NO VARIETY

*  ⠀    talk sense to a fool he calls you foolish ／  ゛  

[viriditic]

─── ⠀     *  ⠀     ❪  VIRIDITIC …  ❫    ／  no variety. ゛    ⠀  

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀﹒ ★﹐ a fictional girl group and label about the horror stories of jaena, tatiana, pearl, narae, celine, prin, anastasia, haruna, davina and yua "⠀⠀ , ⠀⠀tags & disclaimers & main

[viriditic]

CHARACTERS: tatiana won, trenton won, random nurse (mentioned: nael sterling, sybil won, unnamed won father) WORD COUNT: 1577 WARNINGS: inappropriate age gap relationships, allusion to depression NOTES: baby LITERALLY. so excited for the first piece of this series (links to other will be here eventually). if you ask i'll tell you the name teehee.

⠀⠀★ ۫  ⠀⠀ Everything was easy for Nael; it always had been. At the ripe age of 12, he had met his best friend for the first time. Trenton and him would continue to be inseparable.

Their bond was quick, becoming a unit as soon as they realised how similar their lives were. Like Nael, Trenton came from wealth – an old money mother with a fortune back in the motherland, and a father who married for money first and love second. Trenton’s mom was only slightly less overbearing than Nael’s. But Mrs. Won wasn’t herself if she wasn’t pestering the boys over something silly like an undone button.

The one thing Nael didn’t have was a sister. It wasn’t exactly like Trenton was obsessed with having one, but he did nonetheless. Tatianna was only three years younger than Nael and Trenton, but from the minute Nael could remember, she was tagging along.

She loved the boys more than anything – and what Trenton did, so did Tati. It started with the skateboard; the minute Trenton got one, Tatiana was sneaking it away to practise kickflips. It soon became music, from the drums to GarageBand to an actual turntable. And after that, it was his friends. His first girlfriend suddenly became best friends with Tatiana. Trenton and Nael start going to parties? Now Trenton’s a little too-young sister is there too.

It wasn’t long before Nael considered Tatiana an equal part in his life to Trenton.

It was always a fight with her mom, and a fight with her mom meant her dad and Trenton were disappointed too.

Her spit was gross to taste, and her entire body was sore from the needle. She could barely remember a second of it, which she figured was the point.

But the part she wanted to forget about the most was the part that lingered. Something that everyone would tell her she was brave for, something that her mom never shut up about, overtaken by the loneliness of it all.

From the second Tatiana could remember, she was following in Trenton’s footsteps; what he did, she did. A long time ago, Trenton had made it clear that Tatiana was second best to his life, and a long time ago Tatiana would try to sour it all until he realised what was important.

But it was always, every single time, never her that came first. Brother, by blood, meant to always protect each other, and the last words he said to her were that she’s always making these dumb decisions.

Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell him. Maybe that’s why she didn’t think twice about blocking his number. He chose her mom; he chose to let her walk away, and Tatiana wasn’t going to try with him anymore.

She wonders if he was there the last time she was in a room like this. Not just a hospital room, because she’s had too many broken bones to count. But when she was a baby. Did Trenton sit there and think they’d get along? Did he sit there and think he’d choose her, even when she lies, even when she hurts their mom?

It had always been complicated with Sybil Won. She had two children she loved and adored, and those two children were nothing like her but so much like each other. But Trenton and Tatiana, despite their differences to their mom, always defended her, even when she was in the wrong. Tati had always chalked up her brother’s loyalty to teenage angst. Of course, he’d want to bicker with his sister, but he was an adult now, and he’s still looking at her telling her she’s cruel.

Cruel for a lie that would protect them. Cruel for protecting herself. Cruel for protecting someone who didn’t even show up…

Nael had come to her hotel room three days after the fight with her mom, and she told him the truth, given him the test and everything. He held her hand through the entire story until that moment, and his grasp loosened. She didn’t think anything of it because he still kissed her before he left, promising he’d come back the next day.

He didn’t.

Not just the next day, but the day after that, and the week after that. Months later, and Tatiana is nothing but lonely. In that hotel room for months until the final month, until the hospital.

