〈 shin haeun 〉

by shankerider (anya)

〈 beautiful ones 〉 
— why do we sacrifice the beautiful ones ?
 

face claim — Gyeong Eun
back up — Park Su Eun

appearance — Haeun is pretty short, only 157cm tall. However, she is not like many other girls who are skinny in their frame, as she is 49kg, which she is told is not a light weight for her height. She does not have scars before she entered the circus since she was really protected. However, she does have a mole below her right ear, three moles forming a triangle on her left upper arm, and a birthmark that looks similar to a heart on outside of her upper left thigh.

style — Outside of the circus, Haeun loves to wear dresses and also comfortable clothes, like sweaters and hoodies. She usually wears either solid, plain colors, or tartan patterned dresses. She will usually pair them with sunglasses if she can, as she did not want others to recognize her, especially Sungrok. She does not like the long process of removing a full makeup, so other than during work, she will only wear sunscreen, lip balm and mascara. Due to the pain from her first piercing, Haeun only has a single ear piercing on each side of her ear. She loves to wear pearl earrings the most as well.

〈 there's more than meets the eyes 〉
— let me touch the sky and fly away
 

PERSONALITY — 
- humble, kind, optimistic, considerate, generous
- naive, overly strict (on herself), hesitant, overly sensitive, inexperienced

Even with her wealthy background, Haeun does not like to show off and be arrogant about it, instead she chooses to be humble and polite to everyone instead. She is on friendly terms with everyone, including her housekeeper and other domestic helpers. Haeun never forgets to be kind and helpful to others, and usually volunteers with her mother and Minji during their free time, though she has to stop once she started to work at the circus, and also her mother is no longer in Seoul, living together with her. She is generous with both her time and money, as she is willing to lend a listening ear, or spend her time helping others, or treat her friends to meals. She would also be more than happy to cook for her family and friends whenever she could.

She is optimistic and also because of this, she feels that Sungrok still can do good. It is hard to make her think that the world is evil, or that some things can never be done, but that might also be due to the fact that she is pretty inexperienced with most of the world. She does not even know if she is afraid of something like the rollercoaster, as she has never been on one. It can be said that she has rarely ventured out into the real world by herself, and so she does not really have a gauge as to how it works there. She is someone who will get cheated very easily, as she is naive, believing people's words first then realizing they are lying to her only when her family or friends reveal the truth. It is unknown whether it will be better for her if her family and Minji are not so protective of her, as she might be less trusting if they are not so overprotective.

Being a considerate person, she is always thoughtful of others' thoughts and feelings, and would not want to hurt them if she could. Rather, it will be hard on herself as she tries her best to make everyone happy, and tire herself out instead. She thinks too much about others, as she is overly sensitive, and will be stuck in the middle if two parties are upset and would not budge. She is someone who is overly strict on herself, and tries her best in her school as well, and since she is from Le Julia School of Performing Arts, majoring in dance, she practices very hard, for hours every single day after school has ended. Even when she is back at home, she will often practice her choreography in the studio her parents built just for her.

Haeun is a hesitant person, even though her demeanor sometimes makes her schoolmates think of her as straightforward and having a one-tracked mind. She actually takes really long to decide on something. In fact, she had heard rumors about her brother's character outside before, but due to her optimism and hesitation, she neither believes nor did anything. When she at last heard it from her brother's own mouth, she immediately blamed herself, thinking she should have done something in the past to stop it, because she both does not want her brother to have any regrets in the future, and she also wonders how many people suffered because of her hesitation.

