what: volunteering at the animal shelter
when: july 19, 2021
with: you if you’d like
out of the three volunteering days they had set up for the next few months the only one aidynn planned on attending was the one at the animal shelter. honestly he wasn’t the biggest fan of old people, and there was more than one occasion where they weren’t a fan of him either from when he was younger, and visiting the orphanage really wasn’t something he felt like attending. though he wouldn’t admit that it maybe hit a little too close to home for his comfort. though, animals were right up his alley.
he’d found his way into the cat room, which he was sure his own two cats at home might not be the most appreciative of but they’d be fine. it was probably amusing to watch someone so big sitting with all the small cats surrounding him, maybe even climbing him, or being held. his attention had primarily been on a pretty calico for a few minutes until someone else was coming to sit down, catching the cat’s attention. “traitor,” he joked as the cat moved towards the new person. his joking tone continued as he looked up at the new person, “rude, me and the cat were bonding and you had to steal the attention.”
it was another solo single that he was promoting. truth be told, it feels like he had just released candy. however, that was already months ago, which still felt a little odd that it was so long ago. this time, however, duri wasn’t going to be getting on stage to dance, like he did for his two previous releases. instead, he returned back to his comfortable genre, the one that he had become known for early on in his solo career. which he was perfectly fine with, since ballads were one of his favorites to create, and he always had a really good time with them. he just hoped that other’s managed to like the song, goodbye, just as much as he was proud of the single.
it had been only a few days since he started promoting the song. he seemingly stayed a bit to himself, rather than doing his usual go around - just so he could get back into the swings of promoting once again. but, today, he decided to walk around, instead of staying inside of his waiting room, or somewhere backstage, awaiting for his cue to go up on stage. so, he got up, exiting his waiting room.
he knew a friend was promoting at the same time, so he decided to take a visit. he made his way around the dressing rooms, being sure to read each door to see who was in which room. once he came across minjung’s, he sent a knock to the door. “minjung! it’s duri!” he said through the door, before he’s giggling happily, and stepping back.
volunteering isn’t a punishment sentence, nor does it relay the sentiment that bc holds something higher, more controlling on top of his head. instead, what it becomes is another mandatory-not-so-mandatory event where he’s standing around a crowd of elderly people, an apron tied around his frame and his cheery smiles greeting each passerby around.
it’s no surprise by the time he spots duri, taejin’s face fills with a silent hello in the form of a smirk, and a head nod ode before marching over.
“i guess we can’t refer to ourselves as the oldest in the room anymore.” taejin cracks a dry joke, pulls a chuckle from his throat as he dips his chin to another elder woman passing by. “are you having fun volunteering?” by his own accord, it’s obvious: the first slow start to volunteering now blooming into acceptance, enjoyment as the time diminishes closer to the end of the day.
his hand rests in his pocket, a yawn escaping by the time fatigue wrestles with his body, muffled by the cup his palm. “this is my third volunteering event this quarter, and i must say — it’s probably the most enjoyable despite being one of the more tiring physical tasks.”
right then and there when the camera’s come like a collection of relays, one after another — catching every damn breath and his narrowed glances from the side-eyes he shoots straight towards them.
it’s an underlying decree: give me some fucking privacy. but when has bc ever cared about that when they’re too busy prancing around family imagery?
so, by the time he makes his break into the hallways, straight out the door, he’s caught again in another haphazard trap. lured in, no way out when he’s face to face with another reflection of a lens, smiling straight through with another familiar body next to him. “hello, my sibling hyeju.” gyujeong greets, voice so sarcastic it could split the frame right then and there. whether she catches it or not, it’s up to her — but he bets she picks up right on the spot.
“how happy and fortunate are we to be here at the same place behind the bc concert — isn’t it just so great we’re doing a family concert?” the sarcasm continues, and he averts his gaze to the cameras — heavy eyelids, an even heavier drawl of his voice. one smile that bleeds the ‘fuck you bc’ mantra from the start of its tone.
duri had been rather excited about his new solo single. he was back to doing ballads, a genre that he became known for early on in his own solo career, before he did the mini album, chocolate, and the solo single, candy. he wrote and composed the song, which he always liked to be able to do because they’re two things that he really enjoys doing. others seemed to really like the song too, which make him feel a lot more proud of the work that he put out. ballads was probably one genre that he really, truly, belonged in, it seemed.
he’s standing backstage, off in his own world. he was awaiting for the cue to go on stage, as one does. there was a lot happening around him, so he had watched the monitors and really just vibed to himself. he was sure that he would be called to be on stage soon, and for now, it was just a game of waiting. it was something he got used to, especially with being alone now with how often bc entertainment would send him off on his own.
however, this was something that didn’t last that long, because before he knew it, a friend would appear in front of him. he giggled softly, turning to yuzu, who was the mc for music bank. “hi!” he greets happily. “have you been having fun being the mc? ah, being the music bank mc is a lot of fun,” he said, reminiscing on when he was a music bank mc for a year.
truth be told, he always looked forward to getting to volunteer. it’s one of his favorite things to do, whenever he had the free time. luckily, this time around, room was made in his schedule to be able to volunteer, due to it being set up by the three companies. this being his second time taking part in the volunteering opportunity made by bc, dimensions, and gold star. he was rather glad that he was given the choice to be able to do so, considering the fact that he wasn’t one to turn them down.
