#ft. accepted

[future-rp]

mystery’s main vocal & leader nori

dingbat group; music, production 15 vocal / 04 rap / 11 dance

1999. the day is turning long and all he wants is to go home and sleep. ‘just one more scene, nori. you can do it, right?’ his mother asks the makeup ladies crowd in to fix the minimal makeup that they’ve put on him. nori frowns at his own reflection, anger and frustration turning to hot tears. he did what the director asked but the director keeps asking him to do the same things so nori must’ve done it wrong beforehand. he doesn’t quite understand what he did wrong. eventually the tears spill over and his mother sighs going over to talk with the director about going home early.

2002. nori doesn’t particularly like acting. it’s something he’s realized slowly. but his mother smiles so widely when he does well that nori doesn’t want to tell her. so he suffers through the takes as best he can. all it leads to is more cameras. more lights. more days that are too long for his young body to handle properly but he continues because it makes his mother happy. she’s happy so rarely nowadays. nori thinks it might have to do with the way that she’s always fighting with his father now. he never knows exactly what happens but he knows they’re fighting over him.

2007. his mother tries to talk him out of it – ‘just take a break, nori. don’t quit all together. you love acting don’t you?’ his only answer is that he wants to focus on his schooling. what he doesn’t mention is that with only himself and her in the house now he feels like he’s suffocating. what he doesn’t mention is that acting was never his dream it was always hers. what he doesn’t mention is that he’d rather be an idol. his mother will surely disapprove of that. so he sticks to his lie.

2010. his mother thinks that he auditioned to be an actor, she thinks he wanted to pick up the burgeoning career that he left behind. he didn’t tell her that the company was a korean company. nor did he tell her that he has no plans of acting in the future. but there’s no avoiding it. he can’t keep up the charade anymore because he needs her permission to join the company and move all the way to seoul. as expected she’s not at all thrilled with the revelation. idols aren’t worth much according to her, and worth even less in south korea. eventually though she relents and lets him go.

2012. the training is more difficult than he’d thought it would be. he struggles to pick up korean, he struggles to remember why he’d even wanted this in the first place. he spends most of his time in the vocal practice rooms trying to wrap his tongue around foreign words. when he calls home he pretends not to notice how his mother seems pleased with his suffering. he won’t give in. he can’t give in.

2015. when they put the group together originally he wasn’t in the lineup. they’d wanted a rap-based group and nori had always been a vocalist. however, eventually they stick nori into the lineup because they need a stronger vocalist than what they have. that’s all that nori really expects, until they shuffle lineup one last time and push the previous leader out. the title then falls on nori’s shoulders because he’s one of the oldest and he’s one of the ones who’s been training the longest. nori pretends he’s not panicking. when they debut later in the year his mother is no where to be found. and nori pretends once again, though this time he’s pretending not to be hurt by it – he has the feeling he’s going to be doing a lot of that.

2018. nori is bone-tired. exhausted. it feels like every move he’s made is the wrong one. ‘he’s not good enough to be a main vocal. why is a foreigner leader? his korean still isn’t good. only his face is pretty.’ the constant stream of criticisms are all too easy to pull up in his memory. and he doesn’t know when but there’s a small part of him that’s taken to believing them now… and to top it all off his mother still hasn’t come to one of his showcases – and her calls are even rarer these days. by now nori’s killed any last bit of hope left that she’ll ever be proud of him. but it’s okay. it’s okay that he doesn’t have flowers or gifts from family waiting for him when he goes back stage. it’s okay…really it is.

