episode two ...

eventually the terrible unskippable
ad reaches its end and iu is back on screen.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
which means that it's now time for the Lovers to join us in here!

she claps her hands and most of the
cast, as if they'd been waiting for it,
start to leave the stage; and go back
to the backstage area.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
but, of course, it's not going to be that simple as them just walking on in, so... you'll see!

iu then follows the rest of the cast,
and the trainee management staff —
jeong byulyi and henry sim — are
the only ones left on the stage.

the camera zooms out and shows an
overview of the stage room, and the
person who'd been holding the camera (filming iu)
can be seen sprinting off the stage
to some staff area. the cameras on
the edges of the stage can also be seen.

after a few moments of almost complete silence
the sound of chattering and walking
from multiple people can be heard. and soon
the participants start welling up from
the backstage area.

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
hi, clears throat, hello!

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
I'm Jeong Byulyi, and I use she/her pronouns!

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
I speak Korean, and I speak English, and I also speak Japanese.
ㅤ( japanese )

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
I'm also trying to learn Chinese, so if you want you could help me with that?
ㅤ( chinese )

byulyi clasped her hands together
in a clap-like gesture, which led
to henry, who was standing next to her
in front of the participants, looking over
at her and nodding before doing his own
introduction.

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
and, uh, hello!

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
I'm Henry Sim, but you can also call me Hajun, and I use he/they pronouns! 

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
you can talk to me in English, or we can talk in Korean!

henry looked at the trainees with
one of those semi-awkward smiles
plastered on his face.

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
me and Henry are the, well, main two people who are going to be taking care of you guys! if you have any concerns or, like, literally anything you come to us.

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
and, I promise, that neither one of us are going to judge you about anything, like, we're a safe space, you know?

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
and we're not just saying that we're gonna be like a safe space just to say it, we actually mean it. we have both been through some stuff, and both of us are queer, so just... don't hesitate to talk to us!

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
now that we have that covered, uh, any questions?

after a few moments of silence, a hand
from the crowd of trainees pokes up.

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
yes?

◤ HYUK ⭑ sm ◢
are... are you dating?

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
each other?

◤ HYUK ⭑ sm ◢
yeah..?

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
oh fuck no! I mean, sorry, no we're not! 

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
we both have girlfriends though, so don't think this is gonna turn into some webtoon love story, 'kay?

there's a few giggles going around
the group of participants which then
 are broken by henry speaking up again.

◤ HENRY ⭑ staff ◢
so... how about you go find somewhere to sit?

◤ BYULYI ⭑ staff ◢
it would be best if you sat together with your labelmates, but feel free to interact with the others! you know, to make some new friends!

the two stepped to the side, moved
closer to the judges tables, and
within seconds the flood of trainees
was systematically moving up to
the seating area, to find places to sit.

◤ LOUIS ⭑ fantagio ◢
guys! guys!

◤ MATEO ⭑ fantagio ◢
yes, Louis?

◤ LOUIS ⭑ fantagio ◢
here! we should sit here!

as the fantagio trainees sit down,
the rbw kids are making themselves
at home a row behind them.

◤ HUNTER ⭑ rbw ◢
xinxin-ah, who do you think the host is?

◤ FENG XIN ⭑ rbw ◢
I don't know... hopefully someone cool..?

◤ HUNTER ⭑ rbw ◢
obviously it's gonna be someone cool! 

◤ FENG XIN ⭑ rbw ◢
well, still! I hope it's... someone I stan, is that a better answer?

◤ HUNTER ⭑ rbw ◢
a... a what?

◤ FENG XIN ⭑ rbw ◢
better answer!

let's move on from the language
strugglers... how about we go down to
check out the first row?

◤ RIVER ⭑ sm ◢
hi! uh, could... could we sit here?

◤ JAMIE ⭑ high up ◢
oh my god, hi! of course you can!

◤ RIVER ⭑ sm ◢
oh thank god, you speak english?
ㅤ( english )

◤ JAMIE ⭑ high up ◢
I do indeed! proud canadian right here, how bout you? you sound... australian? british?
ㅤ( english )

◤ RIVER ⭑ sm ◢
australian!

