âheyâŚâ jongdae started a bit quieter than he wanted to let out when he saw kaeun. in such a big arena with not only so many idols for isac, but so many fans too, they had to be careful about so many things. what should they share with each other? how did it look like while they were sitting with these people or those? what were the fans thinking as their hawk eyes followed their every move?Â
the one positive thing jongdae would want to take some solace in was that nsg was still pretty new, a baby barely a month old and still in the midst of learning how to walk on their own. there probably wasnât a lot of people in the stands for them. sure he could see the ones who were sitting in their section, but all the other idols were also visible to them. he did remember hearing some of those stories too, of people sneaking in with another group to cheer for anotherâs, just as long as their cheers were the loudest for whom they came for.Â
anyway, with both of them coincidentally trying out for the same sport, it gave him an easier way to be close and weasel his way towards the girls without being too suspicious. with his greeting, he followed it up with a smile and adding a âsunbaenimâ in there for fun while nodding his head. âlong time no see, huh?â there was some regret from his words, feeling like he was mostly at fault for not keeping in touch with kaeun as often as he would have liked. his interest sparked again thanks to their loose circle of mutual friends and playing among us together. he did forget how comfortable he was with the other.
[/txt - Jongdae] I just saw your teasers and wow! Great job, cool guy! Congratulations to your debut!!!
(txt: bodyguard hyung)
⤠cool guy? hahaha, but thank you hyung!
⤠ah... actually, there's something i'd like your help on, too. i'll let you know when i'm free. ^^
september 29, 2020
digital media city, seoul, south korea
mtv the show - debut performance day
jongdae really wasnât sure what he should be focusing on during this day, busying himself with one thing or another. that was the only thing he could do while they waited for their turn up on the stage. he knew himself, that if he did manage to get some sort of rest in during this day, a part of him might think that there was /more/ that he could do, that he /shouldnât/ just be sitting around when this day was so important. that lead him on taking out his camera, going back to his more youthful years dreaming of making videos and going to each of the members to ask how they were. that at least bided some of his time before being whisked away for other matters.Â
one of those being visiting the other performers of that day. he felt pleasantly surprised looking at the lineup, spotting both de:code and convex on the list, so he saw that as somewhat of a way of priding himself on knowing some people here aside from his bandmates and managers. for convex, there was sehun and jaehyun he had given a wide smile and a friendly wave to after their formal introductions. for de:code, there was of course his cousin, another jaehyun, baekhyun whom heâd also had an impressionable history with, and kangjoon who jongdae forgot he taught a while back, but more recently remembered him through their online among us games. there was also their maknae, seonho⌠a.c., wasnât it? who tackled him right during the ending stage and he couldnât help but to feel playful with too as the stress floated away at the performanceâs end.
but thatâs not all they were going to do today, with their manager also telling them to prepare for a radio show. on their way there, they were given questions on what might be asked, topics that could and couldnât be discussed. now that their performance was out of the way, he sighed again as he became anxious thinking of talking during their live radio. he wouldnât be able to take it back if he slipped on his words or forgot something that he wanted to say (little did he know, that later on, this would be regretful experience of his memory not always being helpful in all scenarios. an âah, i should have said this insteadâ after sharing something to the dj and the group. he would just have to erase it form his memory if he couldâŚ).
