❥ 허명지 AND 이창현 ARE STARSHIPPED
HEO MYUNGJI
NAME 허명지, heo myungji
NICKNAMES
fan nicknames aside, people just call myungji, myungji. ji if they're feeling creative.
D.O.B january 27, 1997
BIRTHPLACE seongnam, south korea
HOMETOWN seongnam, south korea
ETHNICITY korean
LANGUAGES
korean, her native language. myungji doesn't speak satoori.
NICKNAMES
fan nicknames aside, people just call myungji, myungji. ji if they're feeling creative.
D.O.B january 27, 1997
BIRTHPLACE seongnam, south korea
HOMETOWN seongnam, south korea
ETHNICITY korean
LANGUAGES
korean, her native language. myungji doesn't speak satoori.
english, advanced. she remembers how easy (and even fun, isn't that weird?) she found it to be during her school days. myungji makes good use of it interacting with international fans and in ella's vlogs.
japanese, conversational. no stranger to kara's success in japan, she knew better than to reject japanese lessons as a trainee. she's much less proficient now, but it has always come naturally to her.
FACE CLAIM dawon, wjsn
BACK UP yoohyeon, dreamcatcher / jiho, oh my girl
APPEARANCE she puts as much charm into "non-desirable" features as possible. high cheekbones, oval shaped face, tall body, myungji isn't exactly a representative of korean ideals of beauty and (besides the nosejobs. yes, plural) she absolutely rocks it. just a centimeter shorter than their giant maknae, she's been complimented over and over by fans for her long legs. in her heavier eras, her thighs and bigger chest used to get a lot of comments from international fans. she welcomed all of them, no need for bashing here.
STYLE myungji thinks this is a universal thing every girl group member or trainee can confirm: you try until your group's third year or so. personally, though she had enough by year two.
japanese, conversational. no stranger to kara's success in japan, she knew better than to reject japanese lessons as a trainee. she's much less proficient now, but it has always come naturally to her.
FACE CLAIM dawon, wjsn
BACK UP yoohyeon, dreamcatcher / jiho, oh my girl
APPEARANCE she puts as much charm into "non-desirable" features as possible. high cheekbones, oval shaped face, tall body, myungji isn't exactly a representative of korean ideals of beauty and (besides the nosejobs. yes, plural) she absolutely rocks it. just a centimeter shorter than their giant maknae, she's been complimented over and over by fans for her long legs. in her heavier eras, her thighs and bigger chest used to get a lot of comments from international fans. she welcomed all of them, no need for bashing here.
STYLE myungji thinks this is a universal thing every girl group member or trainee can confirm: you try until your group's third year or so. personally, though she had enough by year two.
the third year mark usually means a huge " it" —less skirts, more pants, messier hair, and a very clear difference between the days in which you try and the days when you don't. she does tend to try bolder and trendy stuff when she's in the mood, for example, but myungji sure doesn't shy away from jeans and neutral colored t-shirts.
personality
EASY-GOING, AMBITIOUS, SHARP,
ADAPTABLE, HUMOROUS, NONCHALANT, CLOSED OFF, FICKLE, PESSIMISTIC, BLUNT
PRESENT-FOCUSED (CAN AND WILL MISS THE FOREST FOR THE TREES)
CAN COME ACROSS AS A BIT OF AN BUT SHE'S NOT I SWEAR
the casual onlooker might just go as far as to mistake myungji for someone who has this whole thing figured out. she goes about everything with such ease, such nonchalance, and her comments often showcase a very realistic perspective of life or a sharp style of banter that just drip with self-assurance. to top it off, she casually rolls with the punches, equipped with endless anecdotes and one-liners to prevent awkward moments, showing an unmistakable love for excitement and adventure despite her irony-riddled calmness. the casual onlooker, however, is also painfully wrong.
this is best depicted in this exchange myungji once had: "you're on a good mood today, right?" "oh no, i woke up feeling terrible". she's completely aware of the fact that her true emotions don't show around other people, but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel them as strongly as everyone else. the only side of her that surfaces around others is the playful one, the unshakeable one, the one that speaks with unquestionable certainty and professionally deadpans, which kind of when you realize being vulnerable around the people that matter to you is a good thing. and yet as benefitial as it might be, it's incredibly hard for her. so myungji does what she does best and pokes fun at her awkwardness when it comes to emotions, making faces and going all "get out of here with that mushy stuff!" or "how great to see us discussing our emotions like responsible, healthy people", thus trapping herself in a never-ending cycle of avoiding vulnerability. or worse, her emotions are bottled up until they unravel in intense outburtsts that aren't very constructive.
