WELCOME TO THE VORTEX !

get all the inside scoop and updates in the floryverse

[vortcxclub]

INSIDER UPDATE : OH HAYOON, former POISON member, is discussing a contract with COUNTESSA RECORDINGS. she has been spotted going to and fro the building for the past two weeks. the chances of her signing is looking very likely.

[poison-grls]

†˖ POISON’S DISCOGRAPHY ─┈ ( A DEEP DIVE !?

a deep dive into the discography and career journey of POISON.

tw. flashing lights

After a rigorous and mentally exhausting training process, POISON finally made their debut as four in the earlier part of 2014 with the EP ‘SILVER LININGS’ and its title track ‘PICKY.’ Their debut was largely credited to its members—who wrote and co-produced the tracks themselves, worked long and strenuous hours to perfect choreography, and underwent tedious rehearsals. Aside from the onslaught of fame they received following releases, they were recognized for being the only artist under Zephyr Entertainment who weren’t micromanaged by the agency from debut. As trainees, preparation for debut was nothing but stressful as Poison were incredibly mistreated by Zephyr and its board. When their diet wasn’t being heavily managed and every superficial thing was being criticized, they were always given the short end of the stick compared to their seniors. All of this is why the debut era is such a notable time period for the girls. That same year, not too long after their first release, they came back with their first mini album titled ‘CHATOYANT,’ which featured the hit title track ‘MY HAIR.’ They also promoted the fan-favorite b-side ‘LADIES.’ These releases proved to be classics not only within the their fandom, but in the industry as a whole. With My Hair, Picky, and Ladies, the quartet ended the year with 6 music show wins under their belt, setting a new standard for Zephyr artists who would follow them.

In 2015, Poison took the scene by storm releasing their second mini album ‘THE PRETTIEST POISON,’ which went onto sell over 300,000 copies. Their title track ‘HUSH’ was another hit to add to their collection, raking in 4 music show wins in total. Its virality was impressive, remaining in the top 15 spots of charts well after its promotion period. Going in for a second comeback that year, Poison put out their second mini album ‘EGO,’ an album that soared beyond The Prettiest Poison in sales: sitting at 424,000 sales. Its edgy and powerful title track ‘ALL MINE’ opened doors for the group, bagging 8 music show wins and showing off each members plethora of charms and talents onstage. It was safe to say they had an unremarkable rookie run.

Poison geared up for their first full album in 2016, releasing ‘ALL THE THINGS I COULDN’T SAY’ which was met with heavy critical acclaim. While this era was definitely a doozy, the girls being slandered for their use of poles in the choreography of the title track ‘FIRST LOVE,’ they definitely reached new heights. While this isn’t to say that their hard work went unnoticed with the onslaught of harsh and misogynistic criticisms, as they did receive some praise that acknowledged the girls immense talents and gave them nicknames like ‘ZEPHYR’S ACE’ or ‘ZEPHYR’S SECRET WEAPON’. They also surpassed their previous highest sales, with All The Things I Couldn’t Say selling 500,000 copies. First Love also got 10 music show wins, with all tracks on the album charting in the top 10 and the lead single peaking at #1 and staying there for weeks on end.

At the end of 2016, Poison proved that they were here to stay when they released the iconic single ‘LIKE A CAT’ which was an impressively viral song. It earned them 12 music show wins, the choreography being done by all idols and fans alike, peaking at #1 on charts, and being hard to escape if you were in the K-Pop scene.

In the early part of 2017, much to TOXINS dismay, they released another single titled ‘NATURALLY.’ This was another predominantly favored hit, getting them 9 music show wins in total and dominating charts. Naturally was widely recognized for its classy but challenging choreography and sleek vocals. Later that year, they made their comeback with their second full studio album ‘TWISTED LOVE,’ an album that sold 600,000 copies. ‘WILD’ garnered a total of 13 music show wins, a new peak for them at the time.

They took the year of 2018 off to focus on their solo careers. BO made her debut as an actress this year starring in her first series, HAYOON was working on more solo music, MALI was making solo variety appearances, and LOLA was also working on music—unlike Hayoon’s, however, hers was never released.

They proved that their small break was not in vein, as they came back better than ever in 2019 with the million seller third studio album ‘SOLDIER OF LOVE,’ featuring a classic R&B hit of a title track ‘AUTOMATIC.’ This year was all about awards, bagging 15 music show wins and winning accolades like ‘ARTIST OF THE YEAR,’ ‘BEST FEMALE GROUP,’ and ‘ALBUM OF THE YEAR.’

