자오림⎯ ZHAOLIM . . . ☾ james and his maknae since 2022 ☽
as a fan you would assume james and jourdain wouldn't be as close as they are but if you're really deep into into cortis media, you would be able to tell instantly.
james instantly adopted the girl in dec of 2022, around the time trainee a was on the way of being cancelled. jourdain was one of the only people to check in on him and actually listen to him.
they sat in her studio for hours, talking about their dream debut team, their fears everything. james finally got to hear the true feelings of the person who he thought was one of the strongest and talented trainees he'd ever met. the pressure of it all, james saw the 12 year old girl who just loved music⎯ the girl who he would hear say my life's a movie to martin anytime she got the time to think about it.
they're known as zhaolim to fans, simply putting their last names together, some also call them jamidain.
james doesn't have to reprimand her, almost ever. he understands she had to become mature a little faster, especially while working with producers and other idols 10-20 years older than her for most of her career. james has been around her since 2022, he's seen how well she carries herself and with her being an extreme introvert, she pushes herself to communicate to talk to other trainees, producers or idols. when jourdain became friends with keonho and seonghyeon in early 2023, he felt a sense of pride seeing the girl who he started to feel became his little sister let go and have more fun, being more childish and not always working for the full day.
in february of 2023 jourdain suggested that they make a duo choreography name...james suggested the most simple one J&J. she found it boring but she didn't mind..she couldn't think of anything better⎯ she got the idea when she and james were listening over to the instrumental she was working on for ILLIT, magnetic and were suddenly bouncing choreography ideas off of each other until they stumbled upon the iconic choreography everyone knows today.
