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[northstarco]

─── HIGHER THAN THE CLOUDS

⟡﹐ꊞ niko's eras (except it's a deep dive) !

⟡﹐ꊞ oh i need to take a long sigh for this.. okay! so niko's eras can be split into three categories: good, bad, and downright horrible. from the moment he debuted, bad luck seemed to follow him around like a lost puppy. with him almost breaking his bones every era, having to face the weirdest interview questions, being picked apart by korean netizens because he looked at someone the wrong way, and being the target of insanely specific rumors, things never really seemed like they were ever going niko's way. he's definitely had many good moments, moments that most nctzens enjoy reminiscing on, but those good moments are often overshadowed by his many bad and downright horrible moments, much to his own dismay.

(2016) : AN UNEXPECTED DEBUT & A BROKEN ARM !

19 YEAR OLD NIKOLAS made a surprising (as in surprising to both him and his new fandom) debut as an nct u member with the "7th sense". now, the reason this debut was surprising is because it was a last minute decision really. he had been told that his debut in the first ever nct unit would be "unlikely", so he wasn't preparing to debut in the unit, they kind of just threw him in there a month before the song was originally released. so he basically had no time to do anything, no time to write lyrics, and no time to learn lines. so, at nineteen years old, niko made his debut in the first ever nct u lineup with absolutely no lines. no really, he did a few adlibs and backing vocals, but he didn't really sing.. or rap, or do anything.

debut era niko was really like how he is now, he was quiet, reserved, and didn't talk unless he had to. he was regarded as a strange mix in the group, sm really just threw in this random australian guy with long hair in nct? opinions on niko were all very mixed, most people liked that he didn't talk much, that he was respectful, that he clearly enjoyed performing, but others weren't too nice. they felt he didn't add anything to the group, he wasn't interesting, he was too quiet, he let everyone else do the talking, he was all of these things they didn't like, he sadly wasn't a fan favorite.

the 7th sense era is one niko looks back on with furrowed eyebrows. he sometimes wishes he could've done more, especially considering how little he talked. he couldn't even bring himself to answer questions, especially the.. bad ones. a particular one he remembers is from a snickering interviewer who had just enough time to ask if he was trying to pass as a man or a woman, clearly wanting to elicit a tempered reaction from him. the only thing he responded with was a dry chuckle, leaving the question unanswered as taeyong quickly took over, changing the subject.

so, in niko's terms at least, his debut era was a good one, it had a few hiccups, but it wasn't as bad as what would come in future years.

nctzens didn't have to wait long, because a few months later in july, a now 20 YEAR OLD NIKO would go on to debut in nct 127 with "fire truck". though only 3 months after his debut in nct u, fire truck niko was much more lively, well— as lively as someone as introverted as him can be. he felt much more comfortable in showcasing his humor, and while he was still the quietest member, he definitely talked more than he did the previous era. fire truck era nikolas was running his mouth like there was no tomorrow, whether it be telling stupid jokes, almost cursing out jaehyun during the mv behind, and almost spoiling nct dream's debut right after their debut stage (he had mentioned kihyun while retelling a funny story to the camera, but he thankfully didn't say anymore, quickly getting shut up by a bruising nudge from mark).

midway through fire truck promotions, nikolas had to step out after suffering a dangerous fall and breaking his ulna. the funniest thing (niko likes to say it was funny, but the members weren't so amused) is that it happened right in the middle of a performance, niko slipped on the stage and used his elbow to cushion the blow, slamming forcefully into the metal and fracturing his ulna in the process. he didn't even realize his bone was actually broken until he complained to a manager about the pain, and by that point, his arm had already been bleeding excessively. though he tried to pass it off as not that bad, it was, and niko sat out of the rest of fire truck promotions as his arm healed.

still, even with a broken arm and having to sit out of performing for a good chunk of the year (one of his favorite things in the whole world), fire truck was a good era, he was definitely feeling better than he did during his original debut. niko remembers his debut with 127 as a fun time, even with the broken bones.

(2017) : THE MEMES, THE GIGGLES, & ILLUMINATI RUMORS ?

a (STILL) 20 YEAR OLD NIKOLAS made his eventual return with the groups second extended play, "limitless". though he couldn't move his arm much without letting out a wince of pain, he was much better off than he was in july of 2016 when his ulna almost came apart. for starters, he was becoming much more talkative, considering johnny and doyoung were now around for him to poke fun at, but especially his fellow 96 liner, because he was much too afraid of the second eldest's wrath. limitless era niko is often overlooked because, again, he didn't do much singing. he did rap, of course, but it was short and sweet, he wasn't allowed to showcase any of his talents, unfortunately.

a moment during limitless era most fans love to remember is during the mv commentary, where niko could not stop talking about doyoung the whole time. it was really during limitless era that these two became a fan favorite duo, because they were the epitome of best friends. they were bickering about stupid things backstage, onstage, during the mv commentary, during the mv behind, they were the funniest duo in the world. fans never realized how close they were because they never seemed to want to talk to each other during the 7th sense era. nikolas knew exactly how to push doyoung's buttons, and the older would do nothing but clench his fists and threaten him with punches.

limitless era ended with a bang.. literally, because right as their last stage for the era ended, niko accidentally dropped his microphone on the stage after the show winners had been announced, letting out a swear which was heard by the fellow idols standing around, who ducked their heads down to let out tiny giggles and snickers. the instance became a viral video, as niko's slippery fingers, his swearing, and the look of horror on his face was enough to get laughs out of fans everywhere, and even from people who had no idea who he was. he received many teasings and mimics of the whole situation from the members, but besides all of his fake pouts, limitless was a good era for niko.

no more than five months later, a 21 YEAR OLD NIKO would return with 127 with cherry bomb and a constantly debated involvement in lyrics. technically, cherry bomb should've been considered niko's songwriting debut, as he helped both taeyong and mark with lyrics on the title track, but he isn't credited as a lyricist on the albums liner notes. now, niko has never really addressed this situation, the only reason anyone even knew he helped with the lyrics of cherry bomb was because the members brought it up one time during a vlive in late 2017, but it is often debated by nctzens, one side of the fandom thinking niko deserved lyrical credits because he helped in writing the lyrics and another side of the fandom saying that he shouldn't have received lyrical credits because his fellow rappers did most of the work.

cherry bomb is undeniably one of niko's best eras, and it's an era he often looks back on with fondness. his humor truly shined this era, as he made sure to solidify himself as one of the funniest nct members. though niko was quiet, he was hilarious. some of his most iconic moments ever stem from cherry bomb era, whether it was his many sarcastic comments during nct life in osaka, or him stating he's never thought about his ideal type in a woman, it was clear that niko had a natural knack for variety.

now onto the groups first win, oh niko looked so confused, probably because he couldn't hear anything anyone was saying. when the confetti went off, he was much too busy trying to get the ringing out of his ears to even realize the group had won a music show award. he only saw taeyong begin tearing up and panicked because he thought something was wrong, but then, while hiding his giggles behind his hand, taeil explained that they had gotten their first win. it was a hilarious moment that's always ended up in niko compilations on youtube.

towards the end of cherry bomb era came the rise of, hilariously enough, conspiracy theories. something about niko really spurred these kpop conspiracy theorists, because they all seemed to come to a unanimous agreement that he was secretly an illuminati member. the rumors were ridiculous, clearly, but niko had no idea these rumors existed until johnny brought it up to him after they finished one of their stages, literally dying laughing as he watched the younger's face form into one of shock, but he did what seemed funniest at the time, fueled the rumors, he did that triangle hand sign thing, mimicking that popular jay z photo, he found it hilarious how rumors of it spread so quickly, and he's never said anything public about it.

cherry bomb was a good era, arguably niko's best era.

(2018) : AN OFFICIAL SONGWRITING DEBUT & A FEW SLIPUPS !

having graduated from college and suddenly full of inspiration, 22 YEAR OLD NIKOLAS made his (this time actually credited) songwriting debut on regular-irregular with the song knock on, an incredibly underrated song that deserves to be performed live at least ONCE. anyway, it was clear that regular was a song niko loved performing, because he was always giggling during the stages and jumping up and down during dance practice, he was enjoying every second of regular promotions.

regular not only marked niko's (officially credited) songwriting debut, but it marked a true vocalist debut. previously, niko hadn't sang much in any of the groups previous songs, rapping was always sort of his forte, but when he wrote knock on, he was finally allowed singing parts. of course he didn't sing much, but he absolutely loved it, if you didn't know already, he really likes having singing parts in songs, even if they're minuscule.

regular marked the beginning of niko.. sort of opening up to fans. he never really said any facts about himself in all the other eras, just presented himself as how he always was, but it was really regular era where he actually started sharing facts about himself. a lot of facts about niko weren't even shared on his own accord, the members made him say a bunch of stuff about himself during a live because he spent half of it sat silent in the corner. nikolas would (though begrudgingly) disclose never heard before facts about himself to nctzens, and even some never heard before facts to the members as well, though he doesn't usually enjoy talking about himself, it was pretty fun, he'll admit that.

regular era also marked two other very important things. 1: his official solo fandom name, and 2: smoking rumors. on one of his first solo vlives, niko announced that his solo fandom name was 'junis', a combination of his stage name, juno, and the word 'bliss'. according to the 96 liner himself, he found the word "bliss" to be a very pretty word, and it was a word he enjoyed saying, as he loved dragging the s at the end of the word, with juno meaning "youthful", it basically meant his fandom name was "youthful bliss".

though the fandom name was good news, the smoking rumors were definitely not good news. now, niko is not the first person in nct to be accused of smoking, but he was given a lot of flak for it because he seemed to find it funny, and he remained vague about everything. when asked if he does smoke during another solo vlive, he just snickered and said he'd leave it to others to figure out what was going on with that.

though he received much criticism and faced a hefty amount of backlash for seemingly not caring about smoking, regular was still a good era, a great one he would even say.

(2019) : THE BEGINNING OF THE BAD.. UNFORTUNATELY

once superhuman era rolled around, the then 23 YEAR OLD NIKO was, noticeably, not doing his best. though he was usually noted as one of the quieter member of nct, he seemed to have a shift in personality. he began retreating into himself, got less talkative, was clearly struggling more during promotions, whether physically or mentally, but he didn't say anything about it, he'd notice a camera trailing on him and would immediately put on his best fake smile, one which made it look like everything was okay. he was overly anxious, flinching at even the slightest touches from the members.

though his change in character was noticeable to his members, most of the people who watched nct content didn't really seem to care. as long as niko was smiling every time the camera was on, he cared about what he was going through?

well, korean netizens cared, because they always care.

unfortunately, niko wasn't spared from the countless day to day rumors k-netizens enjoyed spreading. he was accused of having a bad attitude because he told a staff member to stop touching him for no reason. it seemed that the unnamed staff member in the video wasn't actually doing their job, just trying to spur the other into giving them a reaction, which eventually worked because he snapped at the staff member who kept touching his arm, an irritated tone in his voice that most of his fans had never seen before. he never tried to address these rumors, believing he'd do more harm than good if he even tried to talk about it. the rumors were vaguely addressed by mark, who only stated that niko "wasn't doing his best mentally" and he'd been getting worked up by many people in his life for the past few weeks, he didn't comment on what the older was going through mentally, just stated that he was in a "bad state of mind".

rumors still kept coming up though, rumors began spreading that nikolas was some kind of drug addict after a video of him taking pills for unknown reasons. these rumors weren't entertained for long, because no professional idol would be dumb enough to pop pills in public if it wasn't prescribed, but the constant media commentary on him didn't help with his already spurring mental health issues.

superhuman era was really the first example of a bad era for niko, and it's definitely ranked as one of the worst. when be thinks back to the era, he's often surprised that he made it through without having some mental breakdown, but he also feels it would've better if he did, because bottling everything up was making stuff worse for him.

(2020) : A SONGWRITING RETURN & A WELL NEEDED EXPLANATION !

(STILL) 23 YEAR OLD NIKO seemed to be doing just a little better than back in may of 2019 when superhuman promotions began. after two years of radio silence songwriting wise, he made his eventual lyricist return with not one, but TWO songwriting credits on the album. he wrote both "boom" and "make your day" with seo jieum, the two of them spending hours bouncing ideas off each other during the creation of the album. though a return to songwriting was a success, he was still not doing his best, which reflected during the comeback stages.

with the beginning of 2020, and neo zone promotions came more niko solo lives, it was slow at first, as he was afraid most people didn't exactly want to see him, but after the first few lives. these little solo lives became a staple of comfort for junis during 2020. niko would sit and just talk about anything for up to an hour once every week. it was just him and susi alone in his room, talking about whatever he wanted to talk about.

niko would address some of the rumors during superhuman era. he talked about his thoughts, and why he was so antsy the whole time. he avoided looking at the camera as he talked about his depression, how he was in the middle of a fight between his parents, and how, though he was taking medication, all it really did was slow him down, it made him feel much more sluggish than the depression did. he said he felt as if he was "forcing himself to wake up everyday", and he made a formal apology to his fans for, in his words, "giving lackluster performances" during superhuman era. he also lightly alluded to the fact that he was having issues with certain staff at sm and sm in general, referencing a few song drafts that he had unfortunately trashed, but this specific live has since been deleted, an act done by nikolas himself, even with how he doesn't like to talk about it in future times.

midway through kick it promotions, it became clear to his fandom and even his own antis that niko had developed somewhat of a reckless habit of scratching his palms until they burned red, he also seemed to be avoiding talking as much as possible. the solo lives slowed down, he stopped talking much in group content, and really just floated around as a whole. he became much of a sour topic for nctzens to talk about, he was much less of a fan favorite now than all the way back in cherry bomb or regular era, most fans regarded him as a "lost cause", as someone who was dragging 127 down instead of providing anything special to the group.

niko never did anything to address his growing hate train, which sadly carried over to the release of nct 2020 resonance. he didn't seem to be around much, and truly appeared just to appear, he seemed to be more of a figure than an actual person, and though he seemed to be doing great in the beginning of the year, nikolas was in a horrible place by the end of 2020.

but when it didn't seem like it could get any worse, it did, because right as november came to a close, song lyrics allegedly written by niko were leaked by a supposed "insider" online. these lyrics sparked immediate outrage as they were.. and i quote, inappropriate in nature, alluding to things such as sex, partying, and personal family issues. while these lyrics were never commented on, considering the person got torn apart immediately by other nctzens, who scrutinized them for digging into such personal things, he wasn't spared from criticism, and he was being treated as if he committed a crime for writing about things he never even planned to release in the first place.

niko concluded the year with a final solo live, where he sort of just sat around and played with susi as he tried his best to ignore the growing negativity in the comments. he simply stated that he felt "tired", and apologized again for the worry he caused everybody. he said that he'd work towards "being a better idol in the future", clearly holding back tears as he tried his best to laugh about his train wreck of a year.

all in all, neozone and resonance were both downright horrible eras.

