#haseulrk

[ktent]

            [ ♥ ] KT ENT @ktent • Aug 18

            #HappyHASEULDay 🎂🎉

            #200818 #하슬 #HASEUL #이클립스 #Eclipse

[rkariel]

❝ 여긴 party time — ♡

          ariel is convinced it’s impossible to be at a summer party and not want to burst into song with chichi’s party. even when she’s walking around without a destination in mind or mundane questions come to mind, she starts to hum the lyrics to herself, mouthing them every once in a while, and resisting the urge to move to the dance. in fact, she ends up lifting her arms in excitement and doing the infamous gesture. hands by her head in a dance move she can’t even think of a possible technical term for yet she thinks yeri and joohyun might have a proper response for her. even if they don’t, it’d be cute to see them do it too. 

          taking haseul’s hands, she raises them up to make haseul go along with her, singing the line again with a bright laugh. “ hey, have you thought about how song censorship has come a long way? one of our sunbaes couldn’t promote a song because it talked about taking a shot but chichi sunbaes singing about lemon soju, tequila, and mojitos. who does it like them? ” letting go of haseul’s hands, she moves to loop her arm in the younger’s, taking a glance around. “ speaking of, get a drink with me? i was going to try to drink only water here but i’m craving sweets. ” the notion itself is nothing new for ariel either, a sweet tooth is simply just a part of her. ( @haseulrk )

[jkookrk]

『 Soft Strings 』

⇢ outgoing to: @haseulrk

Jeongguk had never had the pleasure of meeting Haseul in person despite being a trainee for half a year already. Within Eclipse the only person he actually did know was Jennie but that was solely because she’d been a customer in the puppy cafe he used to work long before both of them had gotten involved in the entertainment industry. 

Them being the same age though made the hoobae feel a lot more relaxed around the idol than was probably expected of him. Always a casual type of guy he didn’t worry too much about things and stuck to the generally accepted ways to address a senior and left it at that.

This being his first time ever holding even a guitar in his hands it was needless to say he struggled on where to place his fingers. “Uhm... where do I place my fingers again for a D-chord,” he asked to reassure himself, attempting to do it by himself but having no idea if he was actually right.

[danielxrk]

✞* large air cooler (or big fan) ╯

                                                                                                                     ⊰ ◝ @haseulrk ⊱

step one: convince woong to come to the guitar for beginners class. step two: tag along, claiming “moral support.” three: meet haseul, one of two eclipse biases, also known as The Plan All Along.

daniel liked eclipse even before the fifth season of the mgas, where he truly underwent a kpop transformation. he mainly knew sphere and trc’s artists still, studying them religiously for the sake of his mga teams’ concepts, but he’s been a little more in tune with the idol scene ever since. he better be, considering he was trying to become a trainee. he enjoyed eclipse’s night side before then, however, so much so to the point that he covered chase me on his guitar for his special talent portion of his mga audition.

it makes it even more ironic that he’s in this class, but he really wanted to meet haseul. he’s not going to do anything weird like pretend he doesn’t know how to play guitar, of course, hence woong (whom told him he owed him for this, which was very fair.) he just admires her vocal ability, and she seemed incredibly kind from what he saw of her on the mgas. he hoped to meet her on the mgas firsthand when the coaches were first announced, but no such luck. back in the beginning, before he properly knew jinki or jinwook, part of him felt disappointed he wasn’t on kt’s team. god had other plans there, though, and frankly, he’s glad he did, at least in that case.

it’s especially true because he gets to meet haseul now, which would’ve been his primary goal in being part of team kt anyway. it’ll be in an environment he’s comfortable with, too. 

he and woong get there early. daniel wanted to make sure he has time to say hello. when they arrive, however, he realizes he has to actually speak to her, and so far-- no thoughts, head empty. he immediately bows to her, however, three times in quick succession.

“sunbae,” he greets her when he rights himself, but it’s a start of another thought. “i’m a big fan. i did a guitar cover of chase me for the special talent portion of my audition for the fifth season of the mgas.” he realizes how that sounds then, and it crosses his face, and he laughs sheepishly. “i’m here as moral support for my friend.”

