the pitfalls of oh kyungjoo (t/w sa)
NICKNAMES:
jookyung her birth name stems from her grandpa wanting a grandson, not getting one, and then giving her a uni name. she much prefers having a feminine name, so most of her close friends call her jookyung.
actress-turned-idol successful actors who started out as idols are usually called idol-turned-actors, so her special case gained her this name from netizens.
derivatives joojoo, jooah
BIRTHDATE & DEBUT AGE: 980625, aged twenty-two.
BIRTHPLACE: namyangju, sk.
HOMETOWN: seoul, sk.
ETHNICITY: south korean.
CITIZENSHIP: south korean.
LANGUAGES:
her speaking voice is husky and deep, meaning the fans rave about getting shivers every time she says something in videos. speaks quicker than the average person but is somehow able to enunciate perfectly, probably due to her acting experience.
korean considering she grew up in seoul, her gyeonggi dialect is long gone, and she sounds like a seoulite through and through. she can read, speak, read and write perfectly and is kind of? updated on slang, but has some she's not 100% sure about.
english tinged with a korean accent, she started learning and training in the language since young. she can read and listen pretty well, but still struggles with speaking and writing. doesn't know any slangs.
BACK-UP: 정진솔 artms
HEIGHT: 156cm.
APPEARANCE:
a blessed natural beauty, kyungjoo fits the beauty standards for a korean idol. with cherubic lips and a slim, oval-shaped face, her looks reinforce the idea that the korean entertainment industry values visuals over everything else. her natural hair colour is a dark brown with natural light brown streaks ( she's not sure why she has those streaks but her mom has them as well ) and her locks are naturally curly. throughout her career, she'd probably be the member with the largest variety of hair colours from natural ashy browns to eye-catching blondes to bold two-tones as her face suits pretty much any colour. she doesn't mind as long as the stylists take good care of her hair and prevent it from becoming damaged, but she will put her foot down if they ask her to cut it short.
she was never chubby thanks to a quick metabolism, but did have some pudge around her stomach due to a lack of exercise. however, because of endless dance practices, she's now gotten a lot more toned and has the hint of what fans like to call "11 abs" even if she isn't flexing. another thing to note is that while she has only had fillers right now, she hates how her nose looks like and wants to get a rhinoplasty. in fact, she often jokes that puberty forgot her and that's why she's short and doesn't have any curves, which amounts to her insecurity over her looks.
FASHION STYLE:
in contrast to her feminine features and mature aura, kyungjoo is incredibly trendy and borders on being the type of influences popular on instagram and/or tiktok. she doesn't only wear black ( though she definitely gravitates towards it ) and tends to pair a pop of colour or something that would be regarded as 'extra' with other muted items. pant chains, leather jackets, crop tops - all items of clothing she considers staples. definitely more comfortable with showing her skin than korea would like her to be, she treats every street she walks on a runway, even if she's in an outfit she claims to be a lazy one. ( her secret? large hoop earrings elevate a plain t-shirt and jeans. )
which is why her fans find it amusing elysium's stylist try so hard to give kyungjoo this chic, refined style that's not her at all. maybe it's because she's older and they want her to have a womanly aura, but all their attempts are ruined when kyungjoo posts on her personal instagram or leaves a filming. silk or chiffon blouses with the front slipped into high-waisted, straight-legged chiffon pants are probably her stylists' go-to outfit. they tend to choose light, neutral colours like beige and white and a much more conservative style.
SON
SON
esfp-t: turbulent entertainer
slytherdor / chaotic good / sanguine choleric / team dad / jade-coloured glasses / life of the party
insensitive, egoistic, sardonic, confrontational, tenacious, boisterous, independent, cordial
kyungjoo's friends like to joke that you don't need to scan a room to see if she's there or not - you'll hear her if she is. the sort of girl you develop a momentary crush on when you pass her on the streets, her confident aura and bright smile envelopes you in the warmest of welcomes. kyungjoo is always the life of the party, her eyes crinkling in her signature half-smirk as she throws her hair back and roars in laughter, practically commanding (and enjoying) the attention from everyone in the room.
