Realistic or Modern RI8T

[Arabella Cauwell]

RI8T

Title: RI8T
Fandom: Kpop OC’s
Main Pairing: MXM
Ara’s Chara’s: Kim Ki Moon, Phassakorn Anurak, Choi Ho-jun, and Moon Young Hee.
JooheoniesDimples Chara’s: Yoo Jin Woo, Kang Jae Min, Park Hwi Yeol, and Park Dae Yeon.
Place: Seoul
Summary: A new Kpop group is formed beginning a tale of friendship, romance, and the pursuit of dreams.



~

Kim Ki Moon was nervous as he made his way to the doors of X Entertainment. This was it, his time to show the world what he had. To become a real rapper, rather than a poser. But he wasn’t as confident as he may have looked on the outside, and there was something daunting about the building before him.

Opening the doors he felt like an imposter. He wished that some of his friends had been signed with him. Sang-hyun would have made him smile and feel at home, but here he had no one. Of course he could have had his brother there, but he didn’t think that would make the best impression. A grown man needing his older brother to walk him in? Ki Moon would rather have died.

Thinking he was being silly he decided he needed to think happy thoughts. Like about his bike, which was parked with his helmet in the parking garage. He smiled a little at that, as he went up to the front desk and softly explained who he was and was directed on where to go. The secretary looked a little nervous so Ki didn’t stay long. He had his usual biker look, white t-shirt, ripped jeans, and guyliner around his eyes. He’d always felt his clothing style was like his armor, protecting others from getting in to see the full version of him. But because of that he could end up leaving some pretty interesting impressions. You had to be pretty good at analyzing to read between the lines to the softness of Ki’s heart.

But there wasn’t time for such things as the elevator opened and he tentatively walked in. He was glad he was early, since he wanted to make a good impression. He was excited to meet the rest of his band mates, but also a touch nervous. What if he didn’t get along with someone? Or they didn’t like him? Would they have to disband?

He slapped his own bicep to stop the negative thoughts, earning a frightened look from a couple of women employees and a strange look from a man. His face flushed a little before the door stopped on his floor and he rushed out, perhaps seeming a bit rude in doing so. His face turning serious he walked to the room printed on the paper he was given.

Ki took one last deep breath before he opened it, and there he came face to face with a calm looking muscular guy. He glanced behind him, before steeling himself and walking in, thrusting his hand out almost robotically at the other guy, who stood up as he’d gotten closer.

The other guy was big, tall as well as muscular and had he not seemed so calm and friendly Ki might have been intimidated. Not that he’d show it,

“Hey I’m Kim Ki Moon,” Ki said happy that he sounded stable, “and you are?”

The muscular man smiled at him and returned the others handshake, but engulfing them in his own big hands,

“Phassakorn Anurak, but you can call me Pha or Korn, it’s nice to meet you.”

----

Phassakorn Anurak had been very excited when he had first gotten to Korea after his call back, but it did present a few concerns. Although he was pretty good at Korean, it was not his first language, and even his English he’d have to say was more proficient . In his own country Thai was spoken mostly and English was learned in school, but he’d had to work at Korean on his own. Thankfully he had been into some of the dramas when learning acting so it helped with pronunciation…still he was sure it would be obvious that he wasn’t a native speaker and he might miss some things, but thankfully dance would need the least communication skills of the group, and he should be able to keep up with most of the topics…but it still made him nervous.

Although he had chosen it there was something unfair in how he imagined most of his new bandmates would be nervous, but nothing compared to his scale. He was the one who couldn’t even be in the same time zone as family, who would have little to nothing familiar surrounding him, would really have nothing but the band for the foreseeable future. It made him suddenly lonely as he sat in the back of the car on the way to X Entertainment to meet his bandmates for the first time.

He knew he should be the earliest, since it was way before the time. Pha had pretty much just gotten off the plane and got into the car, his immediate things packed into two suitcases, a backpack, and a shoulder bag as allotted to him on the plane. He’d send for more once he was settled. He’d had the option of getting changed and dropping his things off at a hotel, but he didn’t think it was necessary considering he was going to be given some kind of housing with the group once they were all together. So he brought his things along, confusing the people around him as he lifted most of it with his right arm, two suitcases and a backpack, as he used his left to open doors and go through.

The receptionist gave him a place to store his things, for now out of the way, before guiding him personally to the room he was to meet his group members in and turning on the light. He sat in one of the chairs given, facing the door, his foot tapping nervously on the floor. After a good twenty minutes he felt calm in the room, and that happened to be when one of his future bandmates walked in and put his hand out to shake it.