[future-rp]

RESERVED 01.20.19

lin yanjun, nine percent / neo, lead rap 3, lead vocal 2, neo: red, lead rap, sub vocal

RESERVED 01.18.19

park seo joon, actor / orion, main vocal, lead rap, leader, dos, main vocal

RECEIVED

yamazaki kento, actor as kisaragi hidenori (nori) / mystery, main vocal, leader

[future-rp]

strawberrie’s main dance, lead vocal & center hyeyeon

verve creative; dance, variety 02 vocal / 00 rap / 08 dance

at birth, they told her that she was destined for greatness. she cried louder than any other baby, as if demanding attention, as if her tiny lungs would burst. her brothers covered their ears as she wailed, tiny palms against ruddy cheeks, but she didn’t care. in the end, she was the one they were listening to.

from then on, there was an understanding between her and the rest of the world. a silent agreement, a mutual respect, and when it locks onto a malleable young mind it roots itself deep down in her heart and stays there. it wraps itself around her mindset, her actions, her relationships, and makes itself known in every facet of her life.

maybe she’s been a little spoiled growing up, because she knows that charm is half inherited, half learned, and she’s always been quick to pick up on things. it’s about well timed smiles, well placed words, little suggestions and whispers in the ear, and the other person will tell you everything that they want to hear. humans have always had the fatal flaw of selective listening, and for her it isn’t even that hard.

so she takes it for granted when they tell her that she’s the best, when little kids in her town say that they look up to her, when the adults say that she’s pretty. she’s praised for her face, praised for her dancing, and she likes to say that it’s no surprise when she passes the audition for her company.

it’s nothing less than she deserves anyways.

bit by bit the castle that she built for herself comes crashing down when she realizes that seoul is different from her hometown. here, people dance every night. people have trained since they were children, and it seemed like some girls started dancing before they could walk. if hyeyeon was a prodigy back in her town, she was just above average here.

it started with sweat.

it started with bruised bones and sore muscles, with nights so late that she couldn’t tell them apart from mornings. it started with every single spare minute dedicated to singing and dancing ( but mostly dancing ). she was determined to be better than everyone, to show everyone that she wasn’t just average. it started with her working herself to the ground so she could show her trainers that she was the best of the best.

she very nearly does it too, and she’s so close but it’s not enough to beat the trainers’ favorite dancer. her face is a diamond among many gems, her dancing is always perfect, movements graceful, voice clear and pretty. there are no cracks in this girl, no rusty edges, and when hyeyeon looks at her she swears she sees her own face tinged green.

so when the girl gets chosen as the shining star of the new verve girl group hyeyeon isn’t even surprised. but is it so bad to wish that things had turned out differently?

“you would have made it if it weren’t for her.”

she hates these words, hates everything that they mean, hates when people say it to her as if it would make her feel better about it.

it starts with sweat, but it ends in blood.

it’s easy enough — rumors spread like wildfire around the company building, and as soon as one person knows then everyone knows, it’s just a matter of saying the right things to the right people. by the end of it all the entire company is talking about it.

( “did you hear? she’s been dating this older guy from her hometown!” )

( “i heard it’s some guy from her school.” )

( “i heard she’s been sneaking out the dorms to see him.” )

hyeyeon looks down at the chaos she causes with a sort of smug smile, simultaneously throwing more and more gasoline into the fire even as she pats the girl on the back and mutters an apology that she doesn’t really mean. and soon enough she’s called into the company office and offered a place in strawberrie. by the time she comes back to practice, the other girl’s belongings are packed up and nowhere to be seen.

she almost feels bad, but then she sees the promise of a debut, the light at the end of a tunnel that leads onto a stage with fans and a bright shining moment out there for her to take, and suddenly she doesn’t feel it anymore.

[future-rp]

magic(g)al’s main dance, lead rap & visual sora

verve creative; choreography 02 vocal / 08 rap / 20 dance

love.

it was all around her the minute she entered the world. a loving family and a nice income. she was happy growing up. no matter what she did wrong, it was alright to her family. she got some bad grades? it was the teacher’s fault. whatever she did right, was amplified and paraded around the bang household. sora loved it, but her siblings definitely didn’t, especially dabin. they would always put her down and use sora as an example. it was stressful, having her parents knowingly make a rivalry between her and her older sister. it drove a huge wedge between them.