[rkjoohyvn]

❝ — twenty-four ,

@haseulrk:

One thing that made Haseul really happy was to celebrate birthdays for people, especially those that are close to her.  She knows that she and Joohyun still have a long way to go to get to be “close” (which is in no part Joohyun’s fault, Haseul would be the first to admit her own awkwardness and shy nature were to blame for that), but that being said, she wanted to make up for that and make sure to do something for their newest member that she’s done for the different Eclipse members through the years. On the day of Joohyun’s birthday, Haseul knows she has a window of time available where Joohyun will be having a birthday event in front of a small gathering of fans, so she knows she’ll have enough time to get to work on the surprise.  Planting herself in the kitchen, she started in, making sure not to waste any time while the other was currently preoccupied.  She wished she had the mixer from over at her brother’s house instead of the one she had at the dorm, but it would have to do as she prepped everything. Once she had completed it, she took the finished product to her shared room with Joohyun, waiting for her roommate to return, as soon as the door to the bedroom opened, she started in singing the birthday song for her, holding out a homemade chocolate cake for her.  She hoped it would make Joohyun feel even more like she was welcomed and part of the group more, even if she had been for a while now.

she’s feeling overwhelmed after her fanmeeting, but a good kind of overwhelmed, a different kind than she’d been feeling over the past few months with everything that had changed so suddenly. it’s like she’s walking among the stars in the sky, higher than the ground, walking on air, as they say. she practically waltzes into the dorms when she arrives back from the event---actually, she’s quite literally doing so, dancing as she heads toward her room, throwing the door open with bravado, nearly causing it to slam against the wall when she does so.

when she reaches forward in a rush to stop it, she catches haseul sitting there with a cake and singing the birthday song to her that she feels that same warm feeling she’d had during the fanmeeting, and it causes her to feel emotional again, eyes brimming with salted tears, but not quite falling onto her cheeks, managing to stop them from falling out. instead, she clasps her hands over her mouth briefly, dropping them to allow the smile that’s bloomed on her face to show, so that haseul knows she appreciates the effort.

toward the end of the song, she steps forward and blows out imaginary candles, beaming from ear to ear as she reaches out to take the cake. it’s only then that she realizes it lacks that manufactured look that come with cakes from Paris baguette or other bakeries, that it looks like it’s homemade. she gasps in surprise, bringing it closer to her face to observe with greater scrutiny to confirm her assumption. “haseul, oh my god!” she gasps, once she’s sure enough. “did you make this?” the tears are brimming again, and she laughs at herself. “ thank you so much! you’re the best.”

[rkxblue]

——— “ I DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS & I LOVE YOU “ SPECIAL STAGE                    ▸  END OF THE YEAR SHOWS, PERFORMANCES

                                         ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— 

it’s something that she always tries to keep in the back of her mind, hidden, sealed tight so that it doesn’t show through her expressions, her actions, and worst possible scenario, become audible; but the thought is still always there -- the fact that she was jealous of ariel.

and if she really thought about it, there was more than one thing she was envious about the other, but they were small things that was out of their control so it was a lot easier to not hold on to and forget, let the emotion run it’s course through her so that it could buried. but the fact that she was one out of the rest of the group to continuously escape the dungeon -- the eclipse member with the most solo work at the moment ... it couldn’t be helped. again, that was out of their control, this she knew, and it wasn’t like she harbored any negative feelings towards ariel because of this ( she scoffs at the thought with how they’ve grown so close so quickly ), but the thought is still there.

but ahyoung notices how that thought seems to die away once she’s distracted with her own work, picked not only for one, but two special stages for the end of the year shows. she blinks in surprise whenever she realizes that it isn’t a mistake, and vows to work hard to make sure to represent the group to the best of her abilities.

and it’s a plus that she also gets to work with yeri on both stages too, especially on the stage with the and*roma girls -- neither of which she has come face to face with before. her last special stage was different, as she was collaborating with those she was already well acquainted with, a stage of good friends -- and it was easy to get along with the other that she didn’t know all too well, fell into step with not long after meeting. but this? it was different, most likely going to be awkward on her end, and she was happy that they picked the personification of sunshine known as yeri to melt whatever ice that tried to appear.

