BASICS

 

NICKNAMES :
▷ 허원재 — hangul for his full birth name.
▷ Won/Wonnie — this shorter version of his name is commonly used by group members and friends when his stage name isn't being used.
▷ Jae — this shorter version of his name is usually only used by his grandparents.
▷ Donnie — this 'cuter' version of his stage name is commonly used by Lemon Ent. members, group members, peers, friends, and fans.

BIRTHPLACE : Jeju-do, South Korea.

HOMETOWN : Jeju-do, South Korea.

ETHNICITY : Korean.

LANGUAGES : 
▷ Jeju/Cheju — fluent ; his native language. though many consider Jeju just a dialect of the Korean language, it's been deemed as a distinctly different language since it's incomprehensible to native Korean speakers. growing up with his grandparents, who were native Jeju speakers, he learned this first and spoke only this with his guardians.
▷ Korean — fluent ; technically his native language, though he'll say that it's his second. being educated in a public school setting, he learned proper Korean, which is spoken with a Gyeonggi accent for the most part, skilled in hiding his Jeju dialect.
▷ Japanese — intermediate ; he's skilled in vocabulary and reading, though pronunciation, writing, and grammar are not in his skill set at the moment, learned through Lemon Ent. when he thought he was debuting the first time.

FACE CLAIM : Moon Bin (ASTRO).

BACK-UP FACE CLAIM : Jeon Wonwoo (Seventeen).

APPEARANCE : as far as facial features go, Wonjae is the spitting image of his face claim. as far as hair goes, when untampered with by stylists, he will leave his natural rust brown coloring the same, and he'll usually leave his bed hair just as he found it when he woke up. he keeps his hair cut short, so the messy look frames his face well. his skin is free of tattoos, and only his ears are pierced once.

TRAITS

 

PERSONALITY TRAITS : open-minded, passionate, altruistic, dedicated, sensitive, private, scatterbrained, illogical.

PERSONALITY : Oddly unbiased in his young age, Wonjae is more often than not willing to try new things. His open-mindedness works to his advantage in his life, especially when it comes to being unprejudiced about the people around him, because he never seems to judge anyone based on their words or actions. Instead he will always listen to everyone's side no matter what the situation may be. Even after hearing or seeing something morally or socially questionable, Wonjae isn't one to make any judgements or take sides quickly. He'd rather have the situation resolved by making the opposing groups look at the situation from the other's point of view to broaden everyone's sense of understanding. Some would wonder why the boy would even waste his time trying since some people are too stubborn to even try to understand others, but Wonjae can never really answer why he does what he does. The real reasoning behind it is his altruism. Exhaustingly caring for others has always been something that he's done without questioning it, his only explanation being that, "In this harsh world we live in, you have to step in and be a helping hand so someone else can smile." This kind of compassion has the tendency to be looked down upon by people with opposing personalities, but Wonjae has never let this bother him as long as he can succeed in helping those around him. However, this kind of unselfishness can lead to becoming a pushover if he doesn't limit the amount of help he hands out freely or if he doesn't stop himself from helping those who don't necessarily deserve it.

Because he isn't particularly strong enough emotionally, Wonjae has grown to become rather sensitive. And while this could be considered a good thing, it's on the negative spectrum of his traits as his feelings can be very delicate to handle. With a fragile state of being, it's hard for Wonjae to put himself out there because he'd take criticism and insults heavily. The stress he gets from both stays with him for much longer than someone less sensitive than him, and he might even go as far as to punish himself or change himself to make himself 'better' in the eyes of whoever criticized him. This has also caused him to become one of the more introverted members of the group. He doesn't have trouble speaking to people and he's not shy, but he will never want to be the sole center of attention where he’s the easy target for critique. He isn’t the type of person to easily share his feelings or thoughts with others either. If asked how he’s feeling, no matter what the truth is, he’ll answer, “I’m fine.” If asked what he’s thinking, no matter what the truth is, he’ll answer, “There’s no thoughts going through my head right now.” This isn’t just with people he doesn’t know well or with strangers, but Wonjae is this way even with the people closest to him or have known him for a long time. Wonjae isn't sure if people actually believe him half the time, but he always hopes nobody pushes it further.

