personality traits

— Positive: caring, hard-working, gentle, efficient
— Neutral: loyal, strong-willed, honest
— Negative: stubborn, secretive, sarcastic, cold

personality

— Let's start with the positives (as I always do). Well, as the leader, Aerin is a really caring person, and she remembers the small details. Whether it's an off-hand comment one of the members made about their favorite food or a trivia question revealed on a variety show, Aerin will remember. If she hears about any hardships a member is going through, she'll make sure to talk to them and make them feel better. The other members might make fun of her for being such a mom, but it's just her way of letting them know that she cares for them (and they know it too). However, there are plently of 'tiger moms' out there, and Aerin is not that type of mom. She's the type of mom who teaches her children/members to 'kill them with kindness'. She would never yell at a member for forgetting their lines/moves; she would personally teach them how to do it (or if it's dance, kindly ask the main dancer to do it). Aerin tries to be as gentle as possible because she knows how hard it's been on the members.

Now, just because she's so nice doesn't mean that you should underestimate Aerin. She's actually one of the most hard-working members in the group. Well, and the fact that she's the leader. Maybe that's precisely the reason why she's the leader. Anyway, Aerin is someone who would never give up because something was 'too hard'. In fact, those two words do not register in her mind because in her world, nothing is ever too hard. She quotes Yoda a lot, especially 'do or do not, there is no try'. As you can probably guess, she is one of the doers. Aerin's dancing isn't the best, but she stays up until 2 am practicing the simplest dance moves until it becomes ingrained in her mind. Another thing I wanted to talk about was efficiency. Well, obviously, being an idol means Aerin has a lot of schedules and not a lot of time. She's always been good at multi-tasking, and now she can juggle many things at once. For instance, she eats with one hand, writes notes with the other hand, all while studying textbooks and talking to the manager about the group. In the same way, backstage, Aerin knows how to get her members moving. She's one of the first to finish changing and will personally help the others change, then hustle them out, into their positions, etc...

— Onto the negatives. Well, Aerin happens to be one of the most stubborn people ever. Really, once she makes a decision, even the managers/her parents struggle to change her mind. For instance, once when Aerin was a kid, she had her mind set on chopping all of her hair off. Well, her parents wouldn't have minded... but her school would have. She went to a school where short hair wasn't allowed, and she wanted to be a rebel. Her parents tried for a week to talk to her, but in the end, Aerin cut her hair and was punished by the school :"(. Along with this, Aerin's a really sarcastic person. Like no joke, she and Jiae can go off on 'sass-fests' and roast the other members to no end. However, being the leader, such a trait isn't exactly smiled upon, and she can end up sounding rude ;;; so Aerin does usually try to rein in her sarcasm.

Aerin might seem like an open person, but she's not. She has her own secrets too; it's better if the members didn't know, and she doesn't want the press/public to find out and ruin the group's image. Usually, her secrets cause her great pain, but she can't let anyone see or else they would ask, and she doesn't want to tell. Being the leader, especially, Aerin has to put on a facade for her members and assure them that everything is okay; after all, if the leader is on her feet, she can pull the rest of them up. Because of this, Aerin can't allow herself to collapse in emotions. This can cause her to be cold sometimes. There's really no pattern to her emotions; it's just whenever she's reminded of her secrets or has strong negative emotions, she tries to close herself up for the sake of the others - or maybe herself.

— Okay, now the neutrals. Yeah, Aerin's loyal to a fault. This is a good thing because it means that she'd never leave the group for any reason, even if they left her. However, if she gets caught up with the wrong people... hoo boi, she would be ruined. They could make her do all sorts of bad stuff, and she would do it. Now, I put strong-willed in neutrals because of the following: she can do something we call 'forcing' in project management, which is essentially 'only the leader's opinion matters'. Usually, this is only used in dire emergencies as a last-ditch effort to get something done, but because Aerin is so strong-willed, she might end up 'forcing' more than necessary, causing her to seem oppressing. On the other hand, it's not entirely bad because with the members, there's bound to be disagreements, and she can 'force' everyone to go one way and explain why to avoid any more arguments. The last neutral trait I put is honest. She's definitely not as honest as Jiae, but she definitely speaks her mind. Usually, she'll try to sugar-coat it a little bit or tell a small white lie, but if she's distracted or tired, the truth will just slip out. Sometimes it's not much, but if she's dissatified with a member's performance that day and the truth comes out, well, that member might be hurt.

background

— Choi Aerin was born in Suwon on a sunny day. She was raised, however, in Seoul, since her parents moved there when she was four. Well, it was a pretty normal life, and her parents were the typical 'work but leave time for home' parents. Aerin was a model student, the kind to gold stars on everything and answer every question the teacher asked. Yes, she was a teacher's pet, and she revelled in the praise, even though some of her classmates got annoyed.

