sees that there’s nothing written on it (no CHANYEOL’S MAD MIX, no PARK CHANYEOL’S FINEST CREATION, not even Chanyeol). He has the tendency to doodle on just about anything that has a flat surface, but he’s not going to quit his day job for it (or for anything, actually). Slowly, awkwardly, and with an unsteady breath, Chanyeol lays the CD on top of his hands, holding it out for Jimin to take. “Please enjoy it for as long as you would like!” A bow naturally comes from Chanyeol; while the other doesn’t know it, Jimin to Chanyeol in this moment is just like another producer that Chanyeol (tries to) shows his work to. He’s giving away his baby. A deep breath is a prayer, ‘Please let Park Jimin like the trap music that I made. Please. If he does, then I will be one—three steps closer in becoming a true producer.’

   It’s out of his hands now, figuratively and literally, so Chanyeol chooses not to look back on what could have been, but what will be (if only he did that all the time). Licking his lips, he goes out on a limb and asks, “Jimin-ssi…I know you must be busy with your comeback on the way, but if you happen to finish listening to the CD and have time, maybe we could uh, talk about it over some coffee or a meal?” His smile grows more bashful, more hopeful, but definitely not any less joyful. He rises up and down on the balls of his feet, it’s impossible for him to stay still, even for three seconds. “Only if you want, though! And if our schedules are free at the same time. I would really like it if we did.” Chanyeol talks, and talks, and talks, before finally finishing with a chagrined laugh. How people look up to Chanyeol, an absolute dork, especially how Jimin is able to call him sunbae-nim is nothing less than astounding. The desire to change the other’s honorific to –ah rather than –ssi is strong inside Chanyeol, but he can’t, not yet. Jimin isn’t Jimin the dongsaeng, the hoobae, the friend, he’s Jimin the judge right now, and Chanyeol just can’t look past that, no matter how big his smile.

[pxkjimin]

With the mention of the exact reason he had migrated off to another group’s room, he’s almost hesitant to take the media from the elder’s hands – not only was he trusting Jimin with it, but that would’ve been the end of their interaction and then it was back to usual place. The two hard barely been able to exchange more than maybe a paragraph of words during the show added on with the current situation – it definitely wasn’t enough for Jimin’s liking, especially when his own mind was fighting to push more than one-worded responses through the usually talkative but now taciturn singer. Though he doesn’t want to seem rude, so of course, he returns the bow and holds it a few seconds longer than the rapper, slowly lifting both hands to take a hold of the case and swallowing down his nerves. Lips part to respond to the elder’s words after a moment of silence, but he’s beat by Chanyeol and left speechless for some seconds, eyes blinking as if making sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Y-Yes!,” the word escape through his lips before he can give any thought to the other’s offer, and his eyes grow a bit wider, a light cherry color starting to crawl onto his cheeks and the tips of his ears. And with that, his mind was already preparing him for some time of denial after seeming probably too eager to the offer. He rarely got to see anyone outside the dorm of the six other males, so Jimin always took the opportunity to leave whenever given the chance – which would give reason to the amount of hours he’d spend in the practice room. So when faced with the chance of hanging out with not just another person but Park Chanyeol out of all people, how could he not be excited? The singer tries calming himself (taking a few breaths and possibly fanning his reddened face) before continuing his words; maybe earn himself back some of that pride he threw out the window, “I mean—that’d be great; I’d really like that too!” … Alright, so he failed with sounding any less excited over the ordeal with his constant nodding and rather childish voice, but at this point, he honestly couldn’t care less when he might be able to hang out with the rapper.

After responding, he starts patting down the fronts of his jeans then the back in search of the little device, his free hand pausing at the bulge in his back pocket then reaching in to retrieve his cellphone – oh, why did I have to choose the Mickey phone case?  Trying not to be so obvious about keeping his phone screen facing up to hide the cartoon, Jimin holds it up by the corner towards the rapper, voice starting off quiet then raising up when he manages to find a bit of confidence – but then right back down, trailing to a mumble by the end of it, “If you want, you can give me your number, and I can message you whenever you’re not busy. To get coffee or a meal or just talk some, whatever you’d like really! Or—if you’re more comfortable with me giving you my number instead, anything works really--” He nods another few times, throat clearing and awaiting some form of response whether it be Chanyeol taking the device or maybe a smile or even a simple ‘yes’ would suffice.

[jxsora-blog]

“Mmhm— I’m good at keeping secrets.” She replied, gaze lowered to the pavement, tracing the cracks that lined it. That was the truth. Many strange things have happened to her and yet, she was able to keep it under wraps for so long. Maybe too long for her own good, it was bound to take a toll on her someday. Attention captured by his sigh, she discards those thoughts of hers,  settling for a raised a brow instead. Were the practices taking a toll on him? As a fan, she was constantly amazed by the brilliant stages they presented, the time they spent practicing though, often slipping out of mind. “More practice is good but do get some rest too alright?” She flashes an encouraging smile.

