caption: "hello national producers-- the most apt picture of nico"
( personality traits )  
( + ) perceptive, affectionate, responsible
( ? ) stoic, sensual (?!) , sentimental 
( -- ) inhibited, moody, meddlesome

( elaboration )  
nico is rather perceptive, because he's used to looking after his younger friends at vocal practice and is ready to assist in a time of need. he's got a teacher personality, and can ascertain what is needed by someone through observation skills. probably the most likely to teach fellow trainees routines and his language of spanish (even if they're dumb old memes). in addition, he is affectionate-- a complete subversion of his appearance, and he likes to cling onto people shorter than him and ruffle people's hair. he goes above and beyond in the handsy department, often holding hands or leaning on other trainees, patting them and complimenting them on a job well done. yet, a trait that has been drilled into him since childhood is his responsibility, and he often takes challenges and other tasks very seriously. thus, he works tirelessly to complete things and not be a burden to his team. he expects the same from other, and is used to keeping people on track via light pushing and time-to-time progress check-ins with other trainees.


                caption: "nico being told to close he goddamn mouth"
considering his role as "the gentle giant," his stoic exterior often works in his favor during more mature performances, and is often a goldmine for on-screen memery when he keeps his mouth open for extended amounts of time (a pd said that the longest so far is 20 minutes.) he's got a sort of resting blank face if he doesn't pay attention. he naturally struggles to show emotion naturally unless it is somewhat sensual, which in that case he seems to excel. his forte is the mature/"y" concept as well as fanservice, which is ironic to his giant baby he pulls all the time by hanging off of other people. for this reason, a lot of skinship he does tends to be construed differently by pick me viewers. on the side, he skews more sentimental than expected, and has a weakness for birds and bird looking people, and probably starts crying at the simplest things. the funny thing is that tears stream down his face without too much change to his expression besides sniffling and upturned eyebrows. his theme song is sentimental by winner. 

               caption: "nico when he hears some going down"
finally, his flaws are tied to his sentimentality and overbearing sense of responsibility. he is rather inhibited initially, and it takes a bit for him to become more comfortable in a situation. thus, he often might pass up chances for being "Center" in turn for becoming leader as he would rather focus on one job. in addition, that inability to voice his desires and wants turns into internalized frustration, which can make him moody, and this manifests into less patience with ing around, especially if their team is way more behind than it needs to be. when he reaches a certain point where it can be too much, he will try to calm down by leaving the room to chill with his anger, before returning into the room, and trying to address the situation/apologize for possibly making a scene. (this can be a while, however). also, as someone who feels the need to make sure everything runs smoothly, he can be very meddlesome with others, poking and prodding if there is no response, or the answer is "i don't know." also, this meddlesome trait crosses over to personal matters when there is tension in his group. as a mediator, he strives to find a solution (even if it isn't his problem). it can give him the vibes of someone who is nosy (Which isn't too far from the truth, he gets piqued in gossip sometimes). 

          caption: "dramatic promotional material about trainees"
( background ) 
born in mexico city to office workers associated with the company daewoo electronics, nico has lived a rather interesting life in the pink zone (zona rosa, a korean enclave right in the capital). raised with his older sister, he's mostly attended mexican-majority schools (as the international schools were too expensive) and has dealt with some casual racism and general prejudice due to the tension between the migrant korean community and the established mexican community. however, it has never fully affected him and he's done well to acclimate to his environment, making him a rather well-known kid among his peers.
his start in music was due to cultural events within his locality and a general interest in singing from his parents, who couldn't pursue it in search of other opportunities. his parents respect mexican culture a lot (one of the main reasons why they chose to migrate to work there), and had him thrown into mariachi vocal classes at age 7, and extra vocal classes at 11 so he could improve his technique. it came to the point that, right after leaving school, he would walk to his vocal classes at the local arts center and right after, would go to the park to jam with the mariachi group (which had become his second family).
after a while, due to his grandmother's growing age and dependence, they decided to move back to seoul to care for her. at this time, nico was around 15, which meant he was going to basically attend high school in korea. he enrolled into hanlim school of arts, where he got exposure to the idol industry in korea and to the idea of starting a minor YT channel with his covers. in his second year (age 17) , he decided to audition to JYP because of the "global icon" image the trainees had, but failed to pass and instead, was offered a spot at big hit (mostly due to the recent debut of BTS, and 2am's separation leaving the company in a mess). he took this opportunity and started trainee life at big hit. 
joining "pick me" was half his choice, half his bang-pd's because they wanted to gauge the interest of someone like nico to form a new style of group. 

          caption: "i can't believe this photo exists holy "
( trivia )  
>> likes: vincente fernandez, urban zakapa, dean, most reggaeton, carp bread, baby birds, skinship, long car rides to the beach, the summer time. 
>> dislikes: strawberries, the number 527 (the trainee number he was given, he gets tense about it), freestyle dancing, scented lotion (it gives him headaches)
>> habits: finding any stick-like object and twiddling it with his fingers and mouth, pursing his lips when confused, might cycle through expressions he's been practicing for on stage (which looks like he's going through like 300 moods)
>> most people, since he's a "foreigner", expect him to know english and are amused to different degrees when they find out he highkey at it. 
>> academically, he's rather average and was never in the top 10 or anything. also, he's essentially lived most of his life in mexico so he sometimes mixes up words still as a fluent speaker. he says he's pretty enough to be a trophy husband. 
>> his afterschool activities consisted of mariachi practice as a vocalist and guitar playing.
>> the only dance experience he had prior to trainee life was folklorico dancing with his sister, so he knows the real hat dance. will probably be called out upon it at evaluations. 
>> his youtube channel has a variety of kpop, songs in spanish and kpop done mariachi style (most popular is his rendition of playing with fire by blackpink).
>> if lost, find nearest short person. will most likely be attached to them. he likes small things and people. however, his skinship is indiscriminate. 
>> the trainees have a list called "reasons why nico is crying today," some of them being baby ducklings and legalized gay marriage in taiwan. will probably tear up at beautiful singing.