୨୧     W     :     FINDING YOUR INNER VARIETY STAR   _   2

୨୧ .  莉莉 ✽ PLOT CALL _ q1.3

⤷  SIDE EVENT 023 / LOVE MONTH 2025

if any trainee is free for a side event thread! lili will be singing a song from wicked but she still hasn't decided what yet

lili doesn't know what chocoset to choose, so she's taking opinions! why are you choosing this chocoset and what sets it apart from the others?

lili is a gossipy little bee and wants to know your love plans for valentine's, did you give chocolates? did you receive chocolates? she wants to know arrrrrrrrrrrrllll

⤷ WRITING CHALLENGE 005

i still would like to write more for lili, i don't mind writing short threads just to get her more connections / plots if anyone is free or is interested in the below!

our muses are at a local BBQ  &  your muse accidentally trips and knocks lili's plate on the ground  /  spills wine (soda, water, etc)  on lili ( ofc lili is livid because this was rtw susan fang! )

your muse found a pet and asks lili if its her to which she responds "ew, fur is so 2000s" but begrudgingly ( from the goodness of her heart ) helps you find the owner of this lost pet; includes lili grimacing at the pup slobbering all over lili

because of valentine's month, lili offers to style ( and foot the bill ) for your big date, will you be thankful or regret her harsh critique?

also more random things include:

catching lili leaving the dorm in her face mask because she thinks no one will recognize her and her gorgeousness as she picks up a sweet treat at a convenience store

practice room confessions

lili getting impatient that you're hogging the practice time longer than the allotted time given and she wants you out !!!

the date lottery is far from lili’s reality — if anything, it’s her very own acting reel that she needs to polish up. and lili ain’t no actor — but what she is is competitive. so, she plays the show like how she plays her most precious, most interesting of games.

the more she can make the viewers believe that she’s falling for minkyu and his charistmatic charms — and vice versa — the more rewards she hopes to reap. ( whatever rewards may that be —  it keeps things interesting ) at any rate — from the subtle twinkle she spies in minkyu’s gaze; an unspoken agreement seems to form extended from their previous verbal wager — at least they’re on the same page.

“you’ve never skiied before?” the declaration would have otherwise bothered lili — why else would we be at the slopes if you don’t know how to ski? but she remains patient, calming that irritating little devil in her in favor for the calm and tranquil persona she was trying to portray; her brows furrow in a gentle confusion before her lips form a precious smile, almost amused at the thought.

“well, you’re in luck. my grandma has brought me to the slopes almost every winter without fail,” her grandmother had brought her once and left her to fend for herself with strict russian instructors. “so you could say i got a lifetime of snowledge.” kill her — kill her now. her smile brightening despite the cringy dialogue, trying not to laugh at her own demise as she looks to minkyu.

“i’ve been told i’m a good teacher, too.”

no one has ever — on this earth — told her such a thing.

her surprise is paused — a slow lift of the brow as she watches minkyu descend upon one knee. “thank you.” settling onto the seat, she quickly undoing her moon boots in favor of the ski boots that minkyu helps her into. a hand reaches out gently to hold his shoulder to still her movements as she digs her feet, one after the other, into each boot; making sure they’re properly in and not loose. leaning close to inspect her shoes, she turns her chin to look at minkyu, the hand at his shoulder squeezes it lightly, in kind, as her smile is practically beaming. “they fit perfectly, shall i help you with yours?”

From the very beginning of their fake dating experience, one thing Minkyu has been consistently grateful for how effortlessly Lili aligns with his vision of what to portray: the perfect blend of sweet, romantic gestures designed to set hearts fluttering, both among the fans and the ever-adoring staff.

“Well, well,” he muses, a playful lilt in his voice as he sweeps a hand through the crisp winter air, guiding her past the entrance gate toward the ski rental. “You and I, my dearest Lili, are about to embark on our very own ski adventure, from way up there,” he points toward the towering peak of the slope, “all the way back down here.” The distant echoes of laughter and excited chatter from other skiers weave into the moment, painting a picture of a perfect winter wonderland.

