“you’re gonna make me blush.” woohyun teases, smile widening to the point where it barely fits on his face, arm reaching up to rub the back of his neck. he ducks his head, free hand lifting to scratch at his cheek. “now i have a challenge to uphold. watch out! i’ll make you cry. not, not in a mean way, of course.” he laughs to himself how strange the sentence probably sounds out of context. if the sound of his voice makes her cry, he might feel bad—even if that means something particularly good to her. tears always make woohyun feel bad.
woohyun hums, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. his shoulders lift in a shrug, crooked smile on his face. “i’m sure it’s okay if you don’t know how to cook. not all moms do! sometimes it’s the dad’s specialty—or other…partner. whichever your lifestyle is—as long as you can find someone else that can cook, i’m sure you and your future family will be safe.” to be honest, woohyun is very thankful he knows about cooking as much as he does; it’s nice for future endeavors like that.
“ah.” he hums, nodding his head somberly. “debuts are typically like that, aren’t they? i hope so too! i want people to like us when we debut, and i want people to like us for—you know. being us.” he bites his lip, a sad smile crossing his face. “but in this industry, i’m sure it’ll be hard to get that at first.”
he agrees with her completely; with kt being apart of the big three—it’s going to be no issue for their debuted group to promote well, even with the competition around. “hopefully. i have high hopes everything will work out—“ and he hopes he can be apart of one of the debuting groups too, teeth pressing against his lip. sooner than later too.
“it’ll always be selective and harsh.” woohyun comments quietly. “that’s just—how this industry works. that’s how it survives. competition is everything and it keeps everyone on edge, everyone motivated to work harder. it’s a sad fact but it’s something that keeps pushing us forward. but i—i do want us to be able to showcase what we’re good at. that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” he smiles awkwardly, a sheepish bout of laughter escaping him.
she laughs along, finding it easy to connect with the older male. even if she can’t sing to save her life, she loves listening to other people use their voices to form intricate pictures of both imagination and reality. stories in songs are partly credited to lyrics, but more than that, the emotion of the singer itself has a larger impact. whether or not they get into the mood, and whether or not they are able to bring out the best of the song, those are questions she often hear herself ask when she comes across a great performance.
“well if you make me cry in a mean way, you won’t wriggle out of it so easily.” playfully crossing her arms, she pretends to challenge him. hearing him continue on the subject of cooking, her grin turns into a softer smile. worries that presented itself only moments before disappear as fast as it came. “you’ve got a point. most korean people are still pretty traditional when it comes to gender roles though. my family’s not as rigid, but i know some other people who are.” a recent topic that’s been quite popular among the south korean youth is the orthodox views that still persist in the community. truth be told, she’s all about globalisation and becoming more open, but a part of her still thinks that too much advancements might actually be detrimental.
most variety shows these days are pretty blatant. not exactly honest, she would say, but a bit more straightforward. idols are more outspoken, and they usually put their endeavours out for display. fans automatically support their dreams, and thus it pushes the companies to also fulfil those aims and goals. with bigger companies, as opposed to smaller ones, the rapper guesses that it’s a bit different. no matter how talented you are, they have everything planned out for your first few years. only after you’ve gained enough popularity do you actually get to decide your own schedules and such.
“even if debuting is hard and feels tedious, i’m sure we can pull through somehow. have more confidence in yourself, woohyun-ssi.” encouraging him with a smile, the younger female makes a fist with both hands and pulls it close to her face. mouthing a quick hwaiting, she hopes that it’ll spread some positivity.
“there’ll come a time when we can explore music on our own. it’ll be a long wait, but it’ll be worth it in the end, i think. some idols who venture out on their own at early stages of debut end up getting bored of the industry way quicker. so honestly, i don’t think rushing it is a good idea, but yeah, in the future... i’d like to show everyone the best version of me.”