"no, no, you know what we should say? we should say we want a trophy next comeback." she deadpans at her fellow members before they start their youtube livestream. "we should tell the fans we didn't sign up for this . we want to do kcon, we wanna go to dubai, that is what we signed up for!". she speaks in an exaggerated tone, making big poses and doing everything to get a chuckle out of her friends, but myungji means every word. it's hard to be as ambitious as she is when your group is doing as poorly as hers, but believe her when she says it hasn't stopped her. for better and for worse. mostly for worse, actually.
don't get her wrong, she nods along and cheers with her members when they speak of a slow and steady rise to the top or when they say making music together is already amazing, but can you blame her for wanting more? if you dream of being an idol, you dream in big ideas of adoration, big stages, broken records and awards. the music and the team don't cut it.
but maybe she should quit while she's ahead and settle for mediocrity now, just in case disbandment strikes and, like a fool, she's still on the lookout for their big break. she has done everything in her power to climb to the top. through the years her variety appearances have only gotten funnier, her nose smaller, her acting better, her live singing louder. guilt creeps up on her because she can't help but realize that her members are already contempt (or maybe they've admitted defeat) with the tiny droplet of recognition they have whereas she wants more, so much more. and with that guilt comes confusion and dissapointment and pessimism and insecurity and frustration, oh the frustration, heaps of it. and they say she has it all figured out.
BACKGROUND
let's recap, shall we? born and raised in seongnam, myungji had a fun childhood (school was fun back then too, she was even considered bright). she was that kid who wasn't scared of trying different things and started all kinds of shenanigans.
then there's the not so fun part. for some reason she can't quite explain, myungji developed rather strong insecurities before most of her peers did. she was self conscious about her body frame in particular: it felt uncomfortable to be as tall as she was and take up as much space as she did.
music was there for her during those times. singing around at home and making up choreography with her friends helped grow myungji's self-confidence. she wishes she would have known the english phrase "been there, done that", because that's what best represents the familiarity she felt once her middle school friends began to call themselves fat or ugly. that was more or less when her fascination with becoming a singer started. the more talent shows or showcases she participated in, the more myungji felt a burning desire to stand on stage for a living.
so she took action. she took a train to seoul and showed up to audition for every company that she believed would produce successful groups in the future. kpop seemed like a highly formulaic and predictable endeavor back then: get into the right company, work your hardest, play your cards right and you'll make it.
she showed up knowing she looked nothing like what the industry wanted and yet that didn't stop her from going full out while performing her songs or posing with confidence when the companies took pictures. she couldn't help the way she looked, but she could try her hardest at everything else —and, if she didn't make it, it wasn't the end of the world.
but she did. she was ecstatic and scrambling for words when she heard back from dsp to sign a trainee contract.
myungji believes her trainee years were no different to anyone else's. insecurity, friendship, competition, diets, uncertainty, you've heard it before. it's intense, yes, but you've definitely heard it. debuting after that was simply unreal, the word thrilled doesn't even cut it. debuting with her friends? even better. everything felt right and just better.
but debut isn't the end of the road, it's barely the beginning. she looks back sometimes and she truly does feel like she was an idiot. but she was just young. she was young, optimistic and a bit of a smartass and she thought she had it all figured out when she signed with kara's company.
to illustrate, she thought she had more or less made it. to prove why she was wrong, their sales hit their lowest point when she joined the group.
still, myungji knows how hard she worked for this, so she tries to focus on the positives of the experience. she's living her dream after all, right? and she met her wonderful members along the way. they'll always have each other and she loves that, she loves them. but myungji can't ignore they didn't make it—probably never will— and that hits hard. their job is crazy, it's stressful, it's borderline inhuman at times (more like most of the time, if you truly think about it), but being an idol is her dream, for some reason.
so here we are now.
trivia
- myungji often receives a lot of "so you do have a heart after all!" comments because no matter how sharp her banter might be, she can be just as kind and selfless in her actions.
- doesn't know how to reply to that. of course she has a heart, why would she want to come across another way?
- has a pretty good and specific memory
- loves to interact with her friends through teasing. she doesn't get too personal or offensive, she just harmlessly annoys the people she likes to be around
- "seulbin-ah did you hear that?" "what?" "ella said the dreamcatcher girls saw a ghost when they stayed in this hotel. it's coming for you. i'm so sorry, you're gonna get possessed." "ugh unnie! don't joke like that i swear-"
- she has developed an interest in dumb funny memes and similar things due to international fans repeatedly using the same phrases in twitter and things of the like
- went from googling the definition of skinny legend to looking up vine compilations. she finds it all so amusing, it's even representative of her sense of humor at times
- will do anything to start dumb debates ("i thought we all agreed pizza was the inferior junk food", "you people like apple juice?")
- but it's not because she truly thinks everyone else's opinion is inferior to hers, she just likes the chaos
- the thing with myungji is she likes the fun bull, but not real bull. she'll cause dumb chaos, but she'll solve real chaos. she'll 100% start an argument about the best snsd song, but she doesn't like to fight with the members, doesn't disrespect managers, etc.
- not the most fond of physical contact. as one of her members so adeptly put it: "if myungji's hugging you, she's either sleepy or cold" (or, as she herself so adeptly added, both)
- but her favorite form of skinship are definitely hugs
- she can be a bit hard to understand at times. for example, instead of stating the pros and cons of having an instrumental chorus in their song, she'll just say "it's an instrumental chorus, but, you know, that also means it's an instrumental chorus.")
- loves to watch movies and tv shows. fans have even made "film critic myungji" compilations of her picking apart tropes and good moments of different dramas or movies in vlives
- the aurora girls all have personal instagrams. hers is @myeongjis_
(changhyun: what does the 's' stand for?
myungji: nothing, really. you know how people put an 's' in their username because everything else is taken?
changhyun: hm, would that be 명짓 or 명지스 in hangul?
myungji: it's- wait, that's a really good question. holy . i don't know. let me call seulbin, i've gotta settle this.
myungji: i can't believe i'm doing this, because it's way cringier, but she said 명짓 so it's gotta be 명지스. it's the price i pay.)