(2021) : A SLOW RECOVERING & A NEWLY EMERGING HOBBY !

25 YEAR OLD NIKO made again another great lyricist return with songwriting credits on the 1st and 4th track of sticker, the title track and "focus". in the beginning of promotions, doyoung thought it was important to reiterate to their fandom that niko wasn't going anywhere, and that "he belonged in the group". though he remained silent mostly, he seemed to regain a lot of his usual "niko-ness" during the sticker mv reaction, where he could be seen giggling as he complimented both taeil and jungwoo during all of their parts.

the recovering was slow, niko was very much still struggling with depression and questioning his place in the group, but any thoughts he had about leaving were quickly overshadowed by the support of his members, who stressed it to anyone who would listen that niko was not going to be leaving the group, that he did matter, and that they didn't care about what people were saying online. in the studio choom behind the scenes, niko had been talking the most ever he did since the beginning of superhuman era, going on and on as he exchanged stupid jokes with johnny, it was a nice thing, to see him talk again.

though he still wasn't really regularly seen much, he would occasionally pop into other members lives, just reminding everyone that he was indeed alive. it's not like niko was suddenly being accepted by everyone with open arms, but he was slowly piecing his life back together and his idol life as well.

sticker era was really.. fine, niko performed as he always did and was praised (surprisingly) for the lyrics he'd written for focus. he felt as if he had to prove himself because of how he disappointed nctzens during 2020 with his down attitude. he spent a lot of time just perfecting the choreography, hours and hours in the practice room dedicated to making sure he wouldn't make a single mistake. he never really spent too much time in the practice room because the members always made sure to drag him out in the late hours of the night.

with sticker era came a new emergence for all junis everywhere, guitar covers. niko spent a lot of time at home writing songs, or just listening to music in general, and whenever he could, he'd hop on instagram live to perform a guitar cover of his favorite songs, or he'd perform original songs he wrote. he described these new covers as a "coping mechanism" for him, as it was sort of the only way he felt he could express himself. the guitar cover era was sadly short, but junis are very much waiting for the day they make their return!! #bringbacktheguitar

so sticker era? it was strange, a mix good but still a mix of bad.

when favorite rolled around, niko was seemingly getting back to how he was right before superhuman, though he was still a little silent, he now began cracking his usual jokes and participating in much more group content. favorite era marked the famous doni vlive, where they sat and talked about bullshit for so long. it was so nice seeing him get back to how he was before everything went downhill, and the pair were so cute, it was like nothing bad ever happened.

niko enjoyed poking fun at his members during favorite, especially during the halloween practice, where he made fun of mark for being so into his costume. much to his own dismay, he'd get his karma, because his headband got uncomfortably tangled in his hair, and yuta had to help him get it untangled, so he faced teasings from his members as he pouted the whole entire time.

finally, after what seemed like forever, niko returned to the solo live industry, though he was insanely nervous, he had to have taeil encourage him for like twenty minutes before he pressed that go live button, and even then, he had doyoung join with him like fifteen minutes in because he was feeling anxious, and he hid behind susi like half the time.

favorite era was.. okay, definitely not one of his best eras, but it's considered a good era by junis everywhere.

(2022) : SPEEDING UP & STRAINED MUSCLES !

the now 26 YEAR OLD NIKO seemed to be back to full charge during 2 baddies. he found it fun to insinuate the most when it came to the title track of the album, amping up the sexual innuendos as the members tried their best to stop him from saying something career threatening. sadly, no songwriting credits on the album by our knowledge, lyricist niko would then again disappear for another year, BUT, he did bring back his treasurable humor, even swearing during the recording of 2 baddies, panicking as he asked for the editor to cut it out of the final version of the video (it did not get cut out).

after everything, niko seemed to be back to normal, back to how he usually was, teasing the members over everything and especially making sure to leave all things vague. a highlighting moment of 2 baddies was during idol human theater where he basically became a seat for all the members, eight of them had sat on his lap at least once during the video, and all niko could do was sit back and let them do their thing. some of his most hilarious moments from 2022 are from this idol human theater video, and from certain concert clips.

niko spent at least half the tour running away from the members who were trying to get him to take his shirt off, they would catch him eventually, which led to a very sulky niko backstage as his members practically died at his red faced-ness, and if the members weren't trying to get him shirtless, they were forcing him to give them piggyback rides, or carry them bridal style, or just carry them in general. one of the best things that happened this era was niko getting thrown a poster with his face on it, a poster which the members were all giggling over for the rest of the concert.

though it was all fun, niko sadly couldn't get through this era without injuring himself. right as their asia leg was about to begin, he injured his knee during a performance. there was nothing specific said about his injury or his health, just that he was in the hospital and would be excused from any schedules for an unspecified amount of time. surprisingly, niko became much more active on social media while trapped in the hospital, making stupid jokes about his injury and whining about missing the members on bubble (words that he would never say out loud).

so even though he ended the year with strained muscles, 2 baddies was a good era for niko.

(2023) : A SHORT LIVED BLOND ERA, A JEAN DISCUSSION, & SHOCKING CHRISTMAS GIFTS !

when the still 26 YEAR OLD NIKO returned after months in the hospital, all junis across the world died, because something changed. he dyed his hair, and he dyed it blond. yes, nikolas khornthon himself, known despiser of hair dyeing, dyed his hair. the funniest thing about this was that he didn't inform any of the members that he was dyeing his hair, so they all had their own moments of surprise as well. ay-yo era was just full of one surprise after another for all junis, because they were getting a surge of niko content they had never seen in any other era.

niko was working his ass off in the beginning of 2023, promoting the comeback with 127 whilst also appearing everywhere else. he continuously went back and forth, from country to country, it seemed he was getting on a new plane to go to a new place everyday, but he did all of it flawlessly. it was like every other day niko was in another country doing some other thing, but he seemed to be having fun. it was especially hilarious because fans would just randomly find him on the street when they least expected it, and he would always respond awkwardly, as if shocked that people knew he was.

so ay-yo era? good.

he would make his return to his original nct u lineup in august with baggy jeans, now 27 YEARS OLD and no longer blond. the blond niko era lasted for only a few months, and fans are waiting for the day it makes a return. he found the song to be silly, a song about jeans? he was totally entertained. he couldn't get through a stage without laughing, often having to hide his giggles behind his hand as he mimicked ten's lines.

baggy jeans niko was flawless, ruthless with his insults towards the members and a skinny jeans hater to his core (sorry haechan). a highlight of this era was him getting into a full on argument with jaehyun about which kinds of jeans were better, an argument which was egged on by the rest of the members, who could only watch as the two screamed about blue pants. don't even get me started on the liar game, niko got found out right away, as he's a terrible liar, and the teasing from the members ended up getting so bad that he had to hide behind taeyong for the rest of the game. baggy jeans was a good era, and it was clear that niko was glad to be back with his original lineup of members.

after what seemed like years, niko made a songwriting return on fact check, with lyrical credits on the albums 6th track, "je ne sais quoi". it was during this era that a small discovery was made, niko had revealed that he did write more songs intended to be on fact check, but they didn't make the final cut for the album. he simply stated that he would probably release them someday, just that he didn't know when exactly.

fact check brought a lot of cute niko dance practice clips. he was making doyoung's life a living hell, dancing stupidly around the practice room, praising haechan for doing the bare minimum, terrorizing johnny, and even suggesting things to add to the choreography. he also had a lot more lines in the song, fact check becoming the 127 title track where niko rapped the most, why did it take THIS long for it to happen? we shall never know.

again, this era brought a surge of niko solo lives, lives which would often be interrupted by a certain vocalist of nct dream. these solo lives brought some of niko's most iconic lines ever, such as "jeong jaehyun? i have no idea who that is..", "someone called me a bitch and i slapped them in the face", and, the most iconic of all; "i'm gonna get thrown out like all of those song drafts", which stapled fact check era as a good era.

as christmas approached, the still 27 YEAR OLD dancer was definitely very festive. he took the act of gift giving very seriously, making sure to get gifts perfect for each of the members as "be there for me" promotions began. when the day for christmas came, niko didn't just get gifts for everyone 127 member, he got gifts for every nct member. he had clearly put much effort into every gift, some of them even made by his own hands. he couldn't stop smiling as he watched each of the members open their gifts, even bringing out some tears from a certain few.

so while short, be there for me era was a good one.

(FINAL THOUGHTS) : 💭

in total, niko has had 12 good eras (7th sense, fire truck, limitless, cherry bomb, regular, sticker sort of, favorite, 2 baddies, ay-yo, baggy jeans, fact check, be there for me), 3 bad eras (superhuman, beginning of neozone, again sticker sort of), and 2 downright horrible eras (end of neozone, and resonance). it seems that, even with all he's been through, niko has always been grateful for the opportunities he's had as an artist, he's always been happy for his place in the group, and though he's had bad times, he never allowed for it to affect his performances.

throughout his seven years as an nct member, niko learned many things. he grew into someone much more comfortable in his own skin, compared to when he debuted, he is now much more talkative (even as an introvert), much more confident, and much more intelligent as an artist.

though he definitely still has a while to go before all of his issues are resolved, he's come a long way, and he's proud of himself for getting through everything he did.

[northstarco]

kyuniiz⠀is⠀live!⠀⠀⸻⠀⠀00:21 AM

“Czennies!” Kihyun greeted the number of viewers steadily growing, his grin wide and taking up most of the screen with how close his phone was to his face. He moved the device back a little to wave overenthusiastically, and then further still to prop it up against something and reveal two things: the living-room looking setting he was in, light of a large television screen illuminating him a bright white in contrast to how dark the rest of the room was, and the sight of Niko sat on the sofa behind him, eyes on his own phone rather than the audience watching on. Two microphones sat idle on the cushion next to him.

“I’m with NCT’s one and only Juno tonight, Czennies. It’s such an honour!” He gestured at Niko with a shocked look on his face, as if he himself was surprised the elder had agreed to being there, but then gave up the act and collapsed onto him; eliciting a groan from the older dancer when he did so, and then a muffled swear when the sudden attack made him drop his phone onto the floor. 

“Yah! If my screen’s cracked, you’re paying for it,” the 127 member admonished, shoving Kihyun off of him and onto the floor before waving a hand aimlessly around on the floor in an attempt to retrieve the device. Kihyun only snickered, handing the (unharmed) phone back to its owner before turning back to where his was propped up before them.

“Suni-hyung and I, if you couldn’t tell, are gonna be doing—” he paused to flail around behind him before finally gripping onto the pair of mics, waving them around in grand & wide arcs for everyone to see. “—karaoke! For all our favourite songs. And maybe some of your suggestions too, if they don’t suck.”

“Which I’ll be the judge of,” was Niko’s first contribution to those watching, eyes narrowing for a quick second before returning to normal as he shoved his phone in his pocket and pushed his hair out of his eyes, reaching for one of the microphones in Kihyun’s hands before pointing it towards the screen. “So don’t give us really shit requests.”

“Hyung!” It was the younger’s turn to scold the older, although from the way he was biting his lips it was clear he was holding back a grin. “It’s barely been five minutes, hold off on the swearing.”

Niko rolled his eyes, a smile on his own face, and then gestured at the still-white screen in front of the both of them. “Hurry up and set it up, then. I still don’t know why we couldn’t have just gone to an actual noraebang for this.”

Kihyun paused from where he was reaching over for the TV remote, and began to list off the reasons on his fingers: “Couldn’t be bothered, I wanted to order food in, Lele said he might be coming over to see Jisung so I wanted to catch him when he came in, and I like our sofa better than those gross cracked-and-probably-sweaty leather ones in all the noraebangs closest to us.”

The dancer made to protest before stopping in his tracks, nodding at the younger member’s reasoning.

“Ordering in sounds good. What were you thinking?”

Kihyun’s nose scrunched up in thought as he fiddled with the remote until he’d found what he wanted and set it down again, before his answer seemed to come to him all of a sudden and he snapped his fingers with a yell of: “Italian! I want Italian! That place down the street does really good.. How do you say it in English? Mozzarella sticks!” He then turned to look at Niko a little hesitantly, as if to check his pronunciation was correct.

When he received an encouraging nod in return he let out a cheer and shot a grin back to the camera, before making another grab for his microphone and carrying on with what he was saying. “But they’re open all night, and I’m not really hungry right now, so I’ll just do it later. Singing always makes me work up an appetite!”

Niko huffed a laugh, flicking the switch of his mic on and off and on again idly as he sat up in his seat. “I’ll let you pick the first couple songs, then.” 

Kihyun did a small fist-pump and grabbed the remote again, the previously white screen of the television turning black and plunging the already-dark living room into even further darkness, the pair’s faces only just visible. The 127 member scoffed and turned to their audience, pointing at the younger dancer and rolling his eyes. “Our Kyunnie’s so cheap. Using YouTube instead of all the actual karaoke games he has on his console. Maybe he’s scared of losing.”

