#rkmay19eval

[rkseongmin]

may 2019 evaluation | trc entertainment      triple threat heo hyunjoon 

song choice ;  tooice - fancilicious  dance choice ; tooice - fancilicious 

it’s his first evaluation.

he has now been a trc trainee for a little over a month and its still all very surreal for him. to think a month ago he was just getting use to it all, just getting over the shock of winning a competition. when he hadn’t even really thought he would get anything. it’s so weird to think about sometimes. but he can’t say he isn’t happy. that he hasn’t enjoyed it.

the last month was hard. between getting use to his new schedule of a trainee and trying to balance that with school and homework as well as trying to keep a social life of some kind. eventually just realizing that his social life was now trainee life too. 

he’s just glad hyojeong got signed too. that the two of them can keep in contact and hang out easily still. especially with nova’s building being closer to home. it’s nice. 

over all, getting use to training wasn’t too difficult. dancing was similar to orion practices which he had been doing for over a year. as well as just dancing with hyojeong in general, the two of them spending at least one day in the week locked away in a studio for hours on end. and being in sopa meant he had been getting use to practicing over performance skills. so the only difference was how intense trc training can be.

there’s a reason the company is the hardest to get into. 

for his evaluation he had chosen a popular song by a popular group. a girl group, as is his specialty. even as a busker he was known for being able to cover girl group songs better than he does boy group ones generally. 

the idea to do fancilicious had come to mind because it had also been the next dance he wanted to learn to busk. so he figured he could get it done now. 

거기 너 I fancy you 아무나 원하지 않아 Hey, I love you (Love ya) 그래 너 I fancy you 꿈처럼 행복해도 돼 'Cause I need you (What?) Fancy you 누가 먼저 좋아하면 어때 Fancy you 지금 너에게로 갈래 Fancy

his muse for this evaluation--this being the first meaning he really has no idea how its going to go or what they wanted from him--had been a very adorable boy who lately has been on hyunjoons mind more often than not. 

ever since they had that sleepover together where hyunjoon had ended up giving dongju his spare ds and animal crossing game, the teen has been unable to get dongju out of his mind. though he supposes it’s not bad to be thinking on him so much. but it does make hyunjoon a little frustrated because he just doesn’t know what to do about the feelings he so obviously has.

how he fancies dongju. 

매일매일 난 정말 아무것도 못하네 oh my Mayday 이러다 큰일 낼 것 같은데 Bang bang 머리가 홀린 듯 reset이 돼 어쩌면 좋아 이게 맞는건지 몰라 S.O.S Swim swim 너란 바다에 잠수함이 돼 매일이 birthday 달콤해 너와 나의 fantasy Dream dream 마치 꿈같아 볼 꼬집어봐 요즘 나의 상태 메세진 랄랄라 baby

he’s glad he had gone with fancilicious of all the tooice songs he knows or wants to know. it’s still cute as is the theme of most of their songs. but this one isn’t as cutesy as like what is love or even likely. which he had also considered. and while hyunjoon has done cute songs before ( his fans always lose it when he does them, which normally gets them good tips ) he didn’t want to give an overly cute impression to the instructors in trc. 

heo hyunjoon is not cute. and he really doesn’t want anyone to think that way.

he’s the triple threat of the hardest company to get in, they need to see that he has skills--and ever expanding on those skills--and the right image. the right style. to fit into this company. he can’t be known as the one who is cute. but he doesn’t mind them knowing he can do cute dances. and cute performances.

though he did do a rather cool performance for the competition stage so maybe this would help show more sides of him. regardless.

he chose this song, and he went full out in expression and cute moves. 

거기 너 I fancy you 아무나 원하지 않아 Hey, I love you (Love ya) 그래 너 I fancy you 꿈처럼 행복해도 돼 'Cause I need you (What?) Fancy you 누가 먼저 좋아하면 어때 Fancy you 지금 너에게로 갈래 Fancy

[rkjoohyvn]

↠ * may 2019 evaluations ,                                         ♥«´¨`•°.. » the heroine of a movie may be like an angel ! »                  ¸.•* but the bad girl next to her is more attractive `*•.

the cold, steely gazes of the coaches does nothing to help her nerves, but she'd never expect sympathy from them anyway.

she'd spent the last few weeks perfecting her moves and and trained herself to make absolutely sure her voice is completely stable while she dances, and those are two things she's absolutely confident about, it's the third piece of the puzzle that worries her.

