PERSONALITY

inspirations sophie hatter, howl's moving castle. rem, re:zero. sutton brady, the bold type.

the good bae haeun is a golden-hearted girl, ripped straight out of a fairytale depicted through disney’s rose-tinted glasses, or ghibli’s otherworldly tales. it isn’t too surprising to hear that haeun is what most asian parents would call their ideal daughter; a young lady who can adhere to traditional roles well enough to please the elderly, yet still have the determination to make it through today’s progressive society.

in spite of being the youngest child, haeun did not get raised to be associated to the handle of spoiled princess. haeun doesn’t like taking the easy way out, often wanting to pursue them at her own call to feel a sense of independence. her dependable nature accompanies great leadership skills that never shy away from responsibility — but don’t expect haeun to be an authoritative person; she’s no hard-. representing the face of femininity, haeun uses her empathetic approach to lead with kindness. it’s her life philosophy. she’d rather build bonds with people through mutual respect and admiration rather than fear or superiority. she doesn’t place others’ opinions of her on a high pedestal, but would still like to be viewed in a positive light. however, she is good-natured enough to avoid fulfilling her personal moral obligations, but instead to ensure the propserity of those she can assist. haeun’s character primarily mimics those found in humanitarians, who feel that their aim or purpose of living is to improve the world and its inhabitants.

her reliability extends to outside leadership positions, but also in day-to-day life. haeun’s the type of person to be prepared for most scenarios possible — all thanks to her wonderfully logical, detail-loving mind. haeun is unlikely to leave a margin for error because of how particular she is, journals upon journals of her to-do-lists over the years. even if she’s one of the more optimistic and bright ones, it doesn’t stop her from over-preparing due to rounds and rounds of risk analysis being done in her head. need an extra metro card because yours is out of credit? haeun has one. oh, you need to go to the bathroom? don’t worry, haeun will come with you too, to stay safe. tangible or not, the girl will try her best to be considerate of everyone’s needs. sometimes, they won’t even know they needed it until haeun brings it up to them. she will go out of her way to make sure that the people she’s surrounded by are doing well, and if she truly can’t, haeun is always willing to lend her ears for them to rant, as well as give advice to any problems they seek guidance in. people tend to be shocked at the wisdom of a girl who’s barely twenty. indeed, despite her bubbly appearance, she has a certified 'mom friend' badge lying around (further proven by her rather.. quirky sense of humor).

haeun’s emotional capacity and awareness to social ques were supposed to be up to par. it was especially important to be aware and cautious, being a hospitality major. haeun knows best on when to stop budging for more details, leaving the person to themselves when she recognizes their need to be alone. on the other hand, she also knows when to be open and vulnerable to become a comforting presence to another. similarly, she’s a good conflict diffuser and mediator due to her excellent sense — even if she does care for everyone in ways unique to each person, haeun knows to keep her opinions to herself when they are not required or appropriate, for the betterment of every person present. words come easily to the girl, structuring them in perfect jigsaw puzzle arrangement as to not offend or put off anyone she’s speaking to, especially in group settings. she finds this incredibly helpful with customers, as she doesn’t want anyone to feel as if she was picking favorites. the same can be applied for any group quarrels. do not mistake this for her being fickle or indecisive; it simply means that haeun wants to assure that every person is someone she truly cares about and she doesn’t pick one person over the other, which might fuel more aggression.

the in-between being a self-motivated, ambition-chasing young woman has its highs and lows. the particular highs are the rewarding 90% grades on haeun’s assignments, but the lows — nights spent either sobbing, binge eating or feeling so numb that there isn’t even enough energy to cry. seo haeun does not classify herself a study nerd, or a workaholic, but her course assignments seems to have proved her wrong. moreover, having an eye for details also means having an over-thinking mind. her brain probably runs way past the speed limit, with new thoughts being generated every two or so seconds. haeun is likely to be more anxious and over-prepare for scenarios, which partly contributes to her mother-like exterior. it’s only a tad toned down because she simultaneously tries to rationalize her panicky behaviors and theories, so she doesn’t act out of fear.

the bad some may like to call haeun a high maintenance, nitpicky person because of her overly particular way of handling things. in all her self-critical behavior, haeun can't seem to help extending this mindset to the people she's around, especially those she cares for. it could be something as harmless as directing someone how to cook a dish, or as extreme as giving self-indulgent advice on particuarly sensitive matters. she’s unaware of how her overbearing approach may appear too invasive or irritating to others, but believes that she has good intentions and thinks that she's simply helping other people out by pointing out things that can be done better, in her perspective. some would call this a saviour complex, but haeun is yet to acknowledge this.

busy taking care of everyone else, haeun also tends to neglect her own needs. she’ll forget to eat when she’s too occupied with studies, or she’ll forget to pack food for herself because she thought it would be nice to do it for the others — it’s a range of different excuses that other people often nag her about. oh how the tables turn. a majority of haeun is responsible, but then the other simply forgets that she too, needs to be taken care of by her own self! it's also common for haeun to shut herself down during times of crisis. being stressed out definitely devoids of her of her usual personality; she tends to avoid social contact and secludes herself from things she likes doing or people she loves with no apparent reason (to her). typically, it's just to complete her assignments and have some nearly quarter-life debate in her mind.

while she doesn’t have a lot of problems opening up about her emotional vulnerabilities, being in-tune with her feelings and all, haeun doesn’t like to admit that she needs someone to the same things she does for other people. simply because she feels the wish is too transactional; she helps because she cares, not because she wants anything back. although she secretly longs for days when someone would carry her off the ground, she will never tell anyone her desires.

amongst her other terrible tendencies, haeun is expectedly a conflict-avoider. what can you expect from someone who willingly becomes a peacekeeper? braver than the marines, but not courageous enough to engage in actual fights. she doesn’t take sides, which can also be a disadvantage as many people dislike her neutral stance, assuming she just doesn’t want any trouble for herself if she did pick sides. that being said, the poor girl can act like a referee but doesn’t know how to maneuver through an argument, especially if she’s one of the participants. it makes her easy to manipulate, because she might do anything for the fighting to stop from escalating further. conflict-aversion also leads to a lot of pent-up resentment that haeun may hold and keep in her pandora’s box, believing that anger isn’t a useful emotion to her, but can later explode in a very ugly manner.