Their next comeback was set in 2020, with the mini album ‘HEART MADE OF GLASS,’ which sold over 900,000 units. Its title track ‘MR.MR.’ performed well on charts and with the public, raking in 8 music show wins.

For the following 2 years, Poison went on an indefinite hiatus, that focused mainly on the solo careers of the girls. BO continued booking roles as an actress and starred in her first film, HAYOON went on many variety shows and even started her own podcast named ‘HI HAYOON!’ where she interviews idols in a casual conversational manner, and MALI geared up for an extremely successful solo debut. However, in that gap, LOLA was rarely making public appearances—mostly causing trouble.

Their most recent release was in mid-2023 with the mini album ‘X,’ featuring the lead single ‘CHILL.’ The song went viral and trended everywhere for a considerable amount of time, accumulating 5 music show wins. The album also garnered 2 million sales, currently their best-selling album so far. Poison proves themselves everyday, breaking countless records, to be the most successful act under Zephyr Entertainment, constantly raising the bar for their juniors.

[solsticera]

* ˖ ·ﾟ   BREAKING. SOLSTICE’S ELLA PARK AND LIU DAIYU DEPART FROM SOLSTICE

Earlier today it was announced by both Zephyr Entertainment and Solstice that members Ella and Daiyu would be terminating their contracts and withdrawing from the group. Considering the group’s success and normal behavior, the announcement came as a shock to the groups fans, lovingly named Sunshine’s. The statements from both parties brought in a slew of conspiracy’s questioning the reasoning behind their departure. You can read both statements below:

ZEPHYR ENTERTAINTMENT:

“Hello, this is Zephyr entertainment.

We hope this message finds you well. Due to creative differences, two of the members from Solstice have decided to withdrawal from the team. Those two members are Park Eunbyul and Liu Daiyu. Due to client confidentiality, we will not be disclosing any further details aside from the fact that Daiyu and Eunbyul have ideas differing from those aligning with Solstice. After careful consideration, we’ve come to the conclusion as a unit that it is best if Daiyu and Eunbyul part with us. We truly wish them the best as they’ve been nothing but a positive addition to the group but this is for the best on both sides. Solstice will continue as a seven member team.

Best regards.” (Translated)

LIU DAIYU:

“Dear Sunshine,

It is me, Daiyu. This message has come with great sadness to deliver. I will be terminating my contract with Solstice and Zephyr entertainment. I have enjoyed my time with these girls, soaking in all of our successes and drawbacks together as a team. Though we’ve had our ups and downs and there are things I could have done better during my time with them, I will never forget the memories we made. And I will never forget the love Sunshine’s gave to me. Sunshine has been there and supported me through everything. When things got bad, when things got good, they were there to celebrate us. Sunshine has made me a better person and this experience will forever live in my heart. I didn’t want it to end so quickly but so much has happened and it’s for the best. Eunbyul and I will find a new path to continue with you. I hope that you will continue to support us and keep us in your thoughts.

Thank you,

Liu Daiyu.” (Translated)

PARK EUNBYUL:

“There’s a lot on my mind right now. I have so much to say to you all but I don’t know where to start. I am leaving Solstice with the support of my former member Daiyu. Firstly, I am frustrated having to write this letter and say goodbye so soon. I worked hard to make it into that lineup. I cried and I suffered and I struggled greatly to be right there with the rest of the members. I don’t want to play the victim card but Zephyr is not a safe space anymore. No young girl would feel safe under that agency training the way we are. I hate to disrupt what we’ve been working on with my not-so-sudden decision but my parents are worried for me as are my other members. Please don’t let the agency fool you. I won’t stop until we get justice. Please save my sisters.”

Many people are disturbed by Ella’s statement—which was later deleted, her word choices immediately drawing concern. Some fans suspect that mistreatment from the company is the culprit while some think that Henri Kwon, their new manager, is the perpetrator. We just hope that Ella and Daiyu stay safe.

What are your thoughts?

COMMENTS

JOOYEONLVR | 4.4k OMGGG??? i can’t believe this ㅜㅜ

KYRIEISMINE | 4.3k and they were getting so big too…imagine having everything and then getting it all taken away. i feel like that bastard henri had something to do with it!

CUNTYMIJOO | 4.1k zephyr is so fucking shady. you can’t trust them with girl groups.

