“I- well, yeah, my baby brother.” She quirked a brow, immediately distrustful at the tone. “And also, his name’s John Brad Crumb. I’ve had enough sh- …crap about it that I don’t-”
She cut off, sighing. To be honest, she was way too tired to actually try dealing with this right now. Her finger slipped and forgot to hit the “e” on the iPad when she adopted him, okay?
Aera squints. Who’s this kid to be so rude to her anyway? It’s on the tip of her tongue to tell him off when she remembers that she’s supposed to have a pristine image or whatever. She doesn’t wanna be told off by Kim Dongchul at the next Summit “family dinner” for being mean to a fan. If she can even call this guy that.
“You ever heard of being grateful?” Brat. “I was gonna go get ramen anyway once I found John Brad Crumb. You- hey, you look familiar…”
It takes her a second. OH are you serious?!
“OH, are you serious?!” She cries. “You’re an idol too, huh?! You’re uh, whatever. From that group. How come you’re lecturing me about buying you something better than ramen when you can go afford something better also?”
But she’s not stupid. She knows that he’s someone who debuted before her, regardless of who he is. So, almost carelessly, she tacks on a bow at the end with a,
“…sunbae-nim.”
She didn’t recognize him. Chanwook’s ego took a hit, and because of it, his temper flared for a split-second. Five years ago, he might’ve said something snarky, but he’d since learned that not every situation calls for an aggressive response. Besides, he didn’t need to give the public any more reasons than they already had to dislike him.
So he took a deep breath.
“Of course I can afford something better, but I’m not the one who offered to buy!” He tried to explain, still sounding abrasive despite (apparently) trying not to. “If you’re going to offer to buy food for someone, then shouldn’t it be worth the offer? You have no reason to be so cheap!”
Suddenly, he remembered the rabbit. How he’d forgotten it was a mystery, since it was the whole reason they’d had this run-in in the first place. “And what about that thing?” He asked, pointing at it.
“Do you buy him normal carrots or baby carrots? Are you cheap with him, too? Maybe that’s why he ran away.”
As much as it was something that Hyunsik likely didn’t want to admit, the Legion member was right. Does it really matter? It was a matter of pride, sure. But did anyone who walked past the defamation of his picture really care about him? Did he care about them? If they did care, was it going to tarnish their opinion of him as a model or an idol? The answer to all of those questions was likely no. So, why was he so intent on removing the drawings? Maybe it’s because sometimes, Hyunsik thought holding onto his pride is all he had left in this career.
On top of that, did he care about to return later with hand sanitizer and some napkins to really scrub it off?
Grumbling, he licked his finger, giving it one last attempt at rubbing the mustache off with sheer force before giving up. He wasn’t sure if he was giving up for now, or permanently, yet. There was still a small chance of him returning later. “How do you know that works?” Hyunsik questioned his companion. They seemed a little too sure of themselves when they gave their answer.
“How do I know?” Chanwook echoed, giving Hyunsik a look that seemed to ask how do you not know? “It was part of my training. I thought all Atlas Records trainees had to go through it, but I guess it must’ve been exclusive to Legion. Or maybe it just became a thing after you debuted.” To strengthen the idea that it was as much a mystery to him as it must be to Hyunsik, he added a shrug.
“We’re supposed to have each other’s backs. So we weren’t just trained to be idols, but we were trained to be problem-solvers, too. On top of fixing vandalized signs, we were also trained in things like how to realistically disguise ourselves, how to escape paparazzi, how to...” He trailed off, then waved his hands around vaguely. “All kinds of stuff. You’d be surprised... I guess my Sign-Cleaning classes finally came in handy, though.”
He looked at Hyunsik for a few more seconds before breaking into a grin. “Kidding. I know because of experience. I used to think it was funny to draw stuff like that and sometimes I got caught.”
Frowning, he looked at the advertisement on the side of the bus stop, his eyes squinting as he stared intently at it. How could anyone do this? Especially to him, of all people? It was a surprise he’d even noticed it in the first place, and with only a small belt-bag strapped around his body, he didn’t have anything on his person to help him take care of it. Not that he could say he usually carried cleaning products on him any other day. Licking his fingers, he began to rub at the permanent marker that was drawn on the plastic casing of his campaign, trying to remove the mustache that had been artistically placed on his upper lip, the motion causing a squeak squeak sound to be emitted. Although, he wasn’t sure if he should be trying to remove that, or the horns on his head. He didn’t even suit the mustache.
All he was doing is hurting his fingers and making them dirty, his muscles tensing with the force he tried to remove the graffiti. It wasn’t a big deal, really, and it was kind of an old campaign anyway. He figured it was more of a pride thing, the fact he couldn’t just leave it be. Who even knows how long it had been up there to begin with.
“You don’t know how I could get this stuff off, do you?”
Chanwook had experienced his fair share of vandalized signs, but all of the ones that he’d seen had been short-lived. Just small things put up by dedicated fans to celebrate his birthdays as the years passed. At times, the things that people drew or wrote made him mad, but never mad enough to do anything about it since he knew the sign would be gone in no time. So, he couldn’t speak from that kind of experience.