her parent’s made her feel open to do whatever, and sora took an interest in the arts, mostly because of her uncle, who was somewhat prominent in theatre. she took acting classes and piano classes and vocal classes, but none of it really stuck with her, until she took her first dance class at age 10. the feeling that she got when she was on stage was electrifying. even at that young age, she knew that that was what she wanted to do.

overwhelm.

when sora told her parents she wanted to become an idol, the dynamic changed both drastically and not at all. sora was still the princess, but there was a tonal shift. if her parents were a bit much before, they turned into absolute hawks over her. they watched everything about her, how she moved every muscle. they would praise her just as much, if not, more, but there was underlying passive aggression in their words. asking her in sweet tones why she chose to become a “popularity whore instead of an esteemed dancer”. there was an increased need for her to be perfect.

it sounds like a joke, being loved too much, but it was real and it made her want to escape. the only way she could without becoming a runaway was to become a trainee. so, at fifteen, she went behind her parents backs and started auditioning at any company that was auditioning. it took her a few months, but she was accepted as a trainee into verve creative. the only problem was getting parental consent that was required to sign the contract. she contemplated having her uncle sign the papers, but when she asked, he declined. when she told her parents, they were very upset with her, but they signed the papers, hoping that she would learn it wasn’t for her and come back home.

disprove.

being a trainee wasn’t all flowers and rainbows like she thought it would be. it was lonely, and bitter, and cold. the days seemed to linger on for more than 24 hours and the weeks more than 7 days. the constant criticism and competition made the impressionable young girl think of everyone as competition. everyone was trying to get in the way of her dreams and she automatically thought of ways to get a leg up on any person she met.

the evaluations and weigh-ins came in like clockwork. the same day and time, every other week. these were the most unnerving moments for her. she spent two weeks working nonstop, singing in her sleep, putting herself on crazy diets at her young age. it still wasn’t good enough. if it wasn’t absolutely perfect, it was absolutely wrong. she got tough criticism in her early trainee days, but it only made her work harder as she aged. the mistakes became fewer and her criticisms became lighter. she was happy, and she was glad that she was happy, as she hadn’t felt the emotion since she became a trainee.

it was the last year and a half of her training when verve started putting together the group. they didn’t have a name yet, but sora liked to call them sparkle, just as a placeholder. the criticisms on the specific girls in the groupm were harsh, harsher than before. some girls couldn’t take it and left. some girls could take it, but didn’t make the cut. seven months later, there were only four girls left. they were finally given a name: magic(g)al.

breathe.

they debuted and sora was in pure bliss. sure, they weren’t popular yet, but sora was just happy to be doing what she actually wanted. she wasn’t the biggest fan of the cute concept, but she didn’t have much say in the matter.

as the years went on and magic(g)al’s popularity seemed to be close to nonexistent, sora started to become a bit discouraged. she wondered if they would ever get their big break. little did she know that months later their popularity would start to pick up after their concept change from cute to girl crush. the new concept fit sora better than the previous, but she still had love for both.

their popularity is continuing to go up, slowly, but surely. sora is determined to keep it rising until they rise to the top, by any means necessary.

[future-rp]

mystery’s main dance, lead rap & visual sang

dingbat group; choreography, music 00 vocal / 15 rap / 15 dance

a nameless newborn is handed off to be cared for by his adoptive family, the sixteen year old mother with her head in her hands on the hospital bed. her parents didn’t want her to have to care for a child at such a young age, despite her cries, and so her son is immediately sent off to his new family. he’ll have a better life, they tell her, the family that takes him in are much more than deserving of a child and far more prepared than she ever could be. even before his birth, his real mother’s parents arranged for a family without the ability to conceive to take the child, and soon he’s in their care with all paperwork signed and a name written on the birth certificate. kim yeosang, affectionately nicknamed ‘sang’. his nursery is around the size of his birth mother’s entire home, every last detail planned to the t, overanalyzed and obsessed over for months in preparation for the child’s arrival.

