비쥴 ❖ THE ROOKIE — JUNG JAENA
정
재
나
재
나
정
재
나
재
나
FULL NAME 정재나, jung jaena
OTHER NAMES none yet
NICKNAMES
쨍 JJAENG, the shortening of her name everyone uses. her dad and her brother had to admit they were a bit stumped when it came to nicknames for jaena. some nicknames just write themselves, they said, like chaeng for chaeyoung... wait a minute. chae(young). jae(na). that's just one character away, isn't it? jaena has been jjaeng ever since. where does the "ng" come from? unimportant.
재나야나 JAENAYANA, back when produce was all the rage and nayana was everywhere, someone at the dorms meshed it with her name. it's got a nice ring to it, so it stuck. you can't call her jaena-yah without someone else sneaking in that last syllable anymore.
bonus! as time has passed and the nickname lost its original context, it's been deformed to naya, jaenayanayanaya and yana.
DOB 23.11.1998
BIRTHPLACE jeonju, south korea
HOMETOWN uijeongbu, south korea / changwon, south korea
ETHNICITY korean
NATIONALITY south korean
LANGUAGES
KOREAN, her native language. jaena's standard korean is flawless, but because she's moved around different provinces, she's picked up some jeolla and gyeongsang expressions.
CHINESE, intermediate. it came easy to jaena as a kid and she strengthened her skills watching chinese movies.
ENGLISH, conversational. she never clicked with it. she understands it way better than she speaks it because of school.
HEIGHT 167cm
WEIGHT 50kg
FACECLAIM eunseo from wjsn
BACKUP FACECLAIM rina from weki meki, sua from dreamcatcher, yeri from red velvet
STYLE comfortable. uncomplicated. basic. a bit boyish, but not really (jaena isn't afraid of denim skirts). no frills, no chains. adding a belt and earrings is already so complicated. give her a loud graphic tee or a printed vintage shirt and that'll do the trick.
ABOUT JUNG JAENA
question: what are some words that describe jaena?
"hm... first of all i'd say likeable. also it's weird because she's chill about everything but very responsible. she's our practice icon."
- choi sol, group member
"jaena-unnie brought the group together. she's had a different life experience, so she's very adaptable and social. she's the dad of our group, cool headed and all. you know how sometimes dads just don't understand you, though? like, they're just wired differently. they don't get it. unnie's like that sometimes too. disconnected."
- jung sihyeon, group member
"isn't everyone gonna say 'the group dad' or 'the member they would date if they were a boy'?"
"it's the commitment issues. that's why she gets compared to men."
"it's the commitment issues. that's why she gets compared to men."
- kim soyun and fu wenjie, members
"jaena, i think, is entering a new stage in her life. for example, she's easily distracted and used to see herself as chaotic, but she's discovering that she can be reliable. that's huge for her. jaena is inconsistent almost by nature: she can't plan for the long run or solve conflicts like other people do. i don't wanna say she's detached, but she experiences relationships differently too. we've talked about this, and she told me she feels confused or insecure sometimes. she's beginning to truly believe in herself, so of course her confidence falters."
- kim youngkyung, group leader
OF JUNG JAENA AND HOW THINGS CHANGE
almost all her life jung jaena goes along. she keeps up. she has no trouble with ice breakers and new friends. routine is a foreign language to her: literally everything captures her attention and she doesn't know what to do, what she should do, so she goes with the flow. she gives up a lot and she picks up where she left off a lot too (just maybe not as much). she knows she's a mess, though. she knows she's going nowhere, she's just keeping up. she approaches life and people with acceptance and a cool head because in life and relationships, as far as she knows, things always either work out or change.
training makes jaena stop drifting by. she becomes responsible and hardworking thanks to the help of her group members and the structure of trainee life. distractions are eliminated and instructions prevail. she never thought she'd have a future before, never considered she could be successful. she struggles with thinking this way nowadays, too. sometimes, though, she thinks the opposite. sometimes, she's actually confident.
