ㅤ¿ㅤTHIS IS NGSY'S SYNTHESIST AND HER RELATIONSHIPS
isang (21)
drums
an excerpt from the birthday letter sook will never write : you know, isang also means above. as in above average, above expectations, above everything in general. don't get too down on yourself for being named weird because there's that other hidden meaning that only some people can see and those are the people you can most likely trust.
knowing and sensing that isang had a tough background (as has most of ngsy tbh), sook wanted to embrace the tol, awkward beanstalk, but alas, things didn't work out as smoothly as she thought they would. he was a lot more comfortable with the other members, who were around his age, who he could openly be more reckless and flirtatious with than with sook, who was so young and made him feel like he needed to be taking care of her. it wasn't like that at all, but the two's relationship proceeded to be slightly distant and awkward. of course they acknowledged each other's existence and talked to each other about their music, but they just couldn't really see themselves in the same picture. their oustanding looks and love for music seemed to be the only thing that connected them, especially after the lawsuit. yongwon was isang's best friend, and having this little girl replace him gave the drummer mixed feelings. he knows she's young and that none of this is her fault and that she's having a hard time, too, but he can't help that bitter feeling from emerging as he sees sook on the stage, standing where yongwon would have been. sook probably feels the most uncomfortable around him, understanding the feelings he harbors towards her and not wanting to approach him too strongly in case she sabotages the small affection he has for her. they're two puzzle pieces that don't match at all, not unless you cut them both up a bit.
yongwon (21)
former synths
a scene of sook during the first visiting hours : uhm...i'm here for bae yongwon. may i have your name please? ...er, actually...can you just give this to him?
yongwon and sook have a distinguished senior / junior relationship - yongwon was the original synthesist in ngsy, and sook ultimately felt a connection to him due to that. he taught her a lot about synths and how to find your own style and how to make the instrument your own. in many ways, he gave her her role in ngsy, and she's forever grateful to him for everything he's done for her - both obviously and discreetly. he has a kind nature and was one of the more genuine ones when it came to taking care of sook, and since their focus was both on synths, he felt obliged to be something of a mentor to her, and that he was. sook had always seen him as that, from the moment she first heard that he was the official synthesist. she was young, not bitter, aiming only to learn from yongwon. and learn she did - learn how people can hide so many things - so many feelings, so many emotions, so many secrets. sook was surprised when the lawsuit happened - probably the most surprised she ever had been or would be. while she wasn't completely surprised, she was shocked, and even a bit hurt. but the most prominent feeling that remains now is probably her guilt - it resurfaces as she remembers his defeated smile, the handcuffs sliding onto him. she stands on stage, looking around at their lineup that feels unnatural with the forced insertation of her. she feels inadequate, believing she was put in before her time, believing she's not ready to be a part of them yet, believing she was put in for the sole purpose of filling up yongwon's empty spot, believing that al the members harbor some uncomfortableness towards her. all these feelings are a self-attack, though, and sook is forever fond of yongwon, who was just so broken.
binna (22)
bass, songwriting
a text conversation between sook and binna : do you...have a pad ,, where are you why are you not at the dorms are you okay are you having cramps ?? i'm omw, i just think i started hah chill fam
sook's mom, basically. she's graceful, her existence is flowy, but that in no way means fragile. she's strong, protective, reliable. binna lives up to her name and remains the light in sook's life, especially post lawsuit. she's always been like a best friend to sook - joking around with her, talking about boys to her, simply hanging out with her. after sook's official entrance into ngsy as a member, binna brings out the more motherly side, tending to sook and caring for her more obviously, putting the effort into showing sook that everything is okay. it's okay to be the new synthesist, it's okay to have all these mixed feelings, it's okay to cry. it's okay.
porter (22)
keyboard
a recent conversation between porter and sook : have you seen the latest episode of teletubbies?? ...have you???