It happened in public, and all Tatiana could think of was Trenton and her mom. That maybe it was her fault she was alone, that maybe all these years, it had always been her that was overreacting – that her mother wasn’t strict; she just cared. And Trenton didn’t hate her; he was just a teenage boy. So normal, not wanting her anywhere near his friends, and if only he knew.

Abandoned and alone, and the pain of it all came back. Because Trenton was in South Korea, and her mom was in Montreal, and somehow Tatiana ended up in Niagara Falls, as far as she could get with only enough money for one gas station stop. Niagara Falls for nine months, all alone.

He probably wasn’t even in Canada anymore; he probably was in Korea visiting Trenton, pretending like he didn’t run away, pretending like Tati’s lie to his best friend was real. Like she wasn’t alone, forever attached but alone.

The nurse came in, wheeling the bassinet with her. “Ms. Won, you have a visitor.” The crib was pushed towards her, and Tati’s stomach dropped.

A horrible daughter, a horrible sister bound to be a horrible mom. “I- I can’t even look at him.” She whimpered, “I can’t even think of a name.”

The nurse had a look of pity on her face, which just made the tears worse. “Oh god, oh god.” Tears falling nonstop, “Oh god, I’m a horrible mom. I haven’t even looked at him yet, and I’m a horrible mom.”

“Sweetheart, you haven’t even seen his face yet; you can’t give him a name if you don’t know what he looks like.” Her injured threading through Tati’s hair, “And you can’t be a bad mom if you haven’t named him yet – it’s the grace period.”

She imagined her mom saying this, running her hands over her head and laying in the bed with her. Even at their worst, Sybil would hold Tati’s hand.

The nurse sent her a little smile and tilted her head towards the bassinet.

Although the tears would stop, the dream of her mom being here gave her a little high, “Okay.” is all she could breathe out, and the next thing she knows the baby’s being put into her arms, and the tears aren’t going away but getting stronger.

Not a single bit of Nael there. Black hair and dark brown eyes, with little rosy cheeks, and maybe her mom and brother were in the room with her. Maybe she can just call them first for once, maybe it’s not her loss at all.

“I’m not a bad mom.” She laughed, tears still streaming down her face, but she didn’t care. This was her little boy, and his little cheeks and fluffy hair were telling her she was a human, a daughter, a sister, and a mom.

She wasn’t bad or perfect; she was just her.

“I think he’s a lot like dad,” a voice said from the door, a voice that took away the pit in her stomach and laughed at it. A voice that, from every injury she ever had, was always there to lessen the blow before mom showed up panicked.

“I booked mom a flight over here, and dad’s on his way from Singapore,” he sat in the chair like nothing was crazy about any of this, like he knew the whole time.

“You’re not freaking out,” was all she could get out, eyes still stuck on the little blob in her arms.

“I’ll yell at you when you’re an empty nester.”

“I’ve ruined my life, Trent. Ruined,” she muttered, “I have no education, I have no job, or boyfriend. I’m alone.”

“You’re so stupid sometimes, T,” his footsteps got closer, and the bed was caving as he sat beside her. It was the first time in nine months that she had seen his face in person.

“We both know, baby or not, you’re not suited for academia. I have connections now, you know – real music connections, not that underground bullshit you’ve been doing.”

“He told you about that too?” She didn’t want to say his name when everything was still fresh for all of them.

“I’ll kill him, T, I mean it.” No, he didn’t, he’d never hurt a fly, “And no, I always knew, just like I always knew about Nael – I mean not that it was mutual but you are not subtle and never have been.”

The whole idea of Trenton thinking Nael was just a friend made her more nauseous than childbirth, “How much do you know?”

“I know he’s never allowed in my apartment again, and I know he obviously walked away when it mattered – all things considered.” He took a deep breath and brushed the baby’s hair back, “But I didn’t want to hear it from him, not when you were here and he was so comfortable lying to me when it drove you crazy.”

“Mom’s really on her way.” Her voice broke as her head leaned down on his shoulder, and all he was hum confirmation.

