he looked forward to the fun and the chaos of the photoshoot that was occurring for base magic. more specifically, it being for the track of joy, a song that duri got the chance to be apart of. even so, he was rather excited because a lot of his friends were on the track as well, so it was something that ended up being really exciting, as well as fun, all around. even time a schedule popped up for joy, he was rather excited to get there, and work, as well as hang around in between doing what needed to be completed. it was an extra layer of fun to the fun duri was already having with working - which was probably quite odd to say, but duri always had fun at work.
he had just finished up a solo portion of the photoshoot, where he had stood in a colorful sweater and jeans, with baked sweets behind him on a table - with it looking like more was being done. not to mention, there was also a bit of whipped cream smeared on his cheek. somehow, it was someone that was rather fitting for duri, his whole solo concept within the song itself - perhaps its a play on the masterchef thing, considering that was something that was often brought up. which always made duri giggle a bunch, since he can’t believe it even happened. more so, he can’t believe most things that happen to him.
with the whipped cream wiped cream, he makes his way around set. that’s when he comes upon max, a happy giggle leaving his lips. “max!” he calls out, before he’s happily running up to max like a golden retriever. “ah, i feel like i haven’t seen you yet today!” he says, grinning widely. though he turns, “who are you looking at like that?”
after the events of earlier that day, duri was rather excited about going to the café. truth be told, he looked forward to the atmosphere, getting to actually work within the café itself during the event, and even getting to do a performance on the stage. it remained him a bit of his uncle’s and aunt’s café in itaewon, the place that he had grown up in. he worked in the café for a short time, as well as often doing the open mic nights since he was younger - of course, all before duri had become a trainee under bc entertainment, as he wasn’t able to after that. nonetheless, he looked forward to something of this nature, especially since he didn’t have the best time earlier in the day (though, it got better thanks to minjung.) nonetheless, he was definitely better and he was very excited, so that counted for something, right?
duri was probably even more excited because he was doing a duet with alice for his performance on the stage. he had delivered to his last table for now, until after the performance. he asked if they needed anything else and when they say no, he just smiled, and made his way to find alice. “alice!” he said, happily giggling. “it’s just about our time to perform, are you ready?” he asked, clearly excited about the performance, as well as the cover that the two would be doing. duri takes the apron off for now, placing it on one of the hooks. there was no need to perform with it on.
summary: suji spends her time at the children’s ward singing holiday songs as a gift
date: early december
location: hospital visit
word count: 429 words
ooc note: n/a
personally, suji was quite conflicted when it came to the holidays.
sure, it’s not her fault that she was born two days after christmas, but it almost seems that way with how the world doesn’t seem to stop for her to celebrate the day. she’s gotten past the age where she’s actively complaining about having to work on her birthday or whatever, but that doesn’t mean that the bitter memories from her childhood have disappeared forever.
nevertheless, suji’s aware that she’s rather lucky. never had a big illness or even a broken bone as she was growing up. there were conflicts with her parents—still ongoing—but she doesn’t think she had a poor childhood and while she doesn’t want to feel pity, she can’t help the little scrunch of her nose as she walks through the children’s ward within the hospital.
the nurses, she assumes, have done a marvelous job of decorating the ward as much as they could, and she thinks the festive spirit is definitely in the air. there’s not a lot that she was able to prepare for the day, but she hopes that being able to be decent company for these children can lift up their moods. she can’t imagine having to spend the holidays in the hospital, and she’s aware that it isn’t even just the end of the year that they’re having to spend here. presumably, a couple of these children have been here for quite a long time.
she doesn’t come baring any spectacular gifts or anything, but when one of the kids she’s visiting says something about wanting to hear some christmas songs, suji gets right into it. the one thing that she can provide for these children is her voice. not to sound cocky or whatever, but she thinks that her voice could be quite a gift.
clapping along to rudolph the red nosed reindeer, she can’t help but laugh along with the smiles that the kids have pasted across their faces. it’s the little things that count, she thinks, and when another child in the room yells out a different carol, suji goes straight to singing.
she sings and sings until it seems that the kids have ran out of songs they could request, and she claps to wrap up the little holiday song session. the trip is a reminder of what the holidays are really supposed to be about. she doesn’t think that the organizers were trying to offer up any kind of lesson, but the occasion does make her reflect on the way she’s been spending her holidays.
character(s) involved: n/a.
about: duri does the photoshoot for this photo.
trigger warnings: n/a.
notes: i feel like this self para is so bad esp because it’s been like ... over a month since i wrote my last self para (thanks college!) but i wanted to get this out quickly cause i forgot about it <3.
word count: 711.