from the time they had gotten home, jongdaeâs brain seemed to have shut down for the day, although his body knew that there were a few things he needed to take care of before heading to bed. only a few hours of sleep really, trying to wind down from the events of today, realizing that they would be going about and doing the same thing again tomorrow at a different music show.Â
Johnny hums in understanding. However, he allows himself to snort when he remembers that hairstyle Jongdae mentions. âYeah, I think I met you with that hair back in my first year here,â Johnny says with a laugh. It wasnât too crazy an option, but it was an interesting phase all the same. âCatholic schools and military bases share one brain cell, I swear.â He snorts at his own observation and allows the hairstylists to maneuver him around the chair, making him bend his head in a direction that works for them both.Â
Despite his uncomfortable position, Johnny still manages a snort of laughter. How could he have almost forgotten that? âThat one was wild, hyung,â he says in between gasps of laughter. The only thing preventing him from bending over laughing was the fact the hairstylist had a firm grip on his head. âOh yeah, I remember that. I got red with shining gold highlights back then. Unfortunately, I had to dye it back due to school rules.â He lets the stylist do what they want with his head before heâs told to stay still. âI still donât feel like this is all real, you know, hyung?â Johnny says with a sigh. âDespite the pain in my neck telling me otherwise.âÂ
âbut now, since youâve graduated you can have whatever color you want, right?â and aside from jongdae and hyunjin staying with their natural hair color, the other four were going to get that âidol treatment,â like anyone who saw them out in public had no other reasoning but to think they were from some entertainment company. Â
jongdae was pretty glad that his hair wasnât going to be in some strange color like the aforementioned concert. though if he really thought about it, nsgâs concept and whatever that future thing seemed to correlate with each other albeit loosely. a 7th sense? thatâs like⌠galaxy brain, isnât it? trying to reach some higher level? just like how noumenon sound genesis is supposed to tap into some other plane of existence... his brain might be thinking too hard on this, but these dots in his head were almost waiting to be connected in some way.Â
âto be honest, this kind of feels like when we were getting ready for kt rookies stuff, yâknow? the preparation, the recording, figuring out whatâs going to happen in our music video and all that...â the only difference from then was that this time they were recording an original song, something that they first heard the demo of, were assigned lines to, and now was going to be labeled as something under ânsg u,â which johnny and jongdae found themselves a member of as of late. âi guess we can thank kt rookies for preparing us that much.â
The road to this stage had not been an easy one. In his conversations with his parents, Hyunjin had attempted to limit their exposure to the groupâs growing pains and yet⌠and yet his mother always seemed to know. It came from a lifetime of careful watching amplified by two decades of parental affection and the need to care for and protect her precious child. âMommy loves youâ â she would always start out like this, always putting love first before giving him the exact words he needed to hear.
A part of Hyunjin wishes they would be able to see him perform and properly take the first stage as a member of this group. Of course he still had his reservations to presenting himself as Logan rather than Hyunjin, but maybe it was better this way; safer, saner. With a stage name he would be able to separate himself from the comments that would inevitably follow him â whether they were a successful group or not, commentary was a natural part of this profession.
Nervous prior to their first stage, Hyunjin only half registers that Jongdae is on a phone call until heâs being included in the conversation, eyes wide as he blinks owlishly at the camera for the first few seconds before snapping to attention and giving the camera a hasty bow that has his head disappearing off screen. He shortly re-emerges, âJongdae hyungâs mother, hi!â The âhiâ comes out in English, punctuated by some rather enthusiastic waving on Hyunjinâs part, âJongdae hyung looks really cool today, let me show you!â Gently, Hyunjin takes Jongdaeâs phone from him and backs away, switching the direction of the camera to properly direct it at the other male as his hand appears in frame, giving an excited thumbs up and making impressed noises off-screen.
âayy,â he started with a nudge right to hyunjinâs arm when he heard the otherâs greeting. his expression showed a bit of teasing, but he also hoped that he would be able to loosen up a little too. âitâs too stiff and formal to call her my mom all the time. you can call her âauntie.â aron calls her that all the time.â and just like that, after jongdaeâs comment, his mom replied back to it with her own confirmation, trying to look intently at hyunjin when this message was for him.. âyouâre all part of dylâs group, which means youâre his family and all of my sons, too. you can call me auntie from now on, okay? next time i see you, i want to hear that from you too!â
though once that was settled, jongdae suddenly found his phone in hyunjinâs hand as he stepped back and presented jongdaeâs outfit to his mom. it was part of the wardrobe that they wore for their music video full of layered shirts, accessories and oversized outerwear that looked like a mix between the 90s and futuristic. the long white belt was the standalone piece from what was jongdae was wearing, so he stood up for his mom to see it, though he also let out a bashful laugh from hyunjinâs own reactions.Â
âto be honest, it reminds me a little of what i wore back in the states, especially these pants, donât you think? but iâm also shy modeling it. hyunjinâs better at it than i am. you should watch him do it too!â he mentioned, holding out his hand to request his phone back. but then, his mom spoke up again. âof course, all of you are handsome. you should be for your first stage! your dad and i are trying to stay up so we can catch your first performance. weâll be watching for you. logan... too, right? is that your english name?â
NSG U ěě ě¤ě§ ě Teaser #6 ADDAE
2020.09.28 PM 6:00
NSG U ěě ě¤ě§ ě The First Single [The 7th Sense] Release.