[viriditic]

⠀⠀★ ۫  ⠀⠀ TATIANA WON'S PERSONAL STYLING     ／  ゛tatiana  has  always  preferred  to  dress  casually,  especially  when  she  got  more  into  music,  and  spent  most  of  her  time  in  her  bed  making  music  on  her  laptop.  with  the  pressures  of  paparazzi  and  publicity,  tati's  style  has  upgraded  a  little  bit  from  just  soccor  jerseys  and  sweatpants  (although  the  jerseys  are  still  making  appearances  in  lives).  now  her  style  mostly  consists  of  black  and  red,  with  some  pink  and  white  thrown  in  there  depending  on  her  mood.  one  thing  about  tati,  she  hates  committing  to  a  sleeve,  so  bandeau  and  tank  tops  are  a  staple.  another  tati  staple  is  her  black  leather  jacket  collection,  a  length  for  every  occasion.  her  go-to  accessories  are  always  either  a  chunky  black  boot  or  a  colourful  small  flat  to  ground  her  a  bit.  she  also  regularly  wears  her glasses.  her  other  staples,  are  her  bangs,  and  although  the  hair  has  seen  many  different  dyes  in  it's  lifetime,  the  bangs  always  stay.  finally,  tatiana  has  been  tatted  and  hiding  them  since  her  debut,  and  has  fifteen  tattoos  as  of  now,  which  include  clouds  on  her  shoulder,  and  a  representative  tattoo  for  all  of  the  no  variety  members.

[totalsellout]

SEOLA WITHOUT U, 2024

[viriditic]

CHARACTERS: tatiana won, trenton won, random nurse (mentioned: nael sterling, sybil won, unnamed won father) WORD COUNT: 1577 WARNINGS: inappropriate age gap relationships, allusion to depression NOTES: baby LITERALLY. so excited for the first piece of this series (links to other will be here eventually). if you ask i'll tell you the name teehee.

⠀⠀★ ۫  ⠀⠀ Everything was easy for Nael; it always had been. At the ripe age of 12, he had met his best friend for the first time. Trenton and him would continue to be inseparable.

Their bond was quick, becoming a unit as soon as they realised how similar their lives were. Like Nael, Trenton came from wealth – an old money mother with a fortune back in the motherland, and a father who married for money first and love second. Trenton’s mom was only slightly less overbearing than Nael’s. But Mrs. Won wasn’t herself if she wasn’t pestering the boys over something silly like an undone button.

The one thing Nael didn’t have was a sister. It wasn’t exactly like Trenton was obsessed with having one, but he did nonetheless. Tatianna was only three years younger than Nael and Trenton, but from the minute Nael could remember, she was tagging along.

She loved the boys more than anything – and what Trenton did, so did Tati. It started with the skateboard; the minute Trenton got one, Tatiana was sneaking it away to practise kickflips. It soon became music, from the drums to GarageBand to an actual turntable. And after that, it was his friends. His first girlfriend suddenly became best friends with Tatiana. Trenton and Nael start going to parties? Now Trenton’s a little too-young sister is there too.

It wasn’t long before Nael considered Tatiana an equal part in his life to Trenton.

It was always a fight with her mom, and a fight with her mom meant her dad and Trenton were disappointed too.

Her spit was gross to taste, and her entire body was sore from the needle. She could barely remember a second of it, which she figured was the point.

But the part she wanted to forget about the most was the part that lingered. Something that everyone would tell her she was brave for, something that her mom never shut up about, overtaken by the loneliness of it all.

From the second Tatiana could remember, she was following in Trenton’s footsteps; what he did, she did. A long time ago, Trenton had made it clear that Tatiana was second best to his life, and a long time ago Tatiana would try to sour it all until he realised what was important.

But it was always, every single time, never her that came first. Brother, by blood, meant to always protect each other, and the last words he said to her were that she’s always making these dumb decisions.

Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell him. Maybe that’s why she didn’t think twice about blocking his number. He chose her mom; he chose to let her walk away, and Tatiana wasn’t going to try with him anymore.

She wonders if he was there the last time she was in a room like this. Not just a hospital room, because she’s had too many broken bones to count. But when she was a baby. Did Trenton sit there and think they’d get along? Did he sit there and think he’d choose her, even when she lies, even when she hurts their mom?

