Interview Prompt: 3/3 (completed 9 questions)
Word Count: 1977 words
Points: +6 EXP
Studying Japanese had always been a struggle for the musician. He had learned a little during high school, but his attention had been focused on creating music rather than passing his classes. The only reason he had maintained his knowledge of the language was because of his interest in Japanese rock music. He could read basic hiragana and katakana, but his ability to recognize and write Kanji was entirely out of the question. He could speak survival level Japanese and with Jinhwan’s help he was beginning to fix his accent. But otherwise, the guitarist’s brain felt as though it was going to melt right out of his ears as their preparation for their Japanese promotions were just around the corner. The pressure to be able to speak during interviews and to be able to read and memorize scripts for performances had been occupying his mind for months.
As with any kind of information gathering, there was only so much he could retain in a day before the words on the page began to melt into blurred lines with little to no meaning. It was time for a break.
Yeongshik reached for his cellphone and flipped it on it’s side and leaned it against his wall behind his fesk. He tapped his way to his instagram app. He kept his chin pressed on the table on top of his study notes as he waited for people to sign into the channel. It look a couple of minutes, especially considering the late hour in which he was streaming. However, there were always the handful of loyal XL-ENTs that had notifications on for his account. He saw a few familiar usernames pop up as the notifications began to roll in.
“Oopa-ya, you’re so handsome!”
“What is this friend doing? Kkkk”
“HELLO FROM BRAZIL”
Warmth washed over Yeongshik and a small smile curled on the corner of his lips as his eyes tired eyes skimmed the comments.
“Hi everyone,” His voice cracked a little with fatigue. The comments suddenly exploded asking if he had been resting. “I’m fine. My voice iz’gone ‘cause of preparin’ fer promotions.” he wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled. “I think y’all know ‘bout our upcomin’ tour in Japan, right?” He sat up a little and cleared his throat. He paused a little longer to let the comments flood. Some were related to his topic, others weren’t. Most he honestly couldn’t even read.
“I’ve been tryin’ t’study Japanese.” He lifted his head from the table and picked up his notebook. Though, as he tried to carefully remove the book from the desk, his phone slipped and fell onto the desk with a loud clack. “Oh shi---ba inu!” He wheezed and chuckled awkwardly at his verbal save. His large hand consumed the majority of the camera for a short moment as he righted the phone back against the wall. He grabbed his eraser and used it as a stopper to hold the phone in place.
“Y’heard that, right? Tha’ssa new Japanese word. Shiba Inu. Not t’be confused with’uh bad Korean word that I definitely wussn't gonna say.” he chuckled again. The comments rolled aggressively as fans started to spam the chat with the actual swear word he had nearly said. He needed to change the topic quickly.
“I’ve been studyin’ for a few hours now an’ I’m gettin’ tired. So I thought I’d take some questions t’answer.” His eyes scanned the comments. “No, no. This aien’t procrastination. This is productive, right? Maybe I can try t’answer a question in Japanese. OH! There’s one!”
The camera shook as his hands reached for thr phone again he held his finger on the comment so it wouldn't disappear in the steady stream. He recognized the hiragana characters. He read them out loud slowly. “Ge-n-ki de-su-ka? Oh! Genki desu!” he chuckled at himself. “Are you well? I'm well.” He translated back into Korean.
He hummed the chorus to their new single as he set the phone back against the wall, but leaned in close to the phone to skim through the newer comments to read some other questions that he could answer.
“Is there something the public doesn’t know about you?”
“This is a good one!” he read out loud. “Many people know that I grew up in Pohang and that my family catches and sells fish. But what many people don’t know is that I’m super picky about the fish I eat. If it’s not fresh, I won’t eat it. It makes the members angry.” His mouth quirked in a way that was a mixed expression of amusement and mild embarrassment. “I can look atta fish an’ can tell you exactly what kind of fish it is an’if it’s good quality. It’s a special talent. I’m like an X-Man.” He smiled and nodded, though immediately felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment. He sputtered laughter and gently banged his forehead on the desk. “Okay, next question.”
“Has anything influenced the direction you’ve taken either in music or achievements?”
King’s head bobbed up and down as he read the question and hummed aloud. “There’ve actually been many things an’many people that've influenced me and my work; both in positive an’negative ways.” He sat up and leaned back in his chair and twirled his pencil between his fingers. “I think many people would try t’discredit the negative things… buor wanna ignore 'em, but I think it’s important t’experience and embrace those things. Otherwise we wouldn’t be the people we are today, right?” He hummed thoughtfully. His eyes stared at the wall as memories played in his vision.
“When I joined KMT I thought I was gonna be a rock star, but as y'all know, XLNC’s music is more pop. At first I didn't like it, and I thought I was really gonna quit. But th’members really urged me t’stay an’ try. I can say now that I honestly enjoy it, an’ cuz of these experiences I’ve been able t’grow as a musician and as a person.” He twisted the pencil in his hand but it flipped out of his reach and landed with a loud clack against the phone. His eyes grew wide and his mouth formed a toothy grimace. Yeongshik's hands reached out to catch the cellphone before it could fall again. “Sorry!” He chortled and returned the phone to its position and found another interesting question in the comments.