Pha immediately reacted in kind, slightly amused by how big his hand was comparatively. It made him smile and helped so that he could give his hello calmly. He told the other boy his name and they began to chat. Apparently the other guy was very into motorbikes, since he brought it up soon afterwards. Pha had ridden on them for some parts and upon occasion, though they weren’t his favorite mode of transportation they did look good, which he expressed. He’d had quite a few amazing photoshoots in front of such machines.

They talked of other things too. Pha explained that he was from Thailand and was mostly cast for his visuals and dancing ability. The man named Ki Moon told of his band and how he’d been signed for his rapping ability. Some of which on both sides had to be expressed by physical action when Pha or Ki couldn’t understand a word or two that came up. But it was an easy talk besides the verbal constraints. It was easy to see the two would get along just fine.

After some time Pha suddenly noticed that someone was standing in the doorway against the frame watching them. He tilted his head. The man in front of him seemed like he could have possibly worked in the building or maybe he was another bandmate. It was hard to tell, because there was such an intelligence in the other man’s eyes and something that Pha could not place, and even if he could would not have known the Korean name for.

“Sorry I did not see you there. I’m Phassakorn Anurak, Pha or Korn if it’s easier, and this is Kim Ki Moon, may I ask your name?” he questioned.

The man leaning against the door frame smirked a little before he said,

“You may ask anything you like, but I may not answer,” the man teased before answering anyway, “I’m Choi Ho-jun at your service, and anyone else’s who pays my bills or helps to do so.”

Pha thought he seemed a bit…suspicious, but he wasn’t worried. Artists generally were a bit eccentric, and a Kgroup was pretty much a collection of eccentricities, wasn’t it?

--

Unlike the nervous Kim Ki Moon or the homesick Phassakorn Anurak, Choi Ho-jun was fine when he entered. He was on time, perhaps just slightly early, as he’d wanted time to discuss the subject of payment and room availability before having to rush up and meet, the assumedly ragtag group that would magically form a friendship even though they were pretty much thrown together on the whim of a talent agent and a producer. Or at least pretend that was how it worked anyway.

Ho-Jun was a skeptic at best, but considering his alternatives, all of none at the moment, he was willing to give it a shot. He also had read up on contract laws and knew how much was enforceable and what was not. Either way free housing sounded delightful all on his own and he was not going to do anything to ruin such a sweet deal. He would use this Idol opportunity to gain enough money to invest for later on in his life, so that he would never end up in a situation like his father before him.

Actually he had every intention of doing what he had to do to earn money while being an idol. Even if it didn’t work out long term, just having been one would be enough clout to have quite the business of side jobs. But the best option would be to help RI8T become one of the biggest groups in the business, thus insuring sponsored deals, which would in turn garner fame, money, and free products to test. Then he could invest in the products that he himself endorsed and gain money on both sides. But until they became too famous for it he had every intention of sneaking out to do odd jobs and earn money. He’d read the contract and understood he couldn’t do anything too attention grabbing as a side job, but there were loopholes and he fully intended to exploit them.

But first he had to meet the rest of the group, figure out who would be helpful, if there were any snitches, who could keep their mouth shut, that sort of thing. And so he made it a point to meet up as instructed.

The receptionist began to write down the location in the building, but Ho Jun shook his head telling her not to bother, because he’d remember. And remember he did, figuring out where it was quite easily. There were only two guys there so far, and they hadn’t spotted him when he’d first propped open the door, so he decided to watch and pick up any information he might be able to get without working too hard off of the two. He listened in and stored details for later until the bigger of the two noticed him and drew him into conversation.

The slightly more bad boy looking one of the two also greeted him. He wasn’t necessarily interested in chatting and giving too much away, but he did his best to appear to still be in the conversation. After all they were partially his meal tickets and he knew how fans worked. They were going to have to get comfortable with each other pretty soon in order to accommodate the people who would make or break them. The fans.

When necessary he chimed in, otherwise he spent part of his attention on the door. He was curious who else would join and whether he would be the least muscular in the group or not. It wouldn’t matter either way. He would play the role the company wanted him to. If they wanted a strong him they’d get it with enough nutrients and trips to the gym, if they wanted him to appear weak he would play it up. Whatever it took to keep a roof over his head, food in his stomach, and a paycheck in the bank he would do. He wasn’t sure if the average person would find that admirable or objectionable, but it didn’t matter. He would be what he had to in order to survive, that’s what he’d always done.