“That’s not it!” Kihyun also turned to those watching to try and defend himself, pout pulling at his lips. “Jisungie unplugged it to use the socket for the new lamp, and I just.. Haven’t gotten around to setting it up again.”

“Ah,” Niko nodded sagely, smirk already on his face. “So the real issue is your laziness.”

“Hyung!” The Dream member’s whine was loud, but all Niko did was burst into laughter, shoving at Kihyun’s shoulder to get him to stop pouting.

“Yah, alright, I’m sorry. Just hurry up and put your song on, or I’ll really leave.”

Despite the put-out expression still being present, Kihyun complied and pressed a final button before abandoning the remote on the sofa again and rising to his feet as the familiar drumsticks that counted in Locked out of Heaven began to play. Niko shook his head, but there was a smile on his face as he stood up to join the younger singer.

“I could’ve bet money on you putting this on, I swear.”

His words went half unheard, Kihyun already having started, and the 127 member didn’t miss a beat when he jumped in to provide the appropriate backing vocals. They took turns with the lines showing on the large television screen, harmonised when the choruses came around, Niko even indulging Kihyun in a small routine that mostly consisted of bounces and side-steps, and on Kihyun’s phone screen the comments were flooding in far faster than they had been previously—joined by a person that only made them multiply in number

haechanahceah  나 없는 Bruno Mars? 기현아, 가고 싶어..

The younger member let Niko take the second verse in full to lean over his phone and focus on Donghyuck’s comment, eyebrows scrunching as he read it but then relaxing when he let out a laugh soon after.

“You can come over if you want, Haechanie-hyung, I’m definitely not stopping you. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!”

He didn’t get long to stand and chat, as Niko was soon pulling him back by his hoodie so he could join in with the chorus again, and then they were back to their singing and dancing; their volume gradually growing louder and louder until it reached a crescendo at the bridge and then slowly came back down until it had faded out completely. Kihyun didn’t give his older companion a look in before he was making a grab for the remote again and mashing at buttons, pulling up the second song he wanted while Niko watched on, a smile gradually growing on his face when he saw the next number on the roster.

The electronic intro of Glitch Mode was next to play, quickly interrupted by Kihyun’s stubborn “I want all of Mark-hyungie’s lines!” and Niko’s short laugh before they were launching straight into it. The former was also insistent on performing the choreo that he knew off by heart by that point, nearly sending his flailing elbows and legs right into where Niko was simply standing. His enthusiasm, although somewhat infectious, was enough to deter the 127 member into swapping spaces with him so he could stand back and let the younger take the reins for a while, sticking to reading the comments that were again flooding in—and, again, joined by a familiar username.

onyourm__ark  juni-hyung!!! 그리고 나의 KD!!!! onyourm__ark  wow.. 키코 듀오는 정말 미쳤습니다 ㅋㅋ

“Hey, Markles,” Niko smiled, waving his mic in form of a greeting. His face then turned into something vaguely wary, eyebrows drawing together. “You’re not gonna ask if you can come over too, are you? Chenle’s apparently coming later, and Hyuck’s just been saying he wants in on it too.”

onyourm__ark  i wish onyourm__ark  maybe next time ㅠㅠ onyourm__ark  tell KD 사랑해요 애기~~

Niko granted the younger member a nod and mock-salute before bidding him goodbye, just as Kihyun collapsed backwards onto the sofa while the final notes of Glitch Mode petered out, microphone almost slipping out of his loosened grip if it wasn’t for him grabbing back onto it at the last second.

“Your turn to choose, Hyung. This one and the next one too.” he heaved from his nearly-starfished position, one hand coming to brush his bangs out of his eyes before he heaved himself into a sitting position again.

“I know, silly. What do you think I’m doing?” Was the older man’s retort from his place standing before the television with the retrieved remote in his hand, mic shoved into the front pocket of his hoodie for the time being. “Something a little more chill, maybe? Seeing as it looks like you’ve tired yourself out.”

He sniggered to himself a little at his own comment, expertly dodging the half-hearted kick Kihyun aimed at the back of his knee for it. The piano intro of Everything is Everything that filled the room had Niko tapping along to the beat with his foot and slumping down on the sofa next to the Dream member, nudging him in the side to jolt him into action; Kihyun complying and singing the opening lyrics not a moment later.

They swayed as they sang, swapping lines and riffing off of one another with an almost practised ease. Kihyun let Niko take the lead for the most part, making all sorts of excited gestures and faces of surprise towards where his phone was propped up as if prompting those watching to react the same way (which, of course most were more than happy to do, and would’ve done so even without encouragement).

Niko received a standing ovation once he’d sung the final notes, Kihyun even going as far as to bounce up and down a little, microphone forgotten in place of clapping so hard it looked as if it hurt a little.

“Hyung! You’re so cool!”

The 127 member tried and failed to bite back a smile, waving the younger man off and reaching for the TV remote to choose his next song. “You flatter me. Go talk to your viewers while I find the next one, leave me alone.”

He’d only gotten a moment into his aforementioned song-finding before he was snapping his fingers and speaking again, his free hand reaching up to move his hair out of his eyes once more. “Oh! Mark was here for a second. Told me to say he loves you.”

Kihyun was back to pouring over the comments rolling in on his screen almost immediately, eyes narrowed as if he was trying to mentally scroll back up to where Mark had come and gone.

“So you mean I missed him?! You couldn’t have told me earlier!”

His complaint was paired with yet another pout, but Niko just rolled his eyes again.

“You were a little caught up, in case you can’t remember, like, ten minutes ago. You wouldn’t have stopped singing ‘Trouble trouble like a miscode’ even if I’d thrown a rock at your head.

Kihyun’s would’ve-been-indignant response of ‘it’s a good song!’ was drowned out by the familiar opening notes of 2PM’s Again & Again, and as soon as he’d heard it he was jumping right back up again to join the older member. They dropped the banter to harmonise instead, Niko even again indulging the younger man and dancing a little as they did.

Their already-minimal dance routine slowed down even further as they eventually came to the end, Kihyun leaning into the older dancer’s side and intentionally knocking their hips together until Niko relented and slung his free arm around his shoulder; although he did pointedly ignore the soulful eyes his dongsaeng was aiming at him as he sang, dramatically acting out every word, the older ending up forgetting the closing adlibs in place of pushing Kihyun away again. The younger singer overplayed his fall back onto the sofa for the second time that night, groaning even if he landed perfectly onto the soft cushions below, and curled onto his side to watch as the 127 member set his mic down in front of the television still displaying the finished video and made to sit down in front of Kihyun’s phone instead, granting the viewers with a small wave before turning to face the younger singer.

“Should we take those suggestions now?” A smirk slowly grew on his face as he took in the position Kihyun was lying in. “Or have you finally worked up that appetite?”

Shrugging proved to be a little more of a difficult feat than usual while lying sideways, but Kihyun managed it well enough. “Depends on what you pick, Nini-hyung. Maybe just one more song. Lele’s gonna be here soon, I think.”

Niko nodded in understanding and turned back to the phone, moving his hands in a sort of get on with it gesture and watching the requests flood in not long afterwards, in twos and threes and tens at a time, all from different artists and of varying genres. He pulled faces at some and simply levelled judging looks at others, letting his eyes do all the talking for him. It wasn’t until he saw one song in particular that caught his eye that he nodded somewhat approvingly, a small smile on his lips.

“I think you’ll like this one, Kyunnie. Smooth Operator, GSoul?”

Kihyun was up like a shot, eyes wide and excited as he made a frantic grab for the remote, all of his energy seemingly restored by the three words. “I love that one! It’s been on my repeat playlist lately, actually.. How do they know me so well?”

He continued to wonder while scouring for his desired song, while Niko watched on quietly, his gaze flicking from the younger dancer to the screen and then back again until he’d set everything up and the music began to play. The duo managed to channel some of Kihyun’s vigour from his earlier performance of Glitch Mode, and were getting into it fully, those watching enjoying it just as much. They seemed to be treating it as something of a grand finale, adding far more riffs and adlibs than the original ever contained, the matching grins on their faces so wide it looked like they hurt a little. Their perfectly matched energies served as a reminder of the reason most loved the pair of them together in the first place.

The joint show continued until, near the end of the bridge, the faint sound of the door opening could be heard, and from there it only took a few moments for Kihyun to look over to see who had entered, yell out a vaguely happy sound, drop his microphone to the ground, and rush off out of frame, leaving Niko to only shake his head and finish the song on his own despite it being the former that was initially most excited for it.

After it had ended, the 127 member set about collecting the pair of microphones and returning them to wherever Kihyun had found them, and turning the TV off, once again plunging the room into mostly darkness. The Dream member was still nowhere to be seen—that was, until Chenle came stumbling into frame with the singer hanging off of his back. He attempted to shrug the slightly-older 01 liner off of him, but to no avail, Kihyun staying right where he was and waving at all of the viewers instead.

“Chenle-yah’s here! And he said Haechanie-hyung’s on the way! And I actually do feel pretty hungry now..”

All three burst into laughter at the sheepish admittance, before Kihyun finally relented and released Chenle from his hold to bound over to his phone and fill the frame with his face; reminiscent of how he’d started the live. 

“Czennies, I’ll come on Bubble later and tell you what I got from the Italian place! Promise!”

He then brought it back and handed the device to Niko, who just waved in lieu of goodbye.

“It was a little bit fun, I guess. Don’t expect me to be doing that again for a while, though, I feel like my lungs have gone hoarse.”

There was a snicker offscreen, a barely-hidden whisper of ‘maybe it’s because you’re old’ that clearly came from Kihyun, and Niko’s face morphed into something a mix of shocked and annoyed, passing the phone once again to a very confused Chenle so he could chase the younger dancer around the apartment, yelling curse words and insults as he went.

The Chinese vocalist stared at the scene unfolding before him for a few moments, grin tugging at his lips, before remembering there was an audience also listening in, and turned his attention back to the viewers.

“I think this is goodbye, Czennies, I wouldn’t want you to hear Niko-hyung beating KD black and blue. I hope you had fun! Love you! Bye!”

And just like that, the screen went dark, and the live—or maybe fever dream was something of a more accurate description—was over.

나 없는 Bruno Mars? 기현아, 가고 싶어.. ➔ bruno mars without me? kihyun-ah, i want to come over.. 그리고 나의 KD!!!! ➔ and my KD!!!! 키코 듀오는 정말 미쳤습니다 ㅋㅋ ➔ the kiko duo is really crazy lol 사랑해요 애기~~ ➔ i love you baby~~

includes⠀@northstarco

[northstarco]

fact checks (ft. nikolas)

❝ nikolas checks facts, and answers questions.. at three in the morning ❞

"did you break your arm again?"

nikolas chuckles mid-read, glancing down at his oddly placed right arm and shaking his head, the question makes him place a hand on his forehead. "no my arm is not broken, not yet, at least".

"how weak are your bones?— well it's not my fault that i somehow almost always manage to break something it just happens!" niko shrugs, acting like his answer wasn't the stupidest thing in the world and glancing down at the sleeping feline in his lap. "i have bad luck, don't yell at me" he mutters, as if trying to be quiet so he doesn't wake up susi.

where is that poster from?

niko narrows his eyes at the comment, turning back to the queen poster situated right above his desk. he allows for a small laugh to escape his lips as he thinks about where he got it from. "a fan handed it to me at a fansign like a year ago? i thought it was a mistake but she just let me have it.."

did you really forget your instagram password?

nikolas, ready to make an excuse, laughs again. "yes, i did, and until i figure it out again you're never getting another juno instagram update" the 96 liner doesn't seem too bothered by the news, much to the dismay of his own fans.

i didn't know you played the violin :0 that's so cool!!

"ah" niko pauses, clicking his tongue. "well mæ̀ is a violin instructor so it was one of the first instruments i learned how to play, it's not my favorite, though, the strings make my fingers hurt" he frowns slightly, looking down at his scarred fingers. "these days the scars are from my guitar, though".

do you dream in english?

the question is enough to make nikolas snicker, it baffles him that someone would ask that, but it's also too interesting to not answer. "that's such a strange thing to ask.." he snickers again, just the thought of the question alone is enough to make him laugh. "i guess so? i dream in a weird mix of english and thai, my dreams don't make any sense".

you need to write more songs hello??

the comment makes nikolas smile lightly, and he places his cheek on his fist. "i do write a lot of songs, i just trash most of them because they're.. well, not sm approved" he chuckles at his own wording, he'd explain why in more detail if he wasn't weary about his mangers watching. "most of the songs i write are about personal experiences, not general experiences".

juno solo debut when?

"never" niko mumbles, shaking his head as he un-balls his fist and places his chin onto his hand. he chuckles at his own response, watching as the comments explode into questions of why? and what do you mean? a small smile grows on his face, and he lets his face fall down. "actually i don't know, not that the company will tell me anything anyway, if they even have something planned.."

niko narrows his eyes suspiciously, staring into space as he thinks about it for a moment. "i'm not sure, maybe those songs will escape the drafts someday".

song recommendations!!

"song recommendations.." niko taps his fingers onto his desk, scouring his mind for songs he himself enjoys. "everything is everything by lauryn hill, uh.. alterlife by rina sawayama, and farewell by akmu, that's a good one".

"i feel like you'd be a good music teacher— i have no idea what that's supposed to mean! but thank you!"

why are you live at three am?

"hm.. well i can't sleep, i'm bored, and doyoungie would've killed me if i called him at three in the morning" nikolas thinks of more reasons he could give to answer that question, but as he's about to answer, he gets a notification from his phone. when he looks down at his phone, he snickers, covering his mouth with his hand. "aww, kim doyoung hates me everybody" he pouts playfully at his phone, presumably humored by a text he'd gotten from his best friend.