however, if you told jaena to move out and move on, forget brand new and training and the members, she wouldn't find that to be challenging whatsoever. in the back of her mind, she's always considered new things to be better, so she wouldn't struggle. that helps jaena realize just how different she is. through her members' eyes —through everyone else's eyes— they'll always be more attached to jaena than she is to them. nothing will truly matter as much to jaena as she does to them. because, to jaena, things just... change. when she has that realization, it makes it harder for her to go with the flow. is it even right for her to be like this? what is she meant to do now? how is she supposed not to second guess herself now?
BACKGROUND so far, if jaena had to describe her life in a few words, she's not too sure what those would be. she's just sure she definitely wouldn't call it structured.
after her mom left due to postpartum depression (which lead to full fledged depression), her dad, an architect, worked his hardest to support himself, jaena and her brother, jaewoo, while also bending over backwards to keep his dysfunctional family together (jaena has three uncles and an aunt, she only knows her aunt). he commuted from a multitude of cities and compromised even when he shouldn't have. however, that meant he wasn't home a lot, so jaena and jaewoo were often left to their own devices. in different apartments and cities each time, that is. they could only wing it.
her interests ranged from movies to sports to music (all genres), and she didn't particularly stick to one thing. she was terrible at school and got distracted when she studied, which her dad din't approve of. that aside, he was really supportive. she vented to her brother a lot, too. they were each other's best friends and they crushed every noraebang they went to.
she's had a lot of scattered encounters with her mom and their relationship is as patched up as it gets, just not very close. her aunt is an even more important adult in her life. she was the first person who made jaena seriously consider the impact moving constantly had on her and the importance of stability. she adores her and they're very close.
why did she become an idol? "don't let them fool you, jjaeng, idol singers are people who couldn't get into college," her dad once told her when she was eleven and innocently watching a music show. "it's not right, what they do to those kids. how are they going to re-enter the real world in five, ten years?". it was meant as a warning, but it came back to jaena as a teenager and it sounded quite encouraging. her csat mock exam scores, no surprise, weren't very promising. she didn't have any idea what she wanted to study and, honestly speaking, working with music (which she loves) sounded better than working retail. so here she is.
BONUS! TIMELINE:
ages 0-4, jeonju: jaena's mom leaves jeonju for nawon, her hometown, deciding that's what's best for herself. the jungs stay in jeonju for two more years.
ages 5-9, gwangju, namwon, jeonju: her dad goes back to his parents' house in gwangju for support. her mom gets back in touch years later. they agree to live in namwon for a year. it doesn't work. back to jeonju.
age 10, seoul: the job opportunity was very promising, but something goes wrong and the living costs become too high.
ages 11 to 13, uijeongbu: they move in with her aunt. her dad's commute to seoul is rather short because uijeongbu is close by. her dad's project gets back on track. they move out and live comfortably.
ages 14 to 16, changwon: they move to changwon. her dad's gonna work on a really big project with the regional authorities, after which they'll finally settle down.
age 17, uijeongbu: her brother's doing his military service and dad's going to settle down at ulsan. jaena doesn't want to go and moves in with her aunt instead.
LIKES
❖ chinese dramas. she watches them with wenjie a lot.
❖ karaoke
❖ vocal lessons (or just training in general, to be honest. it was a great experience)
❖ western pop, old and new. boah has got her into the hits of her childhood.
❖ loud prints bordering on ugly. they're cool.
❖ anything viral/popular and funny. it's a super easy way to connect with new people and make them laugh.
❖ chinese dramas. she watches them with wenjie a lot.
❖ karaoke
❖ vocal lessons (or just training in general, to be honest. it was a great experience)
❖ western pop, old and new. boah has got her into the hits of her childhood.
❖ loud prints bordering on ugly. they're cool.