Ho Jun heard a sound outside the door and clapped his hands together,

“Ah it sounds like lucky bachelor number four is about to arrive.” He said, grabbing a chair, flipping it backwards and sitting on it so that his chin could rest on the top of the back part, waiting to see who was next and to guestimate what role the company would have for him.

 

[JooheoniesDimples]

The halls of X Entertainment weren't anything new to the long time trainee, Yoo Jinwoo. But, this day was much different than his normal day to day. He was finally debuting and with a group rather than as a duo. The best part was that the CEO had even let him know they would be using a majority of his songs.

The tattooed male couldn't contain his smile as he thought about Korea, no, the world hearing his voice. Hearing what his thoughts were and relating with him. Jinwoo had been training with the company since he was sixteen. He'd sold some of his songs for royalties to other singers and even competed in a couple competitions. However, he didn't last long with the competition as he wasn't the ideal type for a Korean idol.

He waved to the receptionist, Miss Lee, as he walked past. He had already been made aware of where to report the day before. After the quick ride in the elevator, Jinwoo felt his body shake with the excitement of meeting his new group members. They would be the new family, essentially.

With a backpack slung over his shoulder, his most precious belonging inside, the brunette made his way in the conference room. "Hello~" Jinwoo paused, looking at the three guys. "I'm Yoo Jinwoo.." He smiled briefly, his eyes scanning each member already there. There was a slightly edgy vibe with one, manly with the next and the third.. seemed different. Jinwoo couldn't really get a good reading on him. "I look forward to working with you all."

Jinwoo took a seat relaxing somewhat after shaking the hands of the others. Jinwoo wasn't the most sociable person out there nor was he sure on the best way to interact with the other three. Glances didn't do much, though that was all he could do. Looking from member to member. Just as he was opening his mouth to initiate some small talk to get a feel for the others, a loud and cheerful voice bounced around the room.

Park Hwi Yeol was so ready! When he and Yeonie ended up getting scouted at the last competition and then offered the audition, he was ecstatic. The two had held each other for a good five minutes after the news that they were going to be in X Entertainment's newest boy group. They were so shocked and in awe, all they could do was hug each other. He was so anxious the night before however. Yeonie had been reading his book, quietly, as they waited for their ride to the company, whereas Hwi Yeol was pacing, bouncing and aggressively messing with his hair.

Normally, anxiousness didn't just dissipate, however the closer they got to X Entertainment's building, the less nervous he was and the more excited he became. Grabbing his brother's hand, the two walked into the building that was going to bring them into stardom. The sweet sounding receptionist wrote down directions for them, which was good since the twins seemed to have a non-existent sense of direction. "It's happening, Yeonie.. Don't be nervous." He said quietly in the elevator, his grip tightening slightly for a moment before his smile picked up and he bounded down the all as the directions stated to do.

"I knew we'd find the room!" A happy grin was on the pink haired males face as he slipped into the room seeing four others. His gaze instantly drawn to one in particular. The guy in makeup was absolutely Hwi Yeol's type. The rebellious type. "Well aren't you the hottest thing since sliced bread." He said, openly staring at the other.

"Park Hwi Yeol! Ah.. I'm sorry, He just says whatever comes to mind.." The taller twin hurriedly apologized for his older brother. The dark haired twin looked down nervously before bowing, " I'm Park Dae Yeon and this is my too blunt brother." Hwi Yeol raised an eyebrow at the younger, a frown lacing his lips when the other forced him into a bow. "Park Hwi Yeol. Totally not sorry about that initial comment, Hot Stuff." He grinned at the other sending over a wink.

After the run in with Hwi Yeol's uncontrollable mouth, Dae Yeon flopped into a chair next to a tattooed guy that was practically hugging his bag. The younger looked across the table to the one Yeolie wouldn't leave alone. "Give him an hour, tops, his brain will be elsewhere." He explained, a sorry expression written all over his face as his older brother flirted shamelessly more and more.

"Give me an hour and we could be somewhere else." The pink haired boy eluded, quickly gaining the full attention of Dae Yeon's glare.

"Please, give them some time to understand your insanity." The brunette twin begged, quietly. Dae Yeon was never as good as talking to new people as Hwi Yeol and he half expected the older to begin the actual conversation for them all though the elder was too busy with his googly eyes at his members. Pulling his book from his back pocket, Dae Yeon found a bit of solice, only leaving the pages to scold his older brother as they all waited for their final two members.