“ — Me? Oh, I was heading to the dance studio… just a few blocks away from your company actually.” She gestures in the direction of it, a quick thought coming to her mind. A grin she fails to suppress and attempts to hide it with the back of her hand. She nudged him lightly, lips parting to speak. “Now you know where to find me if you ever need any back-up dancers!” Sora knew the probability of it ever coming true was close to zero, but the mere verbalisation of it ignited a hope in her, no matter how small. It made her happy.

[pxkjimin]

The response makes a laugh escape from him again, though he makes sure to give it a playful tone rather than a teasing one. He would’ve loved to be able to grant upcoming dancers spots in some of their performance – half of the reason being he really enjoyed learning and he knew how fun it would be for them, and of course the other half wanting to shine some light of popularity on the aspiring dancers. If it were him a few years ago when he was still down in Busan in that dance academy, he would’ve jokingly offered the same thing. You always had to sell yourself anyways—

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sora-ssi!” He gives a few nods with his lips pressed together as if actually taking the thought into mind (if he could choose, then he definitely would). After clearing his throat, his mind started nagging him of those members awaiting him in the practice studio, and he thought that maybe it really should be time that he get going as much as he was enjoying this short interaction. His next request comes out quicker than he give much thought to or even process it, and he tries sneaking in some type of reason for it, “Hey, why don’t I get your number? I can’t exactly walk you to your destination, but you’ll shoot me a text when you get there safely, alright?” He’s left blinking for a moment in silence, one hand digging in his pocket and retrieving the cellphone of his, holding it out towards the female, “What do you say?”

[iheophrodite]

Noticing the other pulling his device into view, Gayoon did the same. Fumbling with the piece of technology, the idol wasn’t too savvy on anything that contained too many commands. Glancing back towards the male, she held the phone out in his direction,”You put yours in here,  I don’t want to mess up anything and end up contacting the wrong person.” The small woman mused aloud, a laugh leaving her while admitting her own embarrassment. 

[pxkjimin]

Taking the female’s phone, Jimin handled the device with such care and gentleness; it honestly seemed like he was carrying a child rather than just an electronic. With the same amount of carefulness, he softly taps the phone’s screen to add his number – the little voice in his head silently congratulating him for succeeding on the task. His eyes rise back toward the Gayoon, shrinking slightly in an eye smile while returning the laugh with one of his own, “Well thankfully I’m not terrible with this, so you should have the right number – don’t be afraid to send a message, alright?” His head tilts to the side while returning the device, smile still bright.

[strikwoo]

After he finished giving all of the uniform sets away, the captain reached down to tighten the pads around his shins and pulled up his socks afterwards. Now was a good time as ever to show off his skills— oops, he certainly meant warm up. He placed his foot on top of the soccer ball and rolled it back before kicking it up into the air. Of course, he had choose the best thing he was good at.

"Since I could walk, pretty much. I come from a long line of soccer players from my dad side and my mom side brings a lot of hard workers. People who came from nothing and built an empire. Pretty big inspirations for me. Besides Ibrah and all that. —You probably don’t even know who that is, wow. I mean, have you heard of Ronaldo at least?"

[pxkjimin]

He brushes down the wrinkles ofthe uniform while listening the other male speak, eyes glancing up for a momentas stylists migrated over to fix up the members’ looks. His bottom lip juts out slightly with being interrupted from his attempt of being social, though he still tries speaking through the prodding hands, “Not many of us pay attention to soccer since we’ve got dancing or composing, but—yeah, we’ve heard of Ronaldo!”

With eyes shrinking up into a smile, he gives a bow to the staff, one hand lifting up to ruffle up his hair as his attention wavers around the room – looking for maybe some form of leader, “We did pay attention to the World Cup last year though-- wonder when we’re gonna get started, hm.”

[omfgjimin]

don't stan this boy. he will end you.

[iheophrodite]

Rolling her lips in slightly, the thought of not giving it to him could be mean since she made it seem like she would give it to him. Humming out loudly for a moment before giving him a small nod, her smile unwavering,”You can have it, but you can’t pass it around or I’m coming after you.”

[pxkjimin]

Another pause—was she actually offering to give Jimin her number? There was no doubt to him that this was the same Gayoon he had been listening to practically non-stop (with 4minute’s comeback, who wasn’t listening to the song, come on), and he wants to ask her once again to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming. Instead he just acts on her words and slips his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, offering a cheeky smile while looking towards her, “I wouldn’t do such a thing, but hey – you’ll have my number if I do happen to break the promise.”

