basic profile.

me, me, and me. 

personality traits —
+ Loyal, Resourceful, Charismatic, Perceptive
- Meticulous, Short-Tempered, Competitive, Pragmatic

personality —
Basically, this is a kid who learned how to live like a man from American and Korean gangster films and South Korea's military culture. But that's not to say he's naively depending on other peoples' kindness to make him feel big. Ilyong's biggest wish is to be taken seriously, to not get pushed around and invalidated. While he does most things for his own benefit, he's an honorable little brat. When he's messing around because he can, he knows he's doing it because everyone around him knows that they have no real need to stop him. He's the kind of person that acts out more when you ignore him, and though he'll change tactics depending on what person he's trying to target. When the playfulness fades away to seriousness, his emotions come to a peak and then come back down as he coldly deals with the situation, with conviction and disappointment heavy in his manner. Therefore, his arrogant fronting isn't all hot air; he's prepared to take the consequences of going toe to toe with anyone for the right reasons. It's not that he doesn't respect authority, but rather, he finds himself being constantly disappointed by flawed adults and children that hide in adult bodies. Ilyong won't hesitate to take someone down a peg if it is necessary. He knows he's not alone anymore, that taking care of himself doesn't mean he can't call in his own allies. He protects what's close to him, whoever gets close to him, even if it's from himself.

On the other hand, there's plenty wrong with this kid. Biggest point: he's 16 and thinks he can conquer anything with enough time and well-played words. He has no problem being disliked, has a slight preference for being liked, and a strong disgust for people who don't care. If they look close enough, some people get the impression that he wants to be bested in a fair fight, that he's used to people subjugating him with excessive force. Ilyong's very sensitive to the words people use and can get irritated easily, unless he's in that zone where emotions go to die. However, he gets his fun by taunting his haters and making light of their concerns as long as they don't cross the line. Most of the people that like him are people that disliked hin at first, after all. Ilyong's favorite kind of people are the ones that give him a challenge or compete with him, even for the smallest of things. He wouldn't sabotage such a contest and expects the other person not to as well. After all, what's the point of ending the fun early? The journey is much more important than the destination, and the means always influences the end. The means you use will always come back to bite you in the if you're not careful. Karma's a , right?

fun facts —
x Ilyong first met D.Soul a couple of years back because he used to be in a crew that rivaled Ilyong's boy Gangnam's old crew. So they organized a tag-team rap battle of Gangnam&Drago vs. D.Soul&SiK-K and in front of everyone, D.Soul's team lost.

x He does 50 reps of a bodyweight exercise (pushups, planking, burpees, squats, etc) every morning and night in separate from whatever gym time he uses to strength train.

x Ilyong has a LOT OF CLOTHES, many of them his old stage outfits that he can't fit into anymore. He's resolved that he'll save them so his future kids can do that thing where they redo their parents' old pictures.

x On his social media accounts, he still has his old content from when he was Drago. He used to post interesting situations and confrontations on video to show his fans how silly/easily embarrased respectable rappers can be. So, basically it's full of group pictures (forced and not forced) and videos of him ing up everyone's images.

x His ideal type is someone with an innate sense of feminity that can work with his intensity.

x If he wins the competition, he'll have 2 huge parties: a farewell party from his Boot Camp instructors and another from BO$$ Ent, where even Sungil will try to do something for him. x He's one of the top "recruits" at the boot camp, being the youngest to ascend to 1st Class (they use 1-5 Classes) at 14-years old.

x While he was exposed to old school rappers like MC Sniper, he looks up to rappers like Dok2 and Lil Wayne (because they started around his age or younger and got big)

x Awaits the day he can bring TND back and do a collab with all 5 of them in the future. He blames himself for the breakup of TND.

x Released a mixtape when he was 13 entitled "Taking on the New World" (referring to "New World", his then favorite gangster film) featuring Gangnam and some of the other BO$$ artists. The live performances got more attendance than the album sold. Capitalizing on that, they released a DVD compilation of Ilyong's best performances and made a fair bit of money.