it's not hard to understand why she has such a large social circle - she can always keep a conversation going even if she knows nothing about the other person or the current topic by talking about something she thought about or stupid puns she made up on the spot, invoking laughter as she self-deprecates or embarrasses herslf on purpose. with a severe lack of shame, she can make friends anywhere and strike up conversations with random strangers - you only live once, so why shy away from anything? however, the complete lack of brain-to-mouth filter means her sarcasm & cynicism often shines through at the worst times and her words can be meaner than she meant for them to be, leading to ty first impressions that make people dislike her. she's learnt to not give a about those people, but it's a double-edged sword because she ends up blocking out valid criticism as well. it's worsened by the fact she is extra mean when in front of people she doesn't really know because she likes hearing people laugh at her jokes or seeing them listening to what she says.
always dictated by her emotions, she doesn't spare a single thought before saying or speaking anything - pair that with a bad temper and you get a terrible combination as kyungjoo turns sullen and angry over the stupidest things and rips into people before even understanding the situation. thankfully she's always quick to apologise when she realises she's ed up, but that remains a personality trait she still hasn't been able to shake off after more than twenty years. she's gotten better at controlling her temper, but sees red whenever anyone hurts her friends or family. sejong often jokes it's a terrible trait for an idol to have and kyungjoo can't help but agree. but if there's one thing everything can admit, it's that kyungjoo does not know when to give up. it's not just limited to chasing her dreams, as kyungjoo will do anything to get those she loves to forigive her when she knows she was wrong. she likes to say that's why she still has friends, but honestly those she's close to is used to her temper and knows she says things she doesn't mean.
it backfires sometimes when she's chewing someone out because she cares but it seems like she's berating them maliciously. situations range from another member getting sick or sejong suffering from a major hangover. to be frank, sometimes she feels stretched thin because she just wants to make sure everyone around her is happy, and that's why she gets annoyed when she thinks they aren't taking care of themselves, and she snaps at them, but it ends up turning into putting someone down when they already are. a er for reality, she sees being honest as the way to go, but she needs to understand that there are suitable times for people to know the truth and sometimes she just needs to shut up and hug them. kyungjoo likes how people often turn to her in times of crisis and depend on her calm resilience, but it still hurts when they just call her the dad because 'she's so gruff and mean sometimes'. she knows she isn't at her best, but she's trying.
looking back, kyungjoo wants to convince herself she's lucky. she didn't have money-hungry or stage parents who forced her into the spotlight, she didn't come from a complicated background, she didn't work for the money. in contrast, kyungjoo came from a happy upper-middle class family with a pair of college sweethearts as parents. all things considered, especially when compared to the many other child actors she knew, she was supposed to have the brightest path and the softest landing if she failed.
she started acting because she loved being in the middle of the spotlight. she liked being called pretty and talented when she sang and danced in front of her relatives, and upon seeing other children on television, four-year-old kyungjoo pestered her parents to let her take acting, singing and dancing lessons. she was riveting and a natural talent, as her teacher liked to gush, and although kyungjoo was more interested in dancing, there weren't exactly a spot for a toddler to become an idol. to satisfy her fame cravings, at age three she landed a role in guardian angel (2001) as jung eojin, the adopted daughter of song hyekyo's character. technology wasn't as advanced then, so she didn't exactly go viral, but she stood out to most viewers and was recognised as a talented and pretty child actress. she continued bagging role after role ( though her parents would filter the scripts as well as make sure she wasn't working too hard ). in 2010, she appeared in dong yi (2010) as the younger version of the titular character and became a household name in korea.
2012 was both her highlight and downfall: her adorable antics as princess minhwa in moon embracing the sun (2012) and her first time being second lead as mo yoojung in reply 1997 (2012) made sure she was popular internationally as well. in october 2012, she was meeting with a famous director to discuss her next acting project. things were going well and kyungjoo was excited about her first main role, yet the bubbly happiness slowly ebbed away as she noticed how the director's eyes traced her figure and how his hands lingered on hers. she couldn't believe it nonono this is not happening as she sat there in shock, planning how to leave and convincing herself she was just overreacting at the same time. but when the man leaned in and pressed his lips on hers while groping her aggressively, all her thoughts dissipated into shock and horror as she sat there frozen. it was only when she felt the buttons of her blouse being undone did he snap out of it and pushed the man off her, fleeing the scene.
news of the drama confirming another actress as the lead reached her company, who was confused as to what happened. kyungjoo remained tight-lipped and refused to tell anyone what happened, moving back to just taking supporting characters. she had planned on staying quiet about it, but when a scandal about the director broke out after an actres reported his actions to the police in 2014, kyungjoo realised that if she kept quiet and the director was declared innocent she wouldn't be just affecting herself, but other young actresses. she corrobated the actress' statements by telling the police that she had a similar experience. more actresses came forward when they heard about kyungjoo's actions and the director was penalised and put on probation. unfortunately, despite the reports using actress 'k' to refer to kyungjoo, the industry caught wind of what she did and no one dared to cast her afterwards. part of it was due to the high status of the director, and part of it was people felt that kyungjoo was a snitch. it somehow became her fault and her company let her go soon after in mid-2015.
