장난감 : LEE EUNJAE OF TOY
lee eunjae
"so...now that everything's done, who's down for food and soju?!"
PERSONALITY TRAITS — {+} optimistic, affectionate, humble, dorky {-} perfectionist, independent, blunt, selfless
ELABORATION —
• Carpe Diem! Everyday, Eunjae works with carpe diem as her mantra. She doesn't like waisting any time and tries her best to be productive whenever she can. If her situation begins to look tough, she reminds herself that even if she's facing hardships at that moment, tomorrow will be a new day. Her outlook in life is very positive and loves to look on the brighter side of things. It's her "can do" attitude that led her into getting a lotus flower as her tattoo. Because of the flower's meaning, she runs her life by always having an open-mind to things and tries to fairly look at all sides of the equasion
• Always shine, shine as bright as the sun. Ever since she was young, she always had this bright, charismatic personality to her that immediately drew people towards her. Her aura made it easy for people to approach her and make friends with whoever she comes across with. Her favorite past time is to joke around with her friends and loves to tease them with endless remarks. She's also the one that always encourages everyone to push forward and to never give up.
• Stay Hungry, Stay Humble Another mantra that Eunjae goes by. With most of her childhood/life being spent as a trainee, she noticed that the people around her that came and went began to stray away from their roots. If there is hope for others to debut, they immediately get cocky or sometimes even look down at other trainees. Or if people already debuted, those that she'd come across tend to let the fame get to their head and she refuses to let that happen to her and her members. Eunjae always wants to spread happy vibes to those around her and knows when to acknowledge when she's lost in dance/rap battles. She doesn't look down or talk smack about her rivals or competitors, rather she acts as a good sport and even shows supports to those she's been up against.
• "I won't stop until it's to my satisfaction." When it comes to the arts or her life in general, Eunjae tends to be a perfectionist. Whenever she's running rehearsals, she makes sure that the routine is flawless, down to the littlest of details. If one person is off by even a little bit (whether it'd be a person's hand was off by an inch or even if their pitch is slightly off) she will call them out in a heartbeat. Everything needs to be flawless and up to the expectations she sets in order to appease the company in her opinion and usually beats herself up if she fails as a leader. Even if it comes to composing/writing lyrics, she'll endlessly produce and edit her samples until she thinks it's ready to be revewed by the president. All of her things need to be orderly and organized in order for her to function correctly as well. This kind of thinking often leads her to overthink everything and tends to get highly emotional. She'll either close herself from everyone to control herself or her temper will run short and she'll begin to snap at those around her without realizing it.
• "You can always come to me if you need anything, but it'll take time for me to warm up to you." Since she's been a trainee since she was ten, Eunjae has always been used to being by herself. Because of her passion and drive to debut as soon as she could, She tends to be very independent and doesn't like to lean on other people too much. She'll see herself as a burden and prefers to keep to herself. Eunjae forgets that she can lean on those that have trained along side her who have now become her members rather than being stuck in her own world. She'll always put the ones she cares about first and won't hesitate to drop what she's doing in order to help a friend out. Most of the time she's too selfless to look after herself and makes sure those around her are happy and forgets to do her own things she wishes to do. Eunjae will bottle things up until it gets too overwhelming for her and usually has a mental breakdown in her room.
BACKGROUND + CURRENT EVENTS —
• Performing on stage was something that Eunjae had always dreamed of accomplishing. When she was growing up, her mother would always play the performances of Shinhwa, H.O.T, Sechs Kies, Fin KL, etc on the TV. She had always adored the way that they moved on stage and inspired so many people. Her mother had told her that when she was facing a hard time in her life after her father had left them shortly after she was born. It was listening to Shinhwa's music that helped get her through them. Since having those musical influences and her mother's stories throughout her childhood, Eunjae was determined to become someone like them. Eunjae would always watch their music videos to learn the choreography and self-taught herself how to dance by constantly rewinding and looking at it.
In 2005, Eunjae determinedly auditioned for the newest company on the rise, Big Hit Entertainment. At the age of ten and with her audition of BoA's Girls on Top, she was accepted as a trainee. From age ten to fifteen, she tried to balance training with school, but it proved to be overwhelming for her so she dropped out and became a full time trainee. At first, she thought that it was a better choice since it'll give her a better chance to debut. If she wasn't practicing, Eunjae would be seen in the underground scene battling it out whether it'd be dancing or rapping because she had found more interest in those rather than singing. She was pretty decent at singing, but rapping was more fun for her and her flow came naturally to her. Dance was what she was most passionate about because she loved the way the music would take over her body whenever she practiced or simply joined in on a freestyle cypher. But the more she trained, the more she began to lose sight of herself.
She began to argue with her mother whenever she came back home because all she'd hear is her mother nagging and would run away, back to the dorms. With the constant practicing, Eunjae began to feel lost and there was no more passion in whatever she produced. She'd never get enough sleep and would skip meals. The company had warned her to get herself together or she'd be cut, so Eunjae requested if she could take a break to self-reflect and come back after a while. Seeing as she was still so young at the age of fifteen, they allowed her a two month's hiatus where she returned back to school and patched things up with her mother. Her fire came back to her when she was hanging out in the park with her cousin and he told her to not give up. He too, was chasing his dream and had successfully made his debut in 2008. He had confessed to her that she inspired him to not give up and brought him to where he was that day.
