Spinning tires rolled onto foreign asphalt, making every bump on the road easily felt. Through the cacophany of sounds, their tour van full of vocalists made it difficult for one girl in particular to get a word in. Such as always was the plight of one Kang Seulgi, current topic of debate.

"Seusan."

"Noooo."

"Seuzy."

"No..."

"Oh Seusanna.”

"Noooo!" Of the newly given aliases, Seulgi disapproved of them wholeheartedly, her Converses stomping against the matted flooring. "Something other than a Susan, please."

As the main dancer of world reknowned Red Velvet, Kang Seulgi had the misfortune of receiving no English name in the years prior. Not officially, anyways. Whether by birth or by stage, her name remained a lasting monolith. Always and forever, she would be known to the world simply as Seulgi. Plain ol' Seulgi...

...that was, if anyone would bother to pronounce it properly.

"Please give a warm round of applause for our next guests, Red Velvet! Joy, Yeri, Irene, SEEOO-GEE, and Wendy."

Seelgi? Sullji? Say-ool-gee?!

Even Soogli and Soul Guy! She's heard it all by now, but could never find it in her gentle heart to correct these interviewers.

On the other hand, her Red Velvet bandmates (each brandishing westernized monikers of their own) had no such dilemma.

They could never understand her struggle.

They can never understand my struggle.

That was not for lack of trying, of course.

Seated in the front passenger’s side, her beautiful group leader Bae Joohyun became Red Velvet's elegant Irene when entering spotlight. 

I-rene, you-rene, gimme dat gimme dat I-rene. Irene.

"Seulgi-yah. I think I've come up with a decent name for you," said Irene, looking back in the rear view mirror. "It's Charisma."

"...Was that a suggestion or a sneeze, unnie?"

"What? Charisma can be a name! If Joy is one, so is Charisma."

"Think about it though. Merry Charis-mas. Happy Seul-year!"

The one openly mocking Charisma was Son Seungwan in the mid row, known better as main vocalist Wendy to fans. Yes, yes, like the girl from Peter Pan. If anyone's expertise were to be trusted for a name, Seulgi would choose her English speaking seatmate every time.

"I vote no on Charisma," Wendy thumbs'd it down. "Sounds dangerously like an exotic dancer name. No offense, Joy."

"None taken~"

"Anyways Seul, go for something that starts with an S so that you don't have to change your initials."

"S?"

"Yeah, S."

Vocalist and actress combo Park Sooyoung (aka the cute and y Joy) agreed, though annoyingly advocated for a Susan once again. "You knowww, Suzy starts with S~" said she, seated in the back row. "Beggars can't be choosers, unnie. Suzy sounded closest to your actual name. Seuzy-Seulgi. You should just accept it."

Seulgi shook her head vehemently no. 

"You can also be a Katy if you like," maknae Kim Yerim known as Yeri offered disingenuously. "No pressure. Always room for one more."

"You don't even like that name, Yeri. Why would I want it? This is a scam."

"What? Free is free. This Seulgi-unnie is so picky, isn't she?"

So there they were, the four of them - Irene, Wendy, Joy, and Katy-Yeri - her enthusiastic but ultimately unhelpful bandmates.

And there she was, as Seulgi.

Just Seulgi.

(Oh and the person actually driving the van too was there too, technically, but that doesn't factor into the story.)

...

A brief intermission followed once they reached their stadium venue, finding each member in various states of undress and makeup. Stylists and mic techs darted to and fro between them, with the fated minutes rapidly approaching til showtime.

The foreign fans awaited their performance.

Seulgi's own make up artist was in the process of touching up her monolids when, across the dressing room, Yeri resumed the name game once more, though no one had bothered to ask. "Hey, how about Seulene...Like Celine or Selene?"

"Yah, isn't that too much like Seulrene?" Irene cocked an eyebrow at the mere hint of the ship name. "Isn't that too much? You'll never hear the end of it."

"I love Selina, like Selena Gomez!" said Joy, "But not as a replacement for 'Seulgi', I don't think..."

Fingernails tapping rapidly like crazy on her phone screen, Wendy spoke up next. "Hang on, girls. I got a list now. Popular S names," she announced all official-like. "...Sarah? Sandra, like Sandara Park? Sadie. Sasha. Stacy. Suzy... uh oh, let's just skip that one. No offense Joy."

"Offense taken," scoffed the tall girl.

Seulgi on the other hand gave a mini applause. 

Wendy continued, "There's also Sharon. Sheryl. Soniaa. Sylviaa. Stephanie. Oh hey! Siri's on here too."

Multiple iPhones then beeped at the trigger word, including Seulgi's own.

Wendy scolded the devices with "No no, not you Siri. Siri stop."

Again, the phones beeped.

"No! Siri off!"

Beeps.

"Seungwan!!" 

"Yah!" protested members and staff in accidental harmony.

"Stop saying it!"

"Sorry! I won't!...Sorry everyone."

Seulgi sighed. Maybe this name thing wasn't meant to be. Defeatedly, she consoled their efforts nonetheless. "It's okay, girls. Thank you, but Seulgi is Seulgi for now. I'll live diligently with the name my mommy and daddy gave. heh."

"You sure Seoul Guy is out of the question, unnie?" smirked Yeri.

"Yes -  and I mean 'yes' as in out of the question, not 'yes' as in yes to Soulguy. Don't trick me."

"Darn."

Seulgi remained Seulgi. How disappointing, despite the effort.

It didn't take long before the stage director popped into the dressing room to give them the signal. Mic'd up, they exit towards the stage, prepped to perform before their American Luvies.

Seulgi could hear the rumbling of the audience already while she stood in the wings, hyped up by the intro video playing them on - an instrumental medley of their latest album. She too jittered from the radiant crowd energy, reminding her of that same exhileration dating back to their debut all those years ago.

The time where the world first knew of Kang Seulgi.

The intro video ended, and soon they received their cue. One by one the Red Velvet members walked out onto stage to thunderous applause. Seulgi heard luvies begin to chant as the first member stepped on.

"Park Sooyoung! Park Sooyoung!" she heard the crowd cheering for Joy.

"Hi everyone! I'm Joy, I'm your joy, you're my joyyyy~"

A unified YEAAAHHHHHHH rippled through the stadium, a decent mix of male and female voices.

"KIM YERIM! KIM YERIM!" they called out next.

"Hi, I'm Yeriii!" 

YEAAAAHHhhhh.

"Good evening LA. I'm Irene."

WOoooooHhh. YEAAHHHH.

"What whaaat? I'm Wendy!!!"

OOOMMMGGGG!

Seulgi wiped sweaty palms onto her skirt, ready to walk out as her turn came around. Seulgi time. As she stepped forth in high heels, the crescendoing chants welcomed her into the spotlight. Through monolidded eyes, she could finally grasp the vastness of the attendees, with coral pink light sticks glimmering from the front row all the way back to the nosebleed seats.

"KANG SEULGI! KANG SEULGI!"

It appeared she needed no introduction. Clearing , she greeted them like old friends with a smile."Hi, I'm Seulgi."

And that was all she needed to say.

YEEEEAAAAAAAAA.

Her own name resounded from the larynxes of luvies, who despite the language barrier showed up to see her. They not only pronounced it well but probably studied such trivias as her like her blood type and MBTI. 

Seulgi. 

"Happiness, hello, we are Red Velvet!"

WOOOOOOO.

She decided then and there that 'Seulgi' was more than enough.

Seulgi she would remain, for her friends, family, and her adoring fans.

Always and forever, she'd be just plain ol' Kang Seulgi.

And never Kang Seusanna.