໒꒱ . TRAINEE MISSION # 16 、INTERVIEW .
໒꒱ . TRAINEE MISSION # 16 、INTERVIEW .
lili had never been the spill your guts, vulnerable in front of the camera kind of person.
but she likens this scenario as a part to play. a role she must succeed to in order to get to where she must. and where that place is is where people liked that vulnerable in front of the camera, spill your silly guts kind of crap.
so, lili does what she can — musters up the silly little guts that would get her somewhat of a good standing and puts on that darling, pretty smile her grandma loves.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT FOR TODAY ?
“my favorite? it has to be —” she racks her brain for something memorable that happened today: she had almost fell in chicken shit — it literally was everywhere, it was probably all up in the grooves of her boots — the smell was permanently stuck in her nose no matter what jaekyung had tried, she was tired — lili did not want to revisit such a memory. and yet, here she re-tells the tale like it was some funny comedic sketch that had brought her to her tears in joy and jest. a darling smile brought to her lips even if the only thing she wished to say was that she was thankful that the day was finally over. “getting to see all the cute chickens, we even got to see some eggs hatch in the incubator, it was really cool. i’ve never seen that before.”
HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CHALLENGE GIVEN TO YOUR TEAM ?
“hard.” probably the most truthful thing she’ll utter this weekend — and it was only friday. despite grinning and bearing it for what she could, today had really done a number for her. “bearing through the chicken coop was … an experience, i was honestly kind of scared — i thought the chickens would attack us. can you imagine getting chased by a chicken?” she shudders at the horror of the thought, for effect.
WHO DID YOU FEEL YOU GOT CLOSER TO ?
she pauses, thinking about it for a good second. even if most of the day she had stuck herself, like glue, to jiah, lili couldn’t deny that there had been quite a number of trainees she had inadvertently gotten closer to. not that she could help it, in between biting her tongue at the complaints that wished spill from her tongue, she knew the others could tell she was having a hard time and, in the end, was thankful for those who helped to make her dire experience even just a sniff better. “i’d say jaekyung? she even offered her towel to me when she saw that i was struggling.” sure, lili was being a tad bit dramatic but the stench was truly nauseating, the viewers would be glad they’d didn’t see lili hurl.
WHAT WAS ONE LESSON YOU’VE LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE ?
nothing. lili learned absolutely nothing — she wished to say, but knows that isn’t what they came here for. that that wasn’t what the viewers wanted to hear. so instead, lili works the courage of what a menial, less troublesome, more humble person would think: she knew no one of this manner so she was struggling but she makes do — “that it’s good for all of us to take a moment to slow down and feel the wind in our hair.” something like that, right?
“all the aunties here were super cute, too, maybe their fashion sense here is another lesson to remember.”
More Posts from Lgclili and Others
lili had always been an only child.
( and she definitely acted like one, too )
fortunate for her as she never wanted siblings and she had always wanted more attention than any of her respective legal guardians could ever give. but a sibling arises in the form of one parker su. it was funny, really. how quick they clicked, how odd that despite being from the same state — sure, california was big but it wasn’t that big — that despite it all, she found his presence to be not as annoying as she would have expected. is this what a sibling relationship was like for others?
( she wonders if her grandma would adopt parker, too )
rather than seeing him, lili hears him and can only guess to what is causing his burst of concern. and while it wasn’t unwarranted, lili — sincerely — couldn’t find what was wrong with her outfit.
did he find it offensive that she was wearing a dress from last season?
she snorts, toe of her heel meeting with his ankle gently as a jab for his nagging. “lilian?” an amused brow rises, “who’s that?”
then she frowns at his fussing — hands making no move to do as he says because this ensemble was not meant for a coat to cover ( the coat was but a mere accessory to withstand the chill but other than that, lili was bound by the inherent belief that she’d rather die pretty than badly dressed ) — her hand running through her hair as she lets his words go from one ear to the other before lips purse and she groans, “you said i was going to be meeting your friends, of course i had to make a good impression. don't i look like someone you'd want to meet your friends?”
sure, her personality was rough around the edges but lili assumed that a pretty dress and smile would at least soften those jagged parts — kind of a trojan horse a la miu miu sort of thing?
yes, that shall be her optimal reasoning for wearing the sheerest dress possible on what could be the coldest day of february. tugging on his arm, she pulls him along, amidst his english woes, “okay, okay — i hear you. i’ll make sure to stay close to the radiator at the restaurant. let’s go — like you said, it’s freezing.” at least her gloves could fight off the frostbite, she thinks.
little red packet
@lgclili and parker spend some "sibling" time together
At this point, it was pretty par for the course for Parker not to go home during any breaks, even when he had them. For as long as the flight was back to California, the time that was typically allotted seemed way too short, but as a trainee, it had seemed more doable just based on how much he missed his family; however, that had been simply out of the question this year. Even more so when the Seollal break was only four days, but this year Lunar New Year seems a little less lonely. For one, he had Hyuk to spend time with, but more than that, somewhere along the line, he managed to sort a dinner together with some of his favorite people: Yichen, Yuxi, and Lili.