the songs chosen were ... alright, in her opinion; much too cutesy and sweet for her liking, but both songs fit right in with eclipse’s day side, so she likes to think that she’s getting more practice to fit into the concept. plus, it’s nice that she gets to tease haseul about the pom pom ponytails that they make her wear, fitting for someone so naturally cute. she would like to do something more hard hitting, more fitting for her age, but ahyoung hopes that those type of stages will come with time.

and she feels like the hard work pays off once she’s actually upon the stage, facing the crowd, belting her notes when needed and hitting every practiced move. the elation comes from the fans, spotted with their makeshift pink lightsticks, hearing them cheer whenever she takes her turn in the spotlight. it’s a feeling that she can’t describe, and she has to try her hardest to make sure her smile isn’t too bright, that isn’t wearing her heart on her sleeve -- she has a job to do, after all, and she can’t break the concept.

ahyoung makes up for it at the end, the main person always catching fansite cameras, trying to move the eclipse girls so that they could get the best angles, and waving and blowing kisses in the direction of the fans as a thank you. it’s not enough, it’s never enough, but it’s a start.

[rkcheri]

﹡   𝐌𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒❺ EPISODE 8    ━━  𝗥𝗢𝗬𝗔𝗟𝖥𝖫𝖴𝖲𝖧  ◆  COACH CHERI .

first place comes as a surprise -- not because mijoo didn’t see it coming, no, it definitely wasn’t that. but because she’s learned time and time again not to put her expectations too high, no matter the talent and hard work that pulses between veins and exhausted bones and beads of sweat that trembled against desperate entities. 

( a part of her wills expectations to be thin, but they rise more and more as names are called and their team has yet to come -- she sees sunmi’s team place last and her heart falls, remembering throughout the episode how hard their team worked and how much her best friend was trying, although harshly, to help them. and the way that same heart flutters at the sight of mason, his smile as his team, trc -- antidote -- receives third place )

she wants to hope the best for them, she wills it in every way she can, dashing hearts, crossing fingers -- sprinkling mythical fairy dust in every corner of her mind up until the winners are announced. they’ve worked hard for this, but mijoo has tasted victory once before and lost it all in the same breath. it’s why, watching the show in real-time with nayoung, she’s on edge; fingers clutching tightly to her member’s as they baek jiyoung recited the first place of the night and ultimately, who would be departing from them. 

it’s bittersweet -- a perfect win with a devastating loss paired with it.

mijoo didn’t see it coming, she couldn’t -- wouldn’t dream of assuming who out of the five would leave them but there he goes, his whimsical smile last seen moments before his name is called and mijoo has her breath caught between a gasp and a choked up sob. 

she barely hears the rest of the monologue go by -- negating her attention elsewhere now, fingers loose from nayoung’s hold to grab her phone and immediately text a message to hyojin. 

( after she had left their last run through of their stage, she had distributed her cell phone to each -- inciting that if ever they needed someone to talk to, whether to calm their nerves or to recommend a good chicken place, she was always free to message. emergency or not, mijoo left her line open. only now, it seemed she would have to reach out first )

﹡* ❪  SMS ☎︎ ┊  김효진  ❫  ⨯

… 💌 ᵎ  i just saw the last episode, you did amazing, hyojin-ssi! … 💌 ᵎ  this may be the end for you on the mgas, but please know that a good opportunity is always around the corner! … 💌 ᵎ  if you still feel bad, i’ll treat you to ice cream next time, yes?

it’s the least she can do, she knows loss well. she’s felt it to the bone -- seen it in the eyes of her team many moons ago. mijoo had hoped to never feel it again, but as she sees the rest of the taped episode go by, she knows this is the last she’ll keep her hopes up so high.