Copyrights 2020 â KT Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
This video is uploaded to KT Entertainmentâs official YouTube page at 12PM on September 25th.
[text: jong-addae hyung]
âĄď¸hYUNG
âĄď¸omg i saw your teaser and it looks amazing!!!
âĄď¸congratulations on your debut hyung omg!!!
(txt: tol noodle)
⤠eyyyyy sehun ah!
⤠hahaha, why thank you. i'm still a bit in awe that this time it's not related to ktrookies but like... you know, an actual group???
⤠and i'm glad you like it. ^^
through jongdaeâs own efforts of recording everyone during their first broadcasted performance, heâs kind of glad that none of them have really turned him down for what he was doing. who knows? maybe someone was going to be too nervous or just didnât want to think of anything else other than making this a good performance. they had not been in this kind of situation before with this much stress on this singular moment, so the way they dealt with it was completely new to many of them. their debut day was definitely important, and definitely a way to make a first impression for their group to the public.
but that was all said and done now, living off of the feeling of their first stage, the audienceâs cheers and support for /them/ still fresh in his mind. there was a high jongdae was on, and he didnât want to forget this feeling.
recording himself did feel very awkward to him still, but that was his first thought to double back to record the aftermath of their first performance when he already had a video during their waiting time. he might still feel a little awkward doing this kind of thing in a public place, but the staff might be used to it by now that anything they do anywhere in the broadcasting building could be recorded in one way or another. so having that in mind, he picked up his phone again when they were back with their belongings, running with the adrenaline and trembles from getting off the stage not too long ago. he didnât think he would have been able to hold his phone steady, but he was glad for the weight of it that it wasnât shaking too much.
after a quick look at himself on how heâd show up in the video, he angled the camera, still front facing, and pressed the record button. his voice wasnât as big or confident while talking by himself, still needing to get over that hurdle of having a monologue and spilling his thoughts on the matter. but he had gotten more comfortable at when he turned the attention to his background as he scanned around and looked for the first person to head towards. âour leader, taeminie-hyung~.â he walked closer to him, big grin back on his face as he occupied the space next to him and adjusted him into the frame. âwoo! we did it!! we completed our first performance!â
The last time Johnny dyed his hair read, it was because of a modeling job. He had to dye his hair back to black as soon as his commitment with the brand was over because he had to go back to his natural hair color. However, this one feels a little more permanent. Itâs one of those things that make him go âHOLY SHIT. I AM DEBUTING.â He had seen the original members come back from the salon with newly dyed and styled hair, and they looked almost like actual idols. He almost wonders if itâs the same with him once this dye job is finished.Â
âHey, hyung,â Johnny looks over to Jongdae. âWhatâs the weirdest color you dyed your hair?â Itâs going to be a bit of a long-ass ride, since Johnny will be taking much longer on the chair compared to Jongdae. He might as well entertain himself in any way possible. âMine is going to be either red or blond, considering the modeling jobs I used to get. And I went to Catholic schools as a kid, so dyed hair was a total no.âÂ
with his own freshly cut hair, there really wasnât much of a difference to it aside from his bangs being short and straight. It was a little too short for his liking, but he had to go with whatever the stylists thought matched the concept. still, he ran his hand through his hair, habitually so, after hearing johnnyâs question. âi canât say that iâve been really adventurous with my hair color either, honestly. since i lived in military bases and my dad was pretty strict, the only other color i had other than black was⌠dark brown, but that also happened when i was a kid and my mom was coloring her hair at that time too. hair styles though... â he chuckled. âi had a little bit of a curly hair going for a bit during one winter. did we already know each other during that time? i donât remember if we already met or not the--â
he suddenly paused mid-sentence when a cursed image popped into his head. âoh my god.â this was something that happened not too long ago. if his recall was correct⌠it was⌠last year, right? although he also wanted to say it was rightfully forgotten before it decided to assert its dominance into jongdaeâs memory once again. his head went down into his hands because of it and he let out a small wine. âokay, this wasnât a hair dye, but do you remember when we went to jeju and did that future performance and we went to the stylist to get something âedgy and futuristic?â yeah, iâd say that green bangs one was the weirdestâŚâ
the first day of introducing themselves to the seniors felt like he was back as a trainee saluting those whoâve been at the company longer. maybe this was less intimidating since they werenât exactly competing towards debuting. theyâve passed that point now, and were able to come out with their own music.Â
soon.Â
that was probably something that they werenât going to get to until they were a lot later into their careers. for now, they had to get past their debut day first, riddles with nerves and professionals watching their every move. worries of their choreography and making mistakes considering how difficult it was. what kind of articles would come out about them after this day? what kind of details would be mentioned by their seniors who were watching then? no harm done, right?Â
the good thing about it though was meeting all the other performing artists of the day and convex being one of them. which also meant seeing some old friends who he last saw who knows when. last year? more than a year?. when walking into convexâs room, nsg got through formalities first with them before moving onto other seniors to greet. it was after that time when he messaged jaehyun again to meet up with them where they could.