he’s thought to be the couple’s biological child by all of their family and friends, and is raised believing so without any knowledge of or contact with his biological mother. they made it believable, falsifying photos shared with those close to them and his mother wearing various bumps of fabric underneath her clothing for months until the birth. they told everyone they had a natural home birth, and everyone respected their privacy during that time. growing up, sang is doted on and spoiled by every member of his family as well as friends of the family, showered in money and material items and affection and compliments. he’s constantly praised for his visuals, even by strangers passing the family in the street, and eventually his parents get the idea to play into their child’s looks. there was no reason to, they had well paying careers and wanted for nothing, but a desire within them to set their son up with a career of his own no matter the price took over the couple.

his outstanding visuals land him multiple cfs and cameos in dramas throughout his early teens, with yeosang reluctantly following along with whatever his parents book for him. they adore him because of his excellent memory and his ability to memorize a script the first time he skims through it, but he has to be coached on facial expressions and not looking like he doesn’t want to be there. he doesn’t really have a passion for acting, and doesn’t know whether he hates the attention he’s given from female classmates at his school or the isolation from all of his male classmates more. they all see him as untouchable, a ‘celebrity’ amongst them, someone to gawk at and place bets on who can gather the courage to go speak to him. all he wants is friends and people his age to talk to and be a teenager with, yet all he’s given is loneliness and modeling shoots and drama sets with people twice his age.

he’s scouted by a company called dingbat group for his visuals when he sneaks out one day to get some ice cream down the street, and he told then that he can’t sing or dance, but they correct him by saying it’s not that he can’t, it’s just that he doesn’t know how to. they say as long as he has the face of an idol, they can teach him the rest. sang doesn’t tell his parents. he’s only fifteen, and he’s only ever known how to follow whatever it is that they want for him. it seems impossible to want something for himself, but he knows that he wants away from them. they’re more of managers than parents, and he’s aware that the idol industry isn’t any better, but at this point he’ll take what he can get. and so he auditions.

it turns out that his voice isn’t half bad, and he’s always had a good memory so the dances aren’t as difficult to memorize as he thought. they take him on, and his parents are furious when they find out, but he tells them that he wants something for himself for once. he wants to be in the drivers seat to decide where he wants to go instead of the back seat watching them make his life whatever they want it to be.

trainee life is just as difficult as he expects it to be, has to drag himself to every day dance practices and vocal lessons, but it’s a breath of fresh air from life with his parents. he’s quiet and fairly shy, doesn’t seem to have very many talents other than his visuals, but he finally gets the chance to make friends and show that he’s more than just a pretty face. with no real hopes or expectations, yeosang doesn’t expect to take on dancing as quickly as he does. he has a natural knack for it, and it was even more of a shock to his dancing instructors since he had no prior skills. sang doesn’t believe that he’s all that skilled at it though he constantly hears the opposite, he merely accredits his photographic memory for being able to perfectly execute and even teach a dance once he’s learned it.

eventually he’s chosen as a member of mystery despite not being in the original lineup that he overheard was in the talks, and he’s shocked at being given the role of main dancer given that he’s only been dancing for a few years. other titles he’s given are lead rap and visual, which are to be expected due to his years of grooming as a rapper since his voice wasn’t up to par with the rest of the trainees he’s been working alongside. he becomes quite insecure about being paraded around as the face of the group and recognized by many from his past as a child actor, but he works with the titles he’s given and often ends up being seen as overconfident with his looks from overcompensating for his internal insecurity over it.

the past few years, he’s been getting more comfortable with bringing his own ideas to light, as in writing his own verses in mystery’s songs as well as choregraphing anything from dance breaks to entire songs for the group. he used to keep his choreography to himself due to his insecurities, but with some help from his members and their own choreographers, he’s begun sharing his ideas. he wants to show their fans that he’s a creator and an artist, not just a performer and a pretty face.

now, at twenty three and three years into life as an idol, he’s more confident with himself and his abilities though he still works on attempting to overcome his insecurities and introversion with every passing day. his main focus is on constantly improving himself— his rapping, dancing, and choreography.