It had always been complicated with Sybil Won. She had two children she loved and adored, and those two children were nothing like her but so much like each other. But Trenton and Tatiana, despite their differences to their mom, always defended her, even when she was in the wrong. Tati had always chalked up her brother’s loyalty to teenage angst. Of course, he’d want to bicker with his sister, but he was an adult now, and he’s still looking at her telling her she’s cruel.

Cruel for a lie that would protect them. Cruel for protecting herself. Cruel for protecting someone who didn’t even show up…

Nael had come to her hotel room three days after the fight with her mom, and she told him the truth, given him the test and everything. He held her hand through the entire story until that moment, and his grasp loosened. She didn’t think anything of it because he still kissed her before he left, promising he’d come back the next day.

He didn’t.

Not just the next day, but the day after that, and the week after that. Months later, and Tatiana is nothing but lonely. In that hotel room for months until the final month, until the hospital.

It happened in public, and all Tatiana could think of was Trenton and her mom. That maybe it was her fault she was alone, that maybe all these years, it had always been her that was overreacting – that her mother wasn’t strict; she just cared. And Trenton didn’t hate her; he was just a teenage boy. So normal, not wanting her anywhere near his friends, and if only he knew.

Abandoned and alone, and the pain of it all came back. Because Trenton was in South Korea, and her mom was in Montreal, and somehow Tatiana ended up in Niagara Falls, as far as she could get with only enough money for one gas station stop. Niagara Falls for nine months, all alone.

He probably wasn’t even in Canada anymore; he probably was in Korea visiting Trenton, pretending like he didn’t run away, pretending like Tati’s lie to his best friend was real. Like she wasn’t alone, forever attached but alone.

The nurse came in, wheeling the bassinet with her. “Ms. Won, you have a visitor.” The crib was pushed towards her, and Tati’s stomach dropped.

A horrible daughter, a horrible sister bound to be a horrible mom. “I- I can’t even look at him.” She whimpered, “I can’t even think of a name.”

The nurse had a look of pity on her face, which just made the tears worse. “Oh god, oh god.” Tears falling nonstop, “Oh god, I’m a horrible mom. I haven’t even looked at him yet, and I’m a horrible mom.”

“Sweetheart, you haven’t even seen his face yet; you can’t give him a name if you don’t know what he looks like.” Her injured threading through Tati’s hair, “And you can’t be a bad mom if you haven’t named him yet – it’s the grace period.”

She imagined her mom saying this, running her hands over her head and laying in the bed with her. Even at their worst, Sybil would hold Tati’s hand.

The nurse sent her a little smile and tilted her head towards the bassinet.

Although the tears would stop, the dream of her mom being here gave her a little high, “Okay.” is all she could breathe out, and the next thing she knows the baby’s being put into her arms, and the tears aren’t going away but getting stronger.

Not a single bit of Nael there. Black hair and dark brown eyes, with little rosy cheeks, and maybe her mom and brother were in the room with her. Maybe she can just call them first for once, maybe it’s not her loss at all.

“I’m not a bad mom.” She laughed, tears still streaming down her face, but she didn’t care. This was her little boy, and his little cheeks and fluffy hair were telling her she was a human, a daughter, a sister, and a mom.

She wasn’t bad or perfect; she was just her.

“I think he’s a lot like dad,” a voice said from the door, a voice that took away the pit in her stomach and laughed at it. A voice that, from every injury she ever had, was always there to lessen the blow before mom showed up panicked.

“I booked mom a flight over here, and dad’s on his way from Singapore,” he sat in the chair like nothing was crazy about any of this, like he knew the whole time.

“You’re not freaking out,” was all she could get out, eyes still stuck on the little blob in her arms.

“I’ll yell at you when you’re an empty nester.”

“I’ve ruined my life, Trent. Ruined,” she muttered, “I have no education, I have no job, or boyfriend. I’m alone.”

“You’re so stupid sometimes, T,” his footsteps got closer, and the bed was caving as he sat beside her. It was the first time in nine months that she had seen his face in person.

“We both know, baby or not, you’re not suited for academia. I have connections now, you know – real music connections, not that underground bullshit you’ve been doing.”

“He told you about that too?” She didn’t want to say his name when everything was still fresh for all of them.

“I’ll kill him, T, I mean it.” No, he didn’t, he’d never hurt a fly, “And no, I always knew, just like I always knew about Nael – I mean not that it was mutual but you are not subtle and never have been.”

