　　　♫　THE XX'S HWI DREAMS OF RISING HIGHER

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basics

si hwiseul

5 june 1997 (22)

jindo island

jin-do

korea

seungkwan (svt)

mj (astro)

appearance and style

Hwiseul is the shorty with the homely face and the big smiles. He's sunshine, honestly, with absolutely squishable cheeks and zero smoulder skills at all (what is he doing in this group again??). He often hears that he doesn't have the face or the aura of an idol and comments like that hurt him but he can't deny it's true. He's more like that kid who could be your classmate but now with frizzed hair and clearer skin that you'd think possible thanks to that impressive expensive skincare routine (call him for a cf pls).

He has no fashion sense either, that problably doesn't help the aura thing. Hwiseul is the kind of guy who wears above the knee shorts and a long sleeved shirt and thinks it looks ok. What the , Hwiseul. He'd probably wear socks and sandals if Youngho wouldn't rip them off his feet within a second of noticing. Honestly he just doesn't see what looks good or not, some people have this ability to instantly make something fashionable, or make it look so with their confidence alone. Hwiseul has neither eye for fashion nor any kind of confidence at all, he's doomed.

If it weren't for stylists and Youngho he would make a fool of himself every airport photoshoot. Now he only makes a fool of himself about a third of the airport photoshoots. Progress!

#168cm but his profile says 170 #61kg

personality

Hwiseul is, to his core, a Sweet Kid. A Good Egg. A Bean, if you will.

On his best days he's like a ray of sunshine on a beach with a refreshing breeze. He's a chipper kid, not exactly energetic but he tries to just see the better in things and he always has a quip or stupid joke to lighten a mood. When he's good and comfortable this guy is hilarious, really he'd do great on variety if only they let him and he trusted himself enough. He's great at just playing along, and he's certainly not without bite. Some surprisingly sharp and sarcastic things come out of his mouth, but in the end there's always a smile.

Hwiseul has little filter when he gets excited, he tends to just floop out whatever comes to mind and oh boy is it really dumb sometimes. The first thing he said to Suhyun on their first date was "nice night for an evening."

He can be a little awkward at times, Hwiseul isn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to social clues. He's the guy who just keeps talking while the manager is already using The Glare and another guy has to elbow him in the ribs to shut him up. When he gets nervous (and he gets nervous rather easily) he just keeps talking and talking and talking, digging himself into a hole while his filterness brain just throws whatever it thinks up right out of his mouth. This wouldn't be super great for an idol if Hwiseul wasn't generally harmless. He's a nervous self-depreciater too, oof this miskin.

One of the best things about Hwiseul is his imagination. He can look at a cloud and see the most marvelous dragon where Suhyun might squint and just see a blob. He's a dreamer at heart, for someone who can talk as much as he does, Hwiseul is most comfortable just staring out of the window on a rainy day and letting his thoughts wander to all the corners of his mind. This Hwi can be insightful and creative and a little cooky and weird honestly. That is, if his thoughts don't wander into the dark parts of his mind, and the pathway can be sneaky.

It's the insecurities, you know the ones that make you clamp up and break out in sweat whenever you have to do something that's out of the comfort zone. And the ones that come part and parcel with the industry. The Idol Factory can break those who actually fit the beauty standards, those who do not don't stand a chance. At least he's holding on, telling himself it's fine that he doesn't have a lot of fans, it's fine that he doesn't have a lot of lines, it's fine that he's basically used for his voice. What more can he expect from the business, right? Someone like him? He's just happy to be here, and the pay is pretty great now that the debts are finally paid off.

And now he's supposed to deal with the fact that the hottest idol in the company in every sense of the word is... into him?He. Awkward sweet little Si Hwiseul. The kid who, when the music bank mc said "good luck with your performance", replied with "you too" and then wished he would melt into the ground. That Si Hwiseul? Like, how does he even compute that? Where does he even begin??

