iseullgc - Tumblr blog

[iseullgc]

easy charisma a team unknown starter for @lgcyoojoon

"honestly, i dunno what they want us to practice for this," iseul admits, glancing at yoojoon who's in the practice room with him. they had just finished their lessons on standing out on stage and he feels at a bit of a loss.

honestly, he doesn't know if he's ever really had a problem with something like this considering he's mostly a dancer, compared to any of the other skills he could showcase. he's only ever really had to focus on looking cool or whatever the song they were performing called for. he didn't mind cute either, so it's never really been a thought that crossed his mind.

"i know it's a sad ballad or whatever so don't we just ... have to look sad?" he asks, still trying to wrap his mind around what was happening. "but like ..." he twists his body around in a slightlyprovocative way, mostly to his own (and hopefully yoojoon's) amusement, pursing his lips and sticking out his butt.

"does this make me look sexy?"

[iseullgc]

he doesn't like the way rowon's expression changes when he turns to look at him. "why are you ..." he scrunches up his face, realizing what rowon is going to say maybe a split second before he says it.

"not you too," iseul frowns, though he can't even argue because ... it's not like they're wrong. or anything. he has his preferences and maybe he's obvious about them or something. who knows, honestly. maybe he just gives off that sort of energy.

whatever.

"you didn't have to say it like that though," he sighs, laying his head on the other's shoulder with a pout on his lips. "i mean ... i wanna say you're the opposite. to me. i dunno if i'm right though."

  assertive?

  bossy when he wants to be?

  rowon wants to argue there’s nothing wrong with that. sometimes he needs to lead them in a certain direction ( … away from mint chocolate fried chicken, and other creative fusions, for example ). but before he can fully launch into the if’s, but’s, and why’s, he stops mid-thought at iseul’s comment. his eyebrows shoot up.

  “you’re not?” he hasn’t asked about iseul’s … endeavours, mostly because he’s been under the assumption that iseul isn’t seeing anyone. but is he? is he? surely, he would know. surely, iseul would tell him. rowon decides not to ask – not now, at least – and ruminates, “you look like one.” a cheeky grin slips at that. “no offense.”

[iseullgc]

"it's not even really a meal," he says, laughing. "that will come later, since this is just ... a small snack," he replies, shaking his head. he continues with helping prep for the breakfast, not even really minding that this is the punishment. of course, he would have preferred to sleep a bit longer but it is what it is right?

he grins a little, shrugging and he goes back to prepping. it's not like it's a secret or anything, but he kinda just has fun bothering minki when he can. he's not going to deny that, honestly.

"do you want to guess?" iseul asks after a moment, beating some eggs for the rolled omelets he was planning on making. he doesn't remember what they had discussed but he does remember that he was in charge of a few things.

probably because he was confident in his cooking abilities.

"thank you," he says genuinely, feeling rather pleased that his food was being enjoyed and he definitely thinks his love language might be people enjoying his food. it's kinda nice, all things considered. "i've cooked for you so many times though," he says, amused.

shrugging, he glances over when he sees that minki has finished the small snack he had made for him. "i'm making rolled eggs, if that's a small hint?"

minki can't really do much but watch iseul cook. it wouldn't be fair if he helped iseul either, especially because his team already suffered a loss the other way. so he simply stays, idling about as he observes iseul. it's not a bad sight at all, iseul is enjoying himself and minki can tell. somehow, iseul feels like he belongs in the kitchen as much as he does on a stage or performing—it's just fitting. it's no secret that iseul is a good cook.

"don't be like that," minki half-whines, half-laughs. even though minki knows that iseul already finished preparing him something. the banter is fun though, so he keeps at it. "i think i deserve to have a snack. it'll give me an energy boost, especially because i can't go back to sleep." it's obvious that he's bullshitting his way through this.

despite all that, iseul still gave him a plate of something to eat. minki grabs a spoon, intent on not letting iseul's kindness go to waste. "thank you for the meal," he doesn't forget to express his attitude before putting a spoonful into his mouth. mink hums, eating what he has been graciously given in polite silence. not because he doesn't like it, but because minki was always taught not to speak with a mouthful.

after a few bites, minki turns to iseul, even if the other trainee is facing away. "it's good, you really have a knack for this." it's genuine, minki thinks it's obvious with how it doesn't take very long for him to finish his food. it's a snack, but still. "you know, a part of me is glad your team lost because it means you'd be cooking for us."

it's kind of funny how easily he finishes what iseul made for him. he hopes iseul takes that as a compliment. "you're not gonna give me a spoiler for what you have in mind for our actual breakfast?"