◤ JAMIE ⭑ high up ◢
and you? oh my god, sorry, do you speak english?
ㅤ( english )

◤ SUNGCHAN ⭑ sm ◢
uh... not... not really...

◤ JAMIE ⭑ high up ◢
don't be so humble! that sounded really good!

◤ SUNGCHAN ⭑ sm ◢
sorry hyungnim! I'm, eh, I'm better at writing it...

as river ruffled sungchan's hair the
focus is moved from those three
and back up to the fantagio four.

◤ JAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
whispering,  Dae...

◤ DAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
whispering,  yeah? what's up?

◤ JAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
whispering,  can we switch seats? someone is gonna be sitting next to me and I... I don't wanna sit with someone I don't know and, you know, I jus—

◤ DAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
of course, don't worry about it silly!

the twins switch seats, and at the
same time the jyp duo can be seen
going back down the stairs almost
immediately after going up.
 or, like, esther is dragging jihae along, hm...

◤ ESTHER ⭑ jyp ◢
I am not sitting next to him, nope! I am not!

◤ JIHAE ⭑ jyp ◢
it's okay—

◤ ESTHER ⭑ jyp ◢
no it's not! why is he literally everywhere I go? it's not fair!

oh god, there's drama before
the show's even started? let's
just hope it ends well...

◤ SEOJUN ⭑ kq ◢
why are you even worrying boo? it's gonna go amazing!

◤ WOOSUNG ⭑ hybe ◢
easy for you to say! we're from hybe, the standards are... like... sky high!

◤ SEOJUN ⭑ kq ◢
and? you four easily reach and break those standards! 

◤ SEOJUN ⭑ kq ◢
plus, if everybody else is completely tasteless and stay quiet, I'm gonna cheer so loud it's not even noticeable!

◤ WOOSUNG ⭑ hybe ◢ upset (jokingly)
I hate you.

◤ SEOJUN ⭑ kq ◢
hyung! if someone hears you they probably think you're serious!

◤ WOOSUNG ⭑ hybe ◢ upset (jokingly)
good, because I am!

◤ SEOJUN ⭑ kq ◢ sad (jokingly)
but... but... hyung... I thought...

◤ WOOSUNG ⭑ hybe ◢ 
oh fuck you!

◤ SEOJUN ⭑ kq ◢
that's it! I'm gonna... looks around, I'm leaving you to sit with the jyps!

as the two continue to bicker the
seats fill up around them and soon
everyone has found somewhere to sit.

tadaaa! a little seating chart wooo!
also it says 19 on the boyo between 21 and 03!!

just as they've all gotten seated
the lights in the room start to fade and
after just a few seconds of darkness
the middle of the scene lights up.

the little heart in the middle of the
stage has now risen up a foot or so,
but there is still nobody on the stage.

after another few moments of silence,
an instrumental of IU's CELEBRITY plays and
iu walks out on stage, the entrance area
lighting up as she enters. she steps up on
the heart and waves towards the trainees,
her mic secured in one hand as she waves.

◤ YUNHO ⭑ independent ◢
that's IU! oh my god, is this a dream?

as the instrumental quiets down
iu bows toward the seating area,
before waving again.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
welcome, dear lovers, to Love Letter! I hope you enjoy your stay~

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
I'm your host, IU! I'm a soloist and actress, and I use she/her pronouns! 

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
oh, right! and! giggle, my full name is Lee Jieun!

she shook her head slightly, 
laughing as she looked down
at the floor.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
it seems I'm still not an expert at MC-ing, huh? 

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
anyways, hello! I'm going to be the person who guides you throughout your stay here! providing information, holding announcements... everything like that, really! 

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
but... I can't do that alone, can I now?

as a wave of 'ooo's and 'ah's spread
through the participants the entrance
area lights up again, and as another
person steps out KICK IT by NCT 127 plays.

mark walks up to the heart, his mic being
one of those that goes along your ear
and head, and he stands still next to iu.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
hello! I'm Mark Lee of NCT and SuperM, I use he/him pronouns, and I'm your beloved co-host!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
or, like, just host? honestly I'm unsure of my title... either way, eh, hi!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
Jieun noona already presented what our role is, guiding yall and everything, and I don't really have anything to ad so... promo time?