It was about a quarter to six when Parker’s cab pulled up not too far from Daerim-dong. Even when a good deal of Koreans were taking the time with their own families, he could still see a few people making their way here in there. Thanking the driver, Parker adjusted his scarf and looked around, hoping to spot a Lili. She hadn’t met either Yichen or Yuxi before and had insisted on meeting up with him beforehand, a request that Parker couldn’t refuse. Even if they weren’t related, all three held a special familial place in Parker’s heart, but especially Lili.
“Ah! Are you crazy!” he called out when he called her. Parker’s furrowed his bows and switched to English to sound more like his own mother. “Lillian, you’re going to catch a cold! Yes, your dess is cute. Button up your coat!”
oh, he was infuriating.
behind his smile, lili knew he was enjoying every second of this — that darling devil of a man was truly cruel. how dare he play her when he knew she could do nothing but smile through it — oh, the earful he was going to get after the cameras turn off was going to be a big one.
her eyes roll, this is the one thing she can’t help, when he denies her hint — a pout already forming on her plump lips as she takes the ski poles from him. “fine, be that way, i guess i’ll just have to wait to be dazzled.”
she shakes her head, trying — but purposely failing — to keep her laugh from spilling from her cheeks as she shuffles forward, “it’s only a bunny slope, you should get down with no worries! just keep yours in front of you and your knees slightly bent!”
lili makes her first ride down with ease — a practiced simplicity that comes with experience. a bunny hill was always the best for beginners. it was barely even a hill, if lili thought of it, not even too far from where she sees minkyu riding, shortly after her.
This is fun. This is so much fun.
Minkyu isn’t mischievous by nature - not really - but there’s something endlessly entertaining about doing all the things he knows Lili isn’t particularly fond of, without the usual fear of being scolded. After all, she can’t exactly bark at him like she normally would, not with the cameras rolling. And that? That makes it even more fun.
( Though he’s well aware he won’t hear the end of it once filming wraps. )
He grins, proud, as Lili tells him he did well with the skis. But instead of accepting the praise, he lifts a single gloved hand, wiggling his pointer finger in playful denial. “No, no. You’re not getting any information out of me! A surprise is only a real surprise if the receiver is completely clueless.” His smile stretches wide, a chuckle slipping between his words.
What she doesn’t know is that he’s actually prepared two surprises. But that’s for him to know and her to find out.
“I can promise you, though: it’ll leave you speeeeeechless.”
That cheeky little grin of his makes another appearance as he hands her the ski poles, then secures the straps of his own around his wrists. “Alrightie, lead the way, Miss Ski Princess! I’ll be following closely and trying not to fall on my butt.”
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?"
nearly wincing at the sound his straw makes as it makes contact with it’s plastic borders, a hand raises to stop him — already feeling the overdramatic and too real ache of a migraine rumbling at her temples. “please stop.” ignoring the fact that it would be her first and only time she ever uttered please in his presence.
she tilts her head at that — confusion filtering through her features within seconds. “why else would we have coffee?” and lili was far too prideful to head over to jieun’s truck, even if the dessert selection did appear yummier from the looks of the cute banners. “i think they’d rather have a thank you from you though,” her eyes run from him to the workers behind the counter who obviously haven’t taken their eyes off of the actor since his appearance before the stand.
“why don’t you honor them that pretty little actor smile they all love?”
she almost has to laugh, though, seeing hyunsoo in his element had been interesting. it was definitely a glaring contrast to seeing him at some stuffy party filled with obnoxious social climbers and money-grubbers.
“hardly — just some annoyance that won’t stop bothering me. maybe you know her.” she fishes for her phone before revealing to him the long list of messages from his mother lili hadn’t bothered replying to.