                                            ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

but first place was first place and mijoo still thought winners deserved to celebrate. it’s why, when the topic had come up among the coaches -- all in favor of ice cream cake -- it was decided instantly, that while the winners could have their cake, it wouldn’t be fun to just let them eat it like that, right?

a plan is set into motion: a small prank to congratulate them on all their hard work. while mijoo wasn’t one to overly praise, she did think such achievements deserved their own rewards. so, when the day came -- she comes flying into the room, singing her own little tune, a little too happily, a little too ‘clumsily’ she comes, swinging this way and that as she comes closer and closer to the little group until her words stop and she’s ready to hand over the cake to the first to come her way. 

and it’s a one-two exchange, one she doesn’t usually mess up but -- oops! there goes her fingers and oh no! there goes the cake. 

 by the way her facial expressions pull into a look of horror, mirrored heavily upon the other’s faces, mijoo can’t help the way her lips threaten to spill into laughter rather than the exaggerated ‘o’ they fell into at the get-go. 

it was priceless, watching them in unison stare in horror as the cake fell from grace -- kyungsoo was hilarious as he stood, arms outstretched, like the cake would just reverse back and fall into his hands, instead -- even to mijoo’s eye, she felt her own stomach plummet at the sight of a delicious cake going to waste but alas, all in the name of comedy. an entire gotcha! moment that spills into laughter as she tries to stop the giggles from over taking her. it’s quickly relieved when seolhyun and wonwoo come in after her with another cake, resolving the fiasco that was the ‘fallen cake’ mission 001. ( that doesn’t save her from sighing, in the end, as she cleans up the rest of the cake, piling it into the box it had fallen from ) 

time moves on, all is forgiven ( at least that’s what mijoo thinks ) as they’re giving their slices and seated across from one another. enjoying their time, their victory in the end when eric suggests calling hyojin and mijoo finds herself growing lighter. another bittersweet feeling taking over as she forks one helping after another between her lips as she hears the tone beep, waiting for the receiver to answer: and he does before long, and mijoo can’t help but smile at the sight of him beaming at them without fail.

it sucks, that he’s not there with them but she hopes it’ll pass, the guilt. 

( it will, she thinks, it has to )

“don’t worry, hyojin-ssi! when this is all over, we’ll go out for cake, all of us -- together!”

                                          ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

 in the same breath, cake and all, they’re still as serious as ever. it’s a determination that mirrors the one mijoo had felt the week before but this time, she feels the chills. the determination to do better than the last, to prove that last week wasn’t a fluke -- that they weren’t just going to be complacent because of this win. 

song choices are hard to come by. when they agree on one, they’re far too contemplative on another. and by some force, mijoo finds herself throwing in the suggestion of adding a feminine element, they have been dominantly suggesting male songs, and while they had one girl: pretty heejin-ssi, she thought it would be interesting if ... -- perhaps ... “a girl group, maybe?” and she waits, with expectant eyes as the group digests her words.

( they end up agreeing on she’z ‘luv’ and mijoo couldn’t have been more ecstatic -- if the mimicing of the iconic L-O-V-E hand movements wasn’t a tell-tale sign )

                                         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

as choreography goes, mijoo is no where near as athletic as any of the team. watching, and grimacing, when seolhyun brings up the idea of doing squats in order to build the muscle and endurance in order to pull of the more complicated movements at the beginning of the performance.

purposely pretending not to notice the look seolhyun passes her way when she brings it up -- personally praying she’s not forced to participate for team morale. ( thanking god when the day passes and she seems to be saved from the torture that would come to her thighs )

in the days leading up to the performance, while she’s not as busy seolhyun or wonwoo, she’s still confined by her own practices; running back and forth from the practice rooms to the vocal lessons that when she’s able to come visit the team while the other coaches are away, it’s at a time when they’re doing the dread squats seolhyun had suggested and mijoo can’t help but laugh ( trying with utmost care to not sound like some wicked stepmother as she did so ) at the sight: one by one, the four of them were lined up doing squats all while harmonizing various parts of their song ( a practice mijoo had suggested after the four had finished singing flo-rida’s low for the millionth time ) ; phone in hand as she filmed footage to send to the coach group chat she shared with seolhyun and wonwoo. 

an attached ‘🤪🦵🦵 LEG DAY FOR DAYS’ comment sent along with the video shortly after.

