:: IT'S BUCKET LIST SEASON! :: HWANG MINHEE
chubby_bacon_cheeks. Stephy. 24/7. 積読本.
Hwang Minhee
"we avoid taking risks in life to make it safely to death"
"well *shrugs* it."
"well *shrugs* it."
PERSONALITY TRAITS — ( - ) stubborn/persistent, quiet, self critical, short-tempered ; ( + ) selfless, advice giver, motherly, happy-go-lucky
ELABORATION —
• Minhee is a girl of not many words. She likes to keep to herself and usually only communicates through smiles, head nods/shakes, facial expressions or body language. She isn't shy as many people call it but more introverted as she is very self critical. This is one of the causes of her quietness; she is afraid that she may say something wrong or act weird to make people judge and and dislike her - even when nothing is wrong with her speech and actions. When she was in primary/elementary school, she was laughed at once for yelling the wrong answer to the class. After that, she was teased at for being "dumb". This started her road on being self-critical and reserved. When she replies, she tries to keep her response as short as possible to avoid error or saying things that may offend the other person. When she thinks she has said something wrong her voice becomes smaller and smaller until it's a mumble or she would duck her head to hide her face.
• People who know Minhee well, will definitely know her stubborn/persistent personality. When Minhee has her mind set on a certain idea or moral, she will stick to it and be quick to defend it - even when she is totally wrong; but she is one that can be easily manipulated into doing things. She is usually the push over in her friendship group and can be seen as the victim of "bullying" when her and her friends are just joking and mucking around. Some students that hang around them during lunch break asked Minhee if she wanted to report her friends to the teacher from the bullying she was receiving and Minhee had to explain to them that they were only joking and meant no harm. Minhee's stubbornness shone through once during her early high school years. She had disagreed on a project idea with her friend and it caused a rift in their friendship. Others part of their group ended up choosing a totally different idea so that the two wouldn't fight anymore. Some people say that her stubbornness comes from her star sign Gemini, which has two personalities. Sometimes she wouldn't speak her mind, but when she does, she won't stop until her point has been accepted by the other party or that the other person is so annoyed at her that they walk away.
• Because of her easily manipulated trait, Minhee is seen to be a very selfless person to others. Even though she is manipulated into doing things sometimes - Minhee enjoys being able to do favours for others as she believes in giving more than taking. She would purposely go out of her way or take out her own time just to do a favour for others. That is why - despite her silent self - she enjoys being included in conversations and meeting new people. She keeps connections well through advice giving and her motherly personality. Everyone around Minhee sees her as a motherly figure, and this could be because of the love for children she has. Minhee had also always wanted a younger sibling, especially a younger brother. This is why, even if you are older than Minhee, she likes looking after you and making sure you eat right. Most of the time, when you go out with her and are about to leave, she will tell you to call/text her when you get home to ensure your safety. Minhee is the type of person who would "protect" innocent people's ears when her and her friends are talking about something dirty/ual. She wants to keep her innocent friends as clueless and naive as possible so that they do not enter the world of insanity and being dirty minded. She is also aware of her swearing so when she is around children she would watch her language and be careful of swearing.
• Yes, Minhee is very quiet, but she worries and tends to her friends every need and want as much as she can. She is the person her friends run to when they are sad or need some guidance in life-or-death situations. From her quietness, she also has calmness - keeping her level headed and able to "keeps it reals" (as her friends call it) and solving her friends problems. Despite her being able to give advice to others about their problems, she can never seem to solve her own. This is the only down side she has to being able to give good advice. She doesn't have anyone to turn to when she is the one that needs it. This is when she turns to her mother and asks her for help and guidance to her problems and issues. No matter how many times Minhee says "I love you" to her mother, she doesn't think it's enough to repay the love that her mother has given her. She doesn't throw around the word love either as she thinks it is a deep emotion that should be built over trust and being able to receive back the love that is given. That is why she has only said "I love you" to her grandparents, her mother and her father; when she visited his grave. Minhee believes that no one's love can be more loyal and strong that her mother's for her father. Ever since her father has passed away, her mother has not dated others; which makes Minhee role model her mother even more. She wants to love and be loyal like her mother is and her mother has taught her never to throw around the word "love" so often and carelessly.