something about it had duri giggling a bunch when he was told the concept that he was doing for this part of the photoshoot. truth be told, he was really curious as to how it would look as, well as the fact as to why he was basically being wrapped up in fairy lights. but, he wasn’t going to question it - he would do his best to pull it off. but, it was something that wasn’t going to be hard for duri at all, considering the fact that he just had to have fun with it and that was already enough for the older who’s truly just nothing but sunshine. nonetheless, he had gotten prepared for the next part of the shoot, already making sure there wasn’t any glitter on himself from the previous portion of them throwing glitter at everyone involved in joy. luckily, it seemed that they had just tossed the glitter to the side, none of it actually getting onto duri. truth be told, he just didn’t want to have to scrub down the shower at home later due to glitter all over the place.
duri slips the leather jacket back on, having taken it off for the time being, just so he could move around a bit more easier. not to mention, it was a bit hot underneath all of the lights with the layers that he had been dressed in, that while he wasn’t actually in the photoshoot area, he needed a bit of a break. which was a bit surprising, considering most of the time, duri had been a bit cold, and needed the warmth. but, it seemed that it was a bit different when it came to photoshoots, as he was like food sitting underneath a warming lamp, but one that was really hot, in some way. nonetheless, he was sure to slide it back on, and make his way with the assistant back to where he was meant to go.
duri sits himself down upon the chair, and at this point, he seemingly has to get into a rather odd position - which almost didn’t work for someone of his stature and height. but, as someone that would often sit on his feet, he had seemingly made it work pretty well. at this point, staff had come over to wrap duri up in the lights for the shoot, making sure they were wrapped nicely - but not tight, and that they’d stay for any poses needed. plus, it wasn’t like his whole body was wrapped up. there was only slight wrapping and the rest of the lights were more so draped over him. still a bit of an odd photo concept, but he’s probably done a lot odder photoshoots, to be perfectly fair.
nonetheless, he gets into that usual model mode that he’s able to switch on and off now. he’s gotten rather good at it, even if most of the time he doesn’t think he’s doing all that well at it. but, he still gets on with it because that’s the most important, right? he moves his feet in different ways, different positions of him placed in the back corner of the chair. truth be told, it’s not the most comfortable, since he’s more so squeezed into the chair, making himself look like he generally fits into the chair with the way he’s squished. his arm over his lap, the other hand up and over the leg resting upon the other leg. at some point, they finally get the money shot after deciding what to do. a few are taken of the same pose, just for good measure. with that, they had come over to take all the lights off of him, and duri gets upon, slightly stretching a bit.
duri thanks the photographer, as well as the staff, and the assistant walks him off the set. from there, they tell him when the next portion of the photoshoot is and when he’s needed, being told that he doesn’t need to change outfits yet until later. he thanks them, before going back to waiting, the leather jacket coming off once more - as it seems those fairy lights just made everything a lot warmer.
summary / minjung sings through the night at a cafe, thinking it’s a better option to bring warm feelings towards couples in the winter.
warnings / none
wc / 445
christmas time’s in the air — she feels it.
the lights, the couples. the cheer dispersed through the air. yet, she remains close to the background, covered and masked lurking in the shadows of the crowd’s cheer for the performer in front of her. it’s merely a matter of minutes before she steps onto the stage, right on cue to perform — the first in a while, and she feels like it’s all foreign.
the stage has become lost, and she remembers what it feels to lie in the spotlight, no faces — just the noise that echoes the lyrics of her heart. but this stage transfixes itself into a more personalized form where the faces become lightened with the up-close and personal sways to the music. and when she placates her gaze from one end to the room to the next, it’s a matter of seeing the next culprit she locks eyes with.
but she knows, no judgements here and the soft spoken song that’s become a trademark to her name entertains the crowd enough. so, she swallows up whatever’s going in her mind, distracting her from one field to the next field of flowers. instead, she takes in a breath of a faux composure, stepping up to the stage.
the guitar already feels like home, the nights spend rehearsing in the lonely walls of her apartment. the notes already engrained like a no-second-guess touch, when it nestles itself into her arms. and by the time she reaches the stool to sit, she bows her head to the crowd of couples. (it’s christmas, really feels like it if the holiday cheer hasn’t knocked her sober by now).
“hi, i’m minjung of equinox. thank you for having me, and lending me your time to listen to my song today — i hope this song can give you good feelings on this cold night, and i wish for nothing more than everyone to have long-lasting happiness.”
it’s not empty words, nor are their pierced with a sincere touch that she can place her thoughts on. it lies in the in-between of wistful thinking, and the reality that she can only give as much as her own heart lends her tonight.