the vocals and the choreography and and of themselves are not exactly the most difficult in the world. there aren't any vocal gymnastics to worry about, and a lot of the dance moves are contained to one spot, repeating often. but the hard part comes in being able to carry herself with the same confidence and charisma that katie lee herself did when the song came out. she was absolutely spell-binding, commanding attention at all times, never once losing the interest of whoever might be watching.

that's the kind of stage presence she aspires to achieve, and that's what she has to pull off in order for this evaluation to go over well.

in order to do that, she'd pulled inspiration right out of beyonce's book. she recalled reading an interview in which the diva explains her alter ego, how it's another form of herself, allowing her to take on an entirely different persona than who she actually is off stage. and while momo can always hope to be this seductive, confident, charismatic person everyone wants to be or be with, she knows deep down who she really is.

so she creates an alter ego of her own. scarlett is fierce and strong and confident and sensual, and unapologetic about all of it, but most important of all, she's fearless. she has no reservations, no anxiety, yearns for no one's approval but her own, an idealized version of katie lee.

and she's absolutely freeing.

it's easier to act a part than she realized, and seeing life through another person's eyes, performing as a different person is an exhilarating experience. in this persona, she doesn't have to worry about perfection, doesn't have to worry about hitting each move with exact precision, doesn't have to worry about hitting each note exactly right. she's there to have fun, to show personality, to take command of a stage. and, if she may say so herself, she's doing a damn good job of doing it.

the ending of her performance comes far too soon, yet she also can't help but feel relief once it is. she walks out of the room with scarlett still on tow. initially, she'd only planned on keeping her around for this one evaluation, but after having experienced what it's like firsthand, she thinks she's going to keep her around.

miss scarlett seems to have her uses.

[rkrosememories]

♡ MAY EVALUATION, 19! performing ⇢ don’t know what to do, by blackpink ( solo ) “don’t know what to do, i don’t know what to do without you.”

this evaluation seemed somewhat straight forward, more so easily done. all rose had to do was pick a song with moderate choreography, learn it and sing it live in front of the trainers. she feels confident, considering the luck she’s had these past few months with her evaluations, be they evaluations she actually enjoys or ones where she’s gotten to work with people, that or they’ve just gone well in general. if rose can do one thing well, it’s sing; it’s an instrument and it’s her own weapon. although she may not be the greatest dancer, she knows she’s got singing in her ballpark. singing is her thing. luckily for rose, she doesn’t have to spend too long pondering on what song she’s going to pick for this evaluation, she’s got one in mind. 

as time progressed, rose saw herself becoming more and more idol appropriate material. she often looks back, wondering if seo jisub saw that potential in her on the day she won the kt and royal contest, guitar in her clutch. she showed no true star potential, other than the fact that she could obviously sing and play guitar. in two years, she’s been given ample opportunity to polish the skills she knows and does well, all while learning to do things she hadn’t been able to do before or do well. dancing is one of those things. the only dancing rose ever did was in the club and well, those days are very much beyond her. it’s strange for rose to see the change in herself; she never perceived herself becoming this person. she never saw herself wanting to change and grow in this light. it’s strange to her that she’s happier like this. that this feels right.

her month is divided up equally, firstly she learns each and every word of the song, perfecting it before then moving on to the routine. it’s not an overly hard routine, she admits that. rose knows she could of probably gone for something a bit more challenging but she couldn’t resist not doing this song for this challenge. it’s a bit more forward of a routine for a song like such, but it’s feminine and emotive and that’s what rose feels is right. the last two weeks of the month, leading up to the evaluation are spent in the dance studio; rose singing aloud whilst moving to the beat of the song, synching her movements up to the sound of her voice. albeit, it’s messy at first but come the final few days; it’s as though this song was somehow made for her.

rose turns up to royal entertainment on the day of the actual evaluation in all white, blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail. she looks shiny and new, no scuffs on her sneakers, no marks on her crop top or her white denim jeans. rose looks like a mistake waiting to happen but she thankfully remembered some other clothes she could change into afterward; they wouldn’t stay white for the entire day. she knew that much from experience. after being given the green light to enter the dance studio, she bows and speaks with the trainers briefly, answering their queries before she is asked if she’s ready to perform. she throws them a thumbs up, getting into starting position, standing upright; looking directly at them. her glare though is delicate.