awk...ward? is really the only term you can use to describe these two. there was no huge change pre or post lawsuit because porter was so consistent in his stuttering questions of how old sook really is. he feels pretty inferior around the younger, which sook can kind of sense, seeing how he seems sort of folded in around people in general. because of this, she tries her best to continue conversation, even after his nth time asking if she watched the teletubbies special last night - because even that grows on her. as the years have passed, the two have grown more comfortable (or at least as comfortable as porter and a 17 year old girl can be) - porter remembering more often how old she is, sook actually wanting to watch teletubbies just for his sake. she grows fond of porter and appreciates his attempts at taking care of her and making sure she eats enough so she can keep growing, but she usually finds herself having to take care of him - clumsy, fumbling him. she doesn't mind if at all, though, and while she knows he feels about x10 more awkward with her than she with him, it doesn't hinder her from continuing to take care of him. porter may think differently, but sook likes their awkward relationship - to her, at least, it's comfortable and consistent, more assuring in it's stability than that of sook and kaeden or isang.
chaekyung (23)
managing
a girl's night out : sook, eat a lot! you need to grow. unni, you shouldn't be telling me to grow. she playfully hits sook's arm.
just another mom figure? or is it vice versa? sook doesn't think she could ever see chaekyung in the manager position, but she also doesn't think she could see her doing anything else. her soft, yet determined persona makes her perfect for the job of managing the tet and sook admires her personality that seems slightly contradicting to her small build (slightly because sometimes she can be just as soft as she seems and sook just hugs her, wrapping her arms around her head because they're pretty much a head apart). she feels a strong connection to her, the only other girl in the group besides binna, and chaekyung feels the same obligation as binna to take care of sook and assure her that everything is okay. she's less openly headstrong about protecting sook, but just because she doesn't express it doesn't mean she's not as passionate. same goes for sook - she acts a lot closer to binna, who matches better with her surface personality, but sook still loves and appreciates chaekyung.
kaeden (23)
vocals
a ment from kaeden before sook's first stage : ...do well.
kaeden is soft, kaeden needs love. kaeden hides things to cope with them, kaeden puts up a front. kaeden is weak, kaeden is small, kaeden's refuge is singing, music. ngsy is kaeden's everything - or, at least, all he has - yes, there's a difference. kaeden needs ngsy if nothing else, but sook is a threat to it, albeit a small, and pretty unreasonable one. sook knows what she's doing - she has her own style, her own quirks, her own charm when it comes to the synth. but kaeden has the little fear in the back of his mind that her age is the problem - she's so young, it'd be so easy to mess something up. while he tries his best to give her the care and protection she needs as the youngest in ngsy, he can't help but cast a constant watchful eye over her. they don't really talk or interact that much, only conversing when it comes to music and casual small talk, but there's nothing truly uncomfortable or bitter between them.
ryland (25)
guitar, leading
a netizen on ngsy : #bestleadermaknaerelationshipever #rapmonsterandjungkookwho
despite the 8 year , sook and ryland get along very well (or maybe it's the that does it, what with sook and all her old man friends). they're very much like brother and sister - bickering, teasing each other, insulting each other, only to mediate the comment the next second with an act of kindness that counteracts the insult. ryland is definitely the one male in ngsy that sook gets along with the most, and he's also the closest thing to a friend she has in ngsy (binna and chae are her mother and sister, so.) they're different, but they're the same. they can read each other fairly well and know a lot about each other and get along great and are just really close - yet no one really knows how this happened. the two rarely display their friendship publicly - the occasional teasing heard from ryland about sook's height as he rests his chin on her head, sook smacking him on the arm for telling yet another fanboy to call her noona.
junwi (27)
creativedirecting
ngsy out for kbbq : ko ahjussi !! looks at her. eat a lot, ahjussi, you need the nutrients. just eat.
ko ahjussi, old man, old frog, ko. simple, basic nicknames, but their relationship is not simple, not basic. junwi's like a leader to ngsy, he's the brainchild of ngsy, but he doesn't really emanate strong ...leader vibes. he's taciturn, reticent, just like the sook in the very deep, darkest corners of her mind, and she feels compassionate towards him. he's charismatic and quiet, and it's going to take a lot to try to get him to open up and/or feel comfortable, even after all these years, but sook's not deterred by the challenge. she aims to gain his trust, the assurance that she knows what she's doing, the approval she feels was forgotten, ignored due to her inevitable entrance into the group. their relationship is that of an exasperated college graduate and his little 11 year old sister - she acts just as playful around him as with binna or anyone else, despite the constant wondering what he really thinks of her.
