#danielxrk

[woongxrk]

hold it steady.

@danielxrk

he has to remind himself, over and over, that daniel said it was okay for him to come over. he has to tell himself that wanting his friend’s company and support doesn’t necessarily make him a burden. he has to convince himself that if he breaks down, for real this time, in front of daniel, he won’t also abandon him.

woong’s feet feel heavy, like lead, the whole walk up to daniel’s door. he hesitates on the stoop anyways. daniel had said he’d leave it unlocked, but there’s something unsetting and uncomfortable about walking into someone else’s home. he had that feeling the first several times he walked through the door at his stepfather’s place. now he supposes he’ll have to learn how to get used to entering a new doorframe, somehow. someplace.

the hesitation lasts a moment too long to be comfortable, and woong settles on knocking as he lets himself in. it eases the stress just a little bit to at least announce he’s coming in beforehand.

“daniel?” he shuts the door behinds him, kicks off his shoes and nudges them over to the side, out of the way. but woong stays in the entrance until he’s invited further in, just in case daniel is actually too tired, already asleep, or otherwise busy. training is hard work, so woong has been told. maybe that’s why he choked before he even got the chance to walk into his trc audition.

and even now that he’s here, admitted some sort of weakness just by reaching out in the first place, woong has no idea how to share what lays so heavily on his heart with his friend. it’s here, all around them, filling the apartment with an insufferable tight bubble, begging to be popped and released. but woong doesn’t know where to start. daniel knows some of it; he’d know about the star bright casting call, about woong switching majors. he wonders if daniel might be able to guess the rest; being kicked out for being in a band isn’t too dissimilar to what’s going on right now.

but for now, woong waits for a more affirming welcome. he waits to be certain that he really is wanted in this space, to see his friend and gauge if he can even handle hearing his burdens right now. daniel has been dealing with a lot of his own crap; again, woong feels a flood of guilt for being here in the first place.

[rksevngah]

―come august ༄

it hadn’t been that many days since the exciting news but it was bubbling up inside of her-- maybe that was why it happened. when she walked the halls of sphere and spotted daniel she grinned widely at the younger male, waving her hand excitedly, “daniel,” she mused as she skipped in his direction, she could have done a better job at hiding her happiness but... no, she was debuting, after almost two years as a trainee and a survival/reality show last year she was finally going to be standing on a stage again.

“great day today,” she exclaimed but outside it was cloudy and they had been advised by the forecast to bring an umbrella-- sooyoung’s face was as bright as the sun would have been if it was out.”

maybe she shouldn’t be so obvious but could anyone really blame her? it had been a journey, shorter journey than some but that didn’t make hers less hard, even if it had been shorter-- she had the potential to debut already last year but she hadn’t been good enough but now she was good enough, at least she thought so-- her debut song would be a ballad, even if the pure concept didn’t suit her ( at least that is what she thinks ) -- she would be debuting and in august.

                                                    ● ― w/ @danielxrk​ ༄

[mxnark]

get inked!

ft. @danielxrk

though she’s ecstatic about the new changes in her trainee life, that didn’t mean she wasn’t upset about them as well. don’t get her wrong, it was great being able to have a chance to debut as an idol. hell, mina would like to say she’s often found herself dreaming about it. but, of course, even if she did get to see familiar faces (chungha, gahyeon, yoorim, yuzu) more often than she did before, she’d have to give up being able to be in more evaluations with daniel. no longer would she be able to go to him for help as a new trainee anymore. he was practically her way of getting through these months easily because she could rely on him. if she had help, she could simply go to him for his aid. 

but, of course, they’re still able to talk with each other. after months of usually interacting the most with him on sunday nights, she wasn’t going to let him be mina-free that easily. the picnic was the perfect opportunity to get in some bonding time with her brother. and all goes good, but mina, being the bratty little sister that she is, has to play around somehow. so she makes a bet with him that if she finishes the entire basket of food before they even get to the event, he’d have to get an airbrush tattoo with whatever mina wanted it to say (”kang mina is the coolest and i smell like socks”).  and if she didn’t, vice-versa. 

so, with her stomach full of food and a look of disappointment on her face, she sighs as she approaches the artist, her brother by her side. the artist asks if she has a request with reference and she shakes her head. “oh no. uh. i lost a bet with my brother, so i was wondering if you could give me a tattoo of whatever he wants it to say?” she pauses before looking back at him. “oppa,” she starts, “what do you want it to say?” 