(changhyun: what does the 's' stand for?
myungji: nothing, really. you know how people put an 's' in their username because everything else is taken?
changhyun: hm, would that be 명짓 or 명지스 in hangul?
myungji: it's- wait, that's a really good question. holy . i don't know. let me call seulbin, i've gotta settle this.
myungji: i can't believe i'm doing this, because it's way cringier, but she said 명짓 so it's gotta be 명지스. it's the price i pay.)
- a bit dense when it comes to flirting and stuff (but not main character of a drama level of dense), she finds the whole thing a bit pointless and, as a result, she's not as quick to catch on as other members.
- there are times when long-term consequences just... escape her. has lots of "ah, " moments.
- often asks "what's the worst thing that could happen?" before doing stupid
- music bank, circa 2016, aurora are still rookies, snacks aren't coming out of the vending machine
- often asks "what's the worst thing that could happen?" before doing stupid
- music bank, circa 2016, aurora are still rookies, snacks aren't coming out of the vending machine
myungji: nobody's watching, we should kick it. life is short, i'd do it if i was strong.
caijie: i think i could do it. rock paper scissors to see who kicks it?
solhee: no, we could break it. let's not get kicked out and make everyone hate us.
myungji: unnie, who's everyone? there's literally no one looking.
yejin: i'm sorry, i don't think we should.
myungji: we're not going to burn anyone alive, we just want snacks and people kick vending machines all the time
sungyeon: that's a good point. and i'm so hungry.
caijie: *kicks the machine*
the machine: *breaks*
- myungji asked everyone to look annoyed or laugh on the way back to the dressing room ("we can pin it on some boygroup if we really have to" "no we won't" "oh my god, it's just in case we have to!"). nobody knows they broke the machine to this day, but the vending machine incident is still brought up (when myungji does it, it's to prove herself. when most of the members do it, it's to prove they shouldn't listen to her).
caijie: i think i could do it. rock paper scissors to see who kicks it?
solhee: no, we could break it. let's not get kicked out and make everyone hate us.
myungji: unnie, who's everyone? there's literally no one looking.
yejin: i'm sorry, i don't think we should.
myungji: we're not going to burn anyone alive, we just want snacks and people kick vending machines all the time
sungyeon: that's a good point. and i'm so hungry.
caijie: *kicks the machine*
the machine: *breaks*
- myungji asked everyone to look annoyed or laugh on the way back to the dressing room ("we can pin it on some boygroup if we really have to" "no we won't" "oh my god, it's just in case we have to!"). nobody knows they broke the machine to this day, but the vending machine incident is still brought up (when myungji does it, it's to prove herself. when most of the members do it, it's to prove they shouldn't listen to her).
STAGE NAME myungji
IDOL GROUP aurora 오로라
GROUP TWIN clc
POSITION TWIN elkie
COMPANY dsp ent.
DEBUT DATE 2015
IDOL HISTORY
IDOL GROUP aurora 오로라
GROUP TWIN clc
POSITION TWIN elkie
COMPANY dsp ent.
DEBUT DATE 2015
IDOL HISTORY
part one:
first love (title track: pepe) and question (title track: like)
a new girlgroup is meant to debut with whatever momentum is left from kara project. myungji is pulled out from the lineup of said group. aurora debuts in march of 2015. meanwhile, due to her relative success in kara project, dsp feeds myunjgi crumbs such as minor acting gigs, photoshoots and cfs.
part two:
refresh (title track: high heels) and "nu.clear" (title track: no oh oh)
the aurora members that she trained with for so long warmly welcome myungji into the group. none of them are quite sure why two members were added, but their low popularity and sales sure give them room to speculate.
due to contract issues with mnet, seulbin can't participate in neither the music video nor their promotions, so her produce 101 popularity doesn't do anything for them and there's only so much myungji's small fanbase from kara project can do.
due to contract issues with mnet, seulbin can't participate in neither the music video nor their promotions, so her produce 101 popularity doesn't do anything for them and there's only so much myungji's small fanbase from kara project can do.
next comeback, seulbin joins them and their sales almost double... to four thousand. everyone ignores how pitiful it is, but it kills her. all she needs to do is look around to realize how poorly they're doing compared to everyone else.
part three:
crystyle (title track: hobgoblin), free'sm (title track: where are you), black dress (title track: black dress)
they come back new and improved, swinging baseball bats and sporting dark and edgy outfits. the image change does little for them in sales but a lot in terms of international following. not that it matters, since much of said following backs out when they drop their girl crush image next comeback.
management wants to go back to badass for their next title track, but their producer ends up selling it to another agency and they have to start over. in their time away from the limelight, caijie has enough time to literally start a youtube series and a channel. it surprisingly draws a lot of international attention to them, but, still, no comeback. the wait is worth it, though. it's worth it because black dress drops and they sell the most they've ever sold: eight thousand albums.
part four:
no.1 (title track: no), digital singles "me" and "devil"
they get their first win. damn right, their first win. they break some record by being the group who took the longest to get a trophy but who ing cares? it's a win nonetheless and myungji is ready for all that's to come.
except for the fact that nothing spectacular comes. their fanbase grows slightly and they're back on variety shows. fans show up for isac. that's it. people still don't know who they are.
at least they get to come back more frequently. if she wanted to believe it, myungji could trick herself into thinking she's part of a mid-tier group.
