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Hyemin

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"Always dream big."

Hyemin's dreams from childhood to adolescence were never anything short of farfetched. She had many and they tended to change or fizzle out after a few months. Most of those dreams involved developing superpowers and becoming the hero South Korea deserved. There was one in particular that remained constant however; the dream of moving away. She longed for something more than the same tiny town of Jinsari, the same people, and the general mundane lull of life. Her family was like any other small town family. All tradition, hard honest labour, and forever engaged in the never ending debate of which child will take over the family business first.

"We gave you life!"

Come Middle School, Hyemin had grown tired of constantly dancing to her parents' tune. They'd owned the same convenience store since the early 1900s, and it was passed down from generation to generation. That was the case with most businesses in their small community, and she wanted nothing more than to escape, but it was much easier said than done. Her parents were highly skilled in the art of guilting their children into doing whatever it was they wanted; cleaning their rooms, helping out in the store, passing up countless chances to hang out with friends in favour of family time, and taking extra curricular classes that made Hyemin want to pull her hair out.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Hyemin was growing up into a beautiful young woman. She'd grown into her ears, which had apparently been far too large for her face all the way through school, and had been cause for teasing. Attention from the male population was never in short supply, although she liked to blame that on the simple fact she was one of very few girls to ever show a genuine interest in the nerdier things in life: marvel, DC, cartoons. Truth be told she was far more interested in Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, and The Incredible Hulk than anyone else.

There was one man, however, who took an interest in her work rather than in her personally. He was from Seoul, visiting the small rice field surrounded town for inspiration, and to Hyemin he was equally as interesting and alluring as a newly introduced Superhero, if not more. They met one evening at an event organized by the University where she was currently nearing the end of her Freshman year. It was an evening to showcase the talents and skills of the students to the public. Along with the other girls in her class who were neither musically gifted nor natural born dancers, she had to come up with a different way to show her talent. With the help of willing volunteers, Hyemin transformed five teachers into famous western celebrities using only the power of make-up. They were strangely accurate and earned many a second glance from the people in the audience. Hongchul, the man from Seoul, convinced Hyemin that her talents were wasted on such a small crowd. She deserved bigger and better.

In hindsight it was naive to believe him, but Hyemin was exactly that. When offered the things she wanted most, an escape from Jinsari and a chance to establish herself as a make-up artist, she wasted no more than a second thinking about her answer. It wasn't long before she'd broken the news to disapproving parents and was on the first train to Seoul, three suitcases containing her whole life in tow. Fate had finally decided to offer her something better, and she'd taken it without any thought of the consequences or possible problems she might face. Hongchul swept her off her feet as easily as the tide sweeps the sandy shore.

"Young girls are like helpless children in the hands of amorous men."

It was too perfect. Hyemin had gone from a Freshman at a small university in an equally small town, to a full-fledged make-up artist working for a new and upcoming company in the capital of South Korea. Hongchul spent so much time with her that the blossoming feelings were inevitable. They began dating, wisely agreeing to keep it quiet given the age difference of almost ten years. Hyemin had never felt better. Her creativity was flowing, and being infatuated seemed a big help.

Gradually, the romance faded. She was never allowed over to his place, and he'd been caught out in a web of lies so many times Hyemin was beginning to doubt everything he'd ever told her. The only time she ever got to see him was during work hours, and with other people around them constantly, that left little to no time for anything remotely romantic.

"Sometimes playing stupid opens your eyes to the truth."

After several angry messages left on Hongchul's voicemail one evening, Hyemin found the courage to pay him a visit to give him a piece of her mind in person. She arrived at his apartment building red-faced and sour, unimaginable rage boiling inside her. But by the time she reached his door she was more than ready to forgive whatever wrong Hongchul was guilty of; she didn't care if he had cheated on her, if he was secretly married, or if the business was going under, as long as they still had each other.

After a hesitant knock, Hongchul answered looking bedraggled and irritated, with a case of bed hair to top it all off. At first Hyemin didn't piece it all together, and she launched herself into a passionate speech about how they'd survive the highest waves and get through whatever troubles the buisness faced. Eventually Hongchul took pity and laid it all out for her. He'd simply grown bored, she was fired, and had already been replaced in both the business and romantic part of his life.

"Morning will come, it has no choice."

Hyemin was left without a job and without references. What she lacked in qualifications she made up for in experience and talent, but without any concrete evidence of her previous employment, there wasn't a business in Seoul ready to let her loose on the faces of their precious clientele. No job meant no means of paying her rent, and returnign to Jinsari to face the smug "I told you so"'s from her parents wasn't something an already wonded Hyemin could face.

She was left with only one option, and that was to pick up where she left off and return to education. Now fuelled mostly by revenge with a hint of passion, she applied to Yonsei University, intent on becoming the best damn business woman the world would ever see, and perhaps rub Hongchul's nose in all her success along the way.

TL;DR - A closet nerd fuelled by revenge.

» Hyemin collects figurines, rare mint condition collectors items, and so on. Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Naruto, One Piece, etc. She had to rent an office with extra space just to store them all, her apartment isn't big enough.
» As can be expected her make-up and nail polish collection is massive. The walls of her office are lined with shelves to accomodate it all. She still buys more, even though storage is getting very cramped. It might be a bit of an obsession...
» Has three cats but only one lives with her, a Russian Blue named Arwen.
» Dyes her hair to match her mood, the season, or simply hr favourite colour that month. She's indecisive when it comes to her appearance.