#SquadGoals: A Blogsary Short

i.

Jin-kyong’s Instagram follower count is already at its thousands when she decides to pursue modeling as an actual career.

She can’t remember the fine details of her first venture onto the photography-based social media platform, but she knows that it had something to do with wanting to show how she styled her outfits. Lee Jin-kyong always had a certain eye for clothing and how to match; before she knew it, her follower count burst and she found herself posting other pieces of photography as well.

Eventually she found herself gearing towards aesthetic-related posts. 2015 was the year when flatlaying exploded, and she found herself bewildered at how everyone liked this clean style. So she tried it, found herself hooked, and incorporated it into her blogging.

She found fame on Instagram but it wasn’t enough to pay the bills; Jin-kyong, like any other millennial who was in need of cash, found herself flying from one job to another. Retail was a bitch (and so were the other customers), she was too nervous for something fast-paced like being a barista, and more than anything, she found herself too proud to go to her family and ask for a little more cash while she tried to make it out there in the world.

As nice as being Instafamous was, it didn’t really pay the bills. Sponsorships weren’t flying her way and neither were people who wanted to collaborate. Other bloggers got their deals with various makeup brands—makeup brands!—but she found herself stuck and unsure of what to do next.

That was until Kim Soo-yeon, a close friend she had maintained throughout her younger years, stuck her in one of her YouTube vlogs one morning.

ii.

Soo-yeon finds that YouTube was a good platform.

In more recent times, she found that makeup and beauty trends were slowly gaining fame once more on the video-sharing website. And that was precisely what she was good at—having a mother who spoiled her rotten in hair and makeup products helped developed her skill.

To her surprise, the family supported her. Her father went the whole nine yards, helped her pick out a decent camera and a video-editing software wherein Soo-yeon could finally ulitize her skills. After all, she was into multimedia as a young teen, so perhaps this really was her calling after all.

The first few videos fluctuate between hit or miss, more often than not lost in the sea of hundreds, thousands of other videos competing for that sweet moment of fame and notoriety in the community. So Soo-yeon gets into social media more, opens up a (better) Twitter account, aggressively works on getting herself known instead of just waiting and waiting.

She does, eventually. A certain amount of time passes and boom the entire channel finds itself increasing in subscriber amount. She’s nervous and happy at the same time and she finds herself freaking out to Jin-kyong about it over a dinner of takeout and watching an episode of The Bachelorette.

“I don’t know what to do,” she whines. “I don’t know what I can do to keep their attention, Kyong, it’s freaking me out—”

Jin-kyong gives her a look, setting down her phone eventually. “You don’t have to do anything new. People are happy with a simple ‘thank you’ video, you don’t have to do anything crazy. Just keep being you.”

“That sounds so easy.” Soo-yeon pouts and forks another serving of food into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before saying something else. “What else, Kyong? What else can I do? I don’t want to burn out.”

“You won’t. Believe me.” Jin-kyong gives her a steady look, “the last thing that’s going to happen is if you burn out. People like you—your Twitter mentions are already an indicator,” she notes as the other’s blue-cased iPhone chirps a notification at that exact moment. “But if you’re desperate, then maybe you can do something like a collaboration. That usually garners more interest especially if the other person is known—”

In that moment, it clicks. Soo-yeon lets out a squealing noise and immediately throws her arms around the other, Jin-kyong yelping (and blushing) in surprise. “Kyongsies,” she sings, “you’re a genius!”

iii.

Park Eun-seok isn’t sure what to expect when paired with two newcomers. They’re two completely different sides of the coin; the dyed-blonde, Soo-yeon, is a face he had most definitely recognized on YouTube. She’s bubbly and bright, actively engaging in conversation and going out of her way to fully get to know who Eun-seok is.

(He likes it—he likes the effort.)

Meanwhile, Jin-kyong is quiet. He finds himself sympathizing immediately; he sees how her eyes flitter across the room with pangs of nervousness all throughout her figure. Jin-kyong is nervous and he reaches out to her, puts a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he assures her. “You’re here for a reason. You’ll be great,” and he smiles that warm smile of his.

