rua is so sweet, offering solutions to problems lili was probably making bigger than they actually were. it’s to a point that lili felt the need to further whine, arms winding around the other, almost leaning on her, as she groans — the workshop had been fun but the evaluation was truly going to be the death to her and her creativity (and she severely lacked in that department), “ughhhhhh, why can’t we just go on shows together — i wish this evaluation was a paired thing, at least, if you were by my side i wouldn’t feel as weird about making a fool of myself.”
and it was the truth.
looking dumb by herself was one thing — but doing it together, at least it shaved off some of the embarrassment.
then she pauses, pulling back to give rua a look. “please tell me you are not seriously thinking of stuffing your mouth full of marshmallows on national television as a form of entertainment.” she frowns, shaking her head, rua was much too good for this industry. “if i can be cool, you can be cool too.”
rua had a point, she could just be super competitive and witty and cool in that way but did lili want her public persona to be that of a cool girl? hadn’t she wanted to be someone so far off from her regular persona a la double life?
་ ⸼ ⸒ ✴ previously、
rua pauses drinking the water and blinks at lili's words for a moment before slowly nodding. "i think, anyways...?" she caps her bottle and places it next to her before thinking. "astrid sunbae seemed to think me being able to fit a lot of big marshmallows in my mouth was a good talent but i have a hard time calling it a special skill, you know?" it felt a bit silly to, honestly, but she supposes that is probably expected when it comes to variety shows. "i might just go with that," she shrugs, still a bit unsure herself. at the same time, it's not like she had many other potential skills she could use that would also be possibly entertaining.
"i guess anything can be turned into a special skill or talent, in a way," rua says after hearing lili's concerns and mulling them over, trying to recall what she had learned from the workshop and how you can find surprise so-called 'talents' from the most minor and random things. "like how did me being bored one day and deciding to try stuffing my mouth with marshmallows after seeing the chubby bunny challenge becoming a trend become something i could use for a variety show?" rua laughs because she never would've guessed that random moment would come in handy at a time like this.
an idea suddenly hits her at that moment though and she sits up straighter like something had physically struck her. "oh! but you're a good dancer right? that could be your talent too! it doesn't always have to be something funny... you could just be cool, too?"
it's then that she remembers something else from the workshops and decides to bring it up just in case it might help the other. "you could also just go the route of being witty and clever, and bantering with the cast and other guests on a show, instead of just focusing on a specific skill to show off... or maybe just being super competitive if its a show or segment with missions and games," rua suggests as she mentally goes down the list of shows she's watched in the past and what she's fund personally entertaining while watching them.
the problem with lili was her ego.
in this business, it proved to be her make it or break it point and for lili, she could not sacrifice herself to the masses just for a few laughs — it was below her. she loved herself far too much to make herself look dumb just to receive her awaited fifteen minutes of fame. no — she was far too talented for such a thing.
( at least, that was how lili often viewed variety-dols ; sacrificing their sanity in exchange for the automated laugh machine, it was something lili could never bring herself to do )
thankfully, she found a kindred spirit in rua — her tears ( there were no tears ) and complaints not falling on deaf ears as someone who shared lili’s very same sentiments. if anything, if lili wanted to be funny — she would find her dry humor fanatics on her own; unfortunately, dry humor did not make for amusing national entertainment.
she looks to rua then, almost begrudgingly saying do i have to before nodding, tossing her notebook to the floor and straightening up where she had been slouched — appalling lack of poise aside — lili had been stressed out over this workshop.
“wait, wait, wait — have you already decided what skill you’re going to do? ugh — i can only go so far as using korean as my second language as funny but i don’t know what skill i have other than that and that can’t be called a skill, could it?” maybe she was overthinking it, overstressing — the workshops of the past hadn’t been this hard. lili had put her head into it and ran through it with the determination of a bull. this, this, couldn’t be handled with the same ease.
་ ⸼ ⸒ ✴ a closed workshop starter for @lgclili、
rua honestly had some doubts about her variety potential; she didn't see herself as particularly funny, naturally or otherwise, nor was she super willing to make a fool of herself in the name of entertainment if it came down to that. sure, she could be sociable and wouldn't shy away from conversing with someone older or more senior than her in the industry but the possibility of still being boring is very real.
however, she supposes that's exactly why she was put into this workshop to begin with - to change that. was she improving though? rua wasn't quite sure but at least she wasn't alone. she looks over at lili next to her and finds it funny that they're practicing for their final evaluation together because it was like the blind leading the blind. they were trying, don't get them wrong, but nothing felt right and neither of them felt confident enough about their variety talent to point themselves in the right direction.
"okay, maybe we need to try pretending we're in a specific variety show?" rua suggests, plopping on to the floor of a practice room they had managed to reserve and grabbing her water bottle nearby to take a drink from. even if they weren't dancing, rua has to admit that she feels most comfortable here, as opposed to using something like a meeting room or elsewhere to practice. "one of us can pretend to be a mc and the other a guest, and then we'll switch roles?"