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Rolling Stone (5 years ago)
“Inside Soolong: A Day in the Life of the I-POP Stars”
S.E. McCann

The screaming starts as soon as their charter plane begins to disembark, and is reinvigorated as someone catches a glimpse of one of the members in baggage claim. To a chorus of shrill hysteria, the five men walk through Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They smile and wave to the surrounding crowd with practiced efficiency, slipping past a few hundred young women with ease, flanked by black-suited security staff and escorted to the sleek Escalade waiting for them nearby.

It is early October and Soolong is in the midst of a four-month-long stretch of their world tour. They arrived in Brazil for a string of high-profile TV and press appearances, to perform one of their hit songs at the BreakTudo Awards, and to hold six sold-out concerts over their ten-day stay in South America - all before heading north to the United States to begin all over again, with an even more packed schedule.

Group leader Lu Ten, 22, describes the drawn-out tour as “the lead up to the best nap ever,” but corrects himself after a stern look from one of the nearby public relations managers and describes it as “an incredible opportunity to bond with our international fans.” We’re in one of the smaller ballrooms of Soolong’s hotel when Elle Brazil arrives for interviews and promotional shots for the upcoming issue. Tomkin, 17, hurries to meet them with seemingly-endless youthful energy, practicing newly-learned Portuguese greetings.

In addition to leader and lead vocalist Lu Ten and lead dancer Tomkin, the three other members are getting prepped for the photoshoot that will take place on the grand staircase in the ballroom. Zuko, 17, is stoic and serious as one of the many group stylists seals in his look with hairspray; the sub vocalist / sub dancer has been dressed in the red-and-gold of royalty for this elegant shoot, and looks quite similar to his older cousin Lu Ten - though Lu Ten is the one wearing the crown. Toklo, 19, is trying to make conversation with the woman touching up his makeup, though she keeps reminding him that he needs to hold still. Both the lead dancer / sub vocalist and Tomkin are dressed in the decorated blacks of a general, though the awards have been clearly modified to represent their current success on Brazilian charts rather than military prowess. The elegant, royalesque style of the shoot has been modified for the last member of Soolong. Jet, 18, is grinning toothily as he flirts with one of the hotel employees, a young woman who is gleefully taking photographs with her self-professed bias. Unlike his fellow idols, the lead vocalist is dressed as a commoner who rose to glory and joined the ranks of nobility, his worn leather jacket and scuffed Timberlands standing out against the princely silks and sashes. Soolong is accompanied by a huge entourage of thirty-five staff, with managers, public relations reps, interpreters, stylists, photographers, drivers, and quite a few security guards among their ranks.

Soolong debuted three years ago and was almost immediately met with stardom. After one year of rising through the ranks of Korean and Japanese pop groups, as well as the emerging genre of international pop groups, Soolong started topping the charts throughout the world, particularly here in Brazil and neighboring South American countries. After three years of intensive tours and heavily-publicized album releases, Soolong’s only competition is themselves. Every new release is met with hope that they will manage to outsell themselves - but their second album, BE U (as well as the accompanying single of the same name), is still the all-time best selling group album in Japan, Korea, Brazil, and several other countries that have latched on to these young idols.

It’s no wonder that Soolong has amassed such a following. Not only are all five group members unique and charismatic, their work is targeted towards an audience that has historically attached to the feel-good romance of boy band hits - young women. Soolong’s fans appreciate their charming personalities, dedication to their work, and broadly personalizable songs.

After the Elle Brazil photoshoot and a quickly-recorded, stock-answer interview about their tour experience so far, the boys go to prepare for tomorrow’s BreakTudo Awards performance in an adjoining room that has been transformed into a bare-bones studio for their stay. They’re all playful as they move around, waiting for the choreographer to call the start of rehearsal. Tomkin jumps on an obliging Lu Ten’s back, demanding and receiving a piggy-back ride, while Toklo walks beside them, pulling out his phone and sends off a few texts to family members, and takes a few selfies with the ballroom in the background for ZhaoWorks to post on Soolong’s social media. Behind them, Jet pulls Zuko into a headlock, messing up his carefully-styled hair with a noogie while Zuko yells in protest and tries to shove him away.

As soon as the choreographer claps to get their attention, however, the boys are all business. Like a well-oiled machine, they run through their “BE U” performance, first with just the dance, then adding basic chorus vocals, then adding the entire song as it will be performed. To an unfamiliar viewer, the first attempt seems perfect - as does the second, third, fourth, and fifth. But they refuse to stop rehearsing until they are sure that each member will step exactly where they need to step and hit every note that they need to hit. While the enjoyment in their expression fades into pure determination to get it right around the third run-through, their movements stay sharp, utterly in sync with one another. There are, however, a few missteps and vocal mistakes in the process; despite the fact that each mistake seems to mean starting over again, there is no visible resentment from other group members, with more pats on the back from Lu Ten than jabs to the ribs from Jet.

Like many music groups in East Asia, Soolong was engineered by an entertainment conglomerate. ZhaoWorks, one of the most successful management agencies in Japan, put Soolong through the famously rigorous J-pop system, wherein all five members lived together in a dorm-like building, trained constantly, and were molded into the idols they are today. After nearly six months in this intensive environment, Soolong was thrust readily into the spotlight, and fans ate them up.

After a couple more perfect run throughs of “BE U”, the boys retreat to their hotel rooms for an hour of rest before they are scheduled to leave for the Luciana by Night filming, where they will be interviewed by the popular Brazilian talk show host, as well as perform a more recent hit, “ME + U = L.O.V.E.”. Lu Ten is the first to come downstairs when the hour is up, with Zuko, half-asleep, leaning heavily onto his side. Toklo and Tomkin join them minutes later, and Jet arrives nearly fifteen minutes late, followed by an irked manager.

We are met at the Luciana studio by a deafening crowd of over one thousand Soolong fans, all screaming and vying for the group’s attention. Soolong’s security tries to herd the boys along towards the studio entrance, but once Toklo hears that many of the fans had been waiting outside in a drizzle for more than six hours, it seems impossible to move them away. Lu Ten, as quite a few fans know, carries a gold permanent marker with him at all times, and he makes good use of it here, autographing signs, water bottles, receipts - anything but skin.

“I signed someone’s arm one time, and it had to be the worst autograph I had ever done,” Lu Ten laughs, taking selfies with young fans as he talks. “She got it tattooed! I felt so bad. It made her happy, but I wish I had practiced my handwriting a little more beforehand.” Toklo, Tomkin and Jet appeared to not have the same hangups, signing everything that was put in front of them, including arms and, in one instance, a forehead. Lu Ten stops by to give her a teasingly-stern talking-to, asking her to not make Jet’s “messy scribble” permanent.

Zuko is the last to make his way to the studio entrance. He has stopped to talk to almost anyone who said his name, particularly the younger children in the crowd. Lu Ten later informed me that Zuko has the gentlest heart out of all of them when it comes to young ones, and always wants to put a smile on their face and a good memory in their head. After a few long moments of a solo Zuko signing, taking photos, and talking, Jet makes a show of grabbing his arm and dragging him through the door, much to the delight of the fans.

The studio seems silent after the mass of fans outside, though their muffled screams are just barely audible through the walls. Soolong seems to embrace the silence, with even the talkative Tomkin quietly sinking onto a chair in the green room after grabbing three mandarin oranges from a catering table. Lu Ten stretches across one of the plush sofas and throws his arm up to cover his eyes and catch a brief nap, allowing Zuko to shove his legs off to sit beside him. Zuko does not protest when Lu Ten puts them over his lap instead. Toklo has been playing a game on his phone since we got inside, and he loads up a plate of fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies before sitting on the vacant couch to resume it again. Jet sits on the other end, music playing through his earbuds at top volume. Though there are staff in the room with them, this seems to be a green room routine that allows the young idols to catch a few minutes to themselves before another few hours of being on top of their game.

When it’s time to head to the stage, a wave of screams erupts from fans in the audience. The crowd is wrangled into audience-appropriate silence during the interview portion, but frantic shrieks and applause roll over the studio once more when they begin to perform the three-song set. When their performance ends, an exhausted Zuko sinks to the floor backstage just out of sight of the cameras and audience, chest heaving, eyes squeezed shut, gripping his own arms with brutal strength. This seems to be a commonplace ritual, too, judging by the look Jet shoots him from the wings. After thirty seconds, Zuko picks himself up, rushes to join his groupmates to thank the audience and host once more, and disappears with them back into the green room, finally ready to go home - or, at least, the hotel that will be their home for the next few days, until they move on to São Paulo.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Twitter (4 years ago)

Music Insider International
@musicinsiderintl
BREAKING NEWS: I-POP group Soolong announces split from ZhaoWorks - does not cite reasons for break, future of the group is uncertain.

Trending hashtag: #DONTSAYSOLONG

Twitter is Immortal
@isawwhatyouposted
Soolong’s Jet posted some incendiary things last night, deleted them less than two minutes later. No worries my dudes you know I saw what he posted :)

jet
@jet
fuck soolong seriously i dont give a shit. yall will follow me to hell and back i dont need them

jet
@jet
theyre destroying themselves leaving zw, it doesnt make any fucking sense. “cutting ties” jesus christ just cut off the rotting arm and be done with it

jet
@jet
you know who im talking about

jet
@jet
[Image description by @isawwhatyouposted: Blurry photo of Soolong’s Zuko half-obscured by a man who’s kissing him against the wall. Doesn’t matter how blurry the pic is, we k n o w who tf that hair belongs to]
*DELETED LESS THAN FIFTEEN SECONDS AFTER POSTING

jet
@jet
good fucking riddance, peace the fuck out, see them never. wasted 3 years of my life around those fuckers, wont make that mistake again. id never abandon the people who matter tho. YOU GUYS. thanks for being real

Twitter is Immortal
@isawwhatyouposted
jet’s follower count at 12:19 AM: 10,980,151
jet’s follower count at 1:09 AM: 4,567,204
feels good folks

LU TEN ☕
@lutenofficial
Thank you all for reaching out. We appreciate your concern for Soolong and the love you’ve poured out - it’s gone directly to our hearts. We will not be releasing details at this time, but just know we’re doing what’s best for us. It’s been a long time coming.

