Title: The Return
Summary: The search for Seokyu finally comes to an end on the coast of Jeju.
Genre: Drama, mild angst.
Pairing: OT7
Word Count: 1.2k
Warnings: Angst, swearing.
A/N: I can’t decide how I want Vice’s banners to look sorry if this is fugly!!!
By the time the boyband packed their things, checked out of the hotel, and took the ferry to Jeju, the sun had gone down. Woodam prayed that this would be the last night they spent looking for their lost friend.
The ferry ride was dead silent, the air between the members was stiff, as if one word from anyone would jinx them. Woodam knew things were rough when even he couldn’t find anything to say. Usually he was good at keeping everyone’s emotions in check, but he couldn’t even stomach his own anxiety. What if they couldn’t find Seokyu? Or worse, what if they find him and he refuses to come back? What if they had to leave someone they considered a brother behind?
The six men walked in a two by three formation, scanning the streets of Jeju for any sign of Seokyu. They rounded a corner and heard music echoing from a pub. Woodam’s whole posture stiffened up. He knew that voice. The voice that always harmonized with his. The voice that could be heard from the shower every night. The voice that he had watched develop so much over the past ten years.
The five other members must have recognized it to. With a quick glance at each other, the group sprinted towards the pub. Woodam’s pulse was rapid, pulsing in his neck.
The door to the pub flung open, and Woodam almost let out a relieved cry. On the small, dingy stage stood his lost friend. Seokyu’s hair was grown out a little, curling around his ears and the nape of his neck, clearly unstyled. He wore a well-worn button down and dirty jeans, a pair of beat up sneakers on his feet. He looked like an average guy, but his stage presence could not be dimmed. He had a bright smile on his face while he played his guitar, winking at the small group of people cluttered around him.
When Seokyu’s gaze landed on his group mates, his fingers fumbled on the guitar, halting the song. The audience around him paused their enthusiastic head bobbing and turned their attention to where Seokyu was staring. A few gasps strangled out. Clearly, Vice was recognizable to a few.
Seokyu, without another word, hopped off the stage. He gestured to the boys shortly with a head nod in the direction of the back exit. The group hesitated, giving each other a weary look. Realizing that they had no other option, they headed towards the exit. The crowd parted to let Vice through, everyone still muttering under their breath.
Outside, Seokyu was pacing anxiously, staring down at his feet. When the back door closed, Seokyu’s head snapped up. Woodam had hoped that when they were reunited that Seokyu would smile his warming smile and stretch his arms out for a big hug. But Woodam could see in Seokyu’s eyes the confusion and slight annoyance that his younger friend was feeling. The vocalists heart sank, dreading what conversation would be taking place next.
“How did you find me?” Seokyu asked.
The sharp question took the group back a little. Then Geonwu squared his shoulders like he does when he’s about to argue.
“What do you mean, how did we find you?” Geonwu asked angrily. “We’ve been looking all over the fucking country for your dumb ass!”
Seokyu furrowed his eyebrows. “I didn’t think you guys would come looking.”
“What?” Woodam blinked. “You went missing! Did you really think we’d just let you go? We were worried sick.”
“We’re your brothers, Kyu.” Kane’s eyes looked a little glossy, like tears were forming. “What did you expect us to do?”
Seokyu ran a hand through his hair, looking back at the pub that they just came out of.
“I appreciate that you guys care, really, but…” Seokyu shook his head, looking back down to the dirt. “I’m assuming you want me to come back with you guys, right?”
Another quiet spell fell over the group. What was with Seokyu? Why was he looking so disappointed?
“Are you fucking serious?” Cyth asked in a deadly calm voice. “No. We just came all this way to watch you disappear again. You’re coming back with us, Seokyu. We’re not leaving you behind.”
“Yeah, man, the deadline for your contract ends in 5 days and we have to be back at the company before the end of today…” Ji explained. “Do you not wanna come back?”
Seokyu stayed silent.
“For fucks sake, can you at least look at us?” Cyth spat.
Seokyu bit his lip, looking back up at his friends. “It’s not that I don’t want to come back. I just... I wanted to live normally just a little bit longer.” A pink flush tinted his cheeks and ears.
“Normally? You think performing in shitty bars and fucking psychics is normal?” Minho asked, arching an eyebrow. “You’re not living normally, you’re being reckless.”
