2013
The Evolution of Nyongtory
We were all exhausted with the end of Jiyong's tour, but a day later we had filming schedules. I was more than happy to join Jiyong and Daesung though. Looking over the plans the Running Man staff had given us, I knew it would be fun. As soon as we arrived on set, even as tired as we were, we couldn't help but to smile and enjoy ourselves as the cameras started filming.
Daesung's team was clearly winning, but I didn't mind at all. It was worth it just to laugh along. From running in the mud to chasing after dogs to jumping rope on floating mats in a pool, even as my calves ached, somehow I kept finding energy to spare. On the car ride back home after filming, I started writing down ideas for my upcoming Saturay Night Live skits as my hyungs slept. How had I already been this busy when the new month had just started? I considered myself so fortunate to have so many opportunities.
Just days before my live show, I had a final meeting with the SNL staff to go over the scripts. I even prepared a song, receiving so much encouragement and witty remarks. Meanwhile Jiyong was over at the SBS studios pre-recording his comeback stage. Of course I hadn't forgotten to return hyung's favor from when he treated everyone to drinks during my stage. So I wrote "dongsaeng's treat" on little paper fans that the VIP could hold and sent them over his way. When I recieved a text from Jiyong about an hour into my meeting, I couldn't help but to smile. He thanked me in his usual back-handed compliment style. I showed the message to the staff around me and they laughed.
When Saturday finally came, as nervous as I was to be acting live on air, I managed to pull through with all the supporting and bullying texts from my hyungs and family. I couldn't check my phone during the commercial breaks when we were off-air because I was too busy preparing for the next skit, but even if I could, I would've been too afraid to check anyway. As it was, I could already practically hear Jiyong complaining about the impersonations.
So once the show was at last over, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for whatever backlash I would get. As long as the audience found some part of me worth a good laugh, I would be happy. More than happy. I felt it my job to always be the mood-maker, the easy-going. If I couldn't at least do that much, then I wouldn't be Seungri.
When I finally did check my phone, I felt as I had done just that. I had been myself, and YG labelmates who watched the show told me I had done a good job.
--
The next day I had a fan meeting and signing event.
The venue was small but so many seats were filled with smiling faces. How could I not be satisfied? It was time to do something I was good at: to just talk and provide fan service. It was such a memorable day for so many reasons. For one thing, it was a boost to my ego, but among other things I found familiar faces in the crowd and could actually match names to some. There was even a woman from the states visiting, so I didn't hesitate to practice my conversational English. The smiles, their sweet voices, the gentle way they shook hands with me-I ate it all up.
And, as totally unexpected, Jiyong entered from the back door.
Wasn't he just at the SBS studios? He looked like he was still glowing from his Inkigayo stage, walking briskly to the front of the room with two of my CDs in his hand. I was looking down at the time, so I hadn't even seem him cut the line to get to the signing table. All I heard were the girls' screams.
Just like that, with him pretending to nervously approach me, I couldn't stop smiling. After I signed his CDs and looked up at him, he gently said,"I'll wait for you."
I gave him a questioning look. I knew he had a full schedule. I still had a good hour or two to go before my fan sign event ended. But before I could say anything, the camera men were motioning me to take pictures with Jiyong. Then right after the pictures, Jiyong ran over behind me acting like a crazy fangirl again to backhug me. So I jokingly motioned the security guards over as Jiyong laughed all the way while being pulled to one of the exit doors.
The rest of the event carried on without a hitch, though I wondered in the back of my mind if Jiyong was able to safely escape the building and return to his activities. When I was done for the day and finally checked my phone, he had sent me a text saying YG had wanted to see us in his office and jokingly complained that the security guards were too rough.
---
Stepping out of the elevator into the hallway leading to the office, I found Jiyong leaning against the walls across from me. As soon as the elevator beeped and closed behind me, he looked up from the floor and smiled coyly at me, with hands stuffed in the front pockets of his shorts.
"Told you I'd wait," he remarked with a teasing glint in his eyes.
"You really surprised me back there, hyung."
"That was kind of the point," he grinned. "You should have seen the look on your face."
"I was smiling like a fool, ye?"
He was practically beaming. "That way you smile when I shock you is the only reason I still do it," he nodded, ungluing himself from the wall to hover in front of me and mess with the collar of my shirt.
"Hyung!"
"What?" he chuckled,"Its just that you've seemed so stiff lately. Even now, not all your smiles reach your eyes, and when I see you on tv, you still do that thing where you in the air through your teeth." After making sure my collar and jacket were in alignment and presentable for the boss, looking me up and down and apprearing pleased with his own adjustments, he reached for my hand as we made our way to the entrance of the main office.
