there’s been a chill in the air for quite some time now, and though she’s usually rather seasonal with her wardrobe, there’s a lot left to be accounted for- particularly a lot of old sweaters that rachel either doesn’t want anymore, or doesn’t fit. Her first thought instead is to offer them to eve, who hopefully won’t see it as anything negative.
“eve~” she singsongs one particularly cold morning, hooking arms with the younger as they walk to their next destination after she’s caught up. “so i was going through a lot of my stuff, and i’ve got... a lot of warm clothes that i thought you might want.” she grins, remembering how eve had commented before about liking her style, and eager to see the grin on her friend’s face. “nothing is wrong with them, they’re just ones that i don’t really wear anymore, and i think a few are ones that you like too. do you want to come look during free time today?” she laughs, “i swear to god i have way too many. i should have luna send some back to her siblings too, huh?”
growing closer to yien over the past few months is something rachel can’t be thankful enough for- without him she’d probably still be hiding away in seocho, depriving herself of sleep and anything remotely enjoyable. they just click, and in a way they always have, but similar situations and similar times brought them closer than she had considered they could be. now, thye’re easy friends, and they take solace in the reprieve that each other’s company provides.
they hang out together when they can (and god knows rachel is either chatting with him and watching everyone else or entertaining jinki and hyun the whole of the mv filming prior), but the ‘company’ barbecue presents them an opportunity that they had talked about, sort of, and finally had reason to.
after their turn, she follows him away from the karaoke area, scooping up glasses of fruit punch as they pass by a table. “is it really just me, or does this whole thing feel just a little weird to be doing?” she questions, holding out the second glass to him. “it feels like something more business-y companies would do, right?”
i still don’t know my own heart. look carefully for me.
JUNE EVALUATION - SOLO
BOA - CAMO
{ colors: purple, black, camouflage }
as seemingly vague as the company’s assignment for june evaluations is, rachel knows almost right away the song she wants to cover. it’s catchy, done by a popular artist known for being both a great singer and dancer, and the lyrics are ones reminiscent of rachel’s past (and current) situations. it’s the perfect project to throw herself completely into, and that’s just what she does.
every waking moment spent outside of acting workshops is spent practicing, each pitch change, note, double-step, and facial expression carefully studied in order to put on the best performance she’s capable of this month. she’s growing, in spite of everything that’s happened this year already, and wants sphere to see that- if that means going absolutely outside of where she would normally limit herself, then that’s what she would do.
then again, who would say that rachel has ever passed up the opportunity to push herself to the maximum?
boa is an artist she’s always greatly admired, and having the opportunity to perform one of her songs for evaluations is part of what imbues rachel with so much energy over the month that she’s not sure what to do with. between her apartment watching over dongmin after training, and spending equally as much time at won’s, she gets in more practice than normal, and finds pride and comfort in her own skills again. no longer is she afraid of showing off, but instead just the opposite- eager to compete and outdo everyone she can. (which is probably rather dangerous, despite its effectiveness.)
separately, rachel is both an above-par dancer and a good singer, but together she still sometimes has trouble- which means that every self-rehearsal in the practice room requires both her voice and her body. it’s led to many sore throats throughout the week, but at least a week before every trainee is due to perform, rachel can relax, and feel confident enough in all of her work that this is probably the best performance she’s put on yet. life has settled into a good spot for her, and many of her personal struggles have solved themselves, and just like the song iterates, her heart is moving, and that’s to a much better place.
once it’s her turn, rachel’s aura fills the practice room with ease. she’s not afraid of the coaches as much as she once was, especially after her performance in front of them for february’s evaluation. her confidence has changed in just a matter of four months, the once timid but present attitude long gone and in its place the kind of rachel that was responsible for her success in her modelling career- the one that put herself out there unabashedly and did her best.
and that’s just what she does as she nails every critical note and point of choreography when it matters most. rachel feels like she looks every bit the professional that they’re training her to be, and that maybe with this, opportunity will knock (or at least tell her good job- not that the truly confident need it) soon, and her experience will continue to grow upwards.