her movements are sharp, yet soft. rose had to adjust the choreography to accommodate her dancing alone, as the original was meant for a quartet. she knows that without others around her, the depth element of the routine is lost. but with sacrifice, comes good. rose gracefully slides down into the splits, the choreography calling for ground work. initially, she believed it to be difficult to get the words out and keep herself sounding clear, but rose succeeds, sounding loud, keeping her cool and remaining professional. amidst the routine, she almost wishes she had given herself a challenge, but she knows there will be a time and a place for that.

the lead up to the chorus has the beat of the song picks up, a perfect opportunity for a crowd to clap along. the movements continue to be sharp, although departing from soft and flowy. the chorus is jarring to first time listeners, although rose continues to dance, her voice is powerful, emotive. i don’t know what to do without you. rose thinks back to a time when she would of heavily related to this song; when there were certain people she couldn’t be without. and to think that many have come and gone, things have happened and she’s overcome change, to think that she would still be here by the end of it all; standing, strong and happier than ever.

the song continues to call for sharp, powerful movements; still with that element of grace and femininity, it’s only as the song bridges it’s end that the soft, delicate moments overpower the stronger ones, leading the song out, rose’s voice softens, as does her expression. she finishes the routine on a good note, posed. one day, she’ll be standing on stage surrounded by her fellow members, sharing the spotlight. once upon a time, she couldn’t see herself as anything but a solo artist but sometimes, it gets lonely and it’s taken her too long to realize. 

[rkjisoo]

                                               * ·  . MAY 2019 EVALUATIONS  .  * ─    song: save me, save you by wjsn ( reference )   ✰.

it does not take much of a genius to figure out that if it were not for her singing, she would have long been shredded to pieces by this very industry she had decided to be a part of.

it was not her dramatic attributes speaking, for it was a fact written on stones and stars. it is her singing that continues to keep her afloat because heaven knows she is not exactly thriving in her dancing abilities. she is grateful that mostly every performance they are tasked with every month requires adequate singing skills of some sort, as each one gives her something to be proud to show. this month is definitely one of them.

having been a theatre aficionado since her youth means she’s a professional when it comes to performing live for an audience. at twenty-three, it already comes without pressure. the only difference this time around is that she has to sing live with difficult choreography - something she has never quite achieved yet in all her glory days of musical theatre. she supposes that this is where her one year and almost a half of being an idol trainee comes in, though, for she does not feel the nerve-wrecking performance day anxieties as she would once have.

although truth be told, her confidence in herself makes it hard for her to remember when she has ever been frozen with the jitters.

her time comes and she enters the room with an air of certainty. the hard days were over and her absolute exhaustion had come and gone. while she feels somewhat a little out of step still with her normal energy levels having not yet returned, she knew she could do well with was given to her this day. dressed in lace and girly frills, she bows at the coaches before moving to position. they wasted no time and as soon as she music starts, her body moves as if on autopilot.

save me, save you is fast paced song and one that kicks off with a dance portion at the very beginning. her arms are flying about in a graceful manner, hair moving as quickly as she shifts from one position to another. it was hard having to match her arm movements with that of her foot but by the very least she manages and with that, she starts singing. 

jisoo sings with the confidence of a vocalist - her voice melodically loud and clear. it is never quite an easy task performing something that is meant to be shared with nine other people but she knows she’s capable of doing a fantastic job handling all the singing parts. it is something that she makes sure her coaches know, her voice steady with each verse and despite following intricate choreography.

the chorus is undoubtedly her favorite part. the corners of her mouth lifts up in a small smile once it starts and it is evident that she is enjoying what she’s performing. it seems as though she can forget the tiring process it took her in exchange for nearly four minutes of performance bliss.

it comforts her greatly knowing that she seems to be doing a stellar job. while her dancing is not perfectly on point, she knew it could pass expectations for a non-dancer like herself. jisoo also stopped singing during the rapping parts because she could never quite bring herself to do them. in her defense, she’s just playing it safe. beyond those little drawbacks, her singing is what she’s most proud of; how it managed to be wonderfully stable despite all the dancing makes her heart swell. it makes her think about how far she’s come and how well she has improved. it makes her thing about the future possibilities - whether it be on this type of stage or for the one that her heart calls out for. it is safe to say that she’s looking out for both.

in a few seconds, she reaches the climax of the song. she sings the high note with ease, a sense of satisfaction weaving its way into her system and manifesting itself in the manner that she dances. a confident flair merges with her movements and she wraps up the performance with a glint behind her eyes.

this performance shows that even though she is not quite fully sold on the notion of being an idol, she was not as opposed to it as she once was. hopefully, her thoughts and feelings on the matter would not change as quickly as the realization came. there has already been an outpour of dedication on her part this far into her career only for her to go back to where she started.