The whole idea of Trenton thinking Nael was just a friend made her more nauseous than childbirth, “How much do you know?”

“I know he’s never allowed in my apartment again, and I know he obviously walked away when it mattered – all things considered.” He took a deep breath and brushed the baby’s hair back, “But I didn’t want to hear it from him, not when you were here and he was so comfortable lying to me when it drove you crazy.”

“Mom’s really on her way.” Her voice broke as her head leaned down on his shoulder, and all he was hum confirmation.

[moirtre]

‎ ‎ ⋆⠀⠀&.⠀⠀٬⠀⠀❝ 1 : 37 AM :   BROKEN SILENCE. ❞  ‎ ‎ ┉       

i heard you on the phone last night. we live and die by pretty lies, you know it, we both know it. these silver bullet cigarettes, this burning house, there's nothing left.⠀–— from, “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart - Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus”

&.⠀⠀CHARACTERS⠀⠀┉⠀⠀*⠀SOHN NARYUN, MELANIE BAE, MIN HERI, SOHN NARAE, JEONG KARIN, WILLIAM KIM. &.⠀⠀WORD COUNT⠀⠀┉⠀⠀*⠀2.5K &.⠀⠀WARNINGS⠀⠀┉⠀⠀*⠀car accident, blood, hospitalization, unhealthy dynamics. &.⠀⠀NOTES⠀⠀┉⠀⠀*⠀a closer look at the heri-melanie dynamic. narae can be found at @viriditic! one of my favorite things i've written in a hot minute. this has been canon since like 2021 and it's finally leaving my brain. i'm getting "melanie, don't fuck with me" tatted as we speak, that's gold!

Naryun feels the spinning of her head before she hears the ringing in her ears. 

The disorientation throws her for a loop as her conscious screams at her to get up. To do something. She figures something is all wrong when her body can’t seem to understand what her nerves are trying to say. They scream and scream at her legs to push themselves up from her spot; all crumpled on the hard, unforgiving ground. They cry and cry at her neck to swivel itself in a direction— any direction possible; it refuses. 

Slowly, she begins to make sense of the chilled grass beneath her, starting to thaw from the heat she feels is escaping her at such a speed she thought was just an exaggeration the true crime stories used to describe the hopeless helplessness she feels at the very moment.

Her fingers dig into the ground, feeling the dirt blend into the carefully manicured prettiness of her nails. It’s an ugly contrast that barely manages to shock her as her eyes peel themselves open. Even if it had shocked her, she wasn’t sure her brain would have been able to process the emotion.

The stabbing tingle of her fingers pulls her hazy attention away from the ground and to the metal on her tongue. The tang of her blood trickles down her chin so slowly it nearly itches. Her eyes can barely bring themselves to fully adjust to the scene in front of her with all of the lights blinding her vision and that god-awful ringing in her ears. 

The ringing was supposed to be the worst part. 

The inability to process anything besides the dirt underneath her frigid body was supposed to be the worst part.

Instead, the worst part was that she couldn’t bring herself to want to fix it. As if the warming grass beneath her had consumed every fiber of her will, Naryun had no interest in fixing the disorientation or the frigidity. And she definitely had no interest in stopping the ringing that spun her mind and made her nerves scream in an endless loop that made her feel absolutely mad with suffering. 

A scream finds a way to escape the confines of her hoarse throat. Slipping through the reddened glow of her whitened teeth and out of her body with such force it rips her voice away from her. The second scream comes as a lower groan and the third is lower still. It is the strength of her whispers that finally tear her will from her. The lights and the ringing begin to still before she can attempt to make sense of them. Stillness—and her sister comfort—embrace Naryun into a void that welcomes her so gently that she doesn’t even miss the ringing in her ears.

It must be hours later when Naryun is finally coaxed out of stillness and back into awareness. Her body shivers from the cold and her nose flares as it takes in the sterility of the hospital air. The mattress beneath her is just as cold as the grass she had last felt the ringing. The ringing itself is gone, though she now longs for its return instead of the screaming she can’t quite register from outside of the hospital room door. The inability to register the words thrown amid argument cannot hide the voices the words belong to— even in her state of slow consciousness. 