〈 THAT'S HOW I AM 〉
— show me how to speak with their voices
 

TRIVIA —
- She loves dancing so much, her father could not disagree when she wanted to major in the performing art school.
- Her favorite animals are horses and dogs, so she previously volunteered at the House of Love (for abandoned dogs). She will also visit the horses while working in the circus.
- She feels bad because of her knowledge of what Sungrok is doing to the circus, so she insists on not getting any money, but instead get food and shelter and training in return for performing at the circus. This makes Yeonmin think of her as someone so poor that she cannot even afford her own food and shelter.
- It was initially hard on her, not because of the training because she is used to that, but because of the living conditions in a place she is not used to.
- She loves to drink tea, especially green tea and roasted barley tea, and collects both tea leaves and teapot sets from all around the world. Back at home, she tends to brew tea almost everyday, whereas in the circus, they only have water or cheap tea bags. She does not complain though, and when she craves her tea, she will concentrate on her purpose: to help cirque des rêves win the bet.
- She loves the starry sky, and has a telescope at home, but because she cannot bring it along, she lies on the ground outside her caravan to enjoy the night sky. Taemin, when they were getting closer, joined her as well.
- The reason why she made her decision was because her female instincts told her that if she just let things go this time, her brother might forever be consumed by the darkness. Whether her instincts are accurate... time will tell...
- Minji had initially been secretly passing her items that the circus members wanted but could not afford, like sweet treats and such, things that they would not want to spend using the money Sungrok provided. However, one of the circus members got curious as to why there was someone so kind and can tell what they wanted and Haeun sort of freaked out (even though the person was not suspicious but rather just wondering out loud). From then on, she asked Minji not to "donate" any more.
- She loves to cook but did not know whether she should at first. It was only after one of the members made a horrible meal and Taemin had to lie in bed with food poisoning, and she made some porridge for him and took care of him, that others realize she is a good cook. From then on, she was also tasked with cooking.
- She does not drink coffee, and would always reject any offers of the drink.
- She has a low tolerance of alcohol, because she hated the taste, so she was adamant against drinking it when her brother tried to train her tolerance. He was worried that she would be drunk in front of others and get taken advantage of.
- Since her parents were away, Haeun does not need to worry about them finding out. However, she had to give the excuse that she would be staying in a dorm while she is undergoing training, which technically is not entirely a lie, except that the place is different. She told him that he cannot come to her dorm because she wants to give her entire focus on it, and though reluctant, he promised not to visit her.
- When she sleeps, she tends to start the routine with her head on her pillow, and somehow always end up in the morning with her pillow still in the same position but her whole body will have turned 180 degrees, with the head ending at the foot of the bed, and her body curled up in a fetus position.
- She needs to have breakfast everyday, and would be the type to have a full course meal so when she just started in the circus and not being the cook, she would suffer and be weak throughout the day. It got much better after she started cooking for everyone.
- Before she became the chef, their expenses was higher because they had to buy takeout food. The cost lowered by quite an amount since then.
- She hates, or rather is terrified of, any horror or gory movies. She does not take horror stories or haunted houses in amusement parks well either. When her friends tries to say or let her experience any of these, she would cry or run away, or sometimes do both. She has never gone into any haunted houses but she knew she would never want to.
 

〈 past, present & future 〉
— show me the way and i'll try again
 

background — It all started with Kim Jisoon, who married her first husband, Ji Soonam after she got pregnant with Sungrok. Soonam was abusive towards her. When she was 27 and Sungrok 6, Soonam cheated on her with another woman and divorced her when she found out. After beating her one last time, with the young Sungrok trying to protect his mother, he abandoned them for he woman and they had to wander the streets for some time. While she worked as many jobs as she could, he followed her around so that she could keep an eye on him while she worked. It was a little more than a year later that she met Shin Ryeohan when she was working under him. He fell in love with her and she with him, and even though there were many objections from the people around him, he still married her after almost a year of dating. It took a really long time before Sungrok trusted and cared for Ryeohan, who treated him as his own son. When Sungrok was 9, Haeun was born.

Being born in the wealthy Shin family, Haeun was not only loved but also really well-protected. Her mother brought her along for volunteer work, her father allowed her to study the course she wanted, and her brother who cares very much for her. Ryeohan let Sungrok learn the ropes from him, and had planned to let him take over the company one day. Soonam ree day and met Sungrok, who remembered the face of the man he hated the most. He came to him for financial help, in return for him not to bother the Shin family. Sungrok used his own means and ways and made sure his father never dared to find him or his family ever again. When Ryeohan was ordered by his doctor to take care of his health after a scare that ended with him in the hospital for a few weeks, he let Sungrok take care of his company while he goes to the countryside with his wife to look after his health.