[happinessxdelight]

니 앞에서 난 먼지; closed

[happinessxdelight]

   ‘I’m sorry, I should have never asked, it’s stupid anyways’ were words that Chanyeol had mentally prepared himself to say in the very possible case that Jimin would deny his request, but he doesn’t, and Chanyeol drops his jaw. “O-okay, great!” His words come out as a stammer, unprepared and tentative; his excitement didn’t seem to be completely reciprocated, as was the case in most situations—but Chanyeol refuses to dwell on it any longer. A sure was a yes and a yes meant a yes, surely. He focuses back onto what appeared to be the last performance, and nodded in agreement to Jimin’s observation. Pink lips press together to hide the smile that was threatening to expose itself; he’s sympathetic to Jimin’s slipup, it’s happened to him far too many times, including just a few minutes ago, so he was in no place to laugh. But he ends up chuckling at Jimin’s last comment, nodding and tugging on his damp collar. “Yes, I definitely know how you feel. I’m sweating like a pig in here…”

   Those words end the program. Everyone rises from their seats signals that Chanyeol is about to be swept away into the crowd. “Jimin-ssi!” Despite the formality of his voice, Chanyeol achieves intimacy by suddenly grabbing Jimin’s hand and looking directly into his eyes, as if his life is now on the line (to Chanyeol, it does!). “My dressing room is the first one on the right, downstairs! It’s in big letters and—stop—” He shrugs off the EXO member that pulls him up from his chair. “You’ll be able to clearly tell that it’s our dressing room. Usually there’s a lot of noise coming from there, and people constantly walking in and out, but I’ll be there!” Waving frantically and excessively, Chanyeol turns and scurries to catch up with the rest of EXO, bowing lightly and shaking hands with people along the way.

   A real sugar jet, Chanyeol is nothing but smiles and laughs and greetings and goodbyes until he reaches his dressing room, in which he promptly lets out a celebratory shout as he begins to peel away pieces of his suit. A dressing room normally acted as his second—third—fourth home (the former homes being hotel rooms, airplanes, and cars, respectively). No matter how dapper he looked, Chanyeol refuses to wear it longer than needed, much preferring jeans and a sweatshirt. In this moment, he lingers in nothing but his shorts and a tank top, airing himself out as he gets his makeup removed. There was always a bit of formalities and such that his staff had to finished before he got to go home, thus allowing time for a bit of wind-down and relaxation after such a busy day. Ignoring everyone and everything else, he makes his way onto the couch parallel to the door with his CD in hand and pulls out his phone, as if he isn’t waiting for one of the more terrifying moments in his life to occur. He’s giving away his brain-child, his raw creation, to someone whose music he could only ever dream of making something like. He smothers his anxiety with Crossy Road (a more bearable form of anxiety), and waits.

[pxkjimin]

With the noise of everyone getting up from their seats and shuffling around to leave (along with a certain member of his tugging at the fabric of his shirt, another ruffling up his styled hair and teasing the singer over finally making a new friend of his own), he can barely hear the elder’s directions and has to lean in slightly to make sure he gets every detail. Not a second after the rapper finishes speaking, Jimin bows his head a couple times towards his direction before being pulled away by his members (who had figured he already got enough time socializing).

On the way to his own dressing room, he has one hand on the shoulder of one of his hyungs (Hoseok who definitely wouldn’t question any type of skinship), so he can mentally repeat the minor details to himself, barely paying any attention to his surroundings and randomly bowing whenever he feels Seok’s shoulder start to lower down. Once in their own dressing room, he’s quick to shrug the jacket off of his shoulders, thanking a staff member that hands him a towel, and begins to pat down his neck and around his hairline in hopes that it’d make the sweating stop. Of course, he wasn’t too fond of having his hair and clothes stick to his skin, but the main reason for trying to get rid of the sweat was his little want of looking decent in front of Chanyeol. He’s close to just staying in the suit, but then realizes that the rapper probably wasn’t going to do the same and begins to change into more comfortable clothing – a white t-shirt much too big for his small frame and their usual black skinny jeans. For a moment, he’s just standing there, watching staff members and his hyungs run around frantically to finish their tasks, and he’s stuck on how exactly he should approach actually… going off to another group’s dressing room. At first, he’s hesitant on telling his manager what exactly he’s doing and resorts to just tugging, again, Seok to the side (telling him just what he planned to which the hyung merely nodded, ruffling the boy’s hair again).

Walking over to another EXO’s room, he probably looks much like a lost child, sparing a glance into each room and listening for that deep voice he had heard minutes ago, a hand clinging onto his arm as if it was the only thing comforting him at the moment. When he does reach a room which seems to be moving… a lot more than most, he assumes it to be because of the large number of members and begins to walk in (Chanyeol is completely in view of the doorway, so at least he knows he’s in the right room), feeling completely out of place (with BTS being a group based on hip hop, and most of EXO being—rather attractive). He doesn’t stop bowing the second he enters the room – at this point, he doesn’t even realize just who he was greeting, could’ve been another 선배, a water boy, a stylist noona, manager, all he knew was that they were probably more experience in whatever it was they were doing, so bowing was definitely necessary. His voice is barely audible through the rustling and noise of the room, and he has to clear his voice a few times once he’s in front of Chanyeol though his words are still hesitant and slightly shaky, “H-Hyung—I mean, Chanyeol 선배님!” Come on, Jimin. You literally just talked to this guy.