With a groan, she reaches for the button she’s sure is not too far from her side. The buzz of the alert is fuzzy and barely recognized as she attempts to block out the insults spinning around her head. A young nurse rushes over to the newly alert idol, slowly taking in the sight of her hands covering her ears with her eyes gently adjusting to the fluorescent LED lights hanging overhead. 

“Miss—”

“Please tell the divas with the dyed hair to shut the fuck up.”

She throws in a gentle smile to soften the harshness of her words, hoping the poor nurse wouldn’t take her irritation to heart. With a shallow bow, the blue-scrubbed woman carefully exits the room, Naryun almost laughs to herself when she sees Melanie’s head whip around. Her brown eyes make contact with Naryun’s darker ones, drawing a clear path from her place between the three bodies flanking both of her sides. Her shoulder nudges Heri’s whose features twist in concern before following Narae’s eyes to the group’s soft-spoken vocalist. 

“Can you tell everyone that you’re perfectly fine?” Melanie’s words are as brash as expected. Naryun catches Karin’s labored exhale as she presses against her tanned temples. 

“What- what are you talking about?” Naryun shallowly chokes out, coughing hoarsely before Will raises a bottle of water to her lips. It is at that moment that Naryun realizes her right hand is bandaged up, thumb set in its place, a stark contrast drawn between the forced restraints keeping her in place and the impatient pacing Melanie charts in front of Naryun’s hospital bed.

“Karin and I think that it would be best if you—and the rest of the group take a break from any public activities-” Will, the parent company’s PR representative is cut off by a bright-eyed Australian accent. 

Melanie cuts into his words, inserting her thoughts into the conversation. 

“Which is overkill because you’re fine, right?” 

There’s a hidden force beneath Melanie’s words, one that Naryun is sure only she and Heri pick up on between the five people occupying the sterile room. Naryun’s eyebrows furrow as the boom of Melanie’s voice pounds against her temples. She’s much louder than Will is, more forceful, much less gentle. 

“Melanie,” Karin speaks up with a warning. Her gentle stiffness contradicts Will’s all-around gentleness. 

If she had even the slightest clue what Melanie was so worked up about Naryun might have even found the tension a bit humorous. But with Narae’s controlled anxiety and Heri’s flat-out anxiety, Naryun can’t help but find herself bothered by Melanie’s bluntness.

“I- I don’t..” She draws out, eyes closing as she grows frustrated with her brain which can’t seem to remember why she has a headache or why she’s in a garish white gown. Narae releases a controlled breath through her nose, taking a step towards Naryun the others in the room wouldn’t dare to. 

“You were in an accident, bear.” 

Bear. Her words are so gentle and so direct that it takes Naryun a moment to piece everything back together. Her twin sister’s hands softly tug at Naryun’s chestnut hair, eyes communicating much more than those nearly harmless five words. 

“Car?” She whispers, unable to tear her eyes away from her sister’s. With a nod so quaint the other three miss it completely, Narae’s eyes lock onto Melanie’s figure, signaling all her sister needed to know at the moment. 

Naryun swallows slowly bringing Will to draw closer, offering another needed sip of water. He begins to speak once more as he watches her drink from the bottle in his hand. 

“We want to give you as much time as you need. I’ve spoken to the others, their priority is your recovery. Nothing happens without your word, Naryun.” 

His calming tone does nothing to ease Naryun’s gradually quickening heart. Nothing could calm her heart when Melanie’s eyes blaze with a fierceness Naryun is much too familiar with. 

Karin is the next to step forward. Motherly hands reach to envelop Naryun’s damaged ones in her own. “Take some time, go back home. We’ll circle back in a few months, okay?” 

Naryun nods, incredulous as she takes in the two executives’ words while simultaneously trying to decipher Melanie’s stony expression as she leans against the frame of the door. A few moments of silence allow Naryun the clarity to finally voice her thoughts.

“What’s wrong with you?” Her two groupmates seem shocked by her lack of filter. The most conscious member pulled into a state of bluntness. A state that perfectly aligns with the bruising injuries that decorate her skin. 