[iseullgc]

"do i look like a whiny pers—hey," he huffs, slapping his friend's arm at the correction rowon had made but he can't even be mad, if he's honest, because it's mostly true. he wouldn't consider him not whiny but at the same time ... "why are these fans reading me for filth? we haven't even debuted yet," iseul complains halfheartedly, putting down his phone where he had been traversing the new world of archiveofourown that he had learned of very recently.

it was a scary place, if he's honest.

"i wouldn't say you're aggressive ... more ... assertive?" iseul says, trying to think of how he wanted to word it and he grins afterwards. "like you're bossy when you wanna be?"

he picks his phone up again and he frowns, unable to decide whether he's happy he can read these fanfics in english or not. "i can't believe the small amount of wonseul writers think i'm a bottom."

RATED E FOR EVERYONE › @iseullgc

  his plan to fabricate fanservice at fancom had worked. a look here and a little skinship there was all that’s needed to get people talking … and writing.

  it starts – as it always does – innocently. a quick search of their names ( out of boredom, mind you ) returns a slew of mostly positive comments from netizens. but a deeper dive into the depths of the world wide web brings them to what looks to be a blogging platform. it’s here that they find an absolute goldmine.

  rowon is on page two of the wonseul tag when he notices a certain trend. “they make you so whiny.” he shifts closer to iseul to show him yet another piece of writing that has fictional iseul clinging to fictional rowon. “you’re not whiny.” a pause. “that whiny,” he clarifies. “and i’m always aggressive in these. i’m not aggressive, am i?”

  ( never mind the fact that he has a record of biting iseul’s shoulder, squishing his cheeks until they were bright red, and throwing him down and suffocating him when they were play fighting that one time – but it was just once! )

[iseullgc]

he's not sure if it's a good thing that he's so new to this whole life or whatever, but, while he had been a fan of kpop, he hadn't been an avid one so he didn't really know the different members of the groups. he had been generally a casual fan of the legacy groups and had only listened to title songs and whatever.

even now, he still only really did that, if he's honest.

so he missed everything that went down between nathan and type zero. honestly, he hadn't even known that the other trainee had been a former idol. or whatever. he's not too sure of what had happened, had only heard it briefly through the other trainees when they were resting between filming.

"mm?" iseul perks up when he's addressed, nodding to confirm that that is indeed him before he brightens slightly, glad to have something to do and someone to talk to.

"yeah, here, i'll show you where they are," he says, getting up from where he had been sitting and beckoning to the taller trainee. "it's this way!"

starter for : @iseullgc

context : trainee mission 016 (lgc variety show special), friday

today's been a weird day. like, really weird – like nathan doesn't even know the right words to describe how weird, weird.

when he was first a trainee, he'd probably eat this type of thing up – a variety show specially broadcasted to promote legacy's current trainees – but now, he's just embarrassed. embarrassed in front of the cameras, embarrassed to be considered a trainee again, but even more embarrassed by the literal on-screen comparison between him, an ex-type zero member, and the two remaining type zero members from his line-up.

and understandably, he's been avoiding them – parker and daeho – whenever possible. maybe this is what the producers want, this inevitable tension between them, but nathan's not up for playing their games. well, save for the games they're required to play.

"ah, excuse me," he calls to the nearest junior trainee he recognizes. "iseul, right? could you tell me where you all placed the bags of rice? i'm in charge of making it tonight, shockingly enough."

[iseullgc]

WOOYOUNG ❆ ATEEZ EMOTION INTERVIEW

[iseullgc]

part of him is amused that he's ended up here somehow. but he guesses, it was only a matter of time before he left his parents and that lifestyle behind.

what he hadn't expected, was to see so many people he knew within legacy? it's funny to say the least, and he's always amused when he sees another familiar face in the hallways. he never knows how long people have been here, considering he's only started about a year and a half ago, but it's still funny nonetheless.

who would've thought that legacy would have a bunch of rich kids running around their hallways?

there's one in particular that he keeps running into though—aside from the ones that are his friends, of course. he would consider him and rua friends, but they've been acquaintances for so long it would be rude to pretend he didn't know her, right?

