name : lee taeyong
back-up : jeon wonwoo
date of birth (age) : july 1, 1997 (22)
major : architectural engineering major
languages : 
 ☾ kor , 100% fluent  traces of a hard-working, intelligent student are found in his extensive vocabulary. 
 ☾ eng , 60% fluent  like every other korean student, he's studied in high school, and though it wasn't one of his best subjects, he did pass! he has confidence in basic conversational phrases but always stresses when asked a question.

t h e  p e r s o n a l i t y .
☾ he is honestly one of the sweetest boys you will ever meet
☾ a lot of girls have silent crushes on him because he's not super popular to the point that it's acceptable to openly fawn over him, but...he's extremely handsome AND kind ? seems...fake
☾ so he kind of has that untouchable vibe, mostly because while he's nice, he's not super outgoing, and isn't the most talkative, friendly person. he's actually a little awkward around strangers, which makes some people think he's being distant, but no, he's just...really polite.
☾ his funny, charming side definitely comes out with his closer friends, whether that be his roommates johnny and jaehyun, or haram.
☾ he cracks jokes, suggests fun ideas, and is really an all-around fun contribution to a friend group ! but also he's the type to make fun of one of his friends and then they'll jokingly get sad and he'll immediately apologize and encourage them.
☾ he's almost a complete parallel to haram in some ways - he's patient, obedient, knows when to hold his tongue, is essentially that boy next door your mom wants you to marry.
☾ but of course, having spent so much time with her, he's assimilated to some of her qualities - mostly, though, just her taste for adventure. it's a lot more tucked away in him than in her, but it's definitely there, and it comes out the most with her. while hers is rooted in rebellion, his just feeds things like his liking for outdoor activities and traveling, things he probably would never know he liked if not for haram.
☾ taeyong can get flustered pretty easily and in these cases can speak before thinking - the words just spill out of his mouth without him even knowing.
☾ he seems like a soft boi, which he is, to an extent, but don't mistake him for a pushover. taeyong will always stand up for what he believes in and he'll always defend his friends and he can definitely get serious when he wants to, but it's always in levelheadedness.
☾ he's pretty much a 60/40 introvert/extrovert - he really enjoys his alone time, but he still needs human interaction to get through the day and will go out and find some.
☾ he can be pretty sentimental - he likes analog aesthetics, vintage thrift stores, poems, journaling, handwritten letters, the likes (you can bet he writes her freakin romantic poems and handwritten letters).

t h e  f i r s t - m e e t i n g .
▷ ed sheeran;  perfect

   haram and taeyong meet for the first time at shinhwa in the web design class they are both enrolled in. they're paired up for a small assignment that requires them to meet up outside of class, and the chemistry between them reeks of familiarity.
    thiiiis is because they have met before! haram doesn't remember at first, but taeyong was her very first friend back in noryangjin. they lived only a couple houses apart and little 7 year old taeyong was walking his dog around the block one day when the dog darted away from his grasp, barking away at a certain fence. chasing after his dog, taeyong starts to reprimand him, but stops when he sees the hole in the fence his dog is barking at. peering through, he sees 5 year old haram surrounded by letters and pictures in the air. children's books lay scattered around her, some with words missing, some completely empty. he gasps at the sight, and haram, shocked, looks up, and the ink around her disappears in a burst. the dog barks again, and immediately her face lights up, and she runs out to the front yard. "can i pet your dog??!!" still shocked, taeyong stutters out a "sure", and stares at her in wonder as she pets ruby. haram, excited to be around another kid AND his dog, invites the two to play in the backyard with her, and taeyong accepts, intrigued by the previous sight. of course, she shows him her abilities, too young and thrilled to consider the risk of it, and taeyong is amazed.
  haram's parents only realize he's out there once they call haram in for dinner, and they freak out, for multiple reasons, but decide their first priority is to get this boy home. they find out he lives nearby, and his parents come to pick him up, but when they ask him, "what were you thinking?", taeyong blurts, "mommy, daddy! she was making the words fly in the air! and there was bubbles and animals and she made them come to life and it was so cool!" haram's parents are stunned silent, every fear they had in regards to haram's powers being exposed rushing back to them, but taeyong's parents just smile. "so your daughter has abilities? we have a cousin who does, too."
   they end up being very understanding of the sunwoos' desire to keep it a secret, and they tell their son that "it's very nice that you had fun, but don't tell anyone else about this, okay? it's haram's secret, not yours, so it's not your place to talk about it, understand?" always an obedient child, taeyong agrees, and thus their friendship blossoms. it's quite the 'childhood sweethearts' type of story - they play together a lot, since haram doesn't have any other friends, and taeyong is forever amazed by her powers, and they say they love each other and that they're going to get married to each other. he goes to a different school nearby, so while haram struggles in her first years of public school, she endures, knowing she has a friend waiting for her at home. they stay close throughout middle school, even after haram meets gyuri (the 3 of them will often hang out together!), their relationship transitioning with the coming of their puberty. from wanting to marry each other to wanting to beat each other in every competition, their friendship matures...and then she moves. they're both excited at the possibility of finally going to the same school, but then the hate rolls in and the sunwoos slip out.
   taeyong is left alone in noryangjin, missing his best friend and first love. he thinks about her almost every day, remembering the races they had from the convenience store to her house, the worlds of ink they would get lost in after school, the marriage promises. while haram is up in the big city, trying to forget about the place that leaves her feeling gritty inside, taeyong is stuck in that place, wondering if they'll ever meet again.