joo wooseok (18)
love interest
a song to describe their love story : toy by block b
joo wooseok. the son of wilted member, joo habin. 18 years old, anyang high school student, top 10 of his year. he's crazy smart, kind of quiet and introverted, and madly infatuated with jung sook.
the two grew up together as something you could possibly call childhood friends. they didn't live next door to each other or walk to school together or have playdates together - before they started school, they only saw each other when wilted gathered. habin became a single dad shortly after having wooseok, and had no choice but to bring the child along to a majority of the places he went to. jaegeun just knew sook loved this kind of environment and welcomed every opportunity to have her tag along.
they were quite different - sook was definitely the louder one of the two, wooseok being the more introverted one. she would jump around on stage as wooseok would sit on it, staring at her. she would bang away at the drums as wooseok would play chopsticks on the keyboard.
they were quite different - but they got along quite well. maybe it's because they were kids - innocent and naive, easily approachable. it wasn't hard to make friends at their age, yet for some reason, growing up, the two seemed to weirdly only match with each other. sook was a bit too loud and outspoken for the other kids in her grade, and wooseok was the exact opposite - too quiet and reserved for the other kids in his grade. sook and seok found their refuge in each other, but being young, they didn't understand why. why they could be so comfortable with each other, yet be so distant from everyone else at school.
"are you and wooseok best friends?"
shrugs. "yeah."
"sook and seok, seok and sook. it's like you guys are never apart."
people do say opposites attract, and they say it with reason. wooseok and sook's personalities balanced each other out - she was blunt and reckless, he was shy and compassionate. he helped her get out of trouble by keeping shut, and she helped him stand up for himself by teaching him not to back down. wooseok was a quiet kid, but with sook, he found himself a lot more brighter. spending 4 years with her helped him have more of a personality - complete with a sense of humor, the ability to keep conversation going, and more courage to be himself.
"oh, sook moved to america."
"...what?"
she hadn't even said goodbye. she was just gone. wooseok was young, but he was devastated. sook was his best friend - what was he going to do now? how would he stand up to the class bullies? who would he walk to the convenience store with for strawberry milk? who would unwrap his triangle kimbap for him? sook's absence made wooseok realize just how important she was to him, and he continued to think about her and long for her, even as the years passed and he entered his teen years. he was going through puberty, having hormonal issues, and he started to wonder. *could we have been considered childhood lovers?* *no, joo wooseok, you're crazy. you guys were just friends.* *best friends.* *does she not even care about that then?* *were we even friends in her eyes?* *does she even remember who i am?* *i don't want to just be a memory to her when she's my every thought.* it was like he was going crazy - he started to imagine what the two could've become if she had stayed, what would happen if she came back. to be quite honest, it was like an obsession. with reason - joo wooseok had grown up with a lack of social skills, and the one person who not only accepted him for that but helped him with it was now gone.
"hey, did you miss me?"
"...what?"
and then she wasn't. sook's side of the story goes thus so - she was young, a frazzled, wild mind. she didn't understand why she felt uncomfortable around her classmates, and she didn't understand that the relationship she had with wooseok had to mean something. she, in a way, took him for granted, not really seeing him as a best friend since she didn't understand the concept of it, and thus slightly leading him on since he was so into her, so desparate for her. she left korea with her only thought of him being one accompanied with a slight frown. *aw, i didn't get to say bye.* but as she grew up trying to accustom to america and the people and the culture and everything else, she started to long for him, too. he was familiar, comfortable, and sook longed for that more than ever as she transitioned into her own teen years in the us. sure she had her mom, and sure she had mr. holt, and sure she had her music, but her and wooseok had this special bond between the two of them that sook had always been so indifferent towards and was now confused about.
