tl;dr the swim team member with a fear of drowning which sets up a strange dichotomy between wanting to make her parents proud and the crippling phobia of death. park kyungsoon is the newest member of the swim team and a former dancer, she's a total rookie who doesn't even know how to float in water but she's determined to swim, for her parents.

 

name park kyungsoon

ethnicity korean

date of birth october 1, 2000 ( 16 )

place of birth jung-gu, incheon, seoul, sk

current residence jung-gu, incheon, seoul, sk

 

appearance 
pale skin and long dark hair, park kyungsoon is snow white. kyungsoon has round, doe-like eyes with prominent eyelid creases and long, heavy lashes. the bridge of her nose is tall and angular like european supermodels. her lips are rounded and soft, a pastel peach color. kyungsoon's cheeks are like dumplings, the kind grandmothers love to pinch. she meets all the conventional beauty standards face wise, with many people fawning over her surgery free face or asking if she's mixed. her body is lithe, sylphlike, althetic, firm in all the right places after years of dancing. the curve of her shoulders are small, her frame more developed than most other girls her age.

COMMENTS ON PARK KYUNGSOON
okay she's pretty but like, not that pretty why are y'all sweatin?? -- anonymous
^^^^ lmao you have the nerve to talk but stay anon. kyungsoon is literally so pretty, she's my dorter -- kyungsoonsmum
she's like the cutest thing i've ever seen? -- girlgroupcentral
i'd smash. -- jonghyunssmegma
 

face claim gfriend's eunha

backup face claim gfriend's sinb

 

traits 
THE LEGEND companionable, puppy-like, lionhearted.
THE GIRL hyperactive, self-sacrificing.
THE COWARD frivolous, weak-willed, scatter-brained.
TROPES plucky girl, the pollyanna, silly rabbit cynicism is for losers!, extreme doormat.

OPINIONS ON PARK KYUNGSOON
homeroom teacher : "kyungsoon-ah is a very friendly person. if you throw her into a new situation, she'll make five friends right off the bat. if only she could pay attention in class and not forget her work every other day..."

best friend : "um i love her so much! everyone gives her for like being herself but she's so nice! like she'll give up her food so someone else can eat, she feeds stray cats even though she's afraid of them. and she's seriously like so brave, she's always the one to kill bugs for me. kyungsoon works hard to overcome her fears for the sake of others."

classmate one : "honestly, her laugh is really ing annoying i hate it. she's just annoying in general. kyungsoon can like never shut up in class and gets the teacher off tangent with her dumb statements. she's always asking if we can watch movies instead of taking notes and trying to get out of doing assignments, like grow up a little and shut the hell up."

classmate two : "see, the secret is, you just gotta tune her out and stare at her s. she never shuts up but at least she looks good while talking so it's a win-lose situation."

 

the tale 
when park kyungsoon is born dad has to give up his dreams of being an olympic swimmer, something that was going nowhere fast. he had to get a real job, a nine to five job, a dead end job. park kyungsoon is born and is fawned over by her mother, her princess, she's called. kyungsoon was groomed by her mother to do anything the woman wants, taught to push through her fears for the sake of pleasing the birthgiver.

"mama, i don't wanna do it, it's scary."
"don't be like that kyungsoon, you want mama and dad to be proud, don't you?"
"yes mama."
"good girl."

she's filtered through many activities. piano, singing, modeling, acting, dancing, and only dancing stuck with park kyungsoon throughout the years. she dances for years and years, ballet, becoming skilled at making the impossible look effortless. she goes on point, stars in a handful of ballet productions, attends art focused middle and elementary schools, sets her hopes and dreams on being a renowned ballerina. and then dad dies.

he dies and the wound is bleeding, festering. kyungsoon goes to dance practice after school, as usual, stretching on the bar and chatting with her dancing sister, when mother enters the room.

"mama, what are you doing here?"
"park kyungsoon, you're going to quit dancing right now."
"but why? i love dancing!"
"you're going to swim. you'll be a swimmer."
"but i don't wanna do it mama, it's scary. like, really really scary!"
"park kyungsoon, your dad just died without being able to live out his dreams. are you telling me that, as his only child, you aren't going to continue on in his name?"
"no mama."
"good girl."

she didn't like it. it was scary. it's been scary ever since the time she was six and her family went to the pool, where she was knocked into the deep end by an older kid and almost drowned. but she had to make mama happy, she had to be brave, especially now, since mama was hurting over dad's death. park kyungsoon turned in her althetic packet a week later, peering into the doors of the swim team's pool.

 

grandeur 
park kyungsoon, as a swimmer, is trash. she's a complete rookie who needs to be taught the basics of floating on her own in water. when she dives in her heart stops as her hands slice the smooth water, causing it to ripple around her. 

"she's terrible."
"i know."
"if she doesn't improve, this team will go down the toilet."
"i know." it already has.

kyungsoon does freestyle, holding her breath every time her face meets the water. she flinches each time droplets of water make their home on her face. kyungsoon doesn't understand why everyone's so pessimistic about the fate of the swim club, they can do anything if the try hard enough! everyone else is so great at swimming, they shouldn't have to worry about not winning competitions.

"why are you all so gloomy?"
"because if we don't get our together we're not gonna make it to regionals. yeeul would be so disappointed in us."
"don't say that! i'm sure we'll be able to make it!"
"we don't need a ing cheerleader kyungsoon. what we need is someone who can actually swim, aka not you. you have no room to speak if you can't even float."
 

she knows. she knows she has no room to speak, she's only holding them down. but she has to do this, she has to, for her parents. she has to because she's given up her dream to live out someone's elses, to live out her father's. park kyungsoon will try. she'll spend all practice getting over her fears, she'll visit the community pool with her friends and have them help her learn how to swim.

she won't be a disappointment because she's given up too much to do this because she wants to be good for mama.

 

connections 
MAMA the one kyungsoon sacrifices for. utter devotion paired with a case of mother knows best, park kyungsoon is malleable beneath her mother's vieny and well manicured hands. if mama tells her to lose weight, kyungsoon diets. if mama tells her to cook, she cooks.  mama is supportive of kyungsoon, as long as she's doing what mama wants. the way she wants it. mama hugs kyungsoon and ruffles her hair and buys her nice clothes when kyungsoon is perfect. kyungsoon loves mama, but mama's love is only conditional.

KWON SEOLLI the best friend, kyungsoon's knight in white armor. always there to fight anyone who talks about kyungsoon, always there to eat lunch with her and listen to her lamentings, always there to try and convince her to give up trying to please her mother and start pleasing herself. kwon seolli is the enabler, always willing to help kyungsoon at the community pool.