CHARMBRACELET | 3.9k ella called them her sisters 😭 zephyr will burn and so will that hag henri #JUSTICE4SOLSTICE

K1YEONBAR | 3.8k singlehandedly beat the coworker allegations #JUSTICE4SOLSTICE

ELLACTRL | 3.6k YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS PARK EUNBYUL!!!!

click for more comments….

[hcartfilia]

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ JUNG SANGWOO was born on January 2, 1997 to a lawyer father and detective mother in Seoul, South Korea. He was able to live comfortably in his adolescence, attending church and being the first of the band to join the choir. He ended up temporarily moving to Los Angeles, California to study abroad at a performing arts high school.

Though he’s now ashamed of the person he was in high school, his peers would’ve described him as the himbo jock who was a little bit of a prick. He changed girlfriend like clothes but had his highschool sweethearts story with his current boss, former classmate, and soloist Natalia Hwang.

After completing high school, he returned to Korea to pursue a music career with Love and Lucky, officially becoming the bands heartthrob of a DRUMMER and PIANIST.

STAGE NAME. SANGWOO

FULL NAME. Jung Sangwoo

BIRTHDATE. January 2, 1997

ZODIAC. Capricorn

BIRTHPLACE. Seoul, South Korea

ETHNICITY. Korean

HEIGHT. 6’0”

FACECLAIM. Jung Jaehyun

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ KANG SIWOO was born on July 30, 1999 to a cosmetic surgeon father and housewife mother in Seoul, South Korea. Growing up, Siwoo lived in a wealthy and religious household. His mother quit her job as a nurse practitioner before giving birth to him in order to live as a full time mother. She saw potential in Siwoo’s knack for being in the limelight and immediately placed him in multiple programs and lessons for gifted children—piano, voice, violin, and guitar.

He grew up with a narcissistic father who often belittled his mother. He thought of himself very highly while looking down at anyone who wasn’t him or Siwoo. He taught a young Siwoo his ways at a young age, inflicting his ideas onto him. His peers would describe him as the cocky kind who had a major superiority complex, but they couldn’t deny his unremarkable talent.

Due to this spark, he found himself becoming Love and Lucky’s beloved problematic RHYTHMIC GUITARIST and VIOLINIST.

STAGE NAME. SIWOO

FULL NAME. Kang Siwoo

BIRTHDATE. July 30, 1999

ZODIAC. Leo

BIRTHPLACE. Seoul, South Korea

ETHNICITY. Korean

HEIGHT. 5’11”

FACECLAIM. Choi Yeonjun

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ LUCILLE ‘LUCY’ ROH was born to the late actress Elizabeth Yu and William Averson on July 12, 2001 in Manhattan of New York City. However, as she was born out of wedlock and her conception was seen as a disgrace to the Lee-Yu family, she was promptly given away to a religious Korean-American family. She hadn’t known who her real parents were until she was nearly a full-blown adult. She was unaware of the fact that the parents that raised her weren’t her biological parents. She was constantly going back and forth between South Korea and New York, and she ended up making a group of friends back in Korea. They practically grew up together, meeting when Lucy started attending church with her parents. All being choir kids, they formed a bond through their love for music. It was Lucy’s idea to start a band of their own, which was fairly disapproved of by the older service members.

Lucy spent most of her adolescence making music with the band and maintaining a rather popular status with the church and Catholic school. Her peers would describe her as the ‘mean girl’ archetype who only pretended to be a nice girl. Despite that, she was adored by most of the people around her. From the moment she was able to form thoughts, she knew that she was born to be a star, which is why she immediately adapted the role as the lead.

Later down the line, she found out about her biological parents and felt an overwhelming plethora of emotions. Although she detested them for giving her up, she couldn’t help but try to reach out to them. She was able to connect with both Elizabeth and William, finding out that William had actually tried to reconnect with her on several occasions after discovering the breakout of her band. Even though it was hard, her and William were able to build a bond while Elizabeth never really acknowledged her. Only a year after getting in touch with her, sadly, Elizabeth passed away. This was when her socialite-idol cousin Briar Lee began trying to connect with her, while her socialite-idol half-sister, Charmeine Yu, had rather negative feelings toward her.

Aside from this, she found herself thriving as Love and Lucky’s LEAD VOCALIST, LEAD GUITARIST, and most popular, equally adored and equally despised member.