Melanie’s raised eyebrows illustrate her perplexion, releasing a much gentler, “Me?”, in response to Naryun’s frankness. Receiving a nod in confirmation, she sighs with her head hanging in what a stranger would view as shame. Naryun knows better than to believe the act so she waits in silence, eyes unbudging from Melanie’s figure.

She parts her lips to answer before quickly closing them. She repeats the action once more before finally pushing herself up to pace closer to the pale vocalist.

“Sunny-”

“Melanie, don’t fuck with me right now.”

Their eyes lock in a stare. Heri shifts uncomfortably in her spot. Karin’s hand reaches to massage her temples once more. 

Melanie’s jaw clenches. “Naryun,” She tests out to begin. “You- I’ve been working really hard on my album, you know that better than anyone.” The switch in her word choice tells Naryun exactly where she was going. 

Still, a little part of her wants to give her the benefit of the doubt, nodding twice to give her the okay to continue. 

“If I wait on this, I risk missing my window-”

“Your window?” Narae scoffs. Will sighs. Karin remains silent.

Ignoring her completely Melanie continues. “A December release date. It’s perfect, you know that right?” 

Naryun can’t help but blink up at the older girl. The silence in the room is thick, nearly strangling Melanie whose eyes have yet to let go of the fierceness Naryun despised. She struggles to find the words as her head continues to pound, louder than before, in response to the plea Melanie presents her with. Instead of responding, her head turns to face Heri whose eyes are fixated on the ground. Her bangs cover her face as she all but fades into the distant background of the tense conversation.

“Heri,” Naryun speaks up, grasping the attention of the younger girl. 

“What do you think?”

Naryun feels her heartbreak at the vulnerability in Heri’s eyes. Her head shakes in a desperate plea to remain without a voice. This time it is Melanie who scoffs. Will sighs again. And Karin’s eyes roll so subtly that Naryun knows she’s hit a vein.

“I’m asking you what you think, Heri.” A little more forceful this time, Heri’s eyes close in discomfort as if wishing reality—or herself— to disappear. 

She whispers lowly, “I can’t.”

Naryun’s eyes blaze as she whips her head towards Melanie. The blonde meets her eyes in challenge, a smirk reaching her own as her arms fold one over another.

“Heri.” Narae is the one to speak up this time. Melanie keeps staring at Naryun.

“It’s not fair!” She finally exclaims, cracking under the pressure of the three older idols. Her eyes continue to shy away from any eye contact, fixed to the floor as she hugs herself in self-comfort. Naryun holds her gaze on Melanie, urging the youngest girl to continue, “What’s not fair, Heri?”

Heri hesitates this time, chewing at her lip as it quivers in discomfort. Tears threaten to break at the surface before she finally finds the strength to look up from her found comfort on the floor. It’s at that moment that Melanie breaks the contest between Naryun and herself. Faux gentleness floods her eyes as the twins look on incredulously. Not yet understanding what was soon to occur, Narae turns to face Naryun whose jaw is set in a low anger.

“What’s not fair, Heri?” Melanie’s voice, echoing Naryun’s words, oozed with honeyed care. Her eyes warm with a comfort that only Heri can see. It’s that same comfort that finally draws the words out of Heri’s mouth. 

“It’s not fair to Melanie.”

Karin and Will are shocked into silence as Narae struggles to contain her amazement. Naryun, who already knew what the girl’s next words would be, doesn’t react. Her breathing is even for the first time since she woke up, and her eyes stare straight ahead, through Karin and Will who struggle to believe Heri’s words. 

Narae is the first to speak up. 

“Is this a joke to you?” 

Her voice cuts through the silence, aimed at Heri who refuses to look up at her, eyes back to their comfort spot on the floor. 

“You cannot be serious.” Narae scoffs, turning to leave the room. Her footsteps are heavy as her cloud of disappointment follows her through the door of the hospital room. 

“Melanie can have her album then. Since Heri thinks it’s unfair… Melanie can have her album. That’s fine.” Naryun’s words are curt, delivered with a level of restraint that manages to astonish even Melanie. Sensing the protests fighting to tumble from Will’s lips, Naryun eyes him with an air of decisiveness. 

Karin, ever the businesswoman, clears her throat and turns to face Melanie. 

