D-Tour’s character posters for ‘I AM’ released
by AKApop – April 13, 2012 at 11:46 pm



Following the release of label mates f(x), SHINee, BoA, Kangta, and TVXQ, SM Entertainment’s current ‘maknae group’, D-Tour, releases their own for upcoming movie, ‘I AM’.

As a contrast to their senior’s poster sets, the girls are seen in a more casual setting. The pictures range from natural looking photo-shoots to everyday selcas from the girls. Each poster was accompanied by a personal message from each member.

Jaehwa: “Jaehwa is the oldest, therefore, she is the leader.”

Vanness: “I’m sorry. I’m not who you want me to be.”

Haneul: “On-screen and off-screen, I am me.”

Cha Cha: “I can do better. Go, go, go!”

Annie: “I don’t know, am I still dreaming?”

Ji Eun: “I tried hard but even that wasn’t enough.”

As reported earlier, the movie will contain footage from behind the scenes of SMTOWN concerts as well as the process of preparation and daily lives of SM Entertainment artists. The film will also include various interviews, video diaries and archive files never seen before.

The movie will hit the theaters this May.

.oOo.

“Jaehwa is the oldest, therefore, she is the leader.”

“D-Tour is a different kind of group, I think. We were trained separately and were only stuck together once the group had been officially decided to debut. I was shocked when I was picked, it had been almost… seven years, I think, since I started training. I thought ‘ah, finally! My hard work will pay off’.  I was more surprised when I was picked as the leader.”

She laughs and pauses, staring towards the side.

“But then, I started to see why I was picked. It was because I was oldest, not because I had been special. There was even a time where I quit because I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. D-Tour never had the strongest teamwork when we first started out; we were just very different people. Our manager scolded me a lot because of that.”

Jaehwa smiles, as if a memory she cherishes the most comes to resurface in her head for a brief moment.

“But I’m grateful for these girls either way. They made me realize that… it isn’t just because I’m the leader that they respect me. It is because for them, I am a special person as well.”

She laughs again and nods towards the camera, a bright grin on her face.

.oOo.

“I’m sorry. I’m not who you want me to be.”

“When I was younger, I studied in Beijing, away from my home. That got me wondering what I wanted in life. Unfortunately, it was something that my parents would never approve of, but my brother told me to do it anyway. So I got in, and I trained in SM Entertainment. I trained for three years in Beijing, then had to move to South Korea for four years before I managed to debut. The debut itself was not too long ago; only almost two years now? In total, I guess it’s been… almost nine years since I have talked to my parents face to face.”

Vanness tries to chuckle, but it’s breathy and slowly, her eyes turn glossy.

“It’s been almost nine years since the only real family I had was my older brother. Now it’s harder since he’s going to have a family of his own soon. Up until now, I still haven’t had the courage to ask for their forgiveness. I still haven’t had the courage to talk to them.”

For the first time in a long while, she cries.

.oOo.

“On-screen and off-screen, I am me.”

“I know an idol, I won’t say their name. But they are a friend of mine and there was a time when they had gotten drunk and called me, telling me how sad they were that they lied to the public about their image. They weren’t exactly who they claimed they were and that made me promise myself that… I would be honest with myself.”

Haneul pauses and her lips discreetly.

“I don’t want to be anyone else. I do a lot of things that are considered taboo for idols, but I can’t help it. It’s who I am and what I will stick by. This… this causes a whole lot of trouble for my group mates, especially to our leader. I see them struggling to avert any scandal that is directed to me, even the maknaes. I try to stop because maybe that will help ease their pain, but then I see them struggling even harder. Ae Cha told me once that I was such a nuisance, but that she wouldn’t have me any other way.”

She takes a deep breath and subtly wipes incoming tears from the corners of her eyes. She grins.

“I stopped trying to be someone else, that only hurts the people I love more, it seems.”

.oOo.

“I can do better. Go, go, go!”

She swivels on her chair from side to side, humming lowly before she is sure of what she will say.