❖ anything viral/popular and funny. it's a super easy way to connect with new people and make them laugh.
DISLIKES
❖ coffee. she alwyas had to prepare it herself when she was young and she never got it right.
❖ anything that involves lots of theoretical information
❖ not being able to relate to her members.
❖ coffee. she alwyas had to prepare it herself when she was young and she never got it right.
❖ anything that involves lots of theoretical information
❖ not being able to relate to her members.
❖ cold showers
❖ documentaries. not all of them though, just the ones about animals.
❖ being alone. she likes to have people around.
❖ documentaries. not all of them though, just the ones about animals.
❖ being alone. she likes to have people around.
HOBBIES
❖ everything:
❖ photography
❖ everything:
❖ photography
❖ cooking (she makes monstrosities, everyone at the dorm hates it)
❖ drawing
❖ soccer (also handball but she hasn't played in a hot minute)
❖ watching dramas and movies
❖ drawing
❖ soccer (also handball but she hasn't played in a hot minute)
❖ watching dramas and movies
TRIVIA
❖ the hanja for her name, jaena, are 泰 (meaning "capable, talented") and 異 ("to endure").
❖ the hanja for her name, jaena, are 泰 (meaning "capable, talented") and 異 ("to endure").
❖ her dad wanted jaena and her brother to have "jae" as their generational character but couldn't find a second syllable that would suit a girl's name. cue lots of brainstorming until they arrived at jaena.
❖ hated self-study time at school with a passion. she never knew what she was meant to do so she... uh... got distracted. didn't study much.
❖ serves face in mcountdown—dead face. she has the hardest time recording music shows. there are just so many cameras and little blinking lights and men dressed in black hunching over and running around. where is she meant to look at? she missed the camera.
❖ leaves the lights on at the dorm a lot bc she's forgetful.
❖ hated self-study time at school with a passion. she never knew what she was meant to do so she... uh... got distracted. didn't study much.
❖ serves face in mcountdown—dead face. she has the hardest time recording music shows. there are just so many cameras and little blinking lights and men dressed in black hunching over and running around. where is she meant to look at? she missed the camera.
❖ leaves the lights on at the dorm a lot bc she's forgetful.
❖ you cannot send her out to run errands. she will suddenly get an urge to do ten million more things and arrive late.
❖ she wants to get into producing and composing.
❖ she wants to get into producing and composing.
❖ if jaena were a boy, she would have enlisted afer high school like her brother.
❖ if she has to answer one of those "what would you be if you weren't an idol" she'd probably say "a soldier" ngl
FAMILY
jung youngho, jaena loves her dad. she looks up to him and admires all he's done for her and the rest of her family. they had a (relatively) small falling out when she moved to seoul as a trainee because her dad worried about her future, but after witnessing all the positive change training has brought to her life they both got closure.
jung hyeonjung, jaena's aunt is a very loud woman who has truly found herself in uijeongbu. jaena didn't like her a lot at first. she cooked really well, but she asked invasive and annoying questions that oddly managed to struck a chord with her. "why don't you got to hagwons?", "do you like uijeongbu?", "what would you like to do when you're older?". at some point jaena began to ask herself those things too, and she turned to her aunt for answers. she's very attached to her now, hence why she moved in with her instead of going to ulsan.
FRIENDS the only friendships jaena has at the moment are the ones she has with her members.
OTHER
YOON HWAYOOL, at first they just get along well. nothing very deep or strong or complicated, they just make each other's time in the project group a little bit easier. the theme for these two would most certainly be compare and contrast. you've got hwayool, who's struggling with inflexibility, and jaena who only knows how to adapt to new things. you've got jaena, riddled with self-doubt, and then you've got self-assured hwayool. compare and contrast.
KIM WONTAE, tba wontae i love you.
LEE SORA, tba sora best leader.
