#rkmga4countdown

[rkevent]

MGA SEASON 4: THE FINAL PRIZE!

As a reward for winning the Mnet Global Audition Season 4, Kim Junmyeon, as well as all the other male finalists, will get to appear on the next episode of M!Countdown, to be filmed and aired on the 6th of September. Not only that, but Junmyeon will also get his own solo fansign where he’ll get the chance to interact with a small number of fans.

28th of August: All boys would have been gotten in contact by Mnet representatives either through their company (in case they were signed) or their given phone number. They are encouraged to practice their group performance of ‘Stand By Me’ during their free time by themselves, while Junmyeon must practice for his performance of ‘My Answer’ as well.

31st of August: Kim Junmyeon will have a solo photo shoot in a closed set. There’ll be different shots of him sitting in front of a white background as well as others with him sitting by a table and on a sofa.

5th of September: All the male finalists are to rehearse together in one of Sphere’s practice rooms for their group performance that will take place on the following day.

6th of September: They should all arrive on the set of M!Countdown at 6AM to get their hair and makeup done early. Two rehearsals of both ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘My Answer’ will be done in full stage outfits at 9AM and 11AM. The group stage will be filmed at 2PM while the solo performance will be recorded live during the airing of the show at 7PM. Both performances will have a backtrack of the original audio playing, so the muses are not required to sing live. The order of airing will be the pre-recorded group performance and then the live solo stage right after. All ten male finalists will get to stand on the stage during the final portion of the program together with the other artists who perform that day.

7th of September: Kim Junmyeon will have his solo fansign event. A post will be made on the MGAs official website a week before, on the 31st, where a total of 100 people will get to confirm their presence for the event. It’ll be held at Gimpo Airport, starting at 2PM. Fans will receive a small photo book with 5 different pictures taken from his photoshoot a week before to be signed by Kim Junmyeon himself. It’ll end with a live performance of ‘My Answer.’

Participants have until Tuesday, the 11th of September, at midnight EST to post a 200+ words solo or a four-post thread with another finalist about any part of their schedule on M!Countdown. By doing so, they’ll receive +3 SKILL POINTS TO BE DISTRIBUTED AS DESIRED and all signed muses will receive a bonus +1 DEBUT POINT. Non-trainee muses won’t get to collect this debut point, even after they’re signed. There’s no need to verify these points and they should be added to the point tally once the requirements are met. Please tag your posts as #rkmga4countdown.

The winner has until Tuesday, the 11th of September, at midnight EST to post a 200+ words solo about his solo fansign experience. By doing so, he’ll receive +2 CHARISMA POINTS and +1 DEBUT POINT. There’s no need to verify these points and they should be added to the point tally once the requirements are met. Please tag your posts as #rkmga4fansign.

If muns are unable to write the requirements, there are no consequences; they just won’t be able to claim points for this final prize.

[junerk]

stand by me.

a starter for @haknyeonrk

junmyeon had been a trainee for a little under a week, and things still felt completely unreal to him. he was waiting to wake up from the really long nap he was probably taking on top of some text book, but the dream kept on going, and the longer it went, the more real it felt. maybe, perhaps, he wasn’t dreaming. maybe he was actually the winner of the mgas and was actually going to be performing on a music show with the other male finalists from the competition. he... honestly couldn’t believe it.

he was in complete awe when he walked into the practice room set aside for the stand by me rehearsals, immediately lighting up upon seeing haknyeon in there. he can still remember that winning moment where they embraced and hak just held him as he cried in pure joy. he heads over with a broad smile, arms wide open for another hug. “well if it isn’t my favourite tangerine peddler. come to make a dancer out of me yet?” he laughs, very much into chirping himself to try to remain as humble as possible after winning the competition. “hopefully i can still do okay for this performance on m!countdown. can you believe we’ll actually be on a music show?”

[rkmg]

stand by me // mcountdown

〈★〉MGAS SEASON 4 - FINAL PRIZE - M!COUNTDOWN               ↳ stand by me by mga boy finalists - line distribution

Part of him couldn’t even believe this. It didn’t seem real at all. But then, how could it? It’s not typically within his every day routine to stand on stage and feel half of his most wildest dreams come true. He’s already been on television multiple times before thanks to the MGAs, but this time, it was most certainly different. After all, the girls weren’t given this same opportunity. Still, he knew that it wasn’t exactly his own victory. The reason he was standing here was because Junmyeon was the actual winner of it all, but it was difficult for him to focus merely on that fact when he was busy living the hours of a day that would soon see him performing on a show that almost every single person around tunes in to watch. It seemed too good to be true.

