High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Mar 15, 2020 14:44:43 GMT -8
Tai had morning practice with Felix and Seoji, but they had been pulled away from the dance studio for other things. Felix to work with a rap mentor, and Seoji to do a recording and some pictures for the trainee social media. Tai was left to his own devices in the dance studio. Yuseong were out on some promotions and the girls had group vocal training that morning, so he wasn't worried about having to relinquish the big room to anyone.
They'd been told that the new trainee would be coming in sometime that day, but he wasn't entirely sure what that would mean for his schedule. He figured that management would probably introduce them at some point, since this was a trainee who wasn't coming in from the training camp, and none of them had met him yet. He hoped that it would be someone who fell into the age gap, though it would be a little awkward if it was someone older than him but in a lower grade.
He focused on practicing a dance cover that he was getting ready to film for the trainee promotions, and didn't think about the rest of it that much.
Song Meri
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Mar 15, 2020 20:04:15 GMT -8
Meri was already nervous as he dropped his bag off in the empty dorm room, and even more nervous as he heard he'd be sent straight into a dance practice once he was ready. He changed into sweats and a sweater, something much more comfortable than his skinny jeans and t-shirt. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake, he had been wanting this for so long. But now so many thoughts were coming to him at once. Of the trainees in the training camp, had any of them left? He hadn't seen any news about it, so he presumed not, but then that meant there was that child prodigy, and others who were taller than him. Granted, from what he gathered, at least he wouldn't be the only awkward one, but that really wasn't much consolation, especially not when they decided the best way to welcome him was to plop into the dance studio to practice.
His mind was running away no matter how he tried to ignore it, and he was trying to figure out just how he got himself into this mess when they arrived at the dance studio and he saw the exact child prodigy he had admired - but also was very afraid of meeting - as the only one in the studio. He looked up to the staff worker, who waited patiently for Taijia's song to finish, before clearing her throat and doing a quick introduction between the two, hardly giving Meri time to give him a bow, before requesting Taijia help him practice dance and leaving. Meri felt stiff, wanting to ask the staff to stay there at least until the two of them got a little more familiar with each other. This was going to be a stressful day... He could only hope it didn't tear him apart.
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Mar 15, 2020 21:23:44 GMT -8
Tai was startled by the arrival of the trainee manager and the new trainee. He did his best to smile shyly and bobbed a bow, saying, "Nice to meet you Meri-sshi."
He looked up at the other boy, older and taller than him, but he was pretty sure closer in age and definitely closer in height than the hyungs. The trainee manager bustled away to deal with something after telling Tai to help Meri practice.
He stared down at his feet for a second trying to compose his thoughts, the finally, he asked, voice uncertain, "Do you want to warm up? And then we can practice something? Are there any dances you are working on right now?"
The request had been to practice with him, not to teach him, so Tai assumed that the other boy was at least a decent dancer, but he didn't know what to expect. He glanced up at the older boy a little bit shyly, not quite sure how to handle the situation, and wishing that the trainee manager had stuck around a little bit longer to actually give some guidance.
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Mar 23, 2020 21:39:55 GMT -8
Meri felt like he was visibly shaking, but he couldn't tell if that was true or just his mind's eye. He nodded quietly and did his warm ups, somewhat mechanically, as he'd watched a warm-up routine on YouTube a few times until he got the routine memorized and had been using the same routine since, just occasionally changing the counts so he didn't end up too used to it.
He realized Taijia asked him a question and said softly, ""I'm not particularly working on learning any dances at the moment but I like our sunbaes and Seventeen..."
He really didn't know what it meant to "practice" dance. Did they just... do a cover of some dance? He was good with that. Or practice dance moves in general? He watched the boy in front of him as he warmed up, trying to be subtle about it, but also trying to figure out what practicing choreography with this kid would be like. He finished warming up almost too soon, jumping back onto his feet. "Okay, all warmed up," he said, muttering under his breath, "I think."
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Mar 24, 2020 18:26:37 GMT -8
Tai thought over Seventeen choreography, trying to decide on a song to suggest. He veered away from his initial ideas, "Home" and "Don't Wanna Cry" were both hard for real, not just kpop dance hard. They were probably his favorite Seventeen dances, but even if the new trainee, Meri, didn't know them, or couldn't execute them well, didn't mean that he was a bad dancer. He didn't want to pick one of their actually pretty easy songs either, or anything too old, it took him a minute to think of something that he liked, but he pulled up the song as he said, "Do you know the choreography to 'Happy Ending'?"
He didn't hit play just yet, looking over at Meri to see what he thought. Tai added as he did, "I mostly just want to see you dance. I pretty much know all of the Seventeen choreo, and definitely know all of the Yuseong choreo, so anything works."