“Which I never was able to do!” Seokyu’s voice raised a little. “Ever since I was nineteen my life has been under the control of a corporation. I just... I just wanted to have a little bit of freedom to do the things that I will never be able to do again.”
The six other men fell silent. Woodam unfortunately knew what Seokyu was talking about. The boys have never been able to do what other 20-something-year-olds do. Everything had to appear perfect and flawless for the sake of their image. Every single one of them daydreamed about normal, mundane life from time to time. But the difference was, none of them actually ran away.
“Why didn’t you tell us though?” Woodie asked, trying not to sound too selfish or hurt.
Seokyu shrugged, looking a little bashful. “I don’t know. I think I liked the idea of being completely on my own.”
“This was really fucking stupid of you, Seokyu.” Minho shook his head in disappointment.
“I know. I’m sorry.” Seokyu bowed his head in shame.
Woodam fought back the urge to respond with ‘it’s okay’. He knew it was not. This was a big blow to the groups trust with each other. It wouldn’t be okay for a while.
The ride home was the quietest Woodie has seen the group. Not one person spoke the whole way back to Seoul. Seokyu’s posture was stiff next to him on the train, looking out the window and occasionally jumping his leg nervously. When they finally arrived at HBH Entertainment, Hak Bonghwa was waiting outside the company. When the founder saw Seokyu, he opened his arms up.
“Welcome home, Seokyu!” He grinned, shaking the vocalist’s hand when he was closer. “I hope that you’re here to discuss your contract?”
Seokyu nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Fantastic.” Hak Bonghwa wrapped a fatherly arm around Seokyu’s shoulder. “I have it ready for your review in my office. Your lawyer is already waiting inside. I’ll be up with you soon.”
He gave Seokyu’s shoulder a squeeze before releasing him, watching him walk into the building. When Seokyu was gone, Bonghwa turned to the six men in front of him.
“Well, good work, boys. I’m glad you all made it home safely.” Bonghwa nodded. “Understand that this will be the last time an act like this happens. The lack of communication between us is dangerous and can end up with someone getting hurt. Are we in an understanding?”
The six men nodded silently.
“Fantastic.” Hak Bonghwa nodded. “Come inside. I have tea ready for all of you. After Seokyu’s signing, I think we need to have a discussion on artists’ freedom. Don’t you?”
Summary: Vice finds an unexpected clue at a noodle restaurant.
Genre: Mystery, drama
Pairing: OT7 / OT6
Word Count: 1.0k
Warnings: Swearing, missing persons.
After stopping at a thrift store to pick up some average-looking clothes and hearing Kane whine and complain about his bladder feeling like it was going to explode, the group suggested stopping for an early lunch at a local restaurant. The restaurant was recommended to them by the woman running the thrift store, as it was locally famous for their spicy fire noodles.
Once the boys were given a seat at the restaurant, Kane bolted to the mens room. Once he relieved himself he let out a satisfied sigh, closing his eyes. He didn’t realize how tired he was until that moment. Not just physically, but emotionally too. The maknae hadn’t given himself time to think about Seokyu’s disappearance, but now that he was completely alone for the first time in three days, the reality of the situation was starting to hit him.
As he washed his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror. Why would Seokyu just leave them? Was there something that Kane could have done to make him stay? His throat closed up at the thought of his missing friend, but he swallowed hard. He wasn’t about to have a mental breakdown in this family-owned restaurant. These people didn’t get paid enough to deal with coaxing him out of the restroom. He shook his head and reached for a paper towel, patting his hands dry. Exiting the bathroom, he took a look around.
On the wall opposite to the bathroom was full of photographs of people holding up a large empty noodle bowl. He hadn’t noticed it when he was running past in a crisis, but now that the anxiety of possibly peeing himself was gone, he took a closer look at the pictures.
Most of the contestants had tear-stained faces with orangey-red sauce rimming their lips. The pictures were pretty comical, actually, but there was one face that stood out from the rest.
“No fucking way.” Kane said under his breath. Right in front of him, smiling with closed lips, was Seokyu. The owner of the restaurant had his arm around Seokyu’s shoulders like a proud father would, but Seokyu’s expression made it look like the challenge was easy. Kane took the picture off the wall, dashing back to the dining area.
