200731 | he hadn’t planned to stay long, necessarily, because their manager recommended against it and comeback preparations are in full swing. but jinwook thrives in the summer heat, so he never really stood a chance. he’s surrounded by fun performances, familiar shouting from the pool, and old and new friends alike. by now the sun has long passed the high point in the sky. he checks his phone as he heads to the restroom, wanting to wash some sticky spilled punch from his hands, and sees how many hours have passed already without him realizing. it’s the most relaxed he’s felt in days or weeks though, and in the moment he thinks it’s worth the reprimands that might be waiting at the dorm tonight.
there’s a little smile sitting on his face, the epitome of zen, until he opens the bathroom door and trips on the body crouched just inside of it. “oh, i’m so sorry—!” he says immediately, hopping on one foot to catch his balance. “i wasn’t paying attention… are you okay?” mortified, jinwook turns around and thinks he recognizes the young man bent down. it’s park jihoon, baekhyun’s groupmate. jinwook might’ve met him once, on animal crossing, but he’s not sure. in-person meetings always stick better in his memory.
after one more second, jinwook realizes jihoon was down there fixing his insoles, so he quickly glances away. that sort of thing is between a man and his own shoes. not that jinwook would know. he steps to the sink and turns on the tap, running his hands under cool water. “i’m not sure if we met officially,” he says as he smiles through the mirror reflection. “i’m jinwook.”
&& @rkshion .
they’re so present in his life he often forgets other people don’t need to bother with it. it’s only on the weird days that his insoles decide to poke the bottom of his feet that make jihoon remember that they’re actually there. the boy wishes he could have come with flipflops instead of shoes and taken a good dive into the pool. it’s not that anyone told him specifically not to, but it’s easy for him to put pressure on himself. plus, it’s fun to just hang around and enjoy some of the food. it’s when he realizes that, unlike his members, jihoon doesn’t quite know a lot of people outside of royal.
he excuses himself to go to the bathroom but with no real intent to properly use it. the room looks empty, so he doesn’t feel awkward to raise a foot and poke a finger inside it to try and fix what’s bothering him. it’s about as dreadful of a quest as trying to bring a sock back up your heel. it takes a minute for the boy to decide to just take out the entire shoe and deal with it like that.
it’s about when he hears the door open behind him and jihoon notices he might have been standing a bit too close to it. while his back is already arched, the boy does his best attempt at a bow while whispering apologies. “ah, i’m sorry.” he fixes his posture and looks at who it could be. of course, he knows who it is: convex’s jinwook. his senior. a light shade of pink takes over his cheeks while he shakes his head again. “it was my fault!” and there he stood, a shoeless foot stepping on top of his other one in fear of how dirty the bathroom floor could be. looking awkwardly at the man in the mirror, he gives him another bow. “i’m de:code’s shion. it’s a pleasure to meet you.” it’s now or never, he thinks. with his thumb, he tries to fix his insole as discreetly as he can before raising his foot to put the shoe back on. “my shoe was just... bothering me.”
it's the last day of the month, and it's already been three months since their debut. a bit wild to think about. considering how long the road had been up there, maybe three months is not too much. considering he's now an idol in the eyes of the public, any little bit of time feels like a lot to im. he's unsure why he hadn't tried one of these before. the idea of doing it by himself got him a bit nervous, but he also didn't want to bother his other members to do something together.
he has fans now, though, it seems. again, wild to think about. he's not the most active in social media, but he'd still like to keep in touch with them. he's seen other idols name their lives something unique and special so jihoon's certain he wants to do something like that too. it takes some brainstorming to finally decide on something, but soon he starts the first edition of "shion's roof."
the boy had adjusted the settings for the live to be audio-only. this means he could lay down on his bed without having to worry about how he looks and what those watching could see around him. it'd also help take away some of the nervousness of someone who hadn't done one of these before. "hello~" he greets the first few people to join him. it'd be awkward if no one showed up, but it brings a smile to his face when the number starts going up. "wow, it's everyone here? there's a lot of you already." jihoon keeps repeating 'hello's during the first minute so that everybody can get some time to settle in.