"i was here first," iseul points out, raising his eyebrows like he was offended that she would accuse him of stealing from her. it wasn't like he knew that it was the exact drink that she wanted. he didn't even know any of her tastes, why would he—?

"maybe you should've been quicker since it was the last one," he adds, knowing he was just saying it purposely to get a reaction from her. somehow, this was always how their interactions ended up.

did he mind? not really. it was something fun (for him at least) outside of his otherwise relatively mundane day.

crossing fates ʚ♥ɞ

་ ⸼ ⸒ ✴ a closed starter for @iseullgc、

maybe part of rua should've known that she'd cross paths with someone she knew from before she was a trainee at legacy again, now that she is one, however it just wasn't something she thought about. after all, why would she? she was too busy doing her best to catch up and keep up with everyone when she first started and then she focused on improving to not be written off as just a rich girl just passing the time by thinking being an idol would be easy and fun. there was no time to think of other stuff; she could only keep moving forward and tunnel visioning on making things work here.

but here she is, crossing paths with iseul yet again. of course, this was always going to be a possibility with them both being trainees in the same company now, but there were tons of them - what are the chances that they keep running into each other? they weren't even on the same training schedules!

still, rua finds herself running into iseul often enough that it makes her think: even with all the connections made and acquaintances she's met over the years thanks to her family, the world is smaller than you realize and fate has a funny way of working out when you least expect it.

"not you again," she says instead of a normal greeting, her voice only slightly put out. rua doesn't hate iseul or anything but for whatever reason, they always end up bickering about something, usually trivial too. it could be easily avoided and even quicker to resolve and move on but even if she tries to not get into it, somehow she always does.

and this time? "there's no way you just bought the last sports drink," she accuses, voice partly in disbelief, as she glances from the vending machine the other has just retrieved a bottle from--the exact drink she was going to get--and back to iseul. how is it always him?

[iseullgc]

TRAINEE MISSION 016 / SOLO INTERVIEW (SATURDAY)

honestly, despite his complaints, he's been having a great time. maybe it's because he had grown up pampered and taken care of that this whole slumming it has been fun for him. it's a whole ass new experience, if anything, and iseul likes to think that he's a collector of new experiences, so to say.

call him a connoisseur of firsts if you will.

but today, not only did he go through a plethora of new experiences, he also got to do one of the things that he's best at: cooking. and he's never really been an early riser but today it almost felt like it was worth it. to be able to make breakfast for the other team, even if it was supposed to have been seen as a 'punishment'.

part of him wonders if he should do it more often—waking up early to make breakfast for his dormmates kind of sounds like a fun idea. when he's pulled into the interview room, those are the only thoughts on his mind and he's glad he's allowed to talk about them when he's asked what his favourite moment of the day.

"well, honestly? you would never hear me say this any other day, but i think waking up early to make food for the other team was probably it," he says, thinking about it. nothing else really stands out at this moment, even though the day had been a fun one.

"i would've gone into culinary probably, had i not become a trainee when i had, so being able to spend the morning doing one of the things i love was a really great experience for me," iseul explains, a bright smile spreading across his lips when he thinks about it. he loves dancing and performing, don't get him wrong, but sharing his love through cooking is great too.

"minki hyung came by even though his team won and he's allowed to sleep in," iseul says, rolling his eyes fondly. "that insomniac ... but he had something small of mine to eat, something i made up on the spot while i was making omelets and he enjoyed it so ... i was really happy."

the next question is about the challenges they had faced and he thinks about it for a while. perhaps he's going into this with too much of an open mind, but he didn't really feel like he had been challenged when it came to the games they played.

"i think i learned that i'm not a great artist," he comments, looking a little bit sheepish but still amused at the outcome of the game. "our team somehow won but i really thought we were gonna lose when we were drawing the movie characters. going forward, i'm going to leave that to the more ... artistically talented trainees."

it had been a good experience in general, but despite everything he said, he's pretty excited to be back in his own bed in the dorms. it's not the same as his bed at home in canada, but it's his and he misses it.