“Guys! Look who’s on the wall!” Kane said excitedly, dropping the photograph in the middle of the table.
“Seokyu? He was here?” Woodam asked, his eyes wide.
The waitress came back over with their drinks, furrowing her eyebrows at the photograph. “Oh yeah, I remember him. He was in two nights ago. He wanted to try our Hell’s Bells Noodle Challenge.”
“Hell’s Bells? Like AC/DC?” Minho asked as the waitress placed their drinks down on the table.
The waitress chuckled. “You wish. If someone can get through our spicy noodle dish in under 5 minutes, they eat free. A lot of people try, but your friend here was real impressive.” She shared. “Finished in less than two minutes. He didn’t even accept the eat free coupon.”
The boy group exchanged bewildered looks with each other. Seokyu never had a huge appetite, at least not compared to the rest of them. Seokyu didn’t even like spicy food. Why would he try this challenge if he had money on him to afford food? What was he doing in Cheongju when he told Eunjoo he’d be heading to Yuso?
“And you said he was here two days ago?” Cyth asked.
The waitress nodded, looking around the table curiously. “Why? Has he been ghosting you guys?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Geonwu said bitterly, taking a sip of his water.
“Ma’am, did he say anything about visiting Yuso while he was here?” Kane asked anxiously. The waitress clicked her tongue, trying to recall the night Seokyu visited the restaurant.
“You know, he had a travel guide that he left behind. I think we chucked it behind the hostess desk if you would like me to grab it?” She offered.
Kane sighed with relief. “Yes please, that would be appreciated.”
The waitress hurried off, leaving the boys alone.
“What if he’s not going to Yuso anymore?” Ji wondered aloud. “If he’s not heading there, we’re fucked. Yuso is our only lead.”
“Let’s wait and see that travel guide. Maybe we’ll get a new lead.” Minho suggested, using the tone he only uses when he wants everyone to calm down, even though he himself is freaking out.
The waitress returned with a notebook full of travel guides poking out from the pages. The boys recognized the notebook immediately. Minho had given the notebook to Seokyu after his first year anniversary with Vice. It was meant for lyric writing or choreography formation, but now it was being doubled as a folder for travel brochures.
Luckily, most of the travel guides still focused on Yuso and there were a few pamphlets on sailing. But something else caught the member’s eyes. On the page were all the brochures were still poking out were a bunch of names that weren’t familiar to Vice.
“Wait, that says Oh Eunjoo.” Kane pointed, recognizing the name of the crazed psychic they met yesterday.
“That’s my name.” The waitress frowned. She had returned with their meals, but her attention was now on the book in front of them. “I’m Lee Seunghee. Sixth name from the bottom. And below that… Kim Taewoo, that’s the owner.”
“Why is he keeping a list of names?” Woodie asked aloud. No one had an answer.
“Well… Enjoy you meals!” Seunghee gave a weak smile. She dashed away, clearly put off by the fact that a random man had written her name down in a book.
“Seokyu… what the fuck is going on inside that head.” Ji shook his head, a dry chuckle escaping his lips.
Kane observed the notes one more time. “Well, at least we know we’re on the right track with Yuso, right?”
“Yeah. I hope so.” Minho nodded, although he seemed a little unsure. The leader picked up his chopsticks, gesturing to everyone around him. “Eat up, you don’t want your food to get cold.”
Summary: Vice participates in their first round of awards season and are fully aware that people think they’ve cheated the system. One good thing to come out of these events is that they’ve made unlikely friends with Apink.
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2011
Minho could feel all eyes on him and his group mates as they entered the concert hall where SBS Gayo Daejeon was being held. Even if Vice weren’t topping the charts, they were certainly the topic of people’s conversations lately, especially after copping a rookie award just a few weeks ago. Since that victory, there have been several speculations of voter fraud. Despite the non-existent evidence and the case being dropped days after it was speculated, many misconceptions still surrounded the boy group. HBH Entertainment would argue that any publicity was good publicity, but M.H was sure that the higher-ups at the company have never had their peers size them up like this.
They bowed politely to the idols seated around them before sitting down, anxiously adjusting their dark red and black velvet suits, trying to look anywhere but at the people around them. Before they could get too comfortable, however, another rookie group was approaching.