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
Mark!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
I was just gonna... talk about CHER:ISH... 

iu sighs and shakes her head once more.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
what? I think everyone should stan them! we raised them so well, don't you agree?

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
come on now...

iu drags mark along down from the
heart stage which slowly starts to
sink back into the ground.

as the lights fade away the two sit down
on newly set out stools, both placed on
each side of the entrance area along the wall.

when the lights on the stage fade
back on it's empty on the stage, 
aside from mark and iu of course.

after just a second or two the instrumental
for LOVE SCENARIO by iKON plays and
a line of people walk out on stage.
mark can be seen getting up from his
stool and joins in the back of the line before
the people get into formation ...

https://youtu.be/sftA4c6ozG4

in order of apperance;
b.i — KIKI XU
jay — SIYEON
bobby — S.COUPS
dk — SOLAR
june — BAEKHYUN
song — BAMBAM
chan — MARK

after a moment of catching his
breath, mark rushes back to his stool
where he claps for the performance.
*pretending he wasn't in it too.*

the rest of the people line up on
the stage and bow towards the
cheering trainees.

◤ KIKI XU ⭑ judge ◢
hello! I'm Kiki Xu, member of SNH48's 7SENSES and former member of THE9! I use she/her pronouns and I'm one of the judges!

◤ SIYEON ⭑ judge ◢
and hi! I'm Lee Siyeon, main vocalist of Dreamcatcher, and I use she/her pronouns! but I'm okay with other pronouns too, like they/them, I just prefer she/her!

◤ SOLAR ⭑ judge ◢
I'm Kim Yongsun, but you probably know me as Solar, member of MAMAMOO! I use she/her pronouns.

◤ SCOUPS ⭑ judge ◢
hey! I'm, uh, main rapper and leader of SEVENTEEN! S.Coups, but you might also just know me as Choi Seungcheol! and, uh, I use he/him pronouns. thank you!

◤ BAMBAM ⭑ judge ◢
I'm BamBam, soloist and Got7 member, and I use he/him pronouns!

◤ BAEKHYUN ⭑ judge ◢
hi! I'm Byun Baekhyun and I'm one of the main vocalists in the boy group EXO and also a member of SuperM, uh... I'm one of the judges and I use he/him pronouns!

◤ SIYEON ⭑ judge ◢
so basically, we're the judges!

◤ SOLAR ⭑ judge ◢
we are going to be the people who... judge your skills, I guess! but don't worry, we're not that mean!

◤ KIKI XU ⭑ judge ◢
meh, I believe in brutal honestly.

some chuckles, both from the
other judges and trainees, can be heard.

◤ SIYEON ⭑ judge ◢
before I forget... as you could see, the seventh person who performed with us was Mark ssi! but since he'd already introduced himself, and he's not part of the judge crew... 

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
rude!

siyeon rolls her eyes at him

◤ SCOUPS ⭑ judge ◢
I think that's it though? like, I don't think we have anything else we have to say?

◤ BAEKHYUN ⭑ judge ◢
nope! we got it all covered!

◤ BAMBAM ⭑ judge ◢
let's take our seats then!

the judges to to their tables and
split up. kiki xu, scoups and bambam
sit on one side with siyeon, solar
and baekhyun on the other.

almost immediately after the last
judge sits down the lights go out again.

◤ SEUNGJUN ⭑ independent ◢
wisphering to himself, I really wish they'd stop doing that...

◤ NYX ⭑ the l1ve ◢
wisphering, doing what?

◤ SEUNGJUN ⭑ independent ◢
wisphering, sorry! 

◤ NYX ⭑ the l1ve ◢
wisphering, nah nah, it's okay, just, what?

◤ SEUNGJUN ⭑ independent ◢
wisphering, I wish they'd stop it with the lights, I'm like... terrified of the dark...