[rkseonho]

as i do

@rkhyojeong rkmay19eval 

seeking out noh hyojeong is typically a bad idea for him to do but yet that is exactly what he finds himself doing one afternoon. see he has come to realize with her new status of being a trainee that makes him her sunbae and if there’s one thing he loves. 

it’s one upping noh hyojeong. 

he finds her in a empty studio--well empty save for her--and there’s already a dumb smirk on his face as he opens the door and leans against the frame with one hand still holding the door open and the other resting on his hip. “well well well, noh hyojeong.” he starts, for some reason wanting to come off as some kind of evil villain right now. “since you’re a trainee now, that makes me your sunbae.” cue the lame sounding chuckles as he lets the door close after stepping fully into the studio. both hands coming to rest on his hips now. “and as sunbae it’s only right of me to help you with this months eval.” dramatic, he raises his hands as if to say please silence. “i know i know, how kind of me.” 

[yutark]

— welcome to the real world

@changminxrk​

New trainees in TRC was the equivalent of rain in the desert and the whispers travelled quickly through the company. Yuta knew some of the other trainees went out of their way to produce gifts of welcome and to introduce themselves as soon as possible. That was not his style. He preferred to let fate decide when he would cross paths with them, play hard to get, let his reputation proceed him. Eventually they would have to meet one another. It’d been over a week since the evaluation had been announced, leaving most of the trainee’s settling in to work on the songs they had picked and perfecting their performances. Yuta already had a handful lined up that he was going to test out. It’d given him something to do when he was stuck waiting to perform as a backup dancer for K.ARMA’s debut. 

He had been blessed with the chance to skip out on the joint vocal and gym sessions that everyone else had had to deal with for the first week of May. But that meant he had to make up for it once he was back.

Yuta was headed for the usual training room that he liked to practice in when he had to work on solo performances. There had been no expectation to hear music when he pulled open the door, faltering when he was met with the sound and blinking at the sight of the unfamiliar trainee that was currently in his room. His hand clasped on the edge of the door frame, holding open the door as he studied the younger male that was working hard on something. It was an impulsive decision to enter in further, clearing his throat loudly and standing up taller than he typically. “Who are you and what are you doing in my practice room?” Yuta asked over the music, crossing his arms; he imagined that’s what a ‘scary sunbae’ would do. He just wanted to see how the younger would react. “Is that what you’re doing for evaluations? Start it over and show me.”

[memoriesofyccjungrk]

déjà vu – ;

a closed may19eval starter for @rknvna

it wasn’t really a surprise to yoojung when more than just the winner of the triple threat challenge would get signed. even without getting texts from several of her friends that they’d gotten signed to different companies through the challenge, yoojung was smart enough to realize that there were always scouts at those sorts of events. she even knew people who were scouted at a halloween event, not even a performance. yoojung’s not stupid. so she’s not surprised to see a handful of new faces when she walks into the cafeteria that morning.

she’s a little surprised that, this time around, she recognizes one of them. while she knows her friends have been signed, but she’s well aware they’re in other companies and they’ll most likely only see one another at seocho. but to see someone she actually knew get signed into royal was surprising – especially since she hadn’t seen that particular face in some time.

“ hey stranger, ” yoojung greets, stepping up beside nana with a smile. “ it’s been a while. who would’ve thought we’d meet again because you got signed. ” she chuckles, stretching out her arms behind her back. “ how have you been ? ” she asks, quirking her head to one side. after all, it had been quite some time since they’d last seen one another, and yoojung can’t help but be curious what her unnie had been up to. the two weren’t particularly close before, but that didn’t stop yoojung from wanting to know. she liked nana, and now they were trainees under the same company – she couldn’t help but want to actually get to know her this time around.