[iseullgc]

he can't help but find this quote unquote tour through the gardens and to the roses a bit odd. it's silent aside from the sounds of nature and the wind, as well as their footsteps on the path there. he wants to break the silence—considering that's one of the things that he's really good at—but he doesn't. it feels almost wrong to, or maybe he's just tired of being scolded.

not that he thought sujin would scold him, or anything. but the thought is there, nonetheless.

"oooooookay," he draws out the vowel sound and he moves towards the left bench, gently sitting down instead of plopping down like he wanted to. it's a nice bench, and he's not too concerned about preferences or whatever. it's his first time here, so it makes sense that sujin already had a bench he frequented.

"do you and your friend come to the garden often?" iseul asks, curious about said friend. he's genuinely inquiring, if only for something for them to talk about.

"the roses are gorgeous, by the way. i was expecting red though, if i'm honest," he adds on as an afterthought, tipping his head back slightly to gaze up at the pale flowers on the arch, admiring them obviously. "i don't think i've seen roses this colour before."

The Choi Iseul smiled. Very good. Sujin was clearly excelling at this social interaction. He gave himself a mental pat on the back before leading the way into the garden.

It was, of course, beautiful. They paid the gardeners well for a reason.

Normally, while giving a garden tour, a good host would be talking about all of the interesting points of observation with the guest. Sujin, however, stayed silent and just kept on walking until they reached a sitting area. It was his favorite place and where he hung out with his (1) friend during snack time and reading break.

Pale, apricot-pink roses climbed over a tall arch, sitting prettily over the wooden benches. "I only like the smell of roses when they are real." Sujin inhaled deeply. "Perfumes with artificial rose scent makes me sick."

Oh, and one important thing.

"You can sit here." He gestured to the bench on the left. "Because I always sit in this right one." It was part of his routine and he didn't like change.

But did he say that too harshly? Would it upset the guest?

After a moment of contemplation, Sujin decided to attempt at explaining himself. "There is nothing wrong with this left one though. It's nicer. I usually let my friend sit here."

[iseullgc]

"i'm planning to keep it up ... i want to be the king of parasocial relationships," he says proudly, though he'll be honest and admit he's not sure if that's a good title to have or not. he wants to act as delusional as some of the fans might, so that he could flirt freely. he had seen the posts some other idols did in bubble and other fan messaging apps, and he hopes to live up to that legacy.

he frowns slightly as he waits with baited breath, really not too sure about how minki is going to react to his words.

part of him wonders if he had taken it too far—but it was just an innocent pick-up line right? he's sure that his friend wouldn't take his words to heart or anything, not when he had practically been baited into it.

obviously, it was only a joke. but iseul is still curious about the other trainee's reaction anyway.

oh.

minki's reaction isn't something he would've expected, if he's honest. he really thought his friend would have laughed it off and shoved him away for being disgusting or something. his friends—if he could really call them that—back in vancouver would've reacted in that way. but ... this was ... nice. maybe showing affection to his friends wouldn't be so hard if they all reacted as genuinely as minki had.

"um ..." he hesitates for a moment, trying to find the right words to say what he wanted to say.

"it's kinda dramatic," he says instead, swallowing down the words he wanted to say and instead adding: "but hanging out with you does make me happy."

minki laughs, because the thought of iseul being so dedicated to the cause of fanservice is amusing. that's exactly the type of person iseul is though, so it's not anything surprising either. what can a good friend do? naturally the proper response is to support iseul in any way he can, including getting iseul some practice sessions and allowing the other to try his bits out on minki.

"if you don't keep it up after debut, i'm sure the fans you already have will be very disappointed." will they have pr classes every now and then? would the things iseul do be considered overboard if iseul does debut? he's not exactly sure, but it's not his responsbility to think about it either ( although he is slightly concerned ).

it takes a while for iseul to find something to say—or maybe iseul is just surprised minki agreed so easily. minki doesn't often hear pick-up lines, so whatever iseul decides to bring out will be fresh material to someone like minki. that's a good thing; that means iseul can easily win this in the bag. not that it was a competition in the first place, minki was genuinely curious after all.

and then the line drops, and minki is blinking for a few seconds there—processing. it is cheesy, but minki finds he doesn't mind it much. above all though, a genuine smile breaks out. he gently elbows iseul's side with another laugh, pleasantly.

"obviously, i don't know if you actually meant that or if you were just trying a line on me. but if you were being sincere, that would've made me happy too." and it's true—is there anything better than being a happy place for someone you care about? that's how minki sees it.

