#fmkwanmin

[fmkwanmin-blog]

Cold Days of December

@fmeunbyul Starter! [December 2015]

The weather was on the chilly side that day - bitter, without a flake of snow in sight. Kwanmin didn’t look forward to leaving the cozy training room where he was hot from practicing his dancing on his own and stepping out into the bitter wind. But...he was getting quite hungry and he hadn’t brought his snacks along. Besides, he was a bit too tired to keep practicing, and practicing alone did get lonely. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own though - when they weren’t promoting, practice was up to his own discretion, and Kwanmin liked to practice alone to avoid anyone but himself offering criticism. 

On his way out of the company building, Kwanmin caught sight of one of his label mates down the hallway. It took him a few moments to recognize Eunbyul - one of the vocalists from the Sirens. His expression brightened slightly, hesitating a moment before picking up his pace enough to catch up. They never got the chance to talk often since their schedules often kept them too busy to do so. He admired her vocal ability though he hadn’t brought it up - it seemed a little odd to do so in an unrelated circumstances. For once though, it seemed they were going in the same direction - outside - where it was cold. 

“Hey,” he greeted with a smile, hoping not to surprise her. “How are you...?” he quietly wondered if she would be interested in going to get something to eat with him or if she already had plans for the day - Kwanmin thought he might as well invite her along. At worst he’d just get a ‘no’. “Are you hungry? I was about to go get something to eat. I know a place that makes really good seolleongtang.” 

[fmkwanmin-blog]

Evaluation

@fmchaegyeong - Starter! [Trainee Days]

Kwanmin was exhausted. He only chose that word because there simply weren’t any more he could use - there was no word he knew in any of the languages he was learning or had learned to describe how completely floored he was by the training over the last few days. Though he would’ve loved to just go straight to bed, he found himself shuffling - because he could hardly find the energy to pick up his feet - back down to the training rooms after a meager meal he hoped would eventually give him energy. He’d even drank a disgusting tasting natural-source medicine that he’d been told would help give him energy. He just had to do this - he just had to train just a little longer.

Nobody had been nice to him that day. His dance trainer had swatted his shins because his legs hadn’t been straight enough and forced him to hold poses to maintain his balance. Kwanmin would be the first to admit that dancing wasn’t his strong point - vocals was - so the criticism there didn’t hurt nearly as much as the vocalists had. He’d had to train the high register of his voice that day, and over and over he had listened to the trainer shout to support his notes and stop screeching like a cat. Supposedly if he was going to be a vocalist, he had to hit notes that were beyond his normal pitch. He’d only ever considered himself an alto at best with a few notes in the baritone range - certainly nowhere near the soprano his trainer was trying to make him.

Sighing heavily, Kwanmin shuffled towards the rooms he could practice dancing in. He wasn’t going to use his legs for this one; they hurt too damn much - he just wanted to get his arm movements right. He was regularly criticized for ‘flailing like a drowning man’. Every practice room down the hall had lights on, a few people, some looking just as exhausted as he was, others appearing to still be full of energy. What luxury they had to still have energy. Kwanmin sighed and finally found a dark practice room and pushed his way inside. He paused when he caught the sound of someone crying - his heart stopping for just a moment. He hesitated for a moment before turning on the light, his eyes falling on a girl curled up and crying. He swallowed and let the door shut behind him before approaching gently, kneeling down near her but not directly beside her despite his legs protesting painfully. 

“Hey, uh…are you okay?” He crinkled his nose a little at how awkwardly the words had come out. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t okay if she was crying like this.