EXTRA
- due to a mix of sisterhood and and lack of commercial success, the aurora girls still live together in a dorm, but 2019 marks their fourth year together and there have been talks of moving out
- as of lately, myungji has been looking into apartments with caijie and yeoeun.
- due to a mix of sisterhood and and lack of commercial success, the aurora girls still live together in a dorm, but 2019 marks their fourth year together and there have been talks of moving out
- as of lately, myungji has been looking into apartments with caijie and yeoeun.
- myungji and yeoeun usually have a hand in their song's lyrics and they help with composing every so often
- ella is kpop's first female idol from macau (it's been four years and variey show hosts still make gambling jokes)
- ella is kpop's first female idol from macau (it's been four years and variey show hosts still make gambling jokes)
- the aurora girls are known for being fun and rowdy backstage. fans compare them to r.e.x a whole lot
- speaking of the devil those dumb-dumbs, r.e.x and aurora debuted in 2015 and have been well known for their friendship ever since (everyone in r.e.x is a real one —they were there for her to joke about her nosejob— and they bring out the dudebro chad in myungji like nobody else does, talk trash about them and she'll throw hands).
the idol
stage name: ella, lead vocalist, aurora's international representaitve.
myungji loves her. she knows caijie is there for her in every way, whether it'd be to speak english for a bit in her vlogs, to team up and tease seulbin or to get something off her chest. who ate the last cups of instant noodles? this lovely pair. who's talking about idol life in ella's youtube series? this powerful duo (myungji wrote the power point slides).
both of them are quite loud and they share a sense of humor, so the members like to joke about myungji being the "scary version" of caijie. it's easy to see why: just look at how many friends the chinese girl has made ever since their debut. but caijie thinks she gets along with others so well because she often feels pressured to say what they want to hear in order to be liked. the best thing about her friendship with myungji is she doesn't feel that pressure.
FC: Mei Qi Group twin: Sorn
badass squirrel rapper, that one member that's equally popular with korean and international fans
there's one person in every friend group that nobody gets mad at, you just can't. that's yeoeun. she comes across as a shy, cute and kind of dorky girl, but take a closer look and you'll realize she's just as goofy and as much of a "crackhead" as everyone in the group. there's something myungji has realized about yeoeun, though: that she's very chill when it counts. the girl truly doesn't have it in her to fret about things, no matter how small or major they might be. mic problems, album sales, hiatuses, debt, she can keep her cool in front of it all.
myungji has grown particularly close to her these last couple of years, seeing how both yeoeun and myungji have become progressively more involved with the lyrics and composition of aurora's songs.
FC: Yeeun Group twin: Yeeun i'm sorry
leader, main dancer, the closest thing they have to a center, aurora's representative performer
every bit as extra as myungji (and probably more), sungyeon is a force to be reckoned with on stage. turn the music off, though, and prepare yourself to meet the much less serious, dynamic, passionate and self-proclaimed klutz of a leader that is sungyeon. myungji likes to joke about the fact that she loves the dancer because she's the only one (other than ella, of course) that encourages her blunt statements and penchant for chaos. this makes sungyeon seem unfit to lead this group without things getting out of control, but it shows that she's committed and she knows her members well, which is her greatest strength.
FC: Seungyeon Group twin: Seungyeon
main vocalist, former leader, understandably done with this whole thing
as described by myungji, "she's annoyingly caring in the way reserved people are". yeah, the two are known for their... clashes. solhee acts as somewhat of a motherly figure in the group, but myungji is usually the first in line to reject her intentions ("wait, remember to take your keys" "i'm not going to forget my keys").
but myungji knows solhee hasn't had it easy: she suffered from a lot of pressure to be "above" the girls when she was a leader to the point where it harmed their relationship so much she had to quit. she was criticized by netizens and management because of her weight and involved in a car crash after one of her few solo schedules. myungji fully has the older girl's back and she understands why she's just here to take care of her members until she can live a quiet life and spend time with her family once their contracts expire. besides, she has to admit she loves to spend time with solhee when her protectiveness doesn't kick in, the older girl is super welcoming, a good listener and scarily good at reading people.
FC: Siyeon Group twin: Seunghee
lead dancer, aurora's resident cutie
yejin is the member that's least similar to myungji. she's introverted, a bit judgemental (but she's working on that, myungji has to give credit where it's due), and not very prone to dry humor. while this might have drawn them apart in the past, it's what currently keeps myungji and yejin together. ever heard of opposites attract? besides, there are plenty of good qualities to yejin: despite being close minded, she's one of the genuinely most well-meaning people myungji has ever met. hopeful and persistent, she's a walking reminder that humans aren't utter trash (although myungji can only handle a certain amount of her positivity).
added to that, yejin shares myungji's ambition and understands her frustration way better than everyone else. through the years, yejin has become a sister to her (and myungji is more than happy to provide content for "myungjin" "tom and jerry" compilations).