LU TEN ☕
@lutenofficial
We love you guys. Talk to you soon. xx

stop calling me little tom plsss
@tomkin
💕💕💕

stop calling me little tom plsss
@tomkin
LOVE UUUUUU it will be ok :)

Toklo
@toklooff
we love you more than life itself. #DONTSAYSOLONG we’ll try our best - for right now, it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Tiger Beat (2 years ago)
“Meet Soolong!”
L. Moon

Lu Ten
Position: Leader, Lead Vocalist
Birthday: September 15 (26)
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Height: 6’2”
Blood Type: O
Favorite Colors: Red and blue
Favorite Weather: Hot and sunny, especially on a beach B)
Favorite Food: Bulgogi, beer, smash burgers
Favorite Hobbies: Writing, learning new instruments, watching war and nature documentaries
Favorite Style: Slim fits and classic looks

Lu Ten Facts:
•Lu Ten was born in Tokyo (Aoyama) and moved to Seoul (Songpa-gu) when he was 13
•He is an only child and his father is group manager Iroh. What’s better than that? Zuko is his little cousin!
•Lu Ten has been writing songs since he was in grade school, and tries to work on at least one song a week. Some of those songs make it to the final albums!
•He is very good at string instruments, especially cello and viola
•Before Soolong, Lu Ten wanted to be a lawyer. He went to Korea University Law School for one year before deciding to join Soolong. He ranked in the top 1% of his national high school exams. We are lucky to have him as Leader and not as Professor!
•Lu Ten is the princely type of Soolong. Distinguished, smart, and with a charming smile for all of his fans!
•Lu Ten is the leader for Soolong. This means he is often their spokesperson, and also the one the younger members look up to the most!
•Lu Ten’s ideal type: “Someone who is thoughtful and confident, and knows not to take any sh*t from my boys—or my dad! :)”

Toklo
Position: Sub Vocalist, Sub Dancer, Visual Artist
Birthday: February 29 (24)
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
Height: 5’11”
Blood Type: AB
Favorite Colors: Blue and grey
Favorite Weather: Right before fall becomes winter and the air is crisp and cold
Favorite Food: Steak and burgers and bacon and meat!
Favorite Hobbies: Sailing, cooking for the other members, long naps
Favorite Style: Comfy but modern

Toklo Facts
•Toklo was born in Vancouver Island, BC and moved to Seattle, WA when he was 5
•He has an older sister and two nieces, and he also has Tomkin who is like a younger brother to him!
•He grew up playing and dancing to drums. He still plays drums in his spare time - that’s when his member roommates break out their earplugs ;)
•He only started singing when he was in high school, and we are glad he did!
•He is the brotherly type of Soolong. He takes care of the other members and has their backs
•As one of the visual artists for Soolong, Toklo brings a lot of ideas to life in MVs and photoshoots!
•Toklo’s ideal type: “Someone who can yell at me when I’m being stupid but also be my cheerleader. Being a good cook is a plus!”

Zuko
Position: Lead Vocalist, Sub Dancer, Sub Rapper, Visual Artist
Birthday: August 03 (22)
Zodiac Sign: Leo
Height: 5’8”
Blood Type: O
Favorite Colors: Black and gold
Favorite Weather: Clear summer nights
Favorite Food: Spicy
Favorite Hobbies: Photography, writing, dancing, swords, piano
Favorite Style: Dark, elegant, lots of accessories

Zuko Facts
•He is from Tokyo (Ayoama), and moved to Seoul (Songpa-gu) when he was 16 to be with his uncle Iroh and cousin Lu Ten
•He has a younger sister
•He has played string instruments since he was a toddler, just like his cousin Lu Ten! He claims he was never great at anything but piano, which he plays today! He features his piano playing heavily on his personal acoustic tracks
•He was going to be a businessman but knew music was what he wanted to do even when he was small!
•He is the stoic type of Soolong. He is quiet, cool and shy but he opens up and smiles around people he loves! Including his fans!
•Zuko and Toklo are the visual artists of the group and have a lot of input and ideas for MVs and photoshoots. Even the candid photos Zuko takes show an eye for style!
•Zuko’s ideal type: “I’m not looking for anyone right now.”

Tomkin
Position: Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist
Birthday: March 23 (22)
Zodiac Sign: Aries
Height: 5’9”
Blood Type: B
Favorite Colors: Most of them!
Favorite Weather: When there’s a lot of snow on the ground but the sun is shining bright
Favorite Food: Anything sweet :)
Favorite Hobbies: Dancing, dancing, dancing, video games
Favorite Style: Colorful and cute

Tomkin Facts
•He was born in Seattle, WA and lived there until moving to Tokyo after joining Soolong
•He and Toklo have known each other since middle school!
•Tomkin is an only child, and sadly his parents died when he was 12. But Toklo and his parents took him in, and they have been brothers ever since!
•Like Toklo, Tomkin grew up around traditional indigenous music and loved to dance to it. He started dancing to more and more music as he got older, and he just never stopped!
•He talked Toklo into auditioning for the group with him! Without Tomkin’s fun insistence, we wouldn’t have either of them in the group today!
•He is the sweet and charming type of the group! Tomkin is the best hype-man for all of the other members, and always has a joke, a laugh or a smile for everyone. He can also be serious and supportive, but he is always sweet
•As the lead dancer of Soolong, Tomkin plays a big role in choreographing dances for MVs and performances, and helps the other members learn them perfectly
•Tomkin’s ideal type: “Someone who is happy, healthy, and never stops, just like me!”

Lee
Position: Lead Rapper, Sub Dancer, Sub Vocalist
Birthday: May 02 (19)
Zodiac Sign: Taurus
Height: 5’7”
Blood Type: AB+
Favorite Colors: Neutrals and green
Favorite Weather: Sunny Spring days
Favorite Food: Mom’s schci and Dad’s bread
Favorite Hobbies: Video games, cool cars
Favorite Style: Practical street fashion

Lee Facts
•He is from a tiny village in Russia, and he moved to Beijing when he was 13 to pursue an entertainment career
•He has one older brother named Sensu
•In Moscow, Lee would go to underground rapping competitions with his brother, which inspired his love of rap!
•One of our favorite things about Lee is the gap between his front teeth - but there are plenty of favorites we could say about the youngest member :)
•He wanted to be a carpenter like his dad when he grew up until his mom told him he could be an entertainer - that’s when he started taking the music he loved very seriously!
•Lee is the maknae of Soolong (the youngest member) and he is the little brother type through and through. Like Tomkin, Lee is very energetic and excitable, and throws himself into their work to make sure he can give fans something they love
•He can rap even faster than he can talk, and that’s pretty fast! As the lead rapper of Soolong, Lee has lots of tongue-tying rhymes to master on nearly every track. As a good little brother, he also offers support and backup wherever the band needs him to be!
•Lee’s ideal type: “Someone who would go on a roller coaster with me twenty times in a row!”

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Vox (1 year ago)
"Sitting down with Soolong"
Margot Li

Six years ago, the international pop group Soolong debuted and took the world by storm. Under the entertainment conglomerate ZhaoWorks of Tokyo, Japan, Soolong quickly became one of the biggest (as well as one of the first) I-POP groups, soaring up charts throughout East Asia and South America and amassing a loyal following of fans that ensured sold-out concerts from the beginning.

For the initial years of their career, Soolong maintained a clean reputation as a cliche but lovable boyband - easy to listen to, easy to embrace, and easy to market. While the details of their departure remain unknown, we know that after three years under ZhaoWorks management, Soolong broke from the company and disappeared from both the music charts and the public eye. After a one-year hiatus, the group returned to the mainstage under the management of a new company: White Lotus of Seoul, South Korea. They were still the tight-knit talented group we knew under ZhaoWorks, but with two significant changes: Jet, the fan-favorite American ‘bad boy’, was gone, and Lee, the hyperactive Russian ‘younger brother,’ debuted in his place. 

While some fans had moved on from Soolong during their year out of the limelight or abandoned them after Jet’s departure, their die-hard fan base quickly re-embraced them and new fans joined them in full-force. Under White Lotus, Soolong was able to flourish, and their growth is best seen in their shift to producing music that was notably more heartfelt and diverse than their past releases. With two members from Japan, one from Russia, one from the United States, and one from Canada, Soolong blended traditional elements of their individual cultures through music and iconography. They were no longer the cookie-cutter boyband archetype; they became something new, unpredictable, and thrilling.

We were able to sit down with Soolong’s Lu Ten, Toklo, Zuko, Tomkin, and Lee for an exclusive interview before their upcoming album release. While we can’t share the details with you yet, we can tell you that their new album features their names in track credits more often than not. All five members have taken advantage of the freedom that White Lotus provides to shape their own discography and career trajectory, and to genuinely celebrate the love they have for music, their fans, and one another.

Interviewer: You’ve been popular for quite some time, topping charts internationally for a cumulative six years, but music outlets are reporting that you’re on the cusp of ‘blowing up’ in the U.S. With all your new listeners in mind, could you tell me a little about yourselves?

Lu Ten: Well, to begin with, we’re Soolong! I’m Lu Ten, I’m the leader of our group - that’s because I’m the smartest, though, not because I’m the oldest [laughs]. I’ve been a member the longest, too, so I’ve known these guys the whole time. I’m a lead vocalist, along with Zuko over here, but they keep making me dance for some reason. Our fans seem to like it enough that I don’t kick up too much of a fuss, though. Uh—Tok, you next?

Toklo: Sure, yeah. I’m Toklo. Zuko, your turn—

Lu Ten: [laughs] Be good, come on.

Toklo: Fine, fine! I’m Toklo. I’m, uh, I’m one of the vocalists and dancers, but all of us are, really, so the special thing I do is concepts and visual work. Broad ideas for songs, or coming up with video aesthetics or styles, stuff like that. It’s really cool to see Soolong on North American charts, and to be recognized on the street [laughs].

Tomkin: We were all fooled into thinking he was shy before that happened, you know! We’d see someone from high school and he’d duck around a corner but now we have twenty people crowd around us and he’s all smiles.

Toklo: It’s different! I’m originally from the Vancouver area, so looking at our schedule and seeing BC Place there is surreal, seriously.

Tomkin: Skip Zuko real quick—

Zuko: We’re not in a line, Tom, it’s not even skipping me.

Tomkin: We usually go oldest to youngest so it basically is, shut up. We’re talking to new listeners, right, especially new U.S. listeners?

Interviewer: Right.

Tomkin: Cool, so—what I want to say to them, to all of our U.S. listeners, is to pack Tacoma Dome to the brim. That would be the coolest fu—

Lu Te: Tomkin.

Tomkin: It’d be the coolest thing ever. We went to so many concerts and games and stuff there growing up, I want to beat every record they have. And I know our fans can help us do it!

Lee: Say something that’s not about the arena, bro.

Tomkin: I grew up with Toklo, and like he said, it’s really cool to see our numbers go up where we’re from. It’s the biggest thrill in the world. I hope new listeners will choose to keep listening and be a part of our worldwide family! Okay, Lee, don’t let Zuko go last.

Zuko: Shut up. Uh. I’m Zuko. I’m a lead vocalist and visual artist, and I dance and provide backup rap when I need to.

Lee: Oh my god, that is not all you’re going to say, no way.

Zuko: Well—what? I mean, I hope you guys like our music and like what we do. Like Tomkin said, it’d be cool to have more fan-mily.

Lu Ten: [groans] No.

Toklo: Vetoed! We vetoed that!

Tomkin: I still like it!