The meeting itself wasn't anything big at all, just a rescheduling for the week's Inkigayo recording and a talk about Jiyong and I being special MCs. I also had my Goodbye stage that week and had earlier sent in a request to have Youngbae and Jiyong perform with me. Hyun Suk had accepted and the next thing I knew, we were leaving the office to go to the dance studios and meet up with Youngbae.
---
The dance studios themselves, all of them, were occupied with trainees and the dance teams at the time that Jiyong and I arrived downstairs. After a quick text though, Youngbae had said it was okay to meet him at the studio where some of the WIN trainees were at. He was doing some kind of mentoring thing with them. Of course I was a little jealous. When I was a trainee, I guess you could say we had Seven hyung as a sort of mentor, but really he spent more time with Top and Jiyong than me. So when we walked in Studio B to find Youngbae comfortingly talking to all five of the members of Team A, I couldn't help but to feel envious.
"Hey!" Youngbae smiled as we entered the dance room, immediately getting up from sitting on the floor to walk up to us and pat our backs. I noticed immediately how much more relaxed Jiyong's shoulders were now that he was with his best friend. Even if the two saw each other almost everyday, it was always the same with him, meanwhile Jiyong would always seem a little more tense when he was with me. Did I make Jiyong nervous?
The trainees all greeted us with bows and eager eyes, though I couldn't help but be a little proud when Seungyoon in particular, since I had been talking with him a lot lately, had greeted me with a friendly smile instead of a look of intimidation.
We didn't even start dance rehearsal right away. Youngbae was giving the trainees a break to eat since it was way past noon, while he, Jiyong, and I just sat on the floor and talked.
No matter what, I would always enjoy just talking with my members. No matter the topic, even if it was full of teasing and criticism towards me, I loved it. I loved my team, my band, my brothers. Even as we all had solo activities that were supposedly against each other as a competition for all the public to see, we would never see it that way. Rather than a solo contest, it was just a family game. It would be like if I played a game of golf with my father. Of course he had the higher scores and more years of experience, but was I jeaous? Did I want to beat him and throw all my passion towards getting a better score than him? No. Even having the opportunity to just play with him was fun.
Jiyong would always be the golden child, and even Youngbae was extremely successful by himself. Maybe there were more members in the fan cafes for the other hyungs than there would ever be for me. But why would that matter?
When the conversation finally got around to work, Youngbae had slapped Jiyong's back and congratulated him on being double nominated for the top three songs of the week. Of course Jiyong was bound to win Inkigayo that week, even as modest as he was about it. Everyone knew.
"Can we talk about something else now?" Jiyong laughed, fingers drumming anxiously against the wooden floor.
"Okay, sure," Youngbae nodded, turning his attention towards me. "Seungriyah, what do you want to do for your Goodbye stage? I'm kind of surprised you chose to share the stage with us instead of a y dance with a girl," he chuckled.
"Hyung!"
"What?" he smiled. "I know how your mind works, maknae."
"I was wondering the same thing," Jiyong added in. "I seriously started to think you were going to ask the noonas to dress us up like y club women and spin us around on stage like a parody."
"Yah! Save that idea for a variety show," I whined, burying my head in my hands at just the thought. Jiyong and Youngbae found the whole thing hilarious though, and soon enough I was barking my hyena laugh right along with them.
"He's gonna find some way to treat us like girls," Youngbae remarked. "Jiyong-ah, you have to do the genie dance with him." Jiyong just hid his face with his hands and kept laughing, though I saw a little nod.
I decided right then and there what I was going to do when Jiyong won. Needless to say we gave up the thought of choreography altogether and just played the song once through in the studio and figured we'd adlib the whole live performance.
----
After some more fansignings and other events of our busy schedules, it at last came time to end my Korean promotions on Sunday.
I was in a great mood. Not once did I win a top song of the week award, but I ended promotions without any injuries and with music that I was satisfied with. I gave it my all, changed my singing style, changed my looks, wrote my songs--I would have no regrets. Both off and on camera, Jiyong joked around with me and we kept eachother's spirits up. Sunday was simply a celebration.
Letting go and deciding not to have any expectations was all I could do. It wasn't like I had any free time to think anyway. Music was just music and shows were simply shows. Jiyong, too, was just Jiyong. I loved him, but it was best to just not think about it. Whatever happened would happen. And with that change in thinking, I felt so much more free.
From wiping each other's sweat to uploading embarrassing selcas backstage, I think the fans had a blast.