Aerin's parents were the type to not let their child know anything about anything. Well, okay, that's not strictly true, but they tried to shelter their child as much as possible. Aerin didn't mind it when she was young, but once she entered middle school, she wanted to know. Even if it would hurt her, she wanted to know. For instance, once she woke up in the middle of the night and her mother was putting on her shoes. Her father was just sitting there fuming. Aerin cried and begged her mother not to go. Well, her mother stayed, but her parents' relationship was frosty for two weeks. It frustrated (and hurt) her to no end, but the adults wouldn't speak a single word about what had happened. Aerin believed that she had a right to know; after all, she was their child, and her well-being, her mental health, depended on them.

Well, they still wouldn't tell her anything, and from then on, Aerin realized that she didn't get along with her parents as well as before. She began to break away from emotionally, keeping to herself and not telling her parents all that had happened during the day like she used to. It was during this time that her parents believed her to have grown up, so they started pushing her to do even better in school, to get even more awards, and to be even more the perfect student.

She kept up with their expectations as best as she could, which was pretty darn well. Despite doing well in school, however, Aerin had no clue what she wanted to do with her life. Her mother, a doctor, advocated strongly for her own field. Her father, an engineer, wanted Aerin to be a biomedical engineer. Aerin, on the other hand, found these professions both extremely boring. It was okay, though, because she had time to decide.

Or not. In a flash, she was in high school already, and the pressure was building. Her parents were breathing down her neck, she had no time to enjoy her life, and her desk was piled with practice exams. During the second year of high school, Aerin's class recieved a Chinese transfer student. She ended up sitting next to Aerin, and the two girls became fast friends.

Well, during the summer between the second and third years of high school, one of Aerin's friends had the brilliant idea of starting a band. Aerin immediately latched onto the idea and, even though she'd never had proper vocal training, volunteered to be the lead singer. They did end up doing it, and Aerin was indeed appointed lead singer. The group performed in Hongdae as often as they could, and they actually attracted a lot of attention. At first, they thought it was just because they were young and pretty, but one day, a man came up to them and introduced himself as Woollim's scouting agent. They were all invited to audition, but in the end, only Aerin ended up doing so.

She passed the audition. Her parents, however, were less happy, and they had fights ever single day because of it. Finally, Aerin's parents agreed to let her audition and train as long as her grades didn't fall. Aerin agreed, and she ended up realizing that this was what she really wanted to do. After three years of training and still not debuting, Aerin was fed up and ended up auditioning for YG out of spite. She didn't tell her parents because, well, it was still in Seoul. When her parents did find out, however, they were very supportive.

likes

— raspberries: okay, this is really random, but Aerin LOVES raspberries. She'll eat anything with raspberries in it, and she'll buy raspberries even if they're expensive. She even has a little raspberry pillow.
— cats: Aerin adores cats. They're so cute and fluffy! She'd always wanted one, but her father was allergic to pet dander so they couldn't keep pets. If she ever did get a cat, Aerin would want it to be silver, and she would call it Argentum.
— sunny weather: maybe it was because she was born on a sunny day, but Aerin practically lives on sun. No, she doesn't like summer (it's too hot), but she really likes the feeling of basking in the sunlight during the winter. It gives her a warm feeling inside.
— vanilla ice cream: yep, Aerin's one of those people who prefers vanilla over chocolate. What's wrong with smooth, creamy vanilla? It's sweet and sugary and who wouldn't love it?
— reading: well, this is to be expected since Aerin's so studious. It's not just textbooks, though; Aerin loves reading anything from Harry Potter to Orson Scott Card (pls bear with me idk any Korean authors).
— Vans/Converse: I know I mentioned this in the fashion section, but boy, does Aerin love canvas shoes. It's terrible for her arch so she wears arch supports, plus they're expensive because all the celebrities wear them nowadays, but she's been wearing since 5th grade and it's hard to stop now.

dislikes

— reptiles: she just doesn't like them; they're cold-blooded, slithery, and scaly. Eugh.
— closed spaces: it's not so much a phobia, but Aerin feels really uncomfortable in tight spaces. What if she gets jammed in there and can never come out again?
— hypocrites: why would someone ever say something but do/think the opposite? Maybe it's unintentional, but Aerin just finds those kinds of people annoying.
— nighttime: okay, she doesn't really dislike the night, but the openness of the dark sky makes her scared. Yeah, there, she said it, she's scared of it. It feels like the sky could swallow her whole at any time, and it's goddamned scary.
— spiders: okay, now this is a fear. Aerin is terrified of spiders, and it's not a secret.

habits

— tilts her head to the right when thinking
— plays with bracelets when nervous
— stutters when lying — opens fully when she laughs

hobbies

— playing piano: because every Asian knows how to play piano
— writing poetry: eh, most of it's really embarrassing, but occasionally, if you ask nicely, she'll let you read some of it
— calligraphy: ever since she saw a video online, Aerin's been obsessed with fancy writing and has tried to do her own calligraphy; sometimes it turns out well, but other times, not so much.