[strikwoo]

This one must be their captain, Hyunwoo thought as he looked at the blonde tallest one from head to toe. This was almost too easy. He could beat them in thirty minutes tops. But, of course, they had to stretch it out for the broadcast. He also knew in the back of his head that if he beat these guys too badly, their fans would definitely be after them like wild lions. The teen shivered slightly at the thought of being eaten alive by a bunch of screaming girls— certainly not his idea was a good day.

He reached to push down his thick soccer socks before moving to the bench, scooping up the jersey and short and sock combinations in his arms. “They have your names on them but I have no idea who’s who so I’ll just call them out and then come and take them.” He explained, adjusting the articles of clothing his his arms. “Jin. Jungkook. V. J-Hope. Rap— what kinda name is that? Jimin.” As the members walked up, Hyunwoo gave them their uniforms. “If you don’t know how to put on shorts and a t-shirt, I’m seriously questioning your intelligence. Unless those company big shots have already wiped your ability to think for yourself.” 

[pxkjimin]

Jimin's face scrunches up slightly at the captain's minor comments, sure - he had an idea of where they could originate with Bangtan being an idol group belonging to a company who trained them to be near perfection (granted they were one of the few differing groups in the industry), but still. There was an attitude in the tone of the other male's voice which he already wasn't too fond of.

But even with those thoughts circling in his mind, that was the only place which they could reside in, and the male couldn't necessarily voice any of them. With hearing his name being called, his hands go to take a hold of the uniform, a smile not failing to appear as Jimin looked towards the other, "We're capable, thanks for the concern man." A hint of sarcasm manages to slip through his words, but he doesn't let any reaction occur and immediately walks off to change into the clothing, bouncing on the toes some with the feeling of the loose uniform on. He glances around towards his members then the opposing team, lips popping some as he tried to sneak in some small talk while they waited for some type of instruction, "So how long have most of you been playing?"

[pxkjimin]

yoonizo replied to your post:"And if I say yes?"

Clearly stunning the other, Gayoon couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. He had fallen for her seemingly careless attitude to actually revealing her number. After the laugh slipped, she felt guilty to letting him down, ”Really? You want it?”

"I-I mean--" He takes a pause (stuttering definitely wasn't a manly nor attractive quality to be having when talking to any girl) and clears his throat to hopefully boost some of that confidence he usually had, "Well I'm not going to reject it, if you were to give it to me?" 

[pxkjimin]

"And if I say yes?"

It was something he had gotten used to, getting rejected after performing the cheesiest of lines, but it was much better to be rejected than to regret never having tried at all. Sometimes he didn't even have any type of romantic interest towards the people he did use them on; pick-up lines always seemed to be a nice ice-breaker for whenever he plainly wanted to talk to someone. So delivering probably the worst one of them all, "I've seem to lost my number, mind if I have yours?," wasn't too hard of a task for him-- the reaction, however. That was a new one.

The boy's eyes widen slightly, a complete shock obvious in them as he was left speechless (for once). He never expected an actual... acceptance when it came to his little lines - most of the ones received went along the lines of-- well, no. So he stays motionless for some seconds, mind rushing to conjure up a sentence with the words scrambling to escape.

"Well if you say yes - then I'd go ahead and accept that number?"

[pxkjimin]

strikwoo:

This was going to be e a s y and, better yet, he got a day off school for doing it! Not to mention the TV screen time, that was another bonus. He was definitely going to do the classic, ‘Hi mom!’ whenever he got the chance to. Clever— at least that’s what he thought he was. Stretching his arms above his head after changing into his soccer uniform (minus the shin pads and cleats), the TV coordinator made their way over to the soccer captains’ team followed by a group of seven boys. “Those must be the guys we’re gonna crush.” Hyunwoo whispered to his team and snickered.

"Boys, these are Bangtan Boys! They’re who you’re going to be playing against. Go a little easy on them since it’s their first time at your school and playing against you, alright? Help them put on the uniforms also, I need to go help the camera directors." That resulted in a silent snort from the teenager as he turned his attention to the idol group as the coordinator left. Fat fucking chance he was going to be easy.

”I’m Lee Hyunwoo, the captain of these punks. Going easy isn’t really our thing so you’re in for a little bit of world wind today if you don’t prepare yourself.” He took a step forward, a slight smirk etched into his lips. “Got it?” These company controlled machines had nothing on his all-star team.

He had been looking forward to this day ever since the manager told the members about a sports-themed broadcast. Sure, it was fun to go on talking shows on TV or participating in radio shows hosted by other idols, but sports were definitely something he could find comfort in. Not only was it a great way to let out his unlimited amount of energy (really, sitting in a chair for how long on the TV shows was absolutely painstaking), but with a recording like this – he most likely wasn’t going to be bombarded with the random (and quite nosy) questions that came along every time.