◤ NYX ⭑ the l1ve ◢
wisphering, awh, that fucking sucks man... 

still cant believe i spelt whispering wrong like... 6/6 times...

a few seconds later, the lights were
turned back on. another line of people,
this time girls dressed in red, walk out
from the backstage area. iu, who's
now changed her outfit, join them as
they get into formation ...

https://youtu.be/e-X9VOOPw7s

in order of close up;
yeji — SEULGI
miyeon — JIHYO
minju — K LU
yujin — DAMI
wonyoung — IU

◤ HYUNWOO ⭑ woollim ◢
oh... my... god!

◤ HYUNWOO ⭑ woollim ◢
that was so good, oh my god!

◤ CHANGMIN ⭑ woollim ◢
calm down Hyuno...

◤ DAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
he's not wrong though...

◤ HYUNWOO ⭑ woollim ◢
thank you! what's your name, dearest stranger?

◤ DAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
Lee Daeho!

the rest of their conversation
remains a mystery as the video
cuts and shows the ending pose
of the performance.

iu bows to the trainees before
walking off to sit on her stool. the
rest of the performers then line up
and get ready to do their introductions.

◤ SEULGI ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Kang Seulgi of Red Velvet, and I use she/her pronouns!

◤ JIHYO ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm leader and main vocalist of TWICE, Park Jihyo! I also use she/her pronouns!

◤ K LU ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Lu Keran, a soloist as well as a member of Fanxyred and former member of THE9!
ㅤ( english )

◤ DAMI ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Dami, Lee Yubin, and I'm the main rapper of Dreamcatcher. I use she/her pronouns, but I don't really mind other pronouns being used.

the four mentors bow to the trainees
before walking off to the edge of the stage.
after a few moments of waiting another
line of people walks out through the
entrance area of the stage.

they bow to the trainees before
quietly getting into position and ...

https://youtu.be/1RWbWUYwaHc

in order of close up;
hoshi — LEE KNOW
dk — LOVE
seungkwan — JACOB
wonwoo — MINGHAO / THE8
vernon — CHANYEOL

◤ JAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
to himself, that's my hyung! you go!

◤ MINSU ⭑ yg ◢
your brother? which one of them?

◤ JAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
sorry, it... it doesnt matter...

◤ MINSU ⭑ yg ◢
it does matter though, you made me curious!

◤ JAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
uh, well... Lee Know is.. is my older brother...

◤ MINSU ⭑ yg ◢
oh, nice! 

◤ JAEHO ⭑ fantagio ◢
yeah, I guess! could you n—

their conversation is then cut off by
the loud cheering going on around them,
and the video goes back to focus
on the stage where the five performers
are getting ready to do their introductions.

◤ CHANYEOL ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Park Chanyeol, I use he/him pronouns and I'm the main rapper of the group EXO!

◤ LOVE ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Park Jisung, also known as Love, and I also use he/him pronouns!

◤ LEE KNOW ⭑ mentor ◢
And I'm Lee Minho, Lee Know of Stray Kids, and I use he/him pronouns! 

◤ JACOB ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Jacob Bae, member of The Boyz, and uh, my Korean name is Bae Joonyoung and I, too, use he/him pronouns! though I dont mind they/them, it's fine too!

◤ MINGHAO ⭑ mentor ◢
I'm Xu Minghao, THE8, of Seventeen, and my pronouns are he/him!

the previous batch of mentors
joins them in the middle of the stage,
and they split up into their separate branches.

◤ JACOB-LOVE-JIHYO ⭑ vocal mentors ◢
hello! we're the vocal mentors!

◤ CHANYEOL-KLU-DAMI ⭑ rap mentors ◢
hey-uh! we're the rap mentors!

◤ LINO-MINGHAO-SEULGI ⭑ dance mentors ◢
hi! we're the dance mentors!

they clap at each other, and
themselves, before continuing.

◤ JIHYO ⭑ vocal mentor ◢
we are here to help you throughout your stay here!

◤ CHANYEOL ⭑ rap mentor ◢
we are going to teach you things you might not know, and we're going to give you guys advice! 