He exhales, a chuckle escaping as he admits, “I have to be honest... coming from Busan, where the sun is king, I’ve never actually been skiing before.” His confession is lighthearted, almost sheepish, as they step into the rental shop, where an employee has conveniently already prepared skis in their sizes.

But rather than simply handing Lili her pair, Minkyu’s expression softens. With an easy grace, he gestures for her to take a seat on the wooden bench before lowering himself onto one knee. His usual bravado gives way to something gentler; his voice quieter now, almost intimate.

“Let me help you put them on.” he says, fingertips brushing against the bindings with care. Because even if this is all for show, he’s determined to make it feel real.

lili speaks with an ease of someone who didn’t care of the eyes on her — then again, when had people looking at her ever mattered?

in fact, for lili, it was always the more — the merrier. 

she basked in the idea of eyes on her, whether or not, it was deserved. lili was vain, ambitious and had the cut-shit guts to get what she wanted— this she knew. and it was this same thirst and vanity that she saw in spades in jieun — maybe that was why it bit into the very envious tremble that she kept at bay beneath her smile. 

“oh but of course — we all know how some actress can be so, so high and mighty. primadonnas.” the words dance along a line of dismissiveness but her smile speaks otherwise, directed to jieun in a way only lili knew the other would recognize. like a snake as it slithered up to your throat, coiling tight in between words that could have been passed off as nothing. 

( except coming from lili — it was never really nothing ) 

“you guys have that saying right — the more a diva fusses, the more they try to compensate for their … shortcomings, is it?” she feigns the slightest uncertainty — as if her lack of korean fluency would tangle her words. “but you don’t have that problem, though — you’re always so well taken care of.” 

old vices are hard to relinquish, even when she has become a better person and is on her best behavior on the set. it's that same space that makes her wary of the friendly grins that would easily pull the rug out from under her.

it doesn't help she is there too, in a habitat that jieun judged natural only to her and her fellow actors, staff and production team, mingling around the people she tried so hard to impress and to make see her in a good light. especially now.

so even if the conversation a few steps from her is irrelevant and she's busy reading the script by herself as she waits for the next scene, jieun is somewhat alert. enough for the scoffs and good samaritan masquerade not to go unnoticed, but she doesn't look up to check who they are talking about. she doesn't even need to, because it only takes a couple of seconds for one of the managers to kindly offer her a cup of iced coffee.

"oh? you're a lifesaver! thank you manager-nim," she smiles genuinely as she takes the coffee and the man runs somewhere else, probably after another actor he had to take care of ( he wasn't even her manager ). the actress turns to face lili and flashes a smile at the girl, sipping her drink.

the subtle implications that jieun is making his life hard or abusing her power hit a nerve — not that it was hard to rub her the wrong way. jieun was guilty of many sins, but she never mistreated her staff or co-stars as her work and everyone in it were important to her. but, right now, she can only swallow her annoyance and do what she does best: acting.

"oh yeah, he is always in a hurry but is very attentive... it's not easy to look after so many of us," she points out with a grin, keeping it safe in case anyone eavesdrops. "it's a relief to know there are so many people looking after them too. you know how rude some celebrities can be..."

appalling.

lili could only look even more worse for wear as jiah remarks on these pink gloves that lili does not even remember being offered to her — she feels her jaw go slack. “and you didn’t think to even offer me a pair? you traitor.” she wrinkles her nose, using the water from the faucet to flick some drops onto her roommate from the side before finally turning off the faucet. grabbing one of the spare kitchen towels, she dries her hands before turning to the other with another look of disbelief.

“don’t even joke — if you come into our room smelling like garlic, you’re going to sleep on the couch.” her hip bumps into the other’s before turning to glance at one of the older ladies who had accompanied them into the kitchen, turning to jiah when the woman begins to dictate to them about the meal plans. and while lili prided herself when it came to learning korean in such a short span of time — the woman’s accent was definitely interfering with lili’s comprehension. 