Kang Jaemin was probably one of the most unlikely people in all of the entertainment industry to debut as an idol. Sure, he was handsome and had a background in acting but, there were many who thought that he had been lip syncing in that drama a few years ago. It had always been something that had weighed heavily on his shoulders and pushed him to want to debut. And, now at twenty-four, the blonde was mainly just worried about how much younger his members were going to be. He was most likely to be the oldest, but it was his time to show off the natural vocals he truly had.

As he entered the company that had signed him on for this group, he smiled at the receptionist he had met earlier that week when he signed his new contract. After being told the room was the same as the room he signed the contract, Jaemin made his way there. A nervous jittering feeling was running up his spine. The feeling that hadn't been present in years.. He was just meeting his new members.. Some people that he would more than likely start living with. Sleeping with, eating with, performing with.. His whole life would be filled with these new people and he had no say. It was get over it or give up the dream.

Jaemin put on a brave smile, urging his feet to move. The moment he took in the faces of the others, he waved, "Hello everyone, I'm Kang Jaemin. Call me Jae." A bow accompanied his introduction before the blonde made his way around, shaking the hands of the others. "I'm guessing I'm the old man of this group?" He laughed, a nerve filled smile shining through. He just hoped the others weren't too upset with debuting with the actor that 'can't really sing.'

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

Phassakorn Anurak was the first one to move, sticking his hand out politely to shake hands with the man called Jinwoo, but it was Kim Ki Moon who introduced them all to the new comer, he also took into account the other words and decided to speak for the collective group from before,

“We also look forward to working with you as well.” Ki Moon said politely, as Choi Ho-jun cheekily added,

“I look forward to earning a paycheck with you all.”

Ki Moon rolled his eyes, but he was actually a bit amused with the other man’s antics, but soon he would find that Choi Ho-jun’s actions would pale in comparison to one Park Hwi Yeol. No sooner had the boy entered the room and Ki Moon had glanced at him, only to be stared at blatantly. He honestly couldn’t even process the first compliment he was given, since it was so abrupt and Ki Moon couldn’t even imagine such directness particularly about the topic at hand. But by the apology of the twin brother his face was beginning to tinge pink in embarrassment. He was shocked that the boy could say something so direct about such a taboo interest. But then he nearly short circuited when he was told that he wasn’t sorry about his initial comment and then referred to him as hot stuff.

To be honest he didn’t mean to use Pha as a shield, but it ended up that way. In lieu of a handshake he merely stuck his head out, nodded a short greeting bow, and mumbled his own name, while hiding behind Pha.

“Kim Ki Moon.”

Pha was a bit confused that he was being used as a barrier, but didn’t want to make it more awkward, so he introduced himself and pretended that there wasn’t a grown man kind of hiding behind him,

“ Phassakorn Anurak, but you can call me Pha or Korn.” He repeated again. He thought it might make more sense to do so when everyone was there, but he didn’t want to seem rude.

Ki Moon thought he could handle the other twin a lot better. Maybe he could talk to that one when he needed information to go to the other. But at the mention that it could take an hour for the other boy to stop flirting with him, his eyes widened. He wasn’t quite sure he could make it an hour, especially if the sensible twin was planning on reading a book, and the interested one was potentially considering kidnapping him.

“I’d rather stay here.” Ki Moon said softly, but gently.

Then it struck him that maybe Park Hwi Yeol was just teasing him and he was taking it too seriously. The other clearly had a bubbly personality. So he took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. That had to be it. After all no one in their right mind would just comfortably hit on some guy they just met in South Korea. It had to be a joke and he was probably the one making it weird, especially when the saner twin said to the younger that they had to get used to his insanity, so he did his best to stand a little bit to the side from Pha, but still behind him just in case it was a trap,

“It’s nice to meet you both.”

Choi Ho-jun thought it was both great and hilarious, so he decided to say so,

“Finally someone else who can help entertain the masses,” he said putting his arms out in a comedic and dramatic manner, “I’m Choi Ho Jun, and before you came it was like pulling teeth to get these people to talk, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.” He insisted, mostly to the more energetic, flirty twin as the other had started to read.

With Kim Ki Moon being wary and Ho Jun happy to have someone else entertaining in the room, that left Pha to be the first person to meet and greet Jaemin when he entered. He was surprised when the other called himself the old man of the group, he didn’t look too much older than himself, but maybe he was just trying to break any tension that may have been there. In case it was the latter when Pha shook his hand and introduced himself he made sure to add,

“I’m twenty three, so I have a decent amount of life experience myself.”