there was a huge smile on his face seeing him again, going up with open arms with the intention of hugging him. âjaehyun-ah, itâs good to see you again!â
A staff member leads you down KTâs winding hallways to Katie Leeâs office, then opens the door and leads you inside, where the CEO awaits, sitting at her desk. She observes you as youâre instructed by the staff member to take a seat. Next to your chair, is a company lawyer whom you recognize from before; heâd been present when you signed your initial company contract. The staff member then leaves the room. You hear the door close and the latch click back into place just as your CEO finally decides to speak up.
âIâm very glad you are here today because it means you have finally achieved our goal, havenât you? Trainees come here and sign away their two-year contracts with hope of one day making to where you are right now, but not everybody makes it.â She says it all with a serene smile. âYour years of training are what got you here.â
âYou stood out from the others, even if you also had your ups and downs. Whatâs important is that you managed to get yourself back on your in feet and kept on improving.â She pauses, and diverts her attention to her desk, where she shuffles paperwork until she sets one singular sheet of paper in front of her. âIâve been proud of your growth here, and I trust you to do your best to continue to improve, even after debut. This, here,â she says, motioning towards the document, âis a contract exclusive to NSG and will tie you to this group, and to KT Entertainment, for the next six years.â
There is no sign of regret on her features as she slides the contract toward you and hands you a pen. âIf we share the same vision of making NSG the next boy group of the world, and you wish to be a part of this journey, you know what to do.â
jongdae remembered going through similar thoughts when he first renewed his contract with kt. he studied in university, albeit his degree was in something that wasnât directly connected to what he was doing now. he gave the trainee life a two year trial at first, but continued on when he was still curious on what else they could offer.
this âofferâ was now staring at him in the face between him and katie lee, while talking about making his position in nsg more... permanent.
asking them to sign a contract for six years was a long commitment, especially when it was in an industry that wasnât exactly stable. maybe he said the same thing when he also signed his two year trainee contract and the renewal after that, but he always looked at that period as more of a constant question to himself. jongdae already had an idea of that when he signed up as a trainee in the first place, but now? this was going to be his future.
a few months ago, when they had their disagreements and discussions, when jongdae was unsure of where this path was leading to, he would have considered turning down the offer to being in nsg. it was the unfortunate truth for him, when he was constantly on edge with himself and how the company was handling situations that did not always stay to their plans. of course, rescheduling and going overtime also seemed like a normal occurrence in the entertainment industry, with one thing needing to rely on the next thing to happen. jongdae guessed that getting a taste of that before they debuted really helped him put this future into perspective.
before debut, they had a taste of the type of style nsg might be going through, which he didnât find completely aligning to his own expectations. their sound was pretty avant garde on its own, with performance aspects that kind of felt like taking skills that werenât his forte and putting them on blast. jongdae didnât want to seem ungrateful, but there were questions about nsg that he wanted to ask, and he wasnât sure who would give him the answers he was looking for.
