PER
SON

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Kim Soyoung was born on 31th of October, 2004 to an architect father and a stage director mother. When she was three years old, her father received a promotion at work that relocated him to Jeju island. He assured his wife he’d come back every other weekend and that the extra money was worth the time apart from his family. Every other weekend turned into once a month, then into every two months and then, the divorce papers came with the mail. Lee Sukja was bitter and threw herself into work and raising her child. If she did not have idle time, she would not have to think about what happened.

It takes a village to raise a child and in Soyoung's case, that village was the small theatre at the outskirts of Seoul. Her mom would use her lunch break to pick up little Soyoung from daycare and later school and drop her off at her workplace. Somang would practice spelling, draw quietly or sleep in a corner until the last show was over and her mom finished for the night. The actors and staff would pamper her and play with her during breaks but not even that could rid her of the sense of boredom she felt by the routine.

 

Her escape came when she was six, her mom worked on Les Miserables and they needed a child to play Cosette. Soyoung wasn’t sure who suggested it but she remembers that was told to act out a few lines and apparently she did well because instead of just sitting around as quietly as possible, she was now a part of the play. And Soyoung liked it from the get-go, she had no stage fright and showed a surprising amount of resilience for a small child, needing fewer breaks than the crew had anticipated. Everyone showered her in praises and Soyoung, who had a desire to impress those around her like most six-year-olds, preened under the positive affirmations. So when Les Miserables came to an end and it was time to cast someone as Mary in Secret Garden, Soyoung was the obvious choice.

But while she flourished on set, Soyoung never managed to form deep connections with classmates her age. She doesn’t know why some kids decided that she would be the person they’d play pranks on and ostracize but since then, nobody wanted to become close to her. Truth to be told, she was unknowingly obnoxious, boasting about her musical career (which had only just started) and about everything else she was good at. She wasn’t good at socializing and thought she’d gain friends by showing off. Of course, that wouldn’t warrant the bullying she endured; she had never been attacked physically but children would make fun of her by making roaring sounds when they met her in the hallway or when she was trying to speak during class, mocking her for taking on the role of Simba. They would ridicule her with her character's backgrounds (saying her mother worked as a host girl because this was what Cosette's mother did) or intentionally put chewed up gum on her belongings. So when she failed to make friends and was disrespected by her classmates, she doubled-down, telling herself that she was doing greater things than any of them and she didn’t need friends her age.

This was the starting point of her need to feel special. Soyoung knew that she didn’t fit in, praised in one half of her social life and ridiculed in the other. As many children who were easing into teenage hood, she wanted to set herself apart. She started to dress differently from her peers and spent her free time on intellectual hobbies like reading the classics or educating herself on history since this was the person she wanted to become. Whenever there was a trend, she would follow the counter culture, not on purpose but it always turned out that way. One day she read the credit section of a promotional pamphlet of a musical and realized she wasn’t the only Kim Soyoung involved in the work. She began to hate how common her name was and begged her mom to change it until she complied. Her dad was completely out of the picture at that point, he had been absent and forgetful about his daughter until neither party bothered to keep a relationship. It had frustrated her when she was younger but at the age of twelve she looked at it from a point of acceptance. There were people in her life that were meant to stay and the rest could leave for all she cared.

Somang kept working in musicals but as she grew older, her roles became smaller as she had to compete with young adults for roles and the production team would rather hire someone that majored in musical acting than a teenager who had to spend half of her day in school. At the same time, Somang started to be interested in idols for the first time. She admittedly was a Kpop hater when she was younger because of her dislike for popular culture, but after she watched a performance that included idols who acted in musicals, she gained interest in Kpop. She knew that not everything in front of the cameras was real but there seemed to be groups whose bonds seemed authentic. And Somang started yearning for that kind of connection, daydreaming what it would be like to have friends with whom you build up a musical career together, travel abroad and perform for thousands of people.

 

Her mom tried to soften the blow of disappointment that she expected and told her it would be difficult to become a trainee since she didn’t fit into the beauty standard. But Somang didn’t care, she knew about her strengths, her vocals and her determination and even though she was only one who believed in herself, she never doubt her chances of success. She just kept on, auditioning until she got a callback.

