In A Perfect World, It Would Have Just Been Lili And Minkyu. Just Them, No Need For Lili To Act Up For

satisfied with his answer, lili only beams in response. maybe she should call it luck that the cameras were rolling — getting an complimentary answer from minkyu as so has never been easier. 

“alright, alright, picasso. i can’t wait to see what you come up with.” she teases, eyes shining bright as she looks from the set of colors she had already swiped to her side to him. 

every now and then, her eyes briefly glance his way — a mirror of the image she was trying to transfer to the kite itself. unfortunately, lili was no artist — not in this way at least — but she makes the most of her materials and does her best to her strengths.

in the end, her kite looks more reminiscent of those old school shoujo mangas she and taeha used to pour over back in high school in between competitions; how she had remembered such a small detail is beyond her — but here it is, drawn in it’s full length: accented with big yellow stars and overly-drawn pink and blue flowers to surround the image of minkyu in the style of a shoujo protagonist from the 90’s. 

her ears perking when she hears his completion and she immediately snaps up the kite before his eyes could take in what she had made — smile already just that bit triumphant and overall pleased with what she had come up with.

“okay — i’m ready.” she takes a breath before initiating the countdown —

“one …. two …. three!” 

once sung, she spins her kite in time with his only to feel her lips crinkle in amusement; laughter already on the cusp of her tongue as she tries to choke out a — “is that supposed to be keroppi?? or is it kermit?” 

Off-camera, if this were truly Lili and Minkyu in their natural states, her comment about Hollywood actresses would be met with a snarky reply;

Minkyu would likely respond with something along the lines of how she’s pretty cute, but there’s no way she could compare to someone like Anne Hathaway.

This, of course, would all be in playful jest, never serious, always lighthearted. But the cameras are rolling, and while Minkyu always strives to present his most genuine self to the viewers and fans ( slash girlfriends ), he knows this moment calls for sweetness;

it's a moment meant to quicken Lili's heartbeat and those of the audience.

So he gives her a sweet smile, one that seems reserved solely for her, and gently lifts his free hand to fix a stray lock of her bangs. "You should already know you're much cuter than any Hollywood actress." he says, his voice soft and sincere.

Even as they sit down, his perpetual half-smile remains, his eyes scanning the array of tools before quickly picking up the right markers and pens to decorate the kite.

"You'll be surprised. I'm the modern Picasso!" he declares with a playful brow wiggle in her direction, almost charming, before his focus returns to the kite.

He's chosen the same colors as her favorite plushie, even attempting to draw a chibi version of it. Though it hasn’t turned out perfectly, it's recognizable enough.

After a few minutes, he looks back up, a grin on his lips as he hides the result of his craft with his arms. "Okay, let's show what we've created on the count of three!"

his absence doesn’t escape her notice — 

it wasn’t that she was used to him being early, rather she was used to him, well, being there. and the fact that he wasn’t, lili could not help the unease it brought her. teeth gnaw at her bottom lip, pencil scribbling away at nonsensical nothings did little to appease her, and now the anxiousness she felt had begun to swell from within. who else was she to launder her unending, and inconsequent, annoyances to but him — and especially now where the topic of the day was of a history that she had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. who had time for games when the game of life was already taking deep pleasure in fucking with her?

when he makes his timely entrance, she takes note of the on the dot punctuation with a purse of the lips and an amused lift of a brow. “as a matter of fact. you just made the top of the list,” teeth primly hidden behind a smirk as she taps the end of her pencil against his hand when noeul shifts her way. “did you oversleep?” her gaze roams from the reddening of his eyes to the curl of bedhead that had obviously been missed in his haste. 

chatterbox

It was rare when he showed up late on Saturdays, but today was one of those days where everything went wrong for him. From sleeping past three alarm clocks to not closing his water bottle and spilling the liquids in front of apartment door to not being able to catch the the bus.... That should have been the final straw for him. He should have went back to his bed, but instead, he bursts through the door a minute before the educational session starts. It all fell too familiar to him attending his college courses. Was he in limbo? Was he being tortured?

He settles next to Lili, slumping over the table and directly on top of his backpack, which he could use as a pillow. No. He forces himself to sit upright, lifting his hands to rub aggressively at his eyes with the back of his fingers. "What are we learning today? Did you start taking notes, hm?" He playfully leans closer, pulling at her notebook to peek at the page. "Is this your hit list, Lils?" He audibly whispers in English, lisp evident when he utters his nickname for her.