“If you were given the chance, would you do it all again the same way?”
A long exhale huffed from his chest. “Wow. That's’a heavy question.” He folded his arms behind his head while his eyes looked up at the ceiling. “If you’d asked me that question two years ago, I would’ve said no.” He leaned back in his computer chair and twisted it back and forth a little.
“Meetin’ th’members of XLNC really opened my eyes t’many things. I think if I didn’t meet ‘em, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am now.” He reached across his desk and pulled out a Dazed and Confused magazine and opened it to the page that had been bookmarked with a post-it-note. He opened it and held it up to the camera. There was a spread of some pictures of XLNC's King. The pictures were admitting awkward and in many of them, he wasn't even looking ay the camera.
“Three years ago I wouldn’t’ve ever thought’ov doin’ somethin’ like this, but ‘cuz’ov Haneul-ah’s advice an’ th’ support of management at KMT, I was able t’have this chance.” He set the book aside and drummed his fingers on it a moment. “So t’answer, I would say yes. I’d do it all again.”
“Where are the other members?”
He hummed and rolled his eyes up as though he was genuinely thinking about where they might be. A slow, dry smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes spread across his lips. “They’re not here. I’m alone in the dorm right now. Next!”
“In what aspect have you changed the most since debut (if at all)?”
“I think my mind has opened a lot. There are many things that I’ve learned since becomin’ an idol. The experiences I talked ‘bout before’ve really changed me. I’ve also changed physically. Look here.” He held his hand up to the camera to show his hands.
“Y’can see calluses an’scars right? These are th’hands of a fisherman’s son. But recently they’ve become very soft.” He pulled his hand back to look at them himself and shook his head.
“Fans asked me t’use hand creams at signin’ events. I keep gettin’ them as gifts.” He leaned to the left in his chair and gestured to his shelf behind him and pointed towards a white shoe box. “That box is full’ov different lotions an’creams.” He leaned back into the camera and smiled a little. “Right now I’m using Tonymoly Pikachu hand cream.” Yeongshik's hand reached across the desk again and brought out a bright yellow tube with the mouse pokemon on it. “It’s cute, right? It smells nice. The fan that gave this t’me said I looked like pikachu. I think I look like Bulbasaur.”
“If y’had to choose another profession what wouldja choose?”
“Fishing?” he chuckled, “Oh, you mean in the entertainment industry?” He frowned and puffed out his bottom lip. “I’m really notta good actor. I’m still not good with cameras. Modeling is very difficult. I think I’d like t’stick with music. Maybe producing full time or perhaps bein’ a guitar teacher.” He snorted softly. “I dunno if I’d make a good teacher though. I’m not very patient.”
Comments about his patience and fishing started to rapidly flood through the comments. He laughed aloud, his teeth showing and his infectious hiccuping laughter rang in the small room. “Patience with teaching an’ patience with fishing are two completely different things. Really. Okay! I've got time fer one more question before I need t’go.”
“Who is the single most influence person to your career? Be it in a musical capacity or otherwise.”
Yeongshik hissed loudly as he read the question. It was so difficult to pin the needle on any one specific person. He groaned and rubbed his hands through his hair. “This is a hard one! Ahh, I guess if I had to choose, I’d say it was my parents. Does that count? They’re’a pair so it’s basically like one, right?” He snorted softly.
“Really though. They introduced me t’music. My father would sing at sea. My mother played music on the radio. I was always surrounded by music. If I didn’t get that much exposure to it, maybe I wouldn’t’ve cared.” He shrugged his shoulders. “My parents were also th’ones who helped me get my first guitar.” He jumped up from his seat and walked towards the foot of his bed. He picked up an incredibly worn acoustic guitar.
“At th’time they didn’t have enough money t’get me a new one. So they saved up an'got me this used one from a man in th’city. Th’first thing I ever saved up t’buy were new strings.” He strummed a G major chord and slapped the strings silent with the palm of his hand. “Ahh. Now I wanna play. Should I play a teaser for our Japanese single before I go?”
The hearts started to flood the chat. If there was one word he could read in almost any language, it was the word “Yes”.
King smiled a broad, toothy smile. “Alright. I’ll do a soft acoustic version of the chorus.”
His thumb graced over the six strings as he calmly played his own rendition of their new Japanese single. It was familiar enough to be recognized by those who had heard it already, but for those who hasn't may not recognize it. When the chorus came to an end he leaned into th camera and waved his farewell and turned off the stream
Interview Prompt: 1/3
Word Count: 1205 words
Points: +3 EXP
Pop-! Pop-! Pop-!
"King, can you turn your head a little bit more towards the camera, please? Yeah, that's it!"
The reluctant idol slowly turned his head towards the cameraman. He looked beyond the imposing camera that was held up in front of the photographers face. The fabric of his leather jacket groaned under his arms as he moved to shove his hands into his pockets. His head tilted up just a little as he was taught to do. He allowed himself to look as tired as he felt, and for some reason that seemed to look sexy to most people.
