umpah umpah
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name. Do Chaewoong |
model. Lee Taeyong |
1) How do you behave in a romantic relationship? If you’ve never been in one before, how do you think you’d behave?
- chaewoong tips the ridiculous yellow sunglasses he's wearing down so he can make direct eye contact with the interviewer, pretending this was a subject to be "hush hush" about. shhhh, don't tell anyone but i'm a huge romantic. like you wouldn't expect that from someone as goofy and noncommittal in every other way, but the moment i even understood what relationships were, i fell in love with the idea of having one. i had this wagon of romance books that i'd re-read over and over again, and when i could get the opportunity, i'd watch romance movies. i got access to the internet and there's so much more material on there! soon, my head was filled with every romance trope, alphabetized from a to z. i desperately want a relationship of my own, partially because i've never been to one and partially because they're all i think about. i've spent a lot of time mulling what i'd do with partner. we'd obviously do really fun things like go skiing or traveling the world or something. but we could also do really cute stuff like lying under the stars at night, having weekly picnics, giving each other small presents everyday. oh, i'm rambling. uhh, next question please.
2) What are people’s usual first impressions of you? Are they correct?
- for this question, chaewoong pops the sunglasses back in place, as if he was about to punctuate the point he was going to make. that he was an absolute joke of a human being. class clown, that guy that probably runs a meme page on witchagram (i do!), immature, but i like to think of that one as embracing my inner child. and you know what? they're right, lol. there's not a single thing on that list that i can deny. and eh, we all know it's my only personality traits. not like there's hidden trauma or anything that provokes me to act the way i do. of course not. he coughed, the interview team exchanged annoyed glances. next question, he mumbles.
3) Have you ever been in love? If so, with who? If not, do you want to be in love?
- uhhhh, funny story. for someone who's so obsessed with love, i've never actually been in love...? haha, yeah, you see, i've never really had the time or opportunity to you know, wander into some stunningly attractive person and ask to have tea with them. it's not like there aren't stunningly attractive people around to do that to, but i was more preoccupied with um... just... living? survival. yes. that is a better word, a word i do not want to use, but is the most accurate word i can use for you to understand. chaewoong laughs uncomfortably, and for only the third question, it seems he's gotten even more awkward than before they started.
4) How do you want to be remembered by the people around you?
- anything but the poor, pitiful, charity case, honestly, chaewoong mutters, a bit of his obnoxiously cheerful and comical mask breaking. his smile turns a little solemn, but not enough for anyone else to notice. um, i want to be remembered as someone who makes people happy, he says, speaking back at normal volume. laughing is proven to be good for your health, so if i help people laugh, i'm basically a superhero right? saving lives and stuff, lol. funny story, i wanted to be a superhero when i was little. but then i realized i don't have access to the government, radioactive spiders, or money, so i gave up on it. he finishes his statement with a casual shrug and grins.
5) What is one activity that helps wind you down? Alternatively, what is one activity that does the opposite to you? Is there more than one, if so-what?
- activity that helps me wind down... chaewoong trails off, trying to think of some hobby he has that fits this category. um, i like to bike? does that count? i used to really like riding the subway and stuff but there's no subway in lincliff, which is disappointing. but um, yeah, i'm a huge biker, lol. it's how i get everywhere, i literally cannot go anywhere without it. i attach my wagons to my bike, and it's cool because i look like my own little train! there's my book wagon, my clothes wagon, my miscellaneous stuff wagon, my tech wagon. i've collected a lot of junk over the years, and as a resourceful person, i have learned to make the best out of what i have. all my wagons have secured, recycled plastic covers (that are charmed so no one steals from them, had a professor do that for me before i left for the school year, they're honestly an absolute angel), and all my electronics are built by hand! granted, i have to go through the wizco building dumpsters often to find new parts to keep it updated but... it works! realizing he never answered the second half of the question, chaewoong blinks awkwardly, realizing he talked so much he's taking up the time. well then... uh... i don't... like sitting in the rain? or rain in general. it's annoying and i have to find shelter when it rains. but on the bright side, free shower, i guess, lol.
6) What act have you made that you most regret?
- oh, we're listing stuff now? chaewoong mused, rubbing his chin. well, i'd say existing but i can't really remedy that without, y'know, he draws a line through is neck with his hand to make a killing gesture, the goofy smile on his face zapping all the seriousness of a statement like that. little did anyone know, he's thought about it before. i guess... honestly, i don't really know, he laughed. i've spent too much time trying to stay alive to regret any particular thing. maybe trying to steal from a bakery in hogsmeade? i nearly got caught and i dropped some bread in my escapade. terrible winter it was that year.
7) What is your guilty pleasure? Do you try to fight it?
- i feel like... i should lie to you, he snorted, swiveling around in his seat. because i know i'm going to get judged on these answers. but hey! anonymity. okay. um... wow, can't believe i'm admitting this to a real life person but like... i like reading and writing fanfiction. ahahaha, yeah, i know, lame, what a weirdo, yeah, yeah, laugh it up. ironically, it was dead silent in the room save for chaewoong rambling to cover up his embarrassment. i just... i don't know. i just really like it. i used to dislike myself a lot for it, but i've kind of just learned to live with it, so now i have no thoughts on it besides, 'wow, i want to write a fanfiction today'. the fanfic topic always varies. sometimes it's a show or a movie or a book, sometimes it's a band or a comic. i've always had a lot of interest in a lot of different things so i'm apart of a lot of different fandoms and read and write a lot of different stuff.
8) What was your first incident of magic and how old were you?