FC: Soyee Group twin: Yujin
maknae, lead rapper, alternate center, too pretty to be the baby (it's unfair!)
myungji wasn't alone when she was added to aurora. if anything, seulbin was more alone than she was, because at least myungji had trained with the members whereas the younger girl had barely trained before she competed in produce 101 and earned the viewers' support with her visuals and awkward personality.
although she has grown a lot more comfortable with herself and around people, seulbin is still the playful and blunt high schooler she knew her as when they joined the group (and there's also her innocent streak that comes out when myungji makes her the of the joke). their maknae's closest friends are her produce 101 connections, but the aurora members are still very special to her and myungji has been one of the members she relies on the most from the get-go. even though she teases her relentlessly.
FC: Nakyung Group twin: Eunbin
not an . really fun, actually.
there's no group of people that resonates more with myungji than young loud men. chads, if you will. nothing's ever serious with them except for their determination and commitment to not serious things. if she'd been sorrounded by chads instead of her dear members, they'd have kicked that vending machine from the get-go. this is why, despite being a late addition to aurora, she finds her place in their dynamic with the r.e.x guys and quickly becomes friends with seokho. she joins in on his behind the scenes scheming with namgi when they promote at the same time and high fives him after his casual flings are brought up in a conversation. "good one. romance is dead," she deadpans. seokho is very confused for a good second or two.
but what makes myungji the ultimate chad is chads can't fool her. there are real people with real feelings behind the chaos, and after years of friendship, she's there for the ruckus and for the people behind it too.
smart , very fun, very busy but still a real one
other than the namgi and seokho package, jungmin is one of the r.e.x guys myungji gets along with the best. at first it just seemed like he got her sense of humor well, but what really sealed the deal was when someone mentioned jungmin convincing the members there was a ghost in the dorm and seulbin went "no, not jungmin too!". when he's less busy with schedules and the group, they hang out.
when myungji hears seokho's dating, she wants to believe it, mainly because of the poor girl who's gonna have to deal with the consequences. she taps caijie in the arm to get her attention and goes "you think he did it for a bet like in american romcoms?" because they watched one the day before. although aurora and adoreu debuted not too far apart from each other, myungji isn't very good friends with anyone in the group and barely knows yeoreum.
she's extremely bored when she gets a genius idea one day before they line up to perform at a music show: if they switch places with yeoreum's group, they can go behind r.e.x. this is the start of myungji's boredom-related schemes, but they surprisingly make yeoreum look uncomfortable. that makes for the final push myungji needed to personally get to know her, which is how they end up being friends.
cool guy. she will keep on asking him about his personal life every once in a while because it flusters him
they were all formal at first, but that wore off pretty soon. in myungji's words, "we cracked him" (a smirk is always included for good measure). aurora has been in the game for a couple of years now, and he's leniently done with it. oh, higher ups changed up the concept again? dumb-dumbs. eat whatever makes you happy, just diet before the comeback. does he really care if you date? no, not really. not at all, actually, but he does care if you get caught —you're adults, you figure it out. even though he can stand his ground when it comes down to it, they have inside jokes and the girls all talk to byunghoon about "life and " (myungji again). yejin swears she saw him buy their album, how can they not be friendly with one another?
no fc but i can add one if necessary.
LEE CHANGHYUN
NAME lee changhyun
NICKNAMES
team rocket, more of a joint effort. the rest of 1X1 gave him, jongyoun and seunghyun this nickname for all the shenanigans they start as a trio.
NICKNAMES
team rocket, more of a joint effort. the rest of 1X1 gave him, jongyoun and seunghyun this nickname for all the shenanigans they start as a trio.
business partner, this is the kind of dumb stuff myungji calls him. he doesn't know how his girlfriend comes up with these ridiculous nicknames, but keep them coming.
co-worker lee, they must be telepathically connected. not too long after myungji coins "business partner", the members simultaneously come up with a version of their own.
D.O.B december 11, 1996
HOMETOWN seoul, south korea
ETHNICITY korean
LANGUAGES
korean, it's his native language.
D.O.B december 11, 1996
HOMETOWN seoul, south korea
ETHNICITY korean
LANGUAGES
korean, it's his native language.
mandarin chinese, fluent.
english, conversational.
FACE CLAIM x1's seungyoun
BACK UP seventeen's hoshi
APPEARANCE
"you know who also looks intimidating? changhyun," caijie says.
"no," she denies, looking like she's about to burst into laughter at any minute. he has the face of a high schooler, that's not precisely intimidating.
"no. wait. he doesn't look super intimidating because he's changhyun, but he's tall and he has long hair and kind of a face, you know? and the tattoos too."
english, conversational.
FACE CLAIM x1's seungyoun
BACK UP seventeen's hoshi
APPEARANCE
"you know who also looks intimidating? changhyun," caijie says.
"no," she denies, looking like she's about to burst into laughter at any minute. he has the face of a high schooler, that's not precisely intimidating.
"no. wait. he doesn't look super intimidating because he's changhyun, but he's tall and he has long hair and kind of a face, you know? and the tattoos too."
she sees her point, but it's funnier to tell caijie she doesn't.
STYLE changhyun used to wear a lot of chill and boring clothes until he had a sort of awakening. you've seen the kind of stuff g-dragon or zico wear, right? or, no need to look that far, just check out how underground rappers dress, now that's more like it.
