#joonbinvld

[jiyongvld]

If you could splurge on one new piece of clothing, what would it be and why?

I don’t really need any new clothing, but if I could get any new item I’d probably get a pair of Louis Vuitton’s 1.1 Millionaires sunglasses in green. They’re so funky looking, which just makes me want them even more.

[kiwonvld]

How well do you deal with crowds and attention on you?

I’m not bothered by large crowds as long as they’re not very close to me. Attention wise, I’m not the biggest fan. I prefer to step back and let my fellow members take the spotlight.

[deoksuvld]

If you donated to a charity, which would you choose and why?

tw mention of abuse

“KWAC is very near and dear to my heart. No one deserves to be abused or mistreated. Although I don’t think they’re technically classified as a charity, the Korean Women's Associations United do fantastic work in helping victims and deserve a lot more assistance than they receive.”

[banditvld]

If there was one clothing brand you could work with, who would it be and why?

Are we talking luxury brand, or anything? I think if we’re talking high fashion, working with Alexander McQueen would be really something. I love their style. I would also like to give an honorable mention to Balenciaga’s 2020 Ready-To-Wear collection. For everyday wear, I think maybe someone small and local who would be open to collaborating more openly together.

[vldjasper]

What: Drinking Session with @joonbinvld​

Where: Blacklist, Itaewon

When: 11 PM, Weekend

     It seemed like those under Summit Media could not catch themselves a break. What was a hopeful July — being able to have a quick (what was termed as a) ‘vacation’ in Jeju Island — turned out to be a letdown for the rest of their month, and even the following month ahead. Hearing the news that you had to live elsewhere due to your dorm being flooded wasn’t the best thing to be greeted with once arriving in Seoul. It was a big bummer, only making them need to let loose again, and Jasper was determined to bring his mind elsewhere.

     Tagging a friend along, they’re sat under friendly dim florescent lights in a bar in Itaewon. “First round is on me.” He patted Joonbin on the back. The two were similar in age, but far in terms of their careers; even if they only had a 3 month gap between their debuts. But it didn’t matter, right now, they were two friends who wanted to have a good time. The waiter brings a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey to their table, and pours a shot for the two. Jasper sends a thanks to the waiter before raising his glass up. “Cheers.”, they clinked their glasses together, downing the whiskey into their systems.

[vldmoonsoo]

no good thing lasts forever. it was something moonsoo's eldest brother repeated often, something that rang loudly in his head as soon as he'd stepped off the plane in seoul and heard about the flooding in summit's dorms. at first, he hadn't thought much of it, the damage having been minimized but upon finding out that literally years worth of his notebooks had been destroyed, it had felt like he couldn't breathe.

of course, he did his best to hide that from his members, not needing to be asked twelve times (more like eleven) if he was okay. he'd mourn the loss on his own, feeling bitter and snippier than usual, as if the flooding had had a personal vendetta against him.

the whole situation left a sour taste in his mouth, leaving his tossing and turning and unable to sleep. finally biting the bullet and admitting to himself that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep, he went searching for his usual roommate, not caring what the other thought as vocal team leader laid down next to him. with a huff, he finally broke the silence. "i hate atlas, hyung." he complained, pushing his overgrown hair out of his face as if to see better in the dark room. "these beds aren't even comfortable. it's like they didn't even try." ( @joonbinvld​ )

[minkyuvld]

At first, he felt bad. Sneaking into Joonbin’s temporary bedroom, rifling through his belongings when nobody was around, looking for the one thing he knew was precious to the other. With it being tucked away so securely, he didn’t think his leader would notice it’s absence so soon. There was a noticeable shift in his energy, but the dancer had to refrain from saying anything, feigning nonchalance like he did every other day of his life. He couldn’t dare let on that he was actually attempting to do something nice.

Days passed and finally he had the photo back. It wasn’t the same as the original, it never would be with how damaged it was, but it was close enough. Once more you could make out the image of Joonbin and his sister, whereas before they looked like illegible blobs. It almost had looked like someone had cried on the image, causing the ink to run with the wetness and distort the sentimental snapshot. If his leader was a more emotional person, that may have happened before the flooding.

Quickly, he scribbled a note, the words sorry I took it scrawled out hurriedly on a post it before he stuck it to the top of the picture, knowing that Joon was out for the moment. Where? He had no idea, nor did he really care. All he knew was he had time to put it back, unseen by anyone else in their interim housing. Leaving it in the middle of his desk, he exited the room as if absolutely nothing had happened, going back scrolling social media aimlessly on his phone, draped across the couch in the living area. @joonbinvld

[iseulvld]

What’s the next step in your career, solo or otherwise?

“currently, the next step is to debut, isn’t it? it’s hard to do anything else when i’m still a trainee. especially since summit didn’t show our faces for so long... not that it’s the company’s fault... actually, i know that there are things that i could do as a trainee to get attention for pristine, but since i’m still so unknown, would it be worth it? could i do it? i really don’t know. but i might start looking into stuff like that.”

