the familiar scent of coffee lingered within duri’s nose, sat by a big window. on that day, he decided to visit his uncle’s and aunt’s café, a place that he spent his childhood and teen years in. it had seemed that a lot of times, when a place smelt like nothing but coffee, it had always brought him back to the warm embrace of the café that he grew up in, that he spent a lot of his days in. things still felt the same in the café, even though his uncle and aunt managed to upgrade it to bring it into modern times. maybe it was the energy that made it felt the same.
he had moose with him on this day, who seemed to not want duri to leave the house on his own. he was laying on the floor, right next to the table, and would wag every time he got a glimpse of duri’s uncle or aunt. but, on this day, duri had invited jaewon out to the café, as it had been a long while since they last saw each other - due to busy schedules and all that. plus, he felt like it would be nice to see jaewon, to remind himself that everything was going to be okay.
he took a sip of the mocha, placing it down. he looked at moose when he hears a tail hitting the floor, and the large dog getting to his feet, “dancing” a bit. he looked up to see jaewon, giggling softly. “hi, jaewon!” he greets. “it looks like moose is really excited,” he added on. “order whatever you like, it’s on me! don’t let my uncle or aunt tell you otherwise!”
While their relationship was far from being a normal one, especially in its earlier stages, Samsoo was incredibly happy with Jaewon. Their years of friendship had cultivated into a relationship that Soo treasured more than anything, and he was fairly certain that Jaewon felt the same way about him too. Their relationship, while not perfect, was more than anything that Samsoo could really ask for. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure what to expect from the other male when they first entered the romantic dynamic with one another, especially given how Jaewon used to behave when it came to intimacy, but he was glad that his worries and apprehensions were put to rest. As it turned out, Jaewon just so happened to be a great partner, so great that Samsoo found himself feeling a little guilty for having those reservations when they first got together.
Now fast forward three years later and the two of them are still going strong. Three years later and Soo was just as infatuated and in love with Jaewon as he was in the beginning of their relationship. It was something he tried not to take for granted. He knew there were a lot of people who couldn’t say the same about their significant others.
Even though they had fittings for their music video and stage outfits that day, Samsoo still wanted to do something really nice for his boyfriend on their anniversary. He had somehow convinced Ting to distract Jaewon with one thing or another while he got everything prepared at their apartment. He didn’t go too over the top, just cooked dinner and lit a few candles and set up a nice vase filled with flowers. He checked his phone, looking to see what time it was, just in time to hear the front door open. He smiled reflexively, stepping out from the kitchen to see Jaewon standing by the front door. “Ah, jagiya! Happy anniversary.”
“okay, look. i love the song, but it just doesn’t feel very me.”
it’s only been a couple of days since she finally heard the title track for her mini album, and she was surprised to hear that it was written by jaewon. well, partially, but he had some big credits on it. now that she thinks back on it, she does think it reminded her of him, but then again his style had been pretty diverse so she couldn’t catch on right away. there was nothing personal against the song itself, but she wasn’t sure why dimensions was trying with her when her debut failed. plus, this was a complete 180, and she’d rather sing about falling in love again instead of having to act all tough chic. or at least that’s what the song sounded like.
she hadn’t meant to come over just to complain, but as much as jaewon and herself both pretend like they are annoyed of one another, he’s simply one of those people that she can be honest with. “got anything else for me?” she inquires with a dry laugh. she doubts he knew the song was coming to her anyway, and she knows the company wasn’t going to change it at this point, but it didn’t hurt to ask. who knows? maybe he’ll throw her another song later on; one that’s more personalized for her.
Those involved in Hot Topic(k) this month may earn up to 6 points total for writing, by the end of January 31 KST:
Completions of the two interviews included in the in-character prompt. (1 point each, up to 2 points total)
A headcanon of 400+ words of your muse’s “lesson plan”* before going in to complete their mentoring gig. (2 points).
A solo para of 400+ words based on filming |OR| a thread with the mentor for the same skill of at least six posts. (2 points *points may only be collected for one or the other).
These do not count toward monthly limits or toward normal schedule points. All posts for this task block should be tagged with #fmdht2.
IN-’VERSE INFO
A week before they’re scheduled to film, the idols chosen are informed that they’ve been cast as mentors for the episode 6 & 7 block of the show. They’re informed of their filming time, the skill they’ve been chosen to give a workshop on, and the other idol that will be helping with the same skill. They will also be told the songs and arrangements the idols will be performing for their respective position evaluations. Dance mentors will also be given the choreography ahead of time to familiarize themselves with.
There will be five contestants performing each song.
Episodes 6 & 7 (Position Evaluations) - January 11
The mentors will arrive at the studio where the show is filming on January 11. The vocal mentors will coach in the morning, the dance mentors in the afternoon, and the rap mentors in the evening. The pair will be filming their mentoring at the same time, though they may mentor separately, together, or switch on and off as they see fit.
Before doing any other filming, the mentors are pulled aside for a short talking head interview as follows:
Which song do you consider to be the harder performance of the two?
If you were a contestant on the show, which song of the two would you have wanted to chose to perform?
What do you expect a pre-debut trainee to struggle most with for their position evaluation?
The pairs will mentor the first group listed for around an hour and then switch to the second group listed.
Once inside each room, they’ll introduce themselves and the members of the group they’re helping will introduce themselves to them (note: Muns of mentors may write interactions with NPCs in the groups to their liking, but please avoid writing detailed interactions with every single member of the group since some contestants may later not be NPCs).
