#jangbyul

About:

Jangbyul had humble beginnings. It was just her and her mom. They had enough money to get by, and that’s all they really needed. She was never much of an academic, but she didn’t care– she knew there were plenty of career opportunities beyond academics and schooling, and she was determined to find a job and career that would suit her instead of trying to fit herself into a cubicle box just so she could make money. That wasn’t what she was about.

She dropped out of high school, waiting tables and waiting until she turned 19 so she could start bartending and working in night life. And she did, though not in the way she expected; she promptly started working as an exotic dancer as soon as she was of age. She made money, got decent tips, and she got free drinks at the end of the night. Plus there was something pretty empowering about having someone’s eyes on you, especially when you were in control.

Though it wasn’t conventional, she learned to dance through there, and even started taking some real dance classes– it started with pole dancing, because it fit her career, but eventually turned into genuine dance classes. She liked dancing, and she was good at it too. Jangbyul was 22 when she auditioned and got into Playback, and that was just another place where she could learn more dance and performance skills.

Jangbyul met Sungbin at work; he got dragged to Jangbyul’s club on his birthday by his friends (regulars, as it turned out), and she got hired to do a private dance for him, though upon seeing how uncomfortable he was, they ended up just talking for half an hour in the private room instead. He kept coming back after that, getting private dances from her only to sit and talk with her instead of Jangbyul stripping or giving him a lap dance or both. Sungbin took an interest in her. A real interest, in her life and hobbies and likes. Not just on her body and how she moved it, which was kind of refreshing. When Jangbyul was 23, they started dating.

It was really cute at first– he treated her well, and she adored him. But the more he pushed her to quit her club job, the more she got defensive about her career choices, and the more they fought. They were right on the brink of breaking up, and Jangbyul got pregnant. Though the pregnancy wasn’t enough to save their relationship– once Hyoe was born (Jangbyul was 24), they split up. Sungbin got custody, since he had a more conventional job and a steadier income, but Jangbyul got her daughter on the weekends. It was an amicable separation. Or, as amicable as possible, and that helped, since both of them wanted to be part of Hyoe’s life.

Funny enough, Jangbyul did quit her stripping job when she was 25, though it was different– she wasn’t quitting because someone was telling her to. She quit of her own accord, because she felt she’d outgrown the job and she wanted to focus on Playback. She worked odd part-time jobs to pay the rent, but most of her focus went to dancing and performing and honing her craft there. When she was 26, she rose up in the crew’s inner ranks, and started choreographing for them and everything. And now that she’s started choreographing and being a dance trainer, she can make a real career out of it– she doesn’t have to work part time, because as a choreographer and dancer with the crew, she actually gets a salary.