#strongheartchronicles
the news of eclipse’s debut is the main buzz around the building. she recognises the electricity in the air and the mild tension that lied underneath when waiting for public reaction. she remembers a miniature version of that feeling whenever she featured on sunabe’s b-sides. though there wasn’t much to be expected because it was usually promotional titles charting, it was nice when there was positive reception. she understands the feeling even though her chance of feeling the rush of debut was pulled from her grasp one too many times.
she’s not expecting to run into haseul so soon after the debut. aren’t they supposed to be super busy? did they have a showcase they were practising for? chungha was curious because she had almost experienced one for herself. she wonders what it was like. did you feel like a new person after? did you feel relieved? was it as if all of the years finally pay off or was that after moderate success?
“haseul sunbaenim!” she called with a smile, jogging up to the younger girl. now haseul was an idol. there was no way chungha could get away with not approaching haseul with honorifics. she’d definitely get scolded for that. “congratulations on your debut!” she didn’t prepare a present because then she’d have to get several. but maybe she could think of something… “if you’re free i’d love to treat you to some steak and rice sometime!”
rkyeri:
becoming a set member of eclipse has it’s perks. in fact, she thinks that it’s mostly perks. they’re finally getting closer to their dream, and they’ve been working hard for this for years, so why wouldn’t it be a good thing? she could think about how she hasn’t seen her friends for ages, and how she feels like some people probably think she dropped off the face of the earth by now. she might as well have, with how little interaction she gets with everyone who’s not an eclipse member.
it means that she hardly knows the new trainees either, and only kind of sees them as they come into the building. she’s aware of their presence, but has few opportunities to meet them. so she’s glad when chungha introduces herself. yeri stands up quickly, waving at the other girl. with her signature sunny smile “oh! hi! it’s not a bother at all! of course you should come in!” she gestures around the room, finishing off with a shrug. “it’s not like i own this place.”
“i’m yeri!” she takes a look at the other girl, trying to remember her. she had heard that she was on the mgas, but with everything going on this year she didn’t have time to watch all of it. “weren’t you the one with the boyfriend?”
it’s true. it’s not like she owns the place at all. chungha thought it was better to be polite and ask regardless. the other was a senior trainee and if she didn’t want to train with chungha, she could easily pull rank. she’s seen it happen before. although training with a senior trainee could work in her favour when learning the tricks of the trade, so-to-speak.
“yeri! your name is pretty,” chungha said with a smile and a polite bow of the head. “my name is chungha–” she huffs, pausing and backtracking on her statement quickly. “my real name actually is chanmi. chungha is a nickname all of my friends call me. it feels more like my name now.” it was a reflex to introduce herself as chungha. she’s almost vaguely aware of her doing the same on the mgas despite submitting her real name on the application. she knows while training they won’t go by her nickname. they would only refer to her as chanmi (as it was her legal name). they wouldn’t even refer to her as annie, she’s sure, despite it being her birth name.
chungha pauses before she could even get out anything else, staring at yeri in a bit of shock. her cheeks turn red. she’s annoyed, yes, but she knows that’s what mnet did to her image. she was “the girlfriend” of the season. it completely overshadowed anything else she did. there was no uproar when she was (unfairly) kicked off just before the semi finals because most of the public was angry that she wasn’t (perceived as) a lonely and single loser like the rest of them. bullshit.
“mnet made it seem like i was dating him. we’re not dating,” she insists, exhaling with a huff to calm any annoyance and refrain from it seeping into her tone. “trust me, i’m single.” not that it mattered anyways. if she was dating younghyun, she would have had to break up with him when she signed her kt contract. “besides we have a dating ban. i’m not so quick to break that when i just got here.”
taemin spent early november cashing in on some of his vacation time– first week completed, spent with his girlfriend who immediately fled the country following her withdrawal from luxe. once he heard the news, he naturally wanted to see her as soon as possible, and she wanted to get away from any cameras and media outlets catching wind of her departure. it was only following the announcement of a lighter evaluation this month that he really saw his opportunity to join her in her travels and took it, for once, letting her pay for everything, not worrying about it himself.
now, returning back to regular life, he feels a bit detached. it’s strange, knowing jiwon isn’t even a trainee anymore, let alone an idol; there’s part of him that’s finally let out a breath he’s been holding for about a year now, ever since her odds of ending up in luxe seemed high. now, he doesn’t need to worry about ruining her career or reputation, and yet now…it’s just him chasing this dream. he feels a new absence, even though technically, jiwon is more in reach now than previously. now, it’ll be her waiting on him instead, and that’s something that never sat well with him. he doesn’t know what this means for him, in the grand scheme of everything, but something feels different; he feels different.
mr kim, his dance instructor, must know him well enough to tell when something is off, so he gives him a unique assignment during his dance lesson for the day: interrupt one of the new trainees’ practice time, and give her feedback on her dancing. it’s supposed to be an exercise in his own abilities– to notice mistakes, areas of improvement, and offer criticism, but he thinks it’s just as much an attempt to push him toward socializing. apparently, chungha’s dance instructor is in on this plan– part of it, even, and taemin wouldn’t be surprised if mr kim is her dance teacher too, and just hasn’t owned up to it.
the instructor tells taemin where to find her and he’s off, wandering down kt’s halls toward his destination, and when he arrives, he opens the door quietly, careful not to interrupt anything. when he catches the new trainee’s attention, he bows to her in greeting. “my dance instructor told me i was supposed to find you and give you feedback on your dancing,” he explains, figuring it’s best to get out with it early. “i’m taemin!”