Since she was young, her brother had always made sure to pick her up after school, so that she will be protected from the dangers of the street. Haeun would only be able to hang out with her friends in school. It was only when she had to do projects that she was able to visit her friends' houses. Even so, he would always be there to pick her up. If it was not due to Haeun's endearing personality, she would probably not even have the few friends from school with her brother's overprotection. She does love her brother, and though she does not understand why he feels the need to ensure her safety when none of her friends' brothers did this, she never complained as she felt it was his way of showing her his love. When she was 16, and Minji came into her life, her brother at last stopped being her "bodyguard" and focused more on the business. Haeun felt free and treated Minji like her own older sister. She could talk to her about things she could not tell Sungrok or even her own mother (since her mom tends to blab to her brother and father about her secrets).

Minji was the first person who knew about Haeun's love for dancing, since she was also the one Haeun discussed with about her passion. She went with Haeun to attend dance classes outside of school as well. With Minji's support, Haeun plucked up the courage to tell her father of her decision to attend a performing arts school. It took her a few months before he agreed, since he could see that she was really passionate about the art. She attended the course and never looked back or thought of quitting, not when she was sore and hurt during the training.

Haeun accidentally overheard Sungrok's conversation with one of his employees and realized that he had played and destroyed a small business and was very satisfied with it. She had previously heard rumors about some of his not-so-ethical ways, but had never believed it before. After some thorough research with Na Minji, her best friend and personal assistant, she found that her brother has a new prey and new bet, with the victim being a place that she had liked when she was young. She was always in denial that his favorite game was just malicious gossip, but now that she is thrown into the truth, she plans to go to Cirque des Rêves without her brother's knowledge to make sure his plan does not work, as she did not want him to go too astray and not be able to return to the light, not knowing he had never been good to anyone other than himself and his own family.

family —

Dearest brother ;; Shin Sungrok | 32 | businessman | cruel, sadistic, manipulative, player, haughty, possessive, dominative, sweet-talker, loving (only to family) | Sungrok has always been there is Haeun's life. With the , Sungrok always treats her as a little kid, and hides many things he did outside from his family, especially Haeun, who he fiercely protects from the outside world, not wanting to let her go through any pain he did before. He might be having fun outside, but he would never forgive anyone who treats his mother, adopted father or Haeun the same way he treats others. Haeun never saw Sungrok as only a half-brother, but rather as her only brother, who she would never want to see go to the dark side. Sungrok never goes to volunteer with the ladies, choosing to spend time doing business instead with his adopted father. To not let her brother see her, she would always mysteriously disappear whenever he is around the circus.

Mother ;; Kim Jisoon | 53 | N.A. | caring, protective, helpful, resourceful, tough | Jisoon takes care of her children very dearly, and is in a loving relationship with her current husband. She does not like to talk about her past, so Haeun does not know about it. She likes to spend her free time volunteering and doing charity, and brings Haeun and Minji along with her. She likes to dress her daughter up in dresses and other feminine clothes, and prefers not to see her in sweaters and hoodies, so Haeun will tend to only wear dresses in front of her mother. Jisoon thinks that Haeun should not join the business at all, but rather find someone nice, considerate and dependable and marry him.

Father ;; Shin Ryeohan | 57 | businessman | loving, strict, generous, smart, dependable | Ryeohan can be considered both loving and generous; he treats both kids as his own, even though he has more skinship with Haeun, but that is because she likes acting cute in front of her "appa". Now that he is unable to stay in Seoul with his children, he does miss them a lot. He trusts Sungrok with his business, especially since he feels that Sungrok will take over him rather than Haeun, who seemed to not be interested in business at all.