Honestly, it's more likely that nobody believes him when he answers so vaguely because it's more than obvious how scatterbrained Wonjae actually is. This boy lives with his head in the clouds, and it's been this way since he was a child. There's always something different going on in that head of his, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. The only time it becomes a problem is when it leads to forgetfulness and disorganized, which it does most times. Wonjae hardly remembers anything, even if told more than once, unless it's something very important or something he can consistently think about. Other than that, he'll forget it within moments, the thought forever abandoned in his messy head. As for disorganization, it has more to do with his thought process than his exterioir habitat. He's not much of a messy person, but he's a mess himself. With all the thoughts running around in his head, Wonjae has the tendency to think up some crazy things. Creative? Sure. Impractical and unreasonable? Completely. That sense of logic that most people display on a daily basis isn't usually something the boy has. Others will have to explain to him why something is dangerous or stupid or just...won't work, and sometimes they'll have to explain more than once or in a slower way for Wonjae to even understand. Another reason why nobody believes there's nothing going on in that head of his.

On the bright side, the amount of passion and dedicated Wonjae displays is something that could be looked up too. When he does something or commits to something, best believe he'll put his whole heart into it. In complete honesty, even if Wonjae doesn't want to to do something, if he agrees to it, he's going to give it his all without a second of hesitation. And it isn't often he turns down something someone asks from him. The difference is very clear between something Wonjae does for himself and someon else regardless. An otherwise sweet, somewhat ditzy boy can become ruthless in his need to give his all. This isn't to say he'll do anything to get his way, but he won't rest until he completes a goal he's set for himself. The rate at which he pushes himself can be very scary, but it's useless to try to get him to stop. As for his passion and dedicated, this goes as well to the people who have his loyalty. When he loves, he loves with his whole heart. Wonjae won't say the words, but he will do all he can to remain dedicated and true to the people he cares for.

BACKGROUND : Born out of wedlock to first years in high school, Wonjae was taken in and adopted by his maternal grandparents. They raised him earnestly, making a humble living off of his grandfather's culture center for tourists in Jeju. Because of the culture center, traditional Korean music was a big part of Wonjae's life in his youth. He was enthralled by the swift movements of the buchaechum and jangguchum and enticed by the traditional music both were danced too. Trot was the second genre of music he was introduced to, his grandparents being avid fans of the genre. Both grandmother and grandfather knew music would be a large part of their grandson's life when he'd go through the house mimicking the dances and the unique voices of the trot singers. Though it wasn't a proper training, unable to afford the official singing or dance lessons Wonjae's school offered, his grandparents had a popular singer from the culture center and a street dancer that worked as the culture center's janitor give Wonjae makeshift lessons in return for free dinner. The makeshift lessons started when he was seven years old, after his school let out.

Grateful to his grandparents for the opportunity, he opted to help at the culture center instead of playing at the park with his classmates on the weekend. His ‘trainers’ were the ones who introduced him to other genres of music: ballad, classical, R&B, hip hop. And Wonjae found himself getting closer to music while his classmates were getting close to one another. He picked concerts in Jeju over having birthday parties, he picked going to watch dance battles with Hojoon or extra singing lessons with Minah instead of going to others’ birthday parties or class trips, and he picked music over school. Of course, it’d be illegal for him not to attend school at his young age, but his grandparents were more than understanding when Wonjae wasn’t top 20 in his class. He did his homework and classwork, but he never tried for extra credit or exerted himself more for school in favor of singing and dancing. In December of 2014, Hojoon and Minah gifted Wonjae with brochures, audition flyers, and ads about entertainment companies with upcoming auditions. They’d already talked it over with his grandparents, money had been saved as a combined birthday and Christmas gift to him, and all four knew that the boy wouldn’t be happy in life unless he were doing something he really loved. Though incredibly scared to showcase himself to people who weren’t his ‘trainers’ or his grandparents, Wonjae wanted nothing more than singing and dancing for a career. In February of 2015, he auditioned for ten different companies and managed to get accepted into four, one of them being Lemon Entertainment. Liking the idea of a smaller company, and with the approval of both his grandparents and his ‘trainers’, he signed his contract as a trainee.