[minkyuvld]

At first glace, it seemed to be fine.

ft. @joonbinvld

tws in the tags.

At first glance, it seemed to be fine. It had taken Minkyu days before he finally gained the courage to inspect the box delivered by Summit Media employees, the one filled with his belongings that ‘survived’ the bursting of pipes. Water could be forgiving, any clothes could be washed, most items salvageable as long as they weren’t left submerged for a lengthy amount of time, even cellphones these days weren’t vulnerable to a stray splash of water. The one item of sentimental value from his home that Minkyu had in his belongings, was the one thing he was sure he owned that could easily be destroyed by the element. Yet there it was, sitting on top of his folded clothes, books, and other various items inside the box haphazardly labelled Han Minkyu - TwentyTwenty.

At first glance, it seemed to be fine. With a closer inspection, it wasn’t.

Reaching into the box, from the moment he took out the watch that once belonged to his father, the weight of the object in the palm of his hand already felt off. The leather that made up the wrist strap was stiff and hard, and it was even starting to smell. All it took was a quick, gentle shake, and he knew he didn’t need to open it up to recognise that, while at first glance it seemed to be fine, water had made it’s way inside the trinket, rendering it useless.

The time permanently showing on the face was thirteen minutes past nine. It was morbid in a way, having your time of death largely written across your face after your passing.

Minkyu wasn’t like most of the other twentytwenty members, there weren’t pictures of his family and friends stuck to his wall beside his bed, or inside a diary or photo frame for him to use as comfort when he was feeling low. If he ever did, it was likely it would only serve to make him feel worse. For the most part, he chooses to forget that part of his life even exists. The one and only thing he had chosen to hold onto from his home was this watch. If anything, it’s more of a reminder of his family name, and of him being the only child his parents have. An item that reminded the idol that without him, his parents have nothing to for their legacy fall back on once they’re no longer breathing. 

It would serve them well to remember that at times. 

Usually, such a thing wouldn’t seem to phase Minkyu nearly as much as this did today, but it was safe to say the past fortnight had been exhausting. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. By the time he was subject to the news of his father’s watch, he was already at the end of his tether, ready to snap if he was pulled just a little more in the wrong direction. This facade Minkyu held -- the one that showed him to be harsh and invulnerable, made of steel and ready for whatever Summit Media threw at him -- was cracking. At first the things that were bothering him had seemed petty, the idol daring to be upset about a ‘free’ vacation in exchange for a few selfies and maybe a short vlog here and there. Everything that happened since had only heightened how irritable he was already feeling, each new inconvenience adding to the unstable concoction that was brewing inside a man that was a self proclaimed workaholic, merely waiting for the last catalyst to be thrown in so it would explode.

At first glance, he seemed to be fine. With a closer inspection, he was breaking.

While Minkyu’s parents had never physically hurt him, choosing rather to emotionally taunt, tease, and scold him instead, one of the ways they had kept him in line growing up was the looming threat of it. Or, the threat of something bad happening if he was to step out of line. Fortunately for him he’d never had to find out what that threat really meant. Which now means there’s an element of wondering about what truly will happen if he’s ever really to disappoint them. Being named the performance leader instead of the leader of twentytwenty is one thing. Breaking a family heirloom that had been passed down for who even knows how many generations was another. The idol felt sick to his stomach.

At some point during his internal panic, Minkyu hadn’t noticed his leader’s looming presence, watching him as he inspected the contents of the box in his lap. He’d known days ago that Joonbin had lost plenty that was important to him, too. Perhaps that’s why he chose to take a seat on the floor next to him, instead of simply leaving and pretending he hadn’t been there at all. It would have been easy enough to do. There was no way the older of the two would voluntarily, physically comfort him, which could be considered almost comical if you really knew their relationship. But, his quiet support was somehow a consolation in its own way.

“Uh, no... I didn’t salvage anything that mattered.” Minkyu muttered with a quiet sniff after several moments of silence, his voice barely above a mumble as he stared down at the watch still held in his hands. It was a reference to the other day when the two of them had previously spoken, when Joonbin had asked about his belongings from their dorm. At the time he had no real answer for his leader's question, and part of him wished that was still the case. The performance leader didn’t bother going into detail about the item was holding. While he didn’t care to waste his breath, he knew at the end of the day it wouldn’t matter anyway, it would still be broken. 

Carelessly, Minkyu threw the watch into the box of his remaining things, getting to his feet and closing the top as best he could before kicking it under the bunk bed he was temporarily calling his own. All it took was seconds for the classic Kyuu facade to return, only this time the mask didn’t seem to be as much of a snug, perfect fit. “I have a practice room booked.” He didn’t. “I’ll see you later.” 

