FULL NAME Kim Haeju.

OTHER NAMES 

≋ Hae, Ju, Juju - common nicknames used by all, taken from her given name, Haeju

≋ Jewel - used by Haeju's parents (her father in particular), the characters of her name mean "jewel of the ocean" so it's no surprise that her father loves to call her his "precious jewel"

≋ Dori - common, given by her friends in the aftermath of Finding Nemo due to her upbeat demeanor and her love of the ocean

≋ Ariel, Little Mermaid, etc - common, given first by her parents and then again later by her friends due to her love of the ocean and fascination of everything and her excellent swimming ability

≋ here

 

BIRTHDATE June 16, 1998. (23)

ETHNICITY Korean.

 

GENDER female.

UALITY panual.

FACECLAIM Yooa (Oh My Girl).

 

STATURE 160 cm.

APPEARANCE Haeju is cute and doll-like, with wide, expressive eyes and a small, cute face. She has a swimmer’s body, slender and supple, from a youth spent always on the move on land or in the water. And  despite her small height, her body proportions -- specifically her longer limbs -- make her seem taller, especially from a distance. Though her natural hair color is a darker brown, Haeju’s been experimenting with colors, and has in recent months found a brilliant red that she adores, particularly as it lends to her classmates’ nicknames of  “Ariel” and “little mermaid”. Her earlobes are pierced twice each, she has no tattoos, and a number of mostly faded scars primarily located on her palms, arms, knees, and soles of her feet from running barefoot on the beach and in the water, and diving with (and without) her mother.

 

STYLE Haeju’s style is fairly relaxed. She likes things that fit well and are easy to move in, and really has no preference as long as it fits those two categories. Of course, she does have a fondness for soft or well-worn fabrics.

In the warmer months, that means a lot of tank tops and t-shirts, light in color to reflect some of the heat from the sun, jean short or shorter cloth shorts, and either sneakers, flip flops, or sandals, depending on what she has on the agenda.She’s also seen wears ballcaps with her hair pulled back and tucked up underneath.

In the cooler months, Haeju helps more with her father’s work than her mother’s, and can often be found in long-sleeves shirts and jackets, all softer because she likes the feel of it on her skin, skin tight jeans, sneakers or boots and thick socks, a fanny pack or some kind of similar pouch to hold things, beanies with her hair stuffed underneath, and sometimes a scarf and gloves on particularly cold days.

 

Haeju also has a couple different pieces of jewelry she wears that were gifted to her by her mother: sea glass earrings and an abalone pendant. Haeju also has a sea glass pendant that she made for herself when she first started learning to make jewelry from her mom. She tends to wear plain earrings for normal occasions and saves the sea glass for special events or when she's dressing up, and she'll switch out on the necklaces depending on how she's feeling that day.

PERSONALITY 

 

ENFP. Huffledor. Gemini. Instinct. 

 

 

curious, adaptable, patient, loyal, optimistic
observant, independent, emotional, modest, stubborn
restless, flighty, overthinker, nosy, annoying

 

Expressive and quick-witted, Haeju is often seen as a sociable and exciting individual to be around. Never lacking for energy and always having something optimistic and otherwise positive to say about those around her and the situation at hand, she’s the kind of girl you want on your team when things get dark and rough, because she won’t hesitate to remind you that it’s not over yet. She’s patient about it, too, unwilling to be deterred from her bright outlook, the sort of patience that coaxes pigeons to eat from her palms and fish to dart around her legs, unafraid, as she stands knee-deep offshore. Loyal to her people and her causes, Haeju will fight for what she believes is right, and will go to any lengths to make things work. She’s not the sort to leave someone behind when push comes to shove, nor will she sacrifice her ideals or the things she loves. To Haeju, if you’re not willing to fight for it, maybe even bleed for it, then is it really love? That being said, because of her determination and her quick-witted nature, she’s known around both Simdong and her campus in Busan as being incredibly adaptable and versatile. She handles change well, perhaps because of that positive outlook, and she thinks quickly on her feet when the situation calls for it, adapting easily to changes in both the people around her and the environment.

 

Obviously, Haeju is an incredibly curious and astute individual. She’s observant and perceptive, and she sees a hell of a lot more than people seem to think. (It’s that bubbly demeanor and the wide-eyed cute, cute face she’s got. Who would think a pretty girl like that is more than just a cute face?) But when you see everything there is to see, how the situation really is, it’s not always something you can forget about afterward. Haeju knows what people think about her in Simdong -- the ones upset that she’s left home to go to school -- and she knows what the city folk in Busan think about her big dreams despite her small town background. Maintaining optimism around that is hard some days, as is pretending like she doesn't know exactly what’s being said about her. She’s an emotional creature, always feeling everything. It’s not always bad, because empathy often works wonders with her peers and in her coursework, but there are also days where everything is too much all at once, and it takes Haeju down a notch in her sunny intensity. (Projects and papers covering ocean pollution, species decline, and the death of coral reefs are always the touchiest of subjects in that regard.) But Haeju is also independent and fiercely stubborn, and her parents didn’t raise their little girl to back down from challenges or to give up when things got tough. So Haeju roughs it out at school, working hard toward a degree to help not just Simdong or even South Korea, but the world. 