Zuko: They don’t like when I say fan-mily.

Interviewer: [laughs] I can tell. So last but not least?

Tomkin: He is least, he’s the shortest—

Lee: The most important thing new listeners should know is that Tomkin sucks and he’s horrible and don’t even try to like him because you’ll just hate him. And I’m from Russia.

Lu Ten: Tomkin and Lee have been trying to get a rivalry going all year, ignore all that.

Lee: Don’t ignore all of it! I am from Russia! I’m from Khabarovsk, and I moved to Beijing to train, then I auditioned for a Korean entertainment group and got accepted and then quit and got put with these stupid people.

Lu Ten: He loves us.

Lee: I didn’t say I didn’t love you, I said you were stupid. Anyway—I sing and dance, same as everyone else, but my big love is rapping. It’s poetry in motion, dancing with words, racing to say thoughts as fast as they come up—

Zuko: He’s good at it.

Lee: Zuko’s the least stupid of them all, I’ll say I love him freely.

Zuko: Thanks.

Toklo: Such a bastard baby, you are, Lee.

Interviewer: You’re all incredible lyricists, singers, and dancers—how did you build those skills and decide that music was your calling?

Lu Ten: Well—I’ve always loved music. My parents would take me to listen to all kinds of it when I was growing up, and that was incredibly formative. It’s kind of a tradition in our family to learn to play at least two instruments, but I ended up learning, uh, piano, cello, luquin, viola—

Zuko: Recorder, violin, xylophone, maracas—

Lu Ten: [laughs and ruffles Zuko’s hair as Zuko tries to duck away] I’m not counting poorly learnt instruments, asshole. I stuck to cello and viola the most and I still play cello pretty regularly. I think string instruments are able to transform to fit so many moods and songs and stories, it’s incredible. But as for deciding that music is what I really wanted to do—my mom died when I was pretty young and I used music as a distraction from how rough that was for both me and my father. I became a lot more independent and started listening to even more kinds of music from all kinds of places and just fell in love with the idea that I could contribute to the world like that.

Interviewer: So right from the get-go?

Lu Ten : Well—no, not quite. I knew I’d love to do that, but I decided to go into what was more of a [finger quotes] suitable profession. I studied law for a year before moving back to Tokyo to join our former management. I remember being so nervous to talk to my dad about it, but he looked at me like I was crazy for even thinking he’d be mad and said something like ‘well, what are you waiting for?’ I made the jump and have never once regretted it.

Lee: I’ve always loved music and entertainment, especially dancing, but I didn’t realize that was something I could do til I was almost a teenager. I come from a pretty poor town and there aren’t many things you can really be. When I told my mom I just wanted to be a carpenter like my dad, she asked why I didn’t want to go for something bigger, like becoming a musician. I still remember exactly how I felt when she said that. I was twelve and it was like my entire world exploded, I could have fainted. I got really lucky with that. Music is the best thing in the world to me and so many other people, but it really isn’t the most practical. But my parents were supportive and we moved to China so I could get real training in Beijing.

Toklo: It’s kind of the same for me. And for Tom, if you don’t mind me speaking for you?

Tomkin: Go for it.

Toklo: Yeah, it’s the same for us. It was a dream that seemed impossible, but we put in work to make it happen for ourselves. Hours and hours and hours spent dancing and writing and singing and learning—we would have been happy with something local back then, I think, our tribal dance troupe is killer and there were some companies we auditioned for but didn’t get into.

Tomkin: Thank god for that, though! I don’t even want to think about missing out on this, you know? If we had been accepted into another company or even another troupe, we might not have ended up here at all.

Toklo: Right, yeah. We almost missed out anyway.

Interviewer: You did?

Tomkin: We did. I found a flyer for an international entertainment group audition and took it—

Toklo: It and every single other one he saw on his way home—

Tomkin: And those. I showed Toklo and had to drag him to come with me. I still don’t know why they picked us to become trainees, honestly. Doesn’t matter how many flyers I hid from people, the entire building they held the tryout in probably broke fire codes, there were so many people there.

Toklo: So many. So many. I think it helped that we worked well together and it showed in our audition. They put us in separate groups a couple times but then they kept putting us back together, and I think being kind of a matching set worked in our favor.

Lu Ten: What about you, Zukes?

Zuko: Don’t call me that. Uh. I never thought I would be able to. I always liked playing the piano and I was pretty good at it—

Lu Ten: If playing piano was an Olympic event, he would have so much gold.

Zuko: Not true, I was good but I wasn’t—the greatest. Not nearly good enough to think I could make anything out of it. And I liked dancing and singing and everything, but I wasn’t great at that either. But—yeah, I mean, like they said, we all put in the hours. We put in the blood, sweat and tears, you know? It doesn’t come as naturally to me as it does to these guys, but I just—got lucky and got stuck with them.

Tomkin: We’re not talking about how good we are, bud. How did you know you even wanted to do music as a thing?

Zuko: As a thing? Uh. I guess—I was kind of the same as Lu Ten. I saw how music could make you feel anything in the world and I wanted—I wanted to help people feel good. Or understood, or something, uh.

Lee: Zuko was born to be an idol. No one can feel as much as him and not spread it around.

Zuko: I don’t feel that much!

Lee: And he’s so handsome!

Lu Ten: You’re both stupid. But I agree, Zuko is the emotional powerhouse of our group. Our music would be nothing if he wasn’t there to fuel it.

Interviewer: How did the five of you come together?

Lu Ten: The same as a lot of music groups, especially in Japan and Korea. All of us—well, ha, except for me. I was invited to join ZhaoWorks entertainment group as a member for a yet-to-be-formed group. I had a family connection there, and they thought I was marketable enough to try out. But the boys had to go through a pretty rigorous audition process with talent scouts and coaches and—pretty much the idol equivalent to a sports combine.

Lee: You’re losing the audience.

Lu Ten: [laughs] Well! You can’t deny that’s what it’s like.

Tomkin: Like bootcamp, for sure. But in a studio full of hot people and you have to try really hard to be one of the hottest ones.

Toklo: A hot studio too. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to pass out from heat stroke or nerves or what.

Lee: Both for me.

Zuko: It sucked. The whole process. But then—you’d think of quitting but then you’d see your biggest dream just out of reach, so you’d reinvest all over again. I said blood, sweat and tears and I meant it. I definitely experienced all of those a lot during auditions. And as a trainee, too, for sure.

Lu Ten: Zuko and I got put in the group together first, and thank god for that. It was exhausting for me, but then Zuko walked in like a half-drowned, sad, angry kitten—

Zuko: Hey!

Lu Ten: So what could I do but stay and take care of him? The producers who were running the training camp were also organizing the groups and making cuts and additions and whatever. I think they liked that we looked alike, and that we already had a dynamic that lends well to an idol group, very big-little-brother.

Zuko: I didn’t even know Lu Ten was there, honestly. Being put in a group with him made me work even harder. He’s my only cousin and I was desperate to impress him back then.

Tomkin: [snorts] Back then?

Lu Ten: I was, what, nineteen, almost twenty? Zuko was barely old enough to even audition, just thirteen at the time. Even if it was the worst, most tiring experience I had ever had, I was determined to push through so I could help him out. We cycled through a couple people, boys and girls since they weren’t sure if they were going to make it a co-ed group or not, then we were landed with those two idiots.

Tomkin: I had a crush on Lu Ten, like, immediately.

Toklo: That’s absolutely the type of thing you’re supposed to never say out loud and yet you say it every time it could possibly come up—

Tomkin: It was funny! It’s still funny.

Lu Ten: [laughs] It was obvious and it should be extremely embarrassing for you. Maybe that’s what did it, huh? The four of us worked fantastically together.

Lee: Plus—

Lu Ten: The four of us. So—ha, to sum it up, we got lumped together because management thought we made a good team after a lot of trial and error.

Interviewer: Right. So—you worked for three years with ZhaoWorks, one of the largest music conglomerates in Japan. Why did you decide to make a change? What has switching record labels changed for your group?

Zuko: A lot.

Lu Ten: Big time. It changed everything.

Toklo: All for the better.

Zuko: There were a million reasons that we wanted to—move on from ZhaoWorks. We didn’t feel able to grow there, as a group or as individual artists. They had us running through the same old routine of like, the most generic pop songs, focused solely on marketability above all else. We had the most fans we had ever had, concerts were always sold out, we were breaking records left and right, but—

Toklo: They wanted to split us up.

Lu Ten: That was one of about eight million last straws but—it was a big one. And—

Zuko: Yeah. And, uh. And they wanted me to—Lu, could—?

Lu Ten: They didn’t want Zuko to come out.

Zuko: Yeah. That. They didn’t want me to be openly gay, ever. Uh. That conversation went really bad for me, and when they said they were removing me from the group—

Tomkin: We walked.

Lu Ten: Thankfully, I had some great lawyer friends who were able to get us out of our contracts with as little pain as possible, and we had decided that there was no way in hell we would stop being who were together, no way we’d break up, and uh—

Zuko: Uncle Iroh stepped in.

Lu Ten: [laughs] Dad stepped in. He owns a chain of cafes and some shops and also the currently most popular I-POP band out there. It’s fantastic.

Lee: And he brought me on board, so obviously he has a great management style.

Tomkin: And with White Lotus, we have complete control over what we produce, top to bottom, start to finish. We’re able to work on solo projects if we want to, decide which sponsorships we want to take, write our own lyrics that mean something to us—or even work on stuff that doesn’t mean anything at all just for the good vibes, you know?

Lee: Yeah, and we can say ‘fuck’ if we want to.

Lu Ten: Lee, come on.

Lee: My contract specifically states no one can stop me from saying ‘fuck’.

Interviewer: How has your style evolved as you’ve worked together? Has your success changed the way you write your music at all, knowing it’s for a global audience?

Lu Ten: As you can probably guess, we weren’t able to evolve much under ZhaoWorks. We knew each other better than anyone in the world and we got along really well, so that showed in the work that we put out there. But there wasn’t too much actual professional development and growth that happened under their management.

Zuko: Now that we have more freedom and can do things we want to do, it’s changed a lot. There’s a lot more, uh—different—dancing?

Tomkin: He means we can be sexier.

Zuko: Jesus, Tomkin. Yeah, uh, there’s a lot more sexual energy or whatever, and we can write about real shit that we’ve been through. We’ve been able to incorporate a lot of ourselves into our music, even when it’s something all five of us are working on.

Lee: I joined under White Lotus so I don’t have a comparison I can personally draw between then and now, but it really is cool what we’re able to put into just one song. In an MV, you know, those four minutes or whatever, we can have Lu Ten playing cello in the background and me screaming about farm life and Zuko doing a sword dance and Tomkin doing classical ballet and Toklo throwing money at him—

Interviewer: Is that, uh—Is that a hint about your new album?

Lu Ten: No. Genuinely no. Don’t worry.