Ki Moon added, “Hey, I’m twenty three too.” He felt some camaraderie towards the other man his age from before so maybe it was that. Plus he made a nice barrier. He thought he’d get along well with the muscle man as Hojun chimed in,

“Twenty-two.”

Two out of the three didn’t know about Jae’s reputation. Phassakorn wasn’t even from the same country and didn’t pay close enough attention to Kdramas to have known. Kim Ki Moon had always focused on his own music as well as American and Asian rap music, so he didn’t know about Jae. All that left was Hojun, who had managed to get some information on pretty much all of the members there.

Hojun was after all quite invested in the future of the band. It was his first shot at being free from the influence of his father and he would be damned if it would be the last. He knew things, like that Jaebum was a wild card, in one sense, and Ki Moon was a different one. He’d have to wait longer to see if they’d be a hindrance or a help. For now he stuck to just observing. There would be time for contemplation later.

“I guess that leaves just one more,” Ho Jun said in anticipation, being particularly interested in seeing if some of the rumors were true about their final member, “I wonder what’s keeping him.”

--

Moon Young Hee was running very late for four reasons.

For one thing he was notorious for it, due to being a big sleeper and procrastinator. In fact, quite often his brothers or parents pretty much had to drag him out of bed to get him to get anywhere and they did. Sometimes they even pretty much carried him to the car and woke him up on the way. While he enjoyed the extra sleep he was not a fan of doing his beauty regimen away from his vanity at home.

Which brings us to the second reason, his beauty regimen. Moon Young Hee had spent a lot of time in front of the mirror trying to get the perfect balance in between beautiful and handsome. He was naturally good looking, but he still used products to enhance himself and between brushing and styling his long hair, picking out the perfect outfit for the day, and his makeup, it took time. Yo always believed that showing up late and disheveled was worse than fashionably late and making it up with ones face, or at least getting away with it due to ones face.

The third reason was not within his control and had something to do with the second reason, and the fourth reason, getting lost, was somewhat do to the third reason as well. Young Hee was pretty sure that what happened to him was a rare situation, but he wasn’t sure how he could explain it to his new bandmates, or anyone really.

You see, when he arrived, already late but not terribly so he had gone up to the counter too and asked politely where he was supposed to go. Due to sleepiness he couldn’t remember all of the information so he just informed the woman behind the desk that he was here as a part of the new group. The woman nodded, typing on the computer in front of her, before handing him a room number and vaguely explaining where it was. He nodded and thanked her as he tried to follow the directions she’d said, heading straight to the elevator.

After a few minutes he began to feel that something was off, but he had a terrible sense of direction, so he thought it could be his own issue. After some confusion and asking around about where the room number was he eventually found its location and let out a relieved sigh.

Until he entered the room only to find all girls. He looked at the girls around him stunned. Had he gotten the wrong room after all? Backtracking he checked the number but it was still 325. But he was pretty sure it was an all boys group and the only boy there was him.

“Excuse me,” he asked the room, “is this room 325, where the new boy band is supposed to meet?”

The girls looked at each other confused before one girl shook her head and said,

“This is the girl side although we are about to form a new band too. I think the boys are a floor down, but I’m sorry I don’t know the room number.”

Young Hee apologized for taking up their time and closed the door behind him before taking a minute to breathe and think, before turning towards the elevator again and going down a floor. He realized the problem at the same time the elevator doors opened and his face reddened.

The receptionist had thought he was a girl.

That was the only explanation for how he’d ended up at that exact room. It would not have been the first time that he had been mistaken as a girl in his lifetime, but it was still embarrassing and he didn’t think he’d be able to explain to his new band mates why he ended up there super later than anyone else. Not that they wouldn’t have to get used to him being generally late unless dragged as it was, but he’d have liked to make at least a somewhat favorable impression.

Having no idea what room number they were in Young Hee had to ask pretty much everyone in the hall until finally one seemed to know. Room 225 they said and Yo was relieved. He thanked them profusely and then raced past unnecessary numbers until at last he found where they were supposed to be. When he got in front of the door he checked himself in a hand mirror fixing some rouge strands of hair since he’d run despite the styling. Then he opened the door,

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he began upon entering, running his fingers through his hair to calm himself, “I’m afraid it was partially due to miscommunication.”

He looked around at the men in the room and then decided that he may have to turn on his angelic look if he wanted to ensure that he wasn’t yelled at. So he beamed at them, sending out angelic vibes as he added,

“Moon Young Hee at your service,” he began before adding, “but my friends call me Yo.”