Rising to meet them, Vice bowed politely to Apink, giving them as welcoming of smiles as they could. To Minho’s surprise, Apink’s leader, Chorong, returned the smile and gave a little wave.
“Hello!” Chorong greeted Minho.
“Hello,” Minho responded, hoping he didn’t sound too surprised. Chorong gave him a short nod and a smile before sitting her group down next to Vice.
Vice turned to each other, all equally surprised that Apink, a group with such a sweet and respected image, was sitting next to them and engaging in conversation at such a public event. Before they could completely register the pleasant interaction, Woodie furrowed his eyebrows and pointed to the girls.
Minho turned around and realized the problem at hand immediately. Staff must have forgotten to give Apink blankets to drape over their laps, and their skirts weren’t long enough to safely cover them up.
“C’mon,” M.H angled his head towards the girls. The five members understood, already taking off their jackets.
M.H approached the girl group, leading Vice behind him. He gently tapped a finger on Chorong’s shoulder. The leader turned around with wide eyes.
“Here, use these for now,” M.H offered, placing the jacket in the woman’s hands.
“Oh, wow, thank you.” Chorong accepted the jacket, blinking a few times. The other members offered the girls their jackets as well, insisting that they use them.
“We can’t just take your jackets,” Bomi shook her head. “Really, this is too kind of a gesture.”
“No, please,” Woodam shook his head, a small smile on his face. “You can return them at the end of the night.”
“You guys are so sweet.” Eunji commented, draping Cyth’s jacket over both her and Namjoo’s legs.
“Don’t sound so surprised.” Cyth joked.
Eunji let out a good-natured laugh. “Do you blame me? It’s one of your unexpected charms.”
Cyth grinned, spreading his arms. “You got me there.”
The rest of the night was much more enjoyable than previous award show experiences for Vice. Now that they had made new friends, they were able to goof off and enjoy themselves more. The cute girl group sitting next to the edgy boy group may have gotten some stares, but Minho figured he’d let them watch. Maybe they will all realize they’re not so bad after all.
Summary: Vice has only been a group for approximately three days and eleven hours, but they might be the most hated Kpop group of the third generation.
Warnings: Swearing
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2011
Geonwu sucked in air through his teeth as he refreshed the page. The ‘like’ counter on the most approved posts kept rising as more and more comments about their debut stage came flooding in.
“Yeah, this is looking pretty bleak, boys.” Geonwu sighed out, resting back into the desk chair he was sitting in. “I’m gonna take a guess and say we’re not very popular with the general public.”
Over his shoulder he could hear someone sniffling. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
"Why do they hate us so much? What did we do wrong?” Kane whimpered, using the sleeve of his sweatshirt to blot at his eyes.
“C’mon. Don’t cry. That’s what they want from you, to feel shitty.” Cyth nudged Kane’s shoulder with his own before wrapping an arm around the younger boy. “Plus, no such thing as bad publicity. What’s that saying about living long enough to become the hero?” The rapper looked at M.H for an answer.
“It’s actually ‘You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain’, but the heart is there.” M.H answered flatly. The energy the leader had three days ago when they were just getting ready to debut has fizzled out, leaving a shell of their beloved leader.
Woodam cleared his throat and spread his arms. “Guys, let’s stay positive, okay? Our promotions just started. We still have a week and a half to sway at least some people over. Who cares if some people dislike us?”
“Our company cares.” Minho huffed in mirthless amusement. “We’re from a no-name company with very little support or footing in the industry. HBH placed most of their funding on us and now we’re flopping.”
Silence fell over the group. Even Woodam wasn’t sure how to follow up that statement. If their leader wasn’t optimistic about their current stance, it was hard for the rest of the group to feel good about the situation too. Kane started crying silently, and Cyth wrapped his arm around his friend tighter in a protective way.
M.H. took a deep inhale through his nostrils, ruffling up his hair with one hand while placing the other on his waist. He realized that as a leader, he shouldn’t be saying such negative things. He placed his hands down to his side as he strode over to the laptop that Geonwu was seated at. He reached around Geonwu and clicked the X at the top of the screen, hiding the website and negative comments from their sight.
“Woodam’s right.” M.H. concluded, standing up straight and facing his members. “We can make a complete one-eighty, it’s not too late. Plus,” Minho let a sly smile quirk on his lips. “It’s boring if heroes always win. Everyone likes an underdog story.”