The idol group nearly immediately follows the director’s introduction with their rehearsed bowing and saying, bright smiles adorning over all their faces - aside from maybe the stubborn maknae and tired hyungs – ah, but Jimin. Jimin was smiling a bit too widely, and his eyes shrunk up into barely visible crescents, especially after hearing the cockiness clear in this ‘Hyunwoo’s voice. Of course, Jimin knew to himself that the members wouldn’t match up to the team’s skills, but his competitiveness thought it would at least be some fun in his usually robotic routine.

He hears the voice of their leader Namjoon speaking, of course, and moves himself to the taller male’s side, not hesitating to throw an arm over his shoulder while his gaze turns to the soccer team’s captain. It’s not until then where he notices their... definite difference in clothing and decides to speak up about it, no shyness in his voice when speaking, “So how about those uniforms, huh?”

[happinessxdelight]

니 앞에서 난 먼지; closed

[happinessxdelight]

   Chanyeol uses this moment of brief silence to adjust his appearance. As nonchalantly as possible, he pushes away the strands of hair that stuck to the sheen layer of sweat and makeup that sat on top of his skin. Sticky, sticky skin that sticks against to Chanyeol’s thin button up, drenched (but strategically hidden by a black coat). Though the venue they’re in is rather spacious, round up a few hundred pumped up people in there— and even the strongest air conditioners could only work so well. He fans his face before pressing the back of his hands against his cheeks, frowning at how warm they are. And not because of the stuffy air. Though talking to Jimin was easier than he thought, Chanyeol remembers that yesterday, he wouldn’t have even been able to open his big, dumb trap.And now, he can’t even be bothered to close it.

   ”Trap music!” Chanyeol says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. He nearly looks taken aback at Jimin, before he gesticulates excitedly, waving his hands around while he tries to elaborate. “It’s kind of…electronic? With the beats being more…dark.” Eyes that were once wide now narrow as Chanyeol leans forward, just barely. “And…aggressive. Yeah, I think so.” At least, that’s what his own trap music sounded like. 

   He goes out on a limb now, taking a risk before he can even think it through. “Um, I have a CD mix of some songs that you can listen to.” He omits the fact that he produced the tracks himself; Jimin doesn’t need to know that bit, especially if he thinks they sound bad upon hearing them. “After this is over, you can stop by EXO’s dressing room and pick it up, if you want!” Chanyeol waves his hands around while he says the last bit, emphasizing that Jimin in no way had to listen to anything. Part of him wishes he could take it bad, thinking his music is trash, while the other admires his bravery, and knows that most of his music sounds absolutely amazing. He chews on his lip as he smiles in an attempt to hide the fact that his heart is pounding so hard that he thinks it just might burst out of his chest. Trap music wasn’t exactly like hip hop, especially since more and more EDM elements are being incorporated into it, but Chanyeol tried his very best to stick with the elements of original trap music. “I think you might like it.” Rather, Chanyeol hopes that he does. If Jimin were to like it, then he would no doubt reveal himself as the creator, and would show it off to SM’s producers (which he was actually on the way to do after the show, but it was better to get more opinions rather than just his own members, who often seem to say that his music is good just to get him to stop pestering them).

[pxkjimin]

He wasn’t really one to necessarily—know music? Sure, he could find the beat and rhythm in songs in order to find a comfortable dance in them, but as for actually analyzing and being able to describe tunes – that was more on the side of his hyungs, being the composers of the group. But nonetheless, he nods his head a few times while listening to the elder explain the genre, feigning an understanding expression on his face in order to really make it seem he was comprehending the words. It’s not until the mention of the CD that Jimin’s thoughts start panicking a bit, scattering around his mind and trying to organize themselves into an audible response to the male, “Sure.” Nice one.

Despite mentally beating himself down for not being to conjure up more than a single-worded response, he returns the smile coming from the rapper almost immediately, the action coming more as an instinct than an actual thought. Chanyeol really seemed excited about the genre music, and the singer silently wished that he could share that same excitement – maybe listening to a few songs would help ignite that enthusiasm?

And he’d honestly like to mention that to the other, to tell him that he really would’ve been honored to receive some suggestions to this trap music from the Chanyeol, but he just couldn’t bring himself to simply… talk. It was probably the most frustrating feeling in the world coming from a person who sometimes needed to be shut up with the amount of fondness he had for spiking of conversations or completely stealing the spotlight in some broadcasts, yet when suddenly put in the position of speaking with this idol who probably had so much more experience and knowledge, his words were completely stuck. Jimin takes a deep breath and looks away from the rapper towards the stage of performers, hoping maybe it’d give him some confidence if he didn’t have to actually face him. His hands interlock in front of him and press to his lips, distracting himself with the images of other familiar and comfortable faces to help urge out another sentence or two. “Seems like it’s going to end soon, huh?” His voice nearly cracks at the end of the question, it going higher than what he’s used to (that damn Busan dialect, it’ll be the death of him one day), but he tries covering up by clearing his throat, turning his gaze once again towards Chanyeol and away from what did seem like some hosts wrapping up the ceremony - and he can feel the words get stuck his throat, “Can’t wait to be able to breathe in the open and.. not-stuffy air.” God damn, Jimin.