"welcome to shion's roof! it's the first edition... isn't it special?" his eyes try to keep up with the comments, but he guesses that fast reading is a skill he'll need to work on starting today. "you're all here with me! on our first day... this is... our first day?" he chuckles. he's seen people say that before. it's usually used for a couple's first day, so the boy can't help but feel a little awkward about it. "everyone! don't get any wrong ideas!"
💬: are you in a roof right now??
"eh?? i'm in my room right now. the roof is... is metaphorical. it's our roof." while jihoon tries to explain himself, his hands start to move, even if no one can see him. "i wanted to have a cool title. other idols do that too, right? i wanted to take everyone to somewhere sunny. our roof is filled with flowers, okay? flowers and other plants. and it's always sunny... unless we don't want it to be. rain can be nice sometimes too, right? the plants would like that. i personally prefer sunny days."
💬: who are your roommates?
"my roommates are sinjae hyung and reno hyung. i'm the room maknae." he chuckles. "de:code rooms are separated by age. there is the hyung room and the maknae room. everyone, i'm not the maknae, okay! our a.c is our youngest member. the ace..." he takes a short break. "i'm alone in my room right now. i don't know what the other ones are doing. i told them i was doing a v-live before starting."
💬: what did you do today?
"ah, you want tmi?" he asks back as if he's actually into popular trends and whatnot. "i practiced all day long! with the other members... i'm working hard! to become a better shion and make you proud."
💬: were you practicing for comeback?
jihoon laughs. "no! i was practicing for something else..." he lets it hang in the air for a bit. "i don't know if i can share, i'm sorry! some of the other members and i are preparing something. you'll see it soon! it's not that secretive. you'll know when it comes out!"
💬: when is the comeback?
"i don't know!" he answers honestly. "i wasn't practicing for the comeback. i was practicing for something else." jihoon feels bad lying, but he knows that some things need to be kept a secret. he's also unsure if whatever he's said so far is enough to conclude anything. the fans are quick to come up with their own assumptions, though.
💬: is this audio-only to hide a new hair color?
"wow... you guys are really smart!" jihoon gasps, actually impressed. never would he have thought about that from anyone else's live. he touches his hair gently before continuing. "but it isn't true! is that a common thing to do? do people hide their hair colors with audio v-lives? i never thought of that..." he pauses. "that's really smart, thank you! i'll remember that for when i need!" he chuckles sheepily.
💬: are you doing station? / solo debut? / when is the comeback?
"wow, everyone... it's nothing like that! let's talk about something else, okay?" jihoon turns around on his bed and lays down on his stomach. "it's the last day of the month today! did everyone achieve a lot? i think i learned a lot of things... i've been working hard... i really want to get better!" his eyes keep following the comments. "it's okay if it takes some time, everyone! you can't become a master in a few days. as long as you worked hard, i'm proud of you! let's all work hard, okay? i want you all to achieve your dreams!"
💬: i'm learning korean
"ah, really? your korean is really good!" jihoon puts the phone down to clap his hand a few times. "keep working hard, okay? next time, write me a letter on fancafe! and then next time, we can have a full conversation. face to face! i can't wait to meet everyone again. i want to get up on stage. it'll come soon, right? are you waiting for it too? all the other members are working hard, too. since before debut, we're all working hard."
💬: can you sing your english line from 'what time is it now?'
"sincerely... i don't speak english very well." he laughs wholeheartedly. "did i sound good? did i do well?" jihoon pauses, considers it, then proceeds to try speaking a few words in english. "hello... i'm fine, thank you and you?" he chuckles. "was that good? do i speak it well? please let me know..."
💬: do you have song recommendations?
"mm..." he stops to think about it. "a recent song that came out... 'god's menu' is really good, isn't it? the rap is really impressive... and of course, our sunbaes, luxe, released 'up & down'! did you listen to it well? it got really popular, right? please show it a lot of love, too! they're really talented sunbaes." jihoon stops a moment to think about it more. "and*roma’s meiqi sunbaenim danced to our song, right? i saw it. she's really good! i like 'pepe' too... since it's summertime, shouldn't you listen to 'very nice'? or 'me gustas tu'? those are popular songs too, right? 'very nice' makes me want to have ice cream."
💬: are you close with any sunbaes?
