She Laughs — An Actual, Loud-mouthed, Almost Snorting Laugh — A Laugh Lili Almost Never Lets Anyone

the prettiest girls (spoiler it’s all of them) 183/? ♡ Shen Xiaoting

໒꒱ . LGC’S CHARITY CONCERT # 2024  、

in hindsight, if lili knew where she would be assigned to perform — maybe she would have chosen songs that were better suited for the environment. singing about loneliness in front of five year olds in a language they were less than acquainted with was not what lili had pictured when she had submitted her song lists to the coaches all those weeks ago.

if they had been given the heads up, maybe she would have thrown in a few more dance songs rather than singing about a love yearned or a love missed. lili had definitely missed her target audience by a long shot. a part of her wishes she had traded with someone else from day 1 — now, it was too late to wish, much too late to regret.

and without much thought of much else — it wasn’t like she had much choice to do anything other than what she had prepared — she lays her regrets in the back of her head. her confidence shot, her song choices shoddy at best, she was at odds with herself by the time it came for her last time at the mic.

as she’s begun her final song — had watched as the kids’ eyes rolled to the back of their heads at her last song — she could already imagine the chorus of internal groans at how another slow song was ready to leave her lips.

and yet, she carries herself as she’s always done; her confidence had always been something as strong as a mountain’s will; nothing could truly shake her, even if her crowd was less than thrilled at her song choices, she sings as if they’re all dying for an encore ( instead of the other way around ) — the heartache in her voice probably going over their heads — but she learns, as the last of the song departs her; the mist in the eyes of the center’s employees is hard to miss her gaze. and with that, lili is satisfied.

at least, lili could say she touched someone’s heart this holiday season.

PITY PARTY: PARTY OF 1 ୨୧ @lgcjisoo / BACKDATED (010125)

the humiliation burns.

and yet, lili would rather wear the flaw like a bright red ‘a’ a la scarlet letter. if hester prynne could be prosecuted for the shame of adultery, could lili’s crime be considered of that multitude?

what had been her crime again?

ah right — existing, was it?

on the eve of her birthday, for what lili had thought was to be her birthday dinner — she had invited jisoo on the pretense of such — they gathered around a long mahogany table : filled with food, left untouched ; conversation, guided by the xu matriach, none other than lili’s grandmother ; and people lili could not place or fathom to know.

was this truly her birthday dinner?

her grandmother had introduced it as so and yet, despite the first sentence starting and ending with lili — everything that followed had nothing to do with the girl who was at the cusp of turning twenty-four that night. and she was floored, utterly embarrassed and speechless at the obvious display of neglect. 

was she supposed to sit here, look pretty and take this disrespect? the way her grandmother stares her down from across the table is a clear answer.

an obvious one that lili finds she doesn’t want to listen to — grabbing her purse, she tugs on jisoo’s sleeve, slamming her heels to the ground as she stands. “let’s go, we still have to pick up your dog from the daycare, right?”

she lies through her teeth — thinking on her feet for some semblance of an excuse only to find the piss-poorest one, and yet her eyes flash a demand for jisoo to get his ass out of that chair. 

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.”

apparently, lili wasn’t anti-love.

she was more … love … adverse, if one really had to put it into words. it wasn’t that she didn’t care for it — it was that she didn’t exactly believe in it. time and time again, she’s been proven that love was a wasted effort, no good would come from it, that love was not worth the tears and the stress-related skin afflictions. 

but what could be done when minseo looked so adorably cute and hell-bent to prove her wrong. 

watching her friend set up her faux-presentation, ipad and persuasive tone included,  lili was convinced to give it a try — if only to humor the younger girl. who was lili to crush her hopes and dreams of finding lili’s one true love — actually, it was more accurate of lili to be that said person but she was feeling nice today.

( a rare occurrence and she wonders if it’s because of her new increase of caffeine intake ) 

watching the other swipe across her screen, she nods along to the facts — tall, good looking, athletic; they were all good traits. things lili never really considered when it came to her ‘type’ — did she even have one at this point when all the boys she’d seen up to this point had either been vetted by her grandmother or some backstage mishap that never saw the light of day? 