@lgclili

“it’s okay,” she pipes up, appearing as happy as one could be given the circumstances, “that’s what you have me for, right?”

they’re lines straight out of a drama. of the thousands she’s been fed over her teenage years, lili knows how to play the role: of some love-smitten girl, gently brushed by the fate of a first love. that’s what the producers want, right? an innocent love to be hailed and rallied for over the netizen forums — lili can only hope that the bite of minkyu’s fans isn’t too cruel once this episode airs.

the magic words leave his lips and for the first time that day, lili’s smile turns genuine — for the one thing to truly brighten her day would be those four words. lili was far from a simple girl — but the moment those words reach her ears, she can feel the tips of them burn red, suddenly flustered, as if not expecting them.

( because, really, they were far from what she thought she’d be hearing that day )

“save the flattery for later, romeo. i haven’t gotten you down the hill yet.” she laughs, beaming when her helmet gets fitted snugly beneath her chin. 

they pass the first hurdle — safely getting onto the chair lift — with flying colors. 

if lili was honest, she had been nervous, and lili was seldom nervous. but she had been, for this : having seen others fail getting on the chair lift catastrophically over the years, she had prayed that today would not end up like so and thankfully her worries went unanswered.

now seated, sailing in the air on the lift — feet dangling from several feet above the ground — she felt a weight was lifted. that was possibly the hardest part of the mountain, in her opinion. learning and teaching couldn’t be so bad in comparison, at least that is what lili thinks. 

“you’re not afraid of heights, are you?”  her hand, gently grasped in his, gives it a light squeeze as she points to the the tiny slope they were nearing, “our stop is almost here!” 

Oh. Oh.

He can already hear it — the soft, romantic music the production team will overlay the moment this scene airs. The moment she pulls him back, the moment their eyes meet as she carefully places the helmet on his head; it’s straight out of a romance anime, he’s sure of it.

He barely registers the soft click of the security snap before he realizes he’s been holding his breath. His lips part, and there’s a flicker of bashfulness in his smile. “Ah, thank you. I guess it’s pretty obvious I’ve never skied before.”

His laugh is as soft as his smile, warm despite the cold. And then, before he can think too hard about it, he reaches for her helmet in return. His fingers graze her jaw as he secures the straps beneath her chin, and his touch lingers for just a second longer than necessary.

“You look really pretty, by the way.” The words leave him easily, without hesitation, entirely sincere when he brushes a strand gently out of her face. He grins then, eyes crinkling at the corners, and reaches up to gently push her goggles to rest on top of her helmet before doing the same with his own.

“We’re ready now, right?” This time, when he extends his hand toward her, he doesn’t just offer it — he takes hers, his gloved fingers wrapping around her own with quiet confidence. “Let's go, let's go! I need to see the ski princess in action.”

BY GOOD WILL OR GOOD LUCK? is this lili being nice or is it just luck? — @lgckyoka

one would think — if you’ve been through one thing, something similar to it would be a breeze?

well, to lili, she’d say you were dead wrong. 

( because no two things could be the same, there was always something different )

thankfully, this was not one of those times — these were one of the times she’s able to bless her lucky stars for being so god-damned, four-leaf clover lucky. but perhaps luck had nothing to do with it — because, again, if you’ve been through one thing, you’ve been through it all. 

and since lili had painstakingly gone through grueling work to learn japanese just for some mock hosting gig that never saw the light of day — to do it again, but in korean — a language she would say she was a little more than familiar with, well — lili would tell you she just won the lottery.

that is how lucky she thinks such a task is.

a breeze, it would be — despite her initial belief ( read above ) — because wasn’t hosting all about self confidence? and apparently, lili had that in spades.

and by her good fortune — maybe she was feeling nice or maybe she felt bad for kyoka — she saddles up next to the other after an afternoon lesson, glancing over at the other’s notes before pointing at a phrase she notices with her sparkly pink pen. 

“is this what you wrote for the exercise earlier? the one about improvising a music show scene?”

rua is so sweet, offering solutions to problems lili was probably making bigger than they actually were. it’s to a point that lili felt the need to further whine, arms winding around the other, almost leaning on her, as she groans — the workshop had been fun but the evaluation was truly going to be the death to her and her creativity (and she severely lacked in that department), “ughhhhhh, why can’t we just go on shows together — i wish this evaluation was a paired thing, at least, if you were by my side i wouldn’t feel as weird about making a fool of myself.”

and it was the truth.

looking dumb by herself was one thing — but doing it together, at least it shaved off some of the embarrassment.

then she pauses, pulling back to give rua a look. “please tell me you are not seriously thinking of stuffing your mouth full of marshmallows on national television as a form of entertainment.” she frowns, shaking her head, rua was much too good for this industry. “if i can be cool, you can be cool too.” 

rua had a point, she could just be super competitive and witty and cool in that way but did lili want her public persona to be that of a cool girl? hadn’t she wanted to be someone so far off from her regular persona a la double life? 