[future-rp]

lovecraft’s lead vocal & lead dance diana

dingbat group; dance, variety 18 vocal / 02 rap / 20 dance

I.

born in London to first generation british-koreans, her parents really wanted their child to fit in with the kids, so they chose a western name for the baby girl: Diana. fitting in, though, did not prove to be an easy task. for many years, Diana was the only eastern-asian on a class practically packed of white children.

at six years old she already knew she wanted a future above the stage, Diana enjoyed every form of performing: singing, acting, playing music, but dancing was her favourite. her parents saw the potential almost inmediatly and, while not basking in money, they decided to invest on Diana in hopes of creating a big star. she started taking dance lessons, beginning with ballet and continuing with hip-hop and modern dance. her schedules were packed, discipline strict and the margin for error narrow. but she loved it so much, she didn’t realize back then how her parents were pushing their child into an ideal of perfection she would never be able to grasp.

II.

at twelve, a job opportunity propelled her family to move back to Korea. and, while Diana spoke some korean, her level wasn’t as fluent as a native speaker and she found herself feeling quite isolated at the beginning, like a foreigner of her own culture. she continued her dancing lessons, though, and enrolled an arts high school with the support of her family. that make it easy for her to fit in.

she was sixteen when she found courage to go to an audition. she didn’t succeed at her first try, but she tried again and again until dingbat group found her. it was a long audition, Diana started with a dance cover but that didn’t seem enough. she continued with a song, first in English, then in Korean, and still it wasn’t enough. finally she showed them her dancing while singing, already with the idea that she had failed again, but destiny proved her wrong: she got accepted.

her family wasn’t as happy as Diana. her parents didn’t see with good eyes the idol scene, considering it a minor form of music, and they had invested many money on Diana to see it waste that way. at the end, they accepted her decision, but that moment changed the dynamic of the family forever.

III.

time being a trainee wasn’t as harsh and difficult for Diana as for others. it’s not that she didn’t have a strict training, it’s simply that she already knew that kind of life and, for her, it was normal. she, somehow, enjoyed it. pushing herself and working hard had always been things she was prone to and this time she could see a goal (debuting) at the end of the race, so she run and run towards it. she was also far away from home, from the silent scolds of her parents and the subtle way they had to show her how much she had disappointed them.

still, debuting was her biggest treat. how could it not be? finally her dream came true. many things happened at the same time that year: promotions, shows, shootings,… she shined on variety shows, always eager to participate in challenges and games, her bright and daring personality charmed the hosts. and so, it didn’t come as a surprise that one of them asked her to return as a guest.  the following years continued with the same pattern: more shootings, more promotions, more shows and a more tv appearances, she was no-longer only a filler guest on  a flink and you’ll miss section but started being given some spotlight at the variety shows she appeared. hosts and audience enjoying her fresh and exuberant personality.

this made her dare to take another step, and with the support of the managers, she started her very own streaming series on LOVECRAFT’s vlive channel: Dancing Diana Revolution, aka DDR. nothing as big and fancy as it might sound, though, and actually something that began quite spontaniously. diana was simply posting live videos just like all the other girls did with the only difference that she was quite regular and content-focused, until it reached a point fans assumed it was a series and, thus, she decided to aknowledge that.

IV.

Diana was busy, stressed, overworked, but happy, so much happy.

at least, that’s was what she recognized to other people. on the inside, she wasn’t that sure. she had always been so confident about herself and about her skills, now she wasn’t that much. she started fearing failure, not being good enough, not doing as well as the others. was she a good singer? didn’t she need to do more for her dancing? she wanted to deliver and so she pushed herself, more and more. Diana didn’t realize she was slowly falling into a well of anxiety until she was deep inside it.