[rkmiya]

exhibit a ;

sunmi’s main hope for this class was that her attendees leave with a new sense of self. she knows that everyone gives it their all to their best skill and while that’s not an entirely bad thing, it can be a hindrance in their industry. that was a point she knew she had to make during the first part of her lecture.

“we all have to keep in mind that our industry all idols are expected to be multi talented. yes, you’re expected to be great in your strongest skill but then there comes a time where companies will expect more of you... and if you spent no time diversifying yourself then you will suddenly find yourself failing more than you find yourself passing. this is where your greatest strength suddenly becomes your weakness.”

she knows for some, they might not understand because they’ve never been in that situation. so this is why she had prepped and researched real life examples (including herself) to support her words. “there are some people who can’t find a balance to when they should use their best talent and when they shouldn’t. there comes a time in competitions and especially in training where if you keep doing the same thing it looks boring it comes off more as a gimmick. it becomes unimpressive and dull.”

sunmi had noted that a certain example of hers had actually joined her class. it was a surprise addition. she hadn’t anticipated on him being there. she had half a mind to scratch out his mention from her lecture but it was a main example. maybe she could turn it into something more positive: an example of someone diversifying themselves and no longer relying on their crutch.

“we have mr kang daniel here with us today,” sunmi starts with a nod towards him. she knows it seems sudden to be called out like this. she hopes it goes well. “you were on the mgas, right? two seasons?”

@danielxrk

[rkvok]

May Evaluation - Sphere Entertainment Inter-company Company; Sphere Boys vs TRC Boys (Team 1) Song: Egotistic (Remix) [line distribution, video reference] Performing with: @rksungmin, @danielxrk and @chrxsrk​

Now that Daniel’s mentioned it, Moonbok can’t really get the thought of this evaluation being a ‘light’ version of the MGAs. 10 teams vying for the attention and praise of the CEOs of the Big Five. Thankfully, there seems to be no threat of elimination this time round, so the stomach churning nervousness isn’t there any mores. (He’s still nervous, of course. But nothing like back then.)

That doesn’t mean Moonbok intends to lose.

Of course, he never intended on losing during the MGAs either. But as their group is called forward, he firmly pushes any thoughts out of the competition of his head. Making their way to the stage, he smiles easily at the judges, laughing internally at the thought that they must be sick of him appearing in front of them like this. He even manages to not avoid Hyun Bin’s glance. (Mostly.)

Then the music starts and they fall into their roles. It had taken them less than a day to decide on CONVEX’s version of Egoistic, with Chris and Daniel adding their own twists to the song. While Moonbok felt a little guilty in not being able to contribute to the actual arrangement of their piece, Sungmin promised him he was doing the group a huge favour by taking a vocalist position instead of a rapping one.

(Personally, however, Moonbok still thinks that Sungmin is too harsh on himself.)

But you become the center anyway.  But you shouldn’t do whatever you want.  

And Moonbok has to admit, he enjoys it much more than he’d thought. And even compared to when they’d all worked together at the start of the year, this performance felt even better than that one. As though they’d become more in tuned with each other and their strengths and weaknesses. (In fact, he almost regrets the fact that they don’t have to dance for this performance. Almost)

I wanna do whatever I want.

As he sings the song’s final line and their performance comes to an end, Moonbok is grinning and he pushes his hair back from his face. Hopefully, they’ve done enough to win, but even if they haven’t, it’ll just be a disappointment.

Because he’s not going anywhere. Not for a long time to come.