kyungjoo was devastated and bitter. she had mustered the bravery to do the right thing but was punished instead. she still vied for the spotlight, so she decided to change paths towards being an idol. after taking a long, long rest from the industry at her parents' demands, she tried her hand at many companies in late 2016, but most big ones turned her away as they knew about her reputation in the industry. arthouse was one of the few that accepted her and as she had heard through the grapevine arthouse was a 'people-first' company, she signed with them.
by ALI ft. AKLO
by ALI ft. AKLO
DISLIKES: ballads, food that's not salted enough, hot days so basically the whole summer, horror movies & sappy romances, reptiles, fizzy drinks, long manicures.
HOBBIES: embroidery - she has multiple hoops showing her work around the dorm, making beaded bracelets for her friends and some fans she recognises.
HABITS: clicks her tongue when she's agitated, bites her nails a lot so she gets acrylic nails frequently, pulls on her left ear lobe when she's thinking really hard, likes to eat in the order of plain rice then side dishes, taps her forefinger and middle finger on the side of her legs when she's nervous.
ASPIRATIONS: as a child she was so sure she wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but it's taken such a huge toll on her she doesn't have a clear direction anymore. she still enjoys being in the spotlight and is enthusiastic about her career, but there is no saying what will happen after her contract with arthouse is up. she just hopes she can earn enough to live stress-free even if she chooses to leave the industry in the future. when the seven years are up, she would probably get married and maybe turn back to acting / modeling (if the production teams let her) and perhaps release a single for fans now and then.
notable filmography includes guardian angel (2001) as jung eojin, dong yi (2010) as young dongyi, master of study (2010), warrior baek dongsoo (2011) as young jinjoo, moon embracing the sun (2012) as princess minhwa, reply 1997 (2012) as mo yoojung, master's sun (2013) as cha heejoo / hanna, the heirs (2013) as rachel yoo and emergency couple (2014) as han areum. her last role was in it's okay it's love (2014) as oh sonyeo.
as a child, she was praised for her ability to emote. all her scenes as younger counterparts were praised, especially how real her tears and pained expressions were. as she grew older, she mainly chose lighter dramas and netizens had said they were hoping she would take a heavy drama again. she had plans to do so, but alas.
out of all her actor costars, she's still good friends with jung eunji, hoya, kim myungsoo, yoo seungho and nam jihyun.
know how idols are multitalented and can compose and/or write lyrics? well, kyungjoo isn't talented nor interested in doing so. she's really mainly here to be on stage and hear people yelling her name.
tw: she did develop depression after she was terminated, but she has improved a lot ever since then. she's off her meds, but there's no saying how hateful comments will affect her after her (re)debut.
uses a black iphone 14 pro with a casetify mirror case that has 'kyungjoo' written on it in cursive. a polaroid of her and sejong is slipped inside the case.
has lots of special talents for variety shows. can impersonate a ton of actors & actresses, cry on cue and make up acrostic poems on the spot.she also likes showing off her double-jointed fingers by bending her fingers by their first joint only or twisting her thumb till it's lying horizontally on the back of her hand. definitely the black hole during random play dance.
she likes to joke that only her fingers are flexible because she's so inflexible she can't even touch her toes. has never been talented in sports and used to sneak away during pe lessons in school so she could sleep. one of the fans' favourite anecdotes is kyungjoo finding a huge cabinet to sleep in during class. the teacher opened the cabinet to find equipment and instead found a snoring kyungjoo. definitely is just a cheerleader during isac, but is loved for the fanservice she gives.
arthouse recommended her pick an actor she's never worked with or way out of her age range as an ideal type, so she defaults to jung woosung when asked.
if her schedule is free that day, she tends to be a very quick texter and replies at an alarming speed. she can whizz through three conversations with different people on different platforms without them noticing.
her handwriting is so bad fans like to say they can't understand what she's writing at all. it's also why her autograph is just a simple, big 'k' and then scribbles behind it to make it look like she's writing 'kyungjoo'.
has myopia but she can still see fine without glasses. does have a round-framed, rose gold pair for when she knows she'll be looking at a screen for a long time.