"i don't know the luxe members too well... cheri sunbaenim is really nice, though! luxe's leader! this was some time ago, but she gave me lunch once. it was really good! i don't know many other idols... ah, but i know junju! per_se's junju! he's younger than me but we went to the same school. he's a good kid! i think he's really funny." he chuckles. "he was... a good student." he laughs a bit too honestly. junju was, actually, not a very good student at all, but he had promised not to share that fact.
💬: what will you have for dinner?
"that's a good question! i'm not really sure... we have members who like to cook, but sometimes we just order. we're a lot of people." he can't help but laugh again. "do you have any recommendations? ah, pizza?" jihoon reads surprised. "that's not very healthy!"
💬: i can cook for you!
"will you, really? but how will i get the food?" he chuckles. "should we have a picnic on our roof? we can all just bring whatever we want to eat... even pizza..." jihoon sits up straight and checks the time. now that they had mentioned it, he was starting to feel hungry. "we can take photos of what we eat and post it online. should we use a hashtag?"
💬: #shionsroofpicnic
"ah, that's perfect, right? should we do that? i'll do it too! make sure to bring something yummy, okay? i want to see it!"
checking the time again, he nods. "should i check with the other members what we'll eat? this means the v-live will end... i promise i'll do this again, okay? ah, and with the camera on! should i turn it on right now just for a quick goodbye?"
after touching the screen a few too many times to make sure he was doing the right thing, the camera turns on for what will be the last minute of the live. "can you see me? can you see my hair?" he makes sure to point it out. "it's still brown, right?" the boy chuckles. "thank you for watching! let's meet on the roof again, okay? this was... our first day." he gives the camera his typical bright smile. "bye bye~!"
does baekhyun feel kind of bad for just shoving his nintendo switch into the younger’s hands before slipping off the couch and hurrying after the stylist lady? yeah. he basically left him to fend for himself ( strong words when the game in question is one of the most wholesome games in existence ) but there wasn’t much else to do. he didn’t have a choice, doesn’t like to keep the stylists waiting when they’ve been working for hours and he really wants to find that damned fish. maybe jihoon is, like, an animal crossing prodigy that manages to catch a stringfish while he’s away?
hm. baekhyun’s been playing that game since birth. basically. if he can’t get that fish someone who hasn’t ever played that game before probably won’t as well.
he isn’t too hopeful about it even when he gets back with full makeup on his eyes and cheeks and his hair styled out of his face. there’s a chance that jihoon isn’t even playing anymore, that he didn’t play at all and just put the console away once he got up. when he sees him still with it in his hands it makes baekhyun happy – he slides back into the space right next to jihoon that he left before and leans in carefully to get a peek at the screen and what the boy is doing. “and?” he asks, lips curling upwards into a smile when he sees how jihoon is using his islander to fish. he casts the rod at the worst angle but it’s cute. “how are you doing? are you having fun?”
by the time baekhyun finally comes back, jihoon is deeply immersed in the game. by deeply immersed it means he learned the base mechanic of fishing and that's it, but it still feels like the most joyful thing he could do right now. he walks the same river up and down and casts his rod whenever his eyes spot a shadow. thankfully to him, it seems like his leader had left him with a brand new rod, so the boy didn't have to struggle with it breaking and having to figure out how to build a brand new one.
"oh, hello," he says as his reply. his eyes only give baekhyun a glance before focusing on the current fish he's trying to catch. "wait a minute." he mashes the a button when the fish bites only for the game to show another black bass. it's one of the most common ones, he learned. "here you go." the younger gives baekhyun a smile and hands the console to its true owner. "i think i caught a lot..."
while the boy managed to identify the easier fish to catch, little did he know that sitting on his inventory was not only one, but two stringfish—one of the hardest fish to catch. he rolls back his shoulders and sits back to relax. maybe he had gotten a bit too focused. "it was really fun! i didn't know if i could go somewhere else so i only fished on that river." jihoon points at the screen while he speaks. "i wouldn't want your character to die and lose everything."
minho wasn’t really expecting the lack of schedules after their promotions end. it’s almost…weird, having to work continuously only to have what feels like an extended break. at least with it, he catches up on missed sleep, and can practice at his leisure. he doesn’t really leave the dorm all that much, either at the dorm or royal to practice and make use of the rooms when he can.
today is a dorm day. minho steps out of his shared room with a yawn, wrapping one of his blankets around his form as he blearily looks around. there’s some sounds going on, low sound of the television and then soft music coming from the kitchen. it smells…clean, chemically, and minho sniffles as he shuffles his way to the kitchen. slowing to a stop, he blinks at jihoon, and then the mop in the others hand.
