KIBA ; STRAY KIDS

7 ; KIBA

It was 8pm and I was alone in the practice room, trying to remember and perfect the choreography which Minho had taught me today. I was starting to get really tired and sweaty so I sat down for a second. I picked up my phone and checked the post by JYP announcing me as the new member.

The photo was a group photo of all of us, taken by an unknown source in the JYP building, and then the second and third posts were our statements. I skipped past them, knowing what they said already, and skipped straight to the comments to see peoples reactions. I braced myself for negative ones.

As an idol, it's almost essential to be able to take criticism, but I wasn't always the best at that. I'm not the best at listening to others comments without thinking that there trying to put me down, I think that's why I always worked best alone. I took a deep breath in as I sat down on the black couch in the corner of the room.

'This is great! Glad to introduce him to the best group!'

That's a nice comment. I smiled, they were the best group. I continued reading.

'He could never replace Woojin!'

Maybe. But that's not what I'm trying to do. I've never met Woojin, I don't know what he's like and I don't care to be honest. I'm determined to be myself and not paint a fake picture of myself. Of course I wanted people to like me but I wouldn't try and change to be someone they like either.

'Ugh, we don't need a new member! They were fine with 8! They are just ruining themselves!'

I sighed and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I put my phone aside for a second and looked at the ceiling. I don't want to be the new member who ruins it for them - I want to be good for them. I didn't know how much I really cared about my image as an idol till now. I never was to bothered with how people saw me, but back then, I had no one to care about. I didn't have people who put trust in me.

I picked up my phone again, and walked to the front of the room. Although it was pretty late, and pitch black outside, I decided to do a live and let people get to know me. The stray kids channel of Vlive was officially set up on my phone so when I pressed live, I quickly set it up so I can read the chat from the phone that was filming.

As soon as some comments came through I smiled and waved. Although I was tired, the live made me more energetic and I was actually excited to talk to Stays and perhaps some of my fans who listen to me as a solo artist. I decided to introduce myself first with a bright wave and smile.

"Hello, I'm Kiba. Nice to meet you guys." I said in both Korean and English, "You might know me already because previously I was a solo artist."

I paused and read some comments and then waved and smiled when most of them were 'Hello' and 'Hi'.

"This is my first live as part of Stray Kids so I just thought you guys could ask me some questions and I would answer them so you guys can get to know me if you don't know who I am!" I said to the camera.

"Classic question, what's your favourite colour." I continued to say in both English and Korean, "My favourite colour is Orange! Because I love sunsets."

I read another one, "How are you good at English?" I thought for a second, I mean, do these people really care about how I grew up? I guess so, "I was Born in South Korea but moved to England when I was 4 and then came back when I was 16 and have been here since. I did education in England, but learn everything I know in Korean from my parents."

I smiled, hoping I had explained it well. I squinted my eyes to see some more of the questions, and then picked another.

"How has joining Stray Kids been?" I thought for a moment, "It's been hectic for the last few days but I've really enjoyed it. The passion I have for music and performing has come back and I've worked on a song already with 3RACHA so that's cool." I said with a sheepish shake of the shoulders.