Joon-woo slipped out of Mi Yong’s car when the other pulled up a block away from Joon-woo’s apartment complex. Their expressions that were bright with only a slight tension were deepened with exhaust.
They had spent hours in Bo Jaesang’s mess of an apartment. They had done everything from ordering food and eating, cleaning up the messes per Joon-woo’s instruction, they had even dropped the talks of the evil editing done to Joon-woo’s otherwise perfect image.
The once disastrous and heavy smelling apartment was transformed after probably a hundred scoldings from Joon-woo to the others. He hadn’t realized how helpless men were when it came to cleaning. Reggie had a hard time even washing the dishes! They had teased his rich boy upbringing ruthlessly.
But of course, after hours of together-time, the sun had set and they had a home to return to. On the way back, they talked as if they were still highschoolers– chatting about K-Pop and groups and covers they’d like to do next. And as Joon-woo traversed down his dimly lit street, he reminisced over the moments before.
Joon-woo thought about how nice it would’ve been for him to debut with them. The thoughts plagued his mind so much so that he completely ignored Kite on their way back to the apartment. Mi Yong was too scared to drive fully up to it…
Joon-woo walked up the stairs that were trashed with litter and wrongly-tossed cigarettes. The sketchy people of the streets, as usual, cast him quick glances. Though at the end of the day they still had their own sketchy business to do.
He walked up to his door, and his expression hardened. He turned to Kite on his shoulder as he turned the key in his door and entered the cramped apartment. He dropped his poker face and a weight was lifted off his chest.
“Okay. We’re back. Now explain.” Joon-woo’s voice was low, despite the boy’s not fully developed tone.Â
Kite stiffened and Joon-woo could tell by the way the bird unintentionally dug it’s sharp feet into his shoulder. “Okay, okay. Just promise me you won’t completely flip out on me…”
Joon-woo narrowed his gaze at Kite. What was he promising not to freak out over? “You’ve been suspicious since day one. I’ll flip out if I feel it necessary.” He replied sharply.
Kite shivered at the glare in Joon-woo’s eyes. “You’ve never been so scary…”
Joon-woo shrugged. He sntached Kite by the body and pulled the bird off his shoulder. Kite struggled in Joon-woo’s grasp. “Alright! Alright! I’ll explain– just let go!”
Joon-woo glared down at the shivering Kite for a moment, before releasing the bird and allowing it to guide him to the small couch. When he sat, he huffed and puffed while watching Kite ruffle his feathers.
“I won’t freak out. Explain.” Joon-woo lied.
Kite sighed and perched on a door out of Joon-woo’s highest reach.
“Okay. Well. You know that– I’m– me, I’m not actually a bird…” Kite started, Joon-woo nodded impatiently. “I’m a… how do I explain this–? A worker of the grim reaper, yeah, that’s what I am in the most human words I can.”
Joon-woo knew that much. Kite had explained that to him in the beginning.
“Us, workers, we have to follow orders very very directly. And my order was to help you in debuting as an idol, and…” Kite hesitated to finish its sentence.
“You failed.” Joon-woo finished for him.
Kite nodded, “Yeah. I failed. And when you fail… they tend to punish you. That– What you saw, is the result of it…”
Joon-woo swallowed at the words. Afterall, it was supernatural elements he was facing as a human. And the scene, the scene of Kite’s bloodied bird body littering the floor, the sink, the walls. Joon-woo didn’t think he could ever forget that scene. “And Ha Jang-Soo. What exactly is… he?”
Kite shrugged, “To be honest, I’m really just a lackey. So everything I’m told is very processed and changed up– and even then I’m told close to nothing. But what I do know is that– that man, he’s in a similar boat to you.”
Joon-woo sighed. What was this? Some corrupt otherworldly government? “So he has a reaper-worker like you by his side?” He asked, trying to gauge the level of information Kite knew.
Kite nodded, “Yes.”
Joon-woo sat in silence for a moment. He thought of Ha Jang-Soo’s prejudice against Joon-woo. The blackmail, not including him in the final line up. “Does he not want me to debut here because he knows I’m someone similar?”
Kite paused, “I’m… not sure.”
Joon-woo rubbed at his temples, “Hah, this– this is too much.” He felt slightly like an alien, knowing all these things and even worse, living them. “So, what’re you gonna do now?”
“What?”
“Now that I’m not debuting, what’s gonna happen to you now?” Joon-woo clarified.
Kite tilted his bird head, “My original order still pertains. I’m gonna help you debut.”
