Seokjin and Seungyeon are best friends. She is the only female besides his sister that he could ever (and would ever) love. She puts up with him and he with her. They are different and yet so similar. He would be lost without her. She keeps him sane and makes sure he is well and his conditions aren’t bothering him. He is as protective over her as he is his own sister. She knows when things are wrong and he knows when she needs someone to comfort her. They are two peas in a pod. Morgan and Garcia. Joey and Chandler. They are one.
@rkseung
You’ve Got a Friend In Me - Randy Newman
With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Anderson (Across the Universe)
the moment when it finally sinks in that his name was not called for eliminations, hyojin starts to genuinely wonder if this is some kind of mistake, or if he actually deserved to move on. it physically hurts him to see how wonpil reacts when his name is called and criticism is doled out, reminding him of a similar situation last week -- the familiar, heart-wrenching feeling of guilt and shock and confusion. it only takes one lift of a microphone, one decision for him to now be completely and fully alone.
perhaps that’s not factually true. in fact, living proof of the counterstatement to that was sitting right next to him on his other side, another piece of evidence directly behind him. sakura and seunghun. somewhere else in the audience is sungwoon, probably with daniel and the other empty enigma members. he feels foolish for even thinking that he might lose them -- they were incredibly talented, after all -- but then again, he had thought wonpil to be one of the most talented vocals that he knew. it’s jarring and exciting altogether; he can’t seem to get over the fact that now his other cousin was gone, too, but there’s an adrenaline rush accompanying the realization that he now was expected to move onto the next challenge. he looks around the studio with wide eyes, almost not even registering the next thing that the ceos say.
duos. two contestants, partnered with each other to deliver a performance. on impulse, his eyes flicker to his other side, half to avoid wonpil and half because he’s looking at seunghun. shaking his head, he resists the urge to glance behind him at a certain girl, instead staying tight-lipped and tense on his seat.
minho and nakyung. strange duo, but it’d be interesting if they could pull that off. yewon and minkyung, yoona and jackson -- rapper-rapper -- kyungsoo and yugyeom. hyojin winces at that combination, remembering vividly that kyungsoo was a singer, while yugyeom was a dancer. inwardly, he wonders if he’ll also find himself partnered with a dancer, and feels his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach. he’s fairly sure that if that was the case, the end of his journey on this show would end rather quickly. for the sake of him and his partner-to-be, he desperately hopes that isn’t the case.
some more names fly by, and he feels a slow sinking disappointment as more vocalists passed by, including sungwoon. without knowing, his fingers cross over each other and he starts to repeat a mantra of names in his head in a desperate hope.
kim hyojin and kim seunghun. his heart drops when he hears one of the names he was repeating in his head flit by, and he looks devastated for a second when he realizes the name partnered with it. kim hyojin. hyojin. hyo --
“oh my god.” he hears a hearty laugh resounding next to him, and his head whips to the side, eyes wide and jaw hitting the floor. blinking multiple times when seunghun asks him for confirmation of what they both just heard, clearly not believing the coincidence himself, hyojin finds himself lifting up his hand dumbly, showing the male his still crossed fingers before breaking into a goofy grin. “it worked, i think.”
with that, he crushes the younger in a hug, before pulling away and chuckling at his comment. “what should we sing this time? monodrama? yanghwa brdg? there are still so many more tears to be shed.” he says it with a loud laugh, waving his hand teasingly to show he was joking. they leave the studio together once the filming ends, hyojin’s arm slung over seunghun’s shoulder affectionately and the two of them chattering about potential songs to perform.
even when it feels like his luck has just run out, he feels like he’s on cloud nine.