LIKES :
▷ Korean traditional music & dance.
▷ concerts.
▷ dance battles (watching, not performing).
▷ street food.
▷ tank tops (much more comfortable to dance in).
▷ cute smiles.
▷ rain.

DISLIKES :
▷ confrontation.
▷ being put on the spot.
▷ failing.
▷ wasting money.
​▷ constricting clothing.

HOBBIES : 
▷ piano ; he's pretty good, something he learned alongside singing lessons.
▷ buchaechum ; a hidden skill, something he's very good at, but it's traditionally performed by women so he keeps this to himself.

HABITS :
▷ zoning out ; he doesn't focus well and he'll end up in his own little world.
▷ shortening names ; he honestly doesn't have a knack for names, so he'll shorten everyone's name. example: sehun > 'hun-ah', jimin > 'min hyung', wendy > 'wen noona'.

TRIVIA :
▷ he has never met his father or paternal family.
▷ he knows his mother & saw her throughout his childhood a few times.
▷ he has a two-year-old half-sister he's never met.
▷ his favorite singers are Lee Hyun & ALi.
▷ his favorite dance group is Animation Crew.
▷ his stage name 'Don' came from RC's Ilsun (probably purposely) getting his name wrong when they first met, calling him 'Don' instead of 'Won'. he liked the way it sounded.
▷ 'Don' means money in Korean, and his fans picked their fan name accordingly.
​▷ he frequents Mangwon Market for its cheap street food.
▷ he likes to stand in the rain and 'have fun', which means just stands there and get soaked until someone drags him inside.
▷ he won't sleep or eat before evaluation, a live performance, etc. he'll only practice.
▷ his instagram has no pictures of just him. it's always pictures of him with somebody, or just showing what he's doing or where he is.
▷ his singing 'trainer' Minah and dance 'trainer' Hojoon are very close friends of the family & he looks to them as older siblings.
▷ if asked why he didn't debut with Royal Court, he'll say he didn't practice enough.
▷ he 'jokingly' dubs himself 'the background member'.
▷ closer to Seaing members than Royal Court despite training with RC first.
▷ admires Ilsun (yes, even after what happened) the most in RC & admires Jaeha the most in Aurora.
▷ catfish ; he becomes very uneasy when left alone with her because it's obvious she doesn't like males. when onstage or on camera, he will avidly compliment her.
▷ swordfish ; he wonders where this man gets his confidence from, it's admirable and scary all at the same time.
▷ blobfish ; he admires her most in the group and thinks she has a cute smile no matter what others may say.
▷ pufferfish ; onstage & on camera, he tries to talk more despite not wanting the focus on him, because he knows this member doesn't speak much. he feels almost responsible to speak for him sometimes.
▷ angelfish ; her lackey. he'll help anyone, but he will never turn down what she asks of him.
▷ clownfish ; very obviously afraid of him & hates being left alone with him in fear of being tormented.
▷ lionfish ; her biggest fan, both on camera and off.
▷ jellyfish ; he finds fanservice the easiest with this person for some reason.

TRAINEE LIFE

 

YEARS OF TRAINING : Feb 2015 - debut. Almost 2 years.