[rkseungjoon]

                   “   ♔  ┊   TRC MAY EVALUATION

                                                                now playing › MY HOUSE  by 2PM                                                                                      › 0:00-3:12

he wasn't sure how to put it lightly but: what the heck.

after signing the contract to become a trainee, seungjoon had to stop and think about what a trainee actually did. he imagined the long hours of practice ( probably ) and most likely classes by professionals on do's and don't's on singing and dancing and, god, he hoped he wasn't pushed to rap. that was about it. if you working on eventually becoming an idol, then that's what idols did.

no one bothered to actually take his hand and tell him each thing he'd actually have to do. waking up early was far from something he would suffer about. staying up late was something always part of his daily life up to now, be it when he was studying to graduate, or working after graduation. now, he left everything he ever knew behind to become a trainee, something he wasn't even sure what it was all about. and now he has to go to the gym for three hours straight at six in the morning every weekday. then, at the end of the month, he needed a performance ready and loaded to show his coaches what he got when, actually, he felt like he wasn't getting anything more than muscle pain.

so, singing and dancing at the same time. perfect! both things that he wasn't actually used to. still, a realistic thing to ask from trainees. this was what he should have expected, so seungjoon didn't give himself the right to complain. this is it, bitch. he thought to himself. it's do or die in this terrible world and sometimes doing is dancing and dying is actually dying. he couldn't afford to leave another job behind. he had a family to raise which entailed seungjoon himself and his deflated ego.

those who met him at any point that was sometime after the middle of the previews year had probably met a very confidence version of seungjoon who wasn't afraid to compliment himself at any given time. after that point, he was about the same, except his words weren't as true as they used to be. it was tougher now that he had to prove himself in a place he had never been to and to practice something he had never done before. whining was for the weak, and he could do it when he was alone at home instead of in front of all those people.

he had less time to prepare something than the other trainees. he was signed after the start of the month, so apparently, he was lucky to miss the most intense week of work they ever had, but also an entire week of what could ( probably ) have been the time he wasted suffering and debating each of his life choices. the first few days he has nothing to show, no songs picks or even the start of an idea. during vocal practice, he's made to make simple exercises to pick up the pace and try to learn something. for dancing, he's thought the basic moves anyone should know, and then he wonders if maybe choosing a song with those exact movements would be to his advantage or not. after the class is done he thinks maybe no such thing actually exists.

eventually, he starts to ask other people what they had already picked to find the essence of what was behind a good song choice. seungjoon often ignored any new releases from idol groups, so trying to find something that fit his style was hard to do. ends up only listening to female soloists wasn't that great of a thing when things came to that.

the man eventually hears a recommendation of an older group that he may like, and seungjoon starts his research to some good results. some of their first few songs are too hard for him to sing, and he realizes that from the get-go. it only takes him a little longer to find something that feels about perfect.

his practice sessions get a bit more orientation, and he gets to start working on his final choice. turns out that spending an entire day practicing actually gets you somewhere. that somewhere maybe is the realization that he didn't have to do an entire song, but only a minute and a half of it. it's too late now and he sort of just needs to deal with it.

[rkhongjoong]

▫︎ ▪︎  ━   heavy lifting .

the thing about getting new trainees is that hongjoong can sometimes see where they’re pushing themselves much harder than they should be.  especially within their first few weeks  -  they’re more liable to burn out faster if they don’t pace themselves.  it’s a little exhausting to watch, especially because he knows that the industry has a tendency to push their trainees to these extremes.  it’s true that hard work does pay off, but he still doesn’t think that health should be what’s sacrificed.  there’s too many horror stories about what former trainees have gone through in order to get to debut.

he doesn’t want this new boy to have a horror story.  it’s a little painful watching him struggle, especially during the heavy training at the beginning of the month.  hongjoong hasn’t been having as difficult of a time with it, but again  -  he’s been training for going on two whole years.  this boy has been barely here a week.

letting out a sigh, he puts down his weights with a light thump, making his way over to the newer trainee’s side.  “ hey.  you know, you’re going to throw out your back if you keep going at it like that  -”

▫︎ ▪︎  ━     <     @rkdowoon     >

[rkshion]

let’s play forever, i just wanna be your dog  —

                                                                                         #rkmay19eval — cat & dog by TXT                                                                                may 31st, 2019: MONTHLY EVALUATION                                                                                                                                ( 0:00-1:36 )

it’d be foolish to think minseok wouldn’t like this song solely by its title. then, after listening to it and checking out the lyrics, it’d be only more foolish not to think the boy would absolutely fall in love with it.