She perseveres despite the challenges laid before her, putting in the extra hours of study, the additional footwork and research, all to make it to the end with something to show for it. She’s modest about it, too, refusing to take more than her share of credit, even when she rightly should. Haeju’s enthusiasm about the ocean and her field of study means that she's okay with dedicating her time and energy to the area, even when others don't. In group projects, she doesn’t mind taking the lead and later sharing the credit of a good grade despite doing more of the work. And when praised for her accomplishments, Haeju has a tendency to be perhaps too modest, always willing to thank and promote others that have helped her along the way rather than admitting that perhaps a large part of her success is herself and her own hard work and determination. 

Of course, there are pitfalls to being one Kim Haeju, the greatest of which is the fact that because she’s so cheerful and optimistic -- so perky -- her sunny demeanor can be seen by others as somewhat false. Who’s happy like that all the time? Who’s so cheerful and optimistic when things can be so bad? It can be downright annoying to be on the receiving end of that. Not only that, but her curiosity is known to get the better of her at times, leading others to sometimes feel as if Haeju is nosy and invasive, or more commonly simply too curious for her own good. And with as curious and emotional as Haeju is, it’s also a fairly common thing for her to become entrenched within her head. She’s prone to overthinking and worrying — about people and things, about situations she can and can’t control, about anything and everything. It’s easy enough to draw Haeju back out of her thoughts, at least. A call of her name or a gentle shake to the shoulder will usually do the trick. And if it doesn’t, spouting incorrect facts about the ocean certainly will. Unfortunately, as is common with Geminis and emotional energetics, Haeju can be both restless and flighty. There’s a bit of wanderlust in her, a need to constantly be on the go, seeing and experiencing the world. And that, combined with her energy, can lead into her flighty tendencies. Too much all at once can overwhelm her. And when Haeju’s overwhelmed, she’s likely to run

 

BACKGROUND 

 

Haeju was born early in the morning on June 16, 1998, in quiet, quaint Simdong, to Kim Haedam and Lee Joohyun. Her father was a successful fisherman for the town, and her mother spent her time diving for abalone, collecting other shells and seaglass, and turning it into jewelry and beautiful keepsakes for locals and tourists alike. And Haeju, from the moment she could walk, followed in their footsteps. She spent most of her early years with her mother, learning to dive and how to collect the treasures the ocean offered them. As she aged, her father taught her ocean safety, how to run a boat, how to fish, how to clean the catches, and how to present the day’s catches to the people of the town in order to make money.

In time, Haeju found a balance in spending time with her parents and began carving out time and a place for herself. In the early mornings, she walked the line of the ocean, collecting shells and glass, tiptoeing through tide pools, and rescuing stranded ocean life. Afterwards, she would spend a little time with her mother, diving for abalones or looking for shells before heading off to school. In the afternoons, Haeju returned to the ocean to help her mother, then returned home to help with dinner and do homework. On the weekends, she took longer walks in the morning and spent more time with her father. And that was her childhood.

Haeju’s parents knew early on that their daughter was meant for more. She was dedicated, committed, and passionate about the things she loved -- her family and the ocean -- and all of her free time was often spent between one of the two. School was a tedious affair, but one she tolerated because it made her parents proud. Haeju worked hard to maintain high grades, which wasn’t exactly a difficult thing to do in small town Simdong, and she completed all of her coursework in a timely manner because it meant more time dedicated to the things she loved rather than something she tolerated on the best days.

As Haeju aged, she found herself somewhat set apart from her peers. She was the weird one, the girl that preferred fish and shells to people, and Haeju didn’t necessarily mind the way her peers would subtly avoid her. It gave her the freedom to pick and choose those she spent time with, either those more like-minded, or those that simply didn’t care. And as such, a lot of the time Haeju was meant to spend studying or use to otherwise be out of the house, she spent it at the towns’ teashop run by Jo Heena and her daughter, Im Yugyeong. Calling them friends might be a stretch, but Heena and Yugyeong were friendly, the tea was good, and the atmosphere was quiet -- good for studying and unwinding.

It was in high school that everything changed. Haeju wasn’t exactly looking to continue her education. Her plan, as it had always been, was to continue helping her father and mother, fishing and diving and hunting for shells and stranded sealife. And then she was approached by a teacher at her school, one that asked if Haeju had considered life beyond high school. She had, of course, but her teacher continued by saying that Haeju qualified for a number of scholarships, and that, if she wanted to, she could go to school for something she was passionate about. ...like the ocean. If Haeju wanted to, she could go to university to study the ocean. Which, admittedly, Haeju found interesting. But...her parents.

When Haeju brought it up to her parents, there were mixed reactions. On one hand, her father was excited for her, thinking that it would offer her more opportunities later in life. He wanted to see her succeed, and while he knew she was happy in Simdong, he also knew that there was an entire world out there, just waiting for her. On the other hand, Haeju’s mother worried about Haeju leaving, knowing that their daughter felt happiest in Simdong when she was by the water. If she left, she would be far from the familiarity of home and the ocean, and likely surrounded by people she felt somehow distanced from. But even Haeju’s mother agreed that Haeju was meant for bigger and better things, that there was a whole world out there, just waiting for Haeju to see it.