[pxkjimin]

jxsora:

"You’ve got to be kidding…" her lips parted as she gasped, eyes trained on the male’s cheeky expression. "That’s never a good question to ask a fan, but to say I’m okay would be a gross understatement— I think I found cloud 10.” She whisper-screamed before laughing at her own silliness. The best she could do was be herself, be the Sora Jimin knew before she knew he was Jimin. Slightly confusing, but okay, none of this makes any sense anyway. She shrugged, hoping that he was comfortable enough to still be around her now that his secret had been revealed. She lets them sink into a few seconds of comfortable silence before breaking it with a promise. 

"Your secret’s safe with me, that’s for sure." She pulls two fingers along the curve of lips, a contract, a seal. Tough it was indeed to suppress her fangirl tendencies, especially when their clothes brushed against each others as they walked down the street. Then again, it was a privilege to know him as more than an idol on stages she’ll never be able to perform on, and she wasn’t going to ruin this acquaintance. Turning to him, she grinned. "So I take it that you’re going to Big Hit now?

With hearing the first part of her answer, his lips pressed together, thinking to himself that perhaps he did ask a wrong question. Was there really something wrong with asking a fan how they were? I mean, he understood somewhat how they felt - the same way he would when being even in the same building as certain sunbaenims. But wouldn't it be a nice thing to be asking? Ah, I'm thinking too much. Hearing the promise makes the corners up his lips start to curl back into a smile, pushing out a laugh with the action that followed along. His head tilts slightly to the side, eyes still small with his smile as he spoke in a low and soft voice, "Well it's good to know that I can trust you with that."

He lets out a sigh, meaning to sound a bit more dramatic than needed, and turns his head towards the direction, or at least where he thought the direction was, of the company building. A few members were probably already starting to gather in the practice room to start their rehearsal, and he was here instead, talking to a fan-- No complaints there. A grin sneaked onto his face with the quick thought, but he quickly pushes it out, turning his attention back to the female. With a few pops of his lips, he nods, "Yup, thought that I could fit in some more practice into my schedule-- Where were you heading, hm?"

[pxkjimin]

He was hesitant to come in at first. Thought maybe it wouldn’t necessarily be the best idea to try recording a log in the middle of the night,but – what the hell, it’s not like there was anything else to be done. So he sat down on the leather chair, eyes fluttering between the computer in front of him and the camera placed towards the left. Once situated, a hand lifted and reached over to click a button, a red light flashing to insure the camera was on and recording.

              “이천십오년 삼월 일일. 지민의 로그.”

The introduction sounded robotic. These logs were meant to be a friendly way to interact with fans and give them an update every once in a while, but today – the words seemed too bland for the regularly active and bubbly male. But (come on, it hadn’t even started) it was just the date and a mention of his name; the actual content didn’t always mirror this simple beginning fragment.

Then a sigh slipped through the male’s lips. A sigh paired along with his gaze averting slightly away from the camera as if to give a second to maybe compose himself. Ah, they’re just jitters. Just the normal stage fright of presenting for someone else. There was no need to be getting nervous; this was just a simple video which he had done countless times before for the fans. Soon after, not even a second, his attention returned to the camera, a rehearsed smile replacing the previous uncertainty.

              “We have a concert coming up—did you see how fast the tickets went?” A small pause. "I couldn’t believe it myself. You ARMYs really work quickly, huh?”

The smile grew slightly and showed a more genuine side to it (though it still remains smaller than his usual eye smiles). His words were true; the fanbase always surprised him. From how quickly it went from rarely being recognized on the streets to now hosting their second solo concert, he couldn’t have been more grateful for the fans which they’d earn.

              “We won’t disappoint you. We’re all practicing just for you!”

But this statement makes his smile start to falter. He tries to prevent it from budging out of instinct; it was something they all had to learn. Idols are happy; they were to always have a bright and welcoming smile. They were role models for many people, and nobody wanted to look up to someone who was anything but always happy. But after hours of constant work - his muscles are sore, his mind absolutely fried, and his body begging to be given sleep – he struggles to do that one task. The stubbornness inside him refuses to give up so easily and gives its all to keep that smile up. It’s almost ridiculous how much he’s forcing the expression onto his face—No, it was ridiculous.

A laugh, dry and on the verge of trembling, is heard, the male shaking his head which was tilting down to look at entwine hands. An attempt of hiding this emotion that wasn’t the required happy.