minseok was a lover and carer of cats, as it could be seen by the examples of the way he cared for his own cat, mea. his social media was mostly her; the one person he thought about when he was away for training was her - which means it was actually a cat and not a person. the boy treated her like she was his real, actual baby, and he wouldn't want it any other way. maybe more cats, but that could be a bit over the board.

it was a bit of a tougher job trying to find a song he would be able to perform confidently. minseok knew his strengths, and the boy also knew his many weaknesses. as much as his lungs managed not to frail in the middle of performances, minseok was also not the most talented when it came to singing, so as much as he would actually sing while dancing, it wouldn't be much to be impressed about.

this wasn't much of a problem when it came to group performances since he was used to getting fewer lines and very much preferred it. if other people had the skills to show, he'd much rather be a support then the main event. the coaches told him it had to be a solo, though. how many songs did he know that he could actually handle going through i without trouble? turns out, not too many.

most idols songs meant actually having strong vocals, unlike some haters liked to think of it. others had intense rap to follow along with it, and while minseok liked to keep his skills balanced, that didn't mean they were both the same and good. he couldn't go for something calmer because they simply had to dance and the boy wouldn't like to tone the one thing he felt good in down for the sake of singing. it had to be something with intricate choreography, but also manageable singing, and hopefully, high energy to keep him going even at the toughest times.

by the time he came to his solution, the boy felt a bit surprised that he hadn't thought of it earlier. it was a song he put on whenever and it always felt like the perfect pick. while the choreography was as intricate as he would have wanted it, the vocals were purposely calmer to fit the concept and, all at one, minseok started to like it even more.

he was excited to do well this time again and to prove a point maybe to the coaches, or maybe to himself, that he was worth something. that dancing wasn't all that he could do. maybe he wasn't the wonders of singing, the next great vocalist, but he didn't need to be, and he was sure royal knew that or else they would have never signed someone like him.

it was said that only a minute and a half would be enough, so he held onto that. it'd cut the song exactly before the rap verse, something he wasn't going to try to attempt. this was supposed o be him proving he was good enough, not that he was incredible. things would go one thing at a time, and eventually everything would go well, he was sure of it.

it's intense stepping onto the practice room for what's about to be his last evaluation performance in the soon-to-be 'old' building. it was the one he spent over a year inside, his second home. too much time was spent inside of there, practice and then practicing it all over again to make sure everything would end up just right. just by thinking about it he tells the coaches to give him a moment to get himself prepared, but he's mostly trying to calm himself down and all the nerves inside of him.

when he crouches down, imitating an animal, he nods for them to start the song. but was this really the start of the end? the boy hoped to see only bright things in his future. a bigger building meant bigger things, right? he knew he'd do well, and, in the future, do even better.

[rkxhyunjin]

♥ KT ENTERTAINMENT’S MAY EVALUATIONS: ERIC NAM - HONESTLY

In the grand scheme of things, Hyunjin still wasn't sure what he wanted to pursue following dancing.

Entering the MGAs he had initially prioritised rapping, but soon enough he was singing just about as often as he was rapping. Of course they were both very different skills. Rapping played with rhythmic enunciated syllables while singing narrowed in on technique and precise pitch - with the exception where 'artistic liberty' was taken for ad libbed runs and harmonisations. And to say Hyunjin preferred one over the other would be nothing more than a lie.

A closely kept secret tucked away in Hyunjin's heart was that on some days, he held what almost felt like complete indifference to both of the skills - always a little too caught up in dancing to passionately pursue one over the other.

May's evaluation comes with the tandem placement of singing and dancing, a skill Hyunjin has improved on since entering the company, but has yet to truly delve into beyond a beginning level. However, like their previous evaluation with the instrument of their choosing, Hyunjin pushes himself to focus in on his live singing - one week following the next, each spent dedicating what segments of training he could on live singing. When preparing for the MGAs he had run outside while singing, the sun barely brushing the sky as it glimpsed over the horizon to signal the oncoming day; and he finds himself attempting the method once again. If he can maintain vocal stability while running, then surely his stability while dancing would also increase.

Luckily for him, it does increase.

By the fourth week, not only has Hyunjin's vocal range broadened, but the shaking that had previously ailed his singing during especially jerking dance movements had begun to smooth out - only causing rare hiccups here and there in his singing as he practised.