Lee: [laughs] I just mean we can do whatever we want to do and so far we haven’t had an idea bad enough for anyone to stop us.

Toklo: And that kind of freedom has definitely changed the way we work, from the way we can perform on tour to those very first stages of writing a song. When you don’t know what’s possible, there’s nothing stopping you from dreaming bigger and better.

Zuko: This might not sound the way I intend it to, but—I think that, in a way, we aren’t thinking about having a global audience when we’re working on new material. We have so much that we can do and—I think we’re doing as much of it for ourselves as we are for the loyal fans who have stuck with us, and for the new fan-mily that—

Toklo: I swear to god—

Lu Ten: I agree. We work on things that are meaningful to us and to our experiences, and we hope that those meanings—or just the vibes of the song, or the chorus or MV or whatever—speak to some of you out there.

Interviewer: Okay, the last thing I’d like to ask—in a few words, what messages do you hope people take from your music?

Lu Ten: We have a lot of music with a lot of messages, but I think all of us have something we want to impress on listeners overall. In a few words for me? Uh, the joy of life, and living it exactly how you want to.

Toklo: That you can take on anything as long as you lay down a hard enough beat.

Zuko: Hope and healing.

Tomkin: Oh, easy. Happiness and love.

Lee: They took the good ones! I guess my message would be that it’s important to live without fear even if there’s fear all around you, and to find happiness where sometimes there seems like there’s none. And that you can overcome anything—

Lu Ten: A few words, Lee!

Lee: Okay, geeze! Being proud and brave.

Interviewer: That’s all I have for today. I can’t wait to hear what you boys have in store.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Rolling Stone (now)
“Soolong’s Return: A New Day in the Life of the I-POP Stars”
S.E. McCann

Since Soolong’s debut eight years ago, it seems at first glance like nothing has changed. Their tour bus is met in New York City by a crowd of over two thousand fans, all screaming, chanting the group members’ names, and trying their hardest to catch a brief glimpse of international idols. This is not an unusual sight for the young men who step off the bus, looking stylish and put together despite the hours of travel and long consecutive days spent on tour. Their emergence sparks an even louder wave of shrieks from the massive crowd.

Though they are met with the same loud enthusiasm that they were nearly a decade ago (though it was now louder), by the same huge numbers (though there are now even more), by the same demographic (though even that has expanded beyond young women and teenage girls), they react much differently than they did around their debut, allowing fans to see that their enthusiasm and love is matched by the group themselves. Though he is no longer the youngest member, Tomkin, 22, greets the crowd with energetic jumps, waving his arms over his head and chanting the group members’ names along with them. The new maknae (the youngest member of the group) Lee, 19, joins him, punching the air and doing martial arts-like kicks for the flashing cameras. If the exhausting nights spent on a tour bus after exhausting days of performances, interviews, and signings have affected them, it’s impossible to tell at that moment.

Toklo, 24, makes sure that the fans on the other side of the bus behind the crowd control barriers receive some attention, as well. He jots an autograph on a few items shoved his way, takes selfies with beaming groups of people, and even defends a young girl who was brave enough to lean over the gate enough to kiss his cheek, disallowing security to take her away. Lu Ten, 26, and Zuko, 22, are the last to exit the bus, and they are met with a somehow louder wave of screams from the crowd. Lu Ten grins in greeting and covers Zuko’s ears teasingly, joking with fans to “be careful, he’s sensitive!” Zuko scowls and sticks his tongue out at Lu Ten before breaking free and going to greet a couple screaming his name near the front of the barrier - the two young women hold hands and cry as he talks to them quietly, signing a poster and leaning to give them a hug. This sparks yet another rolling wave of overjoyed screams from the surrounding fans. Even when the attention of the group members is not directed at other fans, it seems that their charms are impossible to resist and inspire a shared experience that makes them love Soolong even more.

At the beginning of their career, Soolong would perform to a crowd of this size, roughly two thousand people in small venues around East Asia. Tonight, they will stand in Madison Square Garden and put on what will be hailed as one of their best concerts ever to a sold-out crowd of over twenty-thousand people. This stop, as well as the second Madison Square Garden performance that will be held tomorrow (and the vast majority of stops in their worldwide tour), sold out in the first minute of tickets going on sale, setting new records - of course, the only records that they beat were their own.

The group has been moving up the coast rapidly, making one day stops in every major city from Miami to NYC. They will take a three-day break in New York before continuing the North American branch of the ICARUS World Tour, weaving their way through the northeast territories of Canada before flying to the west coast to make their way by bus from Vancouver to San Diego, then by plane to a few cities in Mexico. It is a grueling six-month-long tour - six months spent constantly on the go, putting on their show faces, and being away from their home in Seoul.

“I admit that it’s rough,” Zuko tells me later, wrapped up in a thick blanket he takes on every tour. The group is granted a welcome reprieve from their beds on the tour bus, and have been relocated to a lush three-bedroom suite of a hotel near The Garden. Tomkin and Lu Ten have been swept off for an interview with another magazine, and Toklo and Lee are attempting an undercover walk around the area (with a pack of security staff in tow). Zuko has been pardoned from pre-concert events to allow him to decompress and mentally prepare for the night ahead, but he does his due diligence while we talk and drafts out a few social media posts about how excited they are for the upcoming show. “It’s rough, but it’s worth it. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to see our fans in person across the world, to see—and hear—their support and make sure they know we support them in turn. Our dream has always been to make a positive impact on people’s lives. If being on tour for a couple months makes that happen, it’s worth it.”

It is early September and Soolong is nearing the end of their world tour - while they’re only halfway through the North American route, there is just one month, one week, and three days until they are scheduled to fly back to South Korea. They’ve been on tour for four and a half months. Sometimes even a week away from home is too much for me.

When asked about the intense tour schedule, Lu Ten says that it was the group’s decision more than it was their management company White Lotus'. “We want to see as many people as possible, to perform as much as possible, to bring joy to as many of our fans as possible. As much as I hate to admit it, we’re—well, I am getting older, and one day I won’t be able to go this hard, no matter how much I want to. We’re all able and willing and wanting to do this. It is hard, but it’s completely worth it to us.”

The energy of Madison Square Gardens is indescribable. Twenty thousand fans filled the indoor arena, but it seems that twenty-thousand more are waiting outside, eager to be a part of the audience even though they won't be able to see the group perform in person. The Garden set out jumbotrons and speakers so that their loyal fans who had not been able to snag tickets would still be able to experience it live. This is largely due to Soolong’s insistence that they shouldn’t enforce a paywall that would keep the vast majority of fans from being able to find a place in the community.

Lee was one of the biggest proponents of this, and managed to work a policy into all of their tour venue contracts that, if the venue was at all able to do so, they would provide a way for fans outside of the arena to be able to watch and listen. “It’s not like ticket sales drop when that kind of stuff is provided,” Lee tells me as Soolong is getting ready backstage. “We still sell out entire arenas—and if they had eight times as much seating, I bet we’d still sell out. Letting people who weren’t able to get pricey tickets still be a part of the concert is nothing but good. I grew up dirt-poor in Russia. We didn’t have any concerts like this to go to unless we traveled twenty hours away to Moscow or flew down to Beijing, and even if we did, most of us wouldn’t have been able to afford it. Music has always been my life, you know? Even when my family and I had next to nothing. I can’t imagine how insane it would have been to be outside, able to watch and listen to the artists I obsessed over as a kid, without dishing out twenty-five thousand rubles.”

“It’s one of the reasons we release recorded concerts,” Toklo adds as a stylist applies his eyeliner. “It lets us take down bootlegged copies if we need to, but it also lets people experience or re-experience the whole thing without needing to travel or pay big bucks to see our stupid faces. Live concerts are about the experience, anyway. Why should we keep anyone from having it?” Considering that their former management company ZhaoWorks was nefarious for suing young fans for posting even small clips of concerts online, this is a much more open point of view than they were previously able to employ.

Their booming public presence is not the only thing that has changed since their move from ZhaoWorks to White Lotus. Most notably, their music has transformed - it has become much more heartfelt and emotional, with all of the members contributing to group productions, and a few of them taking advantage of the newfound ability to found and produce under their own individual monikers. Their personalities have been allowed to shine through in a way that the confinement of ZhaoWorks’ management style hadn’t allowed, reaching beyond the happy-go-lucky, perpetually-romantic personas that had previously been employed. They are no longer held to restrictive styling policies, either, and it is never more evident than the first act of the night.

The arena is plunged into darkness as Soolong takes the stage, with the audience only allowed to see their outlines as they take their places in a line, side by side, stretching across the stage. The roar of the crowd is deafening. The screams of the outside fans are a loud backing track to those of fans inside the arena, and the arena is lit only by Soolong light sticks and the sparkling flashes of phone cameras light. Somehow, the screams grow even louder as the first boom of the music starts, Soolong’s silhouettes shifting into position.

As soon as the stage lights shine, the group starts to perform “Icarus Rising,” the song that has begun each concert this tour. They are impeccably and individually dressed in outfits of their own creation, not the matching pastels or prep-esque fashions that they had been put in in the past. Lu Ten radiates “princely” in his sparkling black military-style jacket, decorated gold patterns and cuffs glinting in the spotlight. Toklo’s self-described “space cowboy” jacket throws off a much different vibe, black leather decorated with excessive shiny silver fringe and rhinestones. In the middle of the lineup, Zuko throws the vibe for another loop with the green bomber-style jacket intricately embroidered with flying gold dragons. Tomkin wears a comfy fur-hooded anorak and acts as if the spotlights don’t throw off a good one-hundred degrees. At the end of the line, Lee stands proudly in a classic Canadian tuxedo, light blue denim head to ankle. In the dressing room about ten minutes earlier, I witnessed an exasperated Lu Ten settle an argument between Tomkin and Lee about who got to wear the well-loved denim jacket that seemed to have no original owner, and I have no doubt that Tomkin will be wearing it at the start of tomorrow’s performance.

As the song progresses, they shed their jackets and reveal much more coordinated outfits underneath, though the white shirts have individual embellishments and differences, and their self-chosen shoes still reflect the vastly different personalities from the beginning of the song. Each song throughout the concert had its own outfit, and each members’ perfectly complement the others while still engaging in individuality. Each song also seemed to have its own routine for the crowd, as well. The fans seemed to have well-known rituals, with the names of each member chanted in a certain order in between verses of some songs, and certain lyrics sung as a huge choir (in Russian, Japanese and English, as smoothly as if each was the audience’s native language) in others.

The attendees of tonight’s concert were given quite a few special treats, as well; Zuko performed one of his solo songs, accompanying himself on the piano, Lee showcased his quick tongue and quick wit through a previously-unheard extended rap in one of their most famous songs, and Toklo taught the audience to say “Lu Ten is our father” in his and Tomkin’s native language, much to the dismay of a blushing Lu Ten who kept frantically shaking his head. They ended the three-hour concert on a high note, with fans singing along to an upbeat track that spoke clearly of Soolong’s love for their fans, their music, and one another. Even if I hadn’t been a fan before, this live performance of “Euphrosyne” would have converted me with ease.