“So what should we do?” Kane asked, rubbing at one of his eyes.
“Practice harder, work on our stage presence. If they want to pin us as demons, let’s get demonic with it.” Minho said, hyping himself up with his own words. “I know our team has the skill, we just need to show all our charms to the audience.”
“Hold on when, you mean practice harder, do you mean...?” Geonwu questioned.
“I mean I’m calling for an emergency practice right now.” M.H. said instantly, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“I was afraid he’d say that.” Geonwu cursed under his breath, but he still rose to his feet.
“Alright! Let’s get to work, baby!” Cyth unraveled himself from Kane, clapping his hands together. “Allons-y, mes amis!”
This is Vice’s first ISAC since enlistment and they show up knowing damn well that they are one of the oldest groups that are attending.
But if you think they’re just going to let these new kids walk all over them and win every category, they have another thing coming.
So they come in wearing their dark green velvet sweatpants with black shirts underneath and their lightsticks (a green apple with a bite taken out of it) by their sides. They mean business.
Kind of… Honestly, their only goal for today is to come in first for at least ONE category. Their biggest goal is to at least make 4th generation fans realize their charms and meme-like personalities.
They don’t really have any friends there except for Mijoo from Lovelyz… who’s Ji’s ex so… He’s just trying to avoid her for today because he’s not ready to reunite with her just yet.
They run into NCT 127, who they’re not close with, but their label mates, Triptych, are extremely close to them. They just stopped by to say hello and make some small talk.
Minho may or may not have sized Johnny up just because he’s protective of Nia & knows about all their drama.
VICE is known for being a brotherly group towards younger artists so it’s really no surprise when they went around to the younger groups and introduced themselves.
Like they went up to the younger rookie girl groups (notably ITZY, Cherry Bullet, and Everglow) and were like “listen, if any of these boys make you feel uncomfortable today, you let us know we’ll take care of it.”
And they also approached 1THE9 and accidentally adopted them? Like every time they thought 1THE9 looked lonely, they would walk over and start talking to them and brought snacks and water for the younger boys?? The purest of interactions.
OKAY NOW ONTO THE SPORTS.
Seokyu has the PUBG category IN THE BAG.
He’s a big fan of video games, so when he found out ISAC was hosting a PUBG event he nearly lost his mind and dedicated many hours to practice… meaning he didn’t leave his room for a few days.
He annihilated his competition, placing first. His win surprised many people, but hey, he came to win.
Ji wanted to try the Equestrian category out, but the company was concerned that he’d injure himself so they signed him up for track and field, arguably the most harmless of the sports.
Ji’s talented at a lot of things, but running is not one of them. He lost, coming in at last place. He also got an earful from Minho and Geonwu, who both reminded him that the other idols were probably laughing at him and calling him an old man (they weren’t, Geonwu and Minho just like riling him up).
Woodam took on both the archery and wrestling categories.
He did pretty well at the wrestling matches, but he also went extremely easy on the competition, as they were all idols who were much younger than him. He even faked getting the wind knocked out of him for the sake of the younger idol’s image.
Woodam, Minho, and Geonwu all tried archery. Geonwu was probably the best at this sport. Minho was easily the worst, even though he played it off like he knew what he was doing throughout the competition.
Needless to say that they placed a pretty low score. They didn’t come dead last, but they certainly weren’t close to winning.
Kane and Ji were partners for the bowling event. Surprisingly enough, Kane carried the team. They didn’t make it to the number one spot, but they were in the top 5. Kane plays a lot of Wii Sports.
It was insufferably hot inside the gymnasium so, during breaks, Vice would ask their staff members to hand out cold waters to Virtues. They also made snack boxes and lunch boxes for their fans which were distributed.
Since they didn’t have many friends here today, they spent their time mostly rebuilding their relationship with Virtues, as they missed them while they were doing service.
At the end of the day, Vice was exhausted and over-heated but they were happy that they got to make their Virtues happy and that they got to meet some of the new talents in the industry.
However, once they got in the car with their manager, they told him that they’d rather not attend another ISAC unless older, 3rd Gen groups would be participating as well.
Summary: Since 2011, Saehyun has opened up a Vice fansite. Her pictures are very well known in the fandom and tend to go viral. With Vice’s first-ever tour happening, HBH reaches out to hire her as Vice’s tour photographer.
