hi all! since my hiatus is up i’d really love to get some NEW threads going for yiren 💕 open events too!
yiren was a child actor, grew up in seattle, but currently works as a food delivery girl! she’s a KNUA student studying contemporary dance, and currently takes classes at sunshine studio (where taeminrk sometimes teaches!)
i’ll write the starter, so please like this to plot, leave a song title for a random starter, or find me in ims or discord! orion#5399 !
[ STARBRIGHT Callback - Sphere ] + Doja Cat - Say So - [reference video :10 - 1:00]
Receiving a callback, for the most part, is genuinely unexpected. There’s a part of Yiren always doubting, always making sure to check her own ego, her own confidence before her head gets too big. She has a lot going for her, but only in some circumstances. (Realistically, what idol scouting company would choose to issue a callback to someone who could only dance and look cute? Yet, who wouldn’t?) While experienced in some areas, she’s completely inept at others, and the notion that a company, that Sphere saw some sort of potential to teach her, is exciting.
But her heart deflates when she’s told she has to show two skills. Two skills of what? ‘Ah... Okay. Yes’ she responded at the time, while her stomach was tying itself into knots at the fact that her audition has been blown before she even set foot in a door, in a parking lot.
Yiren is known to rush into things, caught up in details and tripping herself up and somehow, usually, at least, managing to pull it off. She’s been taught better, that’s not the problem, the problem, per say, is her eagerness- always at battle with a yet unidentified force that reminds her to tone it down just a little, like her parents would remind her when a young Yiren was the only one in hallways, much like the starbright casting one, bouncing off of the walls.
“It really depends on how badly you want it, Ren,” her mother tells her when Yiren shares the news. “You’ll find a way to show them you if it means that much.” Ever the cryptic one, her mom does little to help solve the problem, and Yiren hardly manages to sleep with her brain buzzing, playing out each scenario until the pull of sleep ends up too much.
When she arrives, Yiren is fully researched in the history of Sphere, the boys of Convex, their controversies, and the newly debuted girls of Heartz. It’s kind of a quaint company, and she wonders if the seemingly nurturing environment spoken about is actually real. Even though she doesn’t want to get her hopes up, the more research Yiren has done, the more she’s fallen in love with that she thinks the company stands for- even if they’re known for vocalists, and auditioning Yiren, with zero singing skill, doesn’t make much sense. But she’s calmer now, collected once she realized a plan, and rehearsed it as long as she possibly could, on and off camera, and with her parents playing as coaches.
When she’s directed into the small studio she takes a moment to let her eyes roam, taking in the environment as well as the tense energy emanating in the air; Then there’s the panel, and there’s Baek Jiyoung herself, and even though Yiren has had solos for the dance company and university, her confidence wavers as she walks to the x marked for her on the floor.
“Hello!” She bows, smiling cheerfully, as probably her most memorized word of Korean falls from her lips. Yiren straightens, strikes a pose reminiscent of the ones that she was directed to do for headshots as a child, and continues, in mandarin. “I am,” another pose, turning to give her best angle and picking the least ominous table member to glance at, “Wang Yiren!” She grins, though it’s mostly to stifle back laughter that she still hadn’t managed to suppress even after practicing this part alone twenty times. Regaining her composure, she speaks again, though this time in English. Her first best skill, she figured, would be enough to count as a ‘second’, cute and multilingual. “Thank you for auditioning me!”
With another bow, she takes a few steps back, one breath, mentally putting herself into the proper placement for the small piece of choreography that she’s chosen. It’s not exactly her comfort zone, but not out of her skill level either, an easy beat that’s happy and and encourages Yiren to get out of her head a bit more than she would have with any other choice. (And only a minute, the biggest struggle was that, being used to much longer time limits.)
Yiren is everything but nervous hearing of an open casting. Although mostly tedious, they were her favorite kinds of casting when she was younger, and knowing Starbright’s reputation for casting into the bigger five companies, it was an opportunity not to be missed- even if it ended up being good only for practice.
So she drags Ian; not really, she thinks, but the nerves that do begin to creep up on her while they wait in line dissipate when he teases about a sign to support her, and nerves are replaced with butterflies as she stands on tiptoes to try and see further down the line, squeezing his hand for support.
She’s excited and it’s evident in the way that she bounces from one foot to another, chats about possibilities at a mile a minute and takes photos of Ian and selfies together for things to do- anything to pass the time. It’s easier not auditioning alone, and even though they’re separated at the door, Yiren taking her packet to fill out and glancing back worriedly at Ian as he’s stopped, she’s soon whisked away and caught up in the liveliness and buzz of it all, sitting and diligently filling out forms that she hasn’t really filled out since she was a kid.
When she’s halfway through her own form, her hand hovers over other skills, and Ian sits beside her as relief washes over. While his presence is noticed, she doesn’t stop long enough to wonder why he’s in here with her, filling the same form. Gladly, she helps with his answers, translating the more challenging conjugations or words for him and supplying answers- good looking! she teases, when it comes to other talents on Ian’s page. It’s true, and even though it’s a lighthearted jest, Yiren knows well enough that it is an asset.