Seeing as how she had inspired someone so close to her without realizing it, Eunjae jumped back into training with a fire that burned brighter than ever and worked her off. She began to interact more with trainees and make friends while also encouraging them after being one of the longest trainees under Big Hit. Now, she's seen as an affectionate sunbae that looks out for her fellow hoobae trainees. If she saves up enough money from her part time job, she'd treat her close hoobaes to some snacks. She'll even break out some jokes despite the tense atmosphere that would always arise when evaluations were in session. Once she came back, she got into composing and writing since it would help enhance her rapping skills and used it as an outlet to let go of her frustrations if her body was too worn out from dancing.
RELATIONSHIPS —
• Mother - Lee Minjung (55) - chef/owner of Fusion Bay restaurant - supportive, caring - very affectionate towards her daughter and is her number one fan. Always believed in her daughter to accomplish her dreams ever since she was little and is the person Eunjae goes to for advice and encouragement whenever she feels disheartened. {fc: yoon haeyoung}
• Cousin - Lee Kwangsoo (31) - comedian, actor, model - playful, cheeky - Known as the Girin (Giraffe) that likes to betray on Running Man, he is the beloved cousin of Eunjae. He's like the older brother she's always wanted while growing up. Her mom and his mom worked together at the family restaurant while Kwangsoo would often look after Eunjae. The two of them love to crack jokes and he's the one she would go to if she wants to take her mind off things. She also sees him as a father figure in her life since he's always looking after her and making sure that she's okay despite his busy schedule.
• Older Brother Figure - Kim Namjoon (22) - idol in BTS - affectionate, caring - They grew close while training together. She hadn't noticed him before, but after her fainting spell in their dance session together, he nagged her once she came back. After that, she dubbed him as her older brother within the company and they're often seen playfully arguing with each other or Namjoon nagging her for nagging at the others/not looking after herself. He also helps her whenever it comes to composing and rapping. He's the one she goes to in the company for advice and deep heart to hearts.
• Best Friend - Jung Hoseok (22) - idol in BTS - annoying, caring - He was introduced to Eunjae through Namjoon and the trio were like their own little family while training. Namjoon became her mother while Hoseok was her father. She refuses to call either of them oppa but rather with -eomma or -appa after their names. They were considered as friendly rivals in dance because both were really good in their prospective styles (Hoseok with popping and Eunjae with locking/waacking). He loves getting on her nerves if he isn't making sure she's on top of everything and teases her about her height. They have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with Eunjae always refusing to listen to what he says. But at the end of the day, she goes to him whenever she just needs to lean on someone and to blow off some steam. They always have monthly battles together just to see how much the other has improved over time as well.
• Close Friend - Park Hyojin (21) - Trainee/TOY Member - bubbly, lively - First actual girl trainee that Eunjae became friends with. When Hyojin came to Big Hit after leaving JYP, Eunjae made sure that she adjusted fairly enough. The two were often grouped together, so they naturally stuck to each other and Eunjae always goes to her whenever it came to stuff she couldn't talk to Namjoon or Hoseok about. She likes to think of Hyojin as her little happy pill because of how energizing she can be whenever they're training.
"introduce yourself." — Hey, wassup? *eyesmiles* I'm E.J. it's nice to meet ya.
"what are you most excited about?" — Finally getting to debut with my girls. I've been a trainee for so long and getting to taste the stage is something I've been dreaming about ever since I was a kid.
"what do you think helped place you in toy?" — My passion. *laughs* I've been chasing my dream for the longest time. Even if the fire died out a while back, it rekindled and has been ablaze ever since. Besides being a trainee for so long, I've worked day and night, shed so many tears and sweat for this moment I think I'd be devestated if I won't be able to debut yet. The stage has been the playground I've been dreaming of playing on and the audience is the world I want to conquer. *nods determinedly* I want to inspire the people that I perform for and share my dreams with them.
"what are you most nervous about?" — *bites my lip and hums in throught* Hmmm... probably the thought of not being received well by the public. *tilts my head to the side and looks up* With being said as BTS's counter part, the pressure is definitely there. I hope that we won't disappoint their expectations of us because I've seen and fully know just how hard the girls and I have worked for this opportunity. *smiles slightly and nods*
"what do you hope to show the people who are anticipating toy's debut?" — They might think of us as "just another girl group" but I want to prove them wrong with our works and leave a lasting impression on them. I feel like we're somewhere in between the cutesy and tomgirl image. We're very playful and I hope that our image can be refreshing in everyone's eyes. We can be just as good and in hopes of becoming the leader, I will make sure that it will happen. *smirks and points towards the interviewer* Get ready world, TOY is coming for ya. You ain't ready for what we're going to give you guys.
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