Face claim: Park Jaehyun (ulzzang)
Name: Park Jaehyun
Nickname(s)/Alias(es): Jae, little bird (used mainly by Jaemi)
Age: 21
Birth date: October 20, 1992
Species: human
Sexuality: demisexual, panromantic
Hair: dark brown, has grown long enough to reach the name of his neck, usually tousled or unstyled
Eyes: dark brown
Height: 176cm
Weight: 47kg
Appearance: Of average height, below-average weight, and both scrawny and slender in almost an unsettling way, Jaehyun had finally begun to recover from his last battle with leukemia and chemotherapy. His cheeks no longer hold that same guantness they had before, and one can no longer count his ribs like one might a xylophone, but Jaehyun is still pitifully thin, and he is often seen with more than a few bruises. He has no tattoos and the lobes of each ear are pierced once. As far as clothing goes, when Jaemi isn’t dressing him, Jaehyun prefers loose-fitting jeans, loose-fitting t-shirts, and hoodies or jackets. It was a habit of his, one used to hide his underweight body wen he was still going through chemotherapy, and old habits die hard.
Occupation: modeling, occasional street music performance, and the occasional odd job
Personality: By definition, Jaehyun is wide eyes, inexcusable curiosity, and beaming smiles. Despite the hellish hand he has been dealt in life, Jaehyun chooses optimism and hope, always believing that one way or another, he’ll survive one more day so he can keep doing what he loves -- living. It’s a fractured belief, of course, because he knows better, but Jaehyun trusts in the power of a positive mentality, and because he has proved the doctors and tests wrong, he’s going to hold fast to his belief. He’s naturally curious, seeking out information and storing it without pause, always reading and looking and searching for more. Although he doesn’t like admiting it, Jaehyun is more than a little terrified. He knows himself, knows his health, and he knows it’s failing, but he can’t allow himself to sit out on the sidelines to die, not when he wants to live every single moment as fully and loud as he can.
Background: The way that Jaehyun sees things, his heart is missing screws and he himself is living on borrowed time. Born with a weak heart, Jaehyun was told that he would always be a weak, helpless child, assuming he even survived his first birthday. He did, of course, survive, and though Jaehyun was consistently sick through his childhood, he continued to grow stronger and flourish up until just before his thirteenth birthday when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At that moment, questions and insecurities that Jaehyun had kept secret for years fell into the open and into place. For two years he fought, undergoing chemotherapy sessions and other therapies until, finally, he could claim that he was in remission. His happiness lasted up until shortly before he turned seventeen. Two years after the remission began, Jaehyun had a relapse, and the fight resumed. When Jaehyun was twenty, he went into remission for a second time. The doctors told him that his body was reaching a breaking point, and that with his health as poor as it was, he would be lucky to live another year. If the leukemia returned, he wouldn’t survive more than three months, because chemotherapy, at that point, was no longer a viable option. His health held, for the most part, and Jaehyun worked through their year and then some. Now his health is deteriorating again, and with the awareness that any day may be his last, Jaehyun is living large, living free, and enjoying every minute of it.
Other: Most of his life, Jaehyun has been fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, also referred to as Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Approximately two years ago, the doctors said that Jaehyun had only a year or so remaining. Jaehyun has since bested that, but despite his leukemia remaining in an uneasy remission, his health has continued to decline. He has been given six or seven months of decent health before he’ll need to be admitted to a hospice for end-of-life care. On another note, Jaehyun refuses to accept aid from his parents or sister, and he makes ends meet -- pays his rent, food bills, therapy bills, everything -- through modeling, street gigs, or by doing odd jobs. He lives paycheck to paycheck, just because it’s on his List and he wants to be independent.