Trivia

— she's close with Infinite and Lovelyz (because of her time at Woollim)
— takes five minutes to wash face, brush teeth, etc but will take an hour to change clothes
— her favorite color is forest green
— she likes to teach kids
— she was actually going to audition for SM first, but her friends convinced her to go to YG
— she's tried her hand at rapping before, but the members shot her down
— despite being a dancer, she's creative and will sometimes suggest dance moves (of course, she'll make them easy so she can do it too)
— she aspires to be like Super Junior (even though she'll never admit it, she's so in love with Yesung) ((not like in love in love, just... in love, you know?))

relationships

— friend • Li Shiwen / 24 / college student / 8 out of 10
Shiwen was the Chinese student who transferred to Aerin's high school. They taught each other their respective languages, and even though Shiwen moved back to China, they keep in touch, and Shiwen is a loyal fan of E2W. Even though they've known each other for a long time, Aerin feels like they've been growing apart and hesitates to tell her secrets.

— friend • Kim Sunggyu / 28 / singer / 9 out of 10
Aerin was once a trainee at Woollim. She was close with all the artists, but Sunggyu saw potential in her and specifically took time out of his schedule to hang out with her. Even though Aerin's at YG now, they do still keep up with each other's news and remained friends. Aerin hates how they can't openly hang out with each other because of the press.

— friend/member • Shin Jiae / 21 / singer / 9 out of 10
Aerin and Jiae met while trainees. Aerin's first thought was 'whoa, someone taller than me!', and Jiae, honestly, probably thought the same thing, because the first thing she said was 'you're almost as tall as me!'. Well, obviously, Aerin wasn't going to live this down, so they ended up throwing sass around. Since then, Aerin and Jiae have grown a lot closer, and especially since they were both cut from the Blackpink lineup, they made a pact to mutually support each other.

— parents • Choi Taewon and Lee Heebin / 49 and 48 / parents / 8 out of 10
Taewon and Heebin were the perfect model parents. However, because they tried too hard to shelter Aerin, she stopped trusting them back in middle school. This eventually led to Aerin and her parents fighting about auditioning for Woollim. However, they eventually agreed to let her try and gained back her trust. Since then, they've realized that their daughter has their own life and have been supporting her from home. Aerin, too, is learning to trust them again.

— friends • infinite and lovelyz avg 9 out of 10
because she trained at woollim, she's close with all the infinite and lovelyz members. in fact, aside from sunggyu being like her best friend, it's said that she and lovelyz's kei are as close as twins (and they mysteriously look quite alike...)

— friends • other yg artists avg 8 out of 10
winner: not too close.
ikon: she trained with ikon and are close with most of them, especially jinhwan lmao.
blackpink: she trained with them and nearly joined them, so even though they're not in the same group, they're still friends.
other ppl: you can probably ask me and i'll let you know lol.

stagename Aerin
persona Soulful voice
fanclub Aeries
fancolor #008B11 forest green

talent twins

— Vocal: f(x)'s Luna // if she's too strong, then Red Velvet's Wendy

trainee years

— 2009-2017

training background

— Aerin started out at Woollim with absolutely no experience at all. She wasn't even sure how she was accepted. Well, anyway, she knew how rare of an experience it was and definitely took advantage of it. Aerin was one of the best trainees he'd ever seen, Sunggyu would later tell her. Her voice had quickly risen to be very developed in just three years! However, even so, she still hadn't debuted, so three years later, Aerin quit and auditioned for YG instead.

She was surprised to even make it in, but since she did, she decided that she'd better start working even harder than before. She suspected that part of the reason she'd never debuted was because her dancing lacked. Once she came to YG, she specifically focused on dancing, and she soon improved. Sure, she still wasn't the best, but she could at least say with certainly that she could dance.

Eventually, Aerin's hard work paid off! YG gathered a group of elite trainees and told them that they were going to debut as Blackpink! Aerin was so exicited and immediately told her family and Sunggyu. However, not even a month later, YG changed his mind, and Aerin was cut from the final lineup. She cried, but this failure was only a lesson. She must still not be good enough. She and Jiae made a pact: they would support each other and train the hardest out of anyone else, making certain that they would definitely make the next group lineup.

She was right. When the time came to debut E2W, Aerin was given prior knowledge that she would be leading this new group. She wasn't sure that she would be a good leader, but she promised to try her best and make sure that this group succeeds.

plotline

— Winter Blizzard

last comment CHRIST i hated even changing the love interest part because icb i was so trash??? i mean yeah memories whatnot but i'd rather not remember that thanks LOL

scene requets

— Sunggyu being a best friend but also a slight (as one does to one's close friends)
— e2w x ikon crack
— Pls include Shiwen as a supportive online friend
— Aerin tired mom -- that is all

password C2C (Sea to Sea) // WJSN's I Wish