Pop-! Pop-! Pop-!
"Great! Let's take a break while we change the set. King, if you could go over to the makeup room, there's an interviewer who would like to speak with you."
"Understood," King replied curtly with a bow of his head.
His heavy footfalls carried him like a zombie to the makeup room. Why he had agreed to do a photoshoot temporarily escaped him. His heart raced in his chest and his eyes stung with the after-effects of the bright lights. His arms felt like lead as he rose them up to the door handle. There was a definite tremour in his grip as he reached for the door handle and gently twisted the knob and pulled the door open.
Pop-! Pop-! Pop-!
"There he is!" A squeaking, female voice nattered. "What a gorgeous candid shot! Come on in, uh, King-ssi, right?"
The young man couldn't see the woman's face for the light splotches in his eyes. He wanted to curse her for the shock, but he held his temper and instead rubbed the light from his eyes. He sensed a bit of attitude from the woman as she spoke his stage name. It wasn't an uncommon reaction, but there seemed to be something more poisonous in her voice as she said it. Immediately, King felt his defenses roll up. His shoulders straightened and his chest seemed to grow a little bigger.
"Tha's right."
Once he was able to see he took a quick look at the woman. She was a thin thing. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her makeup was more intense than most idol concepts he had seen. Her lipstick was an obnoxious shade of pink and her eye shadow seemed to jump out with contrasting colours and made her eyes pop in a bug-like way behind her perfectly circular glasses. Her clothing was that of a reporter: an a-line dress, a blazer over top and heals that did nothing to her height in comparison to the tall young man. He didn't wait for the staff to offer him a seat. He could tell where he was meant to go judging by the setup of the room. He quietly walked past them as her high pitched voice took a water bottle from the large collection by the door and moved to the chair where they undoubtedly wanted him and took a seat.
"Ooh, right to business then? Wonderful. Insuk-ah, adjust the lighting a bit for our King here. He's looking a little dark in this lighting."
Anger nearly snapped at King, and the poor water bottle in his hand crackled as his grip tightened. a bit of water overflowed from the sudden force and splashed onto the knees of his jeans. The majority of Yeongshik's life had been him getting teased for his tanned skin. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with it. But the rest of Seoul seemed to think it was a point of comedy. Still, he drew in a slow breath and exhaled his anger out of his body. He sunk a little more comfortably in the chair and took a long drink from his water bottle, uncaring if his lipstick got ruined in the process.
"So, King-ssi. You've lived a very interesting life thus far. What, with having traveled from the fishing city of Pohang all on your own to pursue your musical dreams here in Seoul. What are your thoughts on your career right now?"
Yeongshik felt a lump form in his throat as he contemplated his practiced answer.
"It's still growin', developin'. Still tryna figure out where I fit int'al'ov this." He gestured his hand around as if to signify the industry in general.
"I see," the woman struggled not to smile at his accent as she took notes, even though her phone on the table between them, openly set to record their entire conversation.
"You seem to have a bit of a reputation for being vocal about your beliefs regarding the music industry on social media like Instagram and Youtube. You even have your own Youtube account where you do your own musical covers. What exactly is it that you wish to show the public?"
There was no hesitation with this particular question. He sat up a little straighter in his chair.
"First ov'all, I wanna prove t'th'industry that bands can make it az idols. XLNC iz'a group ov talented musicians an' singers, an' I aien't bein' biased. All'ov'us haveuh passion t'share our music with South Korea. I wanna show that we can sound jus'az good live az we do on record. The second thing I wanna show iz that music iz more than jus' love songs or breakup songs."
"Goodness," the woman said as she feverently recorded more notes. "Hearing you praise your bandmates must feel good for the fans--"
"I mean it." His voice was hard. "I know I don't have a good reputation fer bein' warm or frien'ly, but I mean it. They're all talented and th'country deserves t'hear them."
The woman seemed frozen in the midst of her writing. She looked at him over the rim of her glasses in a way that reminded him of a dog challenging it's owner. He stared right back, unapologetically believing in his statement. A high pitched sound of approval huffed from her pursed lips and she resumed her notes.
A soft knock on the door and a muffled voice on the other side called out a reminder for their schedule.
"Right, final question. You say that you're still trying to find your place in the industry, even though XLNC has been around for three years. Do you feel that in this time you have experienced a defining point in your career?"
This question seemed to take King off guard. His eyes left the interviewer and he searched the space in front of her for his answer.
"I think," he began slowly. "Th'moment I- er rather- XLNC performed our first song t'gether. It wuz'a'that point I realized that this wus where I needed t'be. I-er- we need t'carve my way in this industry ov a pop-dominated industry."
He nodded his head slowly, seemingly satisfied with his answer. The woman watched him carefully, her expression softened.
"Interesting. Well, thank you for your time King-ssi. You can look forward to this interview in accompaniment with your photoshoot spread in the magazine later this month."
She rose to her feet, and after a moment's awkward hesitation Yeongshik also rose to his feet and politely bowed his head and extended his hand for a polite handshake.