is a basic who started listening to hiphop after show me the money. her playlist mainly consists of 2nd gen kpop and hiphop. she would listen to more indie and r&b but she doesn't know where to start.
takes every goddamn opportunity to start a vlive. she's back in the dorms after a day of work? a vlive to talk about her day! all the members are asleep in the car? a vlive to rant and film each member up close!
youngji and kyungjoo have been peas in a pod since elementary school, when the latter stuck a grubby hand in front of youngji's face and announced they were friends from then on. kyungjoo has screamed her head off at every ex youngji has ever had, whereas youngji knows how to calm kyungjoo down immediately. they protect each other in different ways and are still extremely close, texting and meeting frequently. fans know about 'kyungjoo's friend youngji'.
after meeting on the set of reply 1997, they became quick friends with their exuberant personalities. at that time, pink pandas knew of eunji's friendship with actress oh kyungjoo and they were often interviewed about each other. they aren't as close now, but still text and meet up once in a while, appearing on each other's instagrams.
despite being the same age, euichan feels like he has an extra child to take care of when he's with kyungjoo. they trained together and she's been annoying him since day 1. she constantly teases him and he just takes it silently with a tired expression on his face. the friendship is known in arthouse and most find the two amusing.
they're not very close and don't text much in private, but there's never an awkward silence when they see each other. kyungjoo thinks bora is amazing for being a jack of all trades and makes it known, calling her a genius and oooh and ahh-ing over every outfit bora does for them. bora lovingly calls kyungjoo her favourite client.
you'd think daeho is as exhausted with kyungjoo as euichan, but in elysium kyungjoo helps daeho take care of the girls and sometimes even share a quick beer after a long day of schedules. ahyun doesn't approve of course, and kyungjoo thinks that's why she isn't as close with their other manager.
both are friendly, loud people, so the staff always grimace when the two see each other because jesus it's defeaning. not very close, but get along great when they do meet.
they're cordial and they work well together, but kyungjoo is much closer to daeho than she is to ahyun. ahyun likes playing by the books and kyungjoo doesn't like how the older woman won't let her sneak snacks for the other girls. kyungjoo usually respects authority but feels that there should be leeway when needed, a viewpoint ahyun doesn't share.
kyungjoo's ex from her high school days. they started dating since they were 15 and only broke up when kyungjoo shut him out entirely after the incident. he has an inkling of what happened now, but accepts that she didn't want to talk about it. kyungjoo feels extremely apolegetic for how she treated him and reached out to apologise years later, but thankfully jihoon has moved on. they wish each other happy birthday and jihoon tells kyungjoo good luck before her comebacks.
POSITION: leader, vocalist, rapper
TALENT TWIN: bp's jisoo.
TRAINEE SINCE: 10/2016
TRAINEE PERIOD:
a painful truth kyungjoo had to face was that she was not talented in dancing. she had a nice vocal tone and became a pretty good singer after she was taught the proper techniques and practiced, and her deep voice made her a decent idol rapper after she got the hang of it. but she was downright terrible at singing. arthouse had intended on debuting kyungjoo as soon as possible after she joined to capitalise on her fame but couldn't because her dancing was just that bad. she was stiff, she constantly missed steps and she couldn't execute the details of the choreography as soon as the song was played in full speed.
she spent lots of time in front of the mirrors, perfecting the angles of her limbs and making sure her movements were precise. arthouse was her last chance to retain any sort of fame, so she held on despite how difficult things were.
WEAKNESSES: dancing, remembering choreography, physical challenges on shows, controlling her tongue to not offend netizens.
VE
VE
FACE CLAIM: 이태일 block b
DATE OF BIRTH: no idea tbh
PERSONALITY:
isfp the adventurer
predictable, acerbic, competitive, sensitive, charming, loyal, independent, genuine
"sejong is... an enigma. he's ing weird - I'm sure that's what pretty much everything thinks when they first meet him. he seems like he's stuck in his own world, with his head in the clouds, but that's not it. he puts his music above everything, and that's why he seems like he's always somewhere else, because he's always thinking. usually about music, but he just thinks a lot in general. he's actually really observant, taking in every detail around him without making it obvious. he notices every subtle change and ends up being a really sensitive person. he doesn't exactly explode in anger, but you can feel the cynicism and the distaste radiating from him. it doesn't help that he has really high expectations for both himself and the people around him, and he tends to try to make everyone live up to his standards - but if you scream at him for being too overbearing, he'll snap out of it. his perfectionistic tendencies clash greatly with his impatience, as in, he wants everything to be in tip top shape but doesn't give anyone or anything the time to conform to his standards.