At first glance, he seemed to be fine. If you knew Minkyu at all, he wasn’t.

[minkyuvld]

minkyu oppa’s birthday vlive

ft. @vldmoonsoo, @joonbinvld mentions of. @gyuminvld, @vldmars, @vldhyuck

Everything was set up just for him. A table and a chair in one of the Summit Media dance studios, a wall decorated with balloons spelling out MINKYU in large letters, completed with streamers from twentytwenty’s staff. There was a cream cake decorated with various fruits on a table that was only to be eaten by him ( unless he decided otherwise ), ready to celebrate his birthday. In the years since debuting with his group, the dancer had come to dislike birthdays less and less. When he was still at home, they seemed like an excuse for his parents to give backhanded compliments and criticism, hidden behind expensive gifts. Now, he had people to celebrate with. Thousands of them. Even if those people could only see him through a screen and he couldn’t see them at all.

Instantly as the live was finally turned on, the flood of PS started pouring in. The chat was filled with heart emojis, OMG HI!!! I love you, and of course Happy Birthday!! It was hard not to smile, knowing there had been people waiting for him to go live all day. He knew this especially because he’d been watching twentytwenty’s mentions on twitter and instagram, and through the day in between birthday wishes ( and even edits ), there had been people asking when he was going to come and say hello. Who was he if not The Nation’s Boyfriend? Of course he was going to. They knew him well.

“Hello my lovely PS!” Is how he started, short and sweet with a bright smile across his features and a double handed wave. The camera had a good view of the table in front of him, and his decorations behind. Comments continued rolling in about how nice it looked, how handsome he looked, and how yummy the cake looked. “Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I have been reading them all. Thank you so much. I have been well, I’ve had a good day. I hope you all have, too.”

Immediately, he began reading some more of the comments ( as many as he could with more and more people joining the chat ). “Who gave me the cake? Ahhh, this cake is from the staff here. I had a cake with my team last night, too. It was delicious.” Pausing, he licked over his lips, intently watching the screen and reading comments regarding him eating well before continuing. “What did I get for my birthday? Ohh I got many nice things. You mean from twentytwenty? They have all wished me a happy birthday. Like always, Gyumin was the first at midnight.” The dancer smiled as he thought about how excited the younger always was to celebrate others. It was a trait that caused him to feel fond for his group member. “Hyuck hasn’t gifted me anything for my birthday, shocking right?” Minkyu faked a teasing gasp, letting the chat speculate on his words for a few moments before continuing. “He’s promised to cook a delicious meal for tonight after the live, making it specially for me. If the others members are nice to me I might share it with them.”

Pausing, the performance leader winked at the camera while he continued reading. Still, he had to consider something else another team member had done for him, regardless of how... Tense their relationship had been as of late. “Mars actually gifted me something really nice. He uh, he ordered me this stuffed bear online... I wish I had it with me so I could show you, but he had an outfit made for it similar to the one from our Aju Nice music video, like the ones we wore with the suspenders...” Minkyu had to pause once more, smiling and biting at the skin at the corner of his lip before continuing. His trademark habit PS would know well. “If you squeeze it, it sings one of my lines. Like a voice recording. I thought it was very creative. The group is joking that he ordered two and is keeping one for himself to sleep with.”

More comments began pouring in about MARS BEST BOY, and right now, it’s not something Minkyu could disagree with. Regardless of their prior argument, he had put thought and effort into getting the performance leader something nice for his birthday. “I also was given a very pretty shirt from our fearless leader, Joonbin, and Moon-” Almost as if they’d been summoned when he spoke their names, Kyuu looked up and behind the camera, noticing the mentioned members subtly attempting to enter the room. Although, Joonbin was trying to motion in a way that explained he wasn’t actually here. Furrowing his own brow, the dancer watched his leader get onto his hands and knees, as if he was crawling and staying low to avoid the camera. Moonie on the other hand didn’t seem to be bothered. The dancer wasn’t sure if they’d come to ‘join’ his live together, but either way they both seemed to have very different ideas of how they wanted to be featured.

“Here is Moonie, just who I was going to talk about-” As he was finishing his sentence, he was cut off by the slightly older group member rushing into the frame, wrapping his arms around Kyuu’s shoulder and planting a big, dramatic kiss to his cheek with a smack sound and a loud HAPPY BIRTHDAY! No doubt it was purely showmanship for the reaction of PS watching, and it definitely threw him off. “Yahh! I’ve had my makeup done~” Kyuu complained in a whine, noting Moonsoo had simply wandered in bare faced. Right now, he couldn’t imagine doing so himself, not with their filming of One Fine Day during the week. He couldn’t push the other member away though, not while the fans could see him. Instead, he pat gently where he’d been kissed, looking into the screen of the smart phone to make sure he hadn’t wiped off any of his foundation. “Since you’re here, I was just going to show off the watch you bought me.”  Holding his arm up to the camera where the watch settled around his wrist, the one he’d just inspected his cheek with, he held his hand behind it ( almost like an influencer ) so those watching could see the gift he’d been given.