❀ PREPARATIONS;
he feels like an absolute coward for asking wonpil for his electric guitar. it’s obvious in his stance and the way his fingers fiddle with each other that he knows he could be reopening wounds, wounds that hadn’t even started healing yet but were being stitched together by calloused hands. he knows, and he feels awful, atrocious, like a monster. he hadn’t even dared to talk to seungmin face-to-face after the latter had been eliminated, and the fact that this deeply set feeling, this desperation to do all that he could to protect his spot in the competition because now seunghun was on the line, too was more important than his sense of decency made him sick.
hyojin almost cries when wonpil agrees, unaffected, excited, even, showing him where it had been stored away in the little apartment of theirs, well loved but still beautiful and shining in his eyes. the older seems proud of him instead of annoyed or bitter, supportive. it fills hyojin with a newfound sense of determination, because, no, he shouldn’t be ashamed. he shouldn’t feel bad for trying his best and making use of what he had.
this wasn’t for the sake of winning. this was for the sake of something a little bigger than that, for the sake of the slowly growing hole in his heart from not being able to do what he’s been wanting to do his whole life. no matter what happens, he needs to leave the stage on thursday knowing that he’s done all that he could.
even though it’s too formal considering how close the two of them were, he turns and bows deeply to his cousin in thanks, not sure how to classify the thickness in his throat and how his eyes started to water.
❀
with some careful guidance on where to find the amplifier and what to do with it, and some even more googling later, hyojin finds himself holding the guitar in his hand, the heavy metal ( no pun intended ) feels like the many burdens he’s started to take on. he’s only just made amends with seungmin not too long ago, but the insecurities are starting to well up. the bandaids he’s tried to put on the wounds on his heart from the elimination of his cousins left other parts of him open and vulnerable. he had watched seungyeon’s live the other day, and although he found himself smiling at her show of support for him and seunghun, he couldn’t help but feel the same tug at his heart that always came up when he heard her voice or saw her face.
he’s been so busy worrying about mgas and his other friends that he’s almost completely forgotten about the heartache he had gone through before, heartache that was in the process of being patched up by sakura. even then, he wonders if she’ll see his stage too this week, and what she’ll think of it. absentmindedly strumming a chord, a habit he’s picked up to break himself out of any dark thoughts, he jumps at the loud feedback, suddenly remembering that he was holding an electric guitar and not an acoustic one. right, he needs to focus.
❀
“oh, i like it, it like it!” sitting up from his initially slouched position, hyojin almost startles gamja into falling off his lap, catching the adorable puppy before it could scamper off and trying to soothe it. seunghun’s been playing the keyboard he brought for a few minutes now, messing around with the song choice they had decided on. it’s basically a given that they wouldn’t be doing a ballad -- they’ve both sang plenty enough themselves, and he’s sure that the judges knew well enough that they were both capable vocally of singing heart-jerking tunes.
he’s fairly sure he’d be smacked on the shoulder if he suggested something trot -- although he couldn’t help himself from making a joke or two, snickering. the younger male always brought out the childish and energetic side of him, and every time they were together in the studio, it felt like all of his worries had melted away, and he could do things without a care in the world. he could sing any song in his music library and seunghun would be able to pick up after it, their music tastes going hand in hand. after some preliminary discussions, they had agreed on adding some electric guitar into the mix, providing more of a rock-house fusion of the hwasa song, something smooth and a little sexy, even.
perhaps a little shyly, he even finds himself suggesting that he bring in the guitar to play during the performance, both as a shock factor and a tribute to wonpil, although he didn’t say the latter out loud. it feels wrong to go into the studio without such a comforting presence next to him. after three years of seeing him as an older brother, hyojin feels like it’s morally incorrect to not have a piece of his cousin with him when he sings, especially when wonpil won’t be there physically.
the rearrangement goes smoothly from there, and a few impromptu song covers and more fiddling later, they already have an outline done. the rest of the week passes like this, a mix of fun and frantic preparation, and when they part on the final day before d-day, hyojin feels like the guitar case on his back was significantly lighter than it first had been when he picked it up.