âcan i take some time to look it over?âÂ
he read through the clauses carefully to see if there were any questions he might have reading through it. some things he agreed about understanding from a business perspective. for others, he asked for more clarification. at the end, jongdae was already this far into kt and the debuting process that it would be uncanny to turn back now. all the hardships that they faced as nsg already, the meetings he had to endure to get to that point, along with the dedication, new projects, and improvements he made in just this year, he needed to find the result of all this work.Â
this was not going to be the end of addae.Â
ultimately, he picked up the weighted pen next to the paper, then signed and dated the contract in front of him. there were still some doubts he had, but he hoped they could be assuaged, or maybe even exacerbated, in these next six years of his life.
they should try to commemorate this moment, despite how tired they were from getting up so early. they were used to getting up at this time, albeit maybe sometimes drowsy, but today felt different. all of their trainee years and practices lead down to this moment, not to mention the hardships they felt from this whole debuting process. he was also a bit disappointed that his family werenât able to make it this time of the year, but he understood their busy schedule. at least his sister who was still in the country could take this spot to support him and knowing she was taking her time to sit in that audience today.
aside from his call to his mother, he wanted to save this moment and really record how they were feeling right now. debut really only came once for them, their feelings reaching a special point that might not be able to be revisited. so, with another flip of his phone, he swiped it open and stood next to aron, feeling like they might be able to pull what he had off considering their mc experiences before this. âaron, my dude... do something with me, will ya?â the screen flipped around to use the front camera so that the both of them were in the frame, and jongdae changed the settings so that he was able to record a video.Â
then, he pressed record. ânot that iâm going to upload this anywhere, but i want to keep this for memoryâs sake, yâknow? times like these is like a once in a lifetime opportunity. so, with that said, today is⌠september 29, 2020 and⌠aron, can you tell us where we are and why?â he turned to face the younger now, and he panned the frame so that aron took up most of the screen this time.
âhey mom,â jongdae smiled at his phone when his mother showed up on the screen. he waved happily back at her while her response was just a little bit delayed. it was hard to determine how their connection was while they were backstage, so much happened with people walking around and radio frequencies maybe interrupting and so on (did that make much of a difference at a broadcasting station? he wasnât sure), but for now, it looked like everything was as fine as it could be.
he called to calm his nerves when they were nearing their first promotional stage. it gave him some relief seeing some familiar faces in between the seniors around, but as nsg were newly debuted, the nerves would catch up to them as quickly as a snap. âyouâll do fine. itâs not that much different from when you were singing in church,â his mom commented in the middle of their conversation. jongdae laughed, but it was quickly followed with a whine. there were more eyes on them than there would be at a church, he expressed.
âoh, why donât you say hi to the other members? hyunjin is right next to me.â right when saying that, he tilted the screen so that they could both be in the frame, even if that meant jongdae was getting a little too buddy-buddy with the younger, but maybe he didnât mind?. then he spoke to him in korean. âhyunjin-ah~, my momâs on the phone.âÂ
âaww man!â he sighed dramatically at the scissors thrown by jongdae, lips pursing into a pout. but surely, he would start of being easy on him, right? at least, thatâs what aron held some hope in. regardless, he would have his turn next, too. he cracked his fingers by pushing them downwards when interlaced, then rotated his neck a little to stretch, lips pulling into a grin. that is, until a trivia was thrown back in his face.
âwait what, trivia is allowed?â he pointed out, jaws dropping slightly. even if he is one half of the bird dads in their household, it doesnât mean he knew all things beyond the basic necessities and care for their birdies. âwait wait wait, uhh⌠uhâŚis this a trick question? cause you said living in the wild, so, they should have more freedom and be happier, right?â he eyed the tray of eggs, tried to envision how the shells would crack on his head. nope, not a good sensation, he would think.
âd, 40! right? am i right?â he raised his fingers in a â4â˛, as if itâs a stand in for option d. âokay you know what, if i got it wrong, just go ahead and crack that egg directly,â he added, then scrunched his face, eyes shutting. âdâŚ.! iâm counting on you-!â
perhaps they would make it more fun this way, just like one of those party games they would see on jackbox or something; they might have gotten the initial question wrong, but there was still a way to try and redeem themselves before meeting their fate and get back in the game. plus, if they werenât playing by some âofficialâ rules, they could just as easily claim it as something done âin-house.â âhouse rules! weâre making them house rules.âÂ
as jongdae was on his reasoning spree, the question that he decided to go with reminded him of a sort of information bias; there must be a lot of trivia that he knew and came naturally to jongdae, but the same probably couldnât be said about aron. once aron wins a game of rock paper scissors, he would be curious on what kind of trivia questions the other would come up with.
he smiled and laughed softly at his answer, trying not to spoil too much with his expression. âthat would be the answer⌠if they were in captivity. my guess is that if theyâre in the wild, there are more things wanting to eat them, or theyâd be under stress so much that in the wild, theyâd live up to b. 20ish years. sorry~ your answer wasnât correct.â which meant that it was time for jongdae to try his luck with cracking an egg.