The boys ran backstage as soon as the metaphorical curtain fell, the stage lights shutting off and arena lights coming back on. Exhaustion is clear on all of their faces, as well as their bodies - Zuko flops onto a sofa in the wings, and Tomkin immediately flops directly on top of Zuko, who lets out a loud “oof.” Not a minute later Lee joins them, making a heavy-limbed three-man stack. Lu Ten and Toklo remain standing and get dressed unselfconsciously, stripping off their stage clothes and changing into something more appropriate for chilly NYC travel.

It’s just past midnight when we arrive back at the hotel that will be Soolong’s home for the next three days. Even after such a long night and a draining, spectacular performance, all of them stop outside of the building to sign things for the group of waiting fans, to accept hugs and offer selfies as they slowly but steadily make their way towards the guarded elevator that will bring them to their ultimate goal: bed.

Chapter Text

Tomkin, above all else, was a nuisance. It didn’t matter how long they had been on the six-bed tour bus (nearly five months), he had boundless energy and a desperate need for constant entertainment and skin-to-skin contact. Perhaps because Lu Ten, Toklo, and Lee all gave in to him easily, Zuko was his favorite target to seek it from, nudging at his boundaries with doe-like eyes and a hopeful smile. He was a nuisance who knew just how to get him to give in, at any rate, which is how he ended up pressed against Zuko’s side in his bunk during the four-hour trip from Washington to Portland, petting Zuko’s hair with one hand and holding Zuko’s phone up between them with the other.

Last night’s concert had been one of the best this run; it went off without a technical hitch, no voices had cracked, no ankles had twisted, only a few things had been thrown on stage from the audience, and it was, all in all, a great night. As hometown boys, Toklo and Tomkin had brought the Seattle crowd’s energy to a roaring height, and, as hometown boys, Toklo and Tomkin refused to leave the energy behind and decided to drag the other group members around, guiding them through the nightlife in Fremont. 

It apparently didn’t matter that they had left the States before they could even begin to think of legally indulging in any sort of nightlife, with Toklo at seventeen and Tomkin at fourteen, they claimed it was their joint right as youths who had survived the endless rainy months to take advantage of the action.

It had been a long time since any of them had gone out, so it didn’t take much convincing. Lee, still nineteen and unable to indulge, was put in charge of Lu Ten, which was enough of a job that Lee didn’t feel too left out. 

It was a great concert and a great night, but that didn’t keep the morning from being the worst, with all but Lee suffering with varying degrees of hangovers. Lu Ten got them the worst, and muttered vague threats about disturbing him as they loaded onto the tour bus, and had started snoring almost the second he had closed the privacy curtain around his bunk. Toklo had the same idea and claimed one of the little booth tables for a sitting-up nap, hotel coffee in front of him. Lee took the seat opposite so he could steal Toklo's coffee as soon as he fell asleep, playing Minecraft on his phone. 

Besides the temptation of having his hair played with, Tomkin had won Zuko over by saying he felt homesick - not for the Seattle that they were leaving, but for the Korea that now felt like home. If they were in Seoul, all of them would be at the annual fireworks festival, watching the night sky light up in the chilly October air. Tomkin, bless him, had known how much Zuko loved the festival, and had wrangled up a livestream so they could watch the grand finale on the tiny screen. 

Considering how frustratingly early they had to leave that morning, it was no surprise when Zuko felt Tomkin’s breathing shift as he fell asleep, catching his phone before it could drop as Tomkin’s hand went lax. He didn’t bother trying to get him to move to his own bunk, just stretched out beside him and plucked the other earbud from Tomkin’s ear. He was about to swipe out of Twitch in favor of a Netflix documentary when a stream caught his eye: just a simple walkthrough of his favorite neighborhood in Seoul from that morning, when it had been light and fresh outside. He couldn’t resist clicking on it, and felt softly transported as he watched, the quiet streamer holding the camera steady and letting the viewer be the one on the walk. There was a similar video suggested under that one, of a tranquil little village in Scotland that he switched to after a while, and then one of a coastal town in Kenya, and then - he fell down a livestream rabbit hole.

He somehow ended up on a livestream called Gotcha Day!, watching a humane society stream adopted animals going home. It was a stream made for Zuko’s soft, sleepy heart, and he watched with misty eyes as the new pet parents talked about what kind of life the formerly neglected animals would have from that day forward - a quiet sunset life for an elderly woman with an elderly cat (both named Maude, and Human Maude said she would not be changing that), a farm life for a rambunctious blue heeler named Hyena, and—oh. The best life ever for a massive black mutt who would not stop jumping into the arms of one of the most gorgeous men Zuko had ever seen.

“This is Puck,” the man told the camera, grinning proudly and showing off his perfect teeth. “I’ve been coming up to see him for a couple weeks, since he needs a lot of care and attention and I wanted to make sure I’d be able to provide. But today—” he looked down at Puck and found himself with an armful of dog again. He had to weigh at least sixty pounds, but the man held him up with muscular arms, pressing a kiss to his head. “Today he’s coming home with me. He’s gonna live a life of luxury with dog parks and steak tartar and so many uncles and aunties who are gonna dote on him.”

Puck woofs in agreement, deep and resonant. One of the humane society staff off to the side hands him a leash to hook onto the collar and the man accepts it with a grin, glancing at the camera. “Oh, what is this? I got too pumped about Puck to ask.” He listened to her off-camera answer before beaming and turning back to the stream. “Hell yeah! Follow me at boomsokkasokka for more Puck content!”

Zuko’s not sure if it’s a joke or not, but he saw muscular arms with tattoos just visible under his shirt sleeve, a few piercings in his ears, a Helen of Troy grin, and so he searches his username as soon as he goes off screen to be replaced by young twins squabbling over who gets to show off their new bunny first. At this point, they only had an hour left before they’d arrive at their Portland hotel for an exhausting half-day of being shuffled around to media appointments and a more exhausting (but worth it) night of another sold-out concert. 

Zuko yawned, subscribed, and took a nap.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Sokka had been over the moon all day, obviously.

He woke up at the crack of dawn, unable to sleep as soon as the sun came through his window. The humane society wouldn’t be open for another two hours, and it was only a half-hour drive to get there, but it was only the awful thought of waking Katara up before he had been told to that held him back. He had been waiting for this day forever, really and truly. They had never been able to have pets, growing up - their mother had been allergic to cats and their dad had been allergic to dogs and both of their parents had claimed an allergy to whatever other pet that they had suggested. Hamsters? Out. Snakes? Nope. Elephants? Sorry. (His mom didn’t even need to claim an allergy for that one, but she did anyway. It was one of his favorite memories of Kya, one that he now smiled about as he got dressed.)

But now? He was an adult, in his own apartment, with only his non-allergic self and non-allergic sister’s non-existent-allergies to consider. After spending so much time around her boyfriend Aang and his gigantic bison of a dog, Appa, she had been convinced to so benevolently allow one of Sokka’s biggest dreams to come true. Puck was coming home today. He woke Katara up fifteen minutes before he was supposed to, but he made her an omelette to make up for it. Her glare didn’t stick around too long, anyway; his infectious excitement chased it away.

They drove to the shelter just outside of Boston, and in another moment of sisterly indulgence, Katara allowed him to blast his Pump-Up Skate Jamz playlist the whole way. He felt like he was going to a game, anyway - he was getting a dog. Way better than any game. (Maybe he wouldn’t be saying that if he played for something other than beer league, but then again, maybe he would.) 

Paperwork finalized and approved, all he had to do was the final step of taking Puck home, and he wasn’t the only excited one - as soon as Puck saw him, he turned into nothing but a massive black blur flying across the fenced yard, launching himself at Sokka and forcing him to the ground with all four huge and heavy paws on his chest, giving him plenty of slobbery, joyful kisses.

Sokka would die for him.

He took him inside to gather the toys and meds that he and Puck would be taking home, and, even without a leash, Puck was plastered to his side the whole way. Even when Katara tempted his attention with a treat; he gave her the quickest bit of adoration before bounding right back over to his dad. Sokka swore he would never be one of those people, but resolve was for wimps and cowards who didn’t have Puck’s big baby browns watching him with innocent, unending love. When one of the staff asked if he wanted to talk about Puck’s new home on stream for a second, he leapt at the chance.

“This is Puck,” Sokka grinned, giving Puck’s ear some good scritches. “I’ve been coming up to see him for a couple weeks, since he needs a lot of care and attention and I wanted to make sure I’d be able to provide.” 

Puck did need care and attention—he had several permanent health problems as a result of his past owners’ lack of attention, and required some behavioral classes to help him manage fear and aggression. Both the humane society and Sokka wanted to make sure it was something he would be able to handle to give Puck the absolute best life ever. 

“But today—” he said, looking down at Puck. Puck met his eyes and in a flash Sokka found himself with a heavy armful of happy, tail-wagging dog. He couldn’t resist giving him a firm kiss right on his forehead. “Today he’s coming home with me. He’s gonna live a life of luxury with dog parks and steak tartar and so many aunties and uncles who are gonna dote on him.”

Sokka cracks up when Puck woofs with impeccable timing. He accepts Puck’s leash from a staff member and scruffs Puck’s chin again. “Oh, what is this? I got too pumped about Puck to ask.”

The staff member grins. “It’s a promotional thing. We’re streaming adoptions live on Twitch to try to get some traction.”

Sokka beams and turns back to the stream, looking at the camera more intentionally. “Hell yeah! Follow me on boomsokkasokka for more Puck content!”

Katara rolls her eyes but is grinning, and knocks elbows him once he steps out of the room. “Guess that’s it, then,” she says as the receptionist tells them goodbye. “We have a dog now.”

Sokka could shriek with joy. “We have a dog now!”

Puck reacts to his excitement by running in a tight circle before standing with his paws on Sokka’s shoulders again. Sokka peppers his sweet face in kisses and ushers him in the car to go home.

They spent the day slowly acclimating Puck to his new home: a Cambridge apartment that is larger than it could be, funded by Katara’s cushy scholarship and Sokka’s not-so-cushy-but-enjoyable Boston coffee shop job, located close enough to a bus station that Katara could get to her Harvard Law classes and internship without needing to drive, but far enough from any campus that they wouldn’t feel the need to strangle a drunk college student every other weekend. It had the additional bonus of being close to two dog parks, which Sokka planned on taking full advantage of.

Near the end of the night, Sokka made good on his word for more Puck content and went live on Twitch as he encouraged Puck to hang out on the couch with him.

