PERSONALITY TRAITS 

positive : compassionate, energetic, curious, altruistic, kind
neutral : perfectionist, shy, obedient, idealistic, affectionate
negative : gullible, sensitive, private, forgetful, too passive

ELBORATION 

shy : while she has never seemed cold or unapproachable, emily is painfully shy around strangers, and it takes her quite a long time to open up to someone that she is not already comfortable with. she's easily flustered and embarrassed when speaking to people she doesn't know, and it's hard for her friends to connect this with the loud, cheerful girl they normally see. she attributes some of this shyness to not being able to speak the common language that well yet, and this made it more difficult for her to communicate with the other girls at first. 

energetic, idealistic, gullible : cheerful and optimistic, emily is arguably one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. there seems to be no end to her energy or enthusiasm, rarely ever getting tired after hours of dance and vocal practice, and she's often the one to cheer people up when they're tired or sad as well. emily is always willing to see the best in every situation, no matter how dire it is, and she's constantly trying to bring smiles to people's faces in her own subtle way. her ever-present idealism is quite endearing, but at times it can be frustrating to know that no matter how bad the situation is, even if everyone else knows that it's not going to work out, she's still stubborn in seeing the good side to it. it makes her easy to manipulate and way too gullible for her own group, and this is very blatant in the way that she's overly trusting in everyone, allowing herself to get hurt time and time again and still, she tries to find the problem within herself rather than the other person. the other members try to protect her from getting manipulated, but they know there's a point in time where they won't be able to be there and her will to trust in everyone and everything will be the end of her.

curious, affectionate : emily is known for being extremely child-like ( not childish, though, because childish has a bad connotation, and emily is definitely not child-like in a bad way ), easily satisfied and always curious in the smallest of things, even if it may seem insignificant to everyone else. she's always willing to learn something new, and it's not uncommon to see her trying to learn a skill off another member. speaking of her interactions with the other members, she's also extremely dependent on the other members, almost like a child depending on confirmation from an adult, and she initiates skinship like it's something natural that everyone does all the time. she's constantly seen glued to the side of another member, and most of the members don't mind, but she comes off as overly clingy sometimes, which can be a bit annoying.

compassionate, altruistic, kind : emily is a lot more mature than she comes off, being extremely sensitive to changes in emotions of other people. empathetic and caring, emily is always quick to notice when one of the other members is not feeling well or is sad about something, and she tries to help, despite often not knowing what the issue even is. she is very selfless, and puts the wellbeing of her friends over anything else in the world, and as long as one of the other girls is sad, it's obvious that the sadness is reflected in emily.

passive, obedient : emily is too obedient for her own good, and though some of the members mess around with her because of this, getting her to do stuff like buy snacks for them, they all know deep down that it's not a good quality for her to have. emily hates conflicts, and in order to avoid conflict, she would do anything from agreeing to what most people agree with even if she doesn't agree, or doing what people tell her to do. she knows that it's not good for her to be so obedient all the time, but what can she do? it's a habit to her now.

perfectionist, sensitive, private : emily is someone who would rather suffer in silence than let people know she's struggling, and this is particularly evident from the amount of time she spends in the practice room. despite being optimistic about most things ( people think she's optimistic about everything but that's wrong. she just doesn't show the side of her that has doubts ) she can't find any reason for her to be optimistic when she makes a mistake in the lyrics or in her dance, and when someone points out just one single error, emily spends forever trying to correct that one mistake because just that one setback knocks her confidence down way too much for her own good. she's very insecure because there are times where she's only known for her looks and for being a foreigner instead of, you know, actually being talented, but she would rather hide her insecurities in her own skills than tell someone about it for fear of being a burden.

