Xiaoli

his name now is Song Taeil, aged 19 years old.

he comes from a wealthy household, has ‘daddy’ issues because his father doesn’t give any sort of attention to him unless he’s caused trouble in some way, causing his father to be forced to clean up his mess he’s made.

because of this, Taeil tends to cause/get into quite a bit of trouble from time to time, probably has been even kidnapped a few times (or can be plot idea maybe?).

he’s a university student who actually gets good grades, he’s barely passing but is only still in university due to his connections/family, seeing as he’s a troublemaker and all.

he’s always dying his hair random colors, though it’s currently dyed white atm (see visual here on hair/style)

he’s sort of big on partying with his few close friends that he has, is outgoing and playful in some ways, also has a tendency to flirt with others either because he’s slightly interested in them or just out of boredom (he’s the complete opposite of how Xiaoli is c:)

some connection/relationship ideas listed below !

someone who is also a fellow university student and doesn’t like that he gets away with a bunch of shit just because he comes from a family who can easily get him out of situations.

maybe one or two exes that he’s broken their heart in the past because “i’m just not into you anymore” or maybe he cheated (the possibilities are endless for reasons when it comes to him)

lbr it’s a mafia universe and he comes from a wealthy family so we could do something where he was kidnapped (past or present) and maybe you’re the one who kidnapped him or even saved him. (either way he’s not too worried about the whole kidnapping because he knows his father will pay the ransom and get him home, may even joke about the whole situation of being kidnapped as if it’s nothing)

maybe while he’s out at night he stumbles upon something he shouldn’t have seen which ends up getting him in some sort of trouble.

the weather was nice, as always, and xiaoli’s mother didn’t have to run any errands for the day so he decided to spend some time at a nearby cafe, enjoying some coffee while reading his current book that he had picked up on the way over. he had insisted on staying with his mother at the flower shop, however, she practically pushed him out of the door and told him to go out and have some fun, to go and spend some time with friends rather than keeping himself locked up indoors. he did about half of what she had told him. xiaoli did go out, but just ended up back indoors elsewhere.

he ended up finding himself in a corner of the cafe, occasionally sipping on his drink while holding the book he had borrowed in his hand, completely immersed into the storyline of what was happening. those around him were chatting, some on dates while others were getting their daily caffeine in.

it was peaceful just like any other day in Chromos, one of the many reasons why xiaoli loved living here. it was always nice stepping out into the world each morning and hearing the birds, seeing the smiling faces of others ( when he didn’t have his nose stuck in some book that is ), being able to enjoy nice weather without being too cold or too hot. this was just how xiaoli loved being fortunate enough to be born and experience such things on a daily basis, however, nothing could have ever prepared him, or even the other citizens of Chromos, for what happened out of the blue.

something felt different as he glances up from the book, eyebrows furrowing together when he hears one of the customers calling out to the others within the cafe to look outside. xiaoli glances out of the window, eyes narrowing slightly as he finally gets up and walks over along with the others to see what’s happening outside.

the scene before him, and the rest, is confusing. the darkness that suddenly appears is unsettling to him as something inside of him tells him that this definitely isn’t normal. nothing like this had ever happened in Chromos, the usually peaceful days they had daily now changing in an instant as the darkness approaches. then there’s a light beaming up to the sky and the panic within not only xiaoli, but the others as well, begins to set in when things take a turn afterwards.

everyone within the cafe, including xiaoli, is sent flying off of their feet. he doesn’t even have time to think as he’s flying backwards, hitting his head on one of the nearby tables hard, his vision becomes blurry before he loses consciousness.

he eventually wakes up, head throbbing as he manages to sit up slowly. xiaoli holds his head with one hand while touching the back of his head with the other, feeling something wet which causes even more confusion. was it someone’s drink he had knocked over during the impact? no, if that were the case it wouldn’t sting with the slightest touch he had just done. his hand moves and he looks at it, seeing the blood that he finally realized was his own. he grunts as he slowly stands and finally looks around, the scene in front of him horrific as he sees what’s going on around him.

most of the customers are still unconscious ( at least that’s what he thinks anyway ), though some seem to be not breathing at all. some are dead and a few who had managed to wake up are frantically trying to help in any way that they can to help those who are injured and still not awake yet.

his breathing quickens as he finally gathers his own thoughts, breaking out of the daze he’s in as he finally realizes something. stepping out of the damaged cafe, xiaoli looks around only to see the same thing going on outside that he had just seen within the cafe and that’s when he truly begins to panic. he begins running, ignoring the fact that he’s even injured, ignoring that he has a horrible headache at the moment. his only concern is getting to his mother and father. he remembers that his mother was at the flower shop while his father was planning on staying home for the day to get some writing done.