་ ⸼ ⸒ ✴ previously、

rua pauses drinking the water and blinks at lili's words for a moment before slowly nodding. "i think, anyways...?" she caps her bottle and places it next to her before thinking. "astrid sunbae seemed to think me being able to fit a lot of big marshmallows in my mouth was a good talent but i have a hard time calling it a special skill, you know?" it felt a bit silly to, honestly, but she supposes that is probably expected when it comes to variety shows. "i might just go with that," she shrugs, still a bit unsure herself. at the same time, it's not like she had many other potential skills she could use that would also be possibly entertaining.

"i guess anything can be turned into a special skill or talent, in a way," rua says after hearing lili's concerns and mulling them over, trying to recall what she had learned from the workshop and how you can find surprise so-called 'talents' from the most minor and random things. "like how did me being bored one day and deciding to try stuffing my mouth with marshmallows after seeing the chubby bunny challenge becoming a trend become something i could use for a variety show?" rua laughs because she never would've guessed that random moment would come in handy at a time like this.

an idea suddenly hits her at that moment though and she sits up straighter like something had physically struck her. "oh! but you're a good dancer right? that could be your talent too! it doesn't always have to be something funny... you could just be cool, too?"

it's then that she remembers something else from the workshops and decides to bring it up just in case it might help the other. "you could also just go the route of being witty and clever, and bantering with the cast and other guests on a show, instead of just focusing on a specific skill to show off... or maybe just being super competitive if its a show or segment with missions and games," rua suggests as she mentally goes down the list of shows she's watched in the past and what she's fund personally entertaining while watching them.

@LGCENT just posted a photo!

they say that for every cherry blossom petal that you catch in your hand, you get a wish. were you able to make any wishes? i know what i would wish for 💝

#lgctrainees #lgcent #xulili

໒꒱ . TRAINEE MISSION # 15 、

round and round it goes.

where it stops — no one knows. 

she pulls the string once more, ricocheting the top into the floor. the clatter it makes as it hits the ground does not strip her from her reverie, irises hypnotized by the spin and pull of the game. finally a game that she had a knack at — that didn’t require her to think or to do or to ace at the first go. all it took was a pull of the twine and the top would fall apart from her fingertips. ready to split the ground beneath it as it run amok around them. 

and run it does, running in circles from point a to point z. never in the same place, its center of gravity teetering fast until it tilts a little too far on one side, collapsing upon itself as it topples. a pause in the game as she snatches it up to start all over again. 

again, it’ll spin round and round.

where it stops — her eyes will go.

follow it until the end, like an expectant child would to a mother.

or like what she believes an expectant child would do in the presence of one it fawned over. lili would no know better. like the top, she finds herself spinning and spinning — fast and furious through the lanes of people, around people, through people, continuing on until her own center of gravity tilts — and she stops, 

all to begin again.

because like a top, lili finds herself adjusting — forcing herself to acclimate to places unfamiliar, submerging head first into a game she doesn’t know, but must learn in order to survive. 

like a top, she’ll spin — spin and spin because she’s at the mercy of someone else.

the top pivots at the will of her pull, like she bends for the validation of others. begging for acceptance, vying for a win amongst the multitude of losses just stacked against her. 

fingers pull at the string once more.

and again, she’ll spin — spin, spin.

round and round, it goes.

where she’ll stop? no one knows. 

PIECE OF ME     ୨୧     @lgcminnie     /     “miiiiiiiiinnie,” lili practically whines as she’s pouring over the karaoke book; the song she had wanted to sing after her grand slam of a performance of wicked’s defying gravity was no where to be found. it had torn her hopes of one-upping such a performance that lili wanted a little pick-me-up. and what better than to be the nosy little bee that she was known and hated loved for. “did you pick a song yet? i can’t find the one i wanted to sing.” 

honestly, it was probably in a different book. 

taking a sip of her drink, lili glances around the room — taking in the sights, the stares, and the oh la la : did her eyes deceive her or did someone just get chocolates a day late? very interesting.

“did you see that! i think he just handed her some chocolates,” lili whispers behind a not so subtle hand, dropping it almost immediately when the scene disperses before it can really lead to well, anything — how disappointing. “well, that was a bust. oh right, how was white day for you? did you get any chocolates? someone gave me matcha ones that tasted like grass.” it was gross and yet, out of the kindness of her heart, lili regifted it to the janitor this morning.

it’s an act, she tells herself.

it’s all an act and all the world’s a stage — lili knows this.

it’s easier to remember when she knows minkyu is doing it on purpose because as much as she knows him, he knows her all too well and it would be a little too easy to reveal her cracked charade to the nation.