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2013
Woodam was trying his best to remember all these names and faces, but it was getting extremely hard. He had just met every new makeup and hairstylist that would be joining them on tour as well as their backup dancers, their stage crew, and even their pyrotechnicians. HBH was always a connection-oriented company and Woodam has always liked meeting new people, but was it really necessary for them to meet every single hand on tour?
“Alright, thank you, Mr. Kim!” Hak Bonghwa ushered the pyrotechnician out of the meeting room. Vice as a collective reached for their water bottles, taking a generous drink.
“He seemed nice, right?” Bonghwa asked once the door closed.
“If we finish this tour without third-degree burns, then yeah, he’s a nice guy.” Geonwu dryly stated, taking a sip of water. Hak Bonghwa chuckled good-naturedly.
“Fair enough, Geonwu. I’m pretty sure our photographers will be coming in next.” Hak Bonghwa prepared the boy group. A few minutes later, the door to the meeting room opened and two people peeked in.
“And here are our photographers for our tour! We will be taking lots of photos for the world tour edition repackage of your latest albums, so I found the best photographers around.” Hak Bonghwa explained, gesturing to the two young adults that stepped forward, both bowing politely. When the woman on the right straightened up, her eyes locked with Woodam’s, sending a shock through the idol’s body.
Woodam blinked several times. There was no way. He exchanged a quick glance with Minho to see if he recognized her too. The slightly confused look on Minho’s face told Woodam he did. Since Minho made no attempt to act like Saehyun has met them before, Woodam didn’t either. He didn’t want Saehyun to look unprofessional in front of the Main PD. Plus, they didn’t want to give off the impression that they had even the slightest personal connection to some random woman.
“Wait, do we know each oth-” Kane started, but both Minho and Woodam stomped on his foot at the same time, causing the rest of Kane’s sentence to sizzle out in a groan of discomfort. Seokyu gave a questioning look to Woodam, but Woodam discreetly shook his head. He’ll fill the new member in later. Right now, they needed to conceal Saehyun’s identity.
“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” Saehyun remained professional, although Woodam could tell she was trying her best to not seem phased. “I’m Yoon Saehyun. This is my colleague, Min Wooseok.” The man next to her gave a polite smile and a wave.
The name seemed to spark the memory in Kane’s brain because his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Ooh...” He sighed in realization before attempting to compose himself. “Oh! I uh... It’s so nice to meet you! Right here... for the first time.” The room around them fell into a painfully awkward silence.
“Dude,” Minho criticized under his breath. Kane gave an apologetic glance. The CEO cleared his throat before standing up, clapping his hands together.
“Well, now that you’ve met, maybe you’d like to see some of their work? I have to say, Miss Yoon is top-notch. She’s taken pictures of idols before, you see... Has a talent for getting the moment just right.” Hak Bonghwa trailed off as he fired up the projector. While Hak Bonghwa fumbled with the small remote like he always does, Woodam angled his chair towards Minho.
“Do we play it cool or what?” Woodam asked quietly, seeking guidance from his leader. “If we make it look like we know her, won’t that look bad?”
“Yes. Just relax. Don’t show too much.” Minho advised briefly.
They politely sat through a slide show of both Wooseok and Saehyun’s work. Nothing Woodam hadn’t seen before, though. He may or may not have stalked her fansite account after they met for the first time years ago.
“Do you boys have any questions for Ms. Yoon and Mr. Min?” Hak Bonghwa asked. The five original members shook their head. Ji was about to ask something, but Geonwu gave him a death glare.
“Alright, well, it was a pleasure meeting you both. Please, let me see you out.” Hak Bonghwa offered, holding the door open for Saehyun and Wooseok. “You boys are free to go as well.” Bonghwa called over his shoulder before closing the door.
Once they heard the door close, all the Vice members exchanged glances with each other.
“What the fuck is going on?” Sungho shook his head in disbelief.
“Does Bonghwa know that we know her?” Kane asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“Wait, what?” Seokyu questioned, looking between his members like a lost puppy. “I’m seriously confused.”
“You guys weren’t there, but it’s not important. We’re not going to expose Saehyun like that either, it could really discredit her professionalism.” Minho said seriously. “Don’t ruin this for her or us. We’re going to have a great tour and make some great memories.”