❀ IN THE STUDIO;
“woah, looking good~” greeting seunghun with a half-smile, hyojin laughs as he sees his friend with his new hair color. he had to say, ash brown suited the male well, giving him a more mellow and mature look in comparison to the blonde hair he had before. not that he looked better or worse -- it was arguably as good as the one before, but it was definitely new. hyojin’s heart may lie elsewhere, but he genuinely meant the compliment when he said it. they make their way into the studio, the taller’s arm looped around his shoulder, both dressed in loose dress shirts and hyojin’s slightly unbuttoned at the top, tie purposefully loosened and the smooth expanse of his neck shown.
he has a head of bright red hair himself, having gone to a hairstylist recommended by a busking friend of his who had gotten their hair dyed at the same place. if his best friend was going to do it, he might as well do the same. besides, he had always wanted to try out red -- at the very least, he could take this performance as an excuse to do so. it’s kind of funny at the same time, because ever since they made their duo name, they’ve been joking about dying their hair to match it. turns out it actually did happen.
as they sit down next to each other, hyojin smiles softly at seunghun’s question, nodding. “i’m as prepared as i could be, you?” as the male responds, hyojin finds himself absentmindedly fixing a tuft of seunghun’s light brown hair that had gotten rumpled by the cool air of the studio, putting it back in place and patting his friend’s head affectionately. it was a pretty normal gesture considering how close the two of them were, and hence, passed by naturally. “let’s enjoy the stage today.”
and with that, the recording starts. there are a few explosive performances, many of them entertaining and some even soulful. admittedly, hyojin and seunghun were going in the later half, and although he tries his best not to get affected, he can feel the nerves ebbing away at him. nevertheless, he thoroughly enjoys the stages.
making a sound of surprise and shaking his head in happiness when he hears the song that sungwoon and his partner, jaemin, were performing, hyojin looks to seunghun with a grin. easy was for sure one of his favorite songs to listen to, the groove of wheein’s voice, coupled with the smoothness of sik-k giving it a high replay value. the both of them execute it well, and hyojin finds himself unable to stay still in his seat, grooving along.
sakura’s stage with ryujin is equally stylish, albeit more upbeat and old-fashioned. he’s only heard the song a few times, but bond girl is for sure going on his playlist after watching. bopping his head to the addictive beat, he cheers for sakura and her partner, even chanting her name at one point while shaking his fists, like it was a fanchant and he was at an idol concert with a lightstick.
❀ ON THE STAGE;
soon enough, their names are called, and hyojin gets up, making his way to the stage with seunghun behind him, ducking his head shyly in thanks at the light applause that came up at the announcement of their team.
as he was older, he took the lead for their introduction, counting to two before doing their signature pose, raising his fists up to his cheeks in a crying gesture, instead biting down as if biting on a meat skewer, and then pretending to cry. it’s a silly thing they made up during one of their late night talks in the studio, with one stupid suggesting leading to another, and then them building up on each other until they came up with something both witty and embarrassing that they just had to do.
“hello, we’re spicy pork! i’m contestant #5020, kim hyojin,” he says, before letting seunghun finish, then adding, “like our team name and our hair colors,” he says, gesturing at seunghun’s head, then at his, “we’ll make sure to burn the stage with our spiciness!”
with that, he tries not to get too embarrassed by the giggles that resound around the stage, keeping a straight face save for a little smile at seunghun, nodding back at him. putting the electric guitar strap over his shoulder, hyojin strums experimentally, hearing the sound echo faintly throughout the studio, before stepping up to his own standing microphone.
the moment the instrumental starts and they begin to sing in harmony, hyojin’s smile drops immediately, and he takes on a fiercer, more serious expression. instead of vulnerable and gentle like it usually was, he finds himself wearing a new mask this time with seunghun. they were here to show new sides and new colors of themselves, keeping the judges and their competition on their toes. it wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest, surprisingly enough -- they’ve spent hours on hours refining the performance and their synergy did wonders for their performance, after all.