TRAINEE EXPERIENCE : The switch to official trainers in an actual company from his ten years of lessons from a professional singer and a street dancer in Jeju was a lot to take in at first and left Wonjae overwhelmed. He was no longer the only student of someone who knew him well and trained according to both skillset and personality. The teenager had to learn to adapt to these strangers, who were quick to critique when he messed up and less willing to compliment when he succeeded, only pushing him harder. It took about a month or two for Wonjae to realize that he could only go on if he pushed himself harder than the actual trainers did, setting high expectations for himself to reach the smaller goals set by the trainers. Wonjae was as close with the other trainees as he was with his classmates in Jeju. He chose training over friendships, and nobody bothered the introvert. When Aurora debuted seven months after he became a trainee, Wonjae only pushed himself further. He knew that he wasn’t going to debut with the group, the lineup set aside before. However, with the first group debuted, he figured it couldn’t be long before the next group was set. And he was right. Put into the lineup with nine other members, Wonjae worked diligently instead of making friends with his groupmates. It wasn’t until the month before debut that Wonjae reached his first major trainee problem - bullying. However, he was the one perceived as the bully. Someone had taken the time to decode some Jeju dialect and write derogatory, hateful, and rude comments about each of the other members in Wonjae’s handwriting in a diary. The diary and the rumor of him being the bully spread throughout Lemon Entertainment like a wildfire, and both got back to the Moon Borah and the CEO. Unable to defend himself or prove it wasn’t him, Wonjae earned himself a meeting with the CEO, who threatened to terminate his contract if this sort of behavior happened again and kept him from debuting as the Royal Court maknae. He was then ostracized by other trainees intensely until someone revealed that they’d seen Kim Ilsun with the diary instead of Wonjae. Of course, that didn’t make it back to the CEO, and it was too late anyway because it was three months after Royal Court debuted. By the time the lineup was set for Seaing, the other trainees were much more cordial to Wonjae, which he easily forgave, not wanting any of the others to remain guilty for something they didn't know.

SCHOOL LIFE : For the past year and a half, he completes his schoolwork from his high school in Jeju sent to him via email. As per usual, he does his homework and all required work but nothing extra. He doesn't want to transfer to a school in Seoul because he'd have to attend classes physically until debut, and he feels that would be a waste. He also only has one year left, so he'd rather finish virtually as he's been doing.

CURRENT LIFESTYLE : He lives with Hojoon, who works as a backup dancer, in a small two-bedroom apartment in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Because he doesn't physically go to school, he completes his work in the morning from 7 AM to 8 AM before working out with Hojoon from 8:30 AM to 11 AM. He then takes the subway to Lemon Entertainment to train for the rest of the day. He eats breakfast, usually toast or eggs or both, while completing school work. He skips lunch and finishes his lessons and private practicing around 10 or 11 PM before taking the subway back and devouring whatever Hojoon's made or picked up for dinner. On the weekends, he doesn't have school work and doesn't work out, instead going to get some street food in Mangwon Market at around 10 AM before training for the full day and ending at 10 or 11 PM. 

COMPANIONSHIP

 

FAMILY :
▷ grandfather — Lee Ryunjun (68) | culture center owner | warmhearted & stubborn | a father figure to Wonjae because Ryunjun raised him, they speak every Sunday morning via phone, and despite Wonjae's protests to save money, he visits Wonjae in Seoul once a month, an avid Wonjae supporter.
▷ grandmother — Lee Hweji (64) | culture center owner | loud & kind| a mother figure to Wonjae because Hweji raised him, they speak every Sunday morning via phone, and despite Wonjae's protests to save money, he visits Wonjae in Seoul once a month, an avid Wonjae supporter.
▷ hyung — Choi Hojoon (36) | backup dancer | opinionated &  persuasive | a brother figure not actually related to Wonjae, the only person who can figure out what's going on in Wonjae's head, Hojoon's also his biggest fan.
▷ noona — Song Minah (39) | Jeju culture performer | protective & vain | a sister figure not actually related to Wonjae, they text regularly and she is incredibly protective of Wonjae, she visits every couple of months if there's time, and they speak on the phone when they can, one of his biggest fans.

FRIENDS : what friends?

RIVALS/ENEMIES : none.

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

SNS ACCOUNTS : 
▷ instagram & twitter ; @donwonj