                                      ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

perhaps, saying all was forgiven was spoken too soon. let it be known now, mijoo wasn’t partial to scary things.

she did not take kindly to being scared.

whether intentional or not, all she can remember is the memes that followed her ridiculous screams during royal survival. honestly, she had thought her screaming career had ended then and there. dusted her hands of anything scary and that was that.

but here it is, in plain sight -- hidden beneath smiles and false senses of securities as she and ella are walking, talking simultaneously -- an unfortunate rookie move in this case -- as the door is pushed open and --

“boo!” 

she’s immediately collapsing on the floor, crawling backwards into the hall, screaming at the top of her godly lungs, “DEMONS! DEMONS!” -- her might propelling whatever sound could come from her all while pointing a finger into the room. it was a dirty trick and one mijoo probably should have saw coming but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still feel hurt by it.

her hurt is shown in the case of pouts and the tears that were rounding tear-ducts as she’s helped up from her fetal position at the other side of the hallway by suwoong. she’s still sniffling, fingers to her heart, hoping to calm it’s racing pulse, all while mumbling, “i forgive you but that was really, really mean.”

                                     ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

one day, it’s a day of reminiscing -- and while most days, all mijoo does is avoid it. today, she finds her peace and laughs at the memories that flood her.

they’re wonderful memories, days that started her journey -- that led her all the way to here. she opens up like a book untouched, dust in the air as she breathes in the memories and laughs along the way. “my favorite performance?” she sighs, head shaking. “it’s been years. let it be known that i participated way back when in 2013 during the first mgas, so i’m not sure how relevant the performance is these days but it was our final performance. i was on a team with eclipse’s haseul, too. we performed after school sunbaenim’s ‘because of you’ and surprisingly, i rapped. i know, shocker, right? but i think that’s my most memorable because it definitely pushed my limits. we were fighting for our dreams, much like you guys are now -- and the only way we knew to win was to fight it with every inch of our potential.”

“just like how i see you guys do, every single day you come to practice. just like how i know you guys will when you get up on that stage saturday.” 

and while it’s not a promise for the better, mijoo knows ( she digresses, hopes ) there’s no regrets to follow.

                                          ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

it’s too soon -- smooth sailing is an assumed default and mijoo is a fool to take to this carefree nature.

when they come for another visit, to supervise the practice again, the team announces they’ve changed the plan for the finale. this shocks them all.

enough that mijoo finds herself making a face, one that doesn’t hide her skepticism as they show her just what they meant by changing the performance. 

and of course, it was a joke.

but maybe, just maybe, it was the first time, mijoo almost felt the flame of frustration strike a chord in her ( one that was quick to be extinguished once the laughter had put a dent in the wall and allowed the flood of jest to overcome them one by one ).

again, mijoo comes with a pout -- and a, “yah! that was mean! i thought you guys were really serious!”

                                           ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

in the days leading up to the performance, she’s more and more scarce as her own schedules take time away from helping but she does what she can. and she hopes that’s enough. on one of the last days, she lingers to the side; not saying much rather than watching them proceed again and again. not to the point of exhaustion but she can see their profiles well, see the improvement flexed into their bodies at each performed segment.

they’re trying their hardest, much like last week.

hopefully, this final time, victory treats them just the same. 

                                          ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━      

𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐃   ∙    @rkella, @haseulrk, @rkmiya, @rkmason@rkwon, @hyojinrk, @rksuwoong, @rkkyungsoo, @rkheejin, & @ericxrk

[rkkyul]

190801 MGA SEASON 5 + EPISODE FIVE +  #5050 FEATURING : TEAM KT  ⟨ ━━ ❀ ° PART ONE: PERFORMANCE, LION HEART + I GOT A BOY ( LINES / SONG ) ⟩

it hits her all at once, the overwhelming emotions trapping her before swallowing her whole. she’s going through the motions - watching heejin and minho rise from their seat beside her as their names are called, numbly following them up onstage. kyulkyung isn’t sure she’s breathing air, mouth opening in surprise and eyes widening as her teammates lead the way. perhaps her reaction is a bit dramatic, but oh is it genuine. 