“what did she say?” lili asks when the older woman finally leaves them, again. 

Jiah is having a blast. It feels refreshing to go to the countryside and be surrounded by nothingness and the elderly who seem to like her well enough despite just meeting her for the first time. It's just like when Jiah and Jino visited their grandparents, and the neighborhood association doted on them for being one of the few young people around there. She feels at home.

The same can't be said about Lili, whom Jiah likes dearly, but also thinks it's so entertaining how she isn't fit for the environment they are in. Of course, one can learn to adapt, but they'll be around only for three days, and Lili doesn't look like someone who's enjoying themselves. It's a shame, but it's also kind of funny. Jiah doesn't even have the good sense to hide her smile when Lili addresses her. She just raises an eyebrow at her friend and checks her hands for any signs of dirt. "I used the gloves they had available, Lils. You know, the bright pink ones. How did you miss that, love?" To Lili's credit, being in a big group and having cameras on them doesn't make this any easier. Jiah was lucky that one of the ladies they were working with liked her enough to remind her to put the gloves on.

"I seriously hope I don't because the food would taste awful, but if they ask me to, I will have to, no? I mean, it could be fun. I could smell like garlic for the next two weeks. Who knows?"

“oh, thank god.” she says under her breath at the sight of minkyu. relief floods her senses while a smile breaks onto her face; if there was ever a time for lili to be thankful — maybe it would be now. 

finding out it was minkyu who had been selected as her secret date for the afternoon was a blessing in disguise. lili wouldn’t say she was an introverted personality, however, she is someone who did not take kindly to strangers well. something about her resting bitch face and her overly prickly personality seemed to deter people and lili could never quite understand it. 

( couldn’t or wouldn’t — )

she is, nonetheless, at a loss for words as he comes her way. her finger immediately going to the kuromi plushie with a tease on her tongue and a smile already riding her lips — the nerves she had felt just minutes prior already a thing of the past. the cameras a figment of her imagination as she stops in front of minkyu with a laugh. “what — no way, i should have known this was yours! if i knew i would have chosen my melody instead of this.” she takes the snake with a small shake, “did you guess it right, though? tell me, who did you think you were going to meet today? i’m all ears.” 

she had chosen the snake to represent her chinese zodiac, other than that she hadn’t really put too much thought into the secret item. 

“i’m so glad it’s you, though. i feel like i’ll have a fun time today.” which, honest to god, lili finds herself not lying about — if it had been anyone else, she wonders how much of herself she could show before finding herself retreating into the shell she knew others would gravitate towards. with minkyu, lili knew she didn’t need to try as hard. like she said: blessing in disguise.

"can you guess what we'll be doing today? hm, hm." if it wasn't already obvious with all the kites flying overhead.

Appearing on a dating show should, in theory, leave Minkyu feeling at least a tad jittery, perhaps a touch anxious. Yet, all he exudes is the confidence of a leading character in a romantic anime–it's like a dream come true for him to be at the heart of a romance-themed scenario, his favourite genre, even if the whole affair is staged and far from reality.

Undeterred, he's styled his hair into that signature side part and wears a boyish grin on his lips as he strides towards the designated spot, brightly coloured kites adorning the sky.

"I wonder what the date idea is," he muses aloud, mindful of the ongoing filming–after all, the viewers can't tune into his inner thoughts unless he vocalises them. Running a hand through his carefully styled locks, he scans the area and spots the jellycat snake he's been instructed to seek out, just ahead.

And when his eyes lift to meet the owner's face, his own expression lights up instantly; it's a genuine reaction, devoid of any pretense or scripting, as he hoists the Kuromi plushie and waves at his designated date partner as he approaches her.