( bold = hyojin’s lines, normal = seunghun’s lines )
oh
너는 멍청이
you’re a twit
가녀린 심청이
like simcheong
taking the bottom note when harmonizing, hyojin looks straight at the judge panel as he sings with an almost intense gaze, nodding his head when seunghun sings the first line powerfully, starting to play the guitar, feeling the chords resound and blending in smoothly with the piano track going in, opening the floodgates to more instruments that they had pre-recorded when re-making the track. they had also modified the lyrics a little to fit the allotted time, rearranging them but not rewriting them.
after a few rifts, he sings into the microphone with seunghun again, their voices flowing together well and making for a pretty melody.
내가 멍청이
i’m a fool
너를 병들게 한 싸가지
i’m the wench for making you sick
한 번씩 주위를 둘러봐
why don’t you look around once in a while
너는 아파도 모르고 있잖아
even when you’re in pain, you don’t know
starting off the first verse with an almost sultry tone, hyojin decides to go for something more smooth than seunghun’s more powerful approach so that they don’t clash, setting the mood as he tilts his head while singing the second line, fingers slowly but surely plucking at the guitar strings on beat.
he turns his focus back to playing when seunghun continues, matching his smoothness to further build up until the drop.
you make me loyal
you make me hero
you make me genius
주는 게 많아 근데 왜 너만 불행해질까
you give so much but why are you the only unhappy one?
나를 위해서만 숨을 쉬니까
cuz you only breathe for me
너무 외로워 보여
you look so lonely
flowing along the notes as if riding waves, hyojin’s mouth turns up slightly at the corner to form a half smirk, his gaze never leaving the ceos. it’s a completely different persona than he actually has, but it fits well for some reason, and he feels like he’s pulling them in inch by inch, closing the distance with his aura.
this time, seunghun comes in with power, and hyojin feels himself shift into a grin, his body moving along to the music as he plays.
너는 멍청이
you’re a fool
twit twit twit twit
i do not like it
nobody likes it
가녀린 심청이
like simcheong
twit twit twit twit
i do not like it
nobody likes it
hitting the chorus, hyojin picks up his playing, singing into the microphone with a controlled power to hit the note with the correct mood. he sings the ‘twit’ line almost delicately, hitting the high note smoothly, before fading into seunghun’s voice for the hook. seunghun sings the next line with his own flow, making them both stand out despite matching so well.
아이야 아이야이야
just a baby
baby sky야 아이야이야 야이야
baby sky, just a baby
transitioning into the bridge, hyojin stops playing to let the emptiness sink in, now singing softer and feeling the attention focus on him as he grabs the microphone for the first time during the performance, clutching onto it and having an indignant look in his eyes as he sings the line, as if calling everyone watching a baby. seunghun then comes in, changing the attention focus, and hyojin aids him, harmonizing for the high note and taking the bottom line.
he meets seunghun’s eyes at this, breaking into a smile when the male winks at him.
너는 멍청이
you’re a fool
twit twit twit twit
i do not like it
nobody likes it가녀린 심청이
like simcheong
twit twit twit twit
i do not like it
nobody likes it
this time, a pre-recorded guitar comes in, purposefully planned so that they could focus more on the high notes and executing the chorus well. repeating it, this time switched, he makes in effort to make it more explosive than the last time.
twit twit twit twit (twit)
우린 길을 잃었어 (woah)
we’ve lost our way
twit twit twit twit (woah)
나 밖에 모르는 너는 멍청이
you’re a fool who only knows me
now was the time where they could show off their skills, seunghun singing the line soulfully as hyojin did the adlibs, hitting the high notes prettily. when it reaches his turn to do it, he does the same, helping to segue into one of the many highlights of the song.