the whole experience was so surreal - to even be considered for the top performance of the week when she had failed to do so the entire show. kyulkyung was tired of being average, of resting on that safe middle ground between being the best and the worst. average. want an ugly word. their names weren’t called when the top performance was announced, but she was too high in the clouds to notice - hand clasped tightly around heejin’s as they awaited the announcement. was it disappointing? maybe a little, but to finally be at the point was certainly an ego boost. 

semi finalist. 

the words were strange to her. the woman who had allowed herself to persuaded into something she once found silly was now officially a semi finalist for the mga’s fifth season. oh, she couldn’t wait to tell her mom. 

her heart was still racing when the trio once again returned to their seats, following throughout the hug minho gave them - adrenaline coursing through every part of her being as the show went on without her. kyulkyung listened, watched more talented performers leave them and she wondered how she had even managed to make it this far. she didn’t doubt her worth or talent, just wondered what happened to suddenly have luck on her side. 

after the disaster that was 2018, the woman entertained the idea of this just being some cruel joke. zhou jieqiong? making it this far on her own? joonho would’ve laughed in her face. but she tried to not think about that.

she’s slapped back into reality when the contestants suddenly awake with life, their bodies moving in shock and excitement rising in hushed tones. moving her eyes from where they stayed fixated on her shoes, they follow the movements of the new appearances on stage

from sphere entertainment, please welcome CONVEX’s very own JINKI and JINWOOK, as well as our star trainee and winner of the last season of the MGAs, GO HOJUNG!

her ears hang tightly onto the world CONVEX, hoping a familiar someone’s name will follow but much to her disappointment, she’s left with unfamiliar faces and dismay. but she perks up, attentive in her seat as she patiently awaits the coaches from TRC to be announced. JINSOUL - kyulkyung can’t help the tiny noise that passes her lips, excitement enveloping her entire form when she lays eyes on her best friend. “hey, that’s my best friend!” she attempts to whisper to minho and heejin - practically shaking in her seat and definitely way too excited.

i can’t believe she didn’t tell me, despite her thoughts, kyulkyung grins anyway. her anticipation only grows as time passes. please let me get onto trc’s team. please. please. please.

and no, not just because that would mean jinsoul gets to coach her.

she’s just a tiny bit disappointment when the TRC group announcement rolls around and her name is passed up. just the tiniest bit. however, this is short lived when her name is revealed under KT. the company is a bit surprising, solely for the fact that she wouldn’t have chosen it for herself. out of everything, she was expecting nova the most. but getting picked to perform in a group for a company run by katie lee, that’s pretty amazing. 

                                                                     ❀

"semi finalist? oh, god i can’t believe.” yea, she can’t either.

kyulkyung laughs at her mother’s enthusiasm over the phone - feeling her cheeks grow hot at the woman’s constant, unrelenting praises. it’s nice to hear the complements and she allows her ego to inflate with each syllable. her mother always complemented her, but it was nice to hear something the woman herself could also feel proud of.

the mgas were different than anything else she had done in life. there was no reliance on anything other than what her talent alone had to offer. there was no behind-the-scenes magic that needed to worked, no amount of bills slipped under the table and secrets to be kept. the fact made her prideful if anything.

after last year, it seemed as if everything wrong she had done had constantly stayed on her back - a quiet monster, the chill that ran down her spine and kept her awake at night. it was hard to put it past her, but somehow she had managed to tuck it away far enough, bury it so deep within that it never even became an afterthought. the process took time and trust, especially with her mother who felt almost as guilty as her.

“you know after last year, i worried about you. i felt like i set a back example.” kyulkyung clenched the phone pressed against her ear tightly in her grasp, fighting back whatever emotions spewed up. biting down on her lip, the woman pushed through whatever words left her mother’s mouth through the phone. perhaps the worst part about the whole situation was that her mother felt responsible, took on her daughter’s worries and that was not okay. 

the woman’s voice is strained through the phone and she fears she’s holding back tears. “but i’m proud of you, for doing something and making it this far. i really hope you make it this week, jie.” me too, mom. she answers, burring herself further beneath the sheets - feeling the dull ache of attachment to the woman who can only speak to her through a phone or stupid screen.