Unfortunately, the improvement doesn't tilt the scales between rapping and singing in one direction or the other. Even after his newfound skill with singing, Hyunjin still finds himself unable to choose between the two. In his mind, dancing will always be first. It shows in the way his body still finds the fluidity of the physical movements of dancing faster than his throat can decide if he should be using his 'chest voice' or his 'head voice' while singing; faster than his tongue can decide how to form the next syllable in rap. Maybe that's simply a truth that Hyunjin will have to grapple with as he journeys forward.

Still, he feels like he should choose. As if each and every idol was a rapper or a singer - and ultimately, shouldn't he be like them too? (Although, maybe he doesn't want to choose. Just wants to enjoy what each of them individually has to offer).

The song he chooses for his evaluation carries an energetic beat that Hyunjin finds himself easily moving along to, and by the time he's adding the vocals on top, he finds a certain level of comfort in the increasingly effortless way the notes glide off his tongue. Higher notes are no longer awkwardly forced out on beat with his movements as he dances, and he holds (for once), an overall sense of accomplishment that he had managed to find comfort in a medium he never thought he would touch prior to the MGAs. Indeed, even now Hyunjin finds himself discovering new parts of his identity as an artist.

[rkseongmin]

helping hand

@yujinrk

having been here two weeks now, hyunjoon was rather clear on what it was he needed to get done by the end of the month. that did not a all mean it came to him easily. after the first week of may being absolutely hell training, things had mellowed out to the normal levels of hell that come with being a trc trainee. of course he has heard about how trc is the hardest company and even though he has no experience with any other company, he fully believes that. but putting together performances is something he’s done for a year with busking--and this is only one performance, it shouldn’t be that hard.  

maybe other’s didn’t think the same. “ah... sorry, is it okay i practice in here too?” hyunjoon spoke up as he entered the dance studio only to pause when he saw who was inside. “oh! yujin noona--wait you got into trc?” dense. hyunjoon paid no attention to anyone else at the triple threat challenge so he wouldn’t have known if she was there or not. he thinks, maybe she had a separate audition or something. maybe she’s always been a trainee. no wait, he should know that if she was. she wouldn’t have been in school as much. or maybe she had been just a weekend trainee... he’s so confused. 

[yujinrk]

MAY 2019 EVALUATION :: AHN YUJIN

[ song // new ]

it's yujin's first evaluation, and any sequence of words she could've strung together to describe her nervousness would've been an understatement.

with the sheer pressure on her shoulders, she ends up staying up late the night before just to finalize her performance. a bad choice, now that she thinks about it with bleary eyes and a stiff body, but hindsight is 20/20. it's nothing a quick stretch and wash of the face can't fix, but her brain feels fuzzy. at least it isn't too complicated of a dance to do in the general scheme of things, but her stamina can't exactly keep up with singing thrown into the mix. she isn't a singer, even if she's practiced for the TTC, and vocal lessons have yet to really help her improve. it's only been less than a month since she's started so it makes sense, but yujin still can't help but whine about the whole situation.

well, she has to do it anyway. no use in complaining about it. they'll know she's been training at least. it's been oddly fun to learn in a professional environment, actually having people point out her mistakes and correct them. before, she could only guess and go through trial-and-error to figure it out, but things have been moving so fast now that she hasn't even been able to keep track.

it's a good thing, though, since it's sufficiently distracted her from the hell-like schedule she's had to adapt to. even her mother had been worried for her sake, but yujin thinks it's an improvement from having to sit around in school all bored and feeling dumb. dancing has graced her life with a feeling of competence and made her realize just how fun performing could be. even before when she had acting jobs, they had all been for her mother's sake. not to say she hadn't enjoyed them anyway, but they weren't exactly her choice of activities.

so now, with a firm foot on the ground and a cool head on her shoulders, yujin steadies herself as the music begins.

the choreography starts off easy, which bodes well for yujin's overall stamina throughout the song. she focuses on singing for the most part, and lets the song carry her body through the basic moves. the dance isn't difficult by far, but keeping her voice stable and actually on-pitch while moving around proves more difficult than she had first imagined. good thing it's all she's been training the past few weeks, but that still doesn't help all too much. it's too soon for results, and yujin recognizes that.

as the song progresses and her energy drains, she opts to prioritize dance over singing for a bit, but eventually remembers the challenge had been to show off live singing. her chest hurts a little now and it's getting hard to breathe, but she carries on anyway. honestly, she probably sounds horrible, but at least she's getting it done.

the song ends and yujin manages to keep her expressions intact, controlling her breathing with deep inhales and exhales. her voice faltered at the end there for sure, but she tried her best. they probably won't expected too much out of a new trainee, right? not that it should be an excuse, but she needs something to justify her performance in her mind. she'll improve, she knows that.