While all of this was happening, a stray hand belonging to their leader had appeared in the bottom screen, blindly reaching with a fork it seemed he’d prepared earlier in an attempt to take some of Minkyu’s cake. Cake he himself, hadn’t had a chance to taste. With his member still draped over his shoulders, it was all he could do to slide the cake away from the stray utensil, slapping at the hand gently. If he wasn’t on camera, he knew the cake would be gone, and there’s every possibility his own hands would have been slapped twice as hard in return. Still, he was going to take the opportunity while he could to act a bit cheekier than usual towards Joonbin. “I haven’t even had any yet, I would kindly share if simply you said please~” It was obvious he was speaking to Joonbin under the table, even though PS watching in their homes didn’t know it was Joon trying to steal the cake. Of course, comments of WHO IS THAT??? could be read, if he were paying attention.

Keeping one eye on the hand that still was attempting to help it’s self to some cake, the performance leader wrapped an arm around Moonsoo who was dramatically wrapped around him like a cat as he tried to continue with the live. “What did you wish for when you blew out your candles yesterday? Ahhh, definitely not this.” Clearly, he was referring to Moonsoo where he seemed far too comfortable resting against him for his liking. “But if I tell you what I wished for, it won’t come true~”

After some poking, prodding, and playful pulling of his ears from Moonie, eventually the twentytwenty member became bored and announced he was leaving, placing a tender kiss to the top of Minkyu’s head ( once again, for PS’ benefit and not Minkyu’s ) before doing so. In that time, the birthday boy had almost forgotten about the man still huddled under the table, that is, until he finally went to take a bite of his own cake, and was met with a fork trying to do the same.

Rolling his eyes ( fondly, for the camera ), he pushed his birthday cake towards Joonbin’s fork, helping him out with a piece before taking his own, humming out with how delicious it was. “You know, I think PS would prefer it if you came out and said hello.” Instead, he was met with a peace sign that could be seen on the live, Minkyu unable to help the laugh that spilled from his lips as he pulled the cake away from him again. “Okay, you don’t get any more cake unless you come out, then.” They both knew the performance leader wouldn’t finish it himself, and at least three quarters would be left to the other boys and even the staff when the live was over. However, he knew PS enjoyed him being on their side, wanting them to see other members who don’t host lives as often as Kyuu does.

Finally turning his attention back to the chat on his screen, he took a strawberry from the top of his cake with some of the frosting, eating them while he read some more comments from his fans. “The silver hair looks so good on you, oppa! Ahhh, thank you. I’ve never dyed my hair and I wanted to try something different. I’m glad you like it.” Bowing his head, he smiled and finished his bite before continuing. “Someone should have bought lip balm for Kyuu’s birthday so he stops biting his lips... I do have lip balm! I put it on at night time, biting my lips is a habit. I don’t realize I’m doing it most of the time.” As if it were planned, he sucked his lower lip into his mouth, the motion of him chewing on his skin obvious. Maybe that one was on purpose. He did love to give fan service, after all.

The next twenty or so minutes were filled with Kyuu quietly playing some of his favorite songs on his phone, singing along sweetly, and talking to PS. He couldn’t explain the warm feeling he had in the pit of his stomach when staff were signalling it was almost time for him to wrap up, but he always felt it when he was able to spend time with fans. It’s like was he was born to do it.

“Oppa did you enjoy your birthday?” Reading the question out loud caused Minkyu to think. Should he be honest with PS? “You know, I haven’t always liked birthdays... But since joining twentytwenty and debuting, PS have made it very special for me every year. I...” Trailing off, he inhaled through his nose, not really sure what he was feeling. It was quite bittersweet that his family was the reason he didn’t like birthdays, but these people on the other side of the screen had made him feel otherwise about it. He could even go as far to say he liked birthdays because of his members, too. “I did enjoy my birthday, and I have you all to thank very much for it. I spend a long time reading comments and messages from you all, and even though I can’t always reply, please know I see them. I appreciate every one of them.” Bringing a hand up to his lips, he blew a kiss to the camera, followed by a finger heart. Minkyu wasn’t sure if he’d ever really have the words to describe how much the support of PS meant to him. “I do have to go. Like I said before, have a delicious dinner waiting for me. Thank you for your kind comments and birthday wishes. I hope you all have a good night. I love you~”

With the final sign off, Minkyu gave one last wave and kiss to PS before he leaned forward, turning off the live. Slumping back into his seat, he signalled to staff that he needed a minute before he headed back to the dorm. Occasions such as this only pushed Kyuu to work harder, and he only hoped PS could see that. It’s all for them.