He could, however, speak from the experience of being the one to vandalize. It had been one of his favorite things to do before he’d entered the world of picture-perfect entertainment, and usually, the victims were smiling pictures of idols.
Funny what time could change.
He was enjoying watching Hyunsik struggle to remove the marks; not in a vindictive way, it was just... Funny that he cared so much about such a meaningless thing. “Does it really matter?” He asked, looking from the sign to Hyunsik and then back again. “It’s not anything that’s going to ruin your life. But if it’s really bothering you that much, then come back with hand sanitizer and napkins. You’ll be able to scrub it right off.”
Of course, this was something that he only knew because plenty of business owners had made him do that very thing years and years ago. The memory of the strong smell still made his nose burn.
“JOHN BRAD CRUMB-AH! Oh, John Brad Crumb-ah, where are you?”
Aera, till now, has been a very good rabbit owner— at least, for the two weeks that she’s had him so far. A surprisingly good rabbit owner; he practically has free reign of the apartment, and also he’s potty trained and eats regularly, and she plays with him almost every waking moment. She’s even hired a sitter to babysit him when she’s away at practice.
Which is why it’s devastating that the sitter lost him. It was some teenager from the local high school. She arrived home this afternoon, ready to greet her little baby nugget, only to find the front door ajar and a note on the table:
Was only interested in meeting the rest of the girls in Iota, but you’re kind of an idiot. Your rabbit, John BREAD Crumb, is in the cage.
No he’s not, you stupid little brat!! Also, an idiot?! Hurts only a lot. But Aera can’t think about that… after phoning the stuttering teen (who genuinely thought he locked up John Brad Crumb and closed the door) and threatening to call the police (though she knows she doesn’t have it in her), Aera sets out to hunt for the bunny.
That was six hours ago. It’s almost hitting one in the morning, now. “John Brad Cru- oh my God! John Brad Crumb-ah! There you are! I was so scared; I missed you so much! I love you so much!” Her bunny comes hopping towards her and she eagerly takes him into her arms, and only then does she notice the stranger, silhouetted by the street lights, following close behind. She squints to try to recognize them.
“You! Were you the one who found my little baby brother? You have my forever thanks; can I go buy you some ramen? I’ll hide John Brad Crumb in my pocket.”
Strange things happened in the hours between dusk and dawn. For that reason, it was Chanwook’s favorite part of the day. Well, that’s what he would say, but it was only because he stayed out so late so often anyway that he knew anything of the peculiar happenings. Maybe the anticipation of what he’d find brought him out sometimes, but most of the time, it was just a habit. The sun went down and Chanwook came out.
Tonight, he’d found himself stumbling half in and half out of reality, head cloudy with exhaustion and tainted with unspoken complaints regarding Legion’s upcoming comeback. He was hardly aware of where he was or even where he was going until he spotted a rabbit. A rabbit that was too clean and calm to be feral. If it were, then he didn’t think it would tolerate him following it so closely, either; but all it dd was given him a curious look now and then, and then hop away. Who the fuck are you? it seemed to ask, and Chanwook had to stop and ask himself why he was imagining this rabbit talking. Had to ask himself if the rabbit was even real.
It was real, and he knew that, except he still kind of doubted it until one of the IOTA members appeared. Then, he had her presence to doubt: this was too weird to be real, couldn’t be real. But his imagination wasn’t that powerful, so he must be dreaming.
He blinked a few times. Shook his head. Then looked back at her and the rabbit.
“Your baby brother?” He asked finally, dumb-founded. Maybe he needed glasses, because that thing looked like a rabbit to him. “What’s his name? John? Is he a foreigner?” He squinted, trying to make the creature look somewhat human to his eyes. Still, it only looked like a bunny. Maybe he was an Easter baby.
“Ramen? I found your missing brother, and you want to buy me ramen? Can’t you afford anything better than that? Iota’s popular.”
pyung was a strong believer in caring for yourself. his brother raised him with the belief that a love for yourself is the most important love you can have. every week when he was younger he would have what is brothers called a self care day. a day dedicated to resting and taking of care of his skin and body. face masks and a visit to the bathhouse. but now that he was an idol he found it hard to find time to do basic necessities. a whole day of caring for himself seemed impossible. and lately he can’t say he’s really cared. he didn’t want to waste his time.
but to appease his brothers he did a face mask and hot bath every week. the closest thing he could get to a bathhouse, his brother felt it was a necessity. he didn’t want to argue with. which is why he found himself in the beauty section of the supermarket. he was picking out a mask for the night. it was a rare day off and he was using it to its fullest. he grabbed a foaming sheet mask and walked towards the front of the store.
it was walking up to the register that he saw a familiar face. he walked up behind them. “so what are you doing here?” he asked standing in line behind them to checkout. he looked at them with a smile and hoped they recognized him. in the industry it felt like faces blended together and he wasn’t particularly memorable.