“i wasn’t going to tell you this in case it jinxed you this thursday but chun and i are coming in next week - just in time for the finals. he has a business down there, but i figured i’d tag along just to see my girl.” and lying in her bed that night, phone tucked between her ear and pillow, making it to the finals next week meant so much more to her.

                                                                     ❀

once again,the week goes by rather smoothly with her teammates. except for the fact that they are busy, busy, busy.

the coaches and teammates are alike in the ways that they are helpful to a girl with minimal singing experience. and lucky for kyulkyung, this week she’s in a room full of incredible talents. of course yukhei and her scream over each other their first meeting, having only spoke to the boy over suwoong’s phone a few episodes ago and having got along pretty well. he’s just as fun as the woman expected and paired with talent to combat his upbeat nature. 

the girl known for her singing and musical talents, yuri is just as amazing to work with as she expected. their team is full of power vocals, yuri and sia bringing enough to the table and offering whatever tips they had to ever so curious kyulkyung. “c’mon please... think of me please?” she begs yuri to sing such an iconic song - phantom of the opera being a personal favorite of the woman. she could never get enough of the tragic story that was erik and christine. ugh, it made her cry every time.

“i’d say i’d help sing it, but that’s a disgrace to phantom of the opera. it’s a sin.” kyulkyung pulls a hand to her chest, bowing her head in sadness before shaking her head at the thought. yuri is the only one who could do it justice while she couldn’t bare the embarrassment for herself.

kyulkyung’s delighted witrh yuri’s compliance, elated to hear one of the songs from her favorite musical from personally one of her favorites on the show. before being teamed up together, the woman had always admired her from afar - completely losing herself in her voice and loving every moment of it. just as expected, yuri’s voice complements the song nicely and she can’t help the long drawl she lets out, pressing a hand against her heart and swaying ever so dramatically to the tone of the other’s voice. 

all shenanigans aside, the woman found herself in a situation that left her bewildered. she didn’t mind to help usually, but sia’s call for help left her a bit nervous. kyulkyung didn’t have experience with cutting or mixing music, but the other girl needed help and who was she to refuse? “i don’t care to, but you’ll have to lead the way some.” the woman admitted with a tiny smile, eager to help out in any way that she can. 

the process wasn’t too difficult, but it was a process. creating the choreography with nakyung for the dance break wasn’t nearly as hard as creating the mix, but eventually they got it done ( and kyulkyung was there to offer any extra help whenever someone needed it ). the fact that they had managed to pull it off was extremely exciting for the woman, even going as far as to do a mini celebration dance whenever they finished it. yes, she was embarrassed with herself afterwards but damn was she proud. 

turns out she’ll be heading back to hook & crook after the show with a little bit more than dance and performance tips.

                                                                       ❀

thursday approaches quickly and this time, kyulkyung’s a bit nervous when she climbs onstage. the semi finals held a lot of more meaning than the other performances and after being in the top 3 last week, she’s sure there’s an expectancy for both her and her team. in fact, the entirety of team kt had at least one episode’s worth of top 3 experience under their belt and it makes her wonder if they’ll be watched that much closer. 

her hair, now faded a bit after a few washes, hangs loosely atop her head - the white nature of her top and shorts a contrast to the red bandanna that’s tied around her thigh. she’s standing on stage with her team, head held high and signature smile wide despite the nerves that light up when the judges and eyes of their first live audience lays upon them. “hello! we are FOH!CUS.” the team greets before being met with the thunderous clap of applause.

the noise is enough to brighten her smile and settle whatever negative emotions she felt. kyulkyung did not get stage fright, well not anymore at least. the eyes of an audience was not foreign to her especially after her time with knb. it was all just noise to her, eager eyes there to watch them perform and their entertainment for the night. they’d give them a show worth while, especially with all the pretty faces and power vocals up there. 

in the most arrogant way possible, kyulkyung thought team FOH!CUS was hard to forget. 