“He wasn’t allowed on furniture in his last house,” Sokka told the stream, keeping his tone even and casual. Puck’s chin was resting on his knee, and his soulful eyes were watching for any indication that even thinking about being on the couch was a bad-dog idea. Sokka pulled his hand back to pat the cushion beside him again before going back in for more scritches. “I know it’s a thing a lot of people do, and it wasn’t the worst thing they did by far—but a dog’s whole life is in the space you give it. I can leave whenever I want and go wherever I want, I can travel the world if I want to. Minus, you know, money and shit like that, but you guys know what I mean. But he can’t. He lives where I put him, and I’m not gonna take the comfiest ten square feet in the whole apartment away from him.”

Puck nudges his knee and moves slowly, putting one giant paw on the cushion. Sokka pats the couch again and looks at the camera trying to not explode with joy. His ninety-two viewers are feeling the same, judging by the long strings of exclamation points in the chat. Sokka glances at Puck as he puts a second paw on the cushion, like he’s attempting a slow motion jump. 

Sokka smiles as softly as he can manage, offering gentle encouragement. “C’mon, buddy, it’s okay. I wanna show you the joys of couch life.”

Puck crawls up, nervous and so, so brave, and Sokka has to hold himself back from hugging him tight. 

“Good boy,” he coos, scritching his head as Puck’s tail thumps against the cushion. It thumps harder when Sokka finds a good spot on his neck, and he falls bodily over, huge head taking up a joyful Sokka’s laugh. “Good boy—”

He talks sweet nonsense at his favorite boy in the whole world for a while after, and carefully maneuvers his paw to wave bye to the camera when he decides to end the stream. He ended up with a few new followers today, and even a couple subscribers. Between that and the tacos they got for lunch and Puck, this had been the best day in a long while.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Across the country, a phone pinged in a dressing room. The room was empty, but even if it wasn’t, it wasn’t likely anyone would be able to hear the notification over the sound of nineteen-thousand screaming fans and the booming music of Soolong rolling through Portland’s Moda Center. 

Twitch - 4 hours ago
boomsokkasokka is live: PUCK TIME PUCK TIME PUCK TIME. Swipe to watch now.

Twitch - now
boomsokkasokka was live: PUCK TIME PUCK TIME PUCK TIME. Swipe to watch the replay.

Across the country, a phone’s tinny speakers played Instagram stories by some of Sokka’s friends from back in the PNW. Lucky bastards, he thought, though there was no real fire behind it. He listened to Puck snore on the pillow beside him, following a solid hour of convincing him that being on the bed was okay. He sighed and exited the app, turned on his alarms, plugged his phone in, and spooned around the giant beast who had laid claim to his bed. 

One day, I’ll see Soolong in person, he thought as he fell asleep. Major hype shit.

Chapter Text

As they neared the end of the North American tour, exhaustion seemed to settle deep into Soolong’s bones. While this tour was half as intense as the tours when they were with ZhaoWorks, they were still a lot to handle, tiring and stressful, with plenty of fuel for breaking points. 

Those points manifested differently in each member—Lu Ten glared at the source of any too-loud sound, Lee took snore-heavy naps at any given opportunity, Toklo (somehow) got too competitive playing Disney Tsum Tsums, Tomkin sulked in the booth with music blasting in his ears, and Zuko tended to snap, brash and angry. 

He hated that about himself. His reaction to stress disappointed his groupmates, and it sometimes made Tomkin get all closed-off, on edge, and scared. That was the worst. Zuko knew he had a bad experience in a foster home before Toklo’s family was approved to take him in. Zuko knew plenty about bad family experiences. He had gotten close to snapping that morning when his coffee sloshed over the side of his mug as the bus went over a bump on the highway. Something so small felt so big when he was so tired. He looked at the small puddle on the table, looked at Tomkin in front of him, with his eyes closed and music barely audible from his headphones. With his best friend in his heart and his uncle’s voice in his mind, he went to his bunk, closed the curtains, and turned on fucking bird sounds.

He didn’t even like birds, really, but Uncle Iroh had been really nice and made him a relaxation playlist. 

“It is good after a long day to relax and commune with nature,” their manager had said with a serene smile. He had seen Zuko snap and slam the studio door, and had seen Lu Ten roll his eyes and Tomkin jump and Lee and Toklo ignore him completely. Unlike Zhao, their former manager, Iroh did not jerk Zuko to the side to give a biting threat, but gently led him with a hand on his elbow to his cozy office, making him a cup of calming chamomile tea with understanding eyes and gentle hands. The guilt had made Zuko feel sick to his stomach.

“What nature?” Zuko scoffed quietly. He didn’t like tea, but he sipped it anyway. “I can’t just take a walk in the park whenever I get mad. And we’re about to go on tour, what do you want me to do? Make them stop the bus?”

Iroh had given him a considering tilt of the head before nodding once, determined. “I will make you something to listen to, and you can close your eyes and pretend.”

He sounded so sincere and convinced of its magical effectiveness that Zuko kept trying it out, hoping to achieve the tranquility Iroh seemed to exude for just one minute. He never managed to meditate, necessarily, but trying to do so kept him in a quiet space and gave him enough time alone to calm down and regain a level head (enough to give Tomkin a whispered “sorry” and to receive the immediate forgiving hug without tensing up). That didn’t mean bird sounds didn’t suck.

A notification pinged in his ears, loud and startling interrupting the jungle rain. Aggravation twinged in Zuko’s chest as he opened his eyes with the rash intention of deleting whatever app had just yelled at him.

Twitch - now
boomsokkasokka is live: GOTTACATCHEMALL. Swipe to watch now.

It took an embarrassingly short amount of time to remember why he was getting that notification. It had been over a week ago, but he remembered seeing muscles-tattoos-teeth (plus dog) and remembered his impulsive want to see more almost immediately. Whatever boomsokkasokka was up to seemed ten times better than listening to parakeets, so, of course, he swiped.

The stream loaded to reveal a nostalgic delight—he was playing Pokemon Ruby on an emulator, one of Zuko’s favorite games from his childhood (the only game he’d ever played in his childhood). Lu Ten used to let him play on his console when he visited, both of them hiding away in Lu Ten’s bedroom to avoid the sneers and snark of their grandfather and Zuko's father Ozai. The stream also revealed a delight that held no nostalgia. 

The man from the adoption stream was even more beautiful than Zuko remembered, even with his stupid gamer headset and worn Star Wars t-shirt (maybe because of the shirt that fit comfortably snug against his chest with a few holes conveniently revealing dark ink underneath). He took up half of the screen, the current battle against a wild Magikarp on the other half.

It was fate, Zuko thought. He had always related to Magikarp; floundering through his childhood and the early years of Soolong as he tried to evolve into a Gyrados. He was meant to tune in. 

(Let it be known: smart as he was, Zuko was an idiot.)

There were eighty-two viewers and a good handful of them seemed to be active in the chat, but that was apparently not enough for boomsokkasokka to not notice a new person popping on. He glanced at the monitor and grinned.

“Hey! Sozz080397, thanks for tuning in to Mudkip Hour!” He was beautiful and gorgeous and had the nicest teeth Zuko had ever seen and he had just said Zuko’s name (technically) and it was too much. In a panic, he closed the app.

In a stronger panic, he quickly reopened it.

Muscles-Tattoos-Teeth (Plus Dog) was still in the middle of frowning, saying “—should stop scaring people, huh, guys?” when sozz080397 rejoined, and he interrupted himself with a charming laugh. “Sorry for spooking you, bud, welcome back.”

Zuko’s cheeks were still burning, even the tip of his nose felt like it was tingling from embarrassment, but he didn’t close out again. Instead, he laid down and propped his phone against the wall of his bunk, watching a beautiful boy play a children’s game and feeling more relaxed than any chirping bird had ever made him. He didn’t realize how long he had been watching until Lu Ten tapped outside his bunk with a quiet “Knock, knock.”

Suddenly flustered and feeling caught in the act, Zuko closed Twitch and locked his phone, not wanting Lu Ten to see his new fascination. “Uh—yeah?”

Lu Ten pulled back the curtain and squinted at him suspiciously, obviously praying that he hadn’t caught his cousin in a much more compromising position. “We’re about to have the Dinner Conversation. You have any preferences?”

Zuko always had preferences. He slid out of bed and left his phone behind.

Zuko’s preferences were outweighed. 

“Zuko, my dude, babe,” Lee had argued, “We’re in Mexico for two more days before we go back to a place with approximately zero authentic Mexican restaurants for another six months, I want us to be so sick of it we don’t even notice.” 

He pouted over his empanadas instead of the pad thai he had been craving and silently crafted a list of recently acquired information in his mind. 

Muscles-Tattoos-Teeth (Plus Dog) was named Sokka, judging by the people in the chat who addressed him with enviable familiarity. His dog seemed to love him as much as Sokka loved Puck, and had wormed his way into Sokka’s arms to act as a sixty-pound lapdog mid-stream. Sokka had just hugged him indulgently and peppered his head with kisses and wiped the slobber from Puck’s returned licks with a grin. 

Though it was not necessarily new information, it was important to note that Sokka was charming. He had the best voice for storytelling and a barking laugh and sharp canines that would show up in Zuko’s dreams. There was nothing particularly special about the stream (other than it was Zuko’s first, and aren’t firsts always memorable?), but it was enough for Zuko to know that, without a doubt, he would answer the next notification like a siren call.

“Oi, oi,” Tomkin said, pointing a churro at him. Zuko took an obliging bite with a hum of thanks. “You’re thinking.”

“Some of us can.”

Tomkin rolled his eyes and took his own bite, cinnamon sticking to his lips. He talked with his mouth full with the sole purpose of making Lu Ten’s eye twitch. “You good?”

Zuko felt simultaneously touched and embarrassed; they all looked at him with genuine concern, wanting him to be okay and not just to see vulnerability. Lee, especially, looked at him with earnest eyes as he waited for his answer. 

Lee had replaced him and he would have never cared about Zuko being “good” for anything, other than wanting to know if there were any weak spots that would hurt more than usual if they were pressed. Zuko visibly relaxed at Lee’s expression, face still baby-round even though he would bite anyone who suggested so.

“I’m good. I rested.” I calmed down, they know Zuko means. 

Tomkin locked ankles with him under the table and chomped happily at his churro, satisfied. Lu Ten looked at him with such familial warmth that Zuko had to look away. Lu Ten’s eyes were always the color of protection, just like Uncle Iroh’s. 

“Thanks,” he muttered, taking a large bite so he wouldn’t have to say anymore.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Sokka stretched his arms up after ending the stream, spinning lazily in his desk chair. Still on his lap, the lug that he was, Puck huffed at him sleepily but remained stubbornly put. While he didn’t beat the world record by any means, that 5:25:08 speedrun of Pokemon Ruby really took it out of him. With a groan, Sokka heaved Puck off his lap, rolling his eyes when he flopped onto the floor dramatically, belly begging to be rubbed. Sokka was a sucker and gave in, Puck’s tail thumping slowly.