• Minhee seems like the type of girl that has everything planned out for herself. When in fact, it is the total opposite. Nothing she has been doing is part of the dream she has built for herself. She likes to "go with the flow" because "planning ahead only makes you disappointed with the outcome" she would say to her friends. "Going with the flow" allows her to not give a crap about what is going to happen tomorrow, the day after or next week. She likes to focus on the present and make it as happy as possible. "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But Today is a gift. That's why it's called the Present." She doesn't like dwelling in the past and the only thing that she has dwelled herself in is the comments of her being dumb from when she was young. Otherwise, all the other snarky comments people made about her, she tries her best to push them aside and continue living her life how she wants to. She enjoys living in the moment and has an aura about her that makes the people surrounding her feel that way too. Maybe it's her smiles or maybe it's her carefree attitude. No one knows but they seem to like hanging around our happy-go-lucky child.
BACKGROUND + CURRENT EVENTS —
• Minhee lived with her mother and grandparents most of her life. She was born in Gwangmyeong-si at the local hospital. Living with only her mother and grandparents, she was always teased that she did not have a father while growing up. Despite this, she continues living her life positively and not paying attention to the negative comments she received. She was also able to push through the negativity with her best friend and neighbour, Min Yoongi. He was the older brother she never had and always wanted as he was always there to push away anyone that tried to bully Minhee. Most of her childhood, her grandparents looked after her as her mother worked several jobs throughout the day to feed the family. Minhee saw how tired her mother would look at the end of each night and began working as soon as she was of age. In the beginning she did shifts at the supermarket after school and then did an hours cleaning at the convenience store at the end of her street. With those jobs, her mother was able to quit one of her several jobs as the money was enough to pay for the food and half the electricity bill. Because of her busy schedule and study-hard personality, she never really had the chance to love or be loved.
• When Minhee was young, she would be afraid to interact with elder men and even boys her age. Other than her grandfather, she didn't interact with many males. When she was young, if any males approached her that wasn't her grandfather, Minhee would make a big fuss out of it and start crying and screaming for her mother. Later on, when school teachers started to discuss this problem with Taehee she concluded that it was maybe because she never grew up with a father, making her slightly scared of the male gender in general. To solve this problem, Taehee would constantly invite over the neighbours and their son, Yoongi, for dinner and to just chat/catch up on gossip while Minhee and Yoongi would play together. This seemed to help Minhee as she opened up to Yoongi and they eventually became good friends. And that is why most, if not all, of Minhee's friends are females; other than Yoongi of course.
• After finishing primary school, Minhee tried out for one of the most prestigious high schools in Seoul, despite doubting herself a lot; to only find out that she had win half a scholarship there. Minhee's mother was overjoyed with the news and told Minhee that she had waited for this day for a long long time and had saved up money to pay for her high school tuition. She also told Minhee that all she had to worry about the money for her everyday life as she could move in with Yoongi and his family; who had moved to Seoul for high school as well. Minhee never questioned where her father was. Whether or not he ran away after he had impregnated her mother or he had passed away.
• One night (when she was 16), after having a nightmare, Minhee woke up in drenched in sweat. She could clearly see herself as a 5 year old, crouched down while a large group of other school children surrounded her. She was crying, yelling, screaming for help as the group seemed to close in on her, laughing and mocking her mere existence. Her yelling and screaming tactics were in vain as it seems to be drenched down by the growing volume of laughter. Then they began to chant in a sing-song tone, "Minhee doesnt have a father! Minhee doesn't have a father!" before laughing hysterically as Minhee tries to push through the group to run away. Someone from the back yelled, "I BET HE RAN AWAY BECAUSE HER MOTHER'S UGLY!" While another yelled, "Or probably because she's so dumb!" referring to the one time she yelled out the wrong answer in class. After that, she woke up and was panting heavily. Minhee ran to the bathroom and washed her face before sitting down with a glass of warm milk. It was then that she decided to try and find out where her father was and why he left her mother to look after her on her own.