Background  —
In short, Ilyong is the forgotten second son of the Nam family. His parents were busy all the time when he was growing up, so they gave the responsibility of taking care of him to his older brother, who was basically raised to be a little adult. The deal their parents gave to them was that if they could meet their parents' expectations and be responsible, they would be given freedom to do whatever they wanted. Because of this deal, Ilyong, learned early that his slimy motherer of a brother could easily get away with throwing him under the bus because he was the "model son". So, to get around that, he had to do things that made his brother look good in front of their parents to get his brother's cooperation. When he took these lessons outside, he was known as a cute, little rascal who could charm his way into getting things for free. He learned the ways of bullting people straight from his brother, who was too smooth for his own good. Ilyong tried his best to exploit his brother's weakness (getting his ego ), but there was only so much a litte 7-year-old can do that doesn't result in a fight with his bigger and stronger 14-year-old brother.

After their youngest brother, Daeil, turned 2, matters escalated from a petty rivalry to unsupervised chaos. Not only had their mother became a stay-at-home mom, but then a child modelling company took interest in casting Daeil. The Nam family packed their bags and moved to Seoul, with their mother acting as Daeil's manager. That created a situation where there was even less parental intervention in the worsening sibling rivalry so long as they didn't disturb Daeil when he was home. If Daeil got woken up by their fighting, their mother didn't hesitate to yell even at Sungil, which was the biggest reason why Ilyong tried so hard to get Daeil to like him for his first few years. His father followed the lead of his wife, since she was in charge of the household affairs and his mother was biased towards Daeil, her little baby. However, the blatant favoritism eventually cut both Sungil and Ilyong from feeling a part of the family, leading them to rely on each other for attention/entertainment.

When he was 9, their parents stopped hiring babysitters and Sungil was put in charge of Ilyong again, with the bribe of being given cell phones. Sungil's rule was just to let him know by text if Ilyong went to a different part of Seoul. For some time, they would fight like normal, but then slowly the pressure on Sungil to do well academically caused him to isolate himself and not care if Ilyong sent him messages or not. Ilyong started hanging out with the older brothers of his classmates while he was at their house. They told him that if he wanted to be a grownup, he had to learn the reality of life; at first, they called him a chicken, nothing but a kid, for being scared of violent gangster films like Gangster High, but they told him that he had to stay until the movie ended or else they wouldn't waste their time on him. Eventually, he got desensitized to it, and started believing in the whole "the leader eats last" mentality and that in the end, he really was a kid, but he was going to grow up to be a better adult than the ones he knew. His lingering paranoia led him to actually finding the real-life outcast teens' hangouts and playing the role of their little brother. At 10, he realized that he really liked hanging around rapper hyungs, who gave him attention and called him their "Little G" (little kkangpae/gangster). It felt like this was the family he was looking for, though most of them ultimately stopped coming once their parents told them to shape up. Some didn't leave, because they had nowhere to go; cue Ilyong meeting Gangnam and the rest of the future Top Notch Dynasty crew as they try to steal food from a street vendor. He made a deal with them: he'd help them get whatever they needed without force or coercion in exchange for rapping lessons. Making them buy him things happened after he managed to convince store owners to hire them as part-timers.

After Sungil left for college in the year that he was to turn 11, Ilyong found it hard to deal with his mother trying to put him under the same rules she had for his 5-year-old brother. He told her he didn't need babysitters, that he'd be with his friends, but she wasn't sure. So they needed something for him to do, for which the best option they had was military-style boot camp during school breaks to teach him about the real world and better prepare him for his future. Ilyong flat-out refused to go until someone at BO$$ Entertainment was sent a video of the Top Notch Dynasty, with him acting like their gangsta leader, and wanted to cast them. Everyone was waiting on him to get his parents' consent, which they gave on the condition that he had to attend Summer and Winter Boot Camps, and had it written into his contract. Once he was out of their hair, they didn't really get involved with his career like they did Daeil's, so he basically began to resent them over time, without letting it show. In the boot camps, he was taken care of and had more demanded of him than any other point in his life. It was foreign at first, but then he got used to it, even found it to be better than staying at home. He didn't have to think, didn't have enough time to get disappointed or angry. It gave him the break he needed to have confidence and peace of mind that what he did mattered. While he gave them his obedience, the instructors there had hearts, so they would let their real emotions slip sometimes. He loved getting around the rules, surprising them at the right time, even if it meant he had to pay for it later. The biggest thing about going from here to BO$$ Ent was that he could come to train after school until the school break, when he would come back in 2 weeks with a buzz cut to grow out.