It doesn’t take long after she turns in her forms that her name is called, separated again but this time shuffled into the interview room, familiar territory. She’s nervous, maybe a little evident in the way that she laughs, giggles when one of the techs fumbles with placing her properly for the camera test, but it’s effortless. Testing done, she sits, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from her skirt and resting her hands on her lap in picture of perfect politeness.
Why do you want to be an idol?
“Ah, I’ve kind of dreamed of one since I was little and I saw brave girls!” She beams, “I didn’t really know that you could be a member of a kpop group and not be korean, and it was really inspiring to me.”
Which skill are you the best at? What do you think you still need to improve on?
“I’m the best at dancing,” she nods, confirming exactly what she put on her form. “I’ve trained most of my life in contemporary dance, and just recently started learning hip hop to vary my style.” Yiren pauses to think of an answer for the rest of the question, “I think.. to be an idol I need to sing or rap.. I can sing a little but I’m not really great since I’ve never focused on it. But I’m willing to work on it!”
Who are your biggest influences?
“My mom,” she answers with ease, “she works in a... male dominated career, and she’s done really well and become a respected editor. But if I had to name others, I think I’d say Yeri-unnie, of eclipse!” Yiren beams, “she’s always been very kind and is a really great idol and I’d like to be as good as her one day.”
What is the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome so far?
Yiren laughs, “the language! I’ve worked really hard even before moving here to be fluent, and I’m not there yet, but I think I’m getting better every day.”
What’s your family like?
This question perplexes her a little, brows creasing ever so slightly from the surprise of the question, and she hesitates. “It’s small,” she begins, “but very supportive. My parents have always pushed me to be the best version of myself that I can be, and to excel at what I choose to do.”
If you weren’t trying to be an idol, what would you be doing right now?
“I’d still be studying! I think I would audition for dance companies, or try to go back into acting. Something that puts me on a stage,” she grins, teasing, “It suits me, right?”
// ( ★ ) STAR BRIGHT CASTING AUDITIONS ‘20 : ENTRY APPLICATION FORM !
FULL NAME: Wang, Renee Yiren
AGE: 20
BIRTHDAY: December 29, 1999
GENDER: Female
HEIGHT: 163
WEIGHT: 42
BIRTHPLACE: Seattle, WA, USA
CITY OF RESIDENCE: mapo-gu
PREVIOUS MUSICAL EXPERIENCE:
KNUA student - contemporary dance major
mbc dance contest
speakup workshops - freestyle hiphop & contemporary hiphop
FAMILY RELATIONS:
mother: zhang lily - editor at woongjin thinkbig co.
father: wang jian - corporate investor
SPECIAL SKILL: dance
OTHER TALENTS: child actor, tiktok famous (unverfied but stands at 19.2k followers)
( ✗ ) Move the symbol between the parentheses if you agree to the terms listed by the audition guidelines and also agree to be present during the official dates of the STAR BRIGHT casting ‘20 auditions.
“yeah, easy,” he returns jovially, unable to help the slight smile that starts to grace his lips even though he is meant to be keeping his face still for the process, a perfect canvas, “my eyes are already big, if you give me a smoky eye, i might look like a raccoon and scare all the kids waiting in line for ice cream. actually,” he adds, with a small chuckle bringing out the faintest hint of a dimple, “on second thought, maybe you should give me a smoky eye.”
then he is still again, even through the tickle of a brush against his eyelids. her touch is gentle, as he would expect, and soft. he can feel the pad of her hand resting against the top of his cheek as she applies shadow to his lids, and it makes his own cheeks warm with the same peachy pink color of the powder she paints there. it’s a reminder of how close she is to him, how, if he were to open his eyes in this moment that he’d see her face even that much more up close. he doesn’t dare, wary of getting an eyeful of powder, but also afraid of turning into an incoherent mess the way he had the first time he asked her on an unnamed date.
his parents may not have agreed to his attending the event so easily if they’d know he’d be sitting in a workshop getting his face painted by a girl he is unofficially dating; it breaks so many of their rules for him, ticks every box of the distractions they don’t want him focusing on, in case they might impede his progress in dance. but every day he thinks, more and more often, that if they met her, if they knew her, maybe they’d approve of her after all.
“tinted moisturizer?” he repeats, tumbling the phrase around in his brain until he recalls the mention of it in the short instructional lecture from the beginning of the workshop, “ah, bb cream,” he declares confidently, still careful not to open his eyes or move his face around too much, before beginning to doubt himself, “right?”
“does it have ‘spf’?” he inquires, playfully, quoting the lesson in a high-pitched impression of the instructor’s voice, “is it gonna make my face all soft?”