STAGE NAME. LUCY

FULL NAME. Lucille Roh

BIRTHDATE. July 12, 2001

ZODIAC. Cancer

BIRTHPLACE. New York, New York

ETHNICITY. Korean-Dutch

HEIGHT. 5’8”

FACECLAIM. Jeon Somi

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ LEE SEOJUN was born on February 16, 2002 in Daegu, South Korea. He was raised by his loving single mother who worked as an interior designer, never having spoken to his father. Seojun began his journey with the church and Catholicism at a very young age, courtesy of his grandmother. When his mother was working, his grandmother would babysit him and take him to every service with her. His mother, however, wasn’t opposed to religion as she grew up with it but was against ‘forcing it’ onto him. His grandmother disregarded this idea proposed by her daughter. He ended up joining the choir and enrolling into the same Catholic school as the others.

Seojun was the quiet, mysterious boy. He did well in school and though he spoke very little to those he wasn’t fond of, he had a way with words. He occupied his time with poetry, school, guitar, and church. Seojun never surrounded himself with many people aside from the choir and even then, he wasn’t the talker but the listener.

He’s apart of the writing process more often than not and with his artistic skill, he landed the position of LEAD GUITARIST in Love and Lucky.

STAGE NAME. SEOJUN

FULL NAME. Lee Seojun

BIRTHDATE. February 16, 2002

ZODIAC. Aquarius

BIRTHPLACE. Daegu, South Korea

ETHNICITY. Korean

HEIGHT. 6’1”

FACECLAIM. Jay Park

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ EVELYN CHOI, more commonly known as EVIE, was born to a stockbroker father and english teacher mother on October 7, 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee. Her parents, though never officially married, split when Evelyn was only two years old. As a child, she often found herself in the middle of their tiffs, her parents weaponizing her whenever they would have disagreements. Ultimately, her mother ended up winning full custody of Evelyn, something her father is still greatly disturbed by to this day. Evie and her mother relocated to Seoul after she won custody, leaving her father behind in Nashville. This is where her mother would continue to pursue her education career.

Aside from all of the parental and legal turmoil, Evelyn grew up religious. She enrolled into the same Catholic school as her members and attended the same church as them, which is where they all met. She quickly joined the choir, which later formed the band. Evelyn grew to be close with all of them, though particularly close to the bands lead singer Lucy.

Although their relationship was quite the bumpy road, they were best friends. No one would ever describe it as ideal. This same friendship is the biggest denominator in her departure from Love and Lucky. During her time in the band, she took the roles as VOCALIST and BASSIST.

STAGE NAME. EVIE

FULL NAME. Evelyn Choi

BIRTHDATE. October 7, 2002

ZODIAC. Libra

BIRTHPLACE. Nashville, Tennesse

ETHNICITY. Korean

HEIGHT. 5’5”

FACECLAIM. Lee Chaeyoung

[lcvedior]

* ⠀ @⠀ VORTEX CLUB⠀ ・。⠀▸ ﹕ ⠀ natalia hwang opens up her own company ⠀! published september 20, 2023

It was announced earlier today that soloist NATALIA HWANG has officially opened up her own entertainment agency, a subsidiary under Zephyr Entertainment which is named COUNTESSA RECORDINGS. Alongside that information, it was also revealed she’s signed her first artist LUCY IN THE SKY, a co-ed idol band who was previously managed by FLEURRY RECORDS after being independent for years before. Most fans of the band are jumping with joy seeing that they were dropped from the previous label as the company had no plans for their future and that Lucy In The Sky hadn’t released music since their contract with Fleurry. 

However, of course such news came with negative comments. Some people are weary of the way Natalia would go about managing an artist of her own, let alone a company. There were a few stating that Natalia is “too irresponsible” to be in charge of a business as demanding as this one. To clarify her decision, aside from Zephyr Entertainment’s piece at their press conference, Natalia released a statement of her own:

“Countessa Recordings is going to be a creative outlet and safe environment for all it inhabits. It is not to be confused with Zephyr Entertainment or any of its subsidiaries, Countessa is its own entity. I’ll take my job as CEO seriously and work to make sure that everything I do will only generate fruitful results. Everything I do is in the best interests of the artists while bringing a collaborative charm that is unique to the brand. Our motto is to inspire, create, and protect. We won’t fall short of any expectations we’ve set. Thank you.”

Lucy In The Sky already has a comeback in the works since they officially signed with the newly established company a little over a month ago, reportedly. 

How does this article make you feel? What do you think of Natalia’s decision?

[concepts]

Follow Anya Taylor Joy to the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards and discover her beauty look! | Dior

[concepts]

Anya Taylor-Joy Interview with Access Hollywood | Last Night in Soho premiere, Los Angeles.