[rkxeve]

down this road again ;

@rkluna

eve should be used to this by now. she should be used to the long days, the grueling lessons, the hard evals. but this week of constant live singing practice came out of nowhere, and despite eve’s relative comfort with singing live, after four days of this even more rigorous schedule she’s really feeling it. they’ve been keeping them late, and eve feels as though she can never eat enough food to really get full at meals -- she always leaves still hungry, but without any time to eat more. 

their independent study time is spent practicing, too, and she hardly notices when the door opens and luna enters, probably wondering if eve’s ready to head home yet -- it’s always more fun ( and probably safer ) to walk together than alone. eve stumbles a bit on a step of the choreography when she sees luna’s motion in the mirror, and she rights herself and looks around at her best friend, blinking her way through the dizziness and spots that appear in her vision. 

she opens her mouth to say something, and maybe luna’s said something too, but eve can’t hear her -- the sound of the song on the speakers and of luna’s voice is garbled in her ears, like she’s listening from underwater. eve stumbles forward the last few steps between her and her best friend, practically falling into her when her balance fails. “fuck,” she says, more on instinct than anything, and she’s surprised when she can’t get her voice to come out louder than a murmur. she struggles to right herself, using luna as an anchor and leaning her forehead on the other’s shoulder, blinking to try and clear the heavy blackness from her vision. 

[lmhwanwoong]

1 in a million

@rkrocky

After the news and with the whole being in two different companies, there was only one thing Jinwoo could do: run the Seocho complex thin in trying to locate Minhyuk the moment he stepped foot there. Granted he could simply just have texted him and asked where he was, but that would take away the surprise of the encounter. Plus the excitement and anticipation that was in it for Jinwoo was also driving him in his footsteps up and down hallways, in and out rooms.

Countless apologies for intruding on strangers later, he finally located the one he was looking for and immediately his face cracked into the biggest smile he had worn in a long time as he rose a hand. “Yo!” he called to catch Minhyuk’s attention and then pranced the rest of the way over to the other’s side. Holding up his hand for a fist bump, Jinwoo continued his greeting.

“You’re really here man. I mean I knew you’d be because you told me, but actually seeing you here feels so weird!” A heartfelt laugh escaped him. “How’re you hanging in there? What are you up to? How’s TRC?” his questions bombarded his friends only for Jinwoo to realise that Minhyuk probably needed time to adjust as he himself had needed back then. To think it had already been one and a half year. TIme really flied.

“No no, scratch that, I’m sorry,” he apologised, waving a hand before himself as if to wipe the board clean. “Is there anything you don’t understand that I can help you with? I know I had like at least a million questions myself when I got signed, and not knowing anyone was kind of hard. How about evaluations? Are you joining for this month?”

[ncbodyknows]

➟「運命」encountering fate。

@rkdowoon

One thing he simply had to get used to was new trainees coming every so often. With the buzz going on about two new Sphere people, it wasn’t surprising to believe that the same applied for other companies (after all he had heard about some big competition that had just been there, but Youngjae hadn’t paid it much attention). What he hadn’t anticipated however was for a familiar face to intrude upon his private practice in the room he had located especially so no one would judge his skill in dancing. Get the steps down first, get someone to correct it later, that was the plan.

In the mirror Youngjae’s glance fell at the figure that entered behind him, not actually expecting recognition, but finding it within the features of the other. And immediately a wince befell his face. He knew the guy and he couldn’t exactly say that their encounters thus far had been much pleasant, mainly thank to the other’s stubbornness and insistence on trying to insult him. How the fuck did they let a type like that into this place?

“I’m trying to train,” he pointed out shortly and coarsely, eye returning to his own figure in the mirror as he replayed the steps of the chorus through his body. “I don’t know how you got in here, but if you’re gonna start something I’m calling the guards to escort you out.”