t h e  d e v e l o p m e n t .
▷ baekhyun;  love again

   of course, time passes, they both grow up, and haram has pretty much forgotten about him, having tried pretty hard to not think about noryangjin too much, and as taeyong got older, he only thought of her occasionally. as he aged, he felt lame for holding on to these memories of his childhood and obsessing over whether or not he would see this fairy tale character from his youth again. trying to make excuses, he would tell himself he was simply intrigued by her abilities, and would be pleased if he had the opportunity to see them again since he doesn't know anyone else with powers. soon, he really does only think of her when the supernatural topic comes up, and it's always in a nostalgic fondness. when he sees her on that first day of class, though, he almost doesn't recognize her because of the hair. but it's the eyes that make him doubletake. the big, round eyes that would peer into his so innocently as a child, that then grew into mischievous ones that would squint as they dared him to do something he was scared of, then became dismal and sad as they walked away from him forever. *nah, it's not her.* he admonishes himself, but then the teacher calls out the pairings for the project she's starting the class off with. "lee taeyong and sunwoo haram." his head shoots up - that name...it had to be her. she comes over and his heart is beating insanely against his own will, but what she says makes it stand still. "hi, i'm haram, nice to meet you!"
  she doesn't remember, and, overwhelmed with emotions, taeyong can't find the strength to remind her. instead, he stutters out an introduction, and they get to planning their project. at their second meeting, though, when she's trying to make small talk and asks him where he's from, he hesitates. "i'm...from noryangjin, too.....haram, do you...not remember me?" she looks at him, and in that split second, taeyong feels like a part of him dies. turns out she does, and had only realized the possibility on the way home from class the other day, and was trying to ease it into the conversation herself. "how could i forget you?...because...we were so close! and, i mean, your...powers, you know. can't really forget something like that." they laugh about it, but haram confesses that she doesn't exactly remember a lot about those days. taeyong asks why, and she hesitates. "oh, well...it was...a long time ago." as much as she remembers him being one of her best friends, she doesn't feel ready to open up about her bitterness towards noryangjin. "yeah, i guess." taeyong muses. he then puts it on himself to remind her of all the good times they had together- "i mean, all the good times you had in noryangjin!"
    as they work on the project, taeyong puts in the effort to bring things as similar to how they were before. while haram is as bold and lively as ever, something about her seems more guarded. he figures a lot could've happened in the past 4 years, (or even in noryangjin) to make her like this, because there's definitely the feeling that she's constantly hiding something. part of him feels like this is his long-buried best friend instinct coming back to life - he had always been able to tell when she had heard something mean at school or on the streets, even if she tried to brush it off by bringing on another ice cream eating competition. this becomes his new excuse for why he thinks about her so much - though the old excuse does resurface. *it's just because we were childhood best friends...and after living life only seeing those people with abilities from afar, it's exciting to know that i have someone in my immediate circle again with powers! it's just good to see her again, that's all.*
    as the project ends and they continue to hang out outside of class, reminiscing on the good old days and making new memories, each individual tries to decipher the feelings they feel around each other. for taeyong, it's a lot of excitement and fluttering in his heart, which he tries to write off as just the pleasure of getting to reunite with his first best friend and the fascination he has with her abilities. for haram, it's a lot of back and forth between remembering every moment they shared as kids, both the ups and the downs, and then knowing that time has passed, she's changed, he's probably changed, and she doesn't know if she's willing to invest so much into someone who has such a deep connection with her past hurt.