“How?” Joon-woo asked, but he already knew half-of-an answer. Everything just– melded together in that moment. His brain to his skin to his skull to the blood rushing through his body. He felt as if he was never a human, let alone a normal one. “How can I possibly debut?” He knew how, but part of him didn’t want to. Every possibility he thought of didn’t include debuting with the people he had gotten close with in his body.
“SOUND Entertainment. You got scouted, right? You still have the business card, right?” Kite asked, but Joon-woo’s mind wandered to Producer Jang-Soo’s words about SOUND Entertainment.
“SOUND Entertainment, have you ever thought of trying there? It would really be a shame for that voice of yours to go to waste.”
“No, no, they’ve probably scouted you already… Still, I’d like to be a producer for you in the future, you listen well.”
Joon-woo clenched his fists. He didn’t want to play into Producer Jang-Soo’s plan. He would be a pride-less fool to ever do so. Bo Jaesang, Joon-woo thought, if he followed Producer Jang-Soo’s wishes, what would make Bo Jaesang’s fall from glory?
Joon-woo resolutely shook his head, “Kite, I’m gonna debut from that show. Not SOUND, not ICE, not Xe. I’m debuting with Reggie and Mi Yong and them.”
“Joon-woo–!” Kite tried to speak.
“No, Kite, I’m not going to SOUND. I’m gonna debut and make sure that son of a bitch falls to the lowest levels of hell in the process. I’m not gonna follow his perfect little plan.” Joon-woo practically yelled.
Kite pursed his lips and looked at the fire in Joon-woo’s eyes before shaking its head. “…As you wish.”
–+–
@duhoscocksleeve
nah cause that fcking femboy of a man has no right to be acting like he’s all that #kickjoonwoo
469 reposts    278 quotes    2k likes
@gurls4baeks replying to @duhoscocksleeve
fr like just cause u can sing a little doesn’t give you the right to be such a bitch
@miyongsleft_ball replying to @duhoscocksleeve
They so obviously evil edited him, what r u even on ab??? Leave my pookie alone
@gurls4baeks replying to @miyongsleft_ball
And here come the Joon-woo dickriders…
@jkookarchives
You guys better treat Joon-woo the same way you treated my boy Ryeo Hyun istg…
789 reposts    146 quotes    5.6k likes
@brizeegirly replying to @jkookarchives
For what??? Bullying accusations and side-eyeing someone a few times aren’t the same thing
@jkookarchives replying to @brizeegirly
Bffr 💀💀💀💀 Joon-woo’s been rude since day one… acting like those people aint his hyungs
Joon-woo sighed as he used one hand to home onto a bus handle and the other to hold his phone. The evil editing was quite effective, and Joon-woo knew it would only get worse the more he sat and let it continue.
The chatter on the bus was muted by the ear plugs plugged into Joon-woo’s ears. He wore a baggy hoodie that covered the start of his palms to his wrist and sweatpants that simply swamped his legs up until his thighs. His shoulder length hair was pulled into a small high ponytail.
His face was in a slight grimace, until Kite poked at his shoulder.
“Joon-woo! A fan or just some interested person…” Kite whispered.
Joon-woo peaked his head up and removed one ear bud. In front of him stood a woman about two inches shorter than Joon-woo. She seemed to be in her early twenties, Joon-woo knew from her wear and the age written in her features.
She smiled at Joon-woo consciously, trying to mind the people on the bus around her. “You’re Joon-woo right?”
Joon-woo nodded, softening his expression. The eyes of the other passengers fell upon him.
“Is it possible to get a photo–!” She was clearly nervous to approach, as were many people that approached their favorite idols. In Ha-rin’s experience though, the fans were always a bit more forceful with the contact.
Joon-woo nodded and positioned himself next to the woman as she stuck out her phone. He appreciated how calm the small fan interactions he had experienced so far were. He knew to appreciate the tame and innocent nature of fan interactions before they got… obsessive to say the least. It was something he wished he did as Ha-rin, as the males that made up most of her fans, especially during fan meets, thought her to be a doll. They would grab at her hands like they were their own and she learned to get used to it after the first couple times, though often it triggered her to no end.
The woman stuck out her phone and snapped a few photos with her other hand over her mouth. Joon-woo held up a peace sign and forced a small smile. He made sure to hide his phone out of view.
“Thank you so much! Noona is cheering for you to debut!” The woman spoke with an uncontrollable smile. Her arms slightly stimmed by her sides.
“Thank you for the support.” Joon-woo replied in a quiet voice.
The woman blushed as she approached her friends a few yards away in the cramped bus. Joon-woo found his mood slightly lifted.
Though, he knew his mood would return to its basis when the bus stopped and opened its doors a few blocks from where the next recording would take place…
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