“let’s hope you’ll say the same after the lesson.”

her smile stays soft — the grind in her teeth hidden behind a gentle curve of fulls lips and a flutter of eyelashes, a bat here; another there. the picture of enthrallment, as if minkyu’s charm had truly had her smitten until her insides fluttered — or churned, whatever best describes the millisecond of queasiness she feels as he finishes off her laces. 

( is this how it felt to be the eye of someone’s unparalleled attention? )

“hold on, minkyu-ssi!” she laughs, the fingers that had slyly wrapped his pull him back; reaching for the helmets they had left by their feet at the bench — “don’t forget your helmet,” by first instinct, lili would have held the helmet to minkyu for him to take — but through helpful pressured guidance of the cameras all around him, she, instead, steps towards him and carefully places the helmet on his head; toying with the straps to secure it firmly beneath his chin, “let’s not get hurt today, okay?”

Oh, he knows. He knows all too well that Lili is quietly fuming over his decision to choose skiing. He knows her well enough to be certain that, under normal circumstances, she would be scolding him right now, perhaps even nagging just a little.

But that’s precisely what makes this so amusing. Watching her tuck away that sharp tongue of hers, replacing it with the angelic, patient, and ever-so-loving demeanor she wants the cameras to capture; it’s a performance in itself. A carefully crafted image, all in favor of being adored by viewers.

“I am in luck indeed,” he finally responds when she mentions that she knows how to ski. His eyes crinkle at the corners, and he grins up at her with a sweetness so genuine it could melt the iciest of hearts. That look; the one he knows makes fans weak, the one he always has when he’s with those he cherishes. Complete attention, unwavering devotion, as if nothing else in the world exists but the person in front of him.

In this moment, the cameras fade into the background. His focus is solely on easing Lili into her ski boots, hands grazing her legs only when necessary, careful and respectful, like the kind gentleman he is. “I couldn’t imagine a better teacher than you.”

This may be a show, but to Minkyu, it’s something more. It’s a challenge they set for each other: a playful game of who could outdo the other in delivering the most heart-fluttering, drama-worthy moments. Yet, as the minutes pass, he finds himself forgetting the game entirely, instead surrendering to his natural instinct to romanticize every fleeting moment.

He doesn’t miss the subtle squeeze on his shoulder. If anything, it makes his smile soften, a flicker of something almost bashful in his expression.

Shifting to sit beside her, he quickly secures his own boots, giving them a firm pat before meeting her gaze again. “I’m all good, thank you.” And then, he rises, extending his hand to her, fingers curling just slightly in invitation.

“Shall we?” He nods toward the slope. “I can’t wait to see the skiing princess in action with my very own eyes.”

lili could only agree. animal crossing had always been advertised as an easy going slice of life type of game — no hard level, no cheat codes — that is until the new game on the switch had completely changed up the way they played and instead of being a mayor or a random villager of some honky-tonk town, you were now stranded on a base island with all the workings to make it your own. it had taken lili a long week to fully understand the mechanics but after that, everything was like clockwork — so, in kind, she could see where hyuk’s wariness of the game came from.

though, it did not stop her from wanting to push him into a pitfall. 

glancing at the screen, lili counts the branches that have fallen out of hyuk’s pockets and frowns, there was enough … but she was tempted to see him get stung by bees. it was all in the name of entertainment, anyways! hyuk would surely understand, right?

right!

“mm, i think we should try a couple more trees. maybe we can get some more coins.” she supplies, in what is a helpful tone, trying to disguise her need for amusement with a considerate grace.

“i think it looks easier than i thought”, hyuk found himself saying, slowly his suspicious aura fading, giving place to a more comfortable and trustworthy person; he could admit it was hard for him to open up immediately to people, especially when he was playing an important role, as a trainee contracted to work for an important brand. “i guess it helps when the joystick fits this good in my hands, don’t you agree?”

he didn’t really remember the last time he played games in a videogame, his parents ensured he could have everything he wanted, but he never thought about that, not when they all looked so expensive. so hyuk played the part of pretending he knew what he was doing and absorbed what people around him did, so he could still be a part of the cool kids gang.

“a stone for an axe? axes look important, maybe we should try to find it then.” he replied, scavenging his pockets, emptying them to show it to lili’s character. “this is what i have, do you think it’s enough for a net or should i shake more trees?”