The next few weeks seemed to fly by. Changmin and I had wanted to drop certain hints prior to the release of 'For Old Times' Sake'. After discussions with the team and Kim PD-nim, we decided to start with a few texts and then a few pictures that wouldn't reveal too much.10 days before release, DayBreak posted a statement: 'We have lived worth 10 lives.'The 9th day before release: 'What was it that they said? A stitch in time saves 9?'The 8th day: 'The winds from 8 years ago have never smelt as sweet before.'The 7th day: 'Just you and I in all these 7 billion.'The 6th day: '…6…'The 5th day, we took photos of our right hands, wearing gloves and put them together such that half my hand and half his hand together made up the 5 fingers of one hand.On the 4th day before release, we posted a picture of 4 dumplings.On the 3rd day before release, we posted three blank pictures- one black, one white and the last one a mix of both in an elaborate floral pattern.When there were just 2 da
"Hello!" S.T.A.Y bowed repeatedly to everyone in the big now-decorated practice room that had been converted into a Christmas party hall for the sake of the joint event. The cameras had all been set up and the lighting crew was just getting the lights ready. Everyone was hustling about with last minute preparations. In the middle of the room, where a long table had been set with goodies near a tall and elaborately decorated Christmas tree, stood 04:00 am all clad in shades of red, green and white much like ourselves.While the rest of S.T.A.Y were just a tad bit more formal, I had gotten acquainted enough with them to throw a bright smile and hug whoever was closest. "Sunbaenim!""Ah. I still can't get used to your black hair." Youngjae Sunbae said and tapped his own head. "I miss your blue.""Tell him!" Changmin chimed in at the support. He was standing towards the end of the line of seven members but even though he wasn't in the 'closest' range, I couldn't not hug him."Everyone nee
It was an unfamiliar studio. The anchor was a new face. We were onstage – the five of us. I was no stranger to such a situation. With this group of five, I have been on and off of many such bigger and smaller sets all through the past 3 years. I was already used to this. And yet, as I looked around discreetly, ensuring to make eye-contact with anyone and everyone who may be on the other side of the screen, time seemed to slow down for a bit – just enough to allow me to listen to my own breathing, in sync with my other 4 members – until I heard my name being called. "S.T.A.Y has come to mean a lot to your fans. I believe that they are called 'True'? Wow! It's such a meaningful name for your fandom. Jeongwoo-ssi, could you tell us exactly what S.T.A.Y means to True and what True means to you?" The cameras were now all focused on me. I smiled. "Of course. S.T.A.Y's purpose and goal are all in the name itself. 'Stay Together, Always Yours'." I glanced at the three memb
"Oh. Jeongwoo-ssi, you're back!" A member of the big data team smiled as I happened by her in the corridor. I had just returned from a studio where I had had an interview. The other members were probably all in the dance practice room already, having returned from a guest appearance on a show. We often split up like this when our schedules clashed. For the interview, they had specifically asked for me because I was the Vocal Team leader and a lyricist. The interviewers were more interested in our music than us as a whole. "I just got back." I smiled and bowed. "You're working hard as always. I just saw the rest of S.T.A.Y heading towards the practice room." "I'm heading there myself." So, they really had arrived already. "Oh. Carry on then. I'll see you around. Fighting!" She made fists at me in encouragement. "Ah. You too. Fighting!" I returned and continued walking with Manager Kim Youngil. "Thank you for coming with me, Manager-nim." "No need to thank me. This is my job, Jeon
"Ah! Did we miss the meeting?" Yeojun let out a yelp of defeat on running up to us with Mingyu just as the rest of us left the room after our meeting with the costumes' department. They were supposed to join us after their ad campaign but they had failed to make it back here in time. "Even though we ran all the way here from the car…" Mingyu rested his palms on his knees and panted, completely out of breath. "It's okay. Everything's been settled." I reassured them. "You won't have any issues with the decisions either." "Here." Jaehyeon tossed the bottle of water that he had with him towards Mingyu. "Ah!" Mingyu attempted to catch it but ended up dropping it. Thankfully, the lid stayed on and it did not spill. He looked around apologetically and embarrassed before picking it up. "My bad." Mingyu was known for being a little clumsy. It was Jaehyeon's fault for throwing it to him. "What happened though?" Hanseol enquired. "You were supposed to get back an hour ago." "There was a 1
"S.T.A.Y, stand by!" The stage in-charge called out to us after talking to the MC. "2 minutes!" "Uwah, I'm nervous!" Yeojun rubbed his arms. "Hyung-ah, I'm nervous." He looked at me. I recoiled. "Uh. You- Um-" Jaehyeon placed a hand on my shoulder and chuckled. "Yeojun-ah, that's only going to make Jeongwoo more nervous." I wasn't… Well, I was but… "You two!" Mingyu came over and slapped both our shoulders. "Look at me!" At least he was all fired up. "This may be our biggest stage in a while and the audience may seem bigger than ever before but this isn't our first time. We have done this before. YOU have done this before. And you have gotten off the stage leaving behind emotions that True have carried with them forever. We may not be the main attraction today but we will be leaving the audience believing that we were. You hear me?" It was a little difficult to hear him over the music that was already playing but he was raising his voice all the more to make a point. And he w
"Jeongwoo-ya." Hanseol knocked on the open door to Jaehyeon's and my room and stepped in, waving a few envelopes in one hand. "Fan mail. Manager-nim left these for you." "Oh. Thank you." I got up from my bed and went over to him to accept them. I was going through what True were saying on Twitter. It seemed as though they were pretty taken by our recent live. Some of them were even planning our future schedules as they would like it to be. It was fun to just read it all. Something else that had received a lot of attention after release was the Hidden Camera footage. Embarrassingly enough, they were all tripping over the way I treated Yeojun and Jaehyeon. They found it incredibly cute. They were also going on about how Jaehyeon had gotten jealous of the way that I was holding onto Yeojun and concluded that he had done what he had done just so that I would release Yeojun. Many others were just asking Jaehyeon to buy me chicken. Now, that, I could agree with. "Where's Hyung?" Han
We had begun practicing some of our older routines. With our rising popularity, we had been able to earn some lives on T.V and stages to ourselves. We needed more than one song to perform. It was when we began such practice that it really hit us how popular we were actually getting."My sister just sent this to me." Mingyu laughed and showed us his phone. On it was the photo of a bus with Hanseol's picture on the side. "Hanseol Hyung's got a bus.""That's… a very big picture… of just me." Hanseol narrowed his eyes at it. "Why is it only me?""You have fans. This is obviously sponsored by K-Soul fans." Jaehyeon said."They could have at least used a better picture…" He grumbled."Oh, come on. You look just fine here." Yeojun asserted.Hanseol grumbled inaudibly again and then stood straight. "Well, as long as it helps us.""He's secretly happy." Jaehyeon smirked."Yes, he is." I agreed."Shut it." Hanseol looked away.We were taking a small break in between practice. Manager Park had n