PLOTLINE the rookie
STAGE NAME jaena
POSITION lead vocal, lead dancer
PERSONA by girl crush brand new music does mean girl crush: she's meant to be that member that pulls in female fans, someone teenage girls would like to be friends with.
COMPANY brand new music
TALENT TWINS iz*one's yena for dance and loona's kim lip for vocals
YEARS TRAINED three
TRAINEE LIFE jaena arrived at brand new music fully aware that the "meeting new people and moving to seoul" part wasn't a problem. however, that's not all there is to it. you mean jaena, who had committed to maybe half a thing in her life and considered herself to have a maximum of two skills, was meant to sing in tune and dance in sync?
but here's the thing: once you sign that trainee contract and that nda, that means no distractions. no phones, no college, no family, no outside friends. your day is scheduled for you. there are no words or concepts to memorize, just hours to spend in practice rooms and actual tangible results of your work. add to the mix some really friendly girls who believe in you and want to help you become the best version of yourself and boom! lead dancer, lead vocal. what happened was jaena could see herself getting better. new girls were coming in and they thought highly of her. she began to believe in herself too. if she kept this up, followed youngkyung and kept the team from falling apart, maybe she could have a future. that kept her going.
PRE-DEBUT EXPERIENCE n/a unless you count her ambitious group roll-out.
HEADLINES
WHY WAS JAENA CHOSEN FOR BEJEWEL? jaena is part of the unnie line of horizone and she's not exactly a visual, so her participation in the project group sparked discussion amongst horizone fans. although she's well-rounded, why not send someone who was already popular?
bejewel is bringing horizone down, this is the typical "unpopular opinion" that kpop fans like to pull out. if brand new music wasn't busy handling jaena's activities in bejewel on top of horizone, then the girls surely wouldn't be so underrated, right? or maybe jaena should just leave the group. that way brand new wouldn't have an excuse not to promote horizone.
OPINION OF BEJEWEL she's in her element. she has no trouble with new people and she'll do anything that can help reduce how indebted bnm is to investors (trainee debt is a as it is, never mind if your company is also indebted). but she appears to be the only one. it seems like everyone else is finding the new situation more complicated.
things, of course, turn out to be more complicated. with horizone getting shafted and bejewel's rise in popularity, the tables turn from jaena feeling like she's the only one trying to make this work to her forgetting to stay in touch with her old family, her girls, and experiencing a significant amount of guilt. horizone is a mess without her and she has to be everywhere at once to keep everyone happy.
GROUP NAME horizone
MEMBER # 8
DEBUT DATE august 8th, 2018
DEBUT SONG hi high
CONCEPT versatile / storyline-driven
FANCLUB to be revealed, since they're still rookies.
OVERVIEW the rollout for horizone was... pretty ambitious. they started out as the ever-shifting in number "brand new girls", occasionally posting covers. then the first pre-debut music video (girl front) dropped and their "horizon log" vlogs started. every month, they'd drop a new video featuring a different unit of four members. some music videos were shot in different countries and they all established the horizone lore: a complex storyline set in its own universe.
the girls also spent some time taking dance classes in the united states before their debut. brand new music partnered with mnet to release an eight-episode youtube series about their time in america called "journey to horizone". it was released after their last unit track, 열기, and concluded with the preparation for a full group track (favorite) which was released shortly after. this all built lots of international hype, which established the group as more popular overseas than domestically.
socially, youngkyung and jaena tied the group together into a family. an imperfect one, but a family.
MEMBERS
BIRTHNAME kim youngkyung
STAGE NAME youngkyung
DOB september 26th, 1997
POSITION leader, main vocal, visual line
FACECLAIM hinapia's minkyeung
INTRODUCING! "my hero amidst the chaos." (k. soyun) & "simultaneously the world's #1 best parent and #1 hottest milf." (c. sol)
SOCIAL STANCE everyone loves her. would risk it all for all of them. closest to the unnie line (jaena, sol and wenjie).