"let's hope he doesn't come for my soul, i can't die before rina's new album is released.. oh my god, speaking of rina—"

nikolas then goes on a rant about rina sawayama's music, much too immersed in it. it's safe to say, the viewers were very amazed by the sight of silent niko, who often sat back and let his members do the talking during group lives, running his mouth like nothing else in the world mattered.

niko's ramblings only stop when a certain question catches his eye. "i'm going to australia soon, have any snack recommendations?— oh my god you have to try tim tams, and fairy bread, and also anzac biscuits those are so good! i remember my mom sent me snacks a few weeks ago and i finally got to eat them again, i also made fairy bread a few weeks ago, it was as good as i remember it".

"what are tim tams? oh they're chocolate biscuits that usually have some sort of filling, the ones with caramel filling are the best trust me".

"go to sleep" niko blinks at the comment, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "no! you can't tell me what to do, i'm staying awake for the rest of time now that you commented that".

nikolas crosses his arms, remaining stubborn as ever.

[northstarco]

nikos not beating the smoker allegations i fear…🙁

[northstarco]

❝WE PLAYED THIS SONG ALREADY! ❞

OO1. ❲ BASIC INFORMATION ❳

STAGE NAME┊ juno

BIRTH NAME┊ nikolas harmony khornton

THAI NAME┊ sunan khornthon

NICKNAMES┊ niko , nini — " | his most common nicknames, just shortened versions of his birth name.

juni — " | a nickname of fairly random origin, johnny just randomly called him this during practice and the rest of the members followed suit.

suni , suko — " | combining his birth name nikolas and his thai name, sunan. nicknames mainly used by the younger members of nct, haechan & kihyun in specific.

jupiter — " | juno is the wife of jupiter in roman mythology, a nickname derived from his stage name.

king of the cone — " | from his very clear love of waffle cones, he enjoys them more than the ice cream.

BIRTHDATE┊ 05 / 08 / 96

ZODIAC SIGN┊ taurus ( ♉︎ )

LUNAR ZODIAC SIGN┊ rat

BIRTHPLACE┊ brisbane, queensland, australia

HOMETOWN┊ brisbane, queensland, australia

RESIDENCES┊ brisbane, queensland, australia ( 1996 - 2006 ) , chiang mai, thailand ( 2006 - 2011 ) , seongsu-dong, seongdong-gu, seoul, south korea ( 2011 - present )

NATIONALITY┊ australian ( 🇦🇺 )

ETHNICITY┊ thai ( 🇹🇭 )

SPOKEN LANGUAGES┊ english — australian english , 100% " | his native language, it is often the language he thinks and dreams in.

thai — central thai dialect , 100% " | his second native language, he was taught by his mother growing up and also studied the language himself as a child. he became fluent rather quickly.

korean — gyeonggi dialect , 96% " | he's practically fluent, he's been studying the language since he was fifteen and always asks the rest of the members for help on word pronunciation, though he is practically fluent, he still doesn't feel that confident in his korean.

cantonese — unspecified dialect , 50% | he wanted to learn it, but then had no more time to study it any more. niko knows a few words, but he's always afraid of saying something wrong, so he constantly asks hendery how to pronounce certain things like seven times a day.

GENDER IDENTITY┊ cisgender male

PREFERRED PRONOUNS┊ he / him / his

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION┊ panromantic

SEXUAL ORIENTATION┊ pansexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS┊ single

HEIGHT┊ 183 cm ( 6 ft )

WEIGHT┊ undisclosed

BLOOD TYPE┊ b +

NATURAL EYE COLOR┊ dark brown

NATURAL HAIR COLOR┊ black

CURRENT HAIR COLOR┊ black

BODY MODIFICATIONS┊ 7 piercings [ 3 on his left ear , 3 on his right ear , 1 on his navel ] , 5 tattoos

FACE CLAIM┊ leeyeajeans ( instagram )

SPEAKING CLAIM┊ christian yu ( soloist ) , nichkun buck horvejkul ( 2pm )

VOCAL CLAIM┊ yoon jeonghan ( seventeen )

DANCE CLAIM┊ wen junhui ( seventeen ) , choi beomgyu ( tomorrow x together )

RAP CLAIM┊ jeon wonwoo ( seventeen )

OO2. ❲ CAREER INFORMATION ❳

SM ENTERTAINMENT┊ 2011 - present

TRAINING PERIOD┊ 5 years & 5 months

GROUP┊ nct ( 2016 - present )

SUBUNITS┊ nct u ( 2016 - present ) , nct 127 ( 2016 - present )

DEBUT DATE┊ april 9, 2016 ( nct u ) july 7, 2016 ( nct 127 )

POSITION┊ main dancer, main rapper, sub vocalist

OCCUPATION┊ singer-songwriter, dancer, rapper

YEARS ACTIVE┊ 2016 - present

PERSONAL FANDOM NAME┊ junis

INSTAGRAM┊ @ northstarco ( 79 posts , 5.3m followers , 5 following )

KNOWN FOR┊ being inactive ; posting once every once in a blue moon on instagram ; being the member sm drags out to do stupid interviews ; his excessive use of the word "bitch" ; ghosting his fans ; his accent amplifying whenever he yells or swears ; almost getting the group banned from vlive ; being a science nerd by heart ; ❝ in another life i'm a mad scientist.. ❞ ; being a military child ; forgetting his instagram password for months on end ; being one of two nct members with a college education ; his short lived blonde era ; naming all of his carnival won plushies ; ❝ this one's sasha, and that one's archibald ❞ ; collecting photocards of the shinee members despite being the in the same company as them ; blaming every single one of his inconveniences on jaehyun ; being doyoung's main tormentor ; his bombay cat, susi ; his inhuman flexibility

OO3. ❲ PERSONAL INFORMATION ❳

PERSONALITY OVERVIEW┊ niko is someone introverted by nature, the kind of person who doesn't talk much or fare well in crowds of people, even with how friendly they seem. it's amusing to think about that fact because niko is in a group with a good 20 other guys, and he isn't good with people? well no, not naturally at least. he usually never talks during group conversations unless someone tells him to, and he likes to think of himself as a much better listener than talker. he can remember things others say for days, but can usually barely formulate his own words, afraid of them not making sense or tripping up and saying the wrong thing, or mispronouncing a word. niko hates talking in front of others because he overthinks even the simplest of things, and while the people he's talking to may not hate him, niko's gonna think they hate him anyway.

niko is someone who is very honest on most occasions, but he doesn't come off rude about it, it's just that niko cannot lie for the life of him, especially if it's about something important to the person he's talking to. he starts awkwardly laughing and avoiding eye contact, smiling until his cheeks hurt. the one thing niko hates doing more than anything is hurting people's feelings, but he also doesn't like lying to people because he feels like he's betraying their trust. if niko thinks something about someone, he's going to tell them at some point, because if he doesn't he's going to feel insanely anxious for the rest of his life. it's not that he wants to hurt people, but he feels that withholding the truth from someone is wrong, and he'd also want others to be as honest with him as he is with them.

niko is someone who rarely loses his cool, and if you ever see him angry, it's most likely an act. niko is rarely angry or even easily aggrieved. though he does have his moments, niko has always known how to control his temper, even as a child inexperienced with life and having no clue just how upset people in the future would make him. if he is upset, he won't say a word about it, he'll just hole himself up in his room and go through it all by himself. nikolas doesn't really talk to people about how he feels, resorting to suffering in silence than telling anyone about it. he doesn't really like talking about his business as it is, but whenever he's upset about anything, he has to be alone, it's really the only thing that could make him any less upset. he avoids talking to anyone when he feels upset or his feelings overwhelm him, as he's afraid of blowing up on them or saying something that he'll regret (which unfortunately, has happened in the past).

everyone has a bad trait, and niko would say his worst is that he's stubborn. you have to be some sort of sorcerer to be able to change niko's mind about something, if he's already decided on it in his head, he's not going to move. he will get into an argument with someone if it means not changing his mind, he doesn't like losing, he doesn't like admitting when he's wrong even the answer is right in front of his face, and though niko is very understanding and open-minded, he's often stuck in the same place for years because he refuses to acknowledge he's wrong. of course, this trait is much less prominent now then when he was thirteen, but niko will still get into dumb arguments with the members over stupid things he refuses to believe are true.

PHOBIAS┊ atychiphobia ( fear of failure )

OO4. ❲ TRIVIAL INFORMATION ❳

MBTI TYPE┊ istj ( logistician )

TRAITS┊ introverted. observant. thinking. feeling.

STRENGTHS┊ honest and direct. disciplined. responsible. practical. calm.

WEAKNESSES┊ stubborn. judgmental. prone to burnout. overly perfectionistic. rigid.

HABITS┊ speaking thai and english in one turn. putting pens up to his lips. biting the skin off his lips. constantly rearranging his necklace. humming as a response. referencing random australian lingo to his members like they'll understand. stretching into a backbend. almost always sitting with his legs crossed.

HOBBIES┊ rapping. baking. solving crossword puzzles. everything science. snowboarding. creating flower bouquets. organizing his room. sudoku. writing obscure song lyrics. flower pressing. making jewelry. ice hockey. creative writing.

LIKES┊ science. waffle cones. thrillers. flower bouquets. handmade jewelry. bakeries. roman mythology. folklore. tulips. cats. curly fries. blazers. singing when he can. blueberry pancakes. milk tea. rina sawayama. butterflies. winning. listening to other people talk.

DISLIKES┊ dark chocolate. sea trips. humidity. red wine. being forced to talk. dating shows. love island. feeling vulnerable. talking about his personal life. being touched by strangers. arguing with any of his members (but especially doyoung).

PHOBIAS┊ atychiphobia ( fear of failure )

FAMILY┊ father — นาธาเนียล กรณ์ธร " | born april 27, 1970 in gold coast, queensland, australia. employed as a naval officer. mother — กัลยา กรณ์ธน " | born august 8, 1970 in chiang mai, thailand. employed as a violin instructor.

CLOSEST FRIENDS┊ all of ikon. all of shinee. mingyu, the8, vernon ; seventeen. yubin ; wonder girls. sunny, tiffany, hyoyeon, seohyun ; girls generation. all of exo. minhyuk ; btob. nayeon, sana, jihyo ; twice. kwon eunbi ; soloist / ex-iz*one. elly, hani ; exid. siyeon, yoohyeon ; dreamcatcher.

[northstarco]

질문⠀say.. are kihyun and 127 close at all?

정답⠀127 are, for KIHYUN, the older brothers he never knew he needed. they’re the ones he might’ve been a little (alright, maybe far more than a little) afraid of at first but now feels completely comfortable to talk and mess around and laugh with. if he has a problem that one of his own members aren’t around to help with, or if he feels he needs some guidance a member of his own can’t give, then 127 is where he’ll naturally turn. they’re his role models, strong pillars of support that he looks up to wholly. while with DREAM he still feels he has some degree of responsibility (with jisung being the youngest), when KIHYUN’s with 127 he feels he can let loose a little more.

태용 & 기현⠀───⠀KIYONG

kihyun was terrified of taeyong,  point blank.  the leader of the whole of the group—practically the face of NCT itself—and kihyun—just little kihyun in the corner,  most likely not even a blip on taeyong’s radar—being friends wasn’t something he ever envisioned happening.  he imagined it would stay a coworkers-only relationship for as long as the group remained active,  in the worst case scenario.  but it wasn’t like he made any attempt to avoid him during their trainee days,  he just..  didn’t make the effort to strike up a conversation,  much more focused on doing things like staring at his shoes and wishing the ground would swallow him whole.  he stayed admiring from afar even if johnny & mark both told him repeatedly that if he just talked to him once and broke the ice their friendship would be instant.

they only,  like kihyun and yuta would also,  really got to know each other during EMPATHY—and,  like johnny and mark had both foretold,  instantly got along perfectly.  taeyong treated him with as much love & affection as he did all his other dongsaengs,  and kihyun revelled in it,  feeling a little warm and special inside whenever the leader so much as said his name.  he felt that he had the proper neo stamp of approval now that they were friends, and couldn’t be happier about it. they could now commonly be seen walking around together arm-in-arm, gossiping about things they’d overheard from staff or whatever had gone on in the latest drama they’d both been watching, both taking selfies together and acting as photographer for their next instagram posts, and playing back-and-forth games of who could compliment the other the most.

although nowadays they only really see each in person other during whole-group comebacks & content, they’re still as affectionate as ever during those times (even more so, in fact, due to the longer period of time they would've been away from one another). they try to meet up for meals and little hangouts when they can manage, but more often than not they stick to texting and the occasional phone call, as well as mark or haechan dragging kihyun along to the bigger 127 meetups now and again so they get a chance to see each other. they have a neverending amount of support for one another (kihyun had never used the instagram story function more than when SHALALA came out, and whenever kihyun’s teasers drop for a DREAM comeback taeyong is similarly promoting it as much as possible) and are a pair that are much loved by everyone.

태일 & 기현⠀───⠀TAEKI

to say kihyun was intimidated by taeil when they first met would be the understatement of the year. even if he looks back on it now and laughs, tries to brush it off, he can’t escape the fact that he avoided the older vocalist like the plague back in his trainee years. it wasn’t that he found taeil scary, (because with a smile like that, it was hard to make anyone find him frightening) it was more that he was so in awe of his talent that he was unsure of how he was ever going to live up to it—or, if living up to it proved impossible (which at the time he was sure was the truth), how he was supposed to at least gain the older’s approval. it was a task he never saw being completed, the one hurdle he couldn’t manage to jump over. and so, he went to the one person he always did when he had a problem or worry he wanted to rant about: mark. who in turn just laughed and tweaked his ear and told him not to worry (and so, really, was no help at all).

it took a good while, (at least a month before the debut of 127) but they finally met properly in the place kihyun least wanted to—the recording studio. he was struggling with some of his CHEWING GUM lines, and taeil wandered into the wrong room by mistake. the older vocalist offered to help, even though the younger was sure he had a hell of a lot of stress on his own shoulders, and with the completely judgement-free & genuine way he offered kihyun felt he could do nothing but agree.

from there it was as simple as it had been with all the rest of kihyun’s friends. once the first hurdle was jumped, the rest was an easy sprint downhill. they didn’t become as close as kihyun was with the trainees closer to his own age, (namely mark, and later jeno & jisung—since renjun and chenle joined SM later, and he was wasn’t as close to haechan or jaemin at that moment in time) but they’d escalated from kihyun either turning on his heel and running the other way when he saw taeil walking in his direction in the corridors or hiding behind whoever was next to him to kihyun instead greeting him with a happy exclamation of “hyung!” and taeil reciprocating his smile tenfold, always putting a hand on his head or arm around his shoulders when the younger ran up to him.

the closeness only grew over the years the more they interacted, and whenever they get the chance to meet up properly the younger vocalist is as clingy as can be. to this day kihyun still considers taeil as one of his icons, a role model. it might be a rarity, but every time fans get notice of a taeil-kihyun hangout there’s complete (but understandable) chaos.