               “Practicing until the crack of dawn and fixing every mistake for you.”

Perhaps that was his own fault with picking out nearly any fault of his dancing or singing and refusing to stop until it had been fixed. But it’s not like any other option could be chosen, making an error on-stage was something he had done one too many times, and it only pushed him to work harder. It was staying up until ungodly hours or waking up before the sun did. It was spending his every minute of free time in the gym, practice rooms, studios rather than in the presence of a friend or two whom he longed to see. Practicing. Always practicing.

This is what he wanted. Being able to do what he loved came with a price, and he had always been aware of this... somewhat loss of freedom. Anything to be on that stage with the six other members which he proudly called his family, anything was worth having that.

But he was tired. New Year’s performances had exhausted him, but they were given a break. One to go back to his hometown and see all those people he had missed, to finally breathe for just a moment. He was given the chance to visit the seashore, to see the dance teachers which got him to where he was, spend time with family and friends, and even send one off to their military service. No hiding the hometown dialect, or skipping out on a treat because of his diet, or getting just a wink of sleep. It was a chance to feel like, for once, he was back to being the normal Park Jimin.

Then it was back to the routine of practicing, flying in and out of Korea, rehearsing, performing here, performing there, how many cities to visit in Japan, how many broadcasts to record – and when it seemed like perhaps for one minute they were given a break, the announcement of the next solo concert was only a reminder that there was no such thing.

The smile was long gone, an unknown stillness taking its place. He honestly had no clue how long he had been sitting there like that, forehead resting in the palms of his hands and fingers tangled through his fringe. It could have been mere seconds or hinting towards some minutes of pure nothing before another sigh broke the silence. It wasn’t nerves this time around. No matter how much he would’ve loved convincing himself otherwise, it was definitely not ‘just the jitters.’

He was never one to willingly show a weaker side to just anyone. Not to say he wasn’t an emotional person, it didn’t take much to make the male get sensitive – but it wasn’t in his favor to present himself as being vulnerable. There was no room to letting your feelings run around and especially not for worrying any of the members. It was always smiles and giggles or muscles and being manly, that was what they all needed. 

He doesn’t realize how quickly the emotions flood into his thoughts. Beginning with fatigue, going through confusion, angriness, unhappiness, then pausing for a moment at plain desperation. One moment he’s perfectly still and quiet, yet the next, his breath is quickening, and there are tears building up and threatening to spill right over. He can barely understand the situation himself and can only think of how tired he is. How exhausted and just—outright frustrated this was making him.

At this instant, he’s given up with the expected optimistic image. It’s already known to him that the video’s gone to waste after not many words being said and the majority of it consisting of silence, so he doesn’t try to keep himself together anymore. The palms of his hands had lowered a few inches to press against his now watering eyes (still an attempt of salvaging whatever image was left). His words come out in an almost inaudible mumble, not trusting his voice to go any louder out of fear of actually cracking.

              “Working ourselves until we break.”

A press of a button to stop the video. Few more clicks to delete the content. And a turn of the doorknob as he leaves, head tucked down in the collar of his jacket.

[sockjeans]

cooking 101 with mama jin and baby jikook (っ⌒‿⌒)っ

[happinessxdelight]

니 앞에서 난 먼지; closed

[happinessxdelight]

   By the time Chanyeol’s question leaves him, he’s already beginning to formulate possible responses to Jimin’s response. His focus goes from Jimin, to the group on stage, then back to Jimin, then back to the group, and he looks comical. Narrowing his eyes, Chanyeol tries to recall their name, but the times he’s actually seen them in person, he was too focused on himself rather than any other group (or anyone else, really). ‘Crap.' What’s he going to say?! Chanyeol can’t just lie to Jimin: it would be a terrible start to their friendship, if Jimin even wants to be friends with the giant. Chanyeol redirects his attention back to Jimin, just in time for his response.

   The burden that’s lifted from Chanyeol’s shoulders ends up being heavier than he thought. Without any explanation, he bursts out in laughter, full out laughter: the whites of his too many teeth being shown, the gangly knees attached to gangly limbs being slapped, and deep, bellowing voice being heard even over the music. Even a few of the EXO members turns to look at them, wondering what exactly Chanyeol’s laughing over now (but most of them don’t, because they know better). It’s not anything that anyone would react so dramatically over. Alas, Chanyeol is the Reaction King (he got that title unintentionally, really!). That, along with the fact that Chanyeol was stressing himself out for such a frivolous reason, makes him giddy with relief and self-deprecating amusement. He feels the tension in the air beginning to disappear.

