໒꒱ . WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITY # 002 _ IDOL JAPANESE: THE EVALUATION 、 Aka “LILI, CAN YOU TEACH

HOW TO SAY I’M BORED BUT LIKE REALLY, REALLY BORED? lili knows english but apparently not the english that matters — @lgcasami

strangely enough, despite living in america — namely the palm-tree lined yards of bel air — for nine years, lili still considers english her second language; even if she confuses her mandarin more than her los angeles-accented english, she stills tells herself that she’s far more fluent in her mother-tongue than any other language she learns after the fact. and perhaps that is why she’s now stuck here, in english class, relearning grammar structures and how english really makes no fucking sense but here they are — still learning it for the sake of western advancement.

( a part of her wonders why she didn’t just take japanese lessons again, at least she’d be learning something worth her while )

it is with these thoughts that she looks to asami. good ol’ asami, always there to take her mind of the boring present and the relentlessly annoying english grammar system that makes no sense whatsoever. “so, did you learn anything new today?” she asks, actually curious if anyone else had listened to the lesson and had not dazed off like she had. “or are you regretting taking english and wished you took korean instead?”

“yes, c’mon — a, press a!” lili urges. yet, at his reluctance, she can only playfully roll her eyes, “alright, i’ll show you how it’s done.”

it was a gamble, doing so, having her character run across the screen towards one of the other trees — she presses the ‘a’ button, showing her character shake the tree in succession only for a green leaf to slowly drift to the ground. “see! you get cool rewards if you shake the trees.” pocketing the item, she uses the joycon to drag her character back down the screen.

returning back to where his character was standing, lili once again suggests for him to try it. “since i got a leaf — it’s probably some type of furniture. if you shake it, we’ll probably get some money!” 

it would be even better if it wasn’t money, but this lili neglects to say.

it was really a miracle that he got a contract since he pretty much didn’t know anything about those games he had been playing during the halloween party. Still, he played his part well, which led hyuk to that exact moment, when he was paired up with lili to play games and have the most fun of it.

looking to the side whenever she laughed at his ridiculous attempt to make his character go from one side to the other onscreen, hyuk went from his grumpy mode (because he hated losing to anything), to kind of chill, taking that opportunity to bond more with people and make the brand more interested on him. “press a, you said?”, he looked to the side, offering her a friendly smile, but trying to find any deceit in her eyes, “you press it first so i know you’re not trying to kill my kid out there!”

shen xiaoting

his reaction is one that she does not expect. her eyes slow to the sigh that she pulls from him — a raised brow in expectance to an explanation she knows she’ll never get — nor does she really deserve, they weren’t friends. at least not in that way.

mere acquaintances, really, if lili were to categorize hyunsoo as anything other than some boy she liked to annoy. ( with a list that seemed to grow longer and longer by the day as she learned of new things to prick into his side like some voodoo doll ) 

“why — mama’s boy isn’t fighting with his — oh, wait — are you guys really?” she wants to laugh — but the hilarity of the situation has since left her the moment his mother had decided that a text or two would do her no good and had gone as far as calling her grandmother and inviting lili for lunch with the motive of baiting her. 

now that was never funny, lili liked to play games — but not when they were played without her consent. 

“i would but now, i’m interested.” she says, though, instead of turning off her phone, she moves to block his mother’s number — hoping at least this could be the end of this thread — then thinks against it, letting the phone screen fade to black without another click.

Lili's presence brings out a certain side of Hyunsoo — one not quite seen by his casual friends and coworkers. It is a special sort of relationship the two of them have; if one could even call it that. The woman had a way about her that he could only see during the get togethers and fleeting moments within the luxurious circles he wished he could leave behind. Lili serves as a reminder that he would be unable to stray too far from his roots.

"I don't know what you are referring to..." The statement is as plain as his tone, the tail end muffled as he takes another sip. His eyes follow hers as they flicker here and there. He even turns his head back to the coffee truck just in time to see one of the baristas ducking to pretend she's been busy at work. He forgoes waving for an amused chuckle.