He watched Meri's warm up and nodded approvingly. It was on the shorter end, but it got the job done. He approved of the efficiency of it. He smiled a little, shyness evident on his face, and asked, "You ready?"
[[Happy Ending dance practice: youtu.be/CJZ8xUA2aYk ]]
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Apr 1, 2020 18:32:41 GMT -8
Meri was surprised when Taijia asked if he knew the choreography to Happy Ending. He nodded, he was so excited when he heard Seventeen was going to do a song in Japanese. And then (unsurprisingly), he loved the song when it came out. "Yeah, it's one of my favorite songs." He said honestly. He almost used it as one of his tracks for audition, but then decided it would probably be better to use a Korean track.
He got into position, taking a few deep breaths. The normalcy of practicing choreography for one of his favorite songs could triumph over his anxiety of everything being so new. Or so he hoped. "I'm ready." He said, hating that his voice cracked.
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on May 22, 2020 1:08:21 GMT -8
Tai was starting to realize that the new trainee was possibly even more nervous about this interaction than he was. That was... new. Tai wasn't really used to intimidating people. Or at least not for this reason. He gave Meri another little smile and the started the music with a delayed start that gave him enough time to scramble into place where he'd be able to watch Meri do the choreography while they danced together.
Tai didn't have to think about the choreography for the song terribly much. He'd done the dance enough times for it to be muscle memory basically. He instead focused most of his attention on Meri. Despite whatever was making Meri so antsy, he did seemed pleased to be dancing.
Tai just hoped that after dancing, Meri would feel a little bit more calm. Tai was relieved to have someone a little closer to him in age, and he hoped that maybe, eventually the two of them could be friends.
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Jun 16, 2020 10:26:08 GMT -8
Meri was able to relax a bit as they did the dance, glad to see despite his nerves, his muscle memory didn't forget the dance. He noticed Taijia was watching, which still made him nervous despite knowing the other boy was only watching him to gauge how he did. But that knowledge really didn't help to ease his nerves any.
As the song ended, he smiled at Taijia. "That was fun!" He said, hoping it sounded more chipper than nervous. The words were true, but with the anxiety on top of exercising, he was out of breath and his voice felt like it shook.
Though, for all that Taijia was clearly a child prodigy, Meri noticed he was still humble, and also seemed nervous. This was Meri's first time meeting someone that had fans (it was hard to believe that might be him soon), and he was relieved to see just how human Taijia was. Although he knew idols and trainees were average people, it was hard to remember considering how high a pedestal fans usually put them on. He hoped the others were just as... normal, though he hated to use that word.
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Jul 2, 2020 7:02:06 GMT -8
As they finished the dance, Tai nodded to Meri in the mirror. He said softly, with another shy little smile, "Good job."
He could tell that Meri was not as polished at some of the other dancers, but he was good, and could keep up. He told the other boy softly, "You're not going to have any trouble getting settled into the dancing. You're already a much more comfortable dancer than Seoji-hyung."
He didn't quite know what to do with himself though, stretching to keep from getting stiff. He figured that if the manager had actually wanted him to do a serious training session with the other boy, he would have been told to do so, but he hadn't and he'd been getting close to winding up for lunch himself. He figured that he should probably actually talk to his new training mate, start getting to know him. It would have been easier with the others there. He would have stuck close to Felix, who was better at being sociable, but sometimes needed his help with Korean, and let the two older boys drive the discussion with Meri.
Finally, he asked tentatively, "What grade are you in? Are you going to a nearby school?"
He figured it was a starting point, and realizing that he should probably tell Meri his own answer for context, "I go to Yeoeuido Middle School, just over on the other side of the park, and just started ninth grade."
He hoped that it wasn't going to be strange, that it wasn't the sort of situation where Meri was older than him but in a younger grade and that would make it weird.
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Jul 13, 2020 11:27:22 GMT -8
Meri smiled, and felt himself relaxing a bit for the first time since he stepped foot in the building. "Thanks." He stuttered a bit over his words before continuing, "do you really think so?" He was surprised to be considered more comfortable than someone who had been training since the camp.
He mimicked Taijia's stretches after they had finished dancing, and was trying to figure out a conversation topic when Taijia beat him to it. "Um... I'm in 9th grade, and my parents are working with the company on transferring me, but right now I go to Sungnae Middle School in Gangdong-gu." He said simply.
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Jul 18, 2020 13:39:59 GMT -8
Tai nodded when Meri asked if he really thought that Meri was a better dancer than Seoji-hyung, and said, "You clearly know where your limbs are all the time."
Tai was immediately relieved that he wasn't going to be in a higher grade than Meri, that would have been strange and awkward. He caught up with the idea that Meri was transferring schools, and realized that that would mean to the nearby middle school. He said, small slightly uncertain smile on his face, "We'll probably be classmates then. I'm in ninth grade at the nearby middle school, and I'm pretty sure that my class is the only one with extra seats right now."