[dailyflicks]

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021) dir. Edgar Wright

[manny-jacinto]

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY A Time to Kill (1996)

[possession1981-moving]

the princess!

[thankyou-taeyeon]

SEOHYUN ♥︎ Seoul Fashion Week (230317)

[thankyou-taeyeon]

🫠 (230818 TAEYEON 🛫)

[pink-ttes]

ℐׅ 핑크 ─ THE PINKETTES PHOTOCARD ROULETTE

TAKE A SCREENSHOT TO GET A PHOTOCARD FROM THE “PINK THEORY: STRENGTH IN BEING SOFT” ALBUM !

[pink-ttes]

୧ ⠀⠀♡𝆬⠀⠀PINK THEORY: STRENGTH IN BEING SOFT is the extended play serving as THE PINKETTES’ first installation to their PINK THEORY trilogy. released on SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2023, the ep consists of three tracks with N.O.M.B. serving as its title track. during their three weeks of promotion, the quintet performed each track, filmed performance videos for each song, and raked in 6 music show wins.

꒰ ა ♡ ໒ ꒱ TRACKLIST

01. N.O.M.B.

02. LOVE ME LIKE THIS

03. WILL O’ THE WISP

꒰ ა ♡ ໒ ꒱ STYLING

꒰ ა ♡ ໒ ꒱ DETAILS

even though this album sold like hot cakes and was a guaranteed success from the start (c’mon it’s the pinkettes...their fans are on top of it), they had people maaaad.

fans called it “the battle of the (fourth gen) zephyr girl groups” because raven tail, solstice, and now the pinkettes all had a comeback around the same period, and it’s safe to say that the pinkalicious girls won.

their pre-sales outnumbered solstice’s total sales for their most recent album, going onto sell 1.65 million units in its first week of release and ultimately outselling raven tail’s most recent album.

when i tell you the girls were HEATED but they thrived nonetheless. they were catching strays all on twitter, BFF’s were working overtime fighting for them.

they held a lot of fancalls and fansigns, more virtual than in-person. when i tell you MIKYUNG is TIREEED of doing aegyo on every call like...CHARMEINE pretty much trolled the whole time and LONDON was just collecting girlfriends like cards.

speaking of charmeine trolling the internet, her and KYRIE went live a number of times together and practically soft launched while charmeine gaslighted fans into thinking they were crazy. kyrie, however, never really denied it!

safe to say that london went crazy on the pen though, earning them yet another successful release to their name!

[poison-grls]

゜ 🕯 ⠀⠀ ა⠀⠀ ´` ⠀⠀poison is a four member idol group made up of bo, lola, hayoon, and mali. tw: drug addiction, deadbeat father, bullying, death

✧    ﹒     ♡       ⁺      ៹ kim boyoung was born on january 1, 1995 to two realtors in seoul, south korea. she grew up as the eldest of five kids in a financially stable home. boyoung always had a passion for music, collecting records — her wall in her room at home being completely covered by music records. her parents didn’t pay much attention to her interests, though, giving her the responsibility of caretaker for not only her younger siblings, but her parents themselves as well. she picked up after her mother and father, solving everyone’s problems in favor of her own. however, after a huge blowout between her and her mother, boyoung decided she finally had enough of being more of a mother than the actual mother of the family and moved out. she hadn’t a penny to her name without the financial support of her parents, but she made the decision to audition for modeling agencies and record labels alike. she was able to pick up a few modeling gigs to provide her with chump change before she landed a contract deal with zephyr entertainment who initially noticed her through her freelance modeling work.

STAGE NAME. BO

FULL NAME. KIM BOYOUNG

BIRTHDATE. JANUARY 01, 1995

ZODIAC. CAPRICORN

BIRTHPLACE. SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

HEIGHT. 170 cm — 5’7”