STYLE changhyun used to wear a lot of chill and boring clothes until he had a sort of awakening. you've seen the kind of stuff g-dragon or zico wear, right? or, no need to look that far, just check out how underground rappers dress, now that's more like it.
throw in some colorful stuff here, some brand name things over there, add simple stuff and there you have it, that's how he moved on from boring clothes.
personality
INSIGHTFUL, CREATIVE, INTUITIVE, PENSIVE, EMPATHETIC, INTENSE, STUBBORN, ORGANIZED, WARM, PRIVATE, PASSIVE IN A WAY
changhyun has been doing this for some time —music, idol life. his group is no shinee or bigbang, they're extremely far from it, actually, but in such a fast-paced industry, you could say they've been here for a minute and he has taken to it, in a way. this is because if there's something he's good at, that'd be getting how things work: making the connections you have to make in order to understand what's going on and why.
but there are some things changhyun knows despite not fully understanding them. he's always had a pretty strong intuition, so even though he might only have a gut feeling to vouch for his decisions or judgements, he's still right. there's no denying that it's very troublesome when he's not, especially because changhyun becomes increasingly more stubborn the more convinced he is by an idea and there's just no changing his mind.
speaking of his mind, there's always a whole lot going on there. on the positive side of things, this means that he thinks things through before jumping into action, he's creative, a good listener and unlikely to offend someone unintentionally. what it also means is he's extremely likely to get stuck in the thinking aspect of things and just entertain different possibilities instead of going out there and doing stuff. in addition to that, he has a tendency ruminate and drive himself crazy with internal dialogue that's not very constructive.
of course, this doesn't translate to other people in everyday interactions. while he values alone time a lot, changhyun likes to think he can socialize well enough and he comes across as someone chill and fun to be around, however crazy his thoughts might be at the moment. he's been described as quiet by some people, but, in retrospect, he's made a lot of new friends from his trainee years 'til now.
it's a bit funny how, through the years, he's got way better at composing, making friends, getting his together and so many other things except from opening up. changhyun could easily spend time talking to a friend about whether or not originality exists, but every second spent talking about things that burden him feels eternal. it's funny because he's all but gotten better at getting to know people but it's as hard as ever for them to get to know him.
love story
one day around october of 2017, this guy just starts showing up at the recording booths in dsp. to myungji's surprise, caijie greets him. he's a friend of one of her friends (should've seen it coming). apparently, he's collaborating with one of dsp's producers and he allowed him to use the studio. he visits semi-frequently for the following weeks.
——
she can sing the sample, let me see, she hears their producer say. she's leaving the studio after finishing some work with yeoeun.
"myungji-ssi, do you have to be somewhere after this?"
"no, what do you need?"
and that's how she ends up learning a verse because their producer said they need a female voice for a sample.
"myungji-ssi, do you have to be somewhere after this?"
"no, what do you need?"
and that's how she ends up learning a verse because their producer said they need a female voice for a sample.
——
of course she's curious about the end result. myungji learned a whole verse, sang the thing more than a couple of times, chatted with their producer and caijie's friend for just a little bit and then she just left. her voice is now in a song but she doesn't know how said song sounds.
she runs into caijie's friend one day and decides to ask. they talk a lot and she joins him when he's back at the recording booth. that's more or less when changhyun becomes her friend too.
——
"we need to stop using your songs as an excuse to hang out."
he laughs. myungji grins (because that could've come across too harsh but it didn't. and because someone had to say it and she wanted to be the one).
"wanna get noodles?"
they go to a nearby convenience store. changhyun can't tell if she's trying to flirt with him, but he's relieved he knows someone in the company now and he can look less lost when he steps out of the studio.
——
he eventually stops coming once the songs are done, but they keep talking and hanging out.
——
they walk around the neighborhood and myungji practically shoves him to get their auras read (she then proceeds to ask the lady when she's going to die, he wants to kill her). they're on their way to pick up caijie and they talk about all things ranging from annoying youtube ads to their families.
she can't put her finger on what exactly drove their friendship past surface level. but she's one of the people who make it it easier for him not to get in his head and he, for some reason, is pretty good at getting in her head and digging past her inexpressiveness.
——
"i'm gonna tell everyone soon."
"you don't have to tell solhee. bet you she already knows."
myungji laughs. caijie's right.
"imagine how yejin will react though."
"imagine how yejin will react though."
"nah, you'll be okay. i don't think she loves the tattoos, but she's not gonna cuss him out or stuff. she's yejin."
"oh, i know. and i'm not worried about that, but imagine telling yejin i'm dating. seulbin too."
"imagine her going all 'yay!' and 'congratulations'. and seulbin's face of disgust, she's my hero."
"good god, we have to make it the icon of the groupchat."