FRIENDS —

Best Friend & Assistant ;; Na Minji | 27 | Personal Assistant | protective, organized, straightforward, tough, dependable | Haeun depends on Minji greatly, and they have known each other since Haeun was 16 and Minji 20, when Minji was first introduced to Haeun by Haeun's mother, who wanted Minji to help Haeun be more organized in her life. They got along very well, and Minji has always been protective and supportive of Haeun, acting like the older sister she never had. Minji had initially volunteered to go join the circus instead of Haeun, but because of her weak health condition, Haeun decided not to let her do the work and went instead. However, Minji would be supporting Haeun secretly and they would meet up once a week outside. Minji would also invite her friends to watch whenever the circus has any performances to show her support.

Understanding Friend ;; Song Yeonmin | 22 | Circus Ringleader | hardworking, innocent, kind, caring, tough, naive, gullible, secretive, dreamer, dependant | Haeun is initially a little conflicted when befriending Yeonmin because of the fact that she is lying about her true identity. When she came to beg for a job at the circus without any experience, she just wanted to have a place to stay and food to eat, and be able to be trained in the circus. Yeonmin took pity on her since he thought she was so poor that she had no food and shelter, not knowing that she did not ask for money simply because she did not need it. Yeonmin and Haeun are similar in their kindness, naivety and optimism in life, and slowly they got closer as friends, especially since both of them are occasionally the victim to the other members' minor tricks as they always fall for them. They are supportive of each other and Haeun's sensitivity enabled her to tell when he is just acting strong. When they were opening up to each other, Haeun did reveal to him that she did not need the money. However, she did not tell him that Sungrok was her brother. He did not ask her the reason whenever she disappeared, neither did he ask her where she went to whenever she requested to take leave once a week. He simply chose to give her the space, the same way she knew there are some things he hides, but she never asked it if he does not tell.

rivalS —

None.

〈 welcome to our circus 〉
— everyone is good deep inside, sometimes we just need to give them a helping hand.
 

ALIAS — The Woman
ACT — She performs with the aerial silk, along with her partner Taemin, "The Man". They would typically start with a little acrobalance performances on the floor before using the aerial silk, and ending with both of them in an embrace. The reason why she is in this act is because Taemin was already a solo performer, though duo acts are usually more popular. Moreover, since Haeun is just a beginner in acrobatic performances, she was paired with Taemin, who had previous experiences in gymnastics and would be able to help her along with Yeonmin the trainer. She is an expert in all sorts of dance performances so Yeonmin and Taemin thought that she would be a good fit.
performance outfit — She wears skin tight clothes in order to perform. On Minji's advice, she also prepared a mask (and persuaded Taemin to wear the male version as well) just in case her brother was in the audience one day.
offstage — She initially was just helping whoever needed her help. Later, after the Taemin's-food-poisoning incident, she became the chef in the circus family.
 

what do you think of cirque des rêves ? — You know... I did visit the circus quite a few times before. Twice with my mother when I was a child, and another two more times with Minji alone. I always thought it was really mysterious and cool, especially since Korea does not have that many circuses. I know I was in awe when I was a kid. When I came here with Minji I know I kept thinking of how much work the performers put in so that they can perform so beautifully on stage. Every time I feel down from dance practice, I will think of the circus and feel better and train harder.

wHY DID YOU DECIDE to join the crew ? — Well, as for that... errrmmm... Can I keep that a secret? Oh wait... or maybe... I should say that I wanted to train in a circus. Yeah, that's it.

WHAT did you think of yeonmin the first time you saw him ? — I thought that he was someone who really needed a lot of help because he looked pretty frail. But... I don't know... I'm mostly feeling bad because I had to lie to him... so I was mainly thinking of what to say to him instead.

WHAT are your thoughts on the dare ? — I don't think Sungrok op- I mean... Sungrok-ssi should have started the dare... He should've invested in the circus by providing them the land to perform and practice, that way he can be part owner or something.

WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE / TALENT IN ANYTHING RELATED TO CIRCUS ACTS BEFORE JOINING THE CREW ? — I have no clue about that. Please let me join the circus! You don't have to pay me a single cent! I just need to have food and shelter, and also... to get trained for any act... Actually, if it is something similar to dancing... that would be great!