BACKGROUND 

emily's very first memory was seeing one of her classmates being dropped off in front of the school by the girl's loving father, who had taken time out on his way to work to send his beloved daughter to school. now this would not have been something worth remembering for many, but as a girl who had grown up with an absent parental figure, the harsh reality that she would never be like that little girl was like a slap to the face.

xu yueling, born on the 22nd of february, 2001, had been a mistake, an unexpected product of an affair that her father came to realize should not have happened. he left the family when he realized he wasn't ready to take on this responsibility, leaving her mother to fend for herself and her newborn baby alone. growing up, the family had been quite tight on money, and watching her mother come home, exhaustion clear on her face after a long day of work, was a common occurance to her, but she was satisfied with the way they were living. she had enough to eat, enough to wear, there was a roof over her head, and best of all, she had something she loved doing, so that was good enough for her.

dance had been something that emily was introduced to when she started school, through a video her friends had showed her in class. she was immediately mesmerized by the fluidity of each move, the way each movement hit the rhythm so precisely, the way each body part came together to tell a story, and needless to say, she fell in love. she knew that with their family's financial situation, it would be selfish to ask for money to take dance lessons, so she had kept it to herself initially, but she was never able to hide anything from her mother, who had, at a later date, discovered her talent for dance when she walked in on emily following a tutorial in her room. her mother saw the passion in emily's eyes immediately, and decided on the spot to send her to dance lessons despite having to work more odd jobs to earn the money to do so.

emily had always felt guilty in putting so much financial burden on her mother's back, so when she was old enough and good enough, she started attending competitions and busking in the streets to try and gain some income, shouldering her mother's burden. she hadn't expected to actually get noticed for doing so, and so it shocked her when one day, a talent scout approached her and asked her to audition for the company.

it was a difficult decision for her to make, but she knew that if she accepted, the company would pay for her lessons and give her a place to stay. her being at the company would give her mother one less mouth to feed, and the thought of her mother never having to worry about her again was just too tempting. after discussing with her mother, who had been extremely supportive of her decision, emily accepted the offer to audition for pledis, and eventually made it into the company.

LIKES

• anything mint : she loves mint so much that she has to carry some around with her at all times, and she just can't understand why some people don't like mint chocolate.
• skinship : emily is the queen of skinship, and it won't be surprising for any of the fans to see her clinging onto the other girls.
• gaming : she's actually good at gaming, and there's a joke within the fandom that emily would have been a pro gamer had she not been an idol.
• plushies / stuffed toys : they are the cutest things ever, and they're a good substitute when there isn't anyone around for her to cuddle.

DISLIKES 

• only being recognized for her appearance : she hates it when people only see her as a pretty face, and is always working to prove her worth.
• insensitive people : because what isn't there to dislike about insensitive people?
• fights : fights make her feel uncomfortable, and she would do anything to avoid conflict.
• diets : she loves eating, and diets are positively painful for her.

HOBBIES

• gaming
• dance
• choreographing

HABITS 

• switching in between korean, english and chinese in one conversation
• blinking when she's thinking
• tilting her head
• stretching out her arms and fingers when she's anxious or nervous about something
• spacing out when she isn't needed in a conversation, and taking a lot time to notice someone's talking to her when she is finally called on

FEARS

• moving vehicles

TRIVIA 

• emily gets horrible motion sickness and always tries to sleep whenever she's on a moving vehicle before the nausea settles in ( it rarely ever works, and she's left feeling the worst on long trips with the members ). it's mostly due to the fact that her mother couldn't afford a car, so she got used to getting around by foot or bicycle.
• emily's guilty pleasure is listening to old school rock music or hard rock. it's not something girl group members are expected to like, but she loves rock music.
• she doesn't seem to notice it when she does aegyo
• emily is hopeless at doing makeup, and often ends up looking like a mess if she doesn't have anyone to do it for her ( she can't tell an eyebrow pencil from eyeliner and once used liquid blush as lipstick )
• emily can't cook either, and she's managed to mess up ramyeon more than once.
• is biual ( but it took her a while to realize that. in fact, it took her a while to realize she wasn't aual )
• emily is making it her duty to introduce more chinese songs to the group, and sings them whenever she gets the chance to
• has really good luck for some reason?

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