POSITION. LEADER, MAIN VOCAL, LEAD DANCER, VISUAL

✧    ﹒     ♡       ⁺      ៹ lauren lee, more commonly known as lola, began her journey in savannah, georgia on march 19, 1995. growing up wasn’t all too easy for her, living in a low income household and raised by her part-time waitress single teenage mother. her father barely came around, dealing with drug addiction problems all his daughters life. lola was a rebellious teen, having the reputation of a bastard child with no hope for her future. she was often ridiculed behind her back for her fathers absence, finding it hard to make genuine friends among her peers. consistently getting in trouble and raising hell for her mother, the only hobby of hers that proved to be harmless was her love for dance, as much as she tried to bury it. lola was the captain of her school’s dance team, her role often undermined by her peers and teachers in light of her delinquent history. as skilled as she and some of her teammates were, their schools lack of funding stood in the way of success during competition season. the board didn’t have nearly enough money to fund for suitable uniforms, satisfactory teaching, or any other basic fundamentals needed to make a decent team. because of this, they frequently fell short at competitions. however, despite the strife, lola mysteriously scrambled together some money to help put together outfits for her squad and bring in a perfunctory, makeshift coach. with this effort, they won their very first competition, leading them to the championships. they practiced hard, even lola, however with the sudden and devastating death of her half-brother, lola ran away, figuring she needed to get away from the grief and wreckage of her home life. when she ran away, she needed money and she saw an opportunity: global auditions at zephyr entertainment held for over a month. she took the train with the scraps she stole for her dance team and caught several trains to south korea, where she would audition for the agency and be accepted.

STAGE NAME. LOLA

FULL NAME. LAUREN LEE

BIRTHDATE. MARCH 19, 1995

ZODIAC. PISCES

BIRTHPLACE. SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

HEIGHT. 157 cm — 5’2”

POSITION. MAIN DANCER, LEAD RAPPER

✧    ﹒     ♡       ⁺      ៹ oh hayoon was brought up in changwon, south korea, born to her paleontologist father and stockbroker mother on june 29, 1996. from a very early age, hayoon has known what she wanted to do—she wanted to be a star. hayoon loved to sing and perform, often starring in, and usually getting lead roles, her school’s theatre productions all throughout her youth. her parents supported her dreams to a decent amount, spending most of their paychecks on vocal and acting lessons for the girl. going into her pre-teen years, hayoon began to elevate her status from school plays to local but very professional theatre performances for all audiences. she then escalated to broadway, auditioning for her very first broadway musical at age fourteen and ultimately scoring. from here, things only seemed to look up for hayoon. she was viewed as a musical prodigy, exceeding in the vocal, acting, and even the piano department. going on to star in more broadway productions, hayoon’s name was circulating in the live theatre world. due to this, a scout from zephyr entertainment saw her and immediately attempted to recruit her. though she was hesitant to accept their offers, not sure she wanted to leave the world of acting to pursue idol life, but zephyr proved to be relentless and eventually, she would sign an exclusive contract with the agency.

STAGE NAME. HAYOON

FULL NAME. OH HAYOON

BIRTHDATE. JUNE 29, 1996

ZODIAC. CANCER

BIRTHPLACE. CHANGWON, SOUTH KOREA

HEIGHT. 167 cm — 5’6”

POSITION. LEAD VOCAL, LEAD DANCER

✧    ﹒     ♡       ⁺      ៹ born in buri ram, thailand on july 27, 1997 but raised in los angeles, california, mali hongsakul practically had a guitar glued to her hands all her life. she was always singing and always playing that guitar. she started  writing songs in her bedroom before she was even double digits, and began recording them from her room on a camcorder, either filmed by her father or her sister. mali started displaying her talents for  the world to see when she uploaded the videos to youtube, where she would gain a small following from youth who found her lyrics relatable and her ‘home video’— so-called aesthetic— appealing. with the support of her father, she would go on to audition for a plethora of record labels and talent agencies. after a few failed attempts, she finally chanced on zephyr entertainment, who were in awe of ‘the star power she possessed at such a young age’ a direct quote from ceo jung aeri.

STAGE NAME. MALI

FULL NAME. MALI HONGSAKUL

BIRTHDATE. JULY 27 1997

ZODIAC. LEO

BIRTHPLACE. BURI RAM, THAILAND

HEIGHT. 172 cm — 5’8”

POSITION. MAIN RAPPER, LEAD VOCAL, MAKNAE

[romaniacs]

✿﹒ ⁎˚ SILVER SPRINGS ... A KIM NARI STORY

featured. kim nari, addy kim

summary. you will never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you.

warnings. pregnancy, forced abortion and depression related to it, arguing, strong language, let me know if i missed anything!

word count. 1.9K

Addy and Maya haven’t really been on good terms for awhile now. Since that last fuck up where she kicked him out and he had to go stay at Hayden’s, she’s been giving him the cold shoulder. She’s always made him sleep in the doghouse when he messed up before, but something about this time was different. He couldn’t let her sleep it off, and he couldn’t sweet talk his way back into her good graces. She barely even said anything to him when they did see each other. Whatever they had going on at the moment was purely business, it felt. He would never admit it to anyone but it was killing Addy.