(yeah)
너는 멍청이
you’re a fool
(woah, woah, woah, woah)
나 밖에 모르는
who only knows me
우리 멍청이
we’re a fool
they hit the high note together, holding it and harmonizing, reaching the end of the song. they echo each other during one last ad lib, and hyojin finishes off the song suavely, the both of them singing the last line and the song ending with a bang. as they end with charismatic poses, hyojin finds himself a little out of breath by the intensity of their performance, feeling everything come alive at his fingertips.
as they bow one last time and leave the stage, hyojin hears seunghun jokingly ask him to treat him to pork if they moved on, and just ruffles his partner’s hair in response.
the dim, artificial light of the desk lamp shines against hyojin’s face, filling his vision with a soft glow that highlights the pages of the novel he’s reading. even with his phone lighting up every couple of minutes with messages from his friends’ groupchat, his gaze remains focused on each word, letting himself get immersed in the plot.
it’s only when he decides to take a brief break when he hears the ringing, his hand scrambling to find where he had placed his phone on the desk, his other grabbing the pair of glasses he had taken off to rest his eyes.
it takes a millisecond for him to register the caller id in his blurry vision before he picks up immediately ( maybe a little too quickly, so quick that he didn’t even put his glasses on yet ), and he unconsciously sits up in his seat.
# 💬 › HENG. › SMS › SENT !
— ✉ › 10:21 › mini rant
— ✉ › 10:21 › i hate that school is approaching
— ✉ › 10:22 › and that i have to spend $$
— ✉ › 10:23 › ON FUCKING BOOKS
— ✉ › 10:23 › i hate life
sms : seung 🦊 ▸ 06 SMS RECEIVED
🡒 heck school
🡒 sometimes i wanna drop out too bc of stress
🡒 like i dont want to produce a country song prof PLS HAVE MERCY
🡒 if you hate it so much though why do it yknow
🡒 at least i enjoy it most of the time
🡒 but you always seem really… not elated about it
it’s been a while since he’s paid a visit to a fast food chain that originated in america. it’s not that he has anything against them; he just finds the various other places to find food in seoul much more appealing than a quickly assembled cheeseburger and fries, even with the localization. he’s unsure what brings him to this place now, unwittingly driving there after his shift at the hospital has ended, but he’s got a craving for the nostalgia of a good, cheap, fulfillng meal born by the hands of a pair of brothers with an eye for business.
the only problem is the menu is a lot different than what he’s used to on the islands, and he’s having trouble locating one of his favorites from back home. caught up in the american consumerism of it all, he approaches a nearby patron, eyes still glued to the menu. “excuse me,” he says, slipping into english as his eyes scan the english menu. “this seems a bit different than what i’m used to. do you guys not have the mcrib here?”
he belatedly realizes the language he’s speaking in versus the country he’s actually in, but when he goes to translate and apologize, his eyes catch sight of an intriguing menu item. he pauses, eyes widening in surprise before laughter comes spilling out. “crispy oriental chicken burger? does no one find that offensive around here?”
when: may 4th, 2019
where: club in seoul!
with: @rkseung
here she was, yet again. rarely were tingyan’s nights actually dull, instead being spent out and about having fun or the occasional cramming when she felt up to it. tonight called for the former, however, fatigue of a long day settling in as her mind wandered to the nightlife around seoul. after contemplating, she decided on hitting up the club, both due to the happy hour drink special and nice atmosphere. but it was a bit...dull to say the least, the lights seeming to fade and music getting muffled as tingyan downed her third drink of the night. one hour in, two drinks finished, and yet tingyan still hadn’t found anyone worth her while.
until....she spots her. on the dancefloor, dark hair framing her face, her beauty makes tingyan smile with satisfaction. she’d found her. someone who had captured her attention - a girl who ratiated so much confidence that for once, tingyan felt she had competition. the night wouldn’t be young forever, though, so the female wastes no time approaching the other until she’s standing beside her, a tap on the shoulder announcing her presence. “excuse me?” tingyan asks, speaking over the roaring crowd. “sorry to interrupt, but... you look way too lonely over here. can i join? i promise i’m fun to have around,” playfulness is laced between her words as she speaks, unable to refrain the smirk as her eyes shamelessly wander over the mysterious woman. she’s different from the others there - tingyan knows - and it’s evident in the way that her eyes focus on her; only her.