"thank you for that," minki says, meaning it completely. even if iseul ends up admitting it was a joke.

[iseullgc]

the reaction that he had gotten from the other is almost too good to be true. two could play at the game of silly insults, though he's not quite sure how he had ended up in this situation if he's honest.

fully, truly, unprovoked.

"so you admit you're having an off day?" iseul shoots back easily, looking rather pleased. like the cat who had gotten the cream, if you will. it's almost like misaki had walked right into a trap—if only iseul had set it purposely. he really hadn't, but he's enjoying how this conversation's direction is turning.

he crosses his arms over his chest, trying to look completely unbothered in the slightest because he has a feeling that might set the other trainee off even more.

"mind read?" iseul echoes, a little bit shell-shocked at the implication, as if that was even a possibility. but then he decides, in a split second, that it might be fun to go along. "maybe we did!"

misaki can't believe it, truly, he can't— him? suck? what a laugh! the younger is stunned beyond a doubt, brows somehow furrowing even more than they already had, mouth falling open as a gasp of his own violently rips through him, legs rooted firmly where he's stood as he stares at the older boy.

all is fair in war . . . until the enemy decides they want to fight back.

"you take that back right now!" the words leave him without a thought, expression still locked in as a hand lifts to point squarely in the middle of iseuls chest. "i'm so good at games, you wouldn't even know— i don't suck, it's just an off day!" sulky as ever, he no longer cares about the loss itself, not as much as he now cares about the horridly incorrect jab at his skills. silly and petty, misaki feels as though he must defend his honor ( despite being the one to throw the first stone . . . at probably one of the least undeserving people around ).

narrowing his eyes as his arms cross against his chest, lips smushed together in a pout, the smaller continues. "you all learned how to mind read, that's how you did it— that's the only explanation."

[iseullgc]

the yelp that he gets in return for his octopus-wrapping the other in blankets is very satisfying, he won't deny it.

despite being the shorter one of the two of them, he's also very determined when he wants to be, and currently he's very determined not to let haru out of the hold he has on him without a fight. it's kind of funny, and he wonders vaguely if this will make it onto the final cut of the show, considering he can see the cameraman at the door filming them. he's vaguely aware now that haru probably had some mission?

"but you're the perfect length for a body pillow," he replies with a laugh, now fully awake and in fight mode. he wraps his legs tighter around his friend's body, grinning widely.

"man ..." he sighs, though not relenting just yet, as if needing to think about it. "will you cuddle me after if you win?" he asks, grinning directly at the cameras, hoping the glint in his eye would show that he was determined to get said cuddles whether haru won or lost. "if you say yes, i'll let you go~"

haru can only grin, basically all-but-wickedly, as he watches iseul's reaction to his wake up call. it was almost comical how the other reacted so in a corner of haru's mind, he hopes it stays in the final cut of the episode because it would be entertaining - and then he can tease iseul about it later too.

he thinks he's won, anyways, and is about to gloat then tell the other to get up for good so they don't have to do chores, only to be immediately made immobile before he realizes what's going on. letting out a yelp, haru finds himself trapped in his friend's limbs which is kind of a feat on its own, considering he's way taller than the other. why can't he move?

"hey, let-- go!!" his voice raises to be heard but his words come out jumbled due to the laugh that won't stop as he struggles to be free of iseul's strangely secure hold; he even taps his friend's legs, hoping it'll get iseul to let go. "i might be younger but i'm the senior here! not your body pillow!!"

and just in case his protests still don't get across to the older, haru quickly adds on, "if you don't wake up soon and i lose, we're both going to need to do chores for the rest of the day!"

[iseullgc]

The babygirliest

[iseullgc]

he's peacefully slumbering away.

the events from the day before had been pretty fun, if he's honest. he's not really the type of person to be excited to wake up early but even he is looking forward to that, considering that they'll get to cook for the other team. and despite hating that they had lost, he does enjoy cooking so for him it's not too bad of a situation.

but he's tired from all the excitement of filming for his first ever show, only having really been in the background of things up until now and he had probably fallen asleep the moment that his head had touched the pillow once they were finished the late night chores.

considering he had lived a life of what most would consider luxury before becoming a trainee, he'll be the first to admit that he doesn't really do chores even if he tries his best to keep things tidy in the dorm when he can. but these chores on a farm? were much, much different.

he had considered setting an alarm, but had completely forgotten about it in the exhaustion from the night before. but, in hindsight, he didn't even have to worry about it.

in the recesses of his mind, even in his sleep, he feels someone approaching but because he's so tired, he doesn't react like he usually would until a heavy weight smacks into him and he's jerked immediately out of sleep, eyes flying open despite feeling gorggy.

