they've just gotten back from the broadcast station, and they're in the process of relaxing and resting before getting to sleep and ready for the next day. minho's fiddling in the fridge, trying to busy himself before his turn to shower-- frowning when he notes the slowly declining state of their fridge. he pats his stomach idly, and glances around. he knows their manager has already left to go get his own rest, and he doesn't want to bother anyone who's already gearing up for bed, but minho wants to head out to the convenience store down the road.
but not by himself, especially this late. closing the door, he shuffles into the hallway and peeks into any of the open bedrooms. when he comes up to won's shared room, he catches the other still milling about. he pauses by the open door, teeth worrying his lip as he hesitates, before clearing his throat. "hey, won-ah? uh," he shifts, smiling awkwardly at the other. "d'ya wanna come with me to the store real quick? i wanna grab some milk." he wanted to eat a quick bowl of cereal before bed, a treat to soothe the sudden sweet tooth that's kicked in since lunch earlier. "if you're not...headin' right 'ta bed, that is."
it’s kind of wild how many dances they’re expected to know. seonho never really put into thought how many original choreographies they;d end up learning. how many that idols end up learning in general. he thought he was learning a lot of dances while being a trainee, but one or two a month is nothing to this. picking up a dance for nearly every song in an album-- as well; as needing to keep up with the ones learned from other comebacks. he can’t help but wonder how in the heck do his sunbae manage. thinking of luxe... they’ve been active for a while, and have had a lot of comebacks.
it’s worrisome for seonho who isn’t a strong dancer. though he has gotten better in the time he’s been a trainee and an idol. he knows he isn’t one of the better dancers of the group. never mind that he lacks confidence. so dance practice like this is exhausting to him. frustrating for him as he struggles to fully get the dance down.
the coach calls for a short break and the teen all but collapses. knees hitting the floor of the practice room followed by his hands as he debates just melting into the ground. maybe if he became one with the floor they’d forget he was here and not make him dance more. tired and frustrated eyes raise to his hyungs who are also in various states of tired. the teen seeking out the one closest to him currently. “won hyung--” he whines, sitting back on his heels and giving won all his focus. “--do you have any snacks? i think im going to die..”
after the day he experienced when filming for the music video, promotion days don’t seem so bad. waking up around 5:30 am is a lot better than 3:30 am, and mingyu was also grateful that they weren’t constantly on the run with no time for breaks or food. at around 7:45, they were back at the broadcasting station and had over an hour before dress rehearsals. even though they would have to be careful not to ruin their hair and make up, mingyu still ate as fast as possible so he could try to get a short nap in before 9.
as soon as his stomach was happy and content, he gravitated towards won before grabbing his wrist and guiding him to a sofa. once there, he sits and motions for the younger to do the same, though he doesn’t necessarily give him a choice in the matter. he tugs him down before he can even think to obey, then leans over and rests his cheek against his shoulder, one arm wrapping around his front and holding him close. “i’m always so tired.” he pauses, then adds with a smile, “or hungry... sometimes both.”
like a lost little puppy he walked around the ground so the set of the music bank spring concert-- his nervousness had built up on the car ride over and he was sure he had gone to the toilet at four different occasions-- within a short time frame as well, he was making sure that he wouldn’t be late to go on stage but he felt nervous, this was going to be his first public performance.
when jaehyun excited the toilet he felt a little aimless-- for a moment he didn’t pay complete attention and when he came back to it the wall was already in front of his face and the next moment, he hit it. not hard or anything but it was enough for him to feel it.
the embarrassment he felt was immense, he hoped that no one had seen him but when he turns his head to the side he spots an unfamiliar face-- a black haired male ( @rkwon ), staring at him looking puzzled and confused, and immediately jaehyun wanted to stick his head into the ground.
they’re all waiting for their turn to record, some practicing their lines for one last time before they have to be performed flawlessly in the studio -- the others are at least, because he and kangjoon already had their turns, hongjoong and minho currently in the studio doing their parts, singing their lines. they were instructed to resume with training once they’re back but baekhyun prefers helping the others out while he can, when they need it or feel unsure, nervous. prefers to listen to the overlapping voices singing not quite in harmony.
it makes him smile, somehow likes the moments where he gets to watch the other members work hard the best. ( that, and seeing them getting their well-deserved rest after a hard day. )
baekhyun makes sure to get not too distracted from wonwoo despite all the voices in the practice room, all that singing that’s sort of meshing together. it’s good that the younger is sitting right in front of him, it makes it a whole lot easier to concentrate on him as he sings his lines a second time for him. once he’s done, baekhyun nods and a light smile curls onto his lips, he pushes his hands together to clap softly for him. “sounds good to me,” he tells him, “just listen to the producers instructions and i think you’ll have a good time in there,” his words fade out with a laugh. “are you nervous?” baekhyun tilts his head a little to the side, blonde strands of hair falling into his eyes and he brushes them away with a quick swipe of his hands. “you can not only dance but you can also sing well. ever thought about picking up rap as well?” he wiggles his eyebrows at him playfully.