He realized then that it might still be a little awkward to be in the same grade as Meri when he was about three years younger than his new groupmate, and hoped that it wouldn't be too strange. He added, hoping that it would be helpful, "The company approved of me being in the dance club at school, so that's been fun, if far easier than dance for training. It's been a way to get to know some classmates which makes it less awkward with people knowing who I am."
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Aug 2, 2020 22:02:10 GMT -8
Meri barked out a laugh at Tai's comment, but covered his mouth after doing so and felt bad for laughing. He decided against commenting more on the topic, deciding to take the compliment.
He blinked at Taijia as he mentioned they'd be classmates, "Oh..." He said, not sure which he was more surprised by, that Taijia was in 9th grade and so young, or that they'd probably end up in the same class. He was lost in thought at how to approach that question without coming off as rude when he realized Taijia was still talking. "Oh, that's cool. I didn't think we'd be allowed to join any clubs once we started training. But I guess it makes sense they okays dance club." He mused aloud. He considered perhaps trying to join the dance club as well once he transferred, but then realized that would mean he and Taijia would probably be around each other almost 24/7. It would probably be better to have that break from each other occasionally.
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Aug 2, 2020 22:47:22 GMT -8
Tai could see the uncertainty on Meri's face. It wasn't hard to read, and he suspected that he knew what had put it there. He looked down and away and said in a small voice, sounding more his age and less put together, "I, uh, hope it's not too weird being in the same grade. You should do dance club too if you're interested though. The people are nice."
He wasn't sure quite why he wanted to make sure that Meri didn't dislike him to start with so much. Maybe it was because he and Seoji were already a little awkward, and Meri was closer to him in age, and they'd likely end up doing everything together for quite a while. He wanted them to be comfortable together.
He glanced up at Meri hopefully, not quite sure what else to say right then and feeling like maybe he'd made it more awkward than it already was.
|
|
Idol Trainee/student - 12th: music specialty major.
Asexual/Biromantic.
single.
05/13/2005.
18.
Rooster (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Song Meri on Aug 24, 2020 18:39:23 GMT -8
Meri looked at Taijia with wide eyes as the boy suggested he also join dance club. Wouldn't they get tired of each other? They shared a band, a room, probably would share a class, and Taijia still wanted to suggest he join dance club? He looked back down at the ground, a small smile on his face, "Uh... Yeah, I'll think about it." If he joined the club, then they could go home together too. Which gave him mixed feelings because so far he liked Taijia, but was still intimidated by the kid and also had never spent that much time around someone. Even his baby sisters had their own room and spent a lot of time together rather than with him, which he liked because he enjoyed having private time. Adjusting to being in a dorm setting was going to be hard enough. He didn't want to one day accidentally snap at Taijia because they'd been around each other too much.
"Um... So are the classmates nice, then?" He asked, not wanting the conversation to end but not sure where to go topic-wise.
|
|
High Schooler (11th - composition) / Dreams Ent Trainee / Producer / Choreographer.
Unsure (not straight).
Single.
08/01/2008.
13.
Rat (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Taijia Lin on Aug 30, 2020 2:06:29 GMT -8
Tai looked away chewing on his lip a little bit. He was pretty sure that Meri was trying to avoid committing to joining dance club too with a response like that, and he worried that maybe he had made things worse or more awkward somehow. He glanced up quickly at Meri's question, and responded, voice small and a little shakier than he would have preferred, "They're OK, the ones who will talk to me at all, who are mostly the dance club girls."
He stared at his own feet. Until that moment, he hadn't really cared that much that most of his classmates liked to pretend he didn't exist. He wasn't in Korea to go to middle school, that was just something that had to happen as part of the process, and he was getting good grades. He realized that there was a chance that Meri would end up being weird or uncomfortable about Tai being the top of their presumably shared class. He didn't wish that he was still a grade lower, classwork was still easy enough that he was glad that he would graduate a year earlier than he would have otherwise, but he really didn't want it to make things strange with Meri. They'd be in each other's pockets for the next several years, and he really wanted to be friends with the other boy. He was pretty sure that he didn't entirely make friends with a peer though.
He glanced up at Meri, trying to read the other boy's expression, but that was not something that he'd ever been that good at. Meri seemed uncomfortable with something, and a big part of Tai just wanted to go hide and not be having emotions about this. He could hear his own breathing coming a little bit fast, and he tried to take carefully controlled breaths, and not let his hand shake, even though it felt like the inside of his brain was shaking, especially because he'd been told to basically lead a practice with no real structure and no real introduction to the other boy. He wanted Anya or Felix or Taehoon or even Seoji to be there to control the social aspect of this in a way that made sense.
|
|