“if i give you a smokey eye though, then i’ll have look at it for the rest of the day,” yiren giggles as she teases him in return. “you’ll make kids think that you’re a tall raccoon monster.” the silence they fall into between conversation and laughter is easy, and though yiren isn’t an expert (yet) by any means, she doesn’t intend to let ian leave the room looking like some of the other workshop attendees. she knows that she does well enough to avoid that, at least.
it gives her a chance to focus on him though, the silence does, allows her to study features that she never would have noticed had the workshop not put them together, given them such a chance to be close, an excuse for it. ian is sweet, and certainly not lacking in the looks department, her mom would tease her. it never mattered much to yiren, moreso the quiet beauty that he possessed during classes, and then how hard he worked to learn different styles outside of university. sure, she adored him from the start, but as they spend more time together, more grows aside from that, and she finds that she always looks forward to the chance to share his company.
the way ian mulls over her words is funny, including how he tries not to open his eyes or make too many facial expressions, and she stifles another laugh, brushing a fluffy brush just across his nose for only a moment. “bb cream.” she nods in confirmation, only for her laughter to spill out anyway at the way that he says spf and mimics the instructor. “ah, your skin is already so soft, we can’t make it too soft, then it might go away or something.”
he mumbles the request softly, with a suppressed chuckle and eyes fluttering open from where they were poised for a make up brush or the gentle touch of yiren’s fingers.
“the girls i dance with usually do my makeup for performances. i’m a very experienced canvas,” he does chuckle this time, shifting in his seat and shutting his eyes again, “i get squirmy about the eye stuff though, i don’t know how you guys do it every day.”
loquacious as always, ian can feel his heart rate still betraying his feelings for yiren with a certain quickness. it feels a little bit like the world is in their favor for this day, for these few days, even. spring is light and flowery in the air, like something out of a comic book; university is treating him with all the busy, unforgiving independence university can, and though he doesn’t sleep nearly as much as he should, he is full and happy with dance, freedom, sunshine, food, education, and now, the butterflies he still gets in his stomach when yiren smiles at him.
they’ll get ice cream after this, when there’s a break between their accidentally-on-purpose matching workshops, he promised, regardless of how his face turns out after this cosmetics workshop. he’s looking forward to it with a sort of nervous schoolboy excitement; hopefully she gets something on a cone - he’s looking forward to holding her free hand.
“ooh, what’s that?” he inquires cheerfully, eyes still dutifully shut as he anticipates the application of product on his skin, catching a waft of something berries-and-cream sweet, “it smells good.”
“easy?” yiren questions with teasing response, and her amused smile only furthers how much she’s enjoying the workshop, and ian’s company. she already learned a lot from it, and even though it’s only the middle of the workshop, it already feels like there’s the anticipatory hum of energetic people, waiting to be released so they can apply what they’ve learned in the privacy of their homes.
still, yiren plans on staying the whole time, and was more than pleased to find out ian was too. she laughs, giggles even, as he tells her of his experiences with makeup so far, and colors her own cheeks with a rosy blush when his eyes open for only the slightest of moments, adding to the swirling in her stomach. “it’s just practice, i guess,” she replies, carefully patting a peachy nude color onto his eyelids with the gentlest of touch.
she looks forward to the plans after their workshop more than anything, though. maybe it’s a date, the kind of date that neither of them actually call a date, but yiren finds herself enjoying ian’s company more than anyone else’s lately, and the way that she feels when he’s around him. she’s sure that her mom would tease her about puppy love and ask when the wedding was (no, she’d respond, though her cheeks would be as red as tomatoes and she’d try to change the subject- it’s not so fun to think about futures like that when everything is so new, yiren thinks, not when new feels so nice.)
ian’s question pulls her from her thoughts, and from the added ones of how nice his skin is, how tiny his pores are and how she kind of wishes she had eyelashes as gorgeous as his, and she pauses in her ministrations to look at the label again. “ah, tinted moisturizer,” she smiles again, holding it just under his nose. “it’s really nice, isn’t it?”
the sound of realization catches her attention, as sana has already forgotten about her previous worry over being recognized. the mention of voting instantly has her heart skipping a beat, though, and she looks away from yiren, humming a bit in response to give herself time to come up with something to say.
“it’s nice to meet you too!” she says with a smile, and she honestly means it – she even appreciates the subtlety yiren seems to be approaching the subject with. “and thank you so much; that means a lot to me.” after a pause during which they search in vain for a way to get closer to the booth, sana adds, “we went thrifting during the mgas. remember the instruction performance? the team and i thrifted to find the outfits we wore. this reminds me a lot of that – the cameras didn’t come with us, so it was a nice time away from the show for a bit.”
even though yiren is listening to sana, her main focus is on finding a way through the people. it wasn’t a big deal or anything, but frustrating when yiren could so clearly see that many were just lingering and not actually purchasing. she stomps her foot in frustration, a little childish, before reaching for sana’s hand and pulling her with her. perhaps a little forward given their stranger status, but yiren didn’t have patience to wait for someone to decide to move of their own accord.
“here unnie, there’s a clear space this way,” and there is, just beyond a group of three who stand conveniently blocking most of the entry. “and the dresses were here earlier too!” she grins, satisfied with her somewhat victory. “i don’t thrift shop very frequently, but people just hanging around are annoying,” yiren smiles, somewhat apologetically, “sorry for just pulling you, i didn’t want to lose the chance.”
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