RELATIONSHIP 11/10. horizone's mom and dad.
kim youngkyung changed jaena's life. she believed in her, wanted to get to know her, and helped her adjust to a new lifestyle. actually, no, she made her want to adjust to a new lifestyle, which is even more remarkable. wise beyond her years, youngkyung has a very nuanced take on life and the people around her and she's always eager to understand. she's asked jaena questions that she hasn't asked herself.
youngkyung might be the horizone member jaena trusts the most. she talks to her about lighthearted topics and deep concerns alike. jaena would follow her through the depths of hell (and back).
BIRTHNAME choi sol
STAGE NAME sol
DOB february 14th, 1999
POSITION main dancer, visual line
FACECLAIM weki meki's doyeon
INTRODUCING! "choi sol... she's lucky she's annoying. if she was pretty, smart, talented and likeable i would ing deck her." (f. wenjie)
SOCIAL STANCE closest to jaena, babies sihyeon, cat and mouse dynamic with wenjie. still getting to know boah, would 10/10 fight soyun.
RELATIONSHIP 10/10.
brilliant, but lazy. sol is that main dancer visual who learnt english by herself, shows up late to practice and makes references (in english) and watches shows (in english) that none of them understand. she can be awkward most tiems and she talks way too much and way too quickly because she picked it up from sitcoms. jaena loves her to pieces.
she reminds her of herself, non-committal and kind of a slacker. they get each other. sometimes only jaena can drag sol's to practice.
BIRTHNAME fu wenjie
STAGE NAME wenjie
DOB december 3rd, 1999
POSITION dancer, vocalist, visual line
FACECLAIM clc's elkie
INTRODUCING! "wenjie avoided me for months. she pretended not to speak english so she wouldn't have to talk to me. until i was cussing out soyun and she joined in. in perfect english. she's my soulmate." (c. sol)
SOCIAL STANCE closest to unnie line. hated sol until she realized she liked her, pretends to hate her. argues with soyun but somehow likes her.
RELATIONSHIP 9/10
wenjie is the feisty chinese grandma jaena never had. she's what the kids call savage, a healthy dose of petty, and she possesses the deathly combination that is a total lack of filter and the mouth of a sailor. she'll rip anyone a new one and jaena finds her hilarious. she's very stubborn (she wouldn't even have been friends with sol if jaena hadn't nudged her into it) but just as loyal (although she does enjoy some drama).
BIRTHNAME du kijoo
STAGE NAME kijoo
DOB june 7th, 2000
POSITION main rapper, lead dancer, 1/2 of "the twins"
FACECLAIM loona's olivia hye
INTRODUCING! "du kijoo?, that's not a real person's name." (c. sol) & "the twins get a bad rep. joo-yah is actually really funny, she's just shy." (k. sihyeon)
SOCIAL STANCE closest to soyun. opening up to sihyeon, youngkyung and jaena. newfound friendship with boah. other two = scary.
RELATIONSHIP 7/10
the twins are lifelong friends who lived in gangwon near the mountains and had big dreams of being singers. at least kijoo's name —louder than she'll ever be— fit the bill. extremely introverted, she's opened up slightly to jaena and revealed all of her mood maker clown potential to her. she and soyun have an "us against the world" small town black-and-white mentality, but jaena has found kijoo to be more receptive to change than her friend. she loves her.
BIRTHNAME kim soyoon
STAGE NAME soyun
DOB march 17th, 2000
POSITION main dancer, 2/2 of "the twins"
FACECLAIM itzy's lia
INTRODUCING! "she's the eeevil twin. i think the girls just don't know how to handle her." (j. jaena) & "if it's her, wenjie-unnie, and sol-unnie in one room, run" (j. boah)
SOCIAL STANCE closest to kijoo, then sihyeon. stays away from sol. met her match in wenjie. respects her in a twisted way, they argue a lot.