the closest of the two was his mother so he decided to check on her first, to make sure she was okay and planned to find his father afterwards, though when he gets to the shop the panic rises at the scene in front of him. his mother’s flower shop is deranged and he wastes no time rushing in to find her. he searches around frantically until his gaze falls on a figure lying on the floor, tears pouring down his face as he approaches slowly, body trembling as he kneels down. “mom?”

she’s barely hanging on as she slowly opens her eyes and looks up at xiaoli, a faint smile on her face as she does so. “son...it’s okay. please don’t cry.” he shakes his head quickly as he reaches out for her. “i’ll take you to dad, he’ll help. just hang on mom!” he says this while managing to maneuver her onto his back, standing slowly before leaving the shop and heading toward their home. the whole time he tries his best to keep his mom awake, telling her that everything will be fine, that father will help get her to the hospital. that’s what he thought at least, that is until he finally reaches home and walks inside. what he sees is horrific and has him freezing in place.

he can’t even seem to find his own voice, can’t call out to his father. it would be useless either way because just by looking at the man he can tell that his father is dead and there’s no saving him. his father has a pen pierced through his eye into his skull, and his lifeless body just lying there. the contents of the study, papers scattered all over the floor, show the disaster that had been left behind from what had happened.

"dad....” he chokes the word out through small sobs, not realizing that while he had been in shock and just standing there, that his mother had slowly slipped away and was now lifeless on his back. it’s the way her arm falls from around his neck that finally snaps him out of this daze and he glances over his shoulder as much as he can. “mom?” he carefully kneels down to remove her from his back, turning to hold her in his arms as the tears become like a waterfall.

if he hadn’t left the shop then maybe, just maybe, he could have saved her. if he had been persistent and just stayed with her then she just might have had a chance. right? his body trembles as he cries, holding her in his arms tightly while glancing over at his father’s lifeless body a few feet away from him. why did this happen? why did the usually peaceful Chromos end up this way? why did the ones he loved get taken from him so easily?

the more he questions, the more tears that fall as he cries out. he wonders why he had to be the one who lived through this instead of them, telling himself that it should be him who died and not his mother or father.

just some basics about him & his family:

from a young age he grew to love reading anything he could find, whether it was just random little stories or even materials in which others his age would find difficult to read or understand.

he spends most of his time in more quiet places such as the library, loving the 'smell' of books and the relaxation that i brings being surrounded by them.

his parents were always proud of him, always praising him for being so smart and just knowing that he would do great in anything that he did.

his father is more of a researcher, which is partially where xiaoli gained his love for reading when it came to picking up his father's self-written books. his mother is someone who owns a small flower shop, more as a hobby rather than a job really, and xiaoli will often sit in her shop to read while also enjoying the fresh smell of flowers throughout the day, even helping run the shop when his mother has to step out at times to run some errands.

he's known to be more on the friendly side, however, he's also very timid at times. despite this, he can talk someone's ear off for hours when it comes to certain things he's learned, some even having to stop him after nearly an hour of hearing him go on and on about subjects that he becomes a little too immersed in.

maybe it's because of this that he's gained such an amazing memory when it comes to memorizing either the most difficult bits of information or even the simplest things.

he's someone who could easily make friends if he weren't too timid, though he does have one best friend (current npc) who he's comfortable around and tends to sort of 'cling' to when they're around one another.

he's the type who, if really comfortable around someone, can be sort of more on the clingy side

he's always curious about new things he sees or hears about and will most likely spend hours either trying to research whatever it is through books or even going to his parents and asking about it.

he's deathly afraid of thunder and lightning, so when it's storming he can be found curled up somewhere either under some sort of cover or in some corner (if he's out in public when it starts storming)

xiaoli absolutely loves sweets and can often be seen eating on sweet snacks while he's reading whatever book he has his nose stuck in (which his mother scolds him for because of how much sugar he tends to consume if no one is there to put a limit on how much he consumes)

even though he's intelligent when it comes to information he's learned, he's also very gullible when it comes to things he knows nothing about.

some ideas we could go off of for connections:

the one who is his best friend, the one who has managed to learn how to deal with xiaoli and his love for learning things. they're also the person who can actually tear him away from the library or whatever book he's reading to get him out and get some sunlight.

maybe a regular customer at his mother's flower shop who often sees xiaoli behind the counter reading, or even sees him running the shop when his mother isn't around.

a neighbor who may think that he's kind of strange, especially since he has times where he won't leave home for a couple days because he's too immersed in reading to be bothered to go out and do anything.

someone who happens to witness him curled up in the corner of his mother's shop one day while it's storming out and maybe tries to help comfort him and keep his mind off of the weather outside.

he's probably talked about a certain boring subject that he's learned about and this person gets annoyed and finally tells him to stop talking and even tells him how annoying he is when he goes on and on like he does.