come on girl, love is so d e l i c i o u s
FEBRUARY EVALUATION - with @rkxeve
TOHEART - DELICIOUS
(preparations)
february comes with its own surprises. it’s been a long month for rachel, dealing with kibum not in the apartment anymore, sleeping alone (and not very well, if she were being honest), and trying to figure out just how her dad could plan a wedding without spending an exorbitant amount of money was taking its toll.
hearing that evals were a little different than usual didn’t really seem like anything to look forward to. but she and yves are close again, which means that days at sphere are a little more bearable, a little more of a comfort and easier to handle.
eve isn’t really partial to certain songs, but both girls assume that this month’s eval is supposed to encourage them to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. as a sort of reunion celebration (and because perhaps rachel is most comfortable with sticking around eve lately, and maybe vice-versa for the younger)
it takes a week of yes’s and no’s and ‘yes, this is it!’s’ to come to an actually final decision; and it’s easy to tell that it’s a combination of both girls’ preferences in music and lyrics, though lighthearted in its execution. it’s nothing exactly challenging (more or less... it’s left to be debated since both eve and rachel have performed onstage before)
(stubbornly) rachel admits that she can be forgetful- not about little things, no- always the important things, like calendar appointments, anniversaries, and birthdays (she’d gotten better with the latter, but the others were still just as lost on her unless somebody reminded her). hence when she so casually forgot that her dad requested her to ask jonghyun and sodam for dinner , it didn’t go over well. (it’s not her fault, she thinks, despite knowing it’s really all her fault.)
it’s sometimes odd to think about their parents dating each other, but rachel knew that, at least where all of the kids of the pair were involved, they were happy for both parents being able to find happiness in each other. it’s not until after she gets in trouble for having her phone out during training that she actually remembers why she had it out in the first place. “jonghyunnn” she fake whines as she holds her phone out to the elder showing the bombardment of texts from her dad, “please text him and tell him you and sodam are coming over for dinner later. i forgot to ask last week.”
christmas is better these past two years than ever before, if she’s being honest. and while christmas cheer is definitely abound in their little household, it holds a hidden, somber threat to its fragility. it’s their one year as a couple, and their last month together before kibum has to move into the dorms for convex. in hopes of staying the inevitable, it’s an unspoken promise that this will be their best month- even if neither of them can plan anything special for their anniversary.
childfund korea has been an organization that she’s always adored and is one of the organizations that is helping fund the shelter her father has given her the opportunity to design; spending a day with a few selected families for christmas is definitely one of the ways she would enjoy since she can’t be alone with kibum nowadays.
they’re supposed to be elves, chatting with parents and entertaining the children in a way of giving back this season. when the opportunity for a break surfaces she (unintentionally, maybe) finds her way to kibum, and the child he’s interacting with. “wow!” she exclaims upon approach, pointing at the boy’s santa hat with a grin, “you have a hat just like him, you know!” when the child giggles, she turns to kibum (they can’t forget to act the part, and rachel loves the idea anyway), “doesn’t he have such a realistic hat? i couldn’t even make one that good. he must be a favorite of santa’s.”
continuing on a self-declared expedition to at least introduce herself to everyone new (to her) in sphere, rachel recalls recognizing one of the girls from a benefit concert that sphere held shortly after she returned to seoul. she had gone to see how jinri and luna were doing, but quickly found herself distracted by all of the different faces that were present, and how a few of them were just as good as she had been when she was with sphere. all she can remember about this one, is her unique visual and how her dance skill seemed way better than most of the other girls.
if there’s anything she can truly appreciate, it’s a great dancer. rachel can tell that this girl isn’t just average, and she admires that. (from what she can remember, she was one of the only truly skilled dancers during her time at sphere- it’s a bit of an aching reminder when she realizes that this girl probably took a place that could have been hers if she hadn’t quit.) during lunch, rachel switches spots with another trainee to sit across from her. part of her hopes that she comes off as intimidating, and the other reminds herself that there’s literally no reason to be an ass to a stranger, so she smiles. “i hope you don’t mind me sitting here,” she starts, “i just realized that i remembered seeing you before and wanted to let you know that i think you’re a really, really skilled dancer. where did you learn?”