"wha—?" he asks, blearily before his half-asleep brain processes it's haru on top of him and he immediately wraps his arms and legs around the other like an octopus.

upside down.

✦ a lgc variety show special starter for @iseullgc ! °˖ ✧ attempting to wake up the trainees.

when haru was told that he would also be given his own schedule while the older agito members were doing their own solo gigs, he didn't expect it to be as a team leader of sorts for a variety show special. he understood the expectations that came with this role, as he was probably being appointed as the one who should guide the trainees through what a variety show entails with it various activities, like what he's sure the staff have planned (based on his own knowledge and experience, he hopes he's right anyways).

but did he feel relieved by this, or even confident at first? not really but he's done enough shows himself to know he can pull this off... probably. he's never been someone who prefers being in this position, after all (that's also why he's glad jiho is their leader although he's very aware he was never an even possible contender for the position), but as a debuted and experienced idol of what is soon to be almost three years (four if you count his lgc boys days), he knows he should be - which is kind of pressuring. well, very pressuring if he's being honest but he forces himself to not dwell on it much at the moment thanks to the hustle and bustle of filming something so large scaled like this special. plus, after the first two days they've had of filming, he'll admit he has grown more used to things by now; still a bit nervous but for the most part, he think he's doing okay.

whether other people think so and agree though, is another story - but one he doesn't need to consider right now, not when he's been tasked with waking up as many trainees as possible if he wants to skip out on the remaining chores they have left. so he does the only thing that comes to mind when he's hyped up on adrenaline and rare competitiveness despite barely being awake himself: flopping onto iseul's laying, snoozing, body in bed and yelling loudly, "CHO ISEUL!! TIME TO WAKE UP OR YOU'LL MISS BREAKFAST!!!!" hopefully it not only drags his friend from his slumber but the other trainees in the room as well so he can kill multiple birds with one stone.

[iseullgc]

they're doing surprisingly well for being a bunch of trainees that had just been slopped together by the amount of training time that they had. he hadn't really thought much about it, just loudly celebrating whenever they won one of the rounds and hugging the person that was closest to him.

when they're given a break, iseul cheers loudly and thanks the staff before hurrying to find a water bottle. he desperately needed water and had been debating on making a run for it during the next senior team round, despite wanting to watch to know whether they might be winning or losing.

he doesn't expect someone to come up to him though, and iseul turns to see who it is in slight surprise. "cheating?" he gasps, pressing his hand to his chest like a woman from the 1500s being appalled by something. "how would we cheat?" he shoots back, very offended now that he's being accused of this.

"maybe you guys just suck?"

✰ … PLAYER VS PLAYER. hackers, the lot of them ( ft. @iseullgc ).

misaki hates losing— while having what most would agree to be normal levels of competitiveness, usually the type to simply like the acts of playing ( anything to get the blood pumping and mind devoid of unnecessary thinking ), there's something to be said about the searing bitterness that often finds itself on the tip of his tongue anytime he finds himself camping in the loser's corner.

for as wonderful as his physical reflexes were, there seemed to be a slight disconnect with his brain today. he's not alone in that regard, plenty of the boys on his team fudging their scores the longer this telepathy game went on, but he can't help but feel annoyed. they should be mopping the damn floor with the junior team, not the other way around! giving a loud huff, the air produced causing his overgrown bangs to shuffle and show his furrowed brows, misakis hands rest upon his hips as a brief timeout is called.

stomping over to the first person his gaze lands on, an unassuming iseul, misaki does what misaki does best— yaps. "you guys have got to be cheating, i just know it!" a desperately concocted conspiracy, but the smaller boy trudges on. "there's no way you're all that good . . ."

