I’ve never mention about Iola’s race or ethnicity, but I’ve always imagined her to be of mixed heritage, with her father being Caucasian while her mother is of Korean descent. Hence why Iola and her siblings have a mixed Korean and Western names; it’s a compromise between the parents on how to name their children. The family lives somewhere in a western country, in a large metropolitan city on a small but comfortable two-stories town house not too far from the city’s suburbs.

 Physically, Iola is the mirror image of her mother; from her small stature, skin tone, down to her nose and mouth. But her eyes are definitely her father’s, along with most of her traits and character.

            Her father is a tall, big man with broad shoulders and the beginning of a bulging belly, something that his wife often teases about playfully. Iola and her brothers used to call him ‘daddy brown’ when they were kids, due to his deep brown hair and hazel eyes and his fully tan skin, caused by helping coaching the Little League softball club.

He works as a dean at a private university and is very well-respected in his field of study for his academic brilliance. Despite that he never forces his children to follow his footsteps, though he was secretly overjoyed when his youngest decided to be a scientist.

Though he loves all his children equally, there’s no denying that he always has a soft spot for Iola. Perhaps it’s because she was the only girl, or that she was very similar to him in principles and character. He dotes on her and understands her in a way no one else could, is in the firm belief that no man will ever be good enough for her, and couldn’t help but dread the day someone would take his precious daughter away.

Fun trivia: he is a romantic at heart and has a habit of leaving love notes all over the house for his wife to find while she was doing the household chores. Just simple things like a cheesy line from a romantic movie or an excerpt of her favorite poem, written in folded white notes or yellow post-it at the most random places, like inside the sugar container or at the bottom of the laundry hamper.

             Her mother is the complete opposite of her father, physically and personality wise. She was small and petite, barely reaching her husband’s chin, with dark, wavy ebony hair and small, soft chocolate eyes. While he was louder and more impulsive, she was calm and collected and likes to take time to think out her words and actions.

Before they got married she works as a junior editor in one of the country’s top-selling women’s magazine, a long-hours and hard work job that she loves, though she decided to resign once she was pregnant with their first child because she wants to commit  fully to her children. It was only after Changmin was in kindergarten, did she went back working as a freelance writer at her old magazine to help with the family’s expenses.

Fun trivia: she’d almost didn’t meet her husband. She had initially wanted to bail out on the regular monthly girls’ night out, claiming exhaustion from work, but her best friend insisted adamantly and won’t stop until she reluctantly agreed. They went to a small, cozy bar where ten minutes after entering her future husband bumped into her and made her spilled her drink. The best friend was the maid of honor on their wedding.

The parents worked well as a unit; he encouraged her to live more freely and laugh more often, while she grounded him and taught him to be patient. They were yin and yang, perfectly balancing each other.

This was also reflected in the way they raised their children. He have a somewhat free-spirit and a great sense of humor, and took a more relaxed attitude to his children. He gives them freedom but expect them to be responsible with it.

She took a different approach to her children than her husband. While he was relaxed, she was the disciplinarian though she was fair about it. She is the one who makes sure her children do their homework instead of watching TV, but af