〈 LEE TAEMIN 〉

kIM jonghyun

〈 cradled in love 〉
— don't cry for your love, cry tears of joy
 

personality — Taemin has always been a determined and hardworking person. He is the type to go straight towards his goals once he puts his mind into it. He will work really hard, to the expense of his health, just to reach it. Similarly, once he falls in love, his eyes will only be for that one person, and is the type to have only one love his whole life. Towards the people he is not close to, he will appear to be cold and quiet. Once he trusts and feels comfortable with someone, he will be very caring and even talkative with the person. He is especially sweet and considerate towards the girl he loves, and would be very protective towards her as well. He is also someone who will get jealous easily, though he does not know in the past since he has never had such an experience before.

He does not like immature people, especially the type who does something wrong and would just cry and act cute just to get what he or she wants. He accepts sincere apologies when someone admits their mistakes. Taemin is also someone who will be straightforward, and would accept people's criticisms of him as long as they are not out of spite, but rather a way for him to improve. He tells people their mistakes in order to let them learn and improve themselves. He is generally quiet and observant most of the time in public eyes, but he is also pretty quick-tempered. He might occasionally shout or even punch someone, but he will feel sorry for his actions a few minutes later. When he does this, he will apologize sincerely.

HISTORY — Taemin's family is not rich, but they did have a shop in which they manage for over 60 years, which was started up by his grandfather. They sold traditional korean sweets and pastries, and Taemin had helped out whenever he was free. He respects and loves his grandfather and father a lot. With his older brother being planned to take over the shop in the future, Taemin was free to do whatever he wanted.

He trains himself in gymnastics, and had hoped to be a gymnast when he was younger. However, a certain Shin Sungrok built a mall near their shopping district, and this affected the shopping district their shop was in. Somehow, along the way, Sungrok managed to buy over the district from the previous landowner, and decided to remake the whole district to be an amusement park. With their businesses affected, Taemin's father, along with many other shopowners, had a discussion and they went to talk to Sungrok, who gave them a bet. A bet that if they win, he would keep the district as it is and also not change their rent. However, if they lost, he would not need to pay them a single cent, unlike what they had previously agreed on if they gone away (because their contract had not ended, he had to pay them). The business owners met among themselves and while a few decided to leave and get the money, most of them, including Taemin's family, decided to accept the bet... except they lost.

Without the capital to set up another shop elsewhere, they could not continue their business, and Taemin's parents and brother had to work in offices or as workers in other people's shops. Taemin had initially planned to work as well, but when he got the news that Cirque des Rêves was hiring because they were receiving help from Shin Sungrok, and they were preparing to reopen again, he went straight to Yeonmin (who trusted that Sungrok was trying to help them and thinks that there was some misunderstanding between Sungrok and Taemin). Other than the little pay they offered, Taemin wanted to make sure that Shin Sungrok failed this bet, because he did not want Sungrok to succeed and claim another victim again.

relationship —

Initially, all they had was a working relationship. They were very polite to each other, and worked very hard. They called each other Taemin-ssi and Haeun-ssi at first. Before Haeun's arrival, Taemin might not even have talked much to anyone else because he felt there was no need to, other than Yeonmin, who he felt similar to due to the bet.

Perhaps it was their fate, Taemin had gotten food poisoning and Haeun took great care of him, feeding him with homecooked porridge that they got closer, and Taemin talked more than just about how she should turn, or how much she should lift her leg... basically all he talked to her about was work, work, and more work before his food poisoning incident. During the time she took care of him, he felt the warmth and concern from her, especially since she was by his side the entire two days before he got better and did not have to lie in bed the whole time.

He did not realize, but gradually, he started smiling whenever he saw her, and would look for her whenever she was not around. By the time he noticed his mind and eyes was always on her, he had already fallen. Deep.