[08.02.19] facetime call incoming… to kim hyojin! ❀
“oh, hyung! hello!” picking up suwoong’s call, his eyes slightly widen in surprise at the sudden communication. not sure about the occasion, hyojin finds himself shyly hiding his face with his free hand, the other taking the phone and trying to hold it at an angle so that it showed only part of his visage. “sorry… i wasn’t prepared!”
this time around, he’s dressed rather casually, with his circular-rimmed glasses and a recently washed purple sweater, hair a little bit tousled but still neat in the typical, organized hyojin fashion. admittedly, he didn’t expect to be called in the middle of the day, especially during practice when everyone was undoubtedly preparing for their new stage. it’s a little obvious how flustered this makes him, but he manages to quickly comb his hair with a few fingers, rub the drowsiness out of his eyes, and adjust his glasses, before slowly removing his hand with a sheepish smile.
“how are you - oh, everyone, hello~” craning his neck to spot a few familiar figures at the corner of the video frame, hyojin gives a little wave at them, smiling sweetly.
thankfully, his department worked from home on most fridays, giving him a sense of respite from thursday’s antics for the past few weeks. for the first time in a while, though, he’s been able to sleep in, something that took far more priority over the mixed feelings about this week. it’s surreal enough that they had placed first, a victory he’s sure he’ll hold close to his heart for quite some time, because it meant that his teammates had gotten what they had worked so hard to deserve. after a good night’s rest, though, it feels like a distant memory now - at the same time, it feels a little strange not waking up early in the morning to go to the practice studio. glancing at the analog clock perched next to his laptop, he realizes he probably would have already been a few hours into practice by now.
waiting for suwoong’s response, he listens attentively, nodding along and laughing gently at the other’s animated, friendly words, glad that the older male seems to be fine and getting along well with the rest of the team. thinking about it, hyojin himself wasn’t too perturbed by his elimination, having prepared for the future with wary eyes and treating every stage as if it would be his only and last one. the thought that perhaps his time had already been far overdue ever since the trios stage makes him more grateful than bittersweet or discouraged.
( but when he thinks about it more and more, sometimes he wonders if taeyang would have made it farther. maybe that spot wasn’t meant for him. )
“oh, a cake?” noting the sweetness of the coaches for bringing in something to the remaining team members, hyojin feels moved by the thoughtfulness of the mentors. they were all quite kind, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t lucky to have been part of such a well balanced and conscientious team. “they pretended to drop it, huh? oh no...” his eyes narrow in sympathy at the story, and he pushes back a yawn with bleary eyes.
patting at his cheek lightly, scolding himself for being still tired from having woken up so late in the day, he rubs at his eyes again. his body still aches from weeks of practicing dance, completely unused to the feeling, and it’s almost like a wave of sleepiness had washed over him for all the time he’s been awake today, hunched over his laptop to try and catch up on the work he had to do.
he finds himself slowly snapping out of it with suwoong’s brightness and the welcoming nature of the other members, quite touched to find that they still thought of him as a member. it’s not that he didn’t miss them, but it’s the realization that they didn’t erase him from their minds entirely to focus on the next performance that makes a warm, fuzzy feeling fill him up.
as such, when suwoong offers to “feed” him some cake through the phone, hyojin plays along affectionately despite finding it humorous, opening his mouth and pretending to take a bite, before eric manages to prevent the cake from hitting suwoong’s phone. holding back a laugh, hyojin thanks the other for his attempt, promising to make the team sweets in return.
with that, he makes sure to ask how practice is going, listening carefully and encouraging them to the best of his ability. soon enough, their time comes to an end, and hyojin gives them one last wave, flashing them a little finger heart.
“make sure to take care of your health! team royal, fighting!”
❀ GIFTS ;
[08.05.19] care packages + notes!
after having dinner with kyungsoo, hyojin made sure to send him off with a few surprises in tow - namely, four individual paper bags filled with snacks, including vitamin water, chips, nuts, and freshly made cookies in each one. they all have individual sticky notes stuck inside each bag with little messages for each member. for the coaches ( @rkcheri, @rkwon, @rkella ) are also cookies in a separate, larger bag, each one receiving two cookies packaged in a wax paper sleeve, their names written individually in hyojin’s neat handwriting on each one.
( hot pink sticky note) to suwoong hyung: @rksuwoong
suwoong hyung, hello! this is healing voice hyo who wishes you and the rest of the team the best! i know you’ll do great, and that you’ll destroy the stage with your charisma and talentㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ i’ll be watching eagerly from home to see you win and to cheer you on~ take good care of yourself and enjoy the snacks! i’m one call away always!
- hyojin
( light blue sticky note ) to soo-ah: @rkkyungsoo
hi, soo-ah! i know you just saw me not too long ago, but i hope you’re continuing to eat well and practice well~ you can do it! it’s good to practice a lot and seriously, but make sure you’re not overworking yourself so your condition is goodㅠㅠ please take good care of suwoong hyung for me as well~ fighting!
hello heejin~ i know we didn’t get to talk much over the week, but i believe in you as much as everyone else! your singing is really legendary;; like every other stage, you’ll do well on this one, too, so i hope you have lots of confidence going in! looking forward to see you performing on the big screen~
eric, hello, hello~ i won’t make it too serious or depressing, but i’m sorry i wasn’t able to keep my promiseㅠ i know you’ll continue to do well, though! i hope you’ll be able to do more stages that show your full potential and skillset. i know you’ll do well~ cheering you on always!