"Lilissi!" he calls out, adding the honorific for the sake of public television. "Wow, I can't believe it. You're really my date partner!" His words spill out with genuine excitement, pausing briefly as he stands before her, holding up his item. "I bet you didn't expect me to be yours, huh?"

Alexis Ren by Sarah Bahbah “Kygo, Chelsea Cutler - Not Ok” music video

they play their own game of pick and choose — his comments on the masses do little to appeal her to go out of her way to ask for another favor from another person she would rather not spend a second of her time with.

the thought, itself, made her moment here with seunghyun seem the slightest bit more bearable than any of the other options made available. at least she wouldn’t get hit on, proposed to, and/or suddenly arranged to be married. all of things she was trying to avoid with seunghyun’s mother — but her way with words was all too tempting. 

her eyes follow his line of sight to a woman in dangerously tall heels and a purse that looked like it was from marry poppin’s on xanax. “oh, she seems to love you.” then she frowns, eyes redirected to his seemingly nonchalance. “what ish? does she get nicer whenever she gets a touch up on her migrating zyderm?” lili was more preferential to eating her duck rather than seeing it on the face of some over-aged mistress.

Seunghyun snorts. "Nothing? Nothing at all? What a shame..." He knew so little about Lili other than his mother's infatuation with her bone structure - but she was beginning to seem a lot more foolish than she looked. Who would subject themselves to an evening of this willingly?

He bends to swipe at his pant leg with a subtle scowl, rising up to cross his arms over his chest. He eyes the elder waddling this way and that by the terrace's edge, muttering something to himself.

"Do you know who that is?" the model asks with a quirk of his brow. "New appointee on the board of directors at Hanhwa group. Total basket case. If I even so much as say hello I'm going to be stuck listening to him babble on for the next three hours..."

He scans the area for a moment, spying a woman frantically searching through her purse. He can't quite put a finger on it but she seems so familiar... They lock eyes and she frowns almost immediately. Oh, that's right. One of his mother's acquaintances whose shifting filler he just found so interesting ( and often commented on it quite loudly ). "Why don't you ask her? She's friendly. ...Ish."

“should i?” 

a hand models the ring, flashing it here and there, watching the light catch it in the most harmonic of ways. the glint is appeasing, and lili hardly said no to things that were offered — especially pretty things.

it was awfully on brand of her.

a cold brilliance wishing to be eclipsed by a warmth she couldn’t quite give herself. maybe it was why no matter her internal qualms that she so frustratingly and rather involuntarily projected, she still wished to be around jisoo — like a moon caught in it’s planet’s orbit. 

she wants to scoff, but she reserves the bite for a smile, albeit an amused laugh that she hides behind a hand, sparkling ring and all. “bite — as if you could ever bite.” she looks over him at the computer screen that held stills of their latest shot, pointing out one of the slides where the lighting hit her the best but still held a small cover of a shadow, much like a waning moon. “i like this one, the lighting was a nice call.”   

gorgeous, but deadly - she had an aura about her that fit the moon. difficult to reach, a bit cold, a nice contrast to the warmth that haru could convey. or was he describing how they were acting to one another right now? they didn't quite resolve everything from their last instance, and now they danced in limbo. ( again. again ! ) maybe they'd orbit each other that way eternally. and besides, its not as if he's acting against her role. it just happens to be his brand. and happens to be his commercial that he's looking over. she could just pretend he's not here... actually, no she can't. it'd look so badly upon them both since they were around others, and a tarnished name or reputation was difficult to wipe. "you can keep it if you like it," jisoo comments in response to her, albeit a bit nonchalantly. he's leaving the answer in her court for her to say yes or no, that she possibly couldn't.

this isn't quite an olive branch though, but what would it take? at least they were being cordial right? ".. feel free to chime in too, lili. we don't bite here." the swap of the set gave him an opportunity to actually discuss things with his model, if she wanted to, that is.

