lee hongbin
september 29, 1993
hometown: sydney, austrailia
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Ever since he can recall, Hongbin had the feeling he wasn't wanted. If the fact that his father left before he was born wasn't hint enough, his mother's disinterest in him and nightly outings that resulted in bringing strange men home, certainly drove the point home.
There were always constant fights between his grandmother and mother whenever the former would manage to visit from Korea. They always ended in his grandmother giving up, allowing his mother to keep him with her, despite her insistence to take him back with her to Korea. Hongbin always found himself wishing that those arguments would one day result in his grandmother winning - if she had been aware of his caretaker's drug problem, they likely would've ended differently. At his age, however, it wasn't easy to describe how she often left him all alone for days at a time, even if she was only in the next room over. The days she'd physically leave with one of the men she'd bring home didn't seem worth mentioning either. Sure, his mother had no intentions of properly raising him, but to Hongbin she was still his mother and it felt wrong to confide these secrets to his grandmother.
Elementary school days turned out to be some of the most difficult to deal with. Being left behind after all the other children had already gone home left him to make up numerous excuses as to why his mother hadn't shown up. At some point, he gave up waiting for her altogether. Sneaking coins out of her purse when she was home was easy enough and the bus drivers never gave him any trouble outside of a suspicious glance. After so many visits together to the supermarket ended up with him abandoned in the cereal aisle, making his way home from school was no big feat. What weighed on him most was the loneliness that came with his struggles. He could never accept a friend's invitation or invite friends over in his situation, so there wasn't much to ease the feeling until he made it to high school.
Managing to find extracurricular activities to spend his time with after school, there was less time to deal with the loneliness that came with an inattentive mother. Dance was something he'd never imagined himself having an interest in, but being one of the only after school groups that had any room left, he signed up anyway. Even if he didn't like the activity...well, it was better than being on his own at home, or turning up the television's volume to muffle the sounds from his mother's closed door when she had company over. After the first week, two hours after school began to seem insufficient. Finding dance to be something he genuinely enjoyed, he proceeded to add the only offered class at school to his curriculum. Outside dance classes were considered, but given his circumstances, they were never ones he brought up to his mother.
From the fifth grade to his second year in high school, his grandmother's visits had become nonexistent. Phone calls and cards in the mail for his birthday were the only communication he had with her, for years. That given, her surprise visit was something he hadn't expected at all. His mother had been gone from home for three days already, and given that he was already fifteen and admiration for a motherly figure had turned to resentment instead, it was easier to communicate the situation with his grandmother.
Despite being unable to communicate with his mother and having no idea where to find her, his grandmother took matters into her own hands over the next few days of her visit. She took care of anything needed to begin the transfer needed to pull him from school, to bring him home to Korea. Three days after she'd arrived and Hongbin was packed and ready to leave.
Adapting to life in Korea wasn't too difficult. Despite his mother's inattention, he was still raised to speak both Korean and English. His knowledge of English seemed to attract new friends, everyone curious of how life was in Australia. With friends and someone waiting to receive him after school at home, loneliness was no longer an issue. Neither was lack of funds for dance classes. The subject was one Hongbin was anxious about bringing up, his grandmother's encouragement regarding his interest in dance wasn't something he had expected. The encouragement came in form of classes - classes his grandmother was more than happy to pay for as long as he kept his grades up. The incentive surely worked, and though he wasn’t the best in his class, his grades weren't terrible by any means.
His interest in the subject only grew, carrying on until after he'd graduated high school. Although the degree seemed a risky one to pursue, he did anyway. Although the first two months after getting his degree seemed bleak, his grandmother's encouragement kept him going. Eventually he was able to find a job, teaching dance classes. It didn't take too long to save up enough money to move away from his new home to start life on his own. Despite leaving his grandmother's home, he still manages to visit at least once a week, sending whatever extra money he manages to accumulate, despite his grandmother's protest.
mind reading; emotional manipulation; mind control; psychic communication;
mind link; illusion manipulation; memory reading; binding; mental inducement; memory manipulation;
The first sign of his abilities came with his mother's first weeklong absence. Being only eight at the time and left with scant resources, he barely managed to get by. Still, even after her reappearance he said nothing. Not asking where she'd been or why she'd been gone so long and without warning - let alone about hearing voices in his head. They weren't always constant in the beginning, tuning in to those around them only sometimes. Other abilities and his capability to tune in only when he wanted to came as he grew older and realized that the voices weren't a sign of impending insanity. He's able to read and control other's thoughts as long as they're in the same room; he's also about to emotionally manipulate those around him. Psychic communication is a bit more difficult - he's not sure if it's his hesitance to use this skill, or that it's just not a skill he's gotten a good enough grasp on yet. Certain things, like emotionally manipulating others can be made easier by actual physical contact. There are other "locked" abilities he's aware of having, but he's been unable to replicate them at will.
♦ lives in Itaewon with his roommate.
♦ drives a 2014 Kia Optima
♦ owns a chameleon named Georgie. (He was purchased at his roommate's urging, so he'd have something "to remind him of home.")
♦ speaks English and Korean fluently.
♦ teaches jazz/contempoary dance at PAS Dance Movement Center.
♦ coming from Australia, he's not too keen on cold weather. (But that doesn't stop a adoration for sweaters.)
♦ he enjoys reading, he can usually be counted on to carry a book everywhere. (His car's sidedoors have at least three novels stuffed in them at any given time.)
♦ cannot tolerate mess or clutter. his car, room, or anywhere else he inhabits is always is pristine condition.
♦ enjoys watching movies during his free time. he is fond of the Star Wars series and Alien series.
♦ he struggles falling asleep unless his room is entirely dark and quiet.