Now, at first, Maya wouldn’t let Addy see Kaia. She knew he was crashing at his side pieces’ houses so she refused to let her be around his mistresses. She told him that unless he got his own place again, he could never get her daughter. She was incredibly protective over Kaia. Kaia gave her life meaning. She could never let Addy taint her precious girl. Because of this law, though, Addy needed to get back on his own two feet again. So he did the first thing he could think of: asking Zephyr to give him his apartment in the company penthouse back.

When he moved in with Maya, he gave up his old apartment, figuring he wouldn’t be needing it anymore, considering he was practically—what he called—“a married man.” Maya never failed to bring that up in arguments, often countering it with “you sure don’t act like it.”

Fortunately enough for him, the process was easy. Zephyr let him back in with less backlash than expected. But he’s sure it had to do with some sort of pity, the way Aeri looked at him with sympathetic eyes in her office. Though the sympathy felt a tad bit more like: “You’re pathetic,” than “I’m sorry.” She must’ve figured he didn’t have anything else going for him in his personal life, might as well let him have his kid. Aeri knew everyone’s situations, though she never brought it up, to them at least.

But of course, him moving back meant that he could start seeing Kaia again. Him and Maya came to an agreement of co-parenting; Addy gets Kaia some days while Maya gets her most days. And today was one of Addy’s days.

Addy slips on Kaia’s skirt, fixing her cute little pink outfit. He sits her white slip-on shoes in front of her, prompting her to put her feet in, which she does one by one. He then buckles the small, classy shoe up. “You look so cute,” he marvels, his tone barely above a whisper as he grins at the small girl.

“There you go, princess,” he coos, giving her a tender kiss on the cheek. She giggles sweetly, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. Suddenly, a knock can be heard at the door. Addy picks Kaia up with a swiftness, heading to the front door. He opens it up, freezing immediately when he’s face to face with the guest.

A girl with long, jet black hair, paled skin, and a smaller stature. She freezes just as he does, her eyes widened with a sense of dejection. No matter how much time passed, he would never be able to forget her.

“Nari,” he finally is able to voice.

She feels almost immediately nauseous when she sees him. He stands there with his daughter sitting comfortably on his side. Only then does she realize how hard seeing him again was going to be. She thought she was finally ready to face him but she’s not sure she was. It’s been years, she thought she should be able to stop being a coward and stop living in fear. She clearly bit off more than she could chew.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—” her voice comes out feeble, but is interrupted by Addy.

“No, no, come in,” he invites, stepping aside to allow her to enter. Hesitantly, she makes her way inside. He makes his way over to the couch. “Uh, you can sit here.”

She nods nervously, sitting at the very edge of the couch, practically closing into herself. He puts Kaia down, “how about you go in the room and wait for Daddy? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay!” Kaia obliges, her little legs running to his bedroom.

Nari bites down harshly at his gentle voice. She’s never really heard him speak so softly since…ever. It’s a bittersweet thing to see him change so much. She forever wonders why he couldn’t change for her.

“Do you want anything? We’ve got water, coffee, a bag of chips?” Addy offers.

Nari figured that she could use some caffeine to coax the feelings she has rising up inside of her, boiling ready to pour out of her. “Coffee is good.”

He takes note of her request, quickly making a beeline to his kitchen.

Nari’s feet are tingling, her mouth dry. Suddenly, she hears the pitter-patter of little feet coming from his room and into the living room again. There Kaia stands right in front of her.

“Hi!” She waves, miniscule hands perched on Nari’s knees.

“Hey,” Nari softly responds, waving back at the little girl.

“What’s your name?” Kaia queries.

“My name’s Nari,” she says.

“Nari…My name’s Kaia,” her grin is endearing.

“That’s a cute name,” Nari isn’t completely sure why her voice is so shaky right now. It scares even her when it plays in her own ears. She starts to feel the corners of her eyes dampen.

“Are you okay?” The little one asks.

“Yeah, I’m—I’m okay,” her throat tightens.

And before Nari can process anything, small arms are pulling her into a hug. The solicitude is daunting yet eerily comforting. There is a warmth that radiates from her that makes everything all too real for her. She isn’t ready for this. The buildup of liquid collecting at the bottom of her eyes spills over when she blinks. She pulls the girl closer.