Jin-kyong blinks and eventually smiles back, gives a nod of her own, and opens her mouth to (probably) thank him. But Soo-yeon wraps her arms around the other’s waist with a wide grin. “You do it on Instagram, you can do it on here!” she cheers. Eun-seok realizes that this other girl, Jin-kyong, was a famous face on Instagram.

He finds himself in awe.

What he expects is for them to move on once the shoot ends; it’s alright—he’s accustomed himself to ‘friends’ not really sticking around, and he’s accepted it completely.

What he doesn’t expect is for Jin-kyong  and Soo-yeon to approach him with smiles on their faces and offer to go out to lunch as a group.

(He nods, momentarily forgets that yes exists as a valid response.)

They go out, get to know one another even more. He learns that they share an apartment, they learn that he isn’t keen on social media and force urge him to get into it more. He promises.

A few weeks later, Eun-seok’s got a ton of followers and he finds himself in Soo-yeon’s videos from time to time. Jin-kyong shows him off when he models and suddenly, he’s known much more on the streets. Throughout all of this, he waits and waits and waits for that moment of being a ‘third wheel’ to settle. After all, the honeymoon phase should end sometime soon, shouldn’t it?

It never does. Eun-seok finds himself paired with the two of them more often. Eun-seok finds himself crashing at their apartment when it’s late. Eun-seok finds that he likes—no, loves—their company.

They weren’t what he had expected, but he can’t complain.

iv.

The twins come as a package deal.

Song Hae-jin and Song Hae-won are rarely seen without each other, both in real life and in terms of modeling. They’re paired with each other as the agency’s classic brother-and-sister visual, they go to events together, and sometimes motifs are created focusing entirely on them. The twins like it—they were extremely close with one another, and working with each other in harmony was how they liked to do the job.

Eventually they meet up with the trio at a party. It’s one of the usual promotional parties; Hae-jin and Hae-won are used to being there and being one of the pretty faces ‘used’ to promote the event, help it get more attention. “Any attention is good attention, after all,” Hae-won sighs. His twin smirks his way.

“No need to be like that—we should have fun, drink a little. We’re being paid to be here and smile at the cameras.” For emphasis, she takes a shot glass from a wandering waiter’s tray and downs it immediately. She shoots him a grin, barely phased from the alcohol. “Let’s have fun. Please?”

Hae-won eventually gives in and lets her have her fun. The two move wherever they can, talk to whoever they can, pose for pictures and whatnot until they hear the sound of lighthearted bickering from one of the bigger booths in the venue. Hae-jin drags him there, and he practically sees his sister’s eyes light up at the sight of three of their co-workers engaging in passionate discourse about something related to social media.

He’s about to break in smoothly and interrupt when Hae-jin pulls out her phone faster than the speed of light and begins Snapchatting the ordeal. She greets, flirts, and manages to capture the five of them within a wide span of ten seconds.

In response, the three are shocked. He can hardly blame them.

But Hae-jin smiles brightly, introduces herself since they haven’t quite met, and settles beside Jin-kyong, who’s still absolutely shocked over what had just happened. Hae-won eventually introduces himself as well in a calmer voice, and the conversation carries on. Eun-seok and Soo-yeon bicker. Hae-won provides input, and his sister happily Snapchats the whole thing while talking to Jin-kyong about her ideas of aesthetic.

The event passes—

Hae-jin squeals at the sight of them in photos. They look good, as usual, the twins presented in a way that highlights their good areas. But she doesn’t squeal about that, no, she squeals happily and points to him a certain picture taken (probably) without them noticing.

“The media looped us with them,” she babbles excitedly. “Eun-seok, Soo-yeon, and Jin-kyong! They’re calling us squad goals, and I think—I think they might be right! We are, aren’t we?”

(Hae-won found himself siding with the media for that round.)