At BO$$ Ent, Drago of the Top Notch Dynasty became known as the most charismatic, defiant, snarkiest maknae in the world. At the beginning, he stayed dormant and compliant as he became the hottest accessory to put into their artists’ music videos, decked out head-to-toe in hiphop gear (like this). The realization hit him hard that no one wanted to take care of a kid, that all they'd do is call his parents or question if he should be working at his age. All these hyungs and noonas wanted a kid to play with and then walk away from. His crew helped offset that, but since they were by no means ideal hyungs, they didn't fix it. In fact, the members of TND started to leave one by one as a result of him trying to lean on them for support. To them, it looked like that was all the steam he had, and that they were standing on a sinking ship. They were tired of being pushed around, watching Ilyong get special treatment that he didn't pass down to them, and the slow realization that they wouldn't be able to debut until Ilyong got older. Ilyong tried to physically keep them from leaving, begging them to stay, but they forced their way out, holding back their own emotions. That was when Ilyong knew he had to bury his emotions and hustle to survive. He learned the hard way that the trick to get his way was to make sure one of the older hyungs and/or noonas was laughing. He learned what buttons to push (and when to let things cool down) to get them to love him enough to make them feel awkward saying no, make them feel guilty, like they owe him.

When he started attending events was where his reputation flourished. Before, he was known for dropping an f-bomb at just the right time; now, if he saw someone bothering his noonas, he’d go up to them, unafraid, and say “hey, this is my girlfriend, back off”. Behind the scenes, he's actually pretty awkward around girls, since his crew used to mercilessly that whatever girl he was talking to was actually "his woman", which brought up scenes from movies about the "boss's woman" kind of imagery in his head. (This was his way of trying to make that taunt useless, but it still applies...) He was known for his many adoring celebrity "girlfriends", among which was even Jessi.

As for the guys, he stood up for them if they gave him what he wanted; as he was trained in a military-like manner, no one outside BO$$ got involved with him. The first and only time Ilyong's parents and younger brother came to see an exhibition made the people at BO$$ realize the true nature of why Ilyong wanted to be acknowledged, so they let him get away with more and cut him some slack when his frustration burst out. Sungil, hearing the mess their parents left behind, tried to make up for lost time by intentionally being mean so that the people that did care about Ilyong would defend his little brother or beat him (Sungil) up. However, before he could piss everyone off, Ilyong ran up to him and the two brothers embraced for the first time in years. Sungil started to drop by whenever Ilyong had something interesting going on until he got sent to the military when Ilyong was 15.

As Ilyong got closer to some of the rappers at BO$$ Ent, Ilyong got more insolent and added to his notoriety by referring to those closest to him as his "es", most notably Gangnam, who was the only remaining member of TND along with Ilyong at BO$$ over the years. Otherwise, people called him hyung because he demanded it and got stupidly happy when they gave up their resistance.

As he got older, Ilyong couldn't keep up his "hypermasculine & innocent" image he had without people taking him seriously and fighting over him. So he cut back lyrically, but started getting more bold with his physically "innocent" image. In the end, the main reasons why the CEO decided to send Ilyong to this survival show was because Ilyong's alter ego as Drago couldn't get any more popular or farther than it currently was without people thinking that it's child exploitation and that Ilyong's aegyo belongs somewhere where he can use it for better reasons.

family & friends  

x Older Brother | Nam Sungil | 23
They rely on each other to be there, because their "fights" are their way of saying they care about each other in a non-authoritarian way. Sungil's never been good at conveying himself emotionally, except if it's for his own gain. As a result, it's easier for him to say things and mean the opposite of his words, which, if you can decipher his clues, can tell you more than any set of words can. Since he's still in the army for 3 more months, they keep in touch through letters and one-way video messages (to Sungil.) His commanding officer is the one who suggested that the brothers have a competition over who could do PT exercise more/faster, to motivate Sungil, who went into the army with little physical prowess. The ensuing monthly battle gained an audience among Sungil's platoon and Ilyong's noonas and hyungs. Sungil is stronger, but has overall less physical fitness, compared to Ilyong's skill in speed, strength, and endurance. They act like twins at times, though in private, he is jealous of Ilyong's relationship with Gangnam.