LIKES:
☆ musical theater, she grew up on that and has a lot fond memories of life behind the scenes. She enjoys the way a story is told both through music and acting and the experience of seeing actng live in theater is way more emotional for her thanan ything ona screen.
☆ 'epic' sounding music - now, she's talking mainly about broadway numbers. It's not the only thing on her playlist though, some rock songs, power ballads and power metal also make the cut.
☆ the 'classics' of literature - Shakespeare, Tolstoi, Hugo, Kafka. She loves literary writing that has more substance than a beach read and to research the historical context of a story, the political climate and the author's biography. 
☆ (parts of) Europe, France in particular - she always wanted to go abroad to the city of love. The theatre featured a lot of plays originally from West and South European countries so she wants to visit those.
☆ stories involving fate - Somang believes there are things that are meant to be for her and the thought that the Universe decides to lead you in a certain direction seems oddly comforting.
☆ tattoos - she thinks it's beautiful to ink something you love on your skin so it stays permanently with you.
☆  vintage things - vinyl records, old hollywood movies, retro appliances and furniture, old cars. somang loves the old aesthetics, the nostalgic factor and old soul vibes.
☆ the color red - it's the color of love and passion, it's bold and dramatic, both the color itself and the meaning people attribute to  it appeal to her.
☆ She likes femme fatales in stories, their power and confidence, though Somang doesn't really see herself excelling in that role.

 

DISLIKES:
☆ mainstream culture - Somang doesn't want to admit it but she has a secret bias against popular things. That includes most songs at the top of the charts, fashion trends and iphones.
☆ fake lashes and circle lenses - she thinks it gives you a doll-like appearance and if there is anything Somang doesn't want to look like, it's a doll.
☆ people that care too much about visuals. she knows, it's partly her fault she experiences so much lookism since she debuted in an industry in which appearances matter but even so, some people take it way too far.
☆ performers who can't perform. there are so many hopefuls in the performing arts that chances shoud not be granted to those who aren't ready for it.
☆ the bitter taste of coffee; she prefers tea or hot chocolate in the mornings
☆ bitter food in general
☆ being corrected - she tends to double-down on her opinions.
☆ anything that has the slightest chance of damaging her voice - she hates when people smoke around her, when she has to use her voice despite being sick and she refrains from yelling and other misuse.
☆ people who have a problem with something but shy away from confrontation - especially if it involves her. she would rather get criticized than have someone talk behind her back. (she doesn't realize yet that she's bad at handling criticism)

 

HOBBIES:
☆ Anything involving music - performing, listening to it, watching hour-long youtube analyses on singing and the music choices in certain movies.
☆ Reading - poetry, the classics or biographies
☆ Journalling - would she still have released the book if she didn't meticulously record everything that happen in those 7 years?

 

HABITS:
☆ She usually has a slumped, forward-head and rounded shoulder posture except when she's performing. She's trying to get rid of it but old habits die hard.
☆ She chips at her nail polish until her nails are ruined, it's a habit she does without thinking.
☆ Somang purses her lips right when she's about to get mad.
☆ When it's cold, she will constantly move, jump up and down, run on the spot, etc. to get warmer.

 

ASPIRATIONS: Her dream is to play Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. She'd also like to become best friends with her group members and find success together.

TRIVIA:

☆ Somang has a love-hate relationship with Disney. There are a lot of Disney songs she likes but she has qualms with each of their adaptations, doesn't like which songs they chose to remake and how they arranged them and some of the changes in the storylines.
☆ Her favorite color is a deep red, like stage curtains.
☆Every few months she tries to get into sewing her own clothes because she thinks it would be a creative hobby, but she always quits after a few hours since it seems so boring after she starts.
☆ As a child (early elementary school age) she was obsessed with Cats (the musical) and she'd wear cat ears when she'd go out and pretend she was a cat. She went a little overboard with her cat impersonations to the point that even she cringes when thinking back and to her despair her mom loves telling people about it.
☆ Her Pyxis bias is Euichan since he seems the most passionate about music, though she is not a big fan.
☆ She has a diary in which she writes very long entries for almost each day.
☆ She's never flown on an airplane before. Actually, the only vacations she's ever had are her school trips which weren't very enjoyable. Her mom never cared about travelling and didn't see a reason to spend money on trips with her daugther.
☆ She wants to have a lot of DIY self-made objects but usually doesn't enjoy the process of making them that much.
☆ Pinterest of Kim Somang
☆ Her MBTI came out as a ENTP-T but she disagrees as she thinks the Performer (ESFP) would suit her better. In reality she's more of an introvert and a judging person, probably an INFJ.
☆ She turns the 'A' of her name into a star when doing her autograph.
☆ She doesn't really have a beauty routine, just uses very cheap drugstore products whenever she feels like it.
☆ Somang collects semi-precious stones.
☆ Somang doesn't like any kind of exercise. She especially hates gym work and detests running on a treadmill.
☆her favorite weather is the damp gloom after a rain, when the air smells like petrichor
☆ she thinks reality TV is stupid and only attention seekers would ever star in such shows
☆ she enjoys visiting museum exhibitions and will buy bookmarks from all the exhibits she went to.
☆ she's not good at painting or drawing but once in a while tries to paint. she usually gets heavily inspired by art she saw online and won't post it publically since Somang doesn't think she's good enough.
☆ So far she hasn't been interested in writing her own songs.
☆ Her best subjects at school were music and history, though she generally was an average student.
☆ She has never been to Jeju and doesn't see the need to. It's difficult to not associate the island with her dad.
☆ Citrus fruits leave a tinging sensation on her palate though that rarely stops her from eating them.
☆Somang doesn't really care for diets, in her opinion a singer is supposed to sing.
☆She will save fanarts of herself and use them as her background screen.
☆ She doesn't understand English lyrics so she uses her own imagination to come up with the meaning of a foreign song. When she finds out the actual lyrics, she often feels disappointment.
 

☆ A playlist representing Somang would be named 'Songs to Cover ' and contain:
The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In) - Hair the Musical
Achilles Come Down - Gang of Youths
The Time Warp - The Rocky Horror Picture Show
I Won't Say (I'm in Love) - Hercules Original Motion Soundtrack
The Phantom of the Opera - The Phantom of the Opera
Shoot Me - Day6
On My Own - Samantha Banks (Les Miserables)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Lorde

STAGE NAME: Somang
POSITION: vocalist
TALENT TWIN: Haseul (Loona)

TRAINEE SINCE: 10/2019
TRAINEE PERIOD: As soon as she heard a project group is training for debut, Somang tried her best to become a part of that, not caring that her loud singing was disrupting other trainees.
She was eventually chosen. During her training she was hardworking but so focused on herself that she didn't pick up on other people's emotions.

(read the intro for more)

STRENGHTS:
Performing, Somang comes alive on stage, she is confident and oh so charming. She sends her brightest smile to the camera, her twinkling eyes are outshining the rhinestones of her eye make up and she bounces around in a display of joy. She never felt an ounce of stage fright in her life, always does her best, can deal well with malfunctions and is an absolute delight to watch in high energy songs.
Singing, Somang is musically trained. She claims to have perfect pitch (which might not be true) and her range is quite impressive though she is trained in musical theatre and not pop.
(more to be announced)

WEAKNESSES:
Variety, Somang is not good at reading the room. She doesn't know how to make people like her personality. She often doesn't know the line between witty and rude, confidence and arrogance, being entertaining and being just loud and annoying. Even if it goes well 90% of the time, at some point she'll mess up when a script isn't involved.
y or hip hop concepts. Unfortunately, Somang's idol performances are less versatile than she wants to. Of course a 15-year old who looks her age wouldn't suit a y concept but she also struggles portraying a bad girl, somehow her expressions are just a little too much, the furrow in her eyebrows almost a parody of what she's trying to portray. Her performance is theatrical, meant for a live audience and thus too exaggerated for the hd-cameras of inkigayo.
Losing games. Somang is and has always been a sore loser.
Dancing. It's not horrible but at the time of debut, Somang's movements aren't sharp and clean. She'll rush through the more difficult parts of the choreography and the transitions between two consecutive movements.

(more to be announced)