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Seo Minwoo

Seo Minwoo

Eighteen

Bisexual

5'10 | Athletic

2nd year

PERSONALITY

Minwoo has a calm, calculated, and poised presence; he rarely gets provoked and is usually the teammate who ends any disputes within the team. He takes the sport very seriously, and when the team practices, he tends to be strict, always calling out and correcting his teammates from the sidelines. He can come off pretentious and snobbish to strangers. With the crash thwarting his volleyball success, he usually spends a lot of the practice with the coach and the waterboy. When he is not scolding or following the game closely, he is conversing and laughing with the two.

Outside of practice, he has a compassionate quality about him. He treats people like they are significant to him, always asking how others are, or if they want to grab something to eat and showing concern for when they are upset. He gives most friends the same amount of attention and tenderness; however, there are a few who get special treatment like one on one practice. There is always one or two people he takes a particular interest in, which can cause issues and jealousy. he can blame his mom for this

Like his father, he is determined and mulish. The athlete is still unable to comprehend giving up volleyball entirely. He is focused on regaining the ability to play again. Late, violet nights, when the gym is deserted and haunting, Minwoo’s practicing. He would not dare tell any of his teammates, especially the ones who hound him to take it easy. Although the practicing causes him physical pain and mental exhaustion, he proceeds until everything becomes unbearable. As well as being stubborn, he's extremely self-critical; he works hard on all aspects of his life to stay satisfied with himself. Frankly, he's overworked.

Due to years of torment by his brother, he became impervious to the most vulgar and humiliating jokes directed towards him. Unblinking, with an unfocused and uninterested gaze, his eyes meet those who attempted to attack his person with mean-spirited jabs. Through experience, he found showing little care would usually get them off his back. However, late at night in his room when his mind is empty and tired, he often goes over the insults obsessively in a self-critical manner.

LIKES + DISLIKES

LIKES: volleyball, working hard, socializing, oranges, birds, reading, success, valentine's day, street food

DISLIKES: failure, bubblegum pop, wasting time, rain, instant noodles, any type of amphibian, roses (thinks they're an overused flower), fights, neon-anything, smoking

OTHER

Fears: failure, deep bodies of water, fish

Random Info:
- He played soccer in grade school
- Has never once got seriously in trouble while at school
- Tutors students once a week in mathematics
- Has never had any pets, but a blue parakeet he named Nari when he was in middle school. Nari was a gift from his parents for his remarkable grades. His brother accidentally left a window open while she was out of her cage. He never saw her again.

BIOGRAPHY

Minwoo grew up in a stable environment with hard-working parents and an older brother by five years. He was the favored son. Unlike his brother, Minseok, who slacked off in everything but video games and sexy girl groups, Minwoo excelled academically and physically. This caused a split between the siblings. Minseok grew to envy his younger brother and often bullied him. As the years went on, the torment only grew, and the athlete made an effort to stay at school as late as possible. Late nights in the classroom and long days at volleyball practice, elicited praise from his parents.

Middle school was where his life truly began. Initially, Minwoo wasn’t very interested in volleyball; really, he only joined to please his father, who wanted to live out his childhood dreams through his son. But, once he got the hang of the sport, he realized he had a natural talent for it. He mastered a pretty powerful spike, which later became his signature serve. The team was like a family away from home, and he relished in the brotherly-bonds the whole team held, something he lacked at home.

One forgets how delicate the human body can be until its brittleness is shoved into their face. Minwoo used to see himself as invincible; he was on his way to becoming a pro-athlete, countless colleges were already trying to scout him out, and he was well-respected amongst his classmates. While he stuck to a small, tight-knit group of friends, everyone knew who he was. However, his dominant knee turned into porcelain and shattered grotesquely in the crash, leaving a nasty surgical scar behind, and his athletic ability was ripped away from him. Frankly, his entire life was ruined. He spent countless days of his recovery, arguing with his doctor about why he had to continue to play volleyball. But, he lost every argument because it was physically impossible for him to play safely and comfortably. He would only weigh down his team and hurt himself more.

At the beginning of his recovery, he fell into a state of misery. What was he supposed to do now? He had already planned his entire life, with volleyball being the focal point of it all, and suddenly it was gone. There was nothing for him, but a boring office job with its claustrophobic cubicle and stale coffee. After days of mourning, he eventually broke down in front of the team’s captain: sobbing uncontrollably with thick, salty tears burning his face. The long talk they had afterward struck a chord within him. Regardless of whether he would play or not, his team needed him.