today, it was the orphanage and he ended up pairing up with minah to do things. so, he knew it was going to end up being an even better time. especially because he didn’t get much of a chance to hang out with minah, thanks to rather busy schedules. so, at least, they were able to do this. he was gathering a few things together that was going to be handed out to the children. “should i make this more organized? or should i lay things out some more?” he asked, looking upon minah. “i’m not entirely sure what would be easier for everything to be seen.” he said, giggling softly. “i think after this we also have to go the kitchen, don’t we?”
the stupid unit song he’s in for their upcoming album is stuck in his head. -- to be fair, he likes the song. he likes the lyrics on it. y’know, mostly the ones he wrote, but, like, whatever. that’s not really the issue. the issue is that his head has somehow blended it together with fallin’ flower, factually charm’s worst song, so now he’s cranky thanks to that. don’t even bring up the sweat pouring out of him after all those rally calls for the whole group version of just do it. his thoughts pause for a moment. huh. a full group version. that sub-unit really was a short lived experiment.
whatever.
quick changes and freshening up happen in a breeze, and before he knows it, he’s out on stage again, stressors mostly forgotten for the next micro-set of songs within their setlist. sometimes he feels high at and after concerts -- other times, it’s like his energy levels just crash. it’s one of those nights, where he’s tired from the extra flying to go back to korea for a festival yesterday. he makes a beeline for the room that the staff stuck the performance unit with for changing, and strips, changes into fresh underwear, and flops onto the couch. he’s gross still, but he’ll shower when he gets back to the hotel. he takes a second to catch his breath, and then lethargically drags his sweater and shorts onto his body. his head is still forcing its way out of the sweater’s neck when he hears the door open.
“who’s it?” he grumbles, though he knows there’s only a handful of people it could be. aaand ... his vision is clear again as he emerges out of the sweater, and yuanjun comes into view. “hey, you.” he barks, brow furrowed. his mood is threatening to burst. it’s nothing to do with yuanjun in particular but ... “dude. where the hell’s your head at?” -- isn’t that what he should be asking himself?
INT. UNDISCLOSED MUSIC SHOW SET ● EARLY MORNING.
* ♡ MICHELLE PERFORMS ❝ ONE&ONLY ❞ → AUG 2021.
Throughout her career thus far, Michelle’s had to wear multiple hats—all of which she’s never, ever bothered to try on before. Whether it’s singing, dancing, or even acting, she’s been thrown into the lion’s den and is expected to perform well. Sure, being given direction makes things easier to handle—that, plus all of the editing that’s done to make her appear better than she is—but that doesn’t mean she truly believes she’s good at any of it. If she can please the team of creative management, then that means she’s doing her job, and that’s all that matters to her at the moment. Over the better part of the last year, she’s been anticipating her schedule to fill up with more activities, and as of July, her agenda is steadily becoming more erratic. In August, though, things bubble up to a boiling point. Not only is she on-set filming the second season of Chroma’s début drama, but she’s also promoting her solo track. Being in front of crowds isn’t a foreign idea to her as she has lots of experience being judged, criticized, and watched by plenty due to her past in figure skating, but this is a totally different approach to performance than she realizes. She felt confident on the ice, but now that she’s no longer gracefully gliding about and jumping into double axels, she’s pretty terrified of how she’ll be received by the public at large.
What if they’re quick to pick up on the fact that she’s not the best singer? While she feels most comfortable ( heavily ) relying on the backing track for added support, she’s aware that, at some point, she’ll be asked to sing live... and what then? Michelle’s sure she’ll astonish people, but she’s not convinced she’ll do so in anyway that’s deemed positive. All she can do is prepare herself for when that moment comes, but thankfully, her début stage is pre-recorded... which brings an overwhelming sense of ease to swathe her. If all she has to do is focus on dancing, as well as her facial expressions, she can potentially pull off a charming display of her “talents.” After all, she’s been told ( in fairly blatant terms ) to focus more on performance and visuals as opposed to flawless arrays of musicality, so if she heeds BCE’s advice, maybe she’ll have nothing to worry about? It’s not as if they have her learning choreography that’s far outside of what she’s capable of, so if she can remember everything as instructed, she’ll be fine.
That’s what she tells self-soothes herself with, at least.
—
Before she knows it, she’s standing centerstage—the harsh, incandescent lighting from above stunningly illuminating her petite stature. Her ash-blonde locks glow in the warmth, her pearly white “soft-lolita” style dress beams bright, and as she hears the first beat, she snaps into a zone she hasn’t gone into in quite sometime now. In truth, the performance aspect of skating was something she adored more than she thought she would, so she channels the same “fire” she’d create whenever she powerfully used every square inch of the ice to impress the crowd. Hopefully it has a similar effect now. Turns out, there’s a lot to remember during stages like this, but she navigates through each motion as rehearsed—focusing mostly on the meaning of the track and trying to convey it through movements. Emotion is equally as important as precision, and Michelle thinks putting an emphasis on that will really sell what she’s trying to accomplish.
When all is said and done, she somehow expects to see numbers present on a scoreboard to inform her of how she did, but alas, that doesn’t happen. Instead, she lets the cheers take its place—her audience responding seemingly well to her presentation. What she’s scared of the most, though, is how netizens are going to react once everything’s uploaded to the internet. It’s them that have no fear or remorse in tearing a person apart without ever meeting them. So, as she rides the high of her adrenaline rush, a lot of it settles into her stomach and causes flashes of anxiety. Now, she can’t help but wonder if all of these volatile emotions are worth the effort, but even if she decides they’re not, there’s not much she can do about it now.
Michelle just hopes she did a passable job. Not perfect or outstanding. Just passable.