when she found out she was going back, she didn't really think about him that much since she was so overwhelmed by the news of ngsy, but upon arriving, she saw uncle jaegeun waiting for them and everything rushed back to her. she reminisced on everything about her old life with wilted instead of obsessing over her future with ngsy. a few days after sook had come back to korea, jaegeun took her out to reunite with the wilted uncles - "it's high time to call them ahjussis now!" he joked. sook was scared to ask about wooseok, having had plenty of time to have her own made-up situations of gangster-turned wooseok who was bent on revenge for leaving antisocial him alone in korea.
their reunion was awkward - lots of dodgy glances, hesitantly spoken sentences, forced smiles. but those 30 minutes were the last time sook and seok were like that. soon enough, they returned to just that - sook and seok, seok and sook. always together. this time, the friendship was deeper, since they were older, a bit more mature, and sook had realized the importance of relationships. in her eyes, they were starting to be like best friends again. in his eyes, however, he had her up on a pedestal, willing to do whatever she suggested. it was pretty obvious that he was, so to speak, "whipped", but sook didn't notice since she simply thought it was good that they were close again. sadly, wooseok was in denial as well. his crazed imagination while sook was gone had blown her role in his life out of proportion and he had practically convinced himself that he was in love with her.
until one day at home - habin was talking to his son about him and his wife's relationship, and to wooseok, the whole story sounded gravely familiar. habin, in actuality, had been just like wooseok - head over heels in love because he had simply made himself think so. he didn't realize it until someone had asked him why he liked her so much, and he couldn't find a solid answer. but as time passed, a more self-aware habin started to realize that he really did truly like her, that it wasn't just forced infatuation. and soon enough, he had an answer. "well, more than just one answer. but you get what i'm saying." he chuckles and ruffles his son's hair. "so much for a bedtime story, kiddo. get a good night's sleep."
wooseok doesn't sleep well at all, conflicted over the connection he feels to young habin. but just as young habin did, wooseok becomes more self-aware. he practically convinces himself he dOESN'T like sook and simply treats her as he would a friend, albeit a quite distant one, since he doesn't want to fool himself any longer. but soon enough, he doesn't have to fool himself. from his firm mindset that he doesn't like sook in that way, he drifts into a short phase where he thinks he actually DISlikes her, but old memories and old fondness comes back, and the two are soon best friends, with both sides openly agreeing to that fact.
sook's goddess nickname at anyang fades as she exposes her more playful and humorous side when she's with wooseok. wooseok gains more recognition for his smarts and as he garners attention for being friends with THE jung sook of anyang high ( soon to become THE jung sook of ngsy ! ). the two are pretty much always together, soon becoming the childhood friend stereotype everyone thought they were - they walk to school together, hang out at each other's houses to do homework, take study breaks to go to the convenience store. they're each other's only friends and biggest fans - wooseok supports ngsy 110% and sook is always encouraging him to go into academic competitions or the such.
they're best friends, but soon they both want more. wooseok loves watching sook's fingers fly over her synth and work all the keys he has no idea as to their use, but he soon yearns to touch those fingers, intertwine them with his. sook loves standing behind his big build to shade herself from the sun, but she soon finds herself staring at his back, her arms itching to wrap around his waist. it's weird - she's never felt this way before - but then again, wooseok has always given her lots of weird new feelings. he's shown her right from wrong, when to keep shut and when to stand up for herself. he's taught her life lessons, from how to make first class ramyun at the convenience store to how to deal with uncertainty in your future. he's stood by her, from that first day in the classroom to the day after the lawsuit as she lies facedown in her bed. he's loved her, from a little innocent child who simply wanted a friend, to the older boy he is now who simply wants her and only her.
here they are now, both of them keeping their feelings deep inside in fear of ruining this wonderful friendship they have. they have deep 1am talks, they fall asleep on each other's shoulders, they go out to eat together, they wait for each other after classes or after academic club meetings or after ngsy practice, they do everything that makes them seem like a couple...but they're not.
"hey...i think i'm in love with you."
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