[future-rp]

leo’s main dance, sub vocal & center hyuk

verve creative; music, dance 10 vocal / 00 rap / 40 dance

kim minhyuk would be best described as an open book  –  in a language the world has forgotten how to read. it’s easy to fall in minhyuk’s presence. he’s charming, in a cool way, like it comes naturally to him. it’s hard to miss why he’s been crowned with the coveted spot of leo’s center once one has seen him perform. it’s easy to feel drawn into kim minhyuk’s world and gaze upon the marble walls erected in his name, but once one leaves, it sinks in that they know nothing of kim minhyuk at all.

a frigid winter day in seoul, south korea. january 5, 1994. babies are brought into the world all across the world on any given day, but on this day, one in particular is born in the last room in a hall of the maternity ward at seoul national hospital.

kim minhyuk is the only child born to flight attendant lee yejin. he’s the third child and only son born to kim siwon, a high-ranking automobile company executive. kim siwon was married to another woman and while he loved the beautiful yejin, both knew the love was only a byproduct of the heat of something forbidden and illicit. there were ways the world was meant to be, and siwon leaving his comfortable life for yejin simply wasn’t how it worked.

but the burden of being a single mother was harder than lee yejin had anticipated, even with the regular, secret child support payments. she couldn’t continue to work as a flight attendant when she had a child to take care of, and so she picked up a job at a bakery. paying for childcare was off the table with her limited income, so she struck a deal (one that would have been hopeless had it not been for the way her pretty face and attractive figure caught the eye of one of the owners) for minhyuk to toddle about at the rundown dance studio next door while she worked.

and that’s how minhyuk discovered what love was. he didn’t learn it from his mom, who, despite trying her best, hadn’t been cut out for the duties of motherhood; he learnt it from the way he felt when he watched the classes through the window, and he experienced it firsthand once enough time had passed for his irresistible eye smile to charm one of the instructors into letting him learn to dance himself.

he fell so hard for the art that yejin, eager to please her son if only out of her desperate search to feel like a good mother, scraped together all of her extra change to allow him to begin taking lessons.

for a few years, that was minhyuk’s life. go to school, come home, walk to work with his mother, and drop into the dance studio for class and practice. he was a natural dancer, and he grew to be adored by the instructors there until, one day, he just stopped showing up and payments for classes stopped coming.

lee yejin, ready for a change, had eagerly agreed when kim siwon had reached out to her following the sudden passing of his wife and had agreed to take in both her and minhyuk if she’d secretly return to him.

life in a lush gangnam apartment with two older sisters minhyuk had never met was a major change from the life he had led up to that point. adjustment didn’t come easy for minhyuk or, as he would learn, for his mother.

minhyuk was eleven when yejin decided this life wasn’t what she wanted either and she took off on a flight somewhere she wouldn’t come back from, leaving minhyuk to a new life entirely alone. the bright-eyed, eager minhyuk of his prior youth descended into one more withdrawn, a darkness eating at his mind as he tried to conquer the war abandonment had left raging in his head and chest.

at twelve, minhyuk returned to dancing, this time at a much more notable academy. he had a lot of catching up to do, but spending every free waking hour practicing cut in half the lead his peers had on him.

at fifteen, isolated by his own choice and struggling to even find the will to connect with the father and sisters that he still couldn’t call family, minhyuk happened his way into an audition for a brand new company called verve creative.

a career as an idol was something minhyuk had never considered before. he’d assumed he’d follow after his father into business or, if he had the courage, follow his passion for dance into the career of teacher or choreographer. but when he really thought about it, an idol felt right. becoming a household name was the most surefire way to never be forgotten again.

and so the dream of idol became inked on his heart.

training made minhyuk question his choice at first. it didn’t matter anymore if he was a natural at dancing. he was practically tone deaf, according to his instructors, and his face wasn’t pretty enough to be presented to the public, if the plastic surgeons he was sent to were any indication. in part, it drove him to be better and to work harder to get the chance to stand on stage. in equal part, it drove the poisoned knife of his desire for praise and acceptance deeper into the gash in his heart.

but, somehow, only a year and ten months after minhyuk had joined the new company as one of their first trainees, he made his debut as a member of their boy group, leo.