Haeun, on the other hand, felt really comfortable with him once he started talking to her about himself, and his experience in life. She started talking about her, and did admit to him that she came here without needing the money, but told him that currently she is still unable to tell him the reason she is here, but that she wants to help Yeonmin win the bet. She would bring him along when she goes to visit the horses, and sometimes when she heads out, she would be going with him. He voluntarily agreed to go grocery shopping together with her since it was difficult for her to have to carry everything herself and Yeonmin, who went with her once... was a little on the... weak side...

One night, he saw her outside, lying on the grass and looking at the starry sky, and he began to join her every night she was there. Their feelings for each other grew so much that he almost kissed her when they were under the stars, but as if fate was trying to throw them an obstacle... a huge one at that, he found out that she knows Sungrok when he coincidentally saw them outside together. When he followed them that day, worried that Sungrok would do something to Haeun (and was surprised that he looked and was actually nice to her), he found out Haeun's secret: Sungrok was her brother.

interactions — Taemin does not take care of himself well, even without the food poisoning incident. He is too determined and hardworking, so Haeun is the one who takes care of his health as much as she could. Other than cooking healthy meals for everyone, she makes sure that he drinks plenty of water to keep himself hydrated, and she would also stop him from practising if he was already too tired. Since she was also too strict on herself, he would stop her from practising after he had left the area, by making her go along with him. When Minji passes her vitamins or other supplements, she would also share them with Taemin.

They converse a lot about almost everything under the sun after they opened up to each other, and basically it ranges from serious topics to lame jokes. As Taemin warms up to Haeun, he also starts talking more to the rest of the members, surprising most, if not all of them. Taemin does protect Haeun from dangers... like horror stories, since some of the crew seems to love telling such stories after they were close. Taemin initially listened to it, being someone who is not at all terrified of such stories (or movies or even the scariest haunted houses in amusement parks), but once he realized that Haeun was scared, he took her out of the room to look at the stars.

Haeun is a year older than Taemin so whenever she treats him like a little kid to , he gets upset. Since it was just a playful interaction between the two of them, he would forgive her if she showed him (and only him) her aegyo.

ending — In my mind I had conceived that Taemin would get really upset with Haeun after he found out that she was his enemy's sister. An optional point is that he would even have had thoughts of making use of her to get back at him, only to not be able to actually do it to her. It took him some time, and advice and scoldings from his father (who he consulted) and Minji (who confronted him) before he realized that what her brother did had nothing to do with her, and she even tried to stop him as well. They would not get together immediately since he does not have it in his heart to be with her, and it took some time, but they still got together in the end, with Taemin being the one who took the first step since Haeun was not confident that he would ever forgive her.

〈 curtain call 〉
— yes, it's the end, finally !
 

questions / comments — I am not sure what you would think... it seems that she might be too boring...? But nevertheless, Haeun is my <3. My imagination of her is more of that she is weak at first, though her moral values and love for her brother is on the high side (which is the only reason she was able to last in the circus), perhaps that is why Sungrok is overly protective of her, but throughout the training and etc, she grew stronger than before when she was protected at home. Hahaha. I am not sure of the background of Sungrok, so do let me know if this is not approved (as her brother)... And I was JUST watching Liar Game... Did you get inspiration of Shin Sungrok by his character in the drama? And the show is soooooo good!

suggestions — Should they have a bonding session of some sort? It's like... I don't think the circus performers would get along with each other since they all come from different backgrounds, but as a team they should? Maybe Yeonmin can organize something to make them become closer as a team.

Scene requestS —
1) Taemin and Haeun's performance
2) Haeun meeting Minji outside
3) Taemin heading out with Haeun one day and from then on, they went grocery shopping together every time.
4) Taemin and Haeun under the stars
5) Haeun escaping the circus the first time Sungrok came around, with the help of Minji who comes to watch the performance every single time.
6) Taemin was out with Haeun one day when he had to rush home because of some emergency (he forgot it was his own birthday and his family tricked him), and brought Haeun along. They got teased a lot by his family and relatives.
7) When the circus crew started telling horror stories (sorry Haeun~)
 

password — en avant