영호 & 기현⠀───⠀HYUNHO

to the surprise of some, there was an instant spark between kihyun & johnny. there was a bit of a language barrier, (what with johnny’s korean not being 100% just yet, and kihyun himself struggling majorly with most english bar a few basic phrases) but they made do with their translator apps and the help of fellow trainees around them and bonded quickly, getting along like a house on fire despite the large age gap. they bonded over fashion, over shared music tastes, over dancing and singing, and over the fact that johnny knew some of the EXO members, which kihyun was most definitely normal about (not). they bounced jokes off of each other and laughed even if neither of them found them funny, messed around in empty practice rooms whenever they had the time; making choreographies up to their favourite songs even if they had no coordination in the slightest, and on occasion johnny even (attempted) to help kihyun with his homework (even if most of the time he either A) didn’t understand what the question meant, or B) could manage to understand, but wasn’t able to help anyway).

it’s obvious to most that johnny likes to dote on kihyun. whenever the two are in a group setting he’s sure to sling an arm around his shoulder or stick to his side the minute he’s able, eager to drag him off to the side so they can talk and he get caught up on what the younger’s been up to recently. he’s first to comment on all of his posts, overflowing with praise at all of his achievements, and happy to go along with whatever whims the younger has in mind. kihyun is pretty much exactly the same, always having compliments to spare whenever johnny’s name is brought up in conversation, sticking to him like an extra limb whenever they get to be together in larger group content, making a point to promote him better than the company at times whenever he’s had a solo schedule, and appointing himself as johnny’s ‘assistant fashion evaluator’ with pride and confidence—which, of course, johnny accepted immediately, stating there was no-one he’d rather have in the position.

fans love them, always looking forward to the next time kihyun's going to feature a blurry half-shot of johnny’s smiling face in his next instagram dump from one of their outings, or when kihyun’s figure is going to be the one standing next to johnny’s in the thumbnail when the next jcc goes up. they’re a duo that’ll always make time for one another, always be there to support one another in whatever they decide to do, and that’s a fact that's hardly likely to change.

유타 & 기현⠀───⠀YUKI

yuta and kihyun’s relationship wasn’t a relationship at all for the first few years,  to put it plainly.  they never really had a one-on-one conversation,  never really had the time to properly get to know each other.   kihyun knew of yuta,  of course,  admired his talent both in itself and in the same way he admired all of the older trainees,  but he’d just never had the chance to properly convey that to him.  and it wasn’t like they were awkward—they never failed to spare a smile at one another when they passed each other in the corridors, always a warm greeting on their lips—they just weren’t..  close.  weren’t exactly friends in the same way kihyun was with most of the others.  and that was something kihyun wanted to eventually remedy,  even if he was a little intimidated by the older boy,  and even if yuta’s korean wasn’t still 100%,  and even if he himself could only just barely count to ten in japanese.

that  ‘remedying’  didn’t end up coming until 2018,  when they were preparing for EMPATHY as a whole group.  kihyun saw yuta standing off to the side,  taking a moment to himself,  and decided to wander over to join him.  they didn’t talk for a good ten minutes,  but after that kihyun finally mustered up the courage to pipe up with a compliment on what he’d seen of yuta’s dancing so far to break the ice,  and it was all uphill from there.  they found they bonded over a number of things—their love for dance,  love for singing,  love for football,  the list went on.  by the end of the day they’d finally properly exchanged numbers and promised to talk to each other more when they found the time.  conversations didn’t feel all that awkward even over text,  flowing easily and staying entertaining, and after a few weeks they were making plans to get dinner together  (or,  if neither of them wanted to go out,  to at least order in and meet up at one of their dorms and share the meal).

yuta is noted to be someone that brings out the calmer side of kihyun.  while they can both be the mood-makers when they want to be,  brightening up the room with their grand stories and naturally entertaining energy,  they can also be quiet and mellow when they want to be—and that usually happens whenever they’re together.  kihyun will quietly say hello to yuta and then sit and catch up with him,  no overexcitable and uncontainable personality in sight.  they’re again not a duo that people often see,  but the fleeting moments that are caught on camera are enough to remind everyone that they hold each other very dear in their hearts.

동영 & 기현⠀───⠀KIDO

again,  they weren’t a pair that talked to one another all that often.  it was passing greetings in the corridors,  polite nods and half-bows in the practice room and recording studios,  and barely any communication between them outside of that.  it wasn’t like there was any love lost between them—kihyun admired doyoung’s vocal talent greatly,  and hoped he’d reach somewhere near that level someday—it was just that they never quite found the time to get properly acquainted. 

that time came around the time that jeno did.  he was their sort of middle man, the mutual friend.  he was kihyun’s  (new,  again much to mark’s displeasure). favourite hyung and doyoung’s favourite dongsaeng,  so they were bound to come into contact soon after that.  and they did—with kihyun finally striking up the first conversation and breaking down the walls that had previously stood between them.  soon they were just as close as both of them were to jeno,  chatting and joking and smiling as easy as breathing in each other’s company.  doyoung coached him on a few vocal techniques and kihyun tried  (and failed,  even if he offered to do it when no-one else was in the practice rooms)  to get the older to dance with him more,  and altogether they just grew a lot closer than they originally had been.

they’re known for their tendency to play-fight for jeno’s affections, while the latter stays clueless and smiling throughout it all. they trade heartfelt compliments and glowing praise as well as snarky quips and light-hearted mocking comments (which doyoung complains kihyun got entirely from haechan, and that he’s a bad influence). they’re always in the likes and comments of each other’s posts, always quick to comment on any achievement of the other, always ready to sit and catch up over an evening meal and a drink or two-and kihyun is always ready to plead doyoung to dance with him, to which the older is even faster to decline the offer. if one is doing a live the other is sure to either join in the comments or physically if possible, and on the whole they’re a semi-rarely seen but still very real and supportive duo (although of course they—or just kihyun, really—have their teasing moments).

니코 & 기현⠀───⠀KIKO

much like with kihyun and johnny,  there was something of an immediate connection between him and niko.  while they again faced a little bit of difficulty with the language barrier,  their matching energies alone was enough to form the beginning of what would grow to be an incredibly strong bond over the years.  their starting points were making conversation through vague gestures and the few phrases they had in common in the other’s language,  nights after practice spent having fun dancing together and sharing song & artist recommendations while doing so,  and telling jokes that made the both of them crack up even if neither of them really got the punchline.  while to begin with they didn’t hang out all too much during their trainee days,  whenever they did see each other they were all smiles and laughter,  getting along like a house on fire.

as the years went on, while they didn’t see each other half as much as they did in the past, they only seemed to get closer.  they’d be glued to each other’s sides in any whole-of-NCT content, shower the other in praise at any given opportunity  (or occasionally without the opportunity,  and being completely unprompted),  and find ways to bring the other up in conversation even when they weren’t appearing in any content together.  fans were quick to dub them as a very much older-younger brother duo,  some even naming them  ‘father and son,’  titles the pair themselves even played into from time to time. niko is in running competition with johnny & jaehyun over who’s the favourite out of the three, even if on some days it's blatantly obvious that he’s the winner by a mile (or maybe a half-mile, at the least). kihyun has repeatedly mentioned how thankful he is to have met niko, and it’s a sentiment he hopes is reciprocated.

they’re known now for their easy affection and easier teasing with one another,  their constant lives together or featuring of the other in whatever content they may be filming  (kihyun always finds a way to feature niko in his little vlogs,  even if it’s in a way as small as showcasing the ‘good morning~’  or  ‘eat well!’  text messages he’s usually been sent that day),  and how well they seem to bounce off of each other—especially in the performance aspect.  fans have been begging for a collaboration,  even if it’s something as small as a dance cover with them in the same room.  they’re a duo that’ll be together through thick and thin for long into the foreseeable future.

재현 & 기현⠀───⠀KIJAE

it was (surprisingly, to many people who hear the story) jaehyun who first approached kihyun in the practice room back in their trainee days. he thought the younger looked a little lost, and tried to strike up a conversation to lighten his mood. it worked, but it also had the consequence of kihyun deeming jaehyun someone safe to let loose around, and so he proceeded to practically stick to his side as much as he did mark, or johnny. not that jaehyun minded all that much—he found himself getting along well with kihyun, and enjoyed the company. they bonded over music, mostly, and jaehyun (like taeil would also do) helped kihyun with some vocal troubles & insecurities he was having. soon they were sharing headphones and sitting curled up in the corner of the practice rooms on their breaks, jaehyun holding back grins when kihyun saw him in the mornings and ran at him head-on to wrap him in a hug, and mark having to endure kihyun’s long rambles that consisted largely of “jaehyun-hyung’s so cool! and talented! and amazing!” day in and day out, to the point that he straight-up banned him from mentioning his name in any of their conversations (but soon lifted that ban after being faced with the pleading look kihyun would give him afterwards).

kihyun thinks of himself to be on a mission, one that intends to show the world that jaehyun is not the cold, stoic, serious member he's seemed to grow a reputation as. whenever they get the chance to be in the same room he’s cracking jokes left right and centre, egging jaehyun on and being overjoyed whenever he plays along and jokes right back. he’s also, similar to how he is with taeyong & johnny (and most of the other members, really) as supportive as he can possibly manage to be whenever the older has a solo schedule, complimenting him both over text and publicly for everyone to see (posting about it, mentioning it in passing if he’s on live, etc), and although it’s not often jaehyun does also try to bring up kihyun in whatever he's been featured in also. a known public (and light-hearted) on-going feud between them is kihyun trying to get jaehyun to follow him on instagram, although the older maintains that it would ruin the aesthetic he’s going for—much to kihyun’s displeasure.

kihyun is seen as someone who brings out the lighter side of jaehyun with ease whenever they’re together, making him disregard the stoic act in a heartbeat. they’re a back-and-forth sort of duo, bickering even when they’re attached at the hip with both arms around one another. the younger boy will call him cool and then say he’s approaching thirty at frightening speed in the same breath, and jaehyun can do nothing but laugh. a fan-favourite duo for sure, and everyone is waiting for the day when they drop a duet or finally do a live together, as they’ve neglected to do either for years.

정우 & 기현⠀───⠀KIWOO

while it was a mutual want to get to know each other, it was jungwoo who made the first move and introduced himself—but in kihyun’s defence, it happened only a minute or so before he hyped himself up enough to do it first. they were just as high-energy as one another and made for an ever-lively duo, making dumb jokes to lighten the mood when it occasionally got tense from all the pent-up frustration a lot of them were holding in or simply just to make people laugh. jungwoo was commonly one to sneak out of the company and take kihyun with him, the two ending up in a small hole-in-the-wall diner as they got serious for a while and talked over their respective worries and fears for the future, before putting it all behind them with a meal they could just barely pay for and walking back up to the dorms arm-in-arm, stomachs full and with wide smiles on their faces.

the bond stayed strong (and grew, even) over the years, and they took every chance they could find to hangout together-usually ending up in the diners they frequented in their trainee years, or a noraebang where they both took turns belting out lyrics to their favourite songs as loud as they could (and teaming up to sing even louder in duets), or occasionally a bar they were confident they wouldn’t get caught in (although the latter option was rare, seeing as it normally ended in kihyun having to practically drag jungwoo back home again even after the older had confidently stated he’d be the one to outdrink the younger that night). they’re constant features in each other’s posts, and definitely a duo to be reckoned with in whole-group content—always riling everyone else up to the best of their ability while hyping themselves up at the same time.

they’re just as close as ever nowadays, likely to be seen together whenever they’re able to, and talking & laughing all the while. the scarce lives they hold together are full of conversations populated with whatever topics come into their heads, attempting to teach other english phrases even if neither of them are native speakers (which usually results in one of them calling on johnny, mark, jaehyun, or niko for help), and impromptu just dance routines to music one of them is playing over their speakers. they’re a duo that’ll never be seen without a smile on their faces when they’re together, and that’s something fans hope won’t change for a long while.

mentioned⠀@northstarco

[northstarco]

─── INTO YOUR WARM EMBRACE

⟡﹐ꊞ niko's relationships with NCT DREAM !

⟡﹐ꊞ when it comes to the members of nct dream, niko still sees them as the children they debuted as. when twenty year old niko found himself face to face with the freshly 14–16 year olds of nct dream, he felt the sudden urge to to hug all of them and never let them go. it's never been a secret that niko has a soft spot for the dreamies, the same dreamies who, though they are all adults now, he can't help but still see as babies. in the beginning, it was definitely difficult to interact with the members, considering they were children and he was at least four years their senior. admittedly, it was awkward in the beginning, but after a couple months, it seemed like he'd known them for years, like he'd given birth to each of the members himself. niko is basically the unofficial parent of everyone in nct dream (except for mark, he disowned him).