——
not too late into the night, his phone screen lights up. hey that's myungji texting him right there, hope they keep you in the english village as a hostage.
kidding (or not really), good luck tomorrow.
he's doing an interview for the newest season of produce 101, which myungji has grown to call "the best hostage situation possible in this country". he doesn't feel nervous, but it'd be great to make it in.
it'd sure be great.
you could say their agency doesn't have anything left in the tank, so his group hasn't been busy for... as long as he's been composing. that's okay, but it's kind of unfair not to know what could've been if their company tried. there's no harm in giving the idol dream one last shot, it might just work. yeah, they might do well enough, however many of them show up, and return to the charts like nu'est did. they've talked about this.
but what that scenario does, he realizes, is raise a lot of questions about how things will work with myungji. he wonders if she's thought about it. well, she's smart, he doesn't want to give up on their relationship, and he hasn't had his interview yet. it's too soon for this.
thanks
but the hostage idea... might be a bit of a strech
it makes a lot of sense
you just don't want to admit it and it's okay
in other news, you're gonna crush it
——
"myugji!" yejin exclaims.
"what?"
"i don't know, seulbin told me to call you. she's in the living room."
"seulbin-ah! what's up?"
"i just... uh, saw your boyfriend on tv," their beloved youngest says in outright confusion. it almost sounds like a question. myungji imitates her expression and she frowns. she counts it as a win.
"changhyun's on tv?" solhee asks before she can call seulbin out on being adorably ing clueless (not that she plans to let her know about the adorable part).
"wow, you people really don't like me," she says and laughs, "i texted the groupchat."
"i never check the groupchat," solhee excuses herself.
"that's why i did it," she emphasizes her point with her hands.
yejin comes into the living room. "i don't check the groupchat either," she chimes in. "why? what did i miss?"
"myungji's boyfriend is on tv," seulbin says
"law of the jungle, he went to malaysia and got bitten by a scorpion." mind you, produce 101 is playing before their very eyes. yejin's mouth widens.
on the way back to her room, she can hear the girls telling yejin that changhyun is not in law of the jungle and, finally, the glorious sound of her friend huffing. she's laughing when yejin opens the door and flicks her in the head. they proceed to laugh about it together.
——
speaking of changhyun, though, it'd be cool to see him. he's filming again but she wants to annoy him and do stupid together.
——
he's back from the first stage of filming and nothing seems to have changed. myungji is still the amazing she was when she was telling him he'd end kang daniel's career over the phone before he packed up his stuff. the transition from having his phone confiscated and staying at the english village to being back at his appartment and hanging out with everyone again is surprisingly natural.
one day, she's interrupting his sentences with the least fitting word possible and he blocks the attack with a hug. another day, he's standing in front of the bunk beds in the english village.
——
a bad thing about his girlfriend is it's sort of hard to tell what's going on in her twisted mind. just a little. he's been rising in rank and things have started to change. someone recognized him in the street, for example. someone took pictures when he went out for lunch with some of the guys from the show, for example.
they've laughed about it and talked about how weird and foreign it is. for some reason, though, something seems off. myungji has mused over wanting her group to do better a couple of times, but only in passing.
maybe he should ask what she's thinking. maybe there's nothing to ask. he can't really tell.
——
things don't truly fall into place for myungji until the finals roll around.
it kicks in that changhyun has a whole lot of fans now, die hard fans (a lot of whom are seulbin's age, even younger). if those fans vote for him, he's going to make it not just into the final group but into the industry. he's going to have to sign a sketchy and long contract (is it three years? five?) and promote like every company dreams to promote their groups.
she remembers how busy wannna one was, always traveling back and forth. she remembers the posts on online forums about them getting crazy mobbed, the articles about ridiculous sasaengs.
she doesn't have to remember how they always topped the charts.
that's what's in store for him. if he makes it and probably if he doesn't as well, but he will.
it only falls into place now, which is not ideal.
——
yeoeun watches the finale with her. yejin and sungyeon are there too (for myungji, not really for the show) once they've wrapped up dance practice. caijie and seulbin are too busy. there's all kinds of applause and cheers when he's announced at rank five. five!! the r.e.x guys would be proud of myungji's dudebro reaction.
——
the next day, after the emotional rollercoaster and the congratulations, she realizes she should've talked to changhyun before all of this happened.
the emotional rollercoaster is far from over.
——
he has a headache-inducing idea as they're preparing for debut: he should hang out with myungji. and with his friends. he should meet his family and have drinks with his cousin. things are crazy right now, but that just goes to show how much more hectic they're going to get once they actually debut. there's this limbo-esque kind of phase being offered to him in a silver platter, he realizes, why pass it up?
myungji is profoundly taken aback by the fact that he found the time to do something together and took the risk (in other words, she's whipped, does it show?).
——
they get their first music show five days after their debut, breaking winner's record.
lee changhyun is on top of the world.
——
myungji begins to have a lot of thoughts and annoying feelings. unfortunately, she's running short on ideas when it comes to doing something with them.
it doesn't feel right to vent around any of the people she knows, so whatever it is that's bothering her keeps piling up and growing stronger. she begins catching herself when she's about to snap at someone in the dorm because she has no right.
solhee brings up the fact that myungji hasn't been around the dorm as much for a good couple of weeks, if not even more. her members are truly puzzled. she's her usual self when she's around so nothing serious seems to be happening to her, but she's rarely around. this is myungji they're talking about, the same myungji that thrives when she's making them laugh and getting on their nerves, the same myungji that goes on and on about their nonexistent blood oath and loyalty to her family.
for the past month or so, she's been spending long hours at the studios in their company. myungji locks herself there and works on songs until she doesn't have the energy to continue, much less to feel antsy about her relationship.