By the time he returns his attention to Lili, a phone screen is presented in his direction with a barrage of texts from his recently estranged mother. "Or who you are refe—"

A heavy sigh falls from his lips. "I am not reading that," his fingers grip his straw, tempted to run it through again out of sheer irritation; he folds it instead. "Can you not tell her that I am too busy to contact her now? Or... ignore her. You are not responsible for me, nor her middle man."

a complaint is already halfway up her throat, almost to her lips, when she bites it down. the warmth a very necessary welcome to limbs that were nearly tinted blue from the cold. 

does lili say her thanks — no, instead she smiles and says, “but this coat doesn’t match my dress.” all while buttoning the coat up and swallowing herself into its warmth. admitting defeat in the most quietest of ways.

it was parker, she thought waving a white flag this once in his presence would be fine.

her first white flag of the year — who knew it would happen this soon.

she muddles over the information parker passes over, almost whining as he skips over the best parts — “okay, but what about the dirty stuff, they sound nice and all but they have to have some cons, right?” 

and it wasn’t lili if she didn’t have a good pro and con for everyone she met. like for parker — pro: he was kind, con: he was so kind he was a bit naggy in a do what i say or it will break my heart kinda way and lili didn’t like to make a habit of letting people down like that.

least of all the people she thought of as hers.

Parker plays up the pain of Lili’s kick with a hop away and a small hiss, though barely any pain registered. He had certainly been kicked harder by his real sisters, but even as he had somehow become the older brother of some, especially the group he was meeting up with for Lunar New Year, he couldn’t pretend to be completely mature.

 “It’s the girl who’s going to be sick the rest of the break,” he comments with a roll of his eyes. He is already shrugging off his coat and forcing it over Lili’s shoulders with the roughness of someone who already knows they’re going to be refused but has no intention of taking their coat back. A bit of his red button-down can be seen between his scarf and the thick half-zip he had on under his coat; it’s warm enough for this distance to the restaurant, though he is not thinking about how he’s getting home yet. Maybe a drink or two will help. “They’ll like you just fine as long as you’re not sick over dinner.” 

He tips his head to indicate she should follow him but in truly Lili fashion she’s already pulling him along. “You really don’t need to impress them too much; they’re trainees like you are— or well… one of them is.” It’s been so long since he’s talked to Yuxi that sometimes he forgets she more than six months prior. “Yichen is really nice, and Yuxi…” he faulters in his steps to think of the best way to describe the other girl. “Honestly, I think you’ll like her. She’s a wannabe cool girl like you.” 

There really aren't very many people around the point they meet up, but the closer they get to Daerim-dong, the more people seem to pop up. While a good deal of the Korean residents are with their families, the official Chinatown shows more life with red and gold decorations.

lili laughs, a breath pushed forcibly as she straightens up from her end pose. “you’re much too kind, and you’re probably lying but i’ll take it.”

reaching for her towel, she pats along her forehead before letting it drop to the rest of her belongings. “maybe — maybe a partner would be better.” she sighs, still uncertain with the compromise, finally coming back to sit beside rua.

“you literally read my mind,” lili admits, like a breath of relief to finally be speaking her mind to someone who wasn’t all gung-ho about their current predicament. the others couldn’t wait to express themselves creatively, and yet, all lili felt was exhaustion. “like who am i kidding, i think — i’m just not meant to be choreographing”

it wasn’t to say lili wasn’t creative — no, she could be if she put half the mind into it.

but to be frank, even lili couldn’t fake putting her heart into something that she didn’t really care for — and maybe that was why everything was feeling so wrong. her passion was misplaced, it had only taken now to realize that no matter the excuse she put up — it would always feel wrong because lili wasn’t someone who planned and created, at least not in the form she was in now, no — she was the executioner. 

she was the model to the artist, she would breathe life into the idea — not have the idea, itself. 

( at least, in lili’s not-so-humble opinion )

 “how is your stuff coming along?”

་ ⸼ ⸒ ✴ previously、

as long as lili isn't expecting well, concrete and actually helpful advice, rua is happy to watch whatever the other has come up with so far. even if she didn't know much about techniques and styles and all that, she can at least tell if something is pleasing and nice to watch.

when the song starts playing, rua can already picture the kind of dance that's likely to follow. it screams contemporary (she at least knows that much) but the thing about this genre of dance is that, it's very... free and there's not exactly rules or structure to follow or adhere to, or else it wouldn't be considered that style anymore. to her, one of the defining features of this kind of dance is a flowy-kind of feeling, with some powerful moves when the song hits certain notes or peaks - and that's more or less what she sees when lili starts demonstrating what she's put together so far.

part of her is in awe though, that the other had already come up with this much and although lili calls the movements stiff, rua doesn't think she's giving herself enough credit. "i don't think it looks silly," she says with a light laugh. "it's much better than anything i could've came up with honestly." although that isn't saying much, considering her absolute lack of knowledge and ability to choreograph but that's not the focus here!