NIKO & RENJUN ( RENKO ) !

they are very much a rare pair, two members nctzens can't fathom ever being in the same room. every interaction between them on camera is minuscule at best, and if you do wanna find renko content, you're probably gonna have more luck finding it on the dark web then on any official nct pages 😭. seriously, the few interactions these two had at the nct nation concert sent nctzens into a frenzy, just them holding hands for seven seconds is enough for them. on camera, and to their fandom, the two of them have probably never met each other in their lives. off camera, though, they're much more different.

in the beginning, there were two things that made their interactions awkward. one: the language barrier, niko knew no mandarin, renjun knew no thai, and the two were equally as confident in their korean skills as a non-native speaker could be (which means they weren't confident at all). two: the two of them didn't want to be the first to start a conversation. while renjun would cast him looks from across the practice room but would be much too afraid to even get up and talk to him. despite the constant encouragement from donghyuck, the younger wouldn't budge, so the two didn't talk at all during their trainee days, just muttered a few greetings and goodbyes when coming across each other in the hallway.

it was only after the debut of nct dream that the two would actually be able to have a full on conversation. it was often that niko would wait backstage of their performances just to praise them endlessly, giving the sweetest of compliments to his month-younger juniors, compliments that would often lead to renjun being more flustered more than anything. niko to renjun was this calm, cool, collected older boy who seemed to be good at everything, a sentiment in his head which lead to the older becoming a staple of admiration for him. though the two could never spend a lot of time with each other, having schedules which made it practically impossible for them to ever make plans, renjun always made sure to make his admiration for the older clear, through short red faced mutters, and even clearer letters and late night texts.

now, are they friends? absolutely. are they still awkward? a little but not as much as they were before. renjun often finds himself snickering at niko's several shenanigans, especially when it comes to watching him argue with mark about the stupidest things imaginable.

NIKO & JENO ( NINO ) !

such an underrated duo that it's sad, they have such great chemistry, and whenever they're in content together it's absolutely hilarious, but sm seems to be gatekeeping all of the nino content. when seventeen year old niko met thirteen year old jeno on a random night in the practice room while he was searching for mark, the older became attached to him in almost an instant, smothering him at whatever chance he got. to the surprise of quite literally everyone, niko and jeno got much closer than it would've seemed. jeno was very much set on impressing the older, doing extra well in practice just to be able to see niko's proud smile whenever he showcased his newfound skills to him.

the pair would often find themselves talking about the strangest of things at two am in the practice room. idol groups, fancams, ice cream flavors, anything they could find entertaining. it wasn't often that he would say it, but niko would always showcase his appreciation for jeno through little gestures like allowing for the younger to randomly hold his hand throughout the day, accepting all of his gestures of affection, and covering for him whenever he snuck out to the convenience store in the late hours of the night. pre-debut nino represented more of cousins than brothers, niko was the cool older cousin who visited once every few years and jeno was the awkward younger cousin who wanted to be like him every way, admiring the older for even the smallest things.

niko and jeno still have their cousin like dynamic, but these days, jeno surprises niko more than anything. the older has been with him since he was thirteen, and he will never admit it out loud, but thinking about how he watched him grow up sort of chokes him up at times. the other things that surprises him is how jeno has gotten huger than him, at one point the two of them weren't even head to head, but now jeno can throw him around like he's nothing. niko is afraid that one day he's gonna wake up and jeno will be a giant, because to him, he's still a baby.

NIKO & JAEMIN ( MINKO ) !

if there is anything the members of nct dream can agree on, it's that na jaemin will never let nikolas rest. the younger has been buzzing around in his ear like an annoying mosquito for a good almost 11 years now, and there's nothing nikolas can do but give empty threats about how he's gonna punch the younger, knowing damn well he isn't going to do anything. upon entering sm entertainment in 2013, jaemin was met with an overwhelming new routine and unfamiliar faces, he felt just a little bit out-of-place, all of it was getting to his head, and he would often find himself up at night with these anxious circulating in his mind.

whenever jaemin felt like everything was getting to an increasingly overwhelming height, and whenever his thoughts would begin screaming at him, niko would be around to help knock them out of the way. the older became a person of comfort for jaemin, who, prior to even meeting him, felt like he couldn't properly talk about his worries to anyone. niko would listen to jaemin vent his anxieties, his frustrations, and their occasional late night talks became something jaemin would look forward to, niko basically became the sibling jaemin never had.

these two have a bond like no other, with niko acting as a sort of "guide" for jaemin. the two would often find themselves giggling at three am in the practice room, or sneaking out of practice to go to the convenience store whenever they were extra hungry in the middle of the night. jaemin busting into the little trainee dorms to make himself comfortable in niko's bed was never a rare sight, the two seemed attached at the hip, a brotherly relationship that could never be replaced.

and yeah— jaemin is always sure to nag niko about stupid things, and tease him whenever he can, but they both love each other, so so much.

NIKO & KIHYUN ( KIKO ) !

that's his son, and none of you are allowed to disagree with that statement, because that is literally his son. the moment seventeen year old saw twelve year old kihyun walk into the sm entertainment building, he got attached to him, and he can't exactly explain why he felt such an unusual surge of love whenever kihyun was in the room, but he did, and he wanted to make sure he didn't make the younger uncomfortable with the way he seemed to parade around him. kihyun felt similarly drawn to niko, often being able to find comfort in the older boy whenever practice or his homework questions became too much.

the two eventually became a usual pair to see around the practice room, whether it was kihyun skipping around the older and telling him silly puns he made out of his name, or it was niko teaching kihyun random australian phrases that the younger would begin to echo around the halls to annoy his other trainees. kihyun made it a habit to follow niko around, copying little things he watched the older do. despite being the eldest sibling himself, kihyun often found himself being taken care of by niko, showered with several compliments from the older boy who, (in his opinion) was probably one of the coolest people he'd ever met, being complimented by him was like music to his ears.

niko and kihyun have always been close, if you took one glance at them, you'd think that they've known each other they're whole lives. whenever things get horrible, and his thoughts become too overwhelming to bear, kihyun can immediately go to niko. the older has become a safe place for him, a person who he can talk to about anything, as the younger is to the older as well. it's become normal for kihyun to spend a lot of time at niko's place, whether it's to talk the older's ear off or to eat all of his cereal, the im can usually be found there if he's not at the dorms, chenle's place, or wandering around looking for new street foods to try.

one of the best things about these two is their duo lives, because you can always count on kihyun to suddenly bust down niko's door and crash his instagram live. the two are such an entertaining pair, and once you click on one of their lives, even if it's by accident, you will not be able to stop watching. sometimes, people think that niko and kihyun might actually be related, and the two do nothing but fuel those rumors.

NIKO & CHENLE ( NILE ) !

if you thought it was hard to find niko and renjun content, you have not seen the turmoil nile fans have to go through. the two had a lot of golden moments during nct 2020, but prior to that, it seemed like the two of them had no idea of each other's existence. yeah they were in the same group, but the only thing the two of them had in common were the members of nct they were close with. the only nile moments anyone could find were tiny little clips, or little stories told by the members where the two of them were menaces together.

it was difficult for niko and chenle to get to know each other, because the younger had joined only three months before the debut of nct dream, and niko had already debuted by then, so it wasn't easy to catch him around. chenle felt awkward around the older, because everything about him seemed to flawless, the younger was pretty intimidated by him, even with the smiles they shared in the halls when the younger would catch him.

chenle only found the confidence to talk to him a good few weeks after 127's debut, where he walked up to the older and muttered a few tiny compliments with his broken korean as niko sat there and listened to each and every word. it's easy to see why chenle was so nervous, because when your intimidated by someone, it's often that you trip over your words around them. niko thought chenle was the cutest person ever in that moment, and made sure to return the favor when he congratulated dream on their debut and gave extra compliments to chenle on his vocals, resulting in a very red faced chenle to form.

the younger's admiration for niko is something he would never say with his own mouth, he's much too stubborn to admit it to the other's face, but even after their awkward beginnings, the two did eventually find time they could spend with each other. niko often pampers chenle, and the younger pretends to be annoyed by it (but he loves it). so why is there so little nile content? that probably has to do with the fact that the two usually commit their crimes of evil after hours, often surrounded by their fellow members more, leaving them unable to interact in most nct content. still, any interaction between them is considered a win between niko and chenle truthers.

NIKO & JISUNG ( JINI ) !

that is also his son. no seriously, niko can't look at jisung these days without getting whiplash, because when did he get so tall? he's going to begin towering over niko in a few years time, and the thought alone is enough to make niko shiver. when niko met eleven year old, 4 ft 10 jisung in the sm entertainment practice room, the younger was basically a baby, and niko would do everything to make sure everyone knew that jisung was his new favorite dongsaeng (much to the dismay of donghyuck and kihyun). all the younger could do was stand there and take the older dancers constant praises, red faced and giggling as he did so.

though niko could never see jisung regularly after both of their debuts, the older always found time to give him compliments about everything. whether it be his dancing, his rapping, or his occasional singing, niko always found something to compliment jisung on, and the younger could always just stutter back responses as his cheeks grew a red color. whenever niko gets to spend time with the dreamies, if he doesn't immediately make a beeline towards kihyun, it's always jisung. jisung doesn't even have to do anything to get affection from niko, he could just stand there and niko would crumble immediately (nobody will ever know how he does it, and neither does jisung). if you want to get an unsolicited hug from nikolas, the easiest thing you could do is just be park jisung.

jisung usually never knows what to say around niko, not only because he's as introverted as the older, but because the compliments he receives often leave him so speechless that he doesn't know how to keep up. when jisung does get to talk to niko, it's often short and awkward because he can never really get his words in order, but niko always gives him time, never interrupting him in the middle of his speech or correcting him on his words. jisung, though he never really says it, really appreciates the older, his compliments, all his gestures, and his acts of affection. he often makes it known to him through quiet mutters, secret messages sent to him, and small smiles shared between them.

mentioned @kiiyunz

[northstarco]

niko vs smoothie 😖

❝ nikolas runs away! literally! ❞

"hi".

upon peaking his head in through the door, nikolas is met with the numerous eyes of nct dream. the first one to react to his appearance is kihyun, who gasps at the sight of the older. "nini!" he squeals, wrapping his arms around the others waist. the dancer gives a small smile, ruffling the younger's hair.

"you said you wouldn't be able to make it" mark's accusatory tone makes the other narrow his eyes, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he allows for kihyun to squeeze him to death. "i lied".

the look he receives from the lee makes him snort. "of course you did".

"you know me so well!"

the im lets go of the older, smiling up at him. nikolas then glances at the rest of the group, clapping his hands. "congratulations on the comeback! you all did so well on your stage!"

"but i did the best right?" lee donghyuck slides up right beside him, poking the taller in the shoulder. "right?" he urges again, and nikolas pretends to think about it.

"hmm, i think you did the worst actually— ow!"

the 96 liner rubs his arm as he reels from the hit the 00 liner landed on it. "didn't anyone tell you to respect your elders haechanie?"

upon hearing the words, nikolas turns to glare at mark, who only sports a grin of feigned innocence. "are you calling me old? you fucke—"

as soon as he tries to say the word, huang renjun is slaps a hand over his mouth, preventing him from cussing out his fellow member in english. "no swearing please, not while we're here with the door open".

the older scowls, gently removing renjun's hand from his mouth. "you're lucky, mark" he points down the canadian, who just smiles tauntingly.

"you aren't gonna do anything".

"bro i'll literally—"

"aren't we supposed to film the challenge with you?"

nikolas is once again cut off by the question from the maknae, and it dawns on him. oh, that. "we're supposed to?"

"what you don't wanna do it?"

"you have to!" donghyuck immediately exclaims, trying to shut down any arguments from the older. he clings onto the olders arm, giving his best pleading eyes. "please juni hyung?"

now usually, nikolas is always going to fall for those puppy dog eyes of donghyuck's, but today he seems to be doing everything in his body to resist them, so he lets out an awkward chuckle. "well i— i uh, i have a thing! i have to do!"

the leader immediately sees through his lie, raising an eyebrow. "a thing?"

"yeah i have to go uh, feed my cat!"

then, nikolas runs.

donghyuck can barely even keep up with his motions, as the older quickly let go of him and sprints out of the room.

"did he just run away?"

renjun can't help but laugh, humored by the situation, and mark just groans, now used to the older's shenanigans. "we should probably go catch him right?"

"jeno hyung should do it!"

"wait why?"

"because we have to capture him!"

what a totally non-mischievous plan.

"you can't do this! this is against my will!"

nikolas tries his best to get out of jeno's grip, the younger pulling him by the arm, but he is no match against him. yeah he's taller than jeno, but he can't compete with his seemingly superhuman strength, struggling as he's pulled back into the room with the rest of the nct dream members.

kihyun comes up from behind him, flicking his head. "why don't you wanna film the challenge with us?" the im crosses his arm, watching as the khornthon grimaces.

"i don't know the choreography.."

"liar!"

niko scoffs at chenle's rebuttal. "i'm not lying! i only know the chorus and stuff like tha— OW! JENO DON'T PULL MY ARM OFF!"

"it's just a ten second video" all mark's words receive is a glare from the older, who is very much still not into this. "seriously, just get it over with!"

nikolas drops down onto the floor, exhausted from trying to resist against the strong hold of the lee. "you guys can't make me do anything.." the members roll their eyes at his stubborn antics,

"you have to! do you want me to tell them about your situation with te—"

"fine! i'll do it, stupid chitta.." nikolas forces himself to stand up, dusting his pants free form any dirt. he hears the chuckles of the mischievous im. "you're lucky your adorable you little asshole".

"swearing".