Of course, coming back as manager didn’t stop him from trying to play; he tried a lot. But, each time his feet would hit the ground after jumping to spike the ball, a jolt of pain shocked straight to the injury. It was like he was bludgeoned and stabbed repeatedly in the knee; it was sore to the touch. He wouldn’t be able to put weight on it for the rest of the day. Hand frozen from holding an ice pack, glossy eyes and a tremor in his voice, he would watch from the sidelines as his team practiced relentlessly without him, but not before he was scolded by their coach and team captain.

His father, while still showing his support, was notably disappointed. His face was growing thin, and his eyes never showed any interest in Minwoo when he spoke. With the crash, his father lost a dream of his too. He would hate to admit, but his father was to blame for the accident. The man neglected to pay attention, eyes on his son, laughing, zooming right past a redlight without another thought until honking began, which only caused him to swerve the car into oncoming traffic. With the idea he ruined his child’s life plaguing his mind, how could he look at him the same? Months later, and they’re just now starting to mend their strained relationship.

His mother’s reaction was much more parenteral than her counterpart; the scare of nearly losing her husband and favorite son had her crying for days, and Minwoo swore the crash made her age ten years and deepened her worry lines. Even after being sent home, she continued to treat the men with extra care, always making their favorite meal and splurging on small things that made her think of them. Minwoo had received so many volleyball related items from her, it was hard to count.

More recently, he’s slowly learning to accept and adapt to his new circumstances.

© pasta

 

[reveriee]

Roh Yonghan

Roh Yonghan

Seventeen

Homosexual

5'10 | Athletic

2nd Year

PERSONALITY

Despite his reputation of instigating fights and his aggressive tendencies, Yonghan, in general, is someone who keeps to himself. He is a clear introvert and has the status of a loner, and is one people immediately assume to be the strong but silent type. Unbeknownst to the world though, Yonghan is actually rather shy; his reputation is certainly quite unsavory, but in the eyes of the public, he's always the brooding guy in the corner with an intimidating demeanor, rather than the swaggering douchebag. He has a difficult time going up to people and starting conversations, but this behavior makes him come off as aloof and cold.

Yonghan definitely is not cold, however; he fits the description of a firecracker to a tee, with his hot-headed temperament. He is incredibly reactive and impulsive; the most minor things can set him off, leading to intense brawls and bloody fists. Yonghan is also incredibly competitive, even with the people who he's supposed to work with. He is not particularly easy-going and doesn't like to compromise; thus, there is always some degree of friction between him and everybody else. Yonghan is intensely proud; he doesn't regret the things he does on impulse, and has a difficult time apologizing (though he will try . . . if you're not a dick, that is). To make it worse, Yonghan despises authority, and sometimes goes out of his way to disobey and drive them up the wall. This attitude has led to multiple suspensions, and eventually, expulsion. Yonghan doesn't regret it, but he does feel bad about how much he makes his mother go through.

Yonghan has a tendency to be reckless, and doesn't hesitate when it comes to any crazy stunt, even if it causes him to come toe to toe with the law. He doesn't like to be stuck in his head, and has a hard time processing his emotions; instead, he throws himself into physical activity. Yonghan would rather do parkour and jump from building to building, possibly risking his life, instead of facing his own internal battles. Feeling the wind in his face and the drop in his stomach when he's forty feet above the ground is much more preferable than untangling his own turbulent emotional state.

The best way to describe Yonghan is emotionally constipated; he feels quite a lot and quite deeply, but he has immense difficulty processing the complex emotions he has -- which is mostly due to active avoidance of them, rather than being emotionally incompetent. Therefore, when his feelings do come into the picture, Yonghan's first response is anger. He's too impatient to reason with people, or to face his own shortcomings, which is why he's quick-tempered and often gets physical.

To the surprise of many, Yonghan is naturally a quite empathetic and empassioned person, and was always someone with a strong sense of morality. Although he does unreasonably jump into conflict -- especially concerning his own honor -- Yonghan is also the person who beats up bullies, and goes out of his way to make sure victims are protected and avenged. He tends to suppress his feelings, but Yonghan's instinct of needing to do the right thing often arises unconsciously.

At his core, the kind and compassionate child from Yonghan's youth still lives within him. He attempts to separate himself from that person in order to be what he perceives as stronger and tougher, but Yonghan can't run away from his true identity. A part of him is crying out for affection, and Yonghan desperately tries to muffle the screams.

