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Jeung Yoonchae is a korean woman. She was born in Korea and grew up in Seoul.
Growing up, she just had a simple dream that she knew would be hard to achieve: becoming a k-pop idol. Now, she didn’t really expect for the k-pop part to take a turn, but it did. Now, she’s a global idol in a global girl group with the best sisters she could ask for; all because she was brave enough to walk on that plane that she could only get on through her passion and perseverance.
It’s great in KATSEYE, with fans cheering for them from all around the globe, being individually represented by the members. It gave a sense of purpose to Yoonchae, and it always made her happy seeing young fans feel supported from just their existence, whether they were dealing with their mental health, racism, sexuality…
She still remembers that one fan from Cannes who said they saved her life. She had never thought to live past 19, and there she was, cheering on her favorite girl group. Yoonchae was about to cry right then and there, who would’ve stopped her?
It was amazing, all of this but.. she’s always felt some sense of dread?.. It’s all confusing, she doesn’t know why it happens, it’s just there at random moments. She’s always pushed this feeling aside, so for now everything will be fine until it comes again and Yoonchae will still do nothing about it.
Yoonchae has korean ideals. Not necessarily like that but.. she’s certainly more conservative than the americans: she’s less touchy, more quiet and reserved next to the others who were talking their mouths off, and she never understood their jokes.
She’s never really delved into the topic of homosexuality, as she never really found it important. I mean, you love who you love, it’s simple right?
Growing up in South Korea, a conservative country who never really accepted homosexuality, she didn’t really know any.. gay people. If she did, they were probably closeted and decided to just not come out to her for some reason. She’s never thought about anybody around her possibly liking the same gender, and never thought about herself being the same.
Until she joined Dream Academy, she hadn’t experienced a coming out first-hand. She ended up finding out that just a bit more than a quarter of the contestants actually liked women. Well, it wasn’t really surprising, considering this is the first time Yoonchae had seen so many pretty people in the same room with her very own eyes. It’s not weird that some of them would like other women.
She never found a problem with it whenever they came out, slowly and surely. She understood, she nodded, and then didn’t speak on it, because their sexuality didn’t change how Yoonchae saw them. They’re the same people, she just knew more about them.
Lara was the first to come out to them during Dream Academy. She remembers. It was during Mission 2, when they were in the same group with Sophia and Emily.
Sophia knew first. Most of the contestants, including Yoonchae, viewed Sophia as a safe space during this treacherous time, so she understood Lara for coming out to her bestest friend before the rest of them.
She remembers. They had all given their immediate support, praising her for being brave enough and trusting them enough to tell them. They were calm, not giving any pressure, and definitely not homophobic.
Yoonchae however felt like she couldn’t breathe, a pressure deep in her chest which only comes from those invisible strings that had been cut before she even knew they were there.
She hoped she hadn’t looked stupid then, eyes distant with thoughts Yoonchae didn’t even remember. She just remembers Lara’s words, and the feeling that came after. This pride for her teammate that had just come out to her with the courage she worked up with Sophia. But there was also an emptiness that was introduced, a part of her previously locked finally open but nothing in it.
Like she was missing something that her heart recognized in that second, but her brain never understood, even practically 2 years after that.
Megan Meiyok Skiendiel is an american girl. She’s half chinese-singaporean and half swedish-american, born in Hawaii.
Growing up, she had a lot of.. side-quests, as she and the eyekons liked to call it. As a child, she used to model, act, and dance; she grew up for this opportunity to be in KATSEYE, and she took it.
She is one of Jeung Yoonchae’s favorite unnies, maybe her most favorite one. Sure, they had rough patches, such as The Great Meichae Beef (capitalized for dramatization) back when they were preparing for their Debut MV, but Megan wasn’t exactly the type to deal with her mental problems safely. She knows Megan grew up with anxiety, and even panic disorder, and got homeschooled due to her dyslexia, and primarily the worry that she could get bullied at school after her diagnosis.
Megan is bisexual. She quite openly is. She is proud of it, and she should be! She admitted she doubted herself more than Lara did, and that it wasn’t simple labeling herself, but that she’s happiest now that she knows who she is.
