☉ PARK YEJI IS AT PEARL CENTER
"you just never call anymore," her mom complains through the line. yeji sighs as she drops her bag on top of the entryway table, toeing off her filas.
"i call all the time," she grumbles on her way to her fridge. the light from the LG is the only illumination in the darkness of her kitchen as she pushes past boxes of take-out and unopened cans of hite. "you and dad still haven't learned how to video call properly."
"technology these days are for young kids," her mom dismisses. "not for old people like me."
"you're not that old," yeji says, closing the fridge. maybe she'll make instant noodles for dinner.
her mom hums with mirth. in the dark, yeji can pick up the breathing over the line as she fumbles for the light switch. "yeji, won't you come home for the summer?"
a beat, then she turns on the light. she sighs again, exhaustion overwhelming her. "mom, we talked about this."
"you can't spare a day from that job of yours?" her mom asks in disapproval. "i just want a weekend to see my daughter. is that company working you too hard?"
"no, they aren't working me 'too hard,'" yeji says.
"you don't want to come home, then?" her mom asks. when yeji doesn't respond, she continues: "if you don't want to see anyone, just visit me and your father! i don't understand why all of a sudden, you hate people. you used to love talking to all the customers that came in-"
"mom."
her mom is insistent. "yeji, won't you come home for the summer?"
yeji rubs her eyes. "i will... think about it."
"that's my girl," her mom says with fervor. "oh! a call from my friend is coming in. good bye, dear! go get your water boiling for your noodles. i'll talk to you again soon."
the innkeeper's
박예지
FULL NAME park yeji.
BIRTHDATE oct 11, 24.
ETHNICITY korean.
GENDER woman.
UALITY biual.
FACECLAIM red velvet's joy.
STATURE 167cm.
APPEARANCE has brown wavy hair cropped at her shoulders that offset her resting face; sometimes she puts it up, usually she leaves it down. wears light makeup, pairs it with the boldest red shade she owns in lipstick. she seems petite, especially standing next to some of the other young men in simdong, but she carries herself in a way that demands your attention. ever since she's come back to visit, there hasn't been a day where she looks anything less than put together, even with the summer humidity and her limited supply of hair product.
STYLE very fashion-forward from her years in uni. prefers monochromatic colors, high-waisted midi skirts with off-the-shoulder blouses, and simple accessorizing with rings, necklaces, and tilted berets... think chic with city class, subtle elegance that naturally draws eyes to her and her favorite pair of suede heeled boots. as she spends more time in simdong, however, she may be amenable to switching to more comfortable clothing to run in...
PERSONALITY
in simdong, yeji was known as a soft and sweet mild girl prior to leaving for college that helped out at the inn a lot. she's the apple of her parents eyes, the girl that every auntie wants to match up w their sons just because she’s well-mannered and pretty. all that changes when she leaves the town for several years and comes back with a new look: short hair, closed off, and quiet and unapproachable.
doesn’t smile as much / a little conceited, in the mannerisms she’s picked up at her university / shorter fuse, more biting in the remarks she’s made back, but those are all just defense mechanisms she’s been using to protect herself / feels bad sometimes when she snaps at people who mean well and don’t actually intend for their remarks to be a highlight of all her failures / says nasty things in the heat of a conversation but regrets it after the words leave / mean girl trope with fragile feelings / might say things that can upset others, eg. calling her town a "backwoods waste" cause she's gotten used to saying similar things by now
BACKGROUND
at the inn, she essentially did any job that was required of her by her parents in order to maintain a steady workflow. in the mornings, she'd help visitors check out, and flag their rooms for cleaning later. for lunch, she took drink orders and brought food out for guests in their dining area. once it slowed down, she'd alternate in between washing sheets and checking in with her parents to see if there was an urgent task that needed to be completed.
when she turned fifteen, yeji realized that she couldn't see herself working for the next ten years for her parents. through an amalgamation of factors, she decided that she would leave simdong and head to college in the city. her parents were against it at first, just as many folks are due to strong ties to the town, but when she convinced them of what she could do to benefit the family business and gave them time to ruminate upon it, they gave her the green-light, and she began to prepare for her college admissions and gathering funds.
she eventually graduated high school in simdong. packed her bags to head off to seoul and quickly realized just how much of a fish out of water she was. at university, she's cajoled into attending social events and pressured into heavy drinking. if her roommates didn't pity her enough to make sure she returned to their shared dorm safely, she doesn't think she'd make it through her major path unscathed. and she's not dumb - she caught on that her makeup and style ostracized her from her peers, that there were snickers behind her back about her hometown and how naive she was.
so, she cut her hair. dyed it with what little funds she had, got a part-time job at a cafe to pay for a new wardobe. did her damn hardest to balance both school and work, and picked up quickly on how to navigate through gatherings, how to pick up on social cues, and most importantly, how to protect herself against others.
LIFESTYLE
prior to visiting simdong for the summer, she worked at a tech-based firm as a marketing analyst. her days begin in the morning with a coffee from the cafe beneath her apartment, before she takes transit to work and stays in the office until she clocks out. she'll do her best to muster up energy to head to the gym at least 3-4 times a week to get some cardio in before grabbing take-out on her way home. weekends are reserved for groceries (ie. drinks, snacks, and anything easy to prep) and playing catch-up for her work week when she's not going out with work colleagues-turned-friends. she makes an attempt to call her parents at least once a week, though that may vary depending on whether her parents pick up her calls and whether she has the time to call, busy as they both are.
currently, she's staying with her parents in her childhood room, helping out at the inn from time to time and counting down the days until it's time for her to head back to seoul (aka, when her PTO hours ends). when she's not helping out at the inn, she's visiting jonghyuk at his family's practice or holed up in her room, rummaging through all the old knick-knacks she left behind when she moved to seoul.