   Chanyeol’s laughter is just beginning to die out, sounding more like soft chuckles. It looks like Jimin’s question is going to set him off again, his eyes widening and mouth still hanging open. But lucky for the people around them, Chanyeol closes his mouth, lips curled into a smile, and shakes his head. “No!” The words well known makes him blush. “I have no idea who they are, either. Me, I’ve always really liked rock, but lately, I’ve been more into hip-hop,” Chanyeol replies, only sounding the slightest bit hesitant when he mentions hip-hop, flashing a glance at Jimin before looking down. BTS was pretty much all hip-hop, and EXO just…wasn’t. So, naturally, he’s going to be a little timid speaking about such music to someone who is so well versed in it. “Also, trap music?” It ends up sounding more like a question, directly more towards himself. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but he knew what was a good idea: broadening your horizons. In all ways possible! “What about you? What kind of music do you like?" 

[pxkjimin]

He can’t help but laugh along with the other – half of the reason being the natural want to fit in and sitting there, plainly staring at the male’s laughter was definitely not the way to go with that. His laughter starts off a little hesitated, coming out as barely heard and somewhat forced until heads start turning; the mere visual of the rapper laughing along with the slightly confused looks on the faces of his members followed by shakes of their heads – that was what really made him start laughing. It was almost contagious, the other’s laugh, but he did have to admit he was quick to notice the difference in each as he heard his own, higher pitched, laughter. (Ah, he really shouldn’t have put too much thought on it anyways – rapper vs. singer really did make a difference on voices and, well laughs) The contrast caused his own laughter to lower down slightly, lips pressing together to try and suppress noises, but, of course, a few giggles still manage to slip through.

Hearing the genre of hip-hop, Jimin’s thoughts freeze up in his mind, suddenly fumbling over the possibility that Chanyeol, the Chanyeol of EXO, might’ve heard their music outside of events like these where they were forced—well, bound to listen to other groups. And with noticing the slight pink painted on the rapper’s cheeks then the uncertainty in his words, the singer nearly wanted to bring a hand up to lightly pat the other on the head. He didn’t, of course, but there was still a slight want of reassuring there was no need to be any type of nervous around Jimin. Sure, he was a part of BTS which was known for the slowly upcoming hip-hop twist on K-Pop, but sometimes Jimin did need a reminder he was a part of such a group. The only hip-hop thing about him was his dancing—and perhaps his body, if that counted, but he wasn’t anything compared to his hyungs.

And the question which follows was something that was probably going to put that small detail out in the open. The music he listened to – there were a few hip-hop artists that he found himself listening to, there was no doubt about that. His music library was a variety of genres, so it’s not like he needed to lie about that, but it was more… his favorites. Despite having the hip-hop image, his favorites managed to consist of rather—really pop artists. There was the soloist Rain which he claims to have given him inspiration to become an idol to begin with, and he could never forget to mention just how much he enjoyed Big Bang, specifically Taeyang who he really idolized and sees a role model. Given all of this, it takes him more than just a bit of time to respond, but when he does it’s a vague answer, “Ah, I’m really up for anything – whatever I manage to find and dance to!” .. That was good enough, right? There’s a mental nod of his head before he continues, trying to think of some other question to not let the conversation end just yet. “I don’t think I’ve heard of trap music though, what is that?”

[pxkjimin]

jxsora:

Sora knew she had been rambling, not giving the male a chance to answer. But as the last words left her lips, so did her ability to function. “—shhh.” she pleaded softly as he replied her, hands flying up to either side of her face, patting her cheeks in a desperate attempt to calm down. “G-give me a moment.” Breathe.

Sora wasn’t even sure she had heard correctly. Rattling engines of cars passing by fused with voices of people in a muffled mess; she’d probably heard wrongly. But his voice and words were definitely ringing in her ears, and her brain seemed to have disconnected from her body altogether; mouth pursed and eyes widened, she stole quick glances at the idol, suddenly afraid of establishing eye contact. Had she been talking to the Jimin all along? Replaying their conversation in her head, the numerous hints finally pieced themselves together. The familiarity, his guardian, the girl group dances— oh my god. How was she supposed to react— was there even an instruction manual on how to breath when your idol’s standing less than three feet from you? Okay, breathe. “H-hi.”

With being hushed after his words, his eyes widen slightly, blinking with a confusion and-- no, it was just confusion. He hadn't said anything wrong, right? I mean, he had been told my his friends and family that he did have a habit of talking too much, so when the next stuttered request was heard - he only nods, lips pressing together. 

Out of habit, Jimin pulls the face mask back over the lower half of his face - sure, a fan had recognized him already, but he definitely didn't need another. Once the mask was snugly on, his hands drop back down to his sides, mindlessly tugging the sleeves of his shirt over his palms and eventually his gaze falls down to his hands as well. He never really knew how to act around fans - they were having a pretty normal conversation before, and he didn't have to be acting up to any expectations, but now that she did know, he thought to be more comfortable of what he was saying or doing. Jimin doesn't look up until her voice is heard again, but he eventually does lift his head up to glance at her and offers a cheeky smile, eyes shrinking up along with it, "Hey again?-- You alright, miss Sora?"