So, Yoonchae’s happy for Megan too! She truly is. She’s always liked Megan, so her sexuality didn’t change anything.
She keeps thinking about how she and Megan managed to actually become friends through everything that’s happened. She assumes it’s just the shared trauma bond, but Megan’s always been gentle with her, cautious with her boundaries until Yoonchae dropped her walls.
-
Megan was always a great dancer, Yoonchae clocked that immediately during Dream Academy.
She was actually quite scared of Megan when she first came to America, because of the training hierarchy there used to be. She was quite timid, both because of the language barrier and because she didn’t know anybody and was so far away from home.
But then Megan started acknowledging Yoonchae during conversations, always trying to find a way to include her, to learn more about her, in a friendly way.
“What do you think, Yoonchae?” she always asked. “You good?” she says while passing by occasionally.
That made Yoonchae even shyer, but she ended up getting a lot more comfortable with the girls due to all of them, but more-so Megan.
So, yeah. She does like all the girls here, mostly because they had some mercy on her. While all of these hormonal teenagers in a literal competition were participating in drama, Yoonchae was just happy to be able to speak korean with Ezrela and Nayoung.
But she understood them all. Dream Academy was not easy, far from it. So when the girls walk over to the patio, closing the glass door, she learned which of them preferred space and who would lash out at anybody.
She knew they all cared for eachother, and that they all respect eachother. All they wanted was simply for the survival show to be over.
Yoonchae knew Megan cared a lot about her. She does care about Megan too. She hates seeing her mad in these situations.
Sometimes she’d cry to Lara or Sophia after Mission 1, and a lot of the times she’d vent to Yoonchae during some of the rare times they could be alone, just simply having conversations.
“I swear I’m gonna go insane— what was she thinking!?” she said, pacing around the room.
“I don’t know, Megan. They can say things.. they don't—" she tried to find the word. She looked back over at Megan. She still had a frustrated look on her face, but softer, more attentive while waiting for Yoonchae to find the word.
“It’s- it’s an M.” Yoonchae said, hoping for Megan to autocomplete.
“Meannnnnnnn?” Megan said, stretching the vowels out with caution in case she didn’t say what Yoonchae was going to say. “They say things they don’t mean?”
“Yes! You already know, so no need to make a fuss.” Yoonchae affirmed, pouting exaggeratingly.
That seemed to cheer Megan up, who just sighed and sat next to Yoonchae on the couch. “Yeah honestly I’m just kinda stupid.. but like you do agree she shouldn’t have defended Sophia. Because honestly, Sophia’s an amazing person, but anybody can say hurtful things. It happens but—” She stopped, looking at Yoonchae.
“I- I’m not sure.” Yoonchae replied. Talking bad about people in any situation made her uncomfortable. Not that she wasn’t on Megan’s side, but she keeps her thoughts private.
She felt her breath hitch when Megan leaned over, hugging her on the couch, curling into her side. “Sorry, let’s just push that aside. Not a big deal.” Megan said against her neck.
Yoonchae relaxed, hugging her back. They’ve been doing this a lot more now, cuddling, whispering to eachother, being more touchy.
She liked it, because she liked stepping out of her comfort zone with Megan. She’s never really physically touchy, but Megan’s safe. They both trust and care for eachother, they can show it in any way.
So, every night she journals, venting to the pages in messy, cursive hangul; her friendship with Megan is very important to her, so is her and Sophia’s friendship, and all the others.
Megan told her to journal before, she said it’s a great way to take some weight off her shoulders, to take away emotions and to not let them get pent-up. She said she draws on her arms instead to wash it off, because it’s her individual way of doing that.
if i were to debut, i want to debut with you. and if i were to not debut, i still wish there’s a spot for you.
you’re amazing, but i don’t think you believe it. you dance so good, and your first time in the studio was i can’t find the words for it SO FULL OF TALENT!!!
you’re my bestest friend, i want to stay with you because we both know we deserve to debut. your talent will not go to waste i’m sure
but i’m scared of all my friends getting eliminated because who will i have if not you? you should stay with me and we can debut together. the group will be successful because you're in it.