x #1 Hyung | "Gangnam" | 21
This kid's basically a rags to riches story. Raised in an orphanage and wanting to leave all traces of his old life behind, he told everyone his name was Gangnam, for "Gang boy" or "Boy from Gangnam". He ran with wannabe kkangpae back in the day, before they all ran out on him. Ilyong told him that he gave him a chance because he had promise, which still sounds absolutely ridiculous. They didn't get along in the beginning, but ever since Ilyong got physically punished for defending him, he got into the kid's world, got wrapped around his finger. Gangnam acts tough, but is emotionally a child inside, which is why sometimes he finds himself looking up to Ilyong, who basically is his teacher on how family life works. Ilyong and him verbally fight to resolve their issues in a way that people would find shocking, hilarious, and/or entertaining. He gets his laugh out of making Ilyong feel uncomfortable by acting like he's the victim of one too many of Ilyong's schemes. However, Gangnam no longer yells at Ilyong's misconduct because he's knows it won't help him. Also, Ilyong doesn't really call Gangnam his anymore, but things tend to slip, right?

x BO$$ CEO | Min "Bossanova" Dongchul | 45
Known for his rhythmical genius, there have been so many people that thank him for making it big, though the press often suggest that the source of their success something else entirely. He saw potential in that horrible quality predebut video of Ilyong and was impressed by his willingness to stick to his guns. While everyone in the company is slightly uncomfortable talking to him, Ilyong gives zero s asking for his undivided attention to air out a complaint. The fact that Ilyong will drop his antics and get serious at the drop of a hat when the CEO asks for it speaks volumes about the respect that Ilyong gives him. However, unlike most others, he particularly enjoys the sharp-toungued comments that Ilyong makes, to the point where Ilyong stores them up just for him, like fanservice. Ilyong doesn't believe the rumors that his Boss hyung is a mobster at all, at least definitely not the kind that sends a chill down his spine. Ilyong did test the waters early on, in a very childlike manner, voicing the thoughts that everyone else was too scared to bring up.

x Rest of Nam Family
Ilyong's parents don't like having to be bothered with Ilyong's troubles or even his successes, because they're busy raising the only son they have left. Now that he's growing up, it just feels pointless to hate his parents, since they don't act like they hate him. All they do is just ask if he's been taking care of himself and keeping up his good grades. After that, they're no longer interested, like some switch turns off in their brain. That's coming from the kind of parents that want pictures of their child throughout the day from teachers/babysitters. But when it comes to their eldest son, they take him for granted that he'll always be a duitiful son, which pisses Ilyong off the most. Daeil is 11 now, and is a child model for a magazine. He feels like he's the outsider and is uncomfortable around his older brothers, especially Ilyong. Ilyong keeps tabs on his brother from a distance. He's gotten used to referring to his parents as Daeil's parents, because little Daeil can't survive without them, especially like he did at Daeil's age. He always tells his brother to listen to his parents.

My feelings are the most sincere. 

opinion on the bighit boys — He thought he was done with drama once he got to the idol world, that they'd be more interested in hiding their relationships and other melodrama. Nah, turns out they're a bunch of hooligans like the place he came from, just with nicer packaging and no dents from shipping & handling (aka: prettier faces and little to no family issues.)  Eh, shouldn't be too difficult to handle, though he'll have to take some care with them. And if there are young, rabid little pests, he'll probably either keep his distance or be overprotective of them. Fighting with those younger than him or knocking them down is most cowardly thing he can think of doing. Ilyong's goal is to basically become the group's leader's second-in-command, because he gets all the benefits of leadership with plenty of free reign to exercise his influence on the leader and the rest. 

opinion on the freelancers — These people are a mixed bag. Some of them get along with him surprisingly well, others respect his work, and all of them probably think he's a psycho. But rest assured, he'll comb through them all to see which ones he has to watch out for. He'll find his way in somehow. 

interview time ! 

"hey, please introduce yourself."  
With proper form, he bows respectfully and then jumps right into being cute. "Anneyonghaseyo! I'm Nam Ilyong, your mochi!" Insert a few childish poses like sideways peace signs and other things that highlight his cheeks. "I'm going to turn 17 this year, but you can still call me oppa! Or hyung!" The camera crew don't know whether to laugh or cut him off. However, the show isn't over yet.......
 

"what made you want to become an idol and why did you apply for this show?"  
Ilyong has a thoughtful look on his face as he answers the question his unending energy. "Why? Because my CEO-nim told me my aegyo was too lethal, that he'd get a heart attack one day! So he told me that I should go away and get famous somewhere else! So I will take that money and not share it with him!" To the camera, he closes his eyes and sticks his tongue out, assumingly to the CEO of BO$$. The crew decide that laughing is the best idea, and that emboldens Ilyong to make more cutely taunting faces at the camera to the background music of increasing laughter.
 