“jihoon-ah,” he calls out, voice slurring with sleep. “what’re you doin’?” humming, he shifts, reaching up to rub the corner of his eye tenderly with his knuckle. “d'ya need any help?”
he doesn't really notice the presence approach him until the other decides to speak up. once he hears his name, jihoon turns around and raises his eyebrows in surprise. "oh, minho!" he looks down at his mop and then back up at the other boy. "i didn't wake you up, did i? you looked like you were sleeping so well." reno is one of his roommates, after all, along with jaehyun. he's really happy with his middle-boys room. he was already close to jaehyun before and then got to quickly bond with minho over their cats once they moved in. nothing's stronger than a parent's love.
the roommate in front of him looked comfortable standing there with the blanket over his shoulders but still very out of place. jihoon's lucky the yawn didn't get contagious. "i wouldn't want to bother you! were you coming here for some breakfast?" which is about when he realizes maybe this wasn't the best timing to clean the kitchen. other members might show up at any time looking for food and he'd be standing in their way.
"i can make you something so you don't need to step on the wet floor!" without waiting for a reply, jihoon rests the mop by one of the counters. he wanted to organize the cupboards anyway, so this could be a good excuse to start. "plus, you must be pretty warm, huh? i wouldn't want you to get your feet cold. what do you want?"
being up so early was really wearing mingyu out. it didn’t help that they had such long and exhausting days ahead of them. not only did they go to bed super late and wake up really early, but they also had to exert themselves by doing a lot of moving around and dancing. he started realizing that this was going to be their lives somewhat frequently now, and he only hoped that none of them would have to suffer any health issues due to this kind of work. perhaps he didn’t look enough into what being an idol consisted of before throwing himself into this lifestyle. then again, it was what he wanted to do and he was excited, but maybe everyone had these anxieties and worries, regardless of how much they wanted to be doing it.
mingyu shifts his attention to jihoon when he approaches him, greeting him with a warm and encouraging smile. as he listened to him speak, he let out a soft sigh and nodded, confirming. “yeah… it’s going to be really intense. i already think i might pass out. i just hope all of us survive.” he laughed after speaking, though it wasn’t entirely a joke. “it’s a lot more difficult than anything that i think we’ve done before. to make things worse, i bet it’s only going to get rougher and rougher from this point on.”
he pushes his arms back and then changes his warm-up position so that he can hold the other arm. if they were going to do so much, then he must make sure that he keeps his body warm. it’s also february. standing in that empty parking lot didn’t really help much, even if they were nearing noon. “but are you okay?” jihoon looks back up at the other, trying to check for any signs that he would actually pass out. he did laugh after saying it, but it’s better to make sure than to regret it later.
“considering how long it’s taken so far, we might not finish today.” he furrows his brows and looks down. he drops his arms too, now starting to roll his shoulders. “but... i think it’ll turn out alright, right?” jihoon shoots up one of his usual smiles, as bright as the sun. “we didn’t shoot much yet, but i think we’ll look cool. like, these clothes are cool... and our sets give out cool vibes.” singing about feeling like a gorilla at first didn’t appeal to him very much, but maybe gorillas are cool, after all. “what do you think? do you like it?”
promotions are hard, minho finds out very quickly as they begin their debut promotions. he doesn’t mind performing, doesn’t mind dancing or rapping or having to see the crowd. but it’s the constant movement, the constant place to place; it’s the unfortunate decision on his part out of nerves and out of worry that he stayed up a bit too late the night prior, leaving him feeling sluggish and overly tired the next day.
he’s spent a lot of his earlier freetime resting when the opportunity was given– barely eating much for breakfast due to fatigue, but he’s at the point where he’s told that he can’t sleep anymore. but minho is still so tired, and he’s mindlessly eating some of his leftover food, unable to wait very much longer to eat. he lets out a groan, head dipping forward as he stares at the ground with a petulant pout.
