#retrospective

Series Notes

• The series was initially going to be a oneshot with Yoojung, but I left the door open for more stories, which eventually led to a whole series by having Yoojung leave her notebook on the bus at the end of part 1
• Speaking of which, the initial concept and inspiration of the story came from the second picture in part 1. It seemed weird that Yoojung was taking the bus as an idol, and I wondered what it would be like to hop onto a bus and see her just sitting there, which kickstarted the entire series.
• I then started to plan out on how the series would revolve around the red notebook, which eventually ended up into the final story arc of the series.
• The storyline was planned way back in August 2021, 3 months before I even started posting to tumblr. For the most part, the storyline was finalized a month later in September, which included the order of appearance from each member, their characteristics and how I wanted them portrayed, settings and what they would do with OC, and overall story progression
• During planning, I also tried to actively think of themes and storylines for each character so that they weren’t duplicated. For example: Elly and anal, Lucy and daddy kink, Rina and angst, Doyeon and roleplay, etc.
• About 70% of the entire series was already written by the time part 1 came out. The only parts that weren’t already done were the sex scenes for parts 5, 7, and 10, as well as the entire part 6.
• Part 1 was written first, followed by 2 and 3 at the same time. Then, part 4 by itself, 8, 9, and 10 at the same time followed by part 5, and finally parts 6 and 7
• The series was almost going to be called “The Red Notebook”, but I felt that would give away just how important of a role the notebook would play. And after writing part 4, I felt “The Red Notebook” would be a much better name for a spinoff series of one-off quickies based on Yoojung’s sexual encounters written in the notebook (if there’s an interest for it and if I ever decide to write it). Plus, I liked the play on words of “YouWeMe”, which perfectly described the series as “YouplusWekiMeki”.
• During planning, the series kept evolving in terms of how many parts there were going to be. Initially, it was going to be 8, with each part dedicated to each member. Yoojung was going to end the series during Lucy’s part with a small throwaway line that it was all a game and she wasn’t interested in OC. However, it didn’t feel satisfying and I wanted the twist ending to show what Yoojung was doing behind the scenes during the events of the series. The finale got too bloated to fit in one part, so I settled on 10 parts for the series.
• For those who don’t have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in their country, it is a sweet/chocolate created in the US. I wanted to use a sweet for the story that was largely worldwide (so that enough of the readers knew what it was) but also hard to find in Korea (since it drives the Rina loveline and that’s where the series takes place). After some research, I decided to use the peanut butter cups for the story, but it also didn’t hurt that they’re my favorite chocolate candy of all time
• The OC initially wasn’t going to end up with anyone at the end, but as I was writing Rina’s part, it made a lot of sense with their history that they should end up together
• Arin was also just meant to be a throwaway line in part 4 but slowly started to evolve into Yoojung’s girlfriend about halfway through writing the series, helping to soften Yoojung’s character and give her some depth
• Rina aka Soeun is the only character with a stage name to be referenced by her real name. This is because the OC has a history with her character and so her real name was used to establish a connection with the reader. The only time after introduction when Soeun isn’t referred to as Rina is in Part 10 when the story is told through Yoojung’s perspective, which helps to emphasize the deep relationship between Soeun and the OC
• Initially, there wasn’t going to be a rift between Yoojung and Rina, but in order for the epilogue to work timeline wise, they needed to not be on speaking terms, because if they were, Yoojung theoretically could’ve just told Rina right after the game how to find the OC
• Red is used as a motif throughout the series to represent sex: Yoojung’s notebook, the practice room doors, Doyeon’s lipstick, Lua’s vibrator, and Lucy’s bikini are some examples.
• I had the idea for “Idol Club” as a separate storyline planned later down the road. But I figured in order to drum up some interest in that story, I was going to sprinkle some references to Idol Club in YouWeMe. So at the last minute (the week before releasing Part 2), I wrote references to it in part 2 and 4, and then the official “Idol Club” piece was released after Part 4.
• Speaking of Idol Club, I was originally going to use aespa’s Winter for that storyline, but I already used her for “Autumn” and decided to go with Yiren instead (who was actually in another draft I had but decided to scratch). Interestingly enough, “Autumn” was actually the last story I had written (but the first released) before officially debuting on tumblr, which is why she got scrapped from the Idol Club story.
• I was originally going to release YouWeMe Part 1 as my debut story but decided to release Autumn first in order to pull in followers. Since YouWeMe Part 1 is a relatively long piece and Weki Meki is a very niche group, having the shorter Autumn piece with an idol from a more popular group was an attempt to grab readers in based on my writing to hopefully interest them in YouWeMe. In my opinion, I don’t think Part 1 would’ve had 200+ notes like it does had I released that as my first piece (by my estimate, it probably would’ve been less than 100/low 100s)
• There’s still a couple places in the series that foreshadow future stories I haven’t yet released, but I’m not telling what those are just yet :)

Foreshadowing

There’s a bunch of throwaway lines sprinkled in each part that foreshadow the storyline.