chanwook didn’t typically care if people approached him, especially if they were approaching him politely; but he’d been feeling a little more irritable than usual, and even if he didn’t come right out and say it, the last thing that he wanted to do was talk. but a trip to the supermarket had been unavoidable since he’d needed to pick up quite a few things before he could go visit his mom. things that he didn’t have just lying around his house, unfortunately. he’d tried to keep his head down and his face hidden, and for the most part, no one had paid him any mind. he’d made the mistake of assuming no one would pay him any mind when he heard a voice coming from behind him, clearly addressing him.
with a not-so-hidden sigh, he turned very slightly to the side and looked over his shoulder. he didn’t recognize the man immediately, and even after giving himself a few seconds to think, his mind was blank. chanwook knew that he was an idol, at least -- had to be with a face like that, and especially with the casualness he’d used in addressing chanwook. had he been in a better mood, he would’ve at least tried to pretend like he had a more firm idea of who the idol was, but... everyone has bad days. “same thing anyone here is doing,” he answered sharply, his expression holding every ounce of annoyance that he couldn’t outright express, “shopping.”
but he’d learned from his five years in the industry that you can’t be rude to someone without it coming back around to bite you in the ass, so he sucked up his pride and offered a smile; the same forced one that he’d shown countless mcs in the past. “sorry if that came out a little... rough.”
this is heather, finally bringing you a brand new character -- legion’s main dancer, lead rapper & vocalist, yang chanwook / axl. so far, the only pages i have up for him are his public & private profiles. everything else is still under construction, but i do also have a pinterest board to offer. if you’re interested in plotting, please like this or hit my dms and we can work something out!
i.
born in mapo, seoul on april 15, 1992; he’s currently twenty-eight years old.
TW ABUSE & ALCOHOLISM ---
his childhood wasn’t great. his mother was 19 when she had him and he was an accident, so she had no idea how to raise him/how to be a parent at all. plus, she only married chanwook’s dad because they had a baby together; he wasn’t a good guy at all, very aggressive, manipulative, hateful. he also had a drinking problem and it wasn’t uncommon for him to come home in a drunken rage, hurting anyone in his path, if he even came home at all.
--- END OF TW.
he had a lot of pent up anger in his childhood because of his relationship with his father & he always took it out on the wrong people; his mom, his peers, his teachers. never anyone who actually deserved it. started acting out A LOT in middle school and his attitude persisted all throughout high school; he was always looking to pick fights, everyone knew he wanted to fight so most people avoided him.
when he was fifteen, he started hanging out with a rougher crowd & they frequently snuck into the local bars/clubs. also started drinking around this time -- this was the official end of his childhood.
him & his friends started rapping as a joke when they were together, mimicking the nameless performers they saw in the little clubs, but chanwook actually? started to like it? he was pretty good at it, too, so after a little persuasion from his friends, he started performing under the alias “jace”.
at around 16/17, he stopped going home so much because it was just... never a good experience, started staying out on the streets all night or sleeping in subway stations; frequently misunderstood as being homeless, but sometimes he definitely looked it. got into some trouble, but nothing too bad. was pretty much always just getting chased off by business owners/irritated cops/etc bc he was always somewhere he shouldn’t be.
things pretty much stayed the same until he was 20 & he was scouted by a representative from atlas records after one of his performances. he denied the offer at first/claimed he wasn’t interested at all, and he really wasn’t, but he also had no idea what he was going to do with his life, had no education or career plans, couldn’t keep being a street rat forever, so he eventually agreed.
trained for three years before debuting with legion as axl.
ii.
when legion first debuted, there was a lot of criticism surrounding chanwook -- people he’d known while he was an underground rapper started making the connection & thought he was a sellout, netizens found old videos of him & claimed that he wasn’t idol material because a lot of his lyrics were very misogynistic, vulgar, cocky. neither side was happy, but the netizens settled down a little after he clarified that he hadn’t actually written any of his own lyrics in that time (which was a lie) and apologized gravely with promises to be better in the future. obv the underground scene just screamed SELLOUT! even louder but you gotta do what you gotta do.
his image during debut days was... a whole mess because his anger was definitely still present, but the only way he could express it was through disobedience -- he loved to do the opposite of what he was told to do, or to just take things overboard. he played every part he was assigned wrong; if he was told to be chic & mysterious, he’d be distant and a little rude; if he was told to be funny, he’d make outrageous jokes & would constantly show a very fake smile. the general public assumed that his unpredictability was his image, so it became his image; the company was content bc he finally simmered down a little and stopped acting like a fool, he was content because he felt like he had won.
there are definitely still people who think he’s sexist or arrogant, probably even people within the industry. esp since he has a little bit of a reputation for flirting with idols (male or female presenting -- he doesn’t care), but is always shot down.
has a tattoo of his mom on his chest, and he’s never had something ruin so many chances. pretty much any time he tries to hook up w/ someone, they see the tattoo of his mom and they’re either so shocked or so amused that it ruins the mood. rip chanwook.
not really angry anymore. he can still give off that energy because of his rbf & the rumors attached to him, but he’s come to peace with most of his inner turmoil, no longer wants to hurt people or start fights just for the fun of it. would much rather vibe, and with that said, he’d probably even prefer to vibe alone.
right now....... his goal is pretty much just to change the stigma of idol rappers but also try to stay on the public’s good side.