RELATIONSHIP 5/10
soyun had big dreams of being a singer, but on the way to achieving them she found herself holding on to her lifelong best friend and small town values for dear life. they're not close but she respects jaena and her hard work. in turn, jaena doesn't find soyun intimidating: she knows she's just a girl afraid of change. the mortifying experience of being seen makes soyun a bit uncomfortable. it might take her longer than kijoo to adjust.
BIRTHNAME jung sihyeon
STAGE NAME sihyeon
DOB january 2nd, 2001
POSITION main vocal
FACECLAIM loona's choerry
INTRODUCING! "you wish you raised her, sol." "if not me, then who?" *whispers* "j-y-p." (k. youngkyung and c. sol)
SOCIAL STANCE good friends with everyone. sol's baby.
RELATIONSHIP 10/10
sihyeon. oh sihyeon. she gave jyp her childhood wrapped with a bow (sixteen contestant ayee) and they stepped on it, spit on it and gave it back with added ruthless perfectionism and self-esteem issues. she's their cinnamon roll baby capable of no harm (boah's the baby now but whatever) and jaena will always be there for her. in fact, she came to brand new when it was just youngkyung and sihyeon. they both helped her adjust to discipline and routine whereas jaena opened up to her and helped sihyeon handle her perfectionism.
BIRTHNAME jang boah
STAGE NAME kiara
DOB november 11th, 2002
POSITION maknae, composer, vocalist, lead rapper
FACECLAIM cignature's semi
INTRODUCING! "whatever the a chaebol is, if you call boah that one more time they'll actually kill you. on vlive." (f. wenjie to k.soyun) & "she's working hard. she struggles too. i was harsh on her." (d. kijoo)
SOCIAL STANCE the new kid. closest to jaena and youngkyung. newfound friendship with kijoo.
RELATIONSHIP 8/10
jaena is surprised by how long it took everyone to embrace boah. she joined the group later and (even though their first songs were already ready) made the lineup instantly because of her composing skills, highly valued by brand new. that and her influential cje&m exec dad who was a producer in the 90s. despite the heavy accusations and glares thrown her way, she's a sweet kid, slowly opening up, and probably as smart as sol. she trusts jaena a lot.
DISCOGRAPHY
HORIZONE PRE-DEBUT SINGLES IN ORDER
italics mean the b-side got a music video
GIRL FRONT feat. youngkyung, sol, sihyeon and soyun
released in march of 2018
b-sides: sweet crazy love
released in march of 2018
b-sides: sweet crazy love
stylish feat. jaena, soyun, boah and wenjie
released in april of 2018
b-sides: girl's talk, chaotic
released in april of 2018
b-sides: girl's talk, chaotic
perfect love feat. boah, wenjie, sihyeon and kijoo
released in may of 2018
b-sides: rosy, love4eva
released in may of 2018
b-sides: rosy, love4eva
열기 heat9 feat. sol, kijoo, youngkyung and jaena
released in june of 2018
b-sides: love letter, see saw
released in june of 2018
b-sides: love letter, see saw
FAVORITE feat. the entire group
released in july of 2018
b-sides: none
released in july of 2018
b-sides: none
HORIZONE FIRST MINI ALBUM ++
released august 8, 2018
TRACKLIST: ++, girl front (unit version), hi high, perfect love (unit version), stylish (unit version), 열기 heat9 (unit version), favorie.
this was done in order to make their next comeback a repackage with ot8 versions of the four + + b-sides joined by new ones (aka just loona's xx album).
COMMENTS whew that was a lot i'm sorry. also i know horizone sounds kinda funny but brand new music did name their boy group ab6ix so.....
SUGGESTIONS i just want to see horizone being a mess without jaena. someone is about to scalp the twins, boah is crying, someone ing decks sol or wenjie or both, etc. bonus points if the girls slowly begin to get paranoid about jaena leaving them for bejewel and if someone pushes the narrative of jaena betraying them/screwing up their success.
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