âbetter to get it done once the first time, yeah?â he imagined the kind of strength he needed to use to crack open an egg. when he did it on the table, he generally knew how much strength he needed for that. add just a little bit more to account for aronâs head not being as solid as a table though. he aimed not for the otherâs forehead, but closer to his hairline, and with a swift smack⌠he unfortunately didnât get it within his first try. he sighed. âdamn⌠should i try again or do i only get one chance?â
jongdae laughed louder than he intended after knowing what song they were going to practice for next. move? by jun? they mean the choreography that looks simple, but requires precise control and charisma that it was almost impossible to replicate the original dancer?
well⌠alright.
there were other things he could say about this choreography, such as the many pitfalls and problems that he and lisa would run into while they practiced. has he mentioned before that âmoveâ was a hard song? of course people could have their own interpretation and style while preparing for this cover, so he tried not to be too much of a perfectionist on getting it too close. just as long as he was able to get the correct hip movements and arms, he would be fine with that.
Maybe he could think of this as a final for the class. After all, this would be his last how to video with s-pop, and he wouldnât be able to audition again since heâs on the debut track. itâs his how-to final, and what a way to go off with a bang.
Come to think of it, he could recall that he had to learn this dance for one of ktâs evaluations if he thought back hard enough. He could have sworn that this song was one of them for something they had to do as a group, but he took comfort in the fact that he was not front and center when the rest of the boys performed it. This time, with it only being him and lisa, there was no such padding, and practiced it some more.
jongdae already knew that his hips could never move like junâs, isolations he could handle, but putting it together with fluidity was something he would have trouble with. Having gotten better with showing his emotions while dancing. while going over each of the steps, he remembered watching a video of jun explaining each step of âmoveâ to his other group members and thought they could do it a bit similarly. âhand over stomach, and then your chest goes outâŚâ waiting until this count until they snap their hands back and so on.
while the choreography was a bit difficult to do, they still were able to get through the recording well. he expected that since this was his last day recording for s-pop that he could take some time and go around and thank everyone for their help.
he thought it was over, but then lisa came by with some flowers and a card as well. she was going to continue on with the show and have a new co-mc for it, but heâs sure that the new mc would be just as comfortable with her. he appreciated all the help that she gave him, no matter how big or small, and thanked her for all of it before stepping out of the studio one last time.
the song was already established and played when they were a group of five, supposedly going to debut back in june if it werenât for their⌠lack of preparation. jongdae wanted to pull through it, thinking that this was like the troubleshooting and review phase like when it came to producing games. sometimes things needed to be tweaked, sometimes some things didnât get to see the light of day, which was the unfortunate reality for three who were offered spots. it left him sore to think about it and questioning if nsg would really get to debut at all; should jongdae have jumped ship earlier? should they not have accepted back when gray didnât either? but all of that happened months back and they were here now, jongdae, somehow, had some sort of belief that the remaining six of them (at least six for now) would be able to jump start nsg without their debut preparations getting them too off kilter.
though it still did feel a little off knowing that he was in the recording booth singing lines that were originally jiminâs. pull through it, jongdaeâŚÂ
he listened to the instrumentals more than enough times when the first nsg u were preparing for debut, back in the dorms when some wanted to get their practice in, but also when they were taking breaks from learning fire truck. it was a little bit easier to record than say âwhat is loveâ or âel doradoâ from scratch and only a demo to go by. heâd listened to the demo for âthe 7th senseâ to get a feeling of what they wanted, but maybe the producers wanted to change it up for some parts when he met up with them and stepped into the recording booth.Â
âtry this line again with the inflection on this word,â he would hear the lyricist say after finishing one line. âit sounds good in this octave, but can we try it again with a falsetto?â but never once was jongdae complaining about singing. recording songs was part of the project would take this over dancing if he had the choice to do it everyday.