The group will then show the mentors the current state of their performance. The mentors will be expected to give initial critiques and feedback on their performance before working more in-depth to help improve their performance over the course of the hour they have with each group. Though other performance elements may be in play in a performance other than the specific skill the position evaluation is for, the mentors are suggested to keep to advising on the specific skill they are there for.
At the end of their time mentoring, each mentor is asked to pick an MVP from the contestants based on what they’ve seen from the workshop. They may use their own criteria to pick this.
After they have completed their time mentoring, they will be asked to give one more talking head interview before leaving:
How do you feel your mentoring session went?
Did anything happen that threw you off of your original plans? Did you realize they were struggling with anything unexpected or did you add on any other tips in the moment?
Do you feel you’ve grown or learned anything from mentoring? Do you feel that vocals/dance/rap is in good hands with the next generation of idols?
The position mentors are also invited to come and be filmed watching the live performances for their specific position on filming for the final stages on January 15 to react to the stages. This is optional.
OUT OF ‘VERSE INFO
Every mun who submitted for this casting should have at least one muse receiving a mentorship role, either during this filming or the last one. Most muns should have gotten their first choice muse in, but a few may have gotten a second or third choice muse in and not their first choice. This is simply because the first choice muse was submitted to fewer categories and/or only to more selective categories and has lower odds of being selected, while the second or third choice muse was submitted to more categories and/or less selective categories and had higher odds.
* = The “lesson plan” headcanon doesn’t have to take a specific format or resemble any kind of real lesson plan; it should just detail what your muse is anticipating having to teach and help with and what they did to prepare for mentoring.
Any questions can be directed to the main’s ask box!
he didn’t want to come crawling back to his hyungs every time he faced a problem or issue, but he didn’t really know where else to go. he could only think to turn to the two people who had always been there for him; samsoo and jaewon. particularly the former, especially with the advice he was going to be asking for when he arrived. once he got to their apartment, he let himself in, courtesy of samsoo giving him their access code. ting kicked off his shoes and neatly stacked them by the front door before taking off his jacket and hanging it up. “soo hyung?” he called out, stepping farther into their apartment looking around for any sign of life. he heard some bustling around in the kitchen and he immediately made a beeline in that direction, stopping short at the entryway. “hi baba,” he greeted once he saw jaewon standing there, giving him a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “is samsoo hyung here? i have to talk to him about.. something.”
suji decided that she was going to enter this final round without too many thoughts. it’s not like her career depended on this win or anything considering that her latest album has done well on its own. while the overload of schedules had taken a toll on her physically, she’s actually a bit grateful that it fell in the middle of final preparations for our songs. the overall success of unstable mindset has stabilized her own mindset that this show won’t be a ride or die situation for her.
“hey!” she doesn’t think she would have found herself saying hello without hesitating a couple of months ago, but now that the show’s been going on for a while, and she’s taken some time to have a proper conversation with jaewon, she thinks she can confidently at least consider him a close acquaintance. “i never got to thank you personally, but your song got me my first win.” a playful curtsy is given towards his direction before she chuckles. “you nervous?” with the question, she stares at the stage that’s still in the middle of being set up. the venue seems odd without an audience in it, and she doesn’t think she can ever fully shake off the nerves that come from performing in front of a live audience.
joining each other to do what they do best, @fmdjaewon and charlie spends the night drinking their woes away.
When the sun sets and the roommate is kicked out of the apartment, it leaves Charlie as the sole owner of the place, a sense of emptiness she hasn’t felt in a long time. But it is not without purpose because soon arrives the comfort of a drinking buddy just as they had scheduled. “Welcome, my dear friend.” Greeting him with a grin on her face, having nearly thrown the door open a few seconds after the doorbell rang, she does the sensible thing of stepping aside to let him inside. The tunes of an r&b song plays in the background, a hint of nostalgia weaves through the otherwise empty and silent apartment, and something to keep her entertained while she waits for the male.
“I warmed up a pizza while waiting for you because I got hungry.” The comment is thrown over the shoulder as an explanation for why the fragrance of a classical pepperoni pizza permeates the air, a somewhat stifled laughter joining her words, as she makes her way to the kitchen to take it out of the oven. “Whoa. It’s perfect. I can’t believe I’m about to say this but… we can share it if you’re hungry.” There’s a hint of teasing laced in her words, and the grimace makes it clear she’s not as serious about it as she sounds, and she would, if he asked, share the food with him.
sung didn’t used to be the type to drink, basically ever. it had been a conscious choice to keep his wits about him, and avoid chance of gluttony. he’d gotten accidentally drunk once, at a company event no less, and though it wasn’t the moment he decided to drink, it had sparked an era of sung not being as against drinking.
nowadays, he drank sometimes. casually, with a friend, he might have one sip of a drink, rather than outright reject it like he might have before. that night was casual, though more in that sung would rather be fully aware of what happened during a company event --and to skip the hangover that would only make schedules the next day more difficult. he’d been nursing on one flute of champagne most of the night, leaving his head, at most, lightly swimming. despite what others had been saying about the alcohol, sung’s low tolerance was no match for it.
jaewon didn’t seem to have the same mindset. frankly, sung worried a bit that jaewon might black out. he wondered where soo had gone off to, but, it wasn’t his fight. sung was soo’s friend, jaewon’s friend, which meant he should be looking after jaewon as well. “hey, would you like to talk?” his hand hesitated, but followed through on reaching out to grab jaewon’s wrist. “let’s go to the garden, yeah?” sung pulled them both along in the right direction, but once on their way, relaxed his grip, leaving a flat hand wrapped as a blanket over jaewon’s forearm. “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you drink like this. are you feeling alright?”
