CHARACTER PROFILES

Moon Byulyi

• Early Life

  • Byul grew up very happy in Bucheon, and her parents gave her a lot of freedom.

  • Has 2 little sisters

  • Did ok in school, but went to half of middle school and all of highschool abroad (6 years)

  • Joined RBW when she was 18 debuted in MAMAMOO 4 years later

  • Favourites:

    • Color: purple

    • Ice Cream: green tea

    • Season: spring

    • Place: Hanagae Beach, like 25 ish miles from Bucheon

• Mamamoo

  • All mamamoo events are fairly similar

  • Moonbyul figures out she *really* likes Yongsun, and since she was given so much freedom as a child she has trouble toning it down, even in front of the cameras

  • Yongsun never really reciprocated, but Byulyi wasn’t discouraged

  • The group operated from 2014 to 2026 (12 years)

  • Yongsun got more serious with her boyfriend in 2025 (dating since 2024)

  • Towards the end they did a lot more work on soundtracks, and as features in other people’s songs

  • The group split up because they were all ready for something new in their lives

• England

  • Byul moves to England (London) very shortly after Mamamoo’s breakup.

  • She takes a bit of time to brush up on her English, and then starts giving tours through an agency to Koreans. (Also providing services as a personal interpreter)

  • At first it was an escape because she really hated having to watch Yongsun with her bf

  • After ~2 years in England she finally moved on. (She writes her letter after her first 2 years living in England)

    • The new experiences abroad helped her to let go of her pain and to be more open to change (although the memories still sting)

  • Byul meets Genevieve in her 3rd year of living in England

    • Gen is there on a business trip for a little over a week, and Byul is translating for the Korean businessmen

    • They have an instant attraction, and over the week they have together they get closer

    • They trade contact information and increase the strength of their friendship (Gen from France and Byul from England)

    • At the end of her 3rd year in England, Byul and Gen begin to date long distance

    • At the end of her 4th year in England Byul decides to move to France

• France

  • Byul and Gen live in separate apartments ~30-40 mins outside of Paris, Byul is still giving tours, and is trying to learn French to be able to pick up translating.

  • When the two decide to visit Korea, it has been 6 years since Byul left, 3 since she’s met Gen and 2 years since they've started dating

Genevieve Beausoleil

• Early Life-adulthood

  • Grew up happy, but somewhat reserved in Orleans. (1.5 hrs from Paris)

  • Father is English, mother is French

  • Was very good in school, was able to join a company based in the business district just outside of Paris

  • She helps manage international relations and PR

  • Favourites:

    • Color: green

    • Icecream: vanilla

    • Season: fall

    • Place: Jardin de l’Eveche (a park next to the Sainte-Croix d’Orleans cathedral)

• England

  • Went to England with her company to discuss a joint venture, and how they would market it

  • Meets Byul at the meetings, and they hit it off.

  • Even though she does get to travel every now and then, the fact that Byul was not technically a member of the company, and very outgoing helped their relationship get off to a fast start

• Back To France

  • Gen goes back to france, and Byul stays in England, but instead of losing touch, they gradually get to the point where they video chat every evening, and text each other throughout the day.

  • Gen asks Byul out. Not Gen’s first relationship, but her first with someone who wasn’t French. (It is however Byul’s first real relationship. She was close to a girl in highschool, but they never officially went out)

  • Now they live close to each other, and are very happy. Gen is considering bringing up moving in together

  • Gen knows about Byul’s feelings for Yongsun, and knows how long she’s had them for, but also trusts that Byul’s feelings for her are real, and that Byul doesn’t love Yongsun like that anymore, which Byul def doesn't.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

I wanted this story to be left a little open ended in some respects. Some of you have expressed a “feeling” that Yongsun is not happily married, or that there is unfinished business between Yongsun and Byulyi - perhaps lingering feelings - perhaps something else, but an overall feeling of dissatisfaction.

I will now endeavor to persuade you that the feelings elicited by the ending of this story were supposed to feel like that and that having done so, the story is in fact successful.

Here is what I was trying to go for. In my mind Yongsun’s marriage is a very complicated thing, as marriages often are. My version of Yongsun in this story is very different to Yongsun in my other story. Where “Ad Astra Yongsun” feels the pressure of society, she still, in many ways fights against it. She keeps a strong spirit and sense of self. Yongsun in this story, at least to me, is a little more susceptible to breaking under these societal pressures.