Word Count: 355 (without lyrics)

[rknak]

*·— no harmony

@danielxrk

of course, when she hopes that the mgas will come back for her she wishes it to be in the form of a swarm of fans expressing their love. instead, of course, she needs to watch freaking kang daniel walk into her classroom. her classroom! the audacity. nakyung’s acting skills are reserved solely for moments like these. she smiles but towards somewhere else. it’s like ignoring the people you went to middle school with when you spot them at the mall. the problem is, of course, she’s supposed to help all these people with their questions.

eye contact is completely avoided during the first part of the class when it’s mostly the instructor going through what they need to. when it’s time for the students to give it a try themselves, nakyung continues to smile when she’s told to help one specific student. son of a bitch. “hello,” she says with her unfaltering smile. “daniel, right?” she knows, but she chuckles. he knows that she knows. “do you need any help?”

[rkpcy]

* boomkack ,

@danielxrk

he vaguely remembers dabbling in beatboxing a few years back, but he can’t recall exactly what it was for. he’s fairly certain it was for some evaluation or workshop of some sort, but he can’t remember for the life of him the specifics of it, and he doesn’t know if that reflects badly on his memory, or if it goes to show just how long he’s been a trainee at trc. but he supposes that doesn’t matter at the moment. what matters now is that he feels like he’s learning from scratch all over again, having not taken so much as a follow up lesson after the fact, and that means at least a year of having what he’s learned go untouched and unpolished; he can barely even remember the basics anymore.

but, he muses, watching as a fairly familiar face tries his very best to follow along with the lesson, at least he’s not struggling as much as some others. and as funny as chanyeol finds it, it’s actually quite soothing to know that he’s not alone in this; not that many of the other people around him are any better either. he approaches daniel, lips pursed to keep himself from straight up laughing in his face, and leans in just close enough for his hushed words to be heard. “getting any good beats out of this?” he asks, tone light and airy, very obviously teasing, but without any ill intentions. “or are we both just making random noises and hoping for the best?”

[rkhyxnggu]

               ╰☆╮ A DREAM IN A NIGHTMARE ╰☆╮

Bang Bang Bang (line distribution) | @danielxrk, @rkrose, @chrxsrk Beautiful Target (line distribution) | @jkookrk, @rkharuto, @rkxjongsuk

Sungmin knew that the breezy evaluations (at least in his opinion) were too good to be true. He had been waiting for that one evaluation that really challenged him. He didn’t have to wait long. As soon as the staff entered the room, he had a feeling of dread. Once they opened their mouths, his whole body sank. Not only did they have to perform two routines, but one had to be a concept they were dreading.

This should be fun.

There were really only two concepts that he felt most comfortable doing – band and hip hop. Of course, neither involved dancing, which was one of the requirements for this month. Of course he had to pick the two hardest concepts. He really hated himself sometimes. When it came to his ‘horror’ concept there was only one thing that sprung to his mind; cute. If there was anything Choi Sungmin couldn’t do, it was act cute.

He really hated this month.

Preparations for both concepts were interesting. For Bang Bang Bang, he was working with Daniel once again in a band, which brought back mixed emotions within him (and he was sure Daniel was experiencing the same thing). Somehow, they had to incorporate dancing in their performance, which was not easy. Still, they had somehow managed to work it out. He didn’t know the other two in their group, but they were both talented and the group worked well together, which was all that mattered.

Beautiful Target, however, was a completely different story. While he was ecstatic to be working with Jungkook finally, the circumstances were beyond ideal. Neither male enjoyed the concept which made things easier. Sungmin felt like a fish out of water whenever he performed the song. It wasn’t that the choreography was hard, it was that he had to act cute. It physically hurt him to act cute.

The month seemed to fly by and performance day came. For once, Sungmin felt uneasy. He was dreading performing Beautiful Target which only added to the pressures he felt whenever evaluations rolled around. He let out a deep sigh as he waited for his turn.

The rapper always struggled to ascertain how well evaluation performances went. The staff were hard to read and all he could use to tell was how well he performed. Bang Bang Bang was easier for him since he was in his element standing behind his keyboard. As long as Sungmin was able to rap, he knew he could ace any performance, at least vocally. He had moved as he played, trying to find ways to ‘dance’ while he played the keys.  Of course, they had a small choreographed piece that they had performed. It had been a fun performance.

Beautiful Target, however, was something different. He had felt pain throughout his body as he performed the routine. His rap was where he had naturally shined, and he felt less pain as he had rapped his line. The group had tried their hardest with their performance, but neither were ‘cute’ and it was obvious.