In her arms is what could have been. She stares at what almost was, she grieves what could have been, what will not be, and what she couldn’t save.

“Are you good with milk instead of creamer?” Addy calls out.

Kaia pulls away, a startled expression wiping over her face at the sound of her fathers voice. She makes a sneaky face before grinning, placing her finger over her mouth and letting out a “shh” sound and running off.

“Nari?” He calls out a second time. She’s stunned, having to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She quickly dabs the tears that had fallen away with her pointer finger.

“Y-Yeah?” She stammers.

“We ran out of creamer so I had to use milk instead of creamer,” he pauses, “I was just asking if that was alright.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine.”

He hands her the mug, “I still remember how you like it.”

Nari takes a sip of the coffee, stifling a wince when its flavor hits her tongue. This was, in fact, not how she likes it. It’s actually so bad that she wants to spit it in his face and yell out all types of words—none of them in the Bible. But instead of making this interaction any more awkward than it already has to be, she chooses to say nothing.

She harshly swallows the drink, hoping that if she holds her breath after it’s gone down, it could coax the bitter after taste. It doesn’t.

The atomosphere is thick between the two of them, each giving each other sparing glances from either side of the couch.

“Look, I know things ended badly between us,” Addy finally says, a hearty sigh following, carefully thinking of his next words. “I mean, the last time we saw each other, some things were said and some feelings were hurt and—and I wish things could’ve been different.”

“Yeah, me too,” is all Nari can voice for now.

“And I’m sorry for everything that happened…I was scared,” Addy apologizes.

“I was scared, too, Addy,” Nari postulates. “But you had the choice to run away, I didn’t. You sat there and you—you told me to do it like it was so easy.”

Addy bites at the inside of his cheek. He was bad at confrontation like this, when emotions were at an all-time high, flying around everywhere. It’s because he never knew the right things to say. He never knew how to be sensitive with people’s feelings; girls especially. He could say some pretty fucked up things. Things that never should even be uttered to a woman in the way that he did. An even more fucked up part about it was he didn’t realize what he said was wrong until he received a reaction.

“And I had to live with that decision for the rest of my life, while you just got to move on and be happy with everything…after everything,” she croaks.

“I know, I understand.”

“No, you don’t. You don’t understand, you will never understand,” Nari laments. “I lost my job, I lost my friends, I lost myself, I lost everything. You will never understand.”

She tries not to raise her voice, keeping in mind the kid in the next room. “Because you still have a beautiful daughter and you get to keep living your life, with your job and the mother of your child and you get to play ‘family.’ I wish it was you who was in my shoes so I could’ve seen what you would’ve done.”

“I’m sorry,” he mutters.

“I don’t need you to be sorry, I need you to know and to listen to me,” Nari pleads, tears streaming down her cheeks once again.

“And I want to know what was so wrong with me that you didn’t want this with me? Why couldn’t you just let me have that? I was losing my job anyway.”

“It wasn’t like that Nari, I just wasn’t ready,” Addy tries to reason.

“It’s always about you, Addy. What about me? You played with me,” Nari sobs.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen like that…I wanted us to work, things were just, uh, a lot back then. And I wish I didn’t lash out like that. I wish I didn’t do a lot of things back then,” Addy sucks in a sharp breath. “I was dumb and I’m sorry for the way I treated you. Shit got too real for me and I backed out.”

“You did, and you were a pussy. I got blacklisted and you didn’t even check up on me,” she notes. “That was your baby. You didn’t care because it was mine too.”

“I’m sorry.” The amount of times she’s heard him say that in this once sitting makes her feel physically ill. The air gets too much for her to breathe in, her chest feeling as though it’s going to collapse in on itself. She has to go, she has to get out of here before she breaks. She pants, her chest heaving up and down as it begs for conciliated air to inhale.

“I can’t do this anymore, I have to go,” she says, quickly collecting her things and heading to the door.

“Nari—” he calls out but she’s gone before he can say anything more.

Nari still mourns something she can never have, something she almost did but it slipped through her fingers. She thought she was over it, that she could finally face the thing that ruined her life. She knocked on his door, but her confidence fell short when she saw her grief embodied as human. She spotted all of the love she had but didn’t have a place to put in his features. Every crevice of him was riddled with what almost was.

Nari was not ready.

[pink-ttes]

ℐׅ 핑크 ─ THE PINKETTES COMEBACK

‘PINK THEORY : STRENGTH IN BEING SOFT’

‘NOMB’ TITLE TRACK - SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2023