It was difficult to push away the thought that he was gaining a tiny bit of fame. It was nothing like that of Luxe or Convex, but it was at least more than he had before. He wasn’t going to be as recognized as Haknyeon or even Won, probably, but it was going to be more noticeable now than right after he graduated high school. He figures he’s soon going to learn what it’s like to be noticed for something slightly bigger than playing for your school’s basketball team, at least until everyone once again forgets who he is entirely and he fades back into obscurity.

The day started early, though he was getting far too used to that by now. They already arrived by six am in order to have their hair and make-up done. For a moment, he finds himself wondering if he will ever get used to this kind of thing. Admittedly, he thinks he looks a hell of a lot better after the hair and make-up artists finish with their work, though he is far too used to waking up five minutes before he has to walk out the door, only to quickly comb through his hair and throw on the quickest outfit that he can possibly find. This is a big change. It’s good, just different.

Once it’s time for them to actually perform, he feels like he’s right back in the performance again. This is a prize to Junmyeon for winning, so it isn’t like he’s currently having to still fight for his life, but he is tricked into briefly thinking so. For several moments, he forgets that he has already been offered a contract in his dream entertainment company and that he’s already on his path to success. He feels dread and anxiety, until he looks over at Won and allows himself to completely relax. Knowing that the other boy was going to be here and onstage with him filled him with so much peace. He isn’t sure that he will ever feel too terrible when he is destined to have his best friend (and boyfriend) by his side for the rest of his life.

Since they already had performed this onstage once before, it wasn’t as difficult to make sure that everything went off without a hitch. He wondered if this is what it feels like for debuted idols who have to perform the same song with the same choreography day after day. Honestly, it wasn’t bad, though. It was always a thrill to perform in front of people, especially when he knew it was going to be aired on a show that many people would watch. It was an honor and he was grateful that he had the opportunity to partake in something like this. If this is what he was going to do for a living, then he was excited for the rest of his life.

[rkhosung]

M!Countdown appearance September 6th

Ma, I'm going to be on TV! Again.

It wasn't the first time Bin was going to appear on screen but it was the first time being recorded for a music show. A music show. He could hardly believe it when he set foot inside the building, marvelling at every little detail as they were ushered back towards the dressing room they were all going to share. How many artists had walked the halls before him? Just the thought was mind blowing. His Nova sunbae's must have graced the stage at some point in their careers. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to do so in the future.

Hair and makeup took its time, what with there being ten of them rotating around from stylist to stylist. Bin smiled at the staff brightly, making them chuckle a bit as he asked them to take good care of his looks since that was the only thing he had going currently. Well, he had his voice too, and a supportive family and friends... but the viewers wouldn't know that. This was his chance to stand out some more and hopefully win over those who managed to avoid the MGAs but still watched the live music show stages. Could he ever hope to be popular enough to have fans? People who would take pictures of him and monitor his projects? It all seemed like some far fetched fantasy.

He was brought back to the present when it was announced that they had five minutes until they were up, prompting a flurry of activity as they made their way down to the stage. Butterfllies flitted about Bin's stomach as staff helped them into their mics, his eyes wide as he stared around him praying that he would not make a fool of himself for everyone to see, even if it was only a rehearsal.

Time dragged on after the rehearsal, punctuated only by snacking and dozing on the soft mats some of them had thought to bring for the hard floor. Second rehearsal went smoothly leaving Bin feeling elated as they all got lunch, chatting happily to the rest as they waited until the clock struck two.

Show time.

[rkwon]

time keeps passing.

( ★ ) mgas season four       → bonus: m-countdown performance !             → stand by me ( line dist. — vocal 5 ) !

it’s weird being back on stage without the pressures of rankings and eliminations. it’s weird being back on stage at all after the short break, after not meeting with the others non-stop between the last episode and this special stage — a reward for a male winning the competition. 

( it was bound to happen anyway, right? the power of teenage girls when it comes to ‘their oppas’ is unparalleled. )

meeting everyone again on the fifth makes his heart race and his stomach flutter in a familiar way. even though their success here means nothing in the ground scheme of things, he can’t help but feel like it does. he can’t not feel how he did on the show when that’s all he associates with these four walls, this group of people. that’s not to say he’ll always think this way but the wound is still fresh — he hasn’t healed just yet. 