“You’re super smart,” Sokka considered. “Think I can teach you to write so I don’t have to do this essay?”

Puck woofed quietly in happy refusal.

“Yeah, thought not,” he sighed and grabbed his laptop and a heavily-marked (out of stress, not out of interest) copy of some stupid classic European romance tragedy war yadda-yadda novel. He was in his second year of community college, wrapping up gen eds before applying to as many fancy colleges as possible with the hope of getting a reputable architecture degree that would come with some similarly fancy networking opportunities.

He hadn’t been as smart as Katara (or as applied, as his dad had said) and had paid a lot more attention to his high school hockey career than his grades. Katara had gotten into Harvard, early admission, full-ride scholarship plus a stipend, the whole shebang. Sokka hadn’t… applied, anywhere, because he didn’t know what he wanted out of life or what he wanted to study or where he wanted to go and he was smart enough to not force himself into something he’d start to hate one month after he couldn’t do anything to change it without starting all over. Instead, he followed his little sister to Boston (to Cambridge, but whatever), and worked his ass off at a locally-owned coffee shop where he made great tips and got a free meal each shift.

He realized when he was scrolling through his photos in search of a niche meme that he did have an interest that he could turn academic. Every so often, he’d hit a streak of pictures he had taken of historic houses, interesting public spaces, unique designs that added something extra to whatever they were—it all pointed to architecture. He wasn’t positive about what he wanted to go with, but he was leaning to structural engineering to put his math brain to use, or historic preservation to professionally obsess over old buildings. 

All of this to say—he had to write an essay, and he didn’t want to, but he would.

Maybe after a snack.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

The Mexico City concert had been one of their worst in a while. Mexico City Arena had been one of the venues that sold out within a minute of tickets going on sale, and it had been packed to the brim with twenty-two thousand fans who had been so excited to see them, so welcoming and enthusiastic and loud, and the only thing Zuko felt Soolong had been able to offer in return was technical problems and his voice cracking and broken mics and his voice cracking and messed up choreography and his voice—

“Zuko,” Lu Ten said from the door connecting their hotel rooms, his voice low and serious. “It’s okay.”

Zuko didn’t look away from the window, arms wrapped around his knees, curling into himself on the too-stiff armchair. “No, it’s not.”

“It is. It happens. And you know no one cares as much as you.”

“Twitter cares.”

“One percent of Twitter cares. The other ninety-nine percent are fans raving about the show. Ninety-nine percent of those are raving about you, because other than that tiny, tiny second, you kept us from drowning tonight.”

Zuko studiously ignored his stinging eyes and the lump in his throat. “I made it worse.”

“You didn’t.” Lu Ten was always too kind to him. Zuko wished he would just yell because sometimes making him feel worse was the only thing that made him feel better. Fuck what his therapist said about kind words and healthy coping mechanisms.

“I did. ”

“You—” Lu Ten said with a small smile, coming close to sit on the arm of the chair and pulling Zuko into a comforting half-hug. “You were incredible. Who else could do that?”

That was performing a purely acoustic solo after a major malfunction disconnected the live instruments and backing tracks from the arena speakers. Between Soolong, their staff, arena employees, technicians, and everyone else who ran backstage to figure out what, why, and how, it had been a frantic buzz made all the worse by the screaming audience, suddenly plunged into silence that they met with the routine chants that celebrated the group. 

Hearing their names—Lu Ten, Toklo, Zuko, Tomkin, Lee, SOOLONG—yelled at top volume by thousands and thousands of people only made the group feel at a guilt-ridden loss, until Zuko stopped, blinked at the floor, blinked at them, grabbed his mic, and walked back on stage.

It had been an emotional performance of one of their more underrated songs—an emotional track that focused more on smooth vocals rather than setting up a scene for an intricate MV or intense choreography. It took them all by surprise, the group and the crowd. As Zuko approached the second chorus, the boys had sprung into action, rushing to join him on stage. Lee and Tomkin pretended to swoon into one another as they came over to join him, Toklo had swung an arm around Zuko’s shoulder from one side, and Lu Ten had done the same from the other. It was then, when his campfire voice was tucked between theirs, that it had cracked, barely audible but definitely there. Lu Ten had seen Zuko’s panicked eyes even though he did his best to keep his face performance-neutral, and he had known that Zuko had a long night of self-flagellation ahead of him.

Zuko shrugged and stayed silent.

“You did great,” Lu Ten said firmly. “We have to be up early for Buenos Días, will you try to get some sleep?”

“I guess.”

“Oh, you want me to make you tea?” he teased.

“I’ll try to sleep, I don’t want tea,” Zuko said with a childish pout.

Lu Ten peered at him for a moment before giving him a warm grin, ruffling his hair. “Fine, prove it. In bed with you.”

Zuko heaved out a put-upon sign but conceded, abandoning the armchair in favor of the bed. “You're not my dad,” he muttered into the pillow, no fire behind the words.

“I’m sure as hell not,” Lu Ten laughed, squeezing Zuko’s shoulder like his own father used to do for him. “Night, Zuko. You did great today.”

Zuko didn’t smile and didn’t nod and didn’t believe him, but he did close his eyes. Lu Ten watched him fondly for a moment before going back to his own bed. For now, that was enough.

Chapter Text

Even after the horrifying call-out Sokka had put him through the first time Zuko watched one of his streams, (a memory that would live in Zuko’s nightmares for months), Zuko found himself coming back again and again. What little downtime he had was soon filled with Sokka’s voice and Sokka’s face and Sokka’s jokes and Sokka’s smile and Sokka’s content that he picked seemingly at random. Sokka’s streams ranged from speedrunning Rugrats: Search for Reptar to diligently practicing latte pours that fueled his off-screen sister’s late night study sessions.

Zuko wasn’t able to watch every stream by a long shot, and was hardly able to stay on for more than an hour at a time; even though they were home (finally, finally, finally), Soolong’s days were filled with filming their biweekly web series and learning new choreography and teasing the next album that was a long four months away from release and a very short four months away from release. He found snippets of time during rehearsal breaks, in talk show greenrooms, at Lu Ten-mandated post-dinner group hangouts in the living, and, more often than not, when he was able to stay in bed a little longer, tucked in bed and feeling giddy and relaxed as he watched. 

His groupmates were too glad he found something to do that wasn’t brooding to interrogate him about his new distraction, and whenever anyone (Lee.) looked a little too curious, Zuko stifled any questions with a stubborn glare.

While he wasn’t sure where Sokka lived (somewhere in northeastern US, he assumed, based on the humane society he had adopted Puck from), he knew he was a solid fourteen hours behind Seoul’s time zone and their days and nights were essentially reversed. Sokka tended to go live exactly as Zuko was waking up, so his morning routine had become a simple one: wake up, check for a live stream, and watch the streams he’d missed if he had enough time before getting to whatever work they had that day.

He didn’t know exactly why he felt so protective of his habit, but he always had an ear out for incoming intruders. 

They didn’t need to know everything about him, he reasoned, even though Sokka was the literal one single thing they didn’t know about. In the back of his mind, though, Zuko was worried that the others would start watching, because how could they not? Sokka was beautiful and cool and entertaining and everyone else was talkative and friendly and better than Zuko, and then Sokka would start ignoring him in favor of literally anyone else.

As it was, Sokka had regular viewers that Zuko began to recognize by their presence in the chat, and the way Sokka talked to them so casually. He knew some of Sokka's audience were real life friends; they mentioned work sometimes, or said things like "see you at six."

Zuko had to force his irrational envy down. Sokka always ended up with a hundred or so viewers, but there were never too many for him to ignore newcomers. Including Zuko.

“Sozzy!” Sokka grinned, glancing at the monitor at the new viewer notification. He was playing Pong and was obviously feeling frantic, going wild on the retro controller, clunky buttons clacking loudly as he smashed them. “Sup, bud, how are you?”

Sokka always asked him that, even though Zuko never responded. The embarrassment he felt when Sokka had brightly said, “He speaks, look at that! Participation!” when Zuko had typed ‘good’ in the chat one single time rivaled the initial welcoming call-out in terms of skin-prickling anxious embarrassment. Zuko didn't respond this time, but he felt a flurry of warm excitement from the acknowledgement stir in his stomach, and squeezed his pillow to his chest with a full-body shake because it was just too much to stay still.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Tumblr - @soolongimagines

hey guys sorry for the long hiatus, im back with some imagines of our boysss!! follow for more thnx sorry no pics this time

Imagine cuddling with Lu Ten after a long day at school. He helps you finish your homework b/c he’s super smart and nice and makes you a snack of apple slices and peanut butter to share with you (unless youre allergic and then its just apples). When you’re done he pulls you onto his lap while you’re on the couch and he puts on your favorite movie. He is so tall and warm and he has the best arms in the whole world and he puts them around you and kisses your hair so soft and when you fall asleep on him he tucked you into his own bed and it smells like him.

Imagine going out to dinner with Toklo at a really nice fancy romantic restaurant on Valentine’s day. He had to make a reservation a month in advance like when you first started dating him but he made it b/c he knew he wanted to take you there to eat as a date. He smiles at you from across the table and pours red wine and takes a bite of bread from the table. He’s wearing a really nice suit with flowers all over it and he fixed his hair like he did for the Red Thread MV. He blushes and talks to you about your day even though you spent your day together and it’s really sweet. When you eat Toklo reaches over and wipes some pasta sauce from your lip with his thumb and it feels like a kiss. You go to dessert at a donut shop instead of getting a fancy one and sit in one of the old donut shop booths in your super pretty dress and his suit. Toklo gives you a kiss goodnight.. and then takes you inside ;)

Imagine Zuko crying after he kept messing up while learning a new dance even though you were watching him the whole time because all of Soolong invited you and it was really good. You sit on his lap and wipe his tears off his cheeks and replace them with little kisses that leave lipstick marks all over ((I KNOW HES GAY THIS IS AN IMAGINE NO HATE ALLOWED)) and it makes him laugh. He says sorry for being so sensitive but you say it’s okay because being a sensitive guy is a really good thing and means hes a good person. He smiles and touches your waist under your shirt and thanks you by kissing you a lot.

Imagine having a sleepover date with Tomkin. He invites you over to spend the night and winks and said it wouldn’t be funny business. You and him build a pillow fort in Soolong’s living room and the other guys live there but leave you two alone b/c Tomkin told them how much he likes you. He makes popcorn with a lot of butter on it and you watch a scary movie that he picked b/c he wanted to hold your hand under the blanket. You cuddle with him and hide your face in his shoulder at the scary parts and you know he likes it because he smiles really big when he’s making fun of you for it. You sleep in the same sleeping bag as him on the floor and cuddle the whole night and even kiss to sleep.