[iseullgc]

CASTING CALL 016 / SOLO INTERVIEW

when he hears of the opportunity to join the new kids new dreams project, iseul knows that he wants to try out for it. or whatever they're being requested to do.

honestly, he's a bit disappointed when he finds out it's only an interview and not an audition. but he guesses that it means their personalities are as much a part of this as their skills.

or something.

but he knows that he's going to try for it, even if he doesn't make it, that just means he did his best right? and he's only been training for a short period of time, so it didn't hurt him to put more experiences under his belt either. so he schedules an interview with youngjae and he settles down in his seat once the time has come.

"why are you interested in NEWKIDS NEWDREAMS?" ( answer: 157 spoken words )

"honestly, i just wanted to give it a try," iseul admits, looking a little bit sheepish as he rubs the back of his neck. he doesn't really have much else to add but he decides that now isn't the time to act shy or anything—not when his personality is literally anything but.

"dancing has just always been a passion of mine and i thought that if anything, i could just try out. i didn't even think i would get into legacy a year and a half ago, but thankfully i've been given this great opportunity that anyone would die for! so, i thought once i was in, i had to do anything i could to keep going and to advance. especially since legcy has so many artists that i love the music of, and i have some friends in the debuted groups, i just thought i have to catch up to them, you know? i have to do well and i have to stand on stage with them one day, you know?"

he takes a pause there, trying to think if there was anything else he wanted to add before they moved onto the next question. "if anything, i wanted to be able to show who i am in as candid a way as possible to the people who are already cheering me on."

"considering the current confirmed members, what can you add to the formation ON AND OFF stage if you are picked?" ( answer: 262 spoken words )

"i know two of the confirmed members pretty well, and i can say pretty confidently that i'll be adding a good dancer to the mix. not to say that there aren't any good dancers already, of course." he's quick to fix his statement, waving his hands in front of him to make sure that youngjae wasn't getting the wrong idea of what he was saying.

"i'm also an extrovert and i'm good at making friends, so hopefully i would bring everyone together well? considering i know two of them pretty well already, and if you're taking interviews for other members, i might know them too!" iseul is a self-proclaimed social butterfly, but he's sure that he would be able to back that up just by pointing out how many friends he's made in the trainee roster since he joined only a year ago.

he's trying to think of anything else that he's good at, and he tilts his head slightly side to side. "i'm also a native english speaker, so that would be helpful on shows, right? i watched some v&a shows, and i saw that versus went to the states for a while so if i," he lowers his voice, "make it into the group," and goes back to his normal speaking volume, "i could definitely help with the language barrier there! i'm used to translating from korean to english and english to korean so it wouldn't be any trouble! i've gotten really good recently at translating the slang—you know how koreans really like to shorten sentences and just use the first character of each word? i recently got the knack of translating that into english, so that could be .... helpful i guess!"

pausing again, he hesitates for a moment before adding, right as yougnjae is about to ask the next question. "sorry, sorry! i'll just add, i also know how to edit videos. so if we ever like, got a chance to do something like that. like, edit our own vlogs and upload them online or something. that would be something i could do."

he stops, and then grins sheepishly. "and i'm a good cook. no one will starve when i'm around, i promise! i almost went to culinary school but i came here instead! ... you can ask the next question now."

which skill (singing, dancing, acting, modelling, instrument ...) would you like to be known for and why? ( answer: 186 spoken words )

this question throws him for a second, because as much as he liked yapping about what he thought he could bring to the table in a group, it's harder to think about himself as an individual. mostly because he had never had any plans on going solo or anything and would probably be happy to see his friends and groupmates shine before he did.

"if i'm very, very honest, i would say dancing. if only because dancing has been a love of mine since i was younger and it's one of the only things that kinda dragged me out of a slump i found myself in before." he doesn't want to go too deeply into those times, and how dancing had literally saved his life.

his fingers move to grip at his forearm, almost subconsciously touching the tattoo there. "it's hard to think of anything else i would want to be known for ... like, skill-wise at least. i could easily say i want to be known as a good cook in the group, and that i'm loud and annoying but still a nice person when it comes down to it. but none of that is related to a skill right?

"if not dancing, i think i wouldn't mind being known for being funny? like, a good variety personality since that's something i think i would be good at. i can always find the humour in any situation, which is why all of my friends always say that i'm really easy to make laugh. and then sometimes my laugh sets them off, and we always end up giggling about something or another. i think variety would be something i could be good at."