“jihoon-ah,” he calls out with a whine, unable to help himself when he’s just this tired. “how much trouble d'ya think i’d get in if i took one more nap? jus’ a tiny one…” he trails off with a mumble.
jihoon is blessed with the magic to be able to keep up with his high energy even after a short night of sleep. not that he was ever the type to stay up too late, but was it ever needed (and it was once he became a trainee), the boy managed to wake up with a smile the following day. the problem is when it all starts piling up. day after day of not getting enough hours of sleep can impact even the highest energy of guys.
and they do rarely have time to rest. they’re told not to sleep in the waiting area, but he’s seen other people do it already. with the blessing of his high energy, he’s also come with the curse of not being very fond of naps. his body simply computes that whatever he got at night will be enough for the day. it’d just probably mean that the boy will fall asleep as soon as they get in their car on the way back to the dorm.
“i think you might get into a little trouble.” jihoon answers honestly. he wouldn’t want minho to get into trouble, so he’d rather share what he thinks than end up in a tough situation. looking around the room, though, he wonders how everything works. “it’s only our staff around... do you think they check for sleeping idols on, like, security cameras?”
oh, hai! this is no new muse but a few things have changed! this used to be PARK JIHOON (ex-w1/soloist) and now he’s... also PARK JIHOON ??? (but from treasure). istg the change has nothing to do with the name, it’s just a happy coincidence. he’s still shion from de:code, which leads to point 2:
rkhoon → rkshion !!!
apart from that, park jihoon is still park jihoon and (most importantly) he’ll continue being tiny, even if the fc has grown. he’ll always be a tiny man. thank you for reading!!!
they had made their debut last month and finished their promotions less than a couple of weeks into april. after that, their schedule had run dry, and now the boys get to spend more time at home or doing other activities. jihoon likes to maintain a routine of practicing so he can better his abilities and come out with a better version of himself once they’re given new songs to practice. however, it’s not unusual to spot him actually taking some time to relax.
others may not think of it as much of a relaxing activity, but jihoon has been taking care of cleaning whenever he can. having grown with two younger siblings and a busy mother made a lot of chores lay on his lap—but he didn’t mind them. the boy puts some music on his phone (not too loudly so it won’t bother the other members) and decides the challenge for the day will be dealing with their kitchen.
it’s not big enough for all of them—which is how you could describe the entire apartment, really. he mops the floor enthusiastically, bopping as the song carries on. he wonders what he should tackle next. maybe organizing the cupboards?
at the moment, all those long and drawn-out waiting periods are the best thing that ever happened to him. they usually sit in the broadcasting station’s waiting room for hours after finishing pre-recording their stages and pretty much only wait for the encore to happen which is kind of annoying and exhausting – there really is not much to do. maybe there’s time for a nap but most of the time it’s really just that; waiting.
but with the release of a new game in one of his favorite series ever, baekhyun feels like the waiting period is too short actually.
how long they’re been in the waiting room today is a blur for him, has no idea what most of the other members are doing. jaehyun might be playing animal crossing himself somewhere in here and he thinks that kangjoon is sleeping on the couch in the other side of the room, but baekhyun can’t quite get himself to look up when he’s on a mission: finding a stringfish. he has no idea what’s the best time to catch them because he doesn’t want to cheat but he also had no luck in finishing one of them. even used up thirteen packages of bait already in the process.
it’s frustrating, really, but baekhyun’s also stubborn and wants that god-forsaken fish in his museum, so he’s not going to give up! ever! or he thinks so, at least. because when the stylist noona calls for him, he has no other choice than to pull his gaze away from his switch. he frowns, almost grumpy about having to interrupt his game, and that’s when he notices jihoon next to him on the couch. he didn’t see him before. “hey,” he says and pushes the console into the younger’s hands, “can you fish for me? i’ll be right back,” leaving without another word to get his touch up.
the waiting period is exhausting no matter which music show they’re attending. the backstage process is nearly the same for all of them and getting there early only to perform long hours later gets him tired. whoever said their choreographies may be tiring doesn’t actually know what the rest of their life actually entails.
while shion is one of the youngest members in the group, he’s infamously known for his lack of tact when it comes to technology. the games on his phones are the ones that were popular years ago. the console at home is mostly played by his siblings while his child was spent playing soccer, or going to his dance classes. it was always nice to see how happy his brother got when he beat him in a game, but not so fun when they keep losing on co-op mode because of his poor skills. having to control aim, camera, and making sense of everything that’s happening simply isn’t his forte.