Everyone nodded before standing up collectively and heading out. Even though Minho’s words seemed to resonate with the other members, Woodam couldn’t help but feel like a bomb had just started ticking.
Summary: Vice are the first Kpop group to perform at Alienstock.
Warnings: Mentions of alcohol consumption, jokes about having intercourse with aliens, and my poor writing ability. This was all for fun but I’m still keeping it canon, because why not?
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“I cannot believe we’re actually here.” M.H voiced aloud, turning himself in a slow circle to take in the scene around him. Hundreds of young Americans were dressed up in space-themed costumes, often Naruto running side by side and chanting something about clapping cheeks.
“American culture is a beautiful thing.” Geonwu commented dryly, watching the youth around them in a mixture of awe and confusion.
“Everyone say thank you, Joongji!” Ji spread his arms, a wide smile on his face. No one said thank you, but Woodie did give him a clap on the shoulder.
The Area 51 raid went viral world wide months ago. Everyone thought the raid wouldn’t actually happen, but here, in the middle of Nevada, were hundreds of people outside the infamous military base. Joongji had practically begged all week for Vice to attend what they were calling ‘Alienstock’. HBH, after looking into the safety of the trip, finally gave in. The Vice men would be performing in a few hours, making them the first kpop act to perform at Alienstock.
It was an accomplishment that only Joongji really found to be meaningful. Everyone else in the group just followed along.
“Honestly, I thought there would be a bit more uh... stuff.” Kane noted, looking around. It was obvious that the music festival was a last minute idea, as there was no real set up. Unless you counted people tailgating.
Joongji sighed. “Really? No one sees the importance of this day? Today will go down in history. Plus what if we actually... you know... get to find out what’s behind those gates?”
“You sound a little too excited to see an alien, Ji.” Cyth teased, a devilish smirk on his face.
“Yeah, the lady aliens won’t want to reproduce with you. They’ll only pick the perfect human male as their mate.” Geonwu joshed.
“The chads are supposed to break the first line of defense, there won’t be any ‘perfect human males’ left.” Joongji said in a mater-of-fact tone, referencing the viral battle plan.
“Oh, so you think you’ll have a shot at clapping them alien cheeks?” Cyth asked. Before Joongji could defend himself, a slightly familiar blur ran past them, followed by a group of non-familiar blurs.
“Is that Seokyu?” Cyth asked in awe, watching as Seokyu led a group of Americans Naruto running in a straight line. “When did he manage to get away?”
“He must have seen them trying to run and decided to teach them, that weeb.” Minho commented, a hint of pride in his voice.
When the horde stopped running, they circled around Seokyu and patted him on the back. Clearly, Seokyu had become one with the festival-goers. After shaking hands with people, Seokyu came back to his group mates.
“Sorry, they needed some guidance.” Seokyu said almost bashfully.
“Bro, don’t be sorry! This is what the Raid is all about!” Joongji grinned. “C’mon, let’s mingle with the raiders before it’s time for our stage.”
They spent the next few hours dancing and chanting with the crowd of people. The Americans taught them how to chant “Clap Them Cheeks” and Vice taught them how to twerk. The raiders adored Vice and were amazed to find out that they were kpop idols and that they were on the setlist. The boyband took so many pictures with people dressed up as aliens that they were seeing the after image for hours.
By the time they got to the stage, it was crunch time. They managed to get their stage outfits and make up done just in time for their name to be called. The seven-membered group prepared themselves for a very memorable performance.
ALIENSTOCK STAGE HIGHLIGHTS:
◇ A lot of the people that went to the Area 51 raid had no idea who Vice was, but they still bopped along to their songs.
◇ Their stage outfits were made of that metalic tinfoil-looking material to keep up with that space theme.
◇ People threw blow up alien balloons onto stage and Joongji started grinding with it, which made the audience die with laughter.
◇ Seokyu seemed to be the raider’s favorite, they kept hyping him up whenever he started singing. It’s probably because he literally became one with them, despite the language barrier.
◇ When the dance breaks happened, the crowd went absolutely ballistic, cheering loudly for them.
◇ Minho ended up leading a “clap them cheeks” chant during a break in between songs.
◇ When their set was over, the audience seemed a little upset, but it was all okay when Vice got off the stage and started mingling with people again.