There are a number of coincidences that happen within industry when one comes from the background that Hyunsoo does. It becomes inevitable. Children of executives offered positions at studios or pushed into roles by overbearing mothers, bored socialites figuring they will make their acting debut. The industry has and always will reek of nepotism and advantages taken with money.
Needless to say, seeing Lili on the film set comes as little to no shock. Not for any reasons listed prior — on the contrary, he is certain her determination has landed her there just as his did. She would not be subject to walking around in a plague doctor mask ( faceless ) had she a say in the matter and he knows it. And, perhaps, she would not seem so displeased to see him.
To meet her halfway, He pushes past a few young murmuring staff members; of whom giggled amongst themselves when he stood back in awe of his gifted coffee truck. ( Pictures of himself are plastered along the sides on posters that would soon be torn for the next gig. )
"Why are you thanking me? You should be thanking them, too," voice laced with what can only be described as a hint of sarcasm, he reaches for the iced americano, stretching the straw in and out of it with an agonizing scrape before he takes a sip. "You seem particularly... snippy today. What's wrong? Displeased with the movie's premise?"
໒꒱ . MODELING GIG # 003 _ AURORA REVIEW 、
one would think that lili’s first thought of being selected for a model for a brand would be of course it would be me — but you could not be anymore wrong.
she is surprised, so much so that she doesn’t believe it at first.
being selected as a brand model is an honor — not a right — truly a privilege bestowed upon her by some higher power — was it jisoo? or had it been pure luck? — that lili had no hand in. and this is what stumps her — the go-getter in her is baffled that such a prestige just lands in her hands.
( because lili knows —
seen it,
lived it,
had the deepest of traumas to prove it,
nothing is really that easy )
putting her feelings into words had never been easy. even now, she has yet to exclusively apologize to jisoo for things she knows she’s done, and if she were being honest, she probably will never really give him the apology he deserves. so, asking to put her feelings on the matter into words as so under the guise of reviewing the video of the brand’s overall concept as done through the eyes of its creator, lili may be a little less obliged to speak.
but — since it is lili — she has things to say, even if she doesn’t truly wish for them to be said.
“i like it.” she says at first, as if testing out how the compliment tastes on the tongue. it’s not bad — maybe because it’s not ingenuine. “it has an understated elegance that you would usually feel with an older standing brand.” a remark that flatters the brand for understanding its roots and not straying from it.
“han jisoo-씨 has quite the eye.” would she have utter it to his face? would he hear these words from others? would lili have preferred it if he did? “i’m glad i was given the chance to be a part of this, i don’t know what other brand i could identify more with. i might even buy something for my grandmother.” another keepsake her grandmother would say she cherishes only to be thrown to the back of her wardrobe with the rest of lili’s unnecessary gifts to the matriarch.
“or maybe i’ll buy one for myself.” a testament to a triumph she'd like to remember for later.
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?”
any other day, one where the sun wasn’t in her eyes or the wind wasn’t messing up her hair — or where lili wasn’t paranoid that chicken shit had gotten underneath her fingernails — maybe lili would have tickled her competitive bone. but no, apparently that day was not today. and lili knew a losing game when it’s been had and from the get go — soap? was no winning contender in anyone’s book.
it wasn’t as if the people around here went through soaps as quickly as they would water — they couldn’t be that dirty, could they? she sniffs, trying not to appear too miffed by the idea before turning back to emi.
“surprised — why?” she feigns her own little raised brow in confusion, a smile playing on her lips as she looks at the juice cups. her finger dances in the air around them as she tries to choose, “which do you recommend, you’ve been here all day — which has been selling the most?”
she swore, just when she thought she had legacy figured out, they wanted to throw another curveball-- like sending them out into the country, having them feign for themselves, or at least it felt that way sometimes. really though, all mimi could do was cackle at the different shenanigans they had been put through. it was all in a good fun, and honestly, she hadn't realized how sick of the practice room she was until they were heading far far away from it.
fresh air would do her some good anyway, it had been a rough couple of weeks.
and she liked competing. it was fun, it lit a fire under her, even more so when she realized she was losing. so to say this weekend had been... eventful was an understatement. it was nice to get closer to the trainees and unnies, though.
sometimes, this makes it easier to feel like she fits in.
juice selling was going well, and the team was excited, hushed whispers around their future spoils of vicotry when the voice rings through and emi turns, blinks a bit at lili as she tries to hide her snort. she takes the bill with ease, moving to get change, and gestures to the juices. "take your pick, take your pick. i am a little surprised you wanted to get one from us, though." she admits with a chuckle.