( lili doesn’t know which is worse )

“it’s not seojin is it — wait, never mind, he’s not 183 cm …” her eyes glance passively over her nails — god, she needed a manicure — before she takes in the headshot shown to her. suddenly interested, her fingers tap along the screen to inspect the blurry image, trying to zoom in; but to no avail, she pouts. “can’t you just show me his face, what if i go on a date with an axe murderer who has the same hair?” unlikely but true crime podcasts would beg to differ.

“oh yea?” a brow is raised, chin settled into her palm when her sights turn to minseo, “so, why haven’t you tried to date him yet? not your type — or do you have someone else in mind?” 

MINSEO'S MATCHMAKING SERVICES

If Cupid's arrows weren't meant for her, she was more than willing to commit theft in broad daylight and steal the bow and arrow from her most recent enemy. This February, she would happily play the role of matchmaker for two of her friends. She should have known better than to meddle, but when the opportunity arose, she had to seize the inspiration and commit to the bit. There was no way that she saw her brilliant idea of matching two of her friends ending horribly. Had she even asked her friends if the two of them were single and ready to mingle?

Nope.

It was her first experience trying to set up a blind date. She figures that too much information wasn't ideal, but at least she could ease their worries that she had thought this through. She had good intentions, relinquishing some apprehension and trusting her would be necessary. She pulls out her iPad from her bag, opening up the presentation she had set up for Lili. "Obviously, I can't show you his face, but he's tall —183 cm!— and looks like he came out of a shōnen manga..." She reveals a headshot picture, blurring most of Byeongkwan's face to her best of her ability, but if she was being honest with herself...

It was clearly BK. He was one of the few trainees that had a specific look, which had been added to the pro section towards the end. She had done this on her iPad in like twenty-minutes. A survey would not be given by the end of her presentation. "He works out, has a way with words, which can be a pro and a con— but we're working on it! He'll make you laugh a lot, your stomach will hurt by the end of it, which is probably the biggest reason you should say yes to the blind date. "

@lgclili

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.

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? ❜

໒꒱ .  莉莉 ✽ PLOT CALL _ q3

calling for plots because we are always very, terribly late plots juseyo

⤷  TRAINEE MISSION 018

HOSTING WORKSHOP _ open !

DAILY VLOG _ solo

CREATIVE LESSONS _ choreography [ hip hop / classic ] _ open !

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.

so much had changed in the scheme of hosting. rather than the direction of lines being read and executed, not only were they expected to improvise, they were also implored to do so with an ease of a natural — even if the language spoken was far from your native tongue.

even more so, in these cases.

all while being as confident as possible when faced with the barrel of a red-lighted camera, airing live to thousands across the nation. and worse — millions across the world. 

it’s these types of pressures that didn’t bother lili — but the fact that they acted like they were doing a service to them. improvisation of a music show scene was beyond a day’s work — unless your goal was to be a host at the end of the day and well, since lili didn’t like to call herself a all-rounder for nothing.

( truly — lili was just complaining to complain )

but in today’s case, as she sits next to kyoka and looks at the other’s notes once more — unprompted and concerned — she tries to tweak the frown on her face, “how did you feel about the lesson?” she asks, after having looked over the other’s notes, and having seen all the question marks. “it was kind of a lot, right?” 

Kyoka’s not a complainer. She happily does what she’s told unless there’s something else that catches her attention, in which she then gets distracted. But that’s beyond the point. Point is, rarely does she ever feel upset or slighted with what’s expected of her.

What that doesn’t mean though, that she never has any negative emotions. Like now, pure confusion and maybe a teensy bit of frustration creeping in too.

What, a whole script for a music show scene? Wasn’t a music show hosting just a simple who what where when why? Who changed that format? What happened to it? Where did this new expectation come from? When did it become a thing? Why?

Ah… too much thinking, not enough answers. Her brain is turning to mush, she can feel it already.

Kyoka is still staring at her notebook, eyes already glazing over when a voice knocks her out of her trance. “Huh? Oh, ummm yes,” she squints at her notes, which really was just a row of question marks and nothing else, “my notes. Yes, they’re my notes.”