“this song is called through the night.”
and the back and forth contemplation leading her between blueming and through the night — she knows the song for lovers and the harvest some warmth in a cold night plays in the latter.
so, when it begins, she reverts to mindless motions. lets her fingers take over in the subtle plucks of the beginning as her voice enters the silence of the crowd with the first few lines.
solo shots finished, and what remains are the duo pictorials. experience speaks for itself, writes itself in each of her mannerisms — how she slips past the photographer in a polite bow, barely budging in the textbook quota of etiquettes engrained in her movements, and how she finds a beeline straight towards the stylists to fix the microscopic changes to her makeup on set.
minjung closes her eyes, feeling the light bristles and cloud of powder grazed on her face. like a sixth sense, she already knows there’s another person sitting next to her — seventh sense tells her it’s the other idol involved.
keeping her eyes closed, she greets with a simple wave in the air. “hi.” curt, no bite — it’s light, and she refrains from a welcoming grin, fear of smudging anything else. “i’m gonna bet one million won that you’re tomi sitting next to me, and if you’re not — i’m gonna keep my eyes closed and you can pretend to be her, so i don’t become bankrupt by the age of 26.” one eye peeks open, and she sneaks a glance over at the youthful bliss of candy. her thin-lip breaks, and emerges a grin. “so, i win. but you didn’t bet anything so I suppose there are no winners or losers in this game.”
❝ i've been holding onto pieces, swimming in the deep end
solo related jihoon and his feelings at the hospital
date: sometime november-december
song choice: little bit of love
word count:
notes: so, jihoon realizes he is lowkey scared of hospitals and well, he gets a little stuck in his head during their visit for the christmas album
jihoon knows he should be grateful that he is healthy and doing well, he should do everything he can to put a smile on the kids' faces. yet there he was, almost made a run for it as soon as they were allowed to have a breather. he is sure he sped walked, making an excuse to go to the toilet but he made a straight line to the inside garden the hospital had.
the cold winter air was almost what he needed, ignoring the way his throat and lungs stung from the sudden change in temperature. it wasn’t like he was dressed for this weather, he was supposed to be inside, listening to the kids, painting pictures with them, playing games, singing them songs. whatever the fuck gold star had said to do. but god, was it suffocating.
jihoon takes a deep, steady breath in. tries to not think much about how this was going. faking it for colleagues, acquaintances and the camera was one thing. but those were little kids that looked up to them and this face on encounter wasn’t doing him well. he reached to run his eyes, attempting to not smudge any of his make up and what, before his palms moves to press at his temples. this headache was going to hurt like a bitch if the fresh crisp air wasn’t helping him.
he wasn’t a quitter, if anything jihoon hated quitting. if he was bad at something he would really push himself to get good at it. he wasn’t a rapper, but with a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, he was given the lead rapper position. his blunt words and lousy comedic timing had brought gold star to make him a duality idol and to an extend, jihoon liked being on variety shows, ones that he didn’t have to fake it to such an extend. however, this was different.
he didn’t have the patience or the words to deal with little kids. the hospital wasn’t his favorite place either and the thought of having to walk back in there was already causing him to stiffen up. unfortunately, jihoon was very much aware he had a minute or two left before he gets a call from his manager asking him where the fuck are you??? and jihoon didn’t have it in him today to give the guy a hard time. maybe next week.
he shakes his head, followed but his arms and a little bounce. as if he was getting ready to enter a boxing ring, but if it worked it worked. his little hype routine. the smile is back on his lips and he straightens his back.
before he knows it, he is crouched next to the bed of a boy, the adoration and surprise visible on his face. “hey there buddy. i heard you liked catalyst?” he says, voice bright.
it’s what he signed up for, and jihoon wasn’t a quitter. he just had to fake it till he made it.
it was an odd occasion. four out of the equinox members were around, but they weren’t gathered for a group pictorial or anything. rather, they were here for some outside project. to suji, it felt odd to have four members of a five-membered group involved in a project like this one, but she blames it on the fact that the girls don’t have any group activities at the end of the year. no music show or award show scheduled just yet. if it weren’t for this special occasion, their fans wouldn’t have been able to see much of them.
that’s why she’s not really complaining—she just thinks it’s strange. she’d seen yiseu and sooah both earlier when she was getting into her designated outfit, but it took getting to the actual set of the photoshoot for her to spot minjung. “people are going to think this is an equinox project with how many members are involved,” she lets out with a chuckle. she’s in a better mood for some reason, and she thinks it’s obvious with how light her voice comes out. she’s not expecting much of a response from minjung, but it’s still nice to see friendly faces around.