When the winner of the week was announced, Jiyong hid his face behind me so that the cameras couldn't film his reaction. So I just smiled and smiled for the cameras as the votes tallied up. In that moment, it felt like Jiyong was giving me the screen time to make me feel like I was the one nominated instead of him. When I asked him later about it, he told me just that. "Seungri is always the winner," he smiled. "So I wanted the viewers to see that."
But in that moment, as the confetti fell and my hyung's name was announced, it almost felt like I was living in slow motion for a moment. With only minutes before the red lights of the cameras would turn off, as Jiyong made his thank you speech and even promoted my album, the excitement in the air was so thick and the chatter of the crowd seemed so loud. My thoughts were racing. The MCs were quickly concluding the show and I didn't have much time. But I made up my mind. I was so happy for my hyung and I was going to show it.
As soon as hyung's track started playing through the speakers, I made my choice, squatting down to reach under Jiyong's legs to pick him up and carry him. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to carry his weight at first, but when I did, I sent a secret thank you towards Hwangssabu's way. Jiyong had tilted his head back and was smiling so brightly in my arms; I almost didn't want to let him go. But in the end, I brought him back down and let him yell at me. It was worth it.
"So in the end I was right," Youngbae greeted us as soon as we were backstage in the dressing room. Jiyong was still laughing about it.
"That brat carried me bridal style!"
"Like a true princess," Youngbae chuckled. "Better you than me."
----
The three of us had talked of going out to dinner after the show, so when I recieved a call from my manager saying I needed to arrive in Tokyo that night, I had to put those plans aside and couldn't help but to feel disappointed. There was a typhoon making its way to Tokyo in the morning, so I had to be fast before it could hit.
The hyungs wished me well and I had to be on my way to the airport. Jiyong texted me as I boarded the plane with pictures of his dinner since he and Youngbae went out to eat without me. I realized I was starving, so I complained to him about showing off his food.
"I've gotta gain weight, Seungriyah!" he messaged me. "So that next time we meet, I'll be too heavy for you to carry."
I could only grimace down at the screen of my phone, replying,"But hyung, you looked so happy!"
He ignored that statement altogether. After a few minutes of waiting, I at last recieved the final reply from him before I would have to turn my phone off for the plane to take flight.
"Next time I want you in my arms instead. Go have your fun in Tokyo, make us proud, get some rest."
Just with that, I could already feel the heat flushing to my cheeks. As a flight attendant made her way down the aisles to make sure we were strapped in, I couldn't even find it in myself to meet her gaze, I was blushing so much.
And so, with a safe evening flight and a strong beating heart, I was on my way to fulfill my duties in Japan.
A/N edit:
Ri on SNL http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seungri-seo-yur-filming-snl-korea-130905.html
videos with subs of Ri on SNL http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seungri-snl-korea-translations.html
http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/10/seungri-cuts-saturday-night-live-korea-130907-subbed.html
Sept 5th GD's album releases and his Inkigayo comeback stage, "Dongsaeng's treat" http://nyongtori.tumblr.com/post/60344852841/fyeahseungri-seungris-gift-for-vips-who-came
Sept 8 Ri's fansign even with GD the fanboy http://www.soompi.com/2013/09/08/g-dragon-shows-his-inner-fanboy-for-seungri/#.U5s-MCjN4TA
http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seungris-2nd-fan-signing-fan-account.html
http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/g-dragon-seungri-fan-sign.html
Ji leaving SBS to go to Ri's fan sign event (same clothes) <3 http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/g-dragon-sbs-inkigayo.html
Ri talks about ranking/competition http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seungri-new-album-idol-groups.html
**This is really worth reading** http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/sr-interview.html
Sept 12 Ri announces rescheduling of Inkigayo pre- recording http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seungri-inkigayo-pre-recording.html
because of this? http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/g-dragon-and-seungri-inkigayo.html
Sept 14 Ri's 3rd fansigning http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/facebook-seungris-3rd-fan-signing-event-130914-photos.html
Sept 15 Ji's fansigning a day later at the same place http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/g-dragon-handshake.html
Sept 15 Let's Talk About Love performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXAyTGViZXk
Sept 15 Ri's Goodbye Stage, GD wins Inkigayo, Ri bridal carries GD <3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_aMp2j1DiM
Sept 15 Ri's insta trolling http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seungris-lets-talk-love-live-130915-photo.html
Sept 16 Ri starts Japan promotions http://bigbangupdates.com/2013/09/seung-chans-diary-stormy-night-130916-photos.html
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