"maybe you just need to get used to the movements more?" she suggests, wondering if the 'stiff' feeling lili speaks of is because the dance doesn't feel natural to her yet. "i've barely done any dance like this so i think i'd feel really out of place if i tried to suddenly." but she's not sure if that's really the source of the problem, her just guessing, or a personal issue. "or maybe the moves are meant to be done with a partner?"

other than a keratin treatment, lili would be aghast to have a lick of bleach touch her virgin hair. her fingers reach for her unsplit ends with a testing eye before flicking the hair over her shoulder, “i would,” kyoka was right, lili would look good in pink — as she looks good in anything — her ego was showing. “but i’d rather not, i love being brunette.” 

it would probably lili’s only boring flaw — the fact that she had never wanted nor ever would want to dye her hair another color. 

“people can be such antis,” and in their line of work there were many of those. not that lili was a good person, herself, but she was far from a 일진 of the likes that were constantly getting thrown around in media these days. “try not to hang around those bad apples, okay?” 

her chopsticks tap her silver tray, glancing at what she had leftover on it ; "do you want my potatoes?"

She tucks a strand of her hair behind at the unexpected compliment. "If I have the money one day," Kyoka solemnly begins, "I want to dye my hair pink and green, like a strawberry." And then she promptly hides her face behind her hands at that declaration, mumbling something about pineapples again. Once she's recovered from her own words, Kyoka adds, "But I bet you'd look super super pretty in pink too!"

Nodding along to Lili's words, Kyoka takes the time to finish off the rest of her plate. "One person in your school who hates you and-" she collides her fists together into an explosion to illustrate her point.

"Yup! Everyone had stage names too, so that technically our real identities are private." She shrugs. "But the entrance exams are all posted anyways and people can guess age orders based off stories so it's not that helpful." Besides, all the academy girls knew each other, so really, everything was an open secret.

@LGCENT just posted a photo!

i'll be your chocolate, if you'll be my valentine?

#lgctrainees #lgcent #xulili

super late plot call for the trainee mission ! if anyone still needs a prep & activities thread, lili is free to take up a couple ! please like or reply and i’ll hop into your messages ♡

“you flatter me. it’s hardly professional,” the pristine bow says otherwise but the words are almost automatic — a false sense of humility that never really suited lili falls from her lips and even though she, emi and the world probably know she’s the furthest thing from humble, lili relishes in the compliment. “just a little extra, sure, but it’s christmas. and i’m kind of in a giving mood.”

and lili leaves the reasoning at that.

once she’s secured the ribbon to the box, she makes quick work on pulling the bow into it’s shape and finishing it by curling its ends for the final spiral. “and it’s done!” probably her best accomplishment of the year, but who was really counting.

placing the gift with the rest, she looks to emi and at her own array of dressed up gifts and smiles, “and you were saying i was professional — yours are exactly like the ones i pick up at the department stores for the holidays all crisp corners and all.” the kids probably wouldn't care for the effort — already imagining them ripping the pretty wrapping to shreds — but lili had always appreciated anything pretty, especially when they were gifts.

something about christmas was frankly, just magical. the whole holiday season somehow made her feel better-- despite the chilling cold that seeped into the bones, and the sometimes loneliness that came with not getting to spend it back home, depending on funds and how busy they were. this though, this seemed to re-ignite her spirit just a bit. it was nice, getting to get together and make things look pretty-- now that she was good at.

she's just adjusting some frills of her own when lili gets her attention, dark eyes looking over and meeting her eyes, before they're casting down to see her tiny dilemma. she offers a chuckle, nodding as she's leaning to offer her finger, holding the piece in place. "wow, this looks really good. you must have spend a while on it. i like doing this, but that looks professional!"she comments.