#good #funny #positive #impulsive #nervous #nofilter #dreamer #awkward #dumb #selfconcious #imaginitive

pre-debut history

Hwiseul is a little country boy, born and raised on an island in that corner of Korea that's like going back in time 200 years ago + questionabel cell service (but breeds some dope dogs). He was raised by a single mother after his father moved to the big city and never returned. He never knew his dad, he left when Hwiseul was about 4 years old, and to him it was normal. Besides, he wasn't really raised by a single mother, he was raised by the whole village.

His mom runs a small convenience store in a smaller village on the island. Half of the stock was local produce, the other half came in from te mainland. He used to help around the shop, restocking or when he was older minding the counter when his mom was away. She always kept him close, and boy or not she was damned if she wouldn't teach him the sacred art of Making The Kimchi (and other cooking). He even used to help the surroudning farms during harvest season to earn some extra money. He was known to have a very sweet voice, he'd often sing when he was alone in the store and get extremely embarrassed when a village ahjumma came in with a huge smile, admitted that she'd been listening to him for like fifteen minutes. The ahjummas and halmonis doted on him and spoiled him rotten.

His mother was a little disappointed when Hwiseul expressed his desire to become a singer. His help around the shop was appreciated and she selfishly wantedto keep her only child close, she'd been hoping he'd find a nice girl and settle down and inherit the shop someday. Still, she relented because his voice really was beautiful and, as she said, it would've been a shame to keep that voice all to herself. Meanwhile Hwiseul proudly told her that he was going to be famous and buy her a house that didn't leak in monsoon season.

So little Hwiseul was sure that all he needed to become a singer was a beautiful voice, all he needed to succeed was talent. He was so sure of it, this poor naive soul. All companies turned him down in his first round of auditions. All but one turned him down in his second attempt. And thus, little Hwiseul traveled to the big city to become a idol at High Rise Entertainment!

idol history

Hwiseul isn't really sure what he's doing here. Okay no he knows what he's doing here, he's here to make the group sound good, but man he's not great at the whole broody moody cool boy group thing. He's a smiler! Let him smile in photoshoots!! Seriously he has like 2 photoshoot faces, smile or blank, and only one of them looks nice you're doing this to yourselves HRE.

He was so hopeful at first even though he didn't feel comfortable with the concept he'd gotten. He was a naive little ray of sunshine who was sure that everything was going to end up exactly as he wanted it to be. Spoiler alert: it didn't. He's generally comfortable renegated to one of the least popular members, center time is unthinkable unless he has lines, and he's really just there to make them sound good.

Still, he keeps his head up high. He really does like the group and he doesn't begrudge the members anything. Besides, it's not all bad! Sure the tours are tiring and he sometimes has real self-worth issues when he feels the applause he gets isn't for him, but performing in and of itself is like a high, he loves it. He took to dancing quite well too, he loves that too! And once their debt was paid off, the paychecks were very quite nice. And he sees how some of the members get mobbed in public if the fans are near and, really, being one of the least popular members really does have its perks!

So, overall assessment: mixed bag. He's happy that he did it, being an idol is really enjoyable for him a lot of the time and he's not sure what else he would've done anyway besides live and die on Jindo. He loves having a group to rely on for thick and thin, they're the bunch of idiots he calls family. But it's also not as fulfilling as he thought it would be, you know? Could be worse, could be better? He kinda likes the togetherness (the moments in the practice room or the hype in the van or the chill days at the dorm. The moment of satisfaction after a concert wrapped up and they know it was a team effort.) more than the actual idol spotlight things. Is that weird?

idol life

Still lives in the dorm even though technically the fact that they share their revenue means he has enough money to afford a place of his own. He's too weenie to take the step, the dorm is familiar, s are familiar, they're family even. Still, he'd like to have privacy someday (and oh god his own shower), just taking that step is hard, you know?