◤ MINGHAO ⭑ dance mentor ◢
so basically, what this means, is that we're going to help you improve and we're going to try our best to make sure that all performances you do on here only get better!

◤ JIHYO ⭑ vocal mentor ◢
and please don't be scared to ask for help! we're here to teach you guys, and if you never ask for help we wont know where to start!

as the mentor teams bow to the
trainees, the lights flicker off and you
can barely make out the mentors walking
off to the sides of the stage as ...
someone new enters the stage. 

they have rather long hair and
it seems they're wearing a dress,
but it's too dark on the screen
to know for sure.

after a few moments of darkness,
the track for GASHINA by SUNMI
plays and the lights flicker back on.

the heart shaped part of the stage has
been risen up, but this time it's *way* higher
than it was during the hosts entrance.

and on the heart, we have sunmi and
like that... the performance is on.

as the song reaches it's end,
another person joins the stage.

they're dressed in a black suit,
and ... it's lee taemin

sunmi moves back a few steps, 
before taemin 'shoots' her again
and she 'falls' down on the heart. 

the music then switches, it goes from
gashina to MOVE by TAEMIN.

the performance held by the two
legends continues, taemin 
performing his song and sunmi
laying 'dead' on the heart feature.

towards the end of the song,
sunmi starts to sit up and shortly
after she jumps down from the
heart and she joins taemin.

https://youtu.be/A-mNbzZ7BSo

◤ ALEX ⭑ mld ◢
that... oh my god...

◤ SEUNGHYUN ⭑ starship ◢
I don't even know what to say, that was... so amazing...

◤ SOUL ⭑ yuehua ◢
it lowkey feels illegal to not have paid to watch this, damn

taemin and sunmi bow toward the
rows of trainees whilst catching their breaths.

◤ TAEMIN ⭑ stage mentor ◢
hello! I'm Lee Taemin of SHINee, my pronouns are he/him and I'm a stage presence mentor, slash judge

◤ SUNMI ⭑ stage mentor ◢
and hi! I'm Lee Sunmi, a soloist, and I use she/her pronouns

◤ SUNMI ⭑ stage mentor ◢
obviously, I'm also a stage presence mentor!

◤ TAEMIN ⭑ stage mentor ◢
we're here to both judge the hell out of you guys, and to help you guys! teach you how to get all eyes on you when you're on the stage, and to also make sure you know what you have to improve on.

◤ SUNMI ⭑ stage mentor ◢
this does mean that our judging might be a tiny bit biased, like since we've helped you guys we can't give the same level of judging that the actual judges can. but that doesnt mean that we're gonna go soft on you guys.

◤ TAEMIN ⭑ stage mentor ◢
just like all the rest of the cast, i really look forward to watching you improve!

◤ SUNMI ⭑ stage mentor ◢
good luck!

without leaving much time to waste
sunmi and taemin both walk
backstage, to supposedly return
to the mentors area or some changing room.

◤ SEULGI ⭑ dance mentor ◢
since we don't have anything else to really say, except a huge good luck and that we all look forward to helping you guys, we're also gonna go ahead and, just... go!

the mentors wave to the trainees
before following the stage mentors
back behind the stage.

as the last one of them, jacob,
goes out of sight the screen freezes
and it starts to load.

curse you, you shitty wifi!

▬ 💌 ▬

it feels a bit messy? but i hope you still like it hehe! honestly it feels like i completely lost what i had in mind for this chapter the more i wrote but oh well TwT

ALSO !!! THE KING!!! OF KPOP!!! IS BACK!!!!! you guyssssssssss fucking lEE TAEMIN!!! IS BACK!!!! HE'S HOME!!! our king is finally home, kpop is saved LHSDKGh

next up on my update schedule;;
i'll focus on the form for star lost and then, after that's posted, i'll probably work on oc profiles for strawberry ent together with part 3 hehehe

love you guys (like actually fr, it makes me so happy to get comments and just the votes too, cause that means you guys are yk like appreciating what im writing and everything... like, thank you!!!)