I realise I've made him sound like a complete , but sejong - don't call him that, he doesn't like other people calling him his birth name - is one of the best people I've ever met in my life. he's so expectant because he sees the best in people. he's able to assess people and be spot on their abilities and personality by the end of their first meeting, and he wants to be the catalyst for their success, plainly because he likes seeing people around him happy, and will do anything to ensure that they are. his genuine nature shines through all the time, and that's one of the things I love most about him. how he tells you that he doesn't care, but his eyes shine with constellations. he knows what's important to him and I love how he's still chasing after what he wants relentlessly, how he emanates the earnest emotions of a five year boy whenever he's doing what he loves. he's the type to be gruff and prickly when you get down with a cold, you know the type who berates you for not wearing enough clothes and not taking good care of yourself as he bumbles around making honey tea and fluffing out your blankets? that's the type of guy he is."
— kyungjoo on cygnus, or as she likes to affectionately call him, sejong.
LOVE STORY:
the first time kyungjoo meets sejong, he's yelling at pyxis in the studio and immediately kyungjoo dislikes this person. he then yells at her when she's trying, so even though she knows she's not sounding her best she dislikes him more.
until a few days later when kyungjoo tells her mom how recording her debut is immensely difficult because of the producer and her mom says "that sounds like you when you were acting. perfectionistic and all - you should know how that feels." it was an offhanded comment, but kyungjoo was much less distasteful at her next recording. she began to appreciate how sejong tried so hard to make something he was proud of as well as notice the smile on his face when the singers got it right - she'd rarely seen someone as earnest and genuine as him before. she didn't like him, per se, she was just amazed that someone with such a dedication to his craft could still exist in their cutthroat industry. his smile was infectious and whenever kyungjoo did well enough to see him smile, she'd automatically get into a better mood herself. she wouldn't actively search out sejong, but sometimes looked forward to seeing him. to put it plainly, kyungjoo was interested in sejong, but not in a romantic way - it was more of wanting to get to know him and see who was hiding behind the studio glass.
her feelings didn't turn into a full-blown crush until sejong caught her hiding in the studio and eating store-bought tteokbokki at 3 in the morning.
"what are you doing here?" she had accused him, her eyes squinting.
"this is my studio. I'm here to work. what are you doing here?" he had asked, incredulous.
kyungjoo thought he'd tell her managers she was sneaking beer and snacks, but he never did. so sejong's studio became her hideout when she felt overwhelmed, and sejong let her stay because she was usually pretty quiet.
sejong was stuck on a song for pyxis once, and kyungjoo, with her lack of actual musical knowledge, piped up to tell him how she thought it might sound better. he shrugged and tried what she said and to his surprise the song turned out well. after that he'd ask kyungjoo's advice on which songs worked better to her untrained ear, and it turned out kyungjoo's taste meant most songs he put out became a public success. their friendship blossomed along the way, with late-night talks about kyungjoo's insecurities and sejong lamenting about his own idol career.
kyungjoo took the first move one night, also in sejong's studio. she took a swig of her beer, kissed him, and the rest is history.
initially they did a pretty good job keeping their relationship on the down low. the staff at arthouse didn't know and thought kyungjoo was just paying extra attention to songs ( though oksun had an inkling ) and kyungjoo only told youngji. it helped that she had been vocal about wanting to become a better musician, so most just dismissed their concerns.
they did have lots of arguments when they first started dating, but once they hit the 1.5 year mark they began talking things out ( instead of kyungjoo crying and throwing dolls at him ) and have become pretty stable. they aren't the sickly sweet couple that make people gag, it's just obvious they know each other very well and are compatible. she naturally hands sejong a bite of whatever she's eating and sejong has a hair tie on his wrist at all times. arthouse did find out, but both oksun and jojeong felt that it would be easy to contain a relationship in the arthouse building. they only asked the two to stop meeting up in public. sejong knows how harmful an idol dating can be, so he's extra careful and now the two mostly meet in his studio or at their respective homes when their schedules aren't as packed. they do want to date like every other couple in public, but they understand the risks and they like to say that 'with the rest of our lives ahead of us, what's a few years of sejong's studio?'
RELATIONSHIP TRIVIA: tba
DON'TS: tba
ANYTHING ELSE: I mainly put those she'd potentially interact with in the story! so the actors she's still close with - except eunji - weren't placed in the relationship section.
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