LIKES & DISLIKES

parkour △ the color red △ adrenaline rush △ kindness △ patbingsu △ lavender △ red bean △ running △ individual sports △ winning △ justice △ family △ hi-chew △ flower crowns △ late summer △ polaroids △ girl groups, specifically red velvet and twice △ art △ anime △ graphic novels, manga, manhwa

being mocked or insulted ▽ boats ▽ swimming ▽ large bodies of water ▽ math ▽ science ▽ reading ▽ school in general ▽ loud voices in an otherwise quiet environment ▽ upsetting his mother ▽ politics ▽ the government ▽ the color yellow ▽ authority figures ▽ being told to keep his mouth shut ▽ team sports ▽ spring ▽ artificial watermelon flavor

MISC INFO

the hanja for his name is 鲁勇悍 [노용한] • birthday is november 23 • he is left-handed (especially in sports and physical movement), but learned to write with his right hand • his blood type is b-negative • he dyed his hair red, but with time, it's fading to pink • doesn't treat anyone worse or better just because they're a girl (this is a subtweet to all those who accuse him of lacking chivalry or whatever) • unironically wears lavender perfume -- not all the time, only when he's feeling down • always has hi-chew on hand -- his favorite flavor is grape

BIOGRAPHY

Roh Yonghan was born in an exceedingly normal family on a chilly autumn afternoon -- the kind of family that had an excess of nothing except for love. He was the second and youngest child, younger than his sister Seongja by a hefty six years. Despite their sizable age gap, Seongja was an affectionate sister, and the two of them were close beyond words. She was the kind of person who would take time out of her own life to help Yonghan with anything he needed -- be it schoolwork, or finding a friend. Seongja would innovate unique ways to make life easier for Yonghan -- when he was scared or tired, she would dab his pillow with lavender essence. When he was upset, she always took him to eat patbingsu -- or if she couldn't afford it, she would buy the two of them red popsicles as they walked around town. Of course, they were still siblings, and had their typical sibling squabbles -- like when Yonghan refused to get out of bed in the morning, or when Seongja spent too much time in her room trying to fix her school uniform's stubborn collar. Nonetheless, they had a relationship to be envied, and were often said to be siblings out of a fairy tale. The happy ones, of course. Not Cinderella.

Growing up, Yonghan was never good at academics, but his family always cooed over how he had a good heart. He would silently help restaurant staff clean up, bowing timidly before leaving without a word. When his family was sad, he would try to comfort them, because he was happy as long as they had no emotional troubles. Yonghan's parents liked to call him and Seongja angels from heaven. Yonghan's childhood was euphoric and his family was loving; though they never had much money, he lived a life akin to a dream, with the world cast in a glittery pink filter. Every night, he would lay in his bed, wholesomely grateful for his life.

Like all dreams, Yonghan's ended when he woke up.

When Yonghan was ten years old, he cheerfully bid goodbye to his sister, who was going on a field trip with her entire year to the island of Jeju. Yonghan was sad that she was going to be gone for a couple of days, but he wanted her to have a fun time.

It was April 16th when things went awry. The boat Seongja was on -- the Sewol ferry -- seemed to be sinking, listing at an alarming angle. The crew told the children to stay put, and that rescue crew was en route. Seongja -- the model student, the model citizen, the model daughter -- listened to the instructions diligently. She wore her life vest, sat in the compartment, and called Yonghan for as long as she could, entertaining him with tales and memories of their childhood.

She died on that ship. The only people who made it out were those who ignored the instructions of the captain and the crew, the ones who said, "fuck it all, I'm going up to the deck." The disobedient survived, while those who listened were left to die.

Yonghan understood accidents. He knew that, unfortunately, some things couldn't be prevented, even with all the precautions in the world. But the captain abandoned everyone to save himself, and told everyone directly to stay where they were when that was their downfall. The government denied the offered help from nearby American and Japanese ships, and instead of sending a full-blown rescue operation, they painted the media with lies of things they didn't even attempt to do. Seongja died on that ship, and as he grew older, Yonghan grew more and more aware of the gross negligence that was involved in the incident.

A month after the sinking, Yonghan's father committed suicide. Why would he do that, if he loved his son just as much? Yonghan tries not to think about it, because he'll always stumble across this question. When it happened though, he never even thought to ruminate over such things; he was too young, and ignorance was bliss. It hit Yonghan's mother the hardest, who on top of losing her husband and daughter, had to keep a strong face for her son. Six months after the sinking, Yonghan and his mother moved to Seoul; they couldn't live in Ansan anymore without seeing how much they lost.

Yonghan heard his mother cry every night. He tried to help, but he couldn't -- it was beyond what he could do. In the following years, Yonghan wanted to be strong for his mother, who stayed strong for him, even though it hurt every day for her to do so. He wanted to be stronger for himself too -- he was too emotional, all the time. He saw people who grieved, but were able to learn to live with it even just a few months after the incident. Yonghan wanted to be like them -- but he's not. He tried too hard chasing after an image he could not be, instead of embracing the person he was.

Yonghan knows he's screwed up. He lives with the devastation of it everyday, and the crippling feeling of not being able to be as strong as he always wanted to be. But one thing he can try to do is make his mother happy; through all his fights and suspensions and issues with authority, Yonghan always remembers that.

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