"what kind of concept are you good at and what kind of concept are you bad at?" ( answer: 198 spoken words )

"oh, i can easily answer for the one i'm bad at—a cute concept. my friends always say that my aegyo is cringey and that they hate seeing it, though in hindsight maybe that's because my friends don't want to see that sort of stuff?" he pauses, pursing his lips at the afterthought that had just come up and maybe he's good at that sort of thing? maybe he's really cute but his friends just hate cute things?

who knows at this point. he'll have to ask them eventually, if he ever remembers to.

"i do think personally i wouldn't be able to pull off a cute concept, because that's not something i try to emulate in dancing or in my real life. i'm just sort of ... an energetic person. so i would have to say that's the type of concept i think i would be good at. like, upbeat songs that make you want to dance."

thinking of another point to that, iseul perks up a bit in his seat. "or, i don't know if this counts, but something along the genre of 'noise music' as fans like to call it. something powerful but upbeat, and the song concept could be light or dark but the dance is really great and hard? i think that would be really great for me, because i have a lot of energy and i want to express that as well as i can with dance. really just, a dance-focused group would be my dream and if we could add good live vocals too? perfection."

"what kind of group would you ideally want to be part of and why?" ( answer: 161 spoken words )

"i think i would really like to be in a group that's known for energetic performances," he starts, once he's received the prompt and the examples. he had been a bit confused at the initial question but it makes sense now that he has some examples to go along with it.

"like a group that's really good at performing with great live vocals and really hard dances to go along with the vocals," he adds, trying to figure out how to explain his dream group. "i want to be known as a good dancer but i also want to be known as a stable vocalist who sings well even while dancing to a difficult choreography—and even better if the choreography is self-done as well." he grins, feeling a little bit proud of his own achievements in that category but otherwise not wanting to try to sell himself too much while answering this question.

"i'm not trying to say all of the above right now, but outside of that, i think it would be fun if the group could also be known for non-idol content. like if we could go viral on tiktok or on youtube or something, since i'm decently versed in video editing, that could be really fun? we could do a lot of tiktok challenges outside of just the title song dance ones and maybe make a presence on there too? just a thought," he finishes up, grinning a little.

with all the questions answered, iseul stands up and bows ninety degrees to thank everyone for giving him the opportunity before leaving with a slight bounce in his step. he's not sure what the results are going to be, but he's glad he tried out anyway.

[iseullgc]

he feels the other's eyes on him as he stretches, though doesn't comment or anything. he can't act on any thoughts or suspicions he might have whilst on camera after all, but he might see afterwards. attraction is attraction, though iseul isn't sure if that's what that was all about. he guesses he'll find out eventually.

"oh yeah, i was surprised that i missed the sound of the cars driving past at night," he agrees, and perhaps they have a bit in common because of this. "i've always lived in a big city, so this nature is kinda crazy," he adds after a moment, thinking back to everything that they've done so far on this trip.

he had never even really visited any rural areas, having always stayed in vancouver and in seoul. if he travelled anywhere, it was by plane so he didn't even drive past less populated areas before.

if he had, he didn't remember it at least.

"i might miss the animals," he agrees, feeling the other trainee moving the conversation in a direction that wouldn't seem like they were complaining. "the lambs were cute."

a short laugh escapes isak's lips, realizing quickly that he made a good choice in his small talk buddy for the moment. he's decided that they're kindred spirits after just one introductory exchange, the other boy's words mirroring isak's own thoughts exactly. it's not like the dorm beds are anything to write home about but at least they were familiar and isak knew exactly how to make them as comfortable as possible for a good night's rest. he can't say the same about their trip here.

"you and me both." he grins at the other young man and lets his eyes wander up and down as the other stretches, admiring the glimpses of skin and muscle underneath that he's treated to. it's innocent enough; just a quick once-over is enough for him to appreciate the masculine form. "can you believe i can't sleep without the distant sound of car alarms now? crickets and wildlife keep me up all night." saying it aloud makes him realize how impatient he is to go home; hopefully the homeowners return soon.

"it wasn't all bad though," he admits, more for the sake of any lingering cameras than actually telling the truth. he knows for certain he'll get the ugliest edit if he just sits here and complains too much. "we definitely learned a lot... it was a very new experience." one that isak would firmly not like to repeat again, thanks.