t h e  i n t e r a c t i o n s .
▷ nct 127;  city 127

    as kids, they were always sweet to each other - holding hands, playing house, promising marriage to each other, etc. then, as middle schoolers, the dynamic changes as their personalities developed. taeyong is still significantly more quiet and obedient, but his wild side always comes out with haram. they meet at the convenience store after school, play rock paper scissors or any other short game to decide who's buying the ice cream, she usually just runs away after the cashier calculates the total so she doesn't have to pay, he starts cheating in the game to get back at her, she becomes proud that he's learning to live it up a little, they'll race each other home or walk the way, shoving each other as they go. though it's a pretty different relationship from when they were 5 and 7, the one thing that hasn't changed is that they always have fun. this factor remains in their relationship now as reunited college students. they can almost always find something to do, but if not, even just being with each other is fun.
      the fact that they bring comfort to each other in being like a piece of home is kind of unexpected for the both of them, since haram didn't really expect to feel that way in reminiscing about noryangjin and taeyong had thought he'd only ever be sad when thinking about his hometown, having left his family there to come to shinhwa, but they're grateful for it. their relationship now, as college students, is much like where they last left off, but...with a tad more dignity. now, there's a balance between the two, their personalities having been developed and themselves having matured over the years. haram brings out the adventurous side of taeyong that no one else really knows about, but that was essentially only created for him to keep up with her and keep her entertained. taeyong serves as something akin to a quiet place for haram - she easily gets whisked away by her emotions and assumptions, but he's always able to calm her down and make her see the bigger picture.
☾ ram to tae  haram is a little wary of taeyong at first because he is...SO handsome and she is worried as to whether or not this is really the same chubby boy she used to love playing with back in noryangjin. but as he continues to show her pictures and tell her stories, and just as they spend more time together, she can't shake off the way she just naturally feels comfortable with him. he hasn't changed much, and arguably, neither has she. she easily, gradually goes back to how she used to be with him, with some upgrades. she dares him to do ridiculous tasks, like tell the teacher with a straight face that his dog ate his homework, tricks him into buying her ice cream, bothers him when he tries to study, telling him he's dumb for studying, 
☾ tae to ram  taeyong loves the way he feels with haram - it's always exciting, exhilirating, and just so fun, and he always wants to make her feel that way, too. with the 2 years he has on her, though, he also feels a duty to protect her, something he's felt since they were young, and so he's always looking out for her in little ways - asking her if she's eaten, discreetly holding her books for her, giving her his jacket when it's cold. he does all these things as nonchalantly as he can, since he knows she wouldn't like if he made a big deal out of it and he knows she doesn't want him to think she can't take care of herself (which he doesn't). he's almost like an older brother in the way he takes care of her, but then he fulfills the best childhood friend role by going along with (most) all of her random ideas, teasing her when the opportunity arises, hyping her up in apologetic response, watching whatever animated kid's show she makes him watch, etc. then, as a romantic interest, he tries to be more direct. sure, he gets flustered easily, but that's more when he gets put on the spot, not when he's made his mind up about something. he makes more eye contact, he asks direct questions, he suggests dates without saying they're dates...and once they date, he gets more comfortable with skinship. he had always been touchy, loving when they held hands as kids, but he's held back since now because he wasn't sure she'd be okay with it. he is just a Wholesome, whipped, respects his womans whole package deal.

t h e  e n d i n g .
▷ taylor swift;  mary's song

   they weren't childhood sweethearts for nothing! the whole time they're debating over their own inner thoughts regarding each other, they do have feelings for each other. they're both just hesitant to admit that to themselves, and then each other, because they don't want to risk their friendship by trying out dating. they both treasure their friendship way too much, but the dilemma continues to plague their minds. the constant wondering of what it would be like, the ever-growing desire to feel each other's embrace...it probably takes haram longer to realize her feelings, because she's so one-track mind until someone gives her a reality check ("haram, that's called having a crush." "...oh, haha, sorry, i thought you said i had romantic feelings for my childhood friend!" "...i did." "...shut up.").
    they both need that friendly push to remind them that you'll never know unless you try, which haram can't argue with, and the confessions are probably brought about in the most taeram way ever. i.e. she dares him to fit a whole pizza in his mouth, he asks what she'll do in return, she asks what he wants, he says a date, and then chokes on the pizza because he can't believe he just said that, she avoids eye contact as she says 'fine', he thinks he heard wrong, and she ends up promising him a date "out of the kindness of my heart" once she realizes "you're never gonna get that whole slice in your tiny mouth". somewhere down this road, he tells her how long he pined over her after she left, and she smacks his arm for being a loser and he sneaks a kiss onto her cheek and she turns away so he doesn't see her smiling.