“hello! constant #5050, zhou jieqiong here again!” she will never forget that tiny bit of chinese at the beginning of her introduction - not until the very end ( it’s kind of a habit at this point, honestly ).

as the group arranges themselves for the beginning of the performace, yuri finds herself in the center - surrounded by her teammates and introducing the audience to chi chi’s lion heart. the vocals are soft as are their movements, the singer’s tone and charisma alone enough to draw attention and set the mood of their performance. kyulkyung’s sure the audience’s heart fluttered just a little as did hers when she heard yuri sing the song for the first time.

ah 넌 달라진 게 없어 여전해 난 애가 타고 또 타 사냥감 찾아 한눈파는 너

kyulkyung’s voice follow’s the other girl’s smoothly, a nice transition into her sweet tone and flowing nicely with the music. luckily for her, the movements during this part are minimal for her at least - allowing her voice to carry unfaltering and comfortably. singing live was something she worried a lot about, but with tips and a lot of help, her confidence grew little by little. her smile is delicate upon her lips, her legs carrying her into the next series of moments as they draw into the chorus.

chi chi’s choreography isn’t hard to follow, but it’s nice and fun to watch. the song and melody allows for an easy smile from kyulkyung, putting on an image of a girl in love and innocence. their movements and choreography are soft and flows nicely against the music, but that makes it so much better when the shock of their transition settles in.

lion heart suddenly comes to a halt and everyone is moving into new position - a new light overwhelming them as the beat changes entirely. the mix that kyulkyung and sia put together takes over the stage, the group moving in sync with one another in a way contrasting themselves just a few moments prior.

nakyung and kyulkyung were responsible for creating the choreography, transitioning them into the beginning of i got a boy and creating a whole new mood for their stage. the woman’s presence changes drastically, a more coy, cheerful look overtaking her frame as the upbeat tone of the music sounds. personally, she prefers songs like this to lion heart - feeling more like herself with peppy beats and modern lyrics. hahaha! eh let me introduce myself - kyulkyung points to yukhei as speaks,  here comes trouble, whoo! there’s a playful grin on her lips as she moves - raising a hand to motion a ‘come here’ movement with her fingers, 따라해.

어떨 땐 오빠처럼 듬직하지만 애교를 부릴 땐 넘 예뻐 죽겠어

preparing for their performance was once again fun for the woman - this being what she looked forward to most when she joined the competition. and honestly speaking, kyulkyung learned a lot more than she thought she would. working with people was one thing especially on a show like the mgas, the fierce nature of the competition threatening to bring out the worst in people but so far, that hadn’t been the case ( at least for her ).

the way they move alongside one another on stage is exciting - no doubt a visual and talent overload for their audience and she wonders if this what being an idol felt like. and if that’s case, it makes her want that contract even more.

making it this far was exciting, but left her greedy more than ever. there was a lot pending on today’s performance, on her advancement into the competition that she undermined completely. coming in with no expectations and following through with nothing but the highest, that was surely a shock. but not only did she want a contract presented to her in the end, kyulkyung would also love for her mother to at least see her perform once. 

귀 기울여 주는 너 너

her mother’s words drive her confidence, fuel the endless stream of energy that courses through her as they near the end of their performance. kyulkyung didn’t have a lot of lines, but she didn’t asked for many - leaving the singing up to the professionals and taking as many notes as she could. the coaches and her teammates helped equally and she matched their drive with one of her own, practicing up until the very last moment because she didn’t need the embarrassment up on stage.

she’s not as perfect as she’d like to be, but she knew what she had to work with and milked it for its worth. what she lacked in singing she made up with her dancing and countless expressions, enjoying every minute she was up on that stage. 

as the performance neared its end, kyulkyung couldn’t help the bottomless pit of worry that began to sizzle deep within her stomach. no matter how good they did or how much the crowd loved their performance, one of her teammates would be going home. 

it hurt to think about, but she supposed that’s just the nature of a competition and she’ll do anything in her power to make sure that person isn’t her.