——
her eyes are fixed on the recording booth at the studio when it comes to her. it's a magic instant in which all of her thoughts come together and she just knows why she's been driving herself crazy.
it's what she's always wanted. trending on naver, hundreds of thousands of members on their fancafe, practically guaranteed end of the year awards. everyone and their mother knows it's her dream. there's no doubt she wants all of that and more for changhyun, there's no doubt he deserves it, but she wants it for herself too and it's hard to see it go someone else's way. first it was youngji when she became the trainee to join kara, then it was twice when they became the most successful out of the 2015 girl rookies, then it was her hoobaes and now it's her boyfriend.
it's truly puzzling: she feels like they were on the same page seconds ago, equally stuck as the industry's leftovers. he's moved past it now, which is amazing, but how can it never be her turn?
there's no room for the both of them in the manic schedule of a top kpop group, no point in maintaining a relationship when sasaengs rent taxis to follow you around and your success depends on your ability to sell a fantasy of dating to your fans. why try? it doesn't seem worth it, not to her and not to most people.
if it were her in his place, she'd break up with herself too.
——
the next day, myungji wakes up in the studio, caijie by her side.
"seems like there's a lot to unpack here," she says. for the first time in a while, myungji is surprised by how good she's gotten at korean.
"i'll tell you on the way back to the dorm. things are getting cable drama levels of complicated."
"hm, i'd watch that drama."
"i know you would."
"let's go."
——
he was the first one to get busy with preparations, but she follows suit soon enough.
funny coincidence, her comeback aligns with his debut promotions.
boy, are backstage interactions going to be a trip.
the idol
STAGE NAME lee changhyun
IDOL GROUP 1X1 (one by one)
GROUP TWIN seungyoun
POSITION TWIN seungyoun
COMPANY swing entertainment
DEBUT DATE august 27, 2019
GROUP INFO
1X1 is the latest group in the produce franchise and the members were selected within the context of the show (voting riggery aside).
IDOL GROUP 1X1 (one by one)
GROUP TWIN seungyoun
POSITION TWIN seungyoun
COMPANY swing entertainment
DEBUT DATE august 27, 2019
GROUP INFO
1X1 is the latest group in the produce franchise and the members were selected within the context of the show (voting riggery aside).
before 1X1's debut, changhyun first debuted in 2014. his group wasn't an instant success and, while everyone was trying hard, their company had issues with money and promotions after debut weren't as consistent as they could've been.
everyone tried their best the couple of following comebacks, but then there were no comebacks that followed and everyone reacted differently. changhyun began to work on music alone and, thanks to some helpful contacts within the company and the people he had met in his rookie years, he started to find his footing in producing.
he auditioned for the new produce season along one of s and a trainee, but he was the only one to make the final lineup. the group, as expected, was an instant success. however, it can't be said that everything went as planned. there was no way to account for the controversy regarding vote manipulation. let's say the situation is less than ideal.
MEMBERS include:
joo hanseong (x1 counterpart: seungwoo)
kim yunseok (x1 counterpart: wooseok)
kim yedam (x1 counterpart: yohan)
han jongyoun (x1 counterpart: hangyul)
oh hajun (x1 counterpart: junho)
hong dokyung (x1 counterpart: dongpyo)
lee kangmin (x1 counterpart: minhee)
shin kijung (x1 counterpart: eunsang)
son jinwoo (x1 counterpart: hyeongjun)
ahn seunghyun (x1 counterpart: dohyeon)
kim yunseok (x1 counterpart: wooseok)
kim yedam (x1 counterpart: yohan)
han jongyoun (x1 counterpart: hangyul)
oh hajun (x1 counterpart: junho)
hong dokyung (x1 counterpart: dongpyo)
lee kangmin (x1 counterpart: minhee)
shin kijung (x1 counterpart: eunsang)
son jinwoo (x1 counterpart: hyeongjun)
ahn seunghyun (x1 counterpart: dohyeon)
EXTRA
the group is very diverse in age, there's a ten year gap between the oldest and the youngest. changhyun is closest to the older members (hanseong, jongyoun, yunseok and yedam)
the group is very diverse in age, there's a ten year gap between the oldest and the youngest. changhyun is closest to the older members (hanseong, jongyoun, yunseok and yedam)
COMMENTS whew, this took me long enough, huh? but here we are !! this is really all i have to say sdkfjdskfdsk this took so long and i wrote so much (too much). all i hope is that this app makes sense
SCENE REQUESTS
so uh,, i wrote this app pre-voting controversy. you can either make it a part of the story or not, both would be chill, but if it goes into the story i want to see everyone's reactions to the police raiding companies and stuff. i want Mess
also if we've got time for myungji and caijie being chaotic and myungji and seokho being rowdy and seulbin being the of the joke i'd love that. whew those were like 3 requests in one.
PASSWORD changhyun is "business partner", myungji is "myungjiseu"
SCENE REQUESTS
so uh,, i wrote this app pre-voting controversy. you can either make it a part of the story or not, both would be chill, but if it goes into the story i want to see everyone's reactions to the police raiding companies and stuff. i want Mess
also if we've got time for myungji and caijie being chaotic and myungji and seokho being rowdy and seulbin being the of the joke i'd love that. whew those were like 3 requests in one.
PASSWORD changhyun is "business partner", myungji is "myungjiseu"
Comments