Chapter 2: Contact (Hyunjin POV)
First Posted On: 28th June 2021
Last Updated On: 28th June 2021
T/N: This takes place on 15th February 2020.
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Do not ask me how we ended up split into teams for a team-bonding activity.
But if you must know, manager-nim thought it would be a good idea to prepare us for all the offers for variety and talk show appearances with the release of our comeback song 'So What'. Yes, we are back singing to the fans again after a somewhat tumultuous 2019. Needless to say the fandom was ecstatic with our comeback.
Honestly, I wasn't too bothered by the struggles (for obvious reasons). Despite being the quiet one on camera and the less prominent member in the MV, I usually spend more time communicating with Orbits through our fancafe and Twitter. At this stage, our international fans at least deserved this after waiting for us all this while.
Anyway, we were in our practice room, and in our sub-units of 1/3, Odd Eye Circle (OEC) and yyxy, we would be having a golden bell quiz organised by manager-nim himself. We enjoyed his quizzes because of the 'buzzer' we needed to do to get a chance at answering the questions. Although, when it comes to lyrics...I flounder.
"Clearly OEC will win," Choerry boasted before facing Kim Lip. "We got a brain with broad shoulders!"
Before Kim Lip could be triggered, Gowon rebutted saying, "Well if the buzzer is to do aegyo, we will get the chance to steal your answers because we have a strong ENFP in Kim Jiwoo ssi!"
As if to prove that point, Chuu unnie squeaked like a mouse. So much for flexing aegyo and high notes from this ENFP.
"Ah but it could be stretching as a buzzer," Yeojin guessed. "Thankfully we got Heejin unnie."
And bunny-ssi decided to show off her firm arm muscles at that moment.
"I pity you if the buzzer is touching the ceiling," Olivia Hye nonchalantly commented on Yeojin's challenge, which made Yeojin pout.
Finally, our manager calmed us down and told us the quiz topics. They included general knowledge, missing lyrics, choreography, and our members' new TMI. Personally, I am confident in general knowledge, especially if it has anything to do with cats and bread. Totally not a coincidence.
Sadly, manager-nim knew this and decided to ask Geography questions on countries and capitals. Weird things like the capital of Haseul's filming location...I mean you cannot expect me to guess Rej- no, Reyk- ugh...
"Reykjavik (레이캬비크)?" ViVi tried to correct me. "The words aren't that complicated..."
"Genius Korean language master indeed," I teased her.
In the end, OEC swept the general knowledge section thanks to Kim Lip. Thankfully the next section is supposed to be easier for Yeojin because she knows a lot of songs, even the non-Korean ones.
"...therefore we will play video clips or show screenshots of people singing and you need to guess the line that comes after!" our manager chuckled.
"EYYY~!" all of us groaned at his sneaky style of questions.
"That's cheating!" Jinsoul retorted.
"Bring it on, manager-nim!" Yves challenged.
"Calm down unnie..." Chuu laughed. "Your choreography section is next save your energy for that."
The first two questions in this section came and went. Yeojin guessed the very complicated 'Abracadabra' by Brown Eyed Girls sunbaenim and Choerry got the answer for Zico sunbaenim's 'Any Song' (mainly because the buzzer was touching the ceiling, as Olivia Hye predicted). At last, it was time for the third question.
"The question is based on a paused video," manager-nim explained as the video flashed up on the projector. "What song is this girl singing?"
And for some reason, I almost thought that was me playing the piano when I sang my solo 'Around You' four years ago.
Heejin must have thought the same because she cried out, "Oh oh, she looks like Kim Hyunjin over here."
"Now you say it," Gowon chimed in, "she really does."
As the other members agreed, I remained silent again. Something in the back of my mind was bothering me...she seemed familiar but why did it not feel like it at the same time?
"Anyway," manager-nim got our attention again. "The buzzer this time is to sing any song's high note-"
"YES!" Chuu unnie rejoiced.
"...in English!" manager-nim teased. This made Kim Jiwoo hide behind Ha Sooyoung (Yves) unnie in embarrassment.
Problem for our English song expert Yeojin was she is not good at singing high notes without proper warming up of her vocals. I, on the other hand, could hit high notes well with my soft voice.
Let's see...what English songs do I know that have a prominent high-note...?
"But manager-nim," Jinsoul unnie begged, "can we not let Hyunjin sing Frozen™ for once if she wants to answer?"
Dang it.
"I'll allow that. It seems like you left her flustered," manager-nim glanced at me.
So...I guess I had to pull out my other card. I shouted my name and prepared to do the buzzer action to answer. Here goes nothing...
"HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE~!" I sang in my best Adele impression. That got a round of applause from the members and our manager.
"And I would even go as far as saying that what I just sang is my answer!" I proclaimed. "It is the missing lyrics for 'Hello' by Adele!"
"D-d-daebak..." manager-nim froze. "You actually did the buzzer and answered the question all at once!"
Needless to say Heejin, Yeojin and ViVi were speechless. Suddenly I became an MVP for 1/3 and all I did was sing a chorus... How did I manage that?!
That must have spurred our team on because we swept up the remaining questions for missing lyrics. As for the other sections, yyxy dominated choreography and TMI thanks to Yves unnie, meaning they took the win overall for the quiz.
Manager-nim rewarded us with a break before we headed for our next schedule at Inkigayo. As usual, the members chatted amongst themselves, but I was drawn to the laptop where the quiz was screened. I managed to find the video of that girl who was playing the piano. Sure enough, she did sing 'Hello' by Adele, with an amazing voice may I add.
Scrolling down, I realised it was uploaded by the Youtube Channel 'PlayM Girls'. Seems like they are preparing for a debut sometime this year. I checked their channel and found their latest video and decided to watch it. It was your typical behind-the-scenes video as they chatted among themselves until it came to the part where some of them danced to 'love4eva' by our yyxy sub-unit. Piano girl was not there though, and amidst all this, I still did not know her name.
It was time for us to head out for our schedule. But piano girl was still bugging me. What is it about her that I needed to know? Then again, it might be a wild guess...
...but maybe she knows something about my life before captivity?
Stop it Kim Hyunjin. You keep telling yourself to leave the past behind and focus on the here and now! LOONA is your home now.
Although I have to admit piano girl has a lot of potential for her debut. I wondered if she has a personality? Hmm...I should watch more of the group's videos after our schedule later.
And maybe, I should get her a gift to support her?
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A/N: It's Hyunjin's first encounter with this piano girl, and it seems she admires the girl's vocals and piano playing skills. I wonder what gift will Hyunjin prepare?
In my typical fanfic style, I am starting things off mellow yet mysterious while trying to closely reimagine real-life events (in this case the PlayM Girls tape). Honestly, I am not too familiar with LOONA members' personalities beyond some of their LOONA TV clips and memes. Obviously, I'm a little biased towards Hyunjin, my favourite member, so bear with me on this.
This chapter coincides with the release of LOONA's 'Paint The Town' MV, which you can watch here:
Yeah I'm still reeling in from all that just happened in the MV. It's really good~ AND HASEUL IS BACK!
And don't worry, Weeekly is finally going to feature in the next chapter.
Vote + Comment ~ !