“hey!” jihoon greets his leader back with a smile. he had just finished getting touched up himself, and now it’s baekhyun’s turn to get styled. unlike him, the older member couldn’t let go of the console in his hands. he never really questioned it much. some of the other boys also had the same one, so it must be fun for them and a good distraction during this tiring times. when he’s handed the console, his eyes grow twice their size. “what?”
without a word more, the leader is off to his official businesses, and the younger is left with only one mission: play a game. he stares at it and at all the buttons. it should work as most of them. he moves around the little character with the left circle. thankfully for him, the camera movement isn’t too complex, so that saves about an hour or two on figuring out how to play. the next step is easy enough. pressing a seems to do anything he wants. he casts the rod on the water and call take it out of it too. the only problem is that it took him a few moments to realize water without fish shadows on it means there is, clearly, no fishes in it. he ends up understanding most of what he needs. he doesn’t know how to run, or that there are other tools, but at least he can fish. and... this is fun!
part-time job at royal orchards turned into something bigger.
promised to give his family a better life.
now one of the nine men under so jiseob’s command.
yeonjun was in no way a clumsy person at all. if anything, he thinks he’s a very balanced person when it comes to certain tasks that could cause a mistake. he doesn’t drop objects often, nor does he trip on anything and nothing. he likes to think that since he was a super clumsy kid, he was able to become well-coordinated as a teenager and adult.
however, though he is much more graceful, he won’t deny that he is reckless and sometimes, his words can always get the best of him. a natural jinxer, if you will. sometimes he will say he’ll miss the trashcan when throwing a paper ball, but then actually get it in. the same happens vice-versa as well and those times were never fun. however, despite this being apparent, he tries to ignore it and brush it off as just bad luck, when in reality it’s just him being a fool.
so when he offers to hang out with jihoon on one of his free days, he doesn’t expect the day to go badly at all. that is until he realizes he was running late and he makes a rush to the local mall. as he runs to the entrance, he trips onto the concrete grown. thankfully, he wasn’t badly hurt as he quickly pushes himself up and makes his way to the food court, a.k.a the agreed meeting spot.
“hey! sorry i’m late,” he says calmly to the other. perhaps it was because of the adrenaline running through him, but he felt completely fine until a few seconds after he met his friend. as soon as he walked up to him, he feels pain coming from his arm. looking down at it, he sees that he scraped his arm and he shows a surprised look at it. “oh damn, wonder where that came from!” he laughs. maybe he isn’t as graceful as he says he was. how could someone be that and reckless anyway?
he used to not see many people outside of other royal trainees after he signed his contract, but now that he’s moved into the dorms, jihoon barely even sees his family. it’s refreshing to go out, but the entire time he’s waiting, the boy wonders if he should be somewhere practicing rather than here, waiting for his friend at the mall.
he hadn’t been given that many lines to practice, anyway, and the dance wasn’t too complicated to get a hold of. they mostly practiced to make sure everyone was synchronized with each other. with what he was given earlier on, though, he’s sure that meeting someone like yeonjun could only do him good.
they are the same age and went to the same school. jihoon was always very studious and your typical good guy, while yeonjun always felt so bright and made you want to laugh along with him. his carefree nature is usually a good thing, while some other times it doesn’t end up too well. while the other boy was out causing some trouble for himself, the smaller one stared at level 148 of the ‘inside out’ candy-crush-like game on his phone. he’d never get past it... never...
“hey!” yeonjun greets him, and jihoon startles himself. he should stay focused, but maybe not too much. “oh, hi!”
to yeonjun’s bright blue hair, jihoon hides most of his nearly-blonde pink under a beanie, but it can still be seen covering his forehead. when the other looks down, his own eyes follow along, and then grow wide. “oh, no! are you okay.” thankfully, they were in the food court. his hands automatically reach out for the napkins and gesticulate towards the wound. “how did this happen? let me help you!” now he doesn’t feel too bad for ordering a drink before the other arrived.