Despite how it feels to him, he does have some fans. Fans who've noticed that when he's comfortable (like in chill the XX shows and vlives) he can be absolutely hilarious. Hwiseul roasting s has become a rare treat. Still, twitter might retweet gifs of sassy Hwiseul moments, at fansigns and at concerts it's so so obviously who the fans are really rooting for and it ain't him.

idol/trainee profile

hwi

main vocal

twin: seungkwan

3 years @ hre

group members

Alexa, play Seventeen's Hit me up for collabs!

NAM YOUNGHO

How is he so perfect at everything? It's extremely annoying. Youngho suits the concerpt so perfectly and Hwiseul won't lie he's a little (a lot) jealous of how easily Younho pulls a smoulder out of his while the girls (and some boys) scream. Hell, even HIS heart beats a little faster sometimes, the power this man has is too much-

But the real Youngho that Hwiseul knows is the loud who is embarrassingly in love with that Berri Bell girl, the guy who throws an arm around him during a fansign and always makes him feel included, a harmless overly sappy loudmouth who is way less suave than his smoulders would have you assume. Add Woong and you've got a trio of dummies.

Youngho is his best friend within the group, he really only has one flaw: why is he so stupidly tall?? It's an affront to humanity.

Song suggestions for the XX:

Stray Kids - Miroh

Seventeen: Fallin Flower

relationships

HWANG WOONG
trainee

The best friend he had to leave behind.

Age was never a big thing for Hwiseul, when a wide-eyed Woong first joined the group of rambunctuous HRE trainees Hwiseul took it upon himself to show it around the two just clicked. It broke Hwiseul's heart more than Woong when the latter never actually got to join the group. He's the best maknae the never had. Thankfully Hwiseul knows just the corners of the company to find him, and when Woong started choreographing for them too it wasn't so hard to still spend time with him, given it fit in the prince's schedule of course

"how am I the idol and are you the one most difficult to pin down?!"

Hwiseul tells Woong most things, he's incredibly open with him and there are kakao chat logs that would be as thicc as the encyclopedia if printed out where Hwiseul keeps him informed of literally everything that happens on tour

"omg omg I have to tell you what just happened, I swear Paris is trying to kill Youngho!!!"

He doesn't really think about the fact that it might hurt Woong to constantly hear about their exploits without him, Hwiseul is just talking to his best friend and trying to keep him up to date on his life and the stupidity they all get into. He does feel eternally guilty for being in the group while Woong is sitting at home and feels very bad for complaining about the things that bother him. Here he is, complaining that the fans don't love him enough when he's a debuted idol with more money than he really knows he has or what to do with. Boohoo, right? But he's so open and has so little filter that those things still come out.

"If only you'd have the godly vocals I do, they wouldn't have to drag me out just to do the high note- oh , sorry I didn't mean to-"

So it should come to no surprise that the first person he ran to after Suhyun asked him for a date was Woong. He's the one constantly bombarded by Hwiseul's doubts and excitement and huge case of impostor syndrome. Hwiseul is older but oof is he completely incapable of anything girls on a normal day, let alone Seo ing Suhyun.

"WOONG WHAT DO PEOPLE DO ON DATES"

"Idk go to Han river?"

"Right! Han River! Wait no this is Seo Suhyun people will recognize her literally right away!!

"Then a restaurant?"

"HER FACE IS ON SOJU BOTTLES WOONG KEEP UP"

"Wait did you say Seo Suhyun?"

"Like THE Seo Suhyun????"

If Woong confides in him about the doubts he has he'd probably initially say te worst possible thing like try to convince him to stay because, well, Hwiseul is miserable sometimes but that doesn't mean Woong will be, right? right?? He think he's doing the right thing by trying to alleviate Woong's doubts cause he's probably just having stage fright right? Like, debut is coming soon and she's nervous, Hwiseul gets that. I mean Hwiseul still has imposter syndrome to this day like HE GETS IT. But that's probably not what Woong actually needs and Hwiseul might take a little bit to see that because he's a sweetie who's not very smart ok. But in the end, all Hwiseul wants is for Woong to be happy however that is. Who else is there for him quite like Woong?