“Everyone in the group has their own roles to play. Jae Hwa is the leader, Yuen is our dancer, Jae Rin is our fierce rapper, Nara is our God-sent vocalist and Ji Eun is the face of the group. But then… who am I? I’m the middle of everything and it just… it’s weird. I’m someone who can lead, but everyone knows Jae Hwa is the best pseudo-mother we have. I can sing, but Nara’s voice is more emotional. I can dance, but Yuen is definitely more natural. I can rap, but Jae Rin is the fiercest rapper I know. I’m pretty, but no one beats Ji Eun’s good looks.”

Cha Cha purses her lips and stops to think.

“What can I do, then? I always kept asking myself that. What good am I to the group when everyone else already covers something? And so I tried harder, worked longer, and set my limits to be about as far as the heavens stretch. Because of that I often over worked myself and more often than not, had to have Jae Rin accompany me to the hospital to get some nutrition shots. I caused a lot of trouble for everyone; they always worry even though I tell them they shouldn’t.”

She laughs a bit, hiding her smile behind her hand.

“I think I just… I wanted to be useful. I wanted to be someone they need.”

Cha Cha smiles awkwardly before bursting into a fit of giggles.

.oOo.

“I don’t know, am I still dreaming?”

“They told me I was a dreamer, once.”

Annie purses her lips and nods her head slowly.

“I didn’t know fiction from reality, so to say. Maybe, I still am.”

Her lips form a small smile.

“Everything is just… surreal. D-Tour was blessed and cursed to have the burden of being a versatile group, a group that was ready to tackle anything and everything. When we debuted, it was only a short while later that we had to perform on stage, in front of a crowd of possibly millions, alongside our sunbaenims. It scared me how we weren’t like other groups. We had the privilege to stand and sing and dance and just… perform in front of people who we now call our fans. That is an amazing thing to do.”

She laughs a bit.

“Sometimes, I don’t even sleep. I’m afraid when I’ll wake up, all of it would merely be a dream.”

.oOo.

“I tried hard but even that wasn’t enough.”

Ji Eun laughs and bites her lower lip, fidgeting with the hem of her blouse.

“I’m not sure if it’s still obvious, but I had never been the most likeable of people, especially to other trainees. I couldn’t help it; I was nothing like them. All of them had dreams and struggled hard to get what they want. I wasn’t like that. I trained because people said I couldn’t do it. I wanted them to accept that I could be someone who would eventually be someone.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to contain tears.

“Because of that, I wasn’t liked too much. Fellow trainees, sunbaes, hoobaes; none of them really liked me. But I was prideful and often told myself, I don’t need them. I can do this by my own. I thought that maybe if I showed them that I was strong enough to stand on my own, they would like me better. They would appreciate who I was and perhaps respect me for it.”

She lets a few stray tears fall.

“I was a foolish girl, wasn’t I?”

.oOo.

Six girls bow in unison.

“Hello everyone, we’re D-Tour!”

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting sooner, again. But it's just because I always lose the will to write as I lose subscribers [and daaaaamn, that was a lot of subscribers!]. Oh, well. Goes to show just who really appreciates my writing. LMAO Orz Ahh, really~ I need to stop being petty. Hahaha. Chapter 3 is in the works though, don't worry! A little more trainee backstory before the girls of D-Tour get together. :)

But still, onto the main point of this author's note - would anyone like to see more chapters like these? I have always planned stuff like this [like interviews, twitter replies, or even text logs at one point!] but I'm not sure if you guys would like chapter updates like this.

I'd also like to know if you'd like for me to write one-shots for a "D-Tour universe". You know how we do fan fics based on what we see or what we hear about our idols? Kind of like that. I wanted to start a collection of one-shots/drabbles that you guys might enjoy. It can have everything from on-screen, combination pairings [Ryeowook/Vanness or EXO-Tour or Infinte/D-Tour] or D-Tour limited pairings [ChaNeul or JaeNess or something ridiculous like that] based on what I write here [at least the on-screen parts]. If you want to collaborate on it, please don't hesitate to give me a message! :)

Okay, that's it. Hope you enjoyed. I tried to make it as real of an interview as I could. Hahaha. Comments, subscriptions and the like are awesome! :D

P.S.: I'm still very, very amateur-ish with Korean. Do tell me if I did anything wrong with the hangul there - ORZ And also...
If any of you are interested in a mystery-thriller apply fic, maybe you'd like to check out 13 Days? ;)