“I’ll see that everything is finalized. I’m looking forward to hearing it.” Her lips purse in obvious disappointment as she carefully eyes Heri whose bowed head causes her hair to fall over her face once again. With a shake of her head, she exits the room. 

Will, who says nothing, follows behind her, his phone pressed to his ear with seasoned speed. 

Melanie reaches for Naryun’s hand, holding it so warmly that Naryun almost begins to understand Heri’s cowardice. 

“I’ll be thinking about you the whole time. Thank you, hun.” 

Her accent creeps into her pronunciation in a way that Naryun finds ironic considering her false sincerity. She glides out of the room with an ease that leaves Naryun numb with anger. 

Heri turns to leave the room without a word of comfort. Head hanging low as she drags her feet across the gray vinyl flooring, following Melanie so predictably it finally draws a scoff out of Naryun. Stopping in her tracks, Heri looks up at the hospitalized vocalist. Naryun watches in distaste as a tear falls from Heri’s eyes leaving a wet path along her sunken cheeks. 

“Do me a favor?” Heri speaks up cautiously. 

Naryun doesn’t respond.

“Please don’t tell the others what I said.” 

The edge of Naryun’s mouth twitches in response. Her nose flares as she tries, and fails, to contain herself. 

“Do me a favor?” Naryun echoes her words. 

She takes a deep breath as the pounding in her head finally clears and her voice returns to its full strength. A rush of will surges through her as she pushes herself up to her full height. Their eyes meet for the first time that day before Heri breaks the hold, another tear falling from her eyes.

“Let me know what her dick tastes like when she finally fucks you.”

Heri doesn’t respond.

[viriditic]

angelica and jaena please!

⠀⠀％✶﹑⠀⠀ ( who/what is your biggest inspiration in life? )

"my family hands down." jaena smiled, "a lot of my passions comes from the things i love about being a mom-- i mean basically a mom to my sisters and the girls on the team."

jaena was known for her modelesque smile, which never faltered, but she did, of course, have her moments, this being one of them.

the smile was only gone for a beat before she cleared her throat, "and of course jaehwan, he does get me through a lot of the creative process, especially when it comes to dealing with all of the science stuff that's involved in makeup."

[viriditic]

lemon balm for stassie & vervain for davina <3

⠀⠀％✶﹑⠀⠀ ( are you more sympathetic or empathetic? )

"can i say neither?" stassie rolled her eyes, "no, in all seriousness, probably empathetic."

"i mean please, sympathy is so pitiful, and nobody's worth my pity" she bit her lip a little bit, threading her fingers through her hair, "but i guess i can understand others' hardships, it just has to be very, very hard for them."

⠀⠀％✶﹑⠀⠀ ( do you believe in luck? )

davina shifted in her seat, and took a minute before settling on her answer, "i try not to."

"of course, there are so many things i'm grateful for, and there was. a point where i wasn't this thankful for all of my opportunities." she looked down, and if you looked closely you'd almost think she was sad, "i think if i believed in luck, i'd be considered unlucky which i don't like to think about."

[petaltexturedskies]

Louise Glück, from "Afterword" in Faithful and Virtuous Night: Poems

[petaltexturedskies]

Margaret Atwood, from “The Blind Assassin”

[stretchbrock]

DREW STARKEY as TREVOR in HELLRAISER (2022) dir. DAVID BRUCKNER

[vanessacarlysle]

SEX AND THE CITY (1998-2004)

[missnarcissistsworld]

Is there another life? Shall I awake and find all this a dream? There must be, we cannot be created for this sort of suffering.

- John Keats

[mysterieuxclairdelune]

{Jodi Picoult, The Book of Two Ways/ Unknown/ Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers/ Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life/ Jenny Han, We'll Always Have Summer (Summer, #3)/ Trista Mateer, Honeybee/ Unknown/ Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body/ Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag/ Tumblr User: @museyuumm}

[feral-ballad]

Sonia Sulaiman, from Muneera and the Moon: Stories Inspired by Palestinian Folklore; “Muneera and the Moon”

[flowerytale]

Safia Elhillo, from Alone, Home Is Not a Country

[viriditic]

⠀⠀★ ۫  ⠀⠀ take a screenshot + get the first ever photocard from for your very own sweet dreams extended play!

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