Summary: When Vice’s first experience with a sasaeng gets dangerous, they receive unlikely help from a Super Junior fansite to blend them into the airport crowd.
Warnings: Swearing, stalking
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2011
Woodie knew they were done for when they lost their manager at the airport. The small group of fans that came to meet them at the airport was starting to dissipate, yet they couldn’t find their manager anywhere. The fans weren’t the problem, in fact, seeing the calmer side of Virtues was refreshing to him, as they currently were on the run from a sasaeng.
The longer they were unprotected, the more time Mystical Night, the sasaeng, had to attack. The only thing they could do was follow Minho mindlessly through the airport, trying not to stay in one spot for too long.
“Oh fuck.” Cyth swore. Woodam looked up. The sasaeng had turned around a corner, heading their way. Their eyes locked, and Woodam could feel a chill run through him. Minho pulled them in another direction, hurrying fast to stay away from her.
As they started jogging down a hallway, a girl carrying a huge camera and donning a mask turned down the same hallway, facing them. The Vice boys froze in fear. They were trapped.
“Vice?” The fansite spoke up, her voice muffled by the mask she was wearing.
“Yes?” Geonwu responded uncertainly, furrowing his eyebrows.
“Thank God I found you guys. Look-” The fansite started, sounding relieved.
“We can’t take pictures right now, I’m sorry. We’re sort of in a hurry.” M.H spoke up, glancing back over his shoulder anxiously.
“No, I know. You’re running from her.” The fansite said the last word like it left poison in her mouth. “I don’t think you’d trust me, but I can help you.”
The five boys looked between each other. Woodam cocked an eyebrow. Who was this girl?
“I know it’s crazy, but trust me, I know what this girl is capable of-” The fansite froze, looking at a spot over their shoulder. The sasaeng was there, trying to look inconspicuous as she blended in with a group of what seemed like exchange students.
“Hide, I’ll cover for you.” The fansite said, pointing at the single stall bathroom next to them. The boys all piled into the single-stall bathroom, pressing their ear against the door, trying to hear what was going on.
“Saehyun.” An unfamiliar, yet sugary sweet voice, said. “How nice to see you. Has Super Junior’s flight landed yet?”
“You know it hasn’t.” The fansite, Saehyun, responded cooly. “I see you haven’t changed much, Yoonmi.”
“You wouldn’t have happened to see a group of tall, handsome looking boys around, have you?” Yoonmi continued, ignoring the last comment Saehyun had made.
“Yes. They already got into their manager’s car.” Saehyun said. “Having deja vu? Because I am.”
“No worries, I’ll be going to Music Bank tomorrow anyway.” Yoonmi shared.
“Well, it was good seeing you. Bye-bye, love.”
Footsteps were heard leaving. A knock on the door caused the other boys to jump.
“Here, everyone put these on.” Saehyun commanded, handing the boys five pairs of baseball hats, masks, and sweatshirts. The sweatshirts had different designs of Super Junior members drawn in a cutesy art style. The boys cast uncomfortable looks to each other before pulling on the outfits.
“We look like fanboys.” Geonwu spoke up.
“That’s the point. Super Junior is landing soon, a bunch of fans will be around. It’s best to blend in this way.” Saehyun explained. The boys exited the bathroom in their new clothes. Saehyun had her mask pulled down now. Woodam stopped in his tracks, thankful that his mask was covering his face. She was really pretty. Prettier than he thought she would be.
“Uh, where did you get these?” Woodam asked curiously, trying not to let his sudden surprise be obvious.
“I make them. Now, you guys should get moving. I have a feeling Yoonmi will realize you’re not with your managers soon.” Saehyun said hurriedly. “The closest exit is down this hall and to the left. Once your outside, call your manager right away.”
“Thank you. Really. You didn’t have to help us.” M.H said gratefully.
“Yeah well... Yoonmi has a history. You guys are too young in your career to experience something like this.” Saehyun sounded distant. “Seriously though, you should hurry. Tell your managers that the sasaeng’s full name is Lee Yoonmi and that she’s going to be at Music Bank tomorrow. Stay safe.”
“We will, thank you.” M.H said before leading the group the way Saehyun had told them.
The five idols started down the hallway. Woodam turned around to get one last look at her. She was watching them go, raising her hand in goodbye. Woodam returned the gesture, smiling under his mask.