it wasn’t what he’d expected. he’d known it wouldn’t be easy and he knew he’d be controlled, but their experimental concepts didn’t seem to reach the public initially the way minhyuk wished they would. instead of kim minhyuk, lost boy, he was hyuk, the sexy center dancer with a cute side off-stage, and he learned to love the mask he wore once leo blew up. hyuk was someone new, a fresh start, and people seemed to love him more than he was used to ever being loved as kim minhyuk.

fame became an addiction. leo rose, and with it, so did hyuk’s craving for validation and attention. it manifested itself in dangerous ways at times, and the young member became notable for his strict adherence to diets and rules as he entered adulthood with the group, often to the point of it taking a visible toll on his physical and mental health.

even when verve’s tight grip on everything leo did loosened, hyuk remained dedicated to the bottom line of success. over time, it became apparent minhyuk was letting the burden of the expectations thrust upon leo to weigh too heavily on his shoulders, but nothing changed because he showed he could continue to be the charismatic hyuk everyone knew as soon as he stepped on stage, regardless of if he’d been mid-panic attack moments before.

now, leo is at the top of their game and minhyuk has his eyes on a solo career to make himself more than a leo member, something he never would have seen himself doing a decade ago when the dream of becoming an idol first slithered its way into his mind. in the long years since kim minhyuk was only kim minhyuk and not hyuk, he’s learned what being an idol truly is, he’s learned to sing and to play up an image, but after so long, he still hasn’t learned how to value himself for anything other than the number of people cheering his name. being at the top can’t last forever and it’ll be a long, hard fall when it ends, but no one’s told him that yet. or rather, he’s refused to hear it.

[future-rp]

melody’s main dance, vocal, sub rap & visual isa

dingbat group; performance, acting 00 vocal / 05 rap / 05 dance

it had all been planned.

from the moment the doctors slapped her on the butt wanting to hear her cries to her family arriving home. her parents had everything mapped out. study hard, grow up and graduate. get a steady job that allowed her to live comfortably and get married.

that was it.

and for the most part, inyoung complied. she hadn’t found a reason to go against her parents, she hadn’t had a passion. in fact, she found that she took a natural liking to books and studying. but there had been a slight draw back ( and looking back, it was something her parents would’ve ignored if they knew then what they knew know ) inyoung was constantly buried in her books. maybe one of her small group of friends could pull her out to play a game or grab something to eat. ( with food cooked by inyoung, she had had a natural talent for it. something her parents and friends praised about her ) but for the most part inyoung would study and read and study and read. she wasn’t a social butterfly like her parents  ( or her older family member that they rarely talked about and inyoung was rarely allowed to see, just to make sure she wouldn’t get any ideas about being an idol. )

her parents described her as a wall flower ( and she was but was it as a bad thing? inyoung didn’t think so. just a little shy and more comfortable with blending into the background. )

and then it changed.

and it wasn’t a sudden over-night change. one day her friend invited to her a small studio she took dance classes at, just to watch. but inyoung found herself falling in love and a few weeks later she found herself begging her parents to allow her to do. and they agreed, maybe it would help her come out of her shell ( as long as her grades remained spot-less and inyoung readily agreed. she wouldn’t have it any other way ) but the classes were everything to her. she found she had a skill for her, there was a certain charisma she had when she was allowed to just have fun and create something others could enjoy.

( and she had no idea rapping would come into play, or that she would be so serious about it )

but it did. her friends formed a small dance crew that would perform in hongdae on the weeks. sometimes the week days if they had free time but it was there a few things happened. the first few times, she would catch herself watching the rap performances and she saw herself falling in love with the art style. they expressed themselves differently and with power. inyoung fell in love with rap, she wanted to do that. ( something she had to hide from her parents at first, everything would’ve ended before she had the chance to start )

and the scouting came.

it was ‘14 when they were in hongdae dancing to a remix she made of come back home. it wasn’t anything serious, just a lot of beat drops so they would dance harder. and when it was over, a woman asked her about auditioning and inyoung’s world was shocked.