- wow, he guffawed. we're really getting into it now, huh? well, okay. i was six when my parents abandoned me in the streets of paris, france. i didn't realize it was happening until suddenly, they were no where in sight, and my terrified six-year-old self didn't know any better but to scream and cry for my parents. i ran around the street for a little bit, and wherever i would step, the road next to the sidewalk would bunch up. there were... a lot of car crashes, and it scared me and honestly only made the problem worse. not my proudest moment, chief.
9) What is your most vivid memory? This doesn’t have to be a good or bad memory.
- getting my pet turtle arnold! he exclaims, like this is what he's been waiting to talk about the whole time. he pulls a small, juvenile turtle out of the front pocket of his shirt, where the little guy has been contently resting for a few minutes now. it was my first year at hogwarts, and i went down to the black lake because i was feeling really down. and then this little guy comes waddling up the riverbank, and at first i wasn't going to bother him, but then, get this! he comes and sits next to me. the whole time i was there. when i stood up to leave, arnold stood up too and started following me, albeit really slowly but like, he still did! eventually i scooped him up and took him back to my dorm. and ever since, we've been best friends. right, pal? he holds up a hand to arnold the turtle, who slowly extends a webbed foot to meet chaewoong's hand.
10) What was your childhood dream? Why so? And why did it change?
- so, earlier i said i wanted to be a superhero. this is actually true. my childhood dream was to become a superhero and save people because it looked really cool in the movies and comics and tv shows, and i thought, i want to help people too! his solemn smile returns, and snickers sarcastically afterward, sounding bittersweet and even a bit angry. i got a reality check. superheroes don't exist. because if they did, they would've stopped my parents from throwing me away. so... i decided to become my own kind of superhero. for myself. because lord knows, i need it.
11) Do you have instances in your past that you’d prefer not to tell people?
- LOL yeah, more like my whole past. people always get so ':(' when you tell them you're poor and struggle to get food to eat everyday. after a few pity fests, i got sick of it and stopped telling people. besides, who really needs to know? i'm just the class clown, i'm always going to be just the class clown, and the class clown never gets a backstory nor do they need one. they're just there to entertain everyone, that's all. i'm comedic relief! and being comedic relief is okay, his voice cracks, and he doesn't even realize he's been raising his voice or getting more upset until he hears his deep breathing anchoring him to reality. he bite his lip, and then closed his eyes, taking a few moments to recollect himself before plastering that signature cheery grin on his face and sitting upright. right, where were we?
12) Were you nurtured or neglected? What is your stance on the nature vs nurture argument based on your own experience?
- is this a joke? chaewoong starts, sounding oddly neutral, not menacing but not amused. and then he breaks out into a fit of laughter, even though nothing's really funny. because it's hilarious! he slaps his knee, and the interview team is grateful that chaewoong hasn't seemed to realize no one is laughing with him. neglected, all the way. i mean, what nurturing parents leave their six-year-old in the middle of paris? not to add they were never really very nice in the first place. imagine sneaking onto a ferry at six because you think 'oh, they talked about boats so they're going to be on the giant boat!' only to end up stranded in another city but this time it's in the UK. imagine wandering the streets until some kind old soul takes pity on you and let's you stay in their hotel for a month before handing you to a children's home. and you're just confused and hurt all the years you stay in that children's home. so you run away because you think, 'i can find them, i can find them. they didn't leave me. they wouldn't leave me.' and then, and then— chaewoong's voice evens out, the emotion that was seeping into it leaving entirely, making him sound expressionless and stonecold. —you find out that not only did they leave you, they didn't give a shit about you at all. imagine.
13) What was your greatest achievement and why?
- chaewoong requests for a water break after the last question, and comes back ten minutes later, looking less irritated, but the yellow sunglasses he had been sporting earlier were nowhere to be seen. arnold, however, was still in his pocket. building my first laptop, chaewoong answers evenly. it was the first time i ever felt in control of something in my life. though, i still have to go to cafes for free wifi if i ever want to use it on the grid. it's frustrating but it is what is. i managed to jack a working sd card and that's what i use on my phone. free 4G is the only thing in the world i will be able to cherish—bar arnold. arnold is irreplaceable.
14) How's your financial situation? What's your main income? Do you rely on anyone? Do you want to rely on them or be more independent?
- well... it's a situation, he joked, back to what "seemed" to be his normal self. definitely a situation. right now, i'm working at bubble tea station for cash and stuff, but outside of hogwarts, i live wherever i can. recently, i've been hearing about some sort of backpackers' hostel in london that i might check out after this school year. it'd be nice to have a roof over my head for once... but i can't commute from london to lincliff, which is... an obvious problem.
15) Clairaudient, clairsentient, or claircognizant?
- uhhhh.... none? at least, i don't think i'm any of those. i know i'm clair-something, a professor explained it to me once. but basically see physical information and stuff. i found out in a really unorthodox way honestly, but i've been doing it for as long as i remember. i'll always just have this random facts or thoughts that i don't know where they came from, or how i know them, they're just kinda there. it's really odd. the whole reason i found out was because i thought i accidentally cheated on an exam in first year because the answer key for the first portion of the exam somehow just... hopped into my brain, i guess? and i panicked and told the professor. hey! at least i didn't cheat. even if it was on accident. i work on it now, so i'm slowly getting better at it now. i can mostly control the like... stream of information. sometimes i still get accidental like 'whoa, didn't mean to do that' visions of stuff but... for the most part, we good.
16) Would you use this ability to your advantage?
- would i? he laughs awkwardly because he honestly doesn't really know the answer regardless. he's done some not so moral things to survive on the streets, but those were always last resort. he couldn't ever see himself using his ability "to his advantage" unless it was for something good. i mostly use it to recall like... i don't know, stupid things. fun facts. stuff like that.
Do Woong