"how long have you already trained and have you been signed under another entertainment before? if yes, how was it there and why didn't you stay there?" 
"I gave CEO-nim almost 6 years of my life," he said, as he pouted, and gestured forcefully with an open palm as he spoke. "6 years of my childhood." His pout transforms into a mischievous smirk as he says his next line. "You have to graduate from school to go farther in life, right?"
 

"what would you say is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness?"  
"Can you keep a secret?" He looks side to side, with a worried look on his face as he gestures the camera closer. The tension builds as he purposefully draws out his sad aegyo. "Some people... People whose opinion I care about, by the way... Think my dancing is better than my rap. It's not true, is it??" Momentary big doe eyes and pout come out. He tries to reign in the true emotion that came to the surface for a second. Then he laughs it off. "As for my weakness, it's obviously singing! I'll give you permission to laugh now, so you don't have to hold it in. But later, watch me, I'll get better, surely!" Insert some exaggerated aegyo that involves turning around and posing suddenly as he twists his upper body to face the front like peekaboo.
 

"how far would you go to become an idol?"  
For a moment, he was stuck as a jpg as he tried to figure out what kind of answer this question was looking for. Eventually, he gave up and asked, "What do you mean? Do you want me to say something like 'I'll give you my first born child'?" The interviewer quickly assured him that's not the case at all, that it was about what he would do in the survival show to win.

With a smile that didn't reach his eyes, in a deadpan voice, he stated, "I have my honor and my talents. I won't betray either of them to get ahead. If anyone tries to mess up the competition, they'll have to answer to me."
 

"what do you have that makes you a standout? why should we pick you for the show and not someone else?"  
"Now this is a question I like!" Ilyong exclaimed with renewed enthusiasm. With a chuckle, he announced, in a laidback, confident tone, "I'm good at what I do, even when I'm not putting on a show. I'm thankful to all those who recognized me and brought me out on this show. Even if you don't think I deserve it now, just keep watching, I'm sure you'll see something you'll like. After all, I'm not a one-trick pony, I have much more to show."
 

"that's it so far. do you want to add anything else?"  
"Please look out for me, I'm Ilyong, your sweet little dragon boy! Check out my social media!" He said his farewells to his fans while waving excitedly, with a big smile on his face. Cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, he yelled out what sounded like his last words. "Shout out to Gangnam hyung, Boss hyung, the TND crew, and the rest of the people I care about! You know who you are!" With that, he sent a quick wink.

In a split second, however, Ilyong's whole demeanor suddenly changed and it almost felt like looking at a different person. "Just saying," his tone completely laid back and confident, "if you can't survive watching all that in one go, you're weak. There's more of that coming your way once Big Shot starts." With a chuckle, he gave an informal salute as the video ended.

the one and only.

Strength —   
Ilyong is pretty good at rapping, having spent his childhood pretty much specializing in that aspect. B-boying is something he started learning to look cooler in music videos, gave him something to put his physical fitness training into, as well. Plus he has a good grasp on how to move his body, pretty accurate at gauging distances, and good reflexes, since children have an easier time honing their instincts. Other than that, he knows how to own a stage by his own sheer audacity and presence. While he put his Drago days behind him, he's not going to quit being a badass just because he can't be a baby badass anymore. Having previous recording and live experience, he's good at thinking and rapping on the fly. He knows how to get back into his zone if he makes a mistake. When he's emotionally invested in a performance, he obsesses over every detail and knows not only his parts, but keeps track of everyone else's too.  

Weaknesses —  
Well, he has maybe 2 months of vocal training shoved down his throat in preparation for this show. Plus he has a habit of forgetting lines when he's performing live, but that usually gets freestyled away. However, he hasn't gotten used to the controlling nature of idol management yet, so they're going to have an interesting time getting him to shut up about things he thinks matter. He's also used to being able to have a say in everything. This is not to say he won't obey people, but rather that he needs time to learn the rules and boundaries first before he can start finding ways around them. Plus it helps if he can widen the cage he's putting himself into as much as he can by seeing how much it takes for his overlords to find disciplining him not worth the effort.

last messages.

comments/suggestions — Sorry for deleting this, hope you get more apps :D

scene request —
Maybe a video message from his older brother to "cheer" him on?
They have to do a hidden camera (.... inspired by my love for that No Mercy hidden cam)
Have fun with this kid, make him heads with people!

password — Ilyong (Did you know potential names for Jungkook were things like "Seagull" and "Tattoo"? Bighit is weird, haha)

turn in — back to story