all lili can do in return is nod. hand dropping once the other takes the tissue to wipe her face — and under lili’ scrutinizing gaze ( one that lili tries her best to disguise as concern when it really was just her busybody nosiness rearing its ugly head ) — lili wonders what had gotten the other so worked up. had sarang also been stressed over the setlist? or had she suddenly been delivered a bout of bad news?

she wasn’t pregnant was she?

lili does a once-over before shaking her head. no — that couldn’t be true. but did she have a right to intervene? she hardly knew the other — and lili wouldn’t call herself a saint. 

her eyes go wide when sarang begins to bumble — words stuttering out that lili feels herself freeze. lili was in no way a comforting person. sure, a hand on the shoulder — as she dead-scrolled on tiktok — an open ear and nodding grace — as her eyes glassed over and picked on key words — these were lili’s form of companionship when cornered with someone who needed a sprinkle of comfort and concern.

but words of ease? words of encouragement — lili feels her jaw slacken. “are you okay? it’s okay to breathe — i’m sure they’re not starting right this second.” shit, maybe not the right thing to say to someone who looked like they were about to drop dead from their self-inflicted hyperventilation. “okay, why don’t we slow down — uh … have you tried breathing exercises before?” 

“you know — like one, in — two …. out …” lili says, in her most gentlest tone — instructing in the same way she would her grandma’s dog. “why don’t we try that again? please don’t pass out on me, i don’t know first aid.” 

she hadn't noticed that there was another person in the bathroom. she was too busy going over every single thing she managed to get wrong during practice. not even mistakes only she noticed but enough to get constantly called out. her thoughts were spiraling fast. as if they hadn't been already.

then came the little prick of tears. what if this lead to a bad review? what if it lead to her being kicked out? the more she thought, the more she tossed water on her face to cover that up as well. but she couldn't bring herself to calm down. so it didn't help when she heard a voice and she had to kept herself from screaming.

sarang's face paused in horror for a moment. more so of the fact that someone caught her in the middle of a break down. it took more than a few seconds needed to process what was being said to her and held out to her. it took a few more seconds to take it with a slightly shaky hand and bow of head. "y-yeah." she not only mumbled but stumbled over the word.

"l-lili right?" she muttered back, trying to force herself to take breaths as she rubbed at her eyes. did the other notice she was crying? it only made her rub her eyes harder in an attempt to hide. her face dropped at the news. she needed more time. "u-uh..." breathe. "i-i'll be back in a sec-cond. um, could you.." she didn't want to bring anyone into her mess either. "i-...i- i'll be b-back...soon, i just need a s-second." now she was making a fool of herself but that didn't matter when she couldn't slow her heartbeat.

tongue in cheek, lili couldn’t help but feel the amused grin tug at her lips — albeit ruining the forced frustration she was trying to portray. her gaze remains passive, flickering from the coach who stood warily at the side, trying to appear busy despite obviously listening in on a conversation he could not understand, to the girl before her.

“you could call it that.”

so, this truly was their plan b — the girl all but confirms it to herself as she places her yogurt cup down and leans back against the mirrored wall where she was currently ‘resting’. finger tapping against her knee before making up her mind, “fun?" her eyes dance mischeviously at the word, "what did you have in mind?”

There were times when Amelia just didn't want to do anything. She was just... existing. Sometimes she was tired, drained, and just didn't care. Sometimes the upbeat and bubbly girl just needed a break. She needed to recharge too. It wasn't easy always being happy and upbeat. Some days Amelia felt like she didn't care.

Today was not one of those days.

Amelia was incredibly happy today and for some reason felt mischievous. She was currently looking for her brother when she was pulled aside by one of the coaches who asked if she could translate. Amelia nodded and followed the staff member.

Upon hearing her native language, Amelia's eyebrow cocked. Perhaps this could be her fun. She smiled and pretended as if everything was ok. ❛ Let me guess. You're not feeling it and they keep pushing you? ❜ She inquired in Mandarin. ❛ Would you like to have some fun? ❜