NAM RIYE
ursa member

Being friends with Youngho, you kinda get to know the other Nams as well there's no escaping it. Hwiseul still thinks Riye is super intrimidating and definitely terrifying. Every time Youngho casually drags him into the studio to stop by his sister Hwiseul thinks this is it, this is the day I die. Still, he does think she's really cool and the music she makes is hecking great (even if she's even more terrifying when he's behind the glass of the recording studio. Only bops with this one, none of that soft ballad stuff. He kinda likes how a lot of the songs she makes for them were kinda made with Ursa in mind like that gives it a cool sorta gender neutrality that they're doing them now???

He blurted that out at her in the studio once and felt like combusting on the spot.

PARK HAREUM
agate member

Hareum trained with boys of the XX for as long as Hwiseul's been a trainee. They always assumed he'd end up being the leader, he lead the trainees for ages, was the oldest around and was pretty damned good at it. And then he didn't and it broke Hwiseul's heart almost as much as the removal of Woong.

Hwiseul and Hareum are friendly though Hwiseul never talks to him as much as he probably should. Hareum was always a big brother/leader figure to him, not exactly a friend, and they've now grown apart a little. He's the kind of friend where Hwiseul doesn't talk to him often but when he does it's always like old times and he always tells himself he should hang out with Hareum more! Involve him in his life! And then he never does until he talks to him again a couple months later and rinse and repeat.

Whoever ends up the leader of the XX has huge shoes to fill.

IM SHION
ursa member

Shion has always been his Ursa bias (shht don't tell Suhyun). Something about her positive energy and sweetness just spoke to him. Maybe it's because they're not too different, the two of them, or at least were not. Shion's depression and tiredness with the industry is a place he could very well go if he didn't have the support network he has and if he doesn't take care of himself and his mental health.

Once his affiliation with Suhyun brings him to actually interact with Shion and not just admire her from afar they get on quite well and Hwiseul sees through her smiles far before Suhyun ever does. If anything he becomes something of a connector, Hwiseul's good influence over Suhyun gets her to accept vulnerability more readily while Hwiseul's similarities to the way Shion used to be vs. how she is now serve as an eye opening contrast.

trivia

He's a great singer but he has no interest in the production side of things. He also doesn't really like ballads even though HRE really wants him to sing those for concert. He'd much rather be shaking his booty!

He hates insoles SO MUCH but he has to wear them to make up for the height difference on his profile.

He has a crazy amount of Jin-do ahjummas and halmeonis rooting for his success and buying their albums. His mother often texts him with the photocards they've gotten, and if they get Hwiseul they always give them to his mother who puts literally all of them up on a board in her shop. The few stans Hwiseul has have picked up on this and sometimes one will travel to the supermarket and present Hwiseul's mother with a photocard and they'll take a photo with her and she sends it to him on their chat and Hwiseul dies a little of embarrassment but also appreciation.

His mom handles his finances, Hwiseul has no idea of the concept of money tbh.

Usually one of the last to grasp a difficult choreo but he can keep up.

Unironically loves doing girl group dances. Is very bad at it.

He's pretty open-minded but he also has very little filter and insensitive things will blurt out sometimes. But also the kind of person who will apoligie 500 times if you actually let him know what he said is insensitive and he will never do it again.

Put him in a haunted house and he will scream but is also most likely to hit the ghost purely out of reflex. Does jump easily with horror movies cause he gets REALLY absorbed by the atmosphere, he'll be leaning forward with wide eyes clutching a pillow and he will scream, but will also be the first to laugh at himself.

He's constantly on and off a diet but is horrible at following one. He did starve himself after debut but his apple cheeks didn't slim anyway so what's the point??

love interest

seo suhyun

31 march 1993 (26)

ursa

idol

naeun (apink)

personality

See: here!

love story

The concert was exhausting for Hwiseul. On the one hand it was really fun to stand on stage with people he doesn't usually stand on stage with (standing on stage with Woong?? Simultaneoulsy the best and saddest thing he's done tbh) and it was nice not to have to be dancing and singing for the entire evening (a walk in the park compared to The XX's world tours), on the other hand he had to share the audience with even more people than usual.