• On the weekend, she returned home, much to the surprise of her mother. When questioned about her sudden return, Minhee quickly shook it off saying that she missed her mother and grandmother. Once Minhee was sure her mother left for work that afternoon, she told her grandmother she was going to take a short nap in her mother's room seeing her old room was turned into room full of boxes. Her grandmother nodded before going back to her knitting. Minhee walked into her mothers room, closing the door softly before looking around. She remembers the countless nights she spent in there crying because of the thunderstorms outside. She began to look around and quietly opening drawers, but luck was not on her side that day. She came across a box hidden at the back of her mothers wardrobe and decided to investigate. She sat down cross-legged on the floor before opening the box's lid. Inside were newspaper clippings, photographs of her mother and a male and a letter. Curiously, she picked up a picture of her mother smiling widely, her eyes turned into crescents next to a male who has similar features to Minhee's face. She looked at the back of the photograph and saw a small message written at the bottom right corner. "Being some's first love is great, but being their last is beyond perfect. ~KMG + HTH" At those words, Minhee's heart softened. Not only was this the first time she ever saw her father, she believed that he was her mother's first love. Because of her, her mother couldn't enjoy her teenage years. As she continued looking through the photos, she realised how similar she looked to her father. 'I wonder if mother misses dad...' She thought to herself. She smiled and teared up looking at the photos taken when her father proposed to her mother. They were both wearing their graduation gowns and all the other students surrounding them were looking at them in awe. Carefully placing the photographs back in the box, she looked at the carefully folded newspaper clippings. "SHOTS FIRED DOWN AT THE THEATRES. 20 DEAD. 100s INJURED" one of them read. She unfolded another one. "THEATRE MASSACRE SHOCKS LOCALS." Another read: "GUNSHOTS NOT ONLY PART OF THE MOVIES" Confused Minhee read through one of the articles. Skimming through it, she got to a photo. Not just any photo, but a photograph of a teen, hugging a bloody body of a male. On closer inspection, she realised it was her mother, hugging the bloodied body of her father. She skimmed through the other articles and realised that the 20 dead included her father. As tears slowly slid down her face, she picked up the remaining item in the box. The letter. She wasn't sure if she should open it, but something inside her told her to. As she carefully unfolded the letter she began to read. "Mingyu-ah~ You left trying to protect me and now I'm going to protect the last thing you gave to me. You gave me something I'll hold so precious to in my heart and I'm sure you'd look after us from above. Smile down at out little angel Mingyu-ah~ Despite me not knowing the gender yet, I want to call "it" our little peanut. I'm so happy that I might be able to see a little you running around my parent's house. I haven't told my parents yet.. I don't know how they will react.. but I'm sure they would be happy to have a grandchild! Mingyu-ah... What am I going to tell our little peanut when he/she realises he/she doesn't have a father? Our poor baby... And what should I call peanut? Should we combine our names? If it's a boy we'll call him Taegyu? And if it's a girl we'll call her Minhee? How about that honey?" There was a smudge of ink as if a droplet of water and dropped on it. 'She must've been crying..." Minhee thought to herself. She realised that her cheeks are soaked and her sleeve was wet from her wiping her tears. "I'm sorry honey.. I promise I won't cry anymore ok? I'll smile brightly just for our little peanut! I'll forever love you Mingyu-ah~ Continue to look after me and your last gift for me ok? I miss you so so much... ~ Love yours truely, Hwang Taehee"
• By the end of the letter, Minhee was bawling her eyes out as she carefully placed the items back into the box. She put the box back into her mother's wardrobe just as her mother walks in, as she had forgotten to grab her public transport ticket. Minhee looks up at her mother to only mutter a thousand apologies. Totally confused at why her daughter was crying and apologising, Taehee walks up to her and gives her a big hug. She glances at her open wardrobe and the box still sticking out of the piles of clothes to realise what her daughter had been doing. Taehee wasn't mad at Minhee but herself. She should've told her daughter about her father and not let her find out about him through this way. After Minhee calmed down, Taehee called into work and told them she couldn't come as her daughter had gotten sick. The rest of the night, Taehee told Minhee every detail of her and Minhee's father's relationship.
Current
• Even though Yoongi's parents and her mother has told her not to work, Minhee insists on working a part time job while juggling between a social life and school life. Minhee not only feels bad that her mother has to work to feed her grandmother and herself but also that she's living under Yoongi's roof practically free of charge. That is why Minhee is working as a barista at a coffee shop that opens till midnight near the school grounds. Sometimes, during lunch, she would use that 1 hour and a half to work at the cafe before rushing back to school for the last 2 periods. With the money she makes, she is able to give money to Mr and Mrs Min but also her mother back home. With the remaining money, Minhee is saving it for her future, especially her college tuition.