a single day isn’t really a lot of time to make sure they all still vibe well, can still do this seamlessly as they had two weeks prior but he supposes that’s all the companies are willing to give them. he supposes idols don’t get a lot of refreshers on old comebacks years into their careers when there’s so much to go over. the choreography is still understandably etched into his muscle memory but he misses his vocal cue a few times, particularly at first, too focused on the people around him. he helps a couple smooth out kinks that have come with not practising with a group for a while. ( and understandably so; he thinks if he hadn’t done so well, gotten the company that he wanted, he wouldn’t want to relive any aspect of the competition either. hell, he did all that and he still isn’t too enthused about all this. if it wasn’t such an incredible opportunity getting to perform on a music show before even debuting then he’d probably be a lot more reluctant, protest if he didn’t think it’d sabotage his newly signed contract. luckily, he doesn’t need to. his skin is thicker than most seem to think, and whilst he usually complains, there’s nothing to do so about this time around. it’ll all be over soon. )

early mornings still kill off a little bit of his soul each time; still make him question before he’s fully woken up if all of this is worth it ( of course it is but he hasn’t woken up enough to think clearly ). he inhales warm, fresh air as mingyu drives them to the m!countdown set. by the time they arrive, he’s not entirely awake but enough. his sleepy eyes see almost everything the stylists do to his hair and face, though there’s not really anything he could do if he saw something he didn’t like anyway. it’s not like they’re going to make him look like a clown, right? right? 

rehearsals are smooth. being stuffed into his stage outfit all day... isn’t so pleasant, but it does make him feel like a star for a few hours. he takes a deep breath, watches the world pass by around him whenever he gets a spare moment to think. the wait until 2pm for their recording feels like it’ll never end, but eventually, they’re being ushered onto the stage and within a blink of an eye, he’s dancing again like it’s the final and everything rests on this moment. in reality, all that’s on the line is his dignity, his pride, so maybe that’s why he cares so much — because for so long, his pride was all he had. he thinks about when this will be over and he can not think about the competition again until he’s healed. 

until he feels a little confidence again. 

he follows the cameras like he was taught, follows the choreography like his life depends on it, doesn’t miss his vocal cue any of the three times he’s to ‘sing’. lip-syncing is weird, feels kind of dirty, really, but he doesn’t have a choice. he sings along regardless; his mic isn’t on so it makes no difference. if anything, he thinks perhaps it makes his performance look more real. ( not that it’ll matter if someone else makes it obvious they’re pulling the public’s legs but he tries not to think about that either. ) he tries his best to enjoy it, keep a balance of a smile and a fierce expression on his face fitting to the more serious tone of the song. he stands front and centre as the second to last person to do so one more time and he thinks, it’s almost over. it’s almost time for a new beginning. 

standing on stage hours later with the rest of the performers is surreal. amongst them are actual idols, industry legends, and he’s there sharing a stage, breathing the same air. maybe one day this won’t feel so overwhelming, like the air has been rushed out of his lungs and stars have taken over his eyes. maybe one day, someone else will feel this way about standing ten foot from him. 

for now, baby steps. the rest of his life awaits him and he intends to really live it. 

[rkxhyunjin]

September 5th, 2018

Group rehearsal at Sphere Entertainment

Only a week and a half has passed, but to Hyunjin it feels like so much longer. The contrast between his life now and just one week before was so great that at times it was hard for him to even process it. One week he was spending every spare moment immersed in dance and music and the next he’s back at school, surrounded by textbooks with an already growing pile of notebooks perched precariously on the side of his desk.

Maybe the stacks of paper are a good thing. If he ducks his head down low enough he can’t see the curious glances that his classmates throw him every now and then - they don’t gossip, don’t harass him, but he can feel their stares (it unnerves him a little). Besides, in a school like their’s, there isn’t enough time for gossip. Not when you could be studying. 

When he enters the practice rooms he’s greeted by familiar faces and friends that he hasn’t had a chance to properly interact with since the finals. Everyone has been busy getting settled into their own new routines so he can’t say he blames anyone for the accidental distance created over the short period of time - after all, Hyunjin has been busy too. 

Maybe if he wasn’t spending half of his time at the company, Hyunjin would have been a little bitter. Would have missed the ease that came with interacting with people who shared the same passion and interest for music that he did. But in the short time he’s been a part of the entertainment company he’s begun to slowly fill hidden gaps inherently part of a life solely focused around studying; gaps which he didn’t even realise existed.

His schedule is still hectic in a way that would make most gape. Mornings start at five and nights end just a little past midnight. Rise, and repeat. Although, for Hyunjin, somehow five hours of sleep after a day of nothing but studying versus five hours of sleep after a day filled with studying and music feels so different. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s actively working towards his dreams which gives him that extra boost of energy that allows him to push through each day.

In the practice room, Hyunjin finds Haknyeon easily enough, coming up from behind the boy and wrapping a hand around his waist in a friendly greeting, chin perching on his shoulder, “好久不见，你想我吗？” Long time no see, have you missed me? More than happy for his friend after doing so well during the finals, it’s relieving to see that at the very least Haknyeon seems happy too. 

For Hyunjin, rehearsal runs smoothly, body naturally finding bits of the choreography and linking them back together; and the lyrics long since solidified in his memory. Even when it’s just rehearsal, he enjoys reliving that same sensation of performing with others, collectively working together to perform a  song. He only hopes that in the future he’ll get a chance to do the same again.