[cis man and he/him] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [ELIJAH SEOK]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [DANIEL HENNEY]. You must be the [FORTY FIVE] year old [TRAINER AT THE TITANIUM GYM]. Word is you’re [DETERMINED] but can also be a bit [ARROGANT] and your favorite song is [SWIM GOOD BY FRANK OCEAN]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [CRYSTAL COVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
tw: murder, death, injury, power dynamics
basic
Full Name: Elijah Seok Age: Forty-five Height: 6′2″ Gender & Pronouns: cis-man & he/him Orientation: Heterosexual Residential Area: Crystal Cove, Aurora Bay Occupation: Trainer at the Titanium Gym Relationship status: Single
bio
Pride. That was the first thing that Elijah learned as a child, and it was a trait that was instilled in him as soon as he could comprehend it. With his mother not really in the picture, his father wasn't really involved in raising Elijah either. The only thing he wanted from his child was to follow in his footsteps and make him proud. After all, that was what he did, and that was what his father did before him.
Little did Elijah know what kind of pride they were after. Talented at martial arts, he was quick to pick up taekwondo and work hard to excel at it. Not just excel; he was genuinely great, using his wits and stubbornness to achieve greatness. Whilst having a temperament was generally frowned upon, his father encouraged it, and the boy was keen enough to gain his father's approval to do whatever it took to achieve it.
It was at the age of sixteen that Elijah learned a bit more about his father - and his grandfather. The men in his family were bound to mix with the wrong crowd, all craving for power, status, and authority the Seoks did not