She expected to get married, have a respectable job out of the spotlight, have a few kids - like everyone else around her. Most importantly she expected never to have had feelings for another woman.

It is my understanding that in Korea being gay is still very much shunned and misunderstood, like it is in many places still.

Yongsun just isn't the type of person who could say “to hell with it all” and pursue her heart if it went against the grain. She cares what her family thinks - what the public thinks. So, when someone came along who was kind, and thoughtful, and a good person, Yongsun really had no reason to say no.

Now, she is not necessarily unhappy in her marriage, though admittedly it's not all sunshine and roses. They are way out of the honeymoon stage by now, so seeing Byulyi and Gen look at each other with such affection pulls Yongsun back to a time when it was her that Byulyi looked at.

She is definitely envious. She sees Byulyi with Gen and thinks about the exciting life they must live abroad in France. The grass is always greener on the other side. Hopefully you can see that, while she is certainly not happy, she is not pining after Byulyi, and if here are lingering feelings on her part they will not be acted upon.

In my head, she does love her husband, and they are going through a rough patch, but they are both determined to make it work. That's what being married is. In my head there is also a definite seed of regret. Because in the past, during their time as Mamamoo, Yongsun did love Byulyi. Yongsun loved her, but was unable to act on it due to the pressure.

Now for Byulyi. She is decidedly less prone to breaking under societal pressure, but simply could not stand by and watch Yongsun date and then marry someone when she knew that Yongsun loved her. Byulyi was tired of being the one who gave but seldom received. Love is not exhaustive in my opinion despite what fairytales and fantasy would have us believe. Byulyi’s love simply ran out. She still cares immensely for Yongsun, but is not in love with her anymore.

Genevieve was written to be a perfect match for Byulyi. Because from every point of view that his story was told from she is. Byulyi herself sees Gen as possibly the love of her life. Wheein and Hyejin see her as a stunning and intimidating person, but also see how she brings out a calmer side to Byulyi. Gen is reflective, thoughtful, and enthusiastic, but most importantly she is not afraid of demonstrating her love for Byulyi. She asked Byulyi out first, and she plans to ask Byulyi to move in with her at some point during their trip. She calls Byulyi “Étoile” or star in French. In this “universe” even if Byulyi and Yongsun had become a couple, Byulyi would have never been happy. Gen is the one who filled that hole.

Also look at her last name. It means beautiful sun in French. I couldn't resist throwing that in even though it is never mentioned in the story.

Now for the husband. He has no name because his name is not important. He's got a last name (that Byulyi doesn't know) because I wanted to highlight just how out of touch Byulyi and Yongsun had become. In the story his function is to highlight the contrast between where Byulyi and Yongsun are in their lives.

As for what happens after the story ends, I'd like to think that Byulyi and Gen have a great trip, and that Byulyi agrees to move in. I do have ideas about how Yongsun takes this news, but that is not extremely important. With all the information I've given you it should be evident that nothing will change. Byulyi will go back to France and Yongsun will eventually have kids.

It's meant to be a somewhat dissatisfying ending. The thing about moonsun stories is that there is a certain expectation for how their characters will interact. Previous works have created a bit of an archetype that fulfills fans’ hopes of seeing them together. I tried to play off those expectations a bit, by not only having the two not act on feelings for each other when they had them, but having the two loose those feelings and end up going completely different ways. It is jarring to read especially because it could have ended so differently. I could have kept Byulyi single - so that when she came back she would be free to steal Yongsun's heart back. I could have made the husband a -so that when Byulyi “defeated” him it would feel rewarding. I could have had the two get together and run off to France. There were so many ways to play it, but I chose one of the least satisfying endings for the audience - while also making an effort to show you, the reader, that even if they didn't end up together they're still okay.

Which sums up the feeling of this story nicely. In the end, even though not everyone got a traditionally rewarding ending, everyone is still okay. There's a feeling of incompletion because it seems like the characters could wake up the next day and continue to do meaningful things. Which I think is kinda cool.

Best,

Tom

Ps. Don't get me wrong, I love my moonsun happy endings just as much as the next guy, but every now and then we need a little injection of something new. The occasional “sad” ending makes the “happy” ones all the more rewarding.