@rkchungha – *
though kt had been a learning experience, chungha can’t help but feel as if there’s many similarities between a big and small company. of course the practise rooms are plentiful, larger and well kept. chungha didn’t need to stay to clean the rooms herself and it seems that members of the opposite sex were able to mingle with one another freely. it was a nice atmospheric change.
kt was one of the biggest companies in the industry. she knows she shouldn’t go in thinking things would be the same as they were in sm but her comparisons were what was keeping her afloat. she figures formal speech is a lot more serious here as well as punishments. she knew she had to be on her best behaviour. even the classes themselves were more intense.
though she’s marketed as a dancer, she’s not so dance crazy that four and a half hours of dance lessons every weekday sounds fun. in fact it sounded like a form of torture. regardless, she knew she had to do it. it was fun in the sense that she liked the community aspect of it: she liked dancing with other trainees and she was eager to learn but hell was she exhausted. it was so early in the day too. it made her want to do nothing and nap.
it made a lot more sense why kt groups are such excellent dancers though.
chungha was in the middle of perfecting the short choreography she’s learned for the day when she noticed that someone had joined her. she locked onto his reflection in the mirrored wall, slowing to a stop before she turned to him. he was a senior trainee, that much was obvious. she had to endure the same at kt with senior trainees dropping in while they were practising. hell, at some point she was the senior trainee looking in at newer ones. she was no stranger to this tactic. although her mind immediately rebuttals ‘shouldn’t the instructors be doing that?’ her face is kind. she couldn’t disrespect a senior.
taemin. she knew who he was. “ah, seonho mentioned you!” she bowed deeply, as would be expected of “fresh meat” like her. “it’s nice to meet you, taemin sunbaenim.” she takes a moment before she introduces herself. “my name is kim chanmi.” she may as well have to go by her real name for now. though some people call her chungha already.
“should i show you what we’ve been working on so far, then?”
haseulrk:
Day after day, meal after meal, Haseul found herself going to the cafeteria to eat. Getting ready for debut, they were restricted even in doing that, but she was making the most of it, trying her best to try different things or different combinations, but by now, everything was getting old to her.
Something that she had been trying to do during these short periods of time was meeting new people or trying to get back in touch with some of the people that she didn’t get to see as much as she would like to. So far, she had done pretty well with that, but it could get a little tricky sometimes.
This time, however, she is approached by a girl that she thought she had seen on replays of the latest MGA season. She seemed much bolder than the other girl she had met, Jiwon, but either way, as usual, KT was bringing in very pretty and talented trainees to fill in their ranks.
“O-Oh! It’s nice to meet you too!” she replies, a bit surprised by the girl coming forward to her like this, not that she minds one bit. “It’s nice to meet you! I’m Jo Haseul, I hope you’re enjoying your time here so far~” she returns the bow with her usual politeness.
she went up to the senior trainee without a plan, mostly to just introduce herself because she knew the eclipse girls were busy. this was probably going to be one of the few times she actually could meet the other. so she had figured why not do it now? now that she’s in front of haseul, she doesn’t have much to say. it was almost embarrassing that she didn’t have much to offer in conversation other than a, “oh, yes, my full name is kim chanmi,” after haseul gave her a full introduction.
“i uh,” she ran her fingers through her hair before gesturing towards her new and official duffel bag she used for training. “m-minji?” that was her name, right? “minji sunbaenim gave me this….and jinwoo showed me around! it’s been going well so far.” everyone was being awfully kind.
chungha gestured towards the cafeteria doors. “i was figuring out if i wanted to stay or go for lunch when i saw you. i know you’re really busy right? so i figured i introduced myself so….” she didn’t really have a follow up. would it be weird to ask her to hang out? they weren’t exactly close in terms of their workplace nor in friendship.
━━━━━━━━━━━ @rkchungha ◞ ❤
she doesn’t know what it is about kt, it was like any other building, built of four walls, concrete and elevated by millions of dollars that jiwon would never really amount for. it was nothing to be scared of – yet, here she is: stricken with fright in her worn converse, tripping over exaggerated shoelaces. she’s glancing at the watch on her right wrist, noting the way the second hand ticks on ever so slowly, taunting her – reminding her that hyunjin had more than a handful of hours left before he was to report for work. the thought itself draws a long sigh, a rugged hand over her face as she walks down one unmarked hall after another.
she’s lost, probably but like the anxious little bird trapped within the confines of a heavy heart, she finds herself too scared and confused to really ask anyone.
who could she even ask – everyone looked so important and high profile, would they be offended if she asked them for mere directions? it was her first day and jiwon was no where ready to be scolded for something as harmless as do you know where the restroom is?