So, at the afterparty, there was food and booze and friends and everything was great and he might have had a bit too much to drink and, in a spark of rebelliousness and to make himself feel better, he grabbed a box of macarons from the dessert table and snuck to the hall to eat one so the manager wouldn't see. He'd had a few shoots with the things, they were just so danged pretty, but the manager was always watching like a hawk to make sure he didn't actually eat one and he was really curious to know what they actually tasted like.

He'd just taken a bite when, around the corner, Seo ing Suhyun comes along. And he's staring at her with a mouth full of really pretty disappointing macaron.

"May I have one?" she asks. He really wishes he could melt right into the floor now and never take solid form again. He holds out the box, she grabs a macaron, and she says exactly what he was thinking. "I've done so many shoots with these things but we never got to eat one."

"Me too!!!" he says a little to excitedly.

She takes a bite of the disappointed macaron and makes a face of disappointment.

"Gross, isn't it?" he can't help but laugh. "All this buildup, I really thought it'd be better!"

They actually chat a bit, Hwiseul screams inside his head the entire time that omg omg omg he's actually talking to Seo Suhyuni and of course he can't keep his big stupid mouth shut and somehow starts telling the story of Youngho and Paris when-

"Do you want to go on a date with me?"

"And so this Parisian comes up to Youngho and- wait what?!"

"Do you want to go on a date with me?

He dies on the spot. Everything that happens after is really part of a zombie movie. "A-a date? With you???"

"A date. With me."

She's looking at him expectedly with those big beautiful eyes and that beautiful face while his brain is trying so hard to process this new information. "Eh- I- wha- Y-yes??" he stammers. Wait did he just say yes???

She smiles and he heart does its very best to thump right out of his chest and onto the floor. "Great! Please add your number so we can plan something. What are you doing next Sunday?"

"Training, probably?"

There's just a spark of mischief in her eyes. "Ok, I'll see you then. Oh, what did you say your name was?"

He almost forgets his name then and there. "S-Si Hwiseul."

She swings her purse over her shoulder and takes back her phone. "It was great to meet you Hwiseul, I look forward to next Sunday!"

And thus starts Hwiseul's adventure dating the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Did he say yes because he was so taken aback that he didn't know what else to say? Heck yeah. But it turns out that Suhyun is less intimidating than he thought she'd be. Taken alone, she's reall quite interesting and has sharp observations and a loud laugh he loves inciting. She seems so mysterious, and at first that's really attractive, but then the layers are peeled and she's just a person with fascinating observations, harsh words, but free smiles. And he likes it.

It's not all easy fo course. Hwiseul doesn't get along very well with her friends, they intimidate him and they bring out the worst more y side of Suhyun, a side that Hwiseul really doesn't like very much. Most of all they make him feel like a wee child, not super great. There is also the fact that she is very emotionally unavailable at times and he doesn't like it. When the honeymoon period is over he feels that if they want to make this work somehow she will have to open up to him.

They have a good influence on each other and maybe this weird impromptu relationcan work? Maybe it can't and they were destined to fail? Either way totall works, and either way this adventure will be more than either of them bargained for.

thexx_hwi.txt

Hwiseul often feels out of place in his own life. He doesn't fit the image of the group, he's pretty sure he's on the bottom of the rung where fans are concerned, sometimes he stands on stage and is only called on to sing the high note the better looking members don't have the skills to pull off and wonders why is he even here?

And then the legendary Seo Suni expressed interest in him, him, the XX's ugly ling vocalist.

And then he got swept away into yet another net of feeling out of place. He's starting to feel like he'll always be the odd one out, the one forgotten on the sidelines.

Then Suhyun looks at him with that all-encompassing gaze of hers and he drowns all over again.

Si hwiseul

the xx

luigi-a

Finire