"sorry" the dancer immediately responds, he watches as donghyuck and kihyun hop over to him so they can drag him out to go film their little tiktok.

nikolas wished for the ground to swallow him whole.

mentioned @kiiyunz

[northstarco]

ICONIC MOMENTS ▬▬ juno's iconic moments

❝why do i hear horses?❞

❝wha—?❞

❝oh it's just us, don't mind me.❞ ▬▬ regular-irregular era, 2018 ▬▬ nct 127 regular music bank behind

❝we'll never lose because we have mark lee.❞ ▬▬ sticker era, 2021 ▬▬ stick together, ep.4

❝and i said oh you're such a bitch! oh wait i can't swear oh my god cut that out cut that ou—❞ ▬▬ 2 baddies era, 2022 ▬▬ 2 baddies recording behind the scenes

❝these lyrics make no sense.❞

❝we're singing about baggy jeans, chittaphon.❞

the sound of laughter is heard from the rest of the group, whilst the youngest 96 liner just gives ten that usual stoic look. ▬▬ baggy jeans era, 2023 ▬▬ baggy jeans mv behind

❝so what's your ideal type in a woman?❞

❝i don't think i have genuinely ever thought about that in my life.❞ ▬▬ cherry bomb era, 2017 ▬▬ anonymous

❝i disappear so often that even i start believing the death rumors sometimes.❞ ▬▬ end of 2 baddies era, 2022 ▬▬ buzzfeed interview ft. juno of nct!

❝okay so sm told me to stop saying i was being held in the basement because technically it's a 'defamatory statement' and to say i was joking about letting me out but i'm not lying so please let me out.❞ ▬▬ superhuman era, 2019 ▬▬ instagram live

❝not john and ten singing breakup songs, is this why you guys say they're divorced?❞ ▬▬ 2 baddies era, 2022 ▬▬ attention nctzens, solo vlive

❝breaking into song is so stupid who would even do tha— can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shootin' stars— so as i was saying..❞ ▬▬ favorite era, 2021 ▬▬ live with doni ♡, duo vlive

❝huh, i look like a real nerd.❞

❝pfft— that's because you are— ouch doyoung! that hurts you bastar—❞

proceeds to try and whack his best friend in front of everybody. ▬▬ fact check era, 2023 ▬▬ fact check dance practice behind

❝have you seen him?❞ nikolas asks, showing a picture of kihyun on his phone. after looking closely at the picture on the idols phone, the stranger shakes their head. ❝no, is he missing?❞

❝nope! just wanted to show you how beautiful my son is, have a nice day!❞ ▬▬ end of nct #127 era, 2016 ▬▬ anonymous

❝it's been a while since i've been exposed to light..❞ ▬▬ cherry bomb era, 2017 ▬▬ nct life in osaka, ep.1

❝it must've been so hard to practice without my glorious presence here, i seriously worry for you guys. do your best even without my prominent guidance skills, everyone!❞

❝he's crazy. ❞

❝and don't call me crazy, jaehyun.❞ ▬▬ end of baggy jeans era, 2023 ▬▬ nct nation concert dance practice behind

mentioned @kiiyunz

[northstarco]

YOU KNOW WE GOTTA GET A DESIRE AND A HIDE FROM MY FAVE NCT MEMBER PLEASEE !!!!

DESIRE: what's one thing your oc wants more than anything in the world? are they open with that desire? why or why not? what would they do to fulfill it?

genuinely, more than anything in this world, nikolas really just wants to have a good relationship with his father. he feels accomplished in pretty much every other field in life besides that, and it upsets him more than anything. he doesn't talk to people about it, because he doesn't enjoy talking about his parents in the first place, and talking about it makes him feel vulnerable. he obviously doesn't bring it up to his mother, but she knows, she knows very well. niko thinks he'd do anything to fulfill that desire, but his father also isn't the best person, so he doesn't know how far he'd actually go.

HIDE: what does your oc hide? why do they hide it?

niko hides his true emotions, always. he doesn't mean to, but it's become such a natural thing for him to do that he can't help it. if he's feeling angry, uncomfortable, or even upset, he'll put on a front. he barely tells people, even his closest friends how he's feeling even with how much they try to make him.

[northstarco]

oc asks: not-so-nice edition

alone: How does your OC deal with loneliness? Have they ever been completely alone before? How do they act when there's no one around to see them?

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

bound: Has your OC ever been imprisoned or captured? What happened? How did they get out? Did the experience leave any scars?

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

failure: What's your OC's greatest failure? Have they been able to move past it? Does anyone else know about it?

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

future: What's the worst possible future for your OC? Are they taking steps to avoid that outcome? Are they even aware it's a possibility?

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

hate: What does your OC hate? Why? How do they act towards the object of their hatred?

heartbreak: Have they ever had a relationship that ended badly? Experienced some other kind of heartbreak? What happened?

hide: What does your OC hide? Why do they hide it?

hunt: Who or what is your OC hunted by? A person, a feeling, a past mistake? Is your OC able to let their guard down, or are they constantly alert?

mask: Does your OC wear a mask, literally or figuratively? What goes on beneath it? Is there anyone in their life who gets to see who they are under the mask?

midnight: What keeps your OC up at night? Do they have nightmares? Fears? Anxieties? What do they do in the small hours of the morning when they should be sleeping?

mistake: What's the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on?

monster: Is your OC monstrous in any way? Is there something that makes them monstrous? Are they aware of their own monstrosity? Do they accept it or reject it?

nightmare: What does your OC have nightmares about? How do they deal with their nightmares? Do they tell people, or keep it to themself?

pain: What's the worst pain your OC has ever felt? Do they have a high pain tolerance?

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

skin: How comfortable is your OC in their skin? Do they grapple with anything that lives inside them—a beast, a curse, a failure, a monster? How do they face the smallest, weakest, most horrible version of themself? Are they able to acknowledge it at all?

torture: Has your OC ever been tortured? Would your OC ever torture someone else?

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

[northstarco]

nikolas 🤝 going overboard

❝ nikolas is a player guys.. ❞

"this is all a little too much.."

nikolas barely registers doyoung's words, much too busy wrapping up the presents he'd gotten for the valentine boy himself. when he does finally assess the sentence, he snorts. "this is not too much.. it's hyun's birthday! i always go above and beyond for your birthdays!"

doyoung sighs, shaking his head. "i'm not talking about jaehyun's gifts, ni, i'm talking about all the other gifts".

a small 'ah' escapes nikolas' lips as he finally realizes what doyoung means, but the moment he's done, he chuckles, playfully rolling his eyes. "you're being overdramatic".

doyoung's eyes widen, and the look niko receives from his best friend is hilarious. "niko, you got us all gifts for valentine's day".

he makes sure to emphasize the word, to emphasize what day it is, because he genuinely finds what the younger did to be a new level of crazy. he is in a group of at least 20 other men— 20, and he still decided to get all of them valentines gifts? doyoung thinks that the shopping trips he made must've been insane.

"where do you find the time? how do you find the money!?"

the shriek from jungwoo gets a chuckle out of niko, who just shrugs his shoulders with a small smile. "a magician never tells.."

"your a government agent aren't you?"

that question gets an even louder laugh out of niko, and he quickly covers his mouth with his hand. he places his hand on doyoung's arm for support, and the older just allows for him to, much used to his shenanigans by now.

"okay— stop, i have to finish wrapping hyun's gifts".

"i think he'll be very appreciative that you decided to get him all this, sunan" doyoung comments, niko finds the way he says his thai name adorable, and it gets a small laugh out of him. "seriously, the wrapping doesn't have to be perfect".

"presentation is important".

doyoung raises an eyebrow, clearly judging the youngest 96 liner and the words which just escaped his lips, but he just shakes his head.

"you didn't have to do all of this.."

"it's not as drastic as what i did last year".

well, he is right, last year valentines day, niko was much more extreme and extravagant with his gift giving, it was practically a mess, all the gifts last year were so over the top, that the members almost thought he was joking when he handed them over.

but niko has always been like this, gifts like these have never been out of the ordinary for him to give.

he just enjoys giving, not so much receiving, though.

"what's that?"

"what's what?"

niko glances up, and jungwoo has his gaze focused on a card on the counter.

shit.

his eyes go wide, and he feigns nonchalantness.

"nothing" he says quickly, grabbing the card before jungwoo can get ahold of it.

the two kims exchange a glance, both clearly very confused at niko's sudden change of attitude. doyoung looks around, puzzled, and jungwoo just narrows his eyes, suspicious. "it's nothing?" the 98 liner raises an eyebrow.

"yep, nothing".

niko is horrible at pretending.

doyoung immediately sees through his lie, mostly because he can see that the card is addressed to someone, he just can't exactly determine for who, the writing is basically unintelligible from the place he's standing.

but a small giggle leaves his lips, because he has a very good idea of who it is.

"o..kay?" jungwoo is still very confused, not having caught up to the information doyoung has already found himself.

niko is quick to rip the card, throwing it away. he clears his throat, trying his best to make his now reddened cheeks unnoticeable. "anyway, um—"

almost immediately, the other derails the conversation from the prior topic, focusing on something else.

doyoung doesn't fail to take notice, and a quiet sigh leaves his lips.

jesus nikolas, just tell the boy how you feel..

[northstarco]

4 & 34 pleasee ^.^

Q4: what's a hobby that they used to have that they miss?

niko used to LOVE crocheting, like so much. his mother got him into it when he was younger and it become a common hobby for him when he wanted to distract himself, he would make the members hats and sweaters almost every week in the first few years of debut. after 2020, it became less and less of a common hobby for him, and now he doesn't know how to get back into it.

Q34: how do they greet someone they like / love?

he usually doesn't greet them verbally, he'll just walk up and beside them and wrap his arms around them. it's pretty ironic considering niko would never say he enjoys pda, but he loves sneaking up on his friends/loved ones with very public affection. if he doesn't do that, though, he'll open up with a joke, or tease them, or he'll poke them to be annoying, usual silly niko things.

[northstarco]

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

When do they fake a smile? How often?

How do they put out a candle?

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Did they take a cookie from the cookie jar? What kind of cookie was it?

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

If they committed one petty crime / misdemeanor, what would it be? Why?

How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

How do they greet someone they like / love?

What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

What hobby are they good at in private, but bad at in front of others? Why?

Would they rather be invited to an event to feel included or be excluded from an event if they were not genuinely wanted there?

How do they respond to a loose handshake? What goes through their head?

What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Who have they forgotten about that remembers them very well?

Who would they say ‘yes’ to if invited to do something they abhorred / strongly didn’t want to do?

Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

What’s a phrase they say a lot?

Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

[northstarco]

─── WHEREVER I GO, FOREVER

⟡﹐ꊞ niko's fun facts !

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 001 ⋆ niko was born in brisbane, queensland, australia on a royal navy base. his father is a naval officer and his mother is a violin instructor, they met while he was deployed in thailand, and, (with heavy quotes) "fell in love at first sight".

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 002 ⋆ he lived with both of his parents in australia for 11 years until 2006, when he moved to thailand with his mom upon their divorce, he would see his father on only special occasions, but as he got older, he became a lesser figure in his life.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 003 ⋆ niko's dominant hand is his left hand, but he writes and draws with his right hand. he isn't ambidextrous, he just taught himself how to do most things with his right hand in his youth.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 004 ⋆ when he was living in chiang mai, he was in a dance team with five other boys from his school. they would do covers of kpop songs (specifically of the groups 2pm, bigbang, shinee, and h.o.t) either after school or on the weekend. even after he moved to a whole other country and became an idol, he's still close to his former teammates, they're all his best friends in the whole entire world.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 005 ⋆ niko can play only 4 instruments. the guitar (both electric & acoustic), the drums, the clarinet, and the violin. his mom taught him how to play three whilst he learned how to play the drums on his own.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 006 ⋆ he has a poster of the british rock band QUEEN in his room, which was a gift from somebody at a fansign. he originally wanted to give the poster back, thinking that the fan had given it to him by mistake, but they insisted it was for him to keep, so now it hangs on the wall right above his desk.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 007 ⋆ he says the first ever idol group he was ever truly interested in was baby v.o.x, his favorite member at the time was eunhye.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 008 ⋆ niko has a bombay cat named susi, who he adopted in 2014. she is his favorite being in the whole entire world.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 009 ⋆ niko has his bachelor's degree in computer engineering, which he received from the hankuk university of foreign studies.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 010 ⋆ niko loves science. he was always exceptionally better at science than any of his other subjects at school, and it's his specialty besides music, and he has a lot of knowledge on chemistry and psychics. science was always his favorite subject whilst geography was his least favorite.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 011 ⋆ niko loves baking, and he enjoys it more than cooking. while he can cook, he says it stresses him out whilst baking relaxes him. according to yangyang, he makes the best strawberry shortcake.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 012 ⋆ niko's favorite artists are rina sawayama, sza, beyoncé, 2pm, lee hyori, abba, and kendrick lamar.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 013 ⋆ his favorite songs are tokyo love hotel by rina sawayama, again & again by 2pm, listen to my heart by boa, and all up in your mind by beyoncé.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 014 ⋆ niko is known for his lyrical ability, and he has songwriting credits on 5 of nct 127's albums.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 015 ⋆ songs he is in the lyrical credits for include knock on from regular-irregular, make your day and boom from nct #127 neo zone, sticker and focus from sticker, and je ne sais quoi from fact check, and though not official, he also aided in the writing process for songs like cherry bomb.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 016 ⋆ he is often referred to as a "ghost" because of how he just disappears for long amounts of time. he never posts daily on any of social media and there are literally months between each of his instagram posts 😭. the members also call him a ghost because of how they can usually never find him and how he always takes them by surprise by coming out of nowhere. (according to jungwoo, his footsteps "have no sound").

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 017 ⋆ niko loves singing, but he doesn't sing much because of his main positions of dancer and rapper. he barely sings in most 127 songs if ever, but he enjoys it more than he does rapping, he hopes that in the future he could have more singing parts in songs.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 018 ⋆ his favorite movie is perfect blue.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 019 ⋆ he is a huge fan of taemin from shinee. whenever he has the chance, he brings up that he has a rare taemin photocard as a flex. when he met him for the first time after his debut, that was the one time his members almost saw him cry.

: ✶ ˖ ࣪ 020 ⋆ niko stated that his ideal type is baekhyun from exo, but most people can't tell if he was joking about that or being serious.