it dawns her as she turns another corner, faced with a dozen faces of pretty people and picturesque profiles that stun her. oh, were they famous? were there actual famous people walking the halls right now – could it be? she whips around, ready to turn the hell around and bolt. maybe she wasn’t cut out for this trainee shindig – thirty minutes in and she was sure she was on a one-way ticket for a heart attack with the way her pulse was quickening.
she makes it past another turn before her shoulder is bumping into someone else’s and a sharp gasp leaves her, and her body automatically bends at the appropriate angle – 90 degrees, perfectly bent, head falling down the minute her apology leaves her lips. it’s a quick one, two before she’s standing straight again – another apology on her lips when she sees just who she had run into. her eyes widen, and she feels her heart beat jump, “aren’t y-you .. chungha?”
chungha had gotten a decent tour from jinwoo when she first arrived. although the minute he was gone she felt completely lost. it was almost as if his tour did absolutely nothing to familiarise herself. she was going to get lost, she was sure of it. it wasn’t like there was a blueprint of kt’s hallways lying around anywhere.
vocal training vocal training. now where could that room be? everything looked the freaking same. it was driving her nuts. maybe turn down this hall she would see something that’s finally familiar looking —
she wasn’t expecting to get her shoulder bumped. it wasn’t hard enough to hurt. just enough to have her stumble back a bit and blink in surprise. she bows her head quickly and mumbles a polite and formal “i’m so sorry” until she realises the other person is already bent at the waist. chungha is understandably astounded (and mildly embarrassed).
“okay, okay, people are staring,” she says, chuckling nervously and motioning the other to straightening herself. the girl looks intimidated(?) maybe mostly shocked. chungha blinks, confused for the reaction she received. “uh, yeah? i am?” did they know each other? was there a reason for the other to be this surprised? “are you okay? do i have a pimple somewhere?” she asked, smoothing her finger across her face in search of the hypothetical blemish. “what’s wrong?”
“what are you doing here?” the words are out of his mouth before he can think twice about them. it’s been weeks at least since he’s seen the girl, long enough that he didn’t bother to try to keep track of time at all. sungho can put it together quickly enough; obviously she was signed by kt entertainment. god, what a big fucking mistake.
“should i be calling security? you know you’re not allowed to follow me everywhere, right?” he recovers with a joke, the hint of a smile on his lips. his surprise isn’t ridiculous or even unexpected. sungho hadn’t known that chungha had an audition, let alone that she’d have a contract to sign. and that’s his fault for falling out of contact with literally everyone yet again.
maybe the universe hates him. he’s not sure how proximity with chungha will turn out, not when they’re always on shaky ground in their relationship these days. maybe he’ll finally have a friend here, or maybe they’ll literally kill each other. it’ll be interesting to find out, at least.
the voice of the accusatory words are what causes chungha to sigh and finish tying her shoes a little harshly before letting her eyes slowly roll up to meet his gaze. she forgot that signing kt’s contract would mean that she’s in sungho’s sphere near constantly. before then it hadn’t been taken into consideration when debating on signing the contract. truthfully, she forgot all about sungho. she didn’t even tell him she got offered an audition.
considering their relationship was rocky at the best of times, it probably was something chungha should have thought about. how would dealing with him every day go? they were both hard headed individuals and knew how to push each other’s buttons easily. although sungho had a sharp tongue, chungha had awfully fast physical reflexes and it’d be a shame if they tore each other apart while in the confines of kt’s hallways.
“well, you know what the say,” she begins as she rises to stand with her arms crossed in front of him. she nearly lets his english name slip passed her lips just to take a small jab at him but that would do nothing but anger the hibernating bear. “save the best for last, eh? no wonder i’m a late addition.”
it also fairly obvious why she’s there when she’s clad in grey sweats with the waist band rolled over a few times and a regular tank top with the duffle bag that ariel gifted her at her feet. “besides, who would want to follow you? if i was going to be a stalker, i should probably aim for much more interesting people, don’t you think?”
during lunch time, they had the freedom to go out and eat if they wanted. because chungha didn’t have a car, she had to be more aware of time considering it would take her longer to travel. the last thing she wanted was for her to go over her lunch hour and get reprimanded for it. an hour on a packed weekday could go in a blink of an eye.
it went by even quicker when you have to spend the first ten or so minutes deciding which place to get food from. she didn’t want some cheap fast food like burger king or something (even though it was only a ten minute walk from the building). maybe she’d order a soup and take it to go? it would only be about 11000 won. not to bad.
her head was in her phone, looking around on the map for a decent place to eat. she looks up to make sure she doesn’t run into anyone on her way out. instead she sees a face that’s familiar. an eclipse member. she remembers this from the teasers kt has been releasing lately. maybe eclipse members had to train on a different schedule because she rarely sees them. they were almost like a mythical creature in kts halls at this rate. it’s astounding that she’s almost met all of them.
deciding that not only should she definitely introduce herself to be respectful but she can also ask for recommendations, chungha goes up to the woman. she’s short. shorter than chungha is, actually. she was starting to think that kt had a thing with keeping short girls in supply. “hello!” she says with a deep bow. “my name is chungha. i’m a new trainee here. it’s nice to meet you, sunbaenim.”