Imagine going to a carnival with Lee and it’s just you and him. He stops at every single food truck and you share funnel cakes and deep fried oreos and ice cream until you both cant eat anymore. You stop at a game booth where Lee wins you every single prize you point to even though it takes him a billion tries to win ring toss. He smiles at you every single time and he is so cute with the little gap between his teeth and crinkly eyes that you give him a kiss every time and he kisses you back. You go on a roller coaster even though you’re scared of them b/c Lee loves them and he holds your hand the whole time and thinks it’s really cute when you close your eyes. Finally at the end of the night he takes you home and helps you carry in the tons of stuffed animals he won for you including a giant teddy bear the size of you. He kisses you before he leaves and texts you that he had a great night and wants to do it again but you can pick the date :)

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Zuko’s Actual Head - @mentalsozz080397

Imagine hanging out with Sokka and playing some stupid video game that you lose because you suck at video games but you have so much fun that it’s impossible to care. His dog likes you a lot and lets you scratch his ears while you watch Sokka talk about a really cool house he saw the other day, like the one he talked about on stream where he went to an estate sale with zero intention of buying anything and full intention of taking sneaky pictures of the master bedroom that had a bed frame that looked like a gazebo built into the wall. He talks for hours without stopping and you love to hear him and it feels like every word said makes you more and more attached and more and more happy and more and more in—crush. He smiles at you and asks you how you are the same way he asks in his streams and you think you could listen to his voice forever. You hang out for hours and hours, until it’s late enough that Sokka asks if you want to stay the night and you want to so badly so you do, and you fall asleep right beside him in his bed that smells like him and he has to smell so manly in the best way, like bergamot and neroli or pine and lemongrass or even if he didn’t smell great it would still be the best smell because it would be Sokka’s. He touches your hair and you fall asleep in his arms like you’ve always wanted to do with someone and you feel like it was always, always meant to be him. 

Zuko’s Actual Head - @mentalsozz080397

Jesus fucking christ im a mess

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Sokka loved his job. He had walked into the little coffee shop nearly two years ago, aiming for an Americano and ending up with an above-minimum-wage job. He had been a few months from twenty, fresh to Boston after moving with seventeen year old sister from their hometown in Washington. As smart and savvy as Katara was, Sokka would walk over burning glass before letting her move so far away from home alone. The coffee shop had come at the absolute best time, when he was starting to worry about money and feeling guilt settle on his shoulders every time they got groceries with Katara’s scholarship allowance. It had also come at a time when he was ready to walk over burning glass on the bottom of a dick-deep pool of lava before drinking another cup of Seattle’s Best (Seattle's best his ass), and one of the best benefits of the job was all-he-could-drink coffee.

The environment was great, his boss let him work on homework during slow hours, his coworkers were friendly and fun, they had some great regulars—

And one horrible regular that Sokka had gotten stuck with right at the beginning of his shift, who complained that there was not enough espresso in his white chocolate mocha then when Sokka remade it there was too much foam and then he made the mistake of saying, “You wanna come make it yourself, big shot?” when his boss was in Big Shot’s sight and he complained and he had to be written up because there was no avoiding it and even though his boss said that it was basically a warning, he knew the situation, just try to keep a steady head, there was nothing like getting unjustly in trouble for work to absolutely ruin the day.

His favorite coworker, Suki, bless her entire soul, made sure to squish the side of one of the mini tiramisus as she was putting them in the display cabinet so he could have a free treat.

His favorite ex-girlfriend, Suki, also got him potstickers for lunch, so the day wasn’t a total waste. But still.

“What are you up to tonight?” she asked as they hung up their aprons. “Hot date with the internet?”

“Hot date with the internet,” Sokka confirmed, hoisting his backpack over his shoulder. “Might fuck around, play Elder Scrolls.”

“Oh, nice. I might join your server later if that’s cool. Yue and I are gonna do dinner at Rainforest Cafe but she has work at nine.” His other favorite ex-girlfriend, Yue, loved both his ex-girlfriend Suki and themed restaurants. 

He got it, one-hundo percent.

“Hell yeah, let’s fuck it up,” Sokka grinned. They checked shoulders as they parted ways and Sokka felt lighter, in much greater spirits than hours before. He half-jogged home, both eager to get out of the brisk November winds and to get home to his very, very bestest boy.

Puck greeted him with bouncing enthusiasm as soon as he unlocked the door, whining joyfully at him. He wasn’t really a barker, and neither Sokka nor the shelter knew if that was just his nature or a product of his past owners, but he was starting to get noisier as the weeks went by, whining and woofing on occasion. Those whines and woofs were music to Sokka’s ears.

“There’s my buddy boy!” Sokka cooed in greeting. “Kept the house safe while papa was at work, didn’t you?”

Puck had put on a couple pounds since coming home with Sokka (happy home weight, Sokka knew, and not too many treats weight as Katara claimed), and every single one of those pounds leapt into his arms, demanding to be danced around. Sokka readily obliged, spinning his huge baby and kissing his forehead.

“Missed you, too. Listen, my dude. I do not, I repeat, I do not want to give you a bath today, so please don’t roll around in mystery smells like yesterday, but, that said—” he looked into Pucks dark chocolate eyes, voice serious. “Wanna go on a walk?”

The w word always did its job, and Puck practically flipped out of his arms to run in quick circles before bringing Sokka his leash from the basket beside the door, wagging his tail quickly enough for it to be a blur with the leash held in his teeth. 

Sokka attached it to his collar with a grin and accompanied it with some enthusiastic pets, and went willingly back into the awful chill for an indulgent hour-long fetch sesh in the park. 

Puck was a big guy and had a lot of energy to burn, and that energy was burned to ash by the time they got home. Puck flopped down beside Sokka’s bed on his favorite pillow (which used to be Sokka’s favorite pillow) and let out gruff snores, dead to the world.

Sokka tucked a blanket around him before he went to shower the day off. He pulled on his favorite grey sweatpants and toweled his hair off as he opened up Twitch and Elder Scrolls Online. He generally got a lot of viewers when he played ESO; people loved the opportunity to join the same servers and be featured on the Big Screen, even if Sokka’s Twitch was not exactly on the popular side. It wasn’t on the unpopular side, of course, but Sokka prided himself on being slightly (if only slightly) above average. 

He squinted at the Go Live button for a moment before looking down at his bare chest. Yeah. Shirt was staying off.

He did get quite a few viewers early on—just over a hundred, not too many more than his usual, but it was early in the night and not quite peak stream time. Hopefully more would come. He didn’t need the viewers, he wasn’t monetized, but he could admit it was a good ego boost to see those numbers go up. He often made a point to greet regulars, giving a taste of new viewers the charming personability they could have for the low price of free or nine-ninety-nine a month. Whichever.

Sokka’s main ESO goal was collecting cool shit, so he focused on wandering around and picking up gems and other stuff that he would scatter around his house like a hoard-filled dragon cave. He glanced at the monitor as it pinged at him to indicate a new viewer, and Sokka grinned immediately. “Sozzy! Hey! How are you?”

As he always did, sozz080397 said nothing. Sokka was charmed. “Nice. I’m trying to steal a necklace from this—something, I don’t know where I am or how I got here but I know I’m sneaking, so—”

His grin evolved into an absolute beam when Suki popped online, immediately inviting her on camera. “What is up! How was your date?”

“It was great. We got five chicken finger apps and finished them all.”

“God,” Sokka said, looking at her over the screen with wide eyes. “I miss dating you, dude, you always had the best ideas.”

Suki laughed and put on her cat-eared headset. “It was Yue’s idea, actually, she’s a genius.”

“Oh, well, fuck you, then, I miss dating her.”

Suki rolled her eyes but grinned toothily. “Stay jealous, babe.”

“I will, don't worry. Listen, I’m trying to steal a necklace, come help me be a thief—”

Suki obliged; they made the greatest team. “You got some Qs in the chat.”

“Oh!” Sokka said, pausing to sip from the plastic jug of water he kept by his desk as he read it over. “Jesus, some of y’all are interested,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Bi, single, yes, I dated Suki, yes, I dated Suki’s girlfriend, no, we’re not dating anymore, they’re gonna fight over whose best man I get to be.”

Suki snorted and rolled her eyes, battling off someone who had discovered their presence. “We are not. And no, we’re not engaged.”

“Yet,” muttered Sokka, conspiratorial.

“Yeah, yet! And you’re not gonna be in the wedding at all, we're sharing Puck as best man.”

“I’ll take it,” Sokka grinned, and delivered the killing blow to their opponent before Suki got a chance to, laughing at her affronted yell.

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

“Sozzy! Hey! How are you?” Sokka had asked, just like he always did. 

Except, unlike every other time he asked, his chin-length hair was wet and a tiny bit curly around his face, he was completely shirtless, with muscular biceps and triceps and delts and abs, and he had dark tattoos spreading over his arms and torso. A moon on his pec, a wolf on his shoulder, dark traditional bands around his arms, little stick-and-pokes scattered around his ribs, and a few more he couldn't quite see.

Zuko said nothing in the chat but he did groan loudly, burying his face in his pillows and pulling the blankets over his head, overwhelmed by everything that was happening to him all at once. 

Sokka was happening all at once. It was too much to handle.

However, it was nothing compared to the roller coaster of emotions he felt as Sokka’s apparent ex-girlfriend joined him on the stream. He found himself grateful for the nosy people in the chat who prodded answers out of Sokka; the envy and curiosity would have curdled in his stomach but he would have never asked. 

He knew it didn’t matter, not in reality, but he also knew that his mind was going to latch on to the new facts: Sokka was bi and Sokka was single.

“Fuck,” Zuko whispered.

Without emerging from his cocoon, he reached out and locked his phone. He had been graciously left alone til nearly noon, but he heard the unmistakable steps of Tomkin and Lee walking down the hall to his room, determined to ruin his morning (well—that was dramatic. They were determined to ruin his life).

Lee knocked on his door with a raucous drum roll while his awful partner in crime yelled, “Up, up, up!”

“It’s our day off, leave me alone,” Zuko grumbled just loud enough to be heard, not bothering to uncover his head.

Lee took that as permission to enter and they tumbled through the door, jumping on the bed to annoy him awake. “It’s our day off, we don’t want to leave you alone. We wanna do something fun.”

“Make Lu Ten and Toklo do fun with you.”

“You can’t 'do' fun, Zuko,” Tomkin said, rolling his eyes. “And they said no already.”

“I’m saying no.”

“Yeah, but you’re on the maknae line, we’re allied,” he said, propping himself up with sharp elbows on Zuko’s chest. Zuko already knew he was going to give in, but he wanted to at least give the illusion of holding out. As the three youngest members, they did tend to stick together and indulge each other in a way Lu Ten and Toklo did not.

Zuko sighed and stayed silent a long moment before peeking out from under his blanket. “Shopping.”

Lee and Tomkin beamed brightly at him and Zuko sighed again, trying to sound as put-upon as possible. At least it would be a distraction from his thoughts, which had quickly become nothing but the repeating mantra of “Sokka, bi and single” over and over again.