[northstarco]

─── I HAD A DREAM OF THIS SPOT

⟡﹐ꊞ niko's relationships with NCT 127 !

⟡﹐ꊞ the bond niko shares with his 127 members is, in his own words, "one like no other". when you spend almost a decade with the same people, in the same group, grappling all the issues surrounding such an industry as this, you become just a little bit attached to them. sure he's had a couple of fights with a few of them here and there, but one or two measly arguments isn't enough to completely change the course of his relationship with them forever. even with how little he utters the three words "i love you" to them, it is very clear through actions that he in fact, does love them, he showcases his love for the 127 members through gifts, teasing, and spending quality time with them. 127 is his main unit, and they've become an integral part of his life.

TAEYONG & NIKO ( TAENI ) !

in the beginning, the two seemed distant, though they had a mutual friend (doyoung), they had absolutely no idea how to talk to each other and not be awkward. niko wanted to talk to taeyong at first, he quite literally planned how to introduce himself in his head and tried his best to muster enough courage to actually walk up to him and start a conversation, every time he wanted to, he'd chicken out and immediately turn away. niko thinks that originally, he felt intimidated by taeyong, not because he was rude or anything, but because taeyong was just so brilliant and popular that niko thought if he did talk to him, he'd be turned away.

eventually, the two would be forced to talk after doyoung got tired of their awkward stares, quite literally grabbing both of their hands and making them introduce themselves to each other. after that— it was like the two of them had been friends for years! they got along with each other so well that you would never know there was ever an awkward period between them. taeyong absolutely adores niko, he loves him like they were raised together under the same roof. taeyong has gotten very used to niko's habits, and can be seen being protective over the younger. he is constantly dragging niko out of the practice room at three in the morning.

if there is anything niko can guarantee in this world, it's that taeyong is one of his best friends ever, the amount of admiration he has for him seems to be enough to fill the entire universe, he'll never really say the words, because lord knows the amount of teasing he'd get from his fellow nct members, but he showcases it not only through his actions, but also with the way he stares at taeyong when he thinks no one is looking.

TAEIL & NIKO ( ILSUN ) !

oh niko adores taeil so much, he has a kind of love for him that he thinks he can't explain even if he tried super hard. taeil, from the beginning, took a liking to niko, despite only being two years older (and shorter) than him, he saw niko as a baby, from the moment niko smiled at him and uttered the words; "let's work hard to debut together taeil hyung", he knew that he'd die for him. taeil can be protective over niko and his privacy, not afraid to speak up for him when interviewers try to pry too much into his personal life.

niko talks about taeil like he was raised by him, seriously! whenever he gets the chance, he'll ramble about taeil and how amazing and talented and incredible he is, niko will spend hours praising taeil for doing even the smallest things, which he doesn't do with any of the other 127 members (sometimes he makes exceptions for mark but it's rare). niko has a special place in his heart reserved for taeil, he has a specific soft–spot for him and him only. with niko, taeil is very much "concerned parent", constantly asking him if he's eaten, drank water, slept a good eight hours, and will quite literally force him out of the house if he isn't doing anything, which niko will always complain about (but his complaints are always a lie).

JOHNNY & NIKO ( YOUNGNI ) !

they behave much like they were raised under the same roof, and they may as well have been considering how johnny's mom babies niko more than she does her own son (mama suh has her priorities straight okay!). they very much emulate the "brothers who argue about every single little thing" vibe, you can never see these two not arguing about something, they will fight until their last breath, and they'll fight about everything too! video games, music, movies, literally anything under the sun. their relationship is playful in the way that they both love each other very much, but the both of them are also way too stubborn to even admit that (they're just waiting for the other to break first).

with johnny, niko is very much "annoying younger brother". constantly asking him stupid questions, poking him to annoy him, pulling pranks, following him around, everything that makes johnny want to punch him in the face. if niko ever has a question, the first person he's going to is johnny, he always acts like the older is this all–knowing person who will have every single answer to every single one of his questions.

niko has pretty much been latched onto johnny ever since they became friends in 2012. he doesn't know why he became so attached to him, and if you asked him to explain it, he'd say; "i don't know.. it all just happened" (which johnny thinks is idiotic, he never fails to tell him that), but under all of their fights and stupid arguments about things, they really are each other's number one supporters. johnny is (though he doesn't make it obvious) protective over niko, and is not all civil with people who hurt him. he knows about niko's parents and their shitty behavior, he always reminds niko that he has a place at his home, because he does, and niko is happy about that.

YUTA & NIKO ( YUKO ) !

they are so underrated, and it's so sad because they absolutely love each other. you probably won't believe me, but they bonded over drinks in the corner of the sm entertainment practice room, i'm not even joking. it was just a regular tuesday morning (morning as in 2 am) and they both decided to sit in the corner with a bottle of sake as they discussed rumors, stupid things, and lowkey trash talked sm entertainment. the two pretty much became silent besties from then on, friends who no one knew were friends because they didn't seem to talk to each other at all.

after their debut, the members were surprised that the two of them seemed to get along so well, because to them, the two hadn't even shared words before. if you ever watch nct 127 content, you can usually find these two giggling about something, poking each other in the shoulder as they laugh like mad men at a joke the rest of the members don't understand. most nctzens don't think much of this friendship, and it definitely isn't popular among niko's relationships in nct, but niko's bond with yuta is something he can't explain, even with how much he tries.

off camera, these two actually spend a lot of time together. whether it be shopping, browsing catalogs, niko forcing yuta to watch him play nintendo games, or arguing about which ice cream flavors are overrated (they both agree that it's strawberry). despite the stupid shenanigans they get into, their best friends, and they both enjoy annoying the hell out of johnny.

DOYOUNG & NIKO ( DONI ) !

best friends, absolute best friends. maybe it's them being born in the same year, maybe it's the way they both enjoy singing, or maybe it was how they had no other choice but to become friends considering they stayed in the same dorm as trainees. in the beginning of their friendship, it was so excruciatingly awkward because niko wanted to talk to him so bad but also wouldn't, and doyoung was doing his best to learn even the simplest english phrases so that he could actually get to know niko (he enlisted johnny in helping him learn).

when the two first did end up talking, it was while they were both sitting up at ten pm in niko's bunkbed, doing their best to interact with niko's broken korean, whilst doyoung helped him out with words that he mispronounced. they didn't truly become close until around february of 2014, and after that, it was like the awkward period between them never happened at all. doyoung and niko usually always lean on each other, and are almost always together. niko is pretty much amazed by everything doyoung does, he could hit the most basic note, and niko would go crazy cheering him on.

they are practically attached at the hip, wherever you see doyoung, you'll probably see niko somewhere close by. they're a team, always choosing to be partners in games, always making sure to save a seat for the other, always nagging each other to eat, sleep, and drink enough water. they have become very in tune with each other, so used to the others presence constantly around that doyoung could just waltz into niko's place with no issue. despite niko's very obvious love for the older, he is definitely the least kind when it comes to poking fun at doyoung for something embarrassing he did a good five years ago. he will hold on to every single embarrassing thing he ever did until the day he dies, and doyoung will never hear the end of it from the younger.

NIKO & JAEHYUN ( HYUNKO ) !

NOO GUYS I SWEAR THEY LIKE EACH OTHER THEY DONT MEAN TO GLARE 😭😖😞. okay but seriously though, the two of them didn't get off to a great start, because all they would give each other were condescending looks and the cold shoulder. the most words the two ever uttered to each other during their trainee days were a few "hi's" and "thank yous", but besides that, they pretty much avoided each other. it wasn't that they hated each other, they could just never find a common ground, if these two were stuck together in a room, they'd rather stare at the wall for hours than try to make conversation with the other.

their refusal to talk to each other and the awkward silence they'd go into the moment the other walked into the room didn't go unnoticed by their fellow trainees, who had absolutely no idea what beef they had with each other, and they would've stayed like that if not for mark forcing them to confront their issues face to face. it would take a good few hours (because mark had to do some heavy convincing to actually get niko to agree with him), but when the two decided to suck it up and talk, they realized that they had so much more in common than they immediately assumed.

now— they didn't immediately become friends after that, they just became less hostile. they could hold normal conversations with each other, and even laugh about stupid jokes without having the sudden urge to glare at each other from across the room. there was still an evident awkwardness between them, but at least they weren't glaring as if the other had murdered their families or something.

it was really after nct 127s debut that they actually became much closer, despite the fact that all of them were so busy considering their debut was in two weeks, they still found time to talk to each other. when niko's insomnia would get especially bad, jaehyun would keep him company until he was able to go to sleep, or they'd spend all night up together, anxious about their debut stage the next day. it was moments like those that suddenly brought the two closer together than they'd ever thought they'd be, they realized that they couldn't continue this cycle of awkward acquaintances who refuse to call each other friends if they were going to spend the next chunk of their lives in a group together. when most nctzens mention these two, they still talk about them as if they hate each other, but they don't, their pretty much best friends.

NIKO & JUNGWOO ( JUNKI ) !

probably the only person who can actually get niko out of his house, jungwoo immediately rushed towards niko to become friends with him when he first became a member of the group, which surprised niko, because he wasn't so used to such a jumpy and energetic person wanting to become friends with him. niko originally didn't know how to respond to jungwoo's sudden urge to become friends with him, but it was because he'd never seen someone so interested in him before. in almost an instant, jungwoo became one of the members niko is closest to, and he's not even sure how it even happened.

on some days, jungwoo will literally barge into niko's place and drag him out because he's just sitting inside and doing nothing. niko has seriously developed new hobbies because of jungwoo's insistence for him to try new things with him, never in niko's life did he think he would ever enjoy carnival games, but jungwoo drags him out to win plushies for him a few times and all of a sudden, he loves them. it's known to the members that niko isn't keen on doing things out of his comfort zone, but jungwoo is exactly who takes him out of his comfort zone, somehow always able to convince him to do things that he never thought he'd ever do on his whole entire life.

even with how much of opposites they are, niko would say that he and jungwoo are actually pretty compatible. they get along well, they have undeniably amazing chemistry, and they bounce off each other naturally. jungwoo is also just the tiniest bit afraid of niko, he can truly be very intimidating, and even though niko doesn't think so, jungwoo always shivers at the glares he receives from the older.

NIKO & MARK ( MARKO ) !

if you asked niko what attracted him to mark so suddenly, he would never be able to answer that question. when sixteen year old niko saw thirteen year old mark walk the practice room of sm entertainment in 2012, he knew from that very moment that he wanted to protect him. now— niko doesn't know why the first thing he wanted to do when he saw mark was hug him, or why his eyes always softened the moment mark spoke, but that's always just what happened whenever mark was around, and he took an instant liking to him. their bond quickly became strong through their similar interests and the way they could easily interact with each other, considering they were both fluent in english.

they became an increasingly common pair to see around, often wrapped in each others arms in the corner of the practice room, making obscure references to random movies, they were making northern–southern hemisphere jokes (it's their whole thing, the members are sick and tired of them), or they'd each be confused on how canadian and australian traditions worked. the one thing the staff are always reminded to do by managers is to never let these two do a live together, they've basically been put on a ban (to their own dismay), because the moment these two go live together they are both going to be reeking havoc on sm entertainment. (to quote from their last ever last duo live together, niko had called one of their old dance instructors a "arrogant entitled asshole" and they giggled about it for so long).

surprisingly, mark can actually convince niko into doing so many things without trying. he just needs to pitch his voice up enough and display those adorable eyes and suddenly niko is at his will. all mark has to do is ask a few times and niko will do anything for him. mark could literally get niko to buy anything for him with a simple smile, and the other members will never know what kind of power he has over the older. niko may as well be deemed mark's biggest fan, but you will never hear him uttering those words out loud, because mark would tease him for who knows how long, but it doesn't matter if he says it or doesn't say it, because we all know he loves mark more than anything.

NIKO & HAECHAN ( NIHAE ) !

he's a menace and niko hates him. okay that's a lie— niko doesn't hate him exactly, he is just so annoying and never lets niko rest. whenever he gets the chance, he'll sit himself down beside niko and start spouting absolute nonsense. if annoying niko was a sport, donghyuck would be a twenty–time medalist with how much joy he finds in the activity. whether it be poking his cheeks, threatening to kiss him, suddenly shouting into his ear, or just playfully spreading rumors about him.

early on in the debut days of nct 127, whenever niko would do something, donghyuck would usually trail behind him. even during their trainee days (though he would never admit it), he thought niko was this cool, calm, calculated older boy from australia who was so good at everything. just his presence alone was enough to get donghyuck nervous, and he wanted to be his friend so bad that he begged mark to introduce them for weeks. when they finally were introduced, and friends, donghyuck was elated like a kid in a candy store. niko, who usually isn't used to people being so eager to become friends with him, didn't know how to take all of his affection at first, but due to him being the youngest of the team, he made an exception for him, always letting him wrap his arms around him and poke his cheeks whenever he wanted to.

niko, though not that keen on affection, would reciprocate such gestures, ruffling his hair, holding his hand, or letting him tag along whenever he would decide to leave the building. now donghyuck is much like with niko like he is with the other older members, he will never let him rest when it comes to an embarrassing thing he did a good six years ago. he will never not tease niko for his age, or insult him in any little way he can find. niko finds donghyuck to be so annoying, but he also can't help but harbor just a small soft–spot for him because of his position of maknae in the group. donghyuck is still very much a huge fan of niko, he's honestly his number one fan.

[northstarco]

i love him so much he’s so 😞😞 can he answer 15 ?

Q15: if you could predict your life after disbandment do you think you would still work in the industry? or would you rather go for a quiet life far away.

"after disbandment i don't wanna continue being an idol" niko slumps his shoulders, a small sigh leaving his lips. "by that time i won't be half as amazing as i am now, after nct i just wanna live in a small place with hundreds of cats, i was destined to be a crazy cat lady".