With her parents in somewhat reluctant agreement, Haeju applied to Busan National University and their marine science program, and she applied to every scholarship her teacher had found for her. With her excellent grades and attendance -- no matter how reluctant it had all been -- Haeju passed the qualifications with flying colors, not only being accepted at the university in her program for choice, but also managing to collect enough scholarships to have a full ride.

And so, swearing to come back whenever possible, whenever breaks and holidays allowed, Haeju packed her bags and left home.

 

 

 

LIFESTYLE.

 

in BUSAN...   Haeju shares a small apartment just off campus with two other Busan University students. Although her scholarship paid for housing on campus in dorms, Haeju chose to move off campus for a little more freedom in her schedule, and answered an ad that put her in a small 3 bed 1 bath apartment. Her flatmates were fairly quiet, too -- a literature student and a composition student that spent more time in her studio than in the apartment -- and the three of them got along fairly well by writing the schedules on a large calendar they kept in the entryway of the apartment. 

Haeju took as many classes as she could for the first couple years to get them out of the way, so now she’s arranged her schedule so that her classes are all in the morning. In the afternoons, she commutes to Haeundae-gu to work at the Sea Life Busan Aquarium. During the week, she attends all classes dutifully before going to work for a few hours. The aquarium doubles both as Hajeu’s part-time job to make money, but also a chance to escape city life for a little while. After work, she spends an hour or two wandering the beach before returning home. At that point, she does any homework she didn’t complete during the morning or while on break at the aquarium.

On the weekend, she often commutes out to the beach early, spends an hour or two walking or jogging, then wandering until her shift at the aquarium begins. After work, she’s back at the beach, and can often be found collecting shells that she’ll then give to passing tourists or that she’ll put in her collection back in her dorm room. 

 

 

in SIMDONG...   When Haeju returns on breaks, her routine is much the same as it was in her youth. Haeju wakes early, before the sun is up, and heads to the ocean to run along the shoreline and green the dawn. After an hour or so, she slows and walks the edge between sand and surf, exploring the tide pools in search of stranded critters and shells. When it’s late enough, she returns home to help her mother make breakfast, then back out they go to dive for abalones. In the afternoon, Haeju helps her mother with turning some of the abalones and any found sea glass or shells into jewelry. In the early evening, as he father returns home, Haeju goes to help him clean and distribute his catches from the day. The family eventually have dinner together, and retire to their own things. It’s at that point that Haeju oftens wanders back out along the shore, finding peace in the ocean waves and the damp sand underfoot.

 

 

TRIVIA.

 

≋ likes: the ocean, fish, walking, bikes, fresh fruit, cooked fish, reading books, documentaries, running/jogging, hiking, swimming, family, cats, sea glass, sea shells, tea

≋ dislikes: city life, traffic, cars, pollution, needless death/waste, mindless tv shows, snakes, spiders, coffee

≋ habits: humming, doodling (ocean life usually, most often in the margins of her notes), playing with her necklace or earrings

≋ hobbies: reading, listening to music, running/jogging, swimming

RELATIONSHIPS.

 

Kim Haedam & Lee Joohyun, parents

 

Haeju loves her parents, adores them with a ferocity that can't be matched. She would choose them over anyone and everyone, and they mean the entire world to her. Growing up, she idolized them, and she had no issue with spending her every waking moment with one or the other. All of Haeju's core values were instilled in her by her parentds, and Haeju knows that who she is todsay is largely because of them. And so, the thought of leaving them behind never really crossed Haeju's mind until her teacher mentioned it. And if her parents hadn't agreed, she never would have left. Haeju worries about them being on their own, and she worries that something will happen to one of them while she's gone

 

Im Yugyeong, childhood aquaintance (almost friend)

 

Yugyeong (and her mother, Heena), were good to Haeju when most of her peers were simply....there. When their peers looked to Haeju like she was a stranger thing in their midst, a changeling from the ocean, Yugyeong treated Haeju like a peer. In the tea shop, where the world was calm and peaceful, Haeju felt almost as at ease as she did by the ocean. It became common for Haeju to spend time in the tea shop to work on homework and to study, because it was more quiet and less distracting than at her home. As such, Haeju feels fondness for both Yugyeong and her mother, and when she comes home from university to visit her parents, she takes care to stop in and visit the tea shop, too. She’s surprised to know Yugyeong also went away for university, but Haeju supposes it makes sense. After all, Yugyeong just wants to keep the tea shop going and help her mother. Haeju knows that feeling all too well.

 

more?

THIS or THAT?

by water or by land
candle light or electric
by car or by foot
homemade or premade
afterlife or reincarnation
ghosts exist or no ghosts

friends or family

in a fairytale...
would your character be the hero, the damsel in distress, or the villain ?
hero

would your character say they are the hero, the damsel in distress, or the villain ? 
the perky support hero
 

COMMENTS I went ahead and put 23 for Haeju's age since she's a summer baby and will be turning 23 during the story (since you said it'll start at the beginning of summer).