an idol. an idol. could see do it?

her? cho inyoung?

and before she knew it, she found herself in front of her parents begging to let her audition. she didn’t stop, she kept pushing and pushing until they finally said yes.

but it didn’t last long in her company ( if you count a year as a long time but the trainee’s who trained for seven would say otherwise ) before inyoung was cut. she had made it into a project group but the company cited her lack of charisma ( and unpretty facial features even though they didn’t say it, just kept repeating ‘image’ ) still, she walked out with her head held high because she made this far.

( and her parents didn’t hold back the gleeful i told you so’s )

and there was even more a strain between them, but she did stop training for a while. returned back to her books and her friends and put her dream on hold. or at least, showed her parents that. but she worked practiced hard in silence. just waiting for the moment she could become a trainee again because that only one been on strike out and she was determined to at least reach three.

and finally, by the end of the year her parents left for two a week vacation and inyoung opted out, citing studying for exams. it wasn’t strange. not for her at least and her parents knew that. even training she opted to cut down on time friends before she cut down on time with her books and reports. so there was nothing strange about it and a week or so later they were gone.

( it also had been the first and last time she slacked on her studies )

instead she spent the first week training even harder. the dance studio had become a second home to her. and finally she could sing and rap around the house without irritating her parents. she rarely looked at her books, everything had been focused on getting signed again.

and luck was on her side. the next week she started to go to auditions. the waiting game had started until she got a tip that dingbat group were holding auditions. inyoung double down, went to get the information and in that moment she knew she had to make an impression. she had heard about the company and she could see the woman in front of her dismiss her without a second thought. she looked plain, maybe slightly unmemorable. maybe inyoung over thought it but first impressions were key. and her second had to be better.

so she showed up, dressed in normal clothes but there was a very bright change. seriously, she walked into the building with bright pink hair. ( it was a big change for her at least, she stuck to her natural hair color and pink made her feel a little wild. a nice little boost for herself. ) and when she stood in front of the panel, the same woman stared hard at her. “singing?” it was an easy assumption and inyoung simply bowed her head. the music came on and there was a slight deep breath before she went straight into her rap. that did shock them, she could see it ( but it would always be better to remain humble )

and the outcome? her relationship with her parents had been filled with utter disappointment.

once she had been offered the contract and they came back to the news. the fight they had that night could be heard miles away. that night ended with a promise, if she didn’t debut this time she’d give it up all together. and she agree’d. if she didn’t make this time, then she would quit.

( but then again, they didn’t know that this would be her second strike and she aimed for three )

but somehow she was accepted and her training started. and the relationship with her parents all but came to an end. by now, they understood that she wasn’t going to give up. in their eyes, she turned her back on them. so nothing she did after really, mattered. every problem she encountered while training? she couldn’t talk to them, if it was that bad she just quit. so she sucked it up and threw herself into training. she wasn’t a talkative trainee, most didn’t like her.  you only saw her at practice, rarely in the lunch room. whatever time she didn’t spend training, it went towards school. it felt like life was hectic and she never slowed down. but the real panic set in when dingbat prepared their next girl group, and her name wasn’t on the list.

it felt like the four years she spent training would end in another failure.

( but all good things come to those who wait. )

finally, she was added. they gave her a chance and she had to improve as if her life was on the line. what could she do? she was the ace dancer but her vocal skills didn’t fit up to what they wanted. not at first. it had been one of the rare times she let her grades suffer ( just a little ) so she could focus on improving her vocals. she was a great dancer who was a better rapper than a vocalist, but they already had a main rapper. but she wouldn’t be cho inyoung if she gave up. she was a hard worker and a quiet one.

( and in the end? it paid off )

she had been added to the final lineup, she would make her debut. after burning the bridges with her parents, after failing to debut once before. she was finally able to shine on stage as a member of melody.

and she would tooth and nail to make sure she only shone even brighter.