TRIVIA
🌿went to sogong university to major in business and minor in communications. came home w her bachelor's to visit her parents. doesn’t plan on staying long-term and wants to work in a major city - after she’s done checking up on them, she'll be booking it out of town.
🌿her parents support her in her studies and are generally very kind, so it makes her feel sad when she automatically lashes out during phone calls where they're being standard nosey parents. she always immediately apologizes afterwards, and despite being startled, they don't seem to take it to heart.
🌿because of her experiences at university, yeji has formed the habit of looking at the fashion styles of others to determine their characters. she's less-than-impressed with the youths still living in simdong, so she doesn't have good impressions, but if she befriends anyone she may be more likely to improve their fashion sense with what little she can work with while they're in the seaside town.
🌿back when she used to work for her parents, she picked up a variety of skills, ranging from restocking items to maintenance work to handling guest reservations. there's nothing "gross" that fazes or scares her at this point, because she's had to face it all with the customers that stay at the inn. also it's kind of funny to picture her sighing heavily while arming herself with a plunger and trudging upstairs reluctantly.
🌿fears jiho's grandmother, above all else. nowadays, she's locked that memory deep within her subconscious, so she can't quite remember why she's so afraid of the old lady, but it doesn't stop her from making a wide berth around where the old lady stays.
🌿just bc she doesn't wear jeans doesn't mean she's averse to them - it's just not what fits her style. when she comes back home and starts hitting the fan, however, she's quick to grit her teeth and trade in her handwash-only garments and boots for tees tucked in jeans and worn tennis shoes. if you comment on the italicized 'chocolate ing jesus' printed in tie-dye letters on her chest, she'll silently glower at you for the rest of the afternoon.
🌿her insecurities center around her upbringing in a small town, her inadequacies compared to her city peers, and how she presents herself to others. these three are also the reason behind why she looks a little too deeply into actions, words, and nuances when she's conversating with others.
옥종혁
shibutani
yeji was fairly close with jonghyuk when they were kids; they're similar enough in age that her parents practically foisted her onto him when they needed someone to keep an eye on her. as childhood friends, they got into all kinds of mischief, and so it wasn't a surprise that he was a key figure in her life prior to him leaving for college ("it's not for forever," he exasperatedly consoled as she sobbed her goodbyes).
and then life happened, and she decided to leave simdong, and those short few years apart extended to over half a decade. and so, after checking in with her parents and dropping her luggage off, the first place she visited was the doctor's clinic to see jonghyuk, who surely was back in town by now.
tl'dr - they're both different people after returning from college, so after the brief sweetness of reuniting, they start running into issues bc of differences in viewpoints and their own internal struggles / they become each other's worst enemies.. >:) / from her pov, he's disregarding the she went through and just going, "what happened to you in the city...? you changed..." which hurts her a lot / after the fight, they're not on speaking terms, and yeji instead spends the majority of her time w jisung
유지호
czernys
tl;dr - they used to be playmates at a young age / jiho's grandma is weird af and started talking abt marriage when they were 11 / it kept escalating until yeji was locked in their basement for a day .. she was given food and water but was very freaked out regardless .. gma was trying to indoctrine her and prepare her for womanhood .. / yeji high-tailed it out of there and never spoke to jiho again / jiho didn't know what happened and assumed yeji just fell out w him / now that she's back in town, they're still not talking, but it seems like jiho's more cognizant of what happened back then, versus yeji deciding to lock it away in the recesses of her brain
임유경
kanqwu
yeji didn't know yugyeong all that well prior to leaving for college. their interactions with one another only begin once she returns to simdong and realizes jonghyuk's got a new friend he visits after cutting their friendship loose.
yeji has always been petty to an extent, and so from time to time (days that jonghyuk doesn't visit), she begins visiting the tea shop that yugyeong fronts. their interactions are few and far in between - it's usually yeji putting in her order and pinning yugyeong with her stare, to which the younger uncomfortably shuffles in response to.
when yeji starts befriending jisung, unknowingly involving herself in the conflicts between the two, it adds a whole other level of complexity to the relations between her and yugyeong...
손지성
kishibe
tl;dr - essentially jisung saw yeji and immediately asked for her help in making up w yugyeong / yeji said no and ignored him / a couple of days later she sees him and is like "you wanted my help .. fine ! we're doing this" mostly out of anger directed at jonghyuk / she tidies his clothes up.. changes his wardrobe.. cleans up his whale smell / they hang out a lot more bc she's trying to teach him how to Not Be a Goofball and they share comraderie bc they're both leaving simdong forever ..
by water
by land
candle light
electric
by car
by foot
homemade
premade
afterlife
reincarnation
ghosts exist
no ghosts
friends
family
in chen's pov...
hero
damsel
villain
in yeji's pov...
hero
damsel
villain
COMMENTS annyeong hehe.. ^____^ i will get tl;drs out of the way as i formulate better words ,, but this is essentially a completed yeji !! feel free to ask me any q's u have on here since i'm not entirely sure if her personality shone thru very well ,, also wow leah is right she is isfp in te-grip !! [shocked face] also also a huge ty to shiba nuttie for the relationships section code peepofat
chen
ten
c. shibutani
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