• During the school break, Minhee and Yoongi, along with Yoongi's parents, return to their hometown to visit their friends there, but for Minhee, it's to visit her grandmother and mother. She would always bring home gifts from the city for them and sometimes even ginseng which her mother would always scold her for. "You shouldn't use money like that Minhee! Save it for herself and don't use it on an old lady like me!" Her mother would say. "But that old lady is my mother and I'm obligated to look after her like how she looked after me..." Minhee would mumble back, slightly dejected. Minhee also uses this opportunity to spend more time with her grandmother and to also visit her father's grave.
SCHOOL LIFE —
• Throughout primary school, because of that one incident, Minhee became very quiet. She wouldn't interact with other children in her class and would sit by herself in the library during snack breaks and lunch breaks. Minhee would especially avoid the boys and even if she was put into a group to work, she seemed to work independently and speedily. No matter how much her teacher would group her up, Minhee would either end up doing the work or she would just walk away from the group and complete the project by herself. Despite her quietness throughout primary school, she worked hard and got top notch grades in which the teacher's did not complain about. In fact, the principal was the one who encouraged Minhee to try out for a prestigious high school that was located in Seoul. Her well-written reports, full attendance and marks had earned her way into the high school, leaving behind her hometown and family.
• Once Minhee got to high school, she maintained her full attendance and top notch grades, even obtaining 1st place in all exams since 1st year. She started meeting new people as she thought to herself, "New place. New school. New people. New friends." This encouraged her into making some friends that had the same classes as her and has opened up slightly compared to when she was in primary school. The friends she made isn't the very studious type and many of them came from well-off families which means that they will most likely take over their parents' company or what not. They would constantly skip class and go shopping or even just for food. Her friends would always try to persuade Minhee to ditch class with them, which would always be unavail.
• When Minhee got to the age of 16, something seemed to click inside of her. She was no longer the goody-two-shoes her friends thought she was. Minhee would ditch class and go shopping with them (well walk behind them as they looked through shops) and sometimes even ditched a class she didn't like and go to the rooftop or anywhere that has sun, tbh, to take naps. Despite this, she was still able to maintain her school ranking in which the teachers could not complain to her mum or the principal about.
RELATIONSHIPS —
• mother - hwang taehee (36) - waitress, childcare assistant and supermarket cashier - soft-hearted, caring, laid back, cheerful, childish - From a very young age, Minhee was told that her love for smiling and making other people happy was from her mother. And as Minhee grew up, she understood why. Just before she finished high school and was preparing for her examinations, her grandfather passed away suddenly from a heart attack. The reason for the heart attack was unknown as he was always ate healthily and exercised every morning and afternoon with Minhee's grandmother. Despite the shock of her father's sudden death, Minhee's mother stayed strong and smiled and made the effort to comfort her own mother and daughter. Through this, Minhee looked up to her mother even more - if that was even possible. Sometimes Minhee would cry to her when school or work gets stressful and Taehee would comfort her and make sure to give Minhee her infamous hugs and smiles. I Minhee really respects her mother as she was very young when she gave birth to Minhee but also was able to take care of her, and also her grandparents. She also feels bad as she was the one who stopped her mother from being a carefree teenager like everyone else that 19. This is why Minhee was also a mummy's girl, listening to whatever she always wants and doing it immediately. They also always joke around and have been mistaken to be sisters rather than mother and daughter.
• best friend - min yoongi (18) - high school student - arrogant, nosey, overprotective, bright, smiley huggable, silly - Minhee and Yoongi have known each other since they were young. Despite that there is a 1 year difference in their age, Yoongi was always like an older brother to Minhee. From a young age, Yoongii had always been the whinier one between the two - complaining about nearly everything while Minhee would listen closely and agree, even when she didn't. "Agreeing with him will help shut him up quicker" she would explain to others who receive his complaints. At one point in,when Minhee was 14 or so, she had developed a crush on Yoongi despite their closeness, in which he somehow found out. He still teases her about it till this day and Minhee usually turns bright red when it is mentioned. Minhee calls Yoongi "Tofu" (because of his pale skin and easily influenced personality) while he is the creator of "Kitten" as Minhee's nickname. Like mentioned, Yoongi and Minhee have a relationship of siblings. They are very close and have been mistaken as a couple many times and and Yoongi is very protective of her.
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