Im Tae Hyun [North Korea/ DPRK]

These streets so fixed and solid
Were shimming with hate

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"Thus far, you have been adrift in the sheltered harbor of my patience. "[/center][/size]

And everything that I relied on
Disappeared

Country: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK – or otherwise known as North Korea)
Name: Im Tae Hyun
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Profession: At the moment, drugstore counter-boy. It’ll change by next week – you can count on that.
Highlander or Lowlander?: Lowlander

All the strangers look like family
All the family look so strange

Appearance: Tae Hyun has a dark, almond-like shade of hair that drapes across his face when not held back. He usually keeps his hair tied in hair-tie and braided to keep it from getting in the way. Although most would say it’s kept messy, Tae Hyun refuses to cut it short as he had been once forced to at a young age. His average day is seemingly a pile-up of delivering an array of products for his occasional side jobs and his clothes show it. Having left the Lowland orphanage at 13, Tae Hyun would have much preferred the easier life of a Highlander, as his parents once were. He now resides in the ‘ghetto’ of the Lowlands, scrambling for what little he can hold – mostly his scrapped bike, mail-carrier bag, and few clothes, including his signature ‘OSAKA 76’ jacket that is believed to have survived from one of the previous ‘nations’ of the world.

Personality: Having lived in isolation and solitude for the most of his life, Tae Hyun tends to keep to himself. He has no known friends or family other than one of the Lowland’s postal service man whom hires Tae Hyun out every once and a while. While he does enjoy the crowds of the market place, he can usually be found in the dump where he asides as well as scraps and rebuilds bikes and auto-parts. Here he has plenty of space to talk things over with himself and focus on what he takes as the true purpose in life; personal gain. Though when confronted with others, he will most likely try and avoid direct conversation or contact. Speaking with a melancholic and still tone, Tae Hyun holds a surprisingly strong vocabulary for one with such little a formal education.

History: Not much is known of Tae Hyun’s childhood. Having been told he was made off an upper-class family, he was somehow landed in a Lowlander’s orphanage and has hated the entire Low/High vertical since. As of ‘graduating’ from the orphanage’s school system at 12, moving out at 13, and taking up residency in a local garage, Tae Hyun was able to hold on a job as a auto-mechanic for a good two years until he was fired due to the suspicion of supposed ‘gang activity’. Since then, Hyun has lived on his own, settling down on his side jobs of store delivery and whatever else he can pick up around the Lowlands. Though he remains satisfied for now, Tae Hyun can and will do whatever it takes to make his way back up to the top of the so called ‘High-life’ of his family.

The very family that damned him to this wrenched life.

Recurring nightmare: Ever since his separation from his brother, all Tae Hyun has ever wanted to do is prove himself right as well as stronger than his family. Having developed a strong bond with his communist old brother, Hyun holds close to the hope of surviving, as his mere existence as a nation and human depends on his distance from his southern brother. Fear: destruction.

The only constant I am sure of
Is this accelerating rate of change

Likes:

> Business attire – Although the majority of his ‘closet’ consists of thrift store bargains and scraps donated by the ‘better people’ just happening walk by, he has a soft spot for traditional wear of the Highland’s workforce. He once went a month without a sure food supply just to help pay for a fancy button-down shirt he had found in a local shop.
> Thunderstorms – Although it’s a dread to escape from the heavy rain, especially in the scraps of Solus, Tae Hyun can’t help but stand out and face the cold and bearing face of an on-coming storm. It holds a certain exhilaration in his heart that reminds him of a certain dream he once had, one of war and the graciousness of a ruling victory.
> Solitude – Isolation was something Hyun never could take for granted. He would often wander off by himself when he was younger and would think to himself, even for a child, planning of the future. As Tae Hyun is no stranger to the cruel and testing face of the ‘real world’, he doesn’t mind most of the ‘not-so-everyday’ horrors of society.


Dislikes:

> Family – How could he appreciate any sort of family when all he’s ever held is rejection? Besides, family is just blood.
And that’s only good spilled…
> Books – Hyun hates to read, though he hasn’t done so much. He’s more of the ‘see-do’ type.
> Conversations – With him? No, just…no.
> Heat – Without a sure source of air-conditioning, Hyun can’t stand the thick, still island air, especially during the summer months. He tends to hike up to the local sports center where the public gym is kept open 24/7 on especially hot nights.

Downside up, upside down
Take my weight from the ground

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Roleplay Sample:

Little kids were his weakness. They always were. So innocent, so easily taken advantage of…

“Here you are, little guy.” He said with a small smile. “You like it?”

Tae Hyun held out his hand-scrapped and made junk-yard bicycle. He had recently pasted a few advertising posters up around the Lowland and had gotten a few passer-bys at the local postal-mart where he could deal out his array of bikes and scooters he had made himself. Although his best were kept for himself, he didn’t ‘cheap-out’ on the others. He liked it when people bought from him. Not only did it keep his stomach full, but his reputation as an excuse for a ‘business-man’ felt only a few more steps away from coming true.

The child’s mother stepped forward to pay the teen. Though her fear of the ‘dangerous person’ was obvious, Hyun greeted and thanked her with a reassuring smile. It was only with customers he was this way - so that the obvious stare from his friend, the post-man, was to be expected.

“Enjoy” He said as the woman and child walked off. “Needs any repairs, just let me know.”

Pocketing the most of the change, he handed a few bills to the postal man. “Here.”

“Nope.” The man waved off the proposal almost immediately, “Them yours; through and through.”

Shoving them at the elder, he grabbed his spray-painted custom-deck bike and was off.

“I may not play fair but at least spare me the means of pay!” He said with a small smirk as he rode off.

The sun was setting fast and if he wanted to get into the junk yard before dark he would have to hurry. The supermarket would close soon and with this pay, he would be eating fresh made sandwiches for the rest of the month.

“Man.” He sighed, “If only them stiff-jaw Highlanders could see me now. Actually working for my living; ha! Imagine that!”

Falling deep in the sky
Slipping into the unknown

Out of Character
Name/Nickname: Katherine (aka Michael Wang/Hong Kong)
Timezone: EST
Any other information: I’m actually going to beg here for critique – I’ve never held an OC before, not even for an rp, so I’m nervous. Basing this off of Lo-wah’s since that’s practically canon now. PLEASE slap me if you think something’s off - I’m just another person with an unsure standpoint on the whole N. Korea deal so don’t mind me :’D

You pull me in…
P u l l

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