• In general, the girls try to get a picture with OC or are on their phones some time before or after their time with OC, trying to get the proof they need to send to Yoojung
• In a not-so-subtle reference in part 2, OC’s boss tells OC to “fuck as many beautiful women as you can”, which is exactly what he does in the entire series
• In part 2, the receptionist doesn’t tell OC where to go to see Yoojung. As revealed in Part 9, Yoojung tells the receptionist to allow OC full access to the building. Yoojung isn’t yet in the building, so the receptionist can’t direct him to any particular floor and OC is left to wander around by himself
• In Part 2 when OC first meets Elly, she’s watching a video of a man taking a woman from behind, foreshadowing how Elly and OC have sex later in the chapter
• Part 3 mentions a “familiar voice” on the PA system, which turns out to be Yoojung, as revealed in Part 9
• Also in part 3, Doyeon tries to get back the notebook to return to Yoojung herself, and when the OC refuses, she warns him it will only end badly for him. Doyeon is always the level-headed and logical one to Yoojung and was trying to end the game early by getting the notebook. Doyeon saying it will only end badly hints at the game the Weki Meki girls are playing
• In part 4 with Suyeon, it’s mentioned she texts someone before putting her phone away. This links with part 9 where she’s texting Yoojung to come to meeting room 7 as a means of proof for her participation in the game
• Part 4 also references the letter is written in blue ink, a reference to part 1 when Yoojung doodles with a blue marker, hinting that Yoojung wrote the letter and not Sei
• Part 4 when OC and Suyeon are interrupted by strangers (who turn out to be Sei and Yoojung), it’s more likely it’s members of the game, otherwise why would they only spend a couple minutes in a room that’s meant for meetings with other people?
• Also in Part 4, Suyeon tells OC that Yoojung left to shoot a variety show. However, earlier in the part when OC goes through her schedule in the notebook, there are no events scheduled for the day. This reinforces the idea that every member is actively trying to hide the game from OC
• When OC meets Rina in part 5, Rina asks OC how many Weki Meki members he’s already met and she’s visibly relieved when she finds out it’s only 4, and won’t explain when pressed about why she’s relieved. This is because Rina knows she’s not last place and is happy she won’t have to face the penalty but can’t tell OC due to the game rules. That is, until she recognizes Yoojung’s handwriting and feels a conflict of telling OC about the game (which would cause the last 3 girls to face the punishment) and sending him off to help her bandmates
• Even OC is suspicious of everything going on. In Part 5, he asks Rina why all the members want to have sex with him
• In part 5, Rina mentions that Yoojung is “especially fond of Lucy,” hinting at Lucy losing the game later due to Yoojung rigging the game for her desired outcome
• For those reading the series on browser, you may have noticed that I used a handwritten font for Yoojung’s notebook entries and Sei’s letter. Though it may have seemed like a throwaway detail and unrelated to the story, I purposefully used the same font for those two in parts 4 and 5, respectively, to hint that Yoojung was the author for both instances. Another giveaway was the use of “ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ” in both
• The “ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ” is also used at the end of Part 9 in Yoojung’s text to the unnie line
• When Rina reads the letter in Part 5 that’s supposedly from Sei, she first lets out a troubled “oh”, refusing to elaborate what that means. There’s some silence before her face lights up. This is the moment that Rina realizes that Yoojung was the one that actually wrote the letter. At this point, she feels an internal conflict between asking the OC to stay and saving any of the other girls from facing Yoojung’s punishment (anyone that doesn’t have sex with OC by their comeback is subject to the punishment). Her face lighting up is her making her choice to save the rest of the girls from punishment and putting on an happy facade in an attempt to assure the OC that she’s fine and everything’s okay
• In Part 6, Lua asks if she’s the last Weki Meki member the OC has met, another reference to a Weki Meki member making sure she isn’t the loser of the game
• Part 7 has one of the most telling lines that gives away the plot twist: “​​The last couple of weeks have been one giant game.”
• Aside from Rina, Yoojung is the only one who lets OC cum in her. This was a conscious literary choice to differentiate Yoojung from the rest of the girls as the main girl in the story, and also because the other girls are forced to play Yoojung’s game and so they’re doing just enough to not lose. As Yoojung states in part 9, penetration isn’t necessary but there needs to be some kind of orgasm.

Individual Part Notes

• From the start of writing in August, Part 1 was called “The Next Stop”. It wasn’t until 2 days before its release in November that I decided to rename it to “The Girl with the Butterfly Tattoo”
• Part 1’s title is a reference to Stieg Larsson’s novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Was not expecting the “Is this a cute pussy” line to blow up the way it did in my asks. Decided to make a callback to this line in Part 10
• Speaking of which, Part 2’s line of “main ass” (kinda) blew up as well, which I was not expecting
• Part 2’s title was inspired by a song by Neck Deep called “December” which mentions “rose red doors”. The song also later made it into the K-Pop world when Rosé from Blackpink performed a cover for her birthday
• In Part 3, Doyeon, the tallest member, mentions that she’s “seen bigger.” This is a callback to part 1 when Yoojung, the smallest member, says it’s the biggest she’s seen. Yoojung saying that in part 1 is also foreshadowing her preference for women and lack of experience with men
• In Part 5 and again in Part 10, “Don’t go away again” is a line used by both Rina and OC. This was inspired from a song by a band called Every Avenue called “A Story to Tell Your Friends”. The full lyric in the song is, “Don’t go away again, I wanna be more than a story to tell your friends,” the second part of that lyric oddly fitting from the OC’s perspective: Yoojung has told all her bandmates about “bus guy”, but he just wants to chase after Yoojung (obviously, until he meets Rina’s character)
• Part 5 has dialogue that was (loosely) based on actual conversations I’ve had with exes
• Part 6’s title “Tickle” is a nod to the “Tickle Me Elmo” toy. Ki-lings know that Elmo is unofficially the 9th member of Weki Meki, appearing in Weki Meki’s dance practice videos. It was fitting that since Lua loves Elmo, I should somehow incorporate that into her chapter
• I tried to sprinkle enough emotional connection with some of the other girls to not make it so obvious that OC was going to end up with Rina (although, let’s be honest, Rina endgame was the worst kept secret of YouWeMe). Two of those instances of trying (and failing) to keep reader’s guessing was Doyeon at the end of part 3 giving OC a kiss and telling him he’s a nice guy, and Sei in part 7 mentioning, “if things don’t work out with Yoojung, you know where to find me. I’ll be your little fucktoy.” Later in the part 10 epilogue, both Doyeon and Sei are mentioned by the OC as who he thinks the shadowy figure approaching him could be as a red herring based on those previous emotional connections
• During planning, I initially had Part 7 with Sei taking place in the dorm, but this represented a potential plot hole: it would’ve been too easy for OC to just wait in there until Yoojung eventually came home to meet her again
• The shopping mall mentioned in Part 8, though not explicitly named, is based off the Hyundai Seoul department store also located in Yeouido
• Part 8’s title is a play on words of the Anne Hathway movie, “The Devil Wears Prada”
• Fittingly, there are a bunch of references to heaven and hell in Part 8. One example of this is this line: “…it would be worth spending eternity in the second circle of hell for a piece of her body.” This is a reference to Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, where the second circle of hell is reserved for those overcome by lust, as is the case for OC
• In Part 8, OC stuffs Lucy’s mouth with his fingers, forcing Lucy to taste her own slick. This is a callback to part 1, when Yoojung forces OC to taste her slick on OC’s fingers
• In Part 9, it’s mentioned that Yoojung got horny seeing Everglow’s sexy stage outfits. It was initially going to be Oh My Girl to help foreshadow Yoojung’s relationship with Arin, but after doing research, there were only three other major girl groups who had overlapping promotions with Weki Meki’s “Cool” (YouWeMe was written before “Siesta” came out) in order to make that anecdote work: Blackpink, Everglow and fromis_9. I decided to use Everglow since they had the least amount of smut at time of writing
• Speaking of Everglow, did you catch the Yoojung reference in the Idol Club story?
• Part 9’s title was going to be “The Most Dangerous Game” inspired by Richard Connell’s short story of the same name, but it was a more obscure reference than “The Hunger Games” which I ultimately decided to reference
• Part 10’s ending was already done in September before news came out of Arin stepping down as MC of Music Bank. I was going to change Part 10 with this news but decided to keep it as is
• Part 10 opens with Yoojung and Arin playing board games, a direct parallel with the game she’s playing with OC. Board games are also another love of mine, so I figured I’d reference that in YouWeMe
• You’ll notice that in the text message conversation between Yoojung and Rina in part 10, Rina’s messages are long, while Yoojung’s messages are broken down into shorter messages. This was meant to highlight their contrasting personalities in the series. Rina is more thoughtful and deliberate, while Yoojung is more rash and spontaneous. Their exchange is also supposed to parallel the way they see and treat OC: Rina being in love with OC since middle school and seeing him as a potential long-term partner, while Yoojung sees OC as a fleeting fling meant only to fill her short-term need to be satisfied
• Initially, Arin and Yoojung’s sex scene was going to take place in the alleyway right after OC tells them to get a room, but adding their sex scene there would make the board game cafe sex scene no longer needed and would erase a lot of that exposition that couldn’t really be told in the alleyway
• I really wanted to include an OC x Arin sex scene in part 10 but it just didn’t make sense for her character to do that. It also would’ve meant having to rewrite the ending of OC figuring out for himself on who Yoojung’s girlfriend is
• The epilogue is a call back to the opening scene in part 1 and is written the exact same with the exception of the changed season, which represents a new beginning for OC.
• The epilogue also makes a callback to Part 5 when OC’s fingers interlock with Rina’s. Both parts use the same line in a different tense to describe the feeling: “Warm. Inviting. Nothing can ever beat this feeling.”
• The final line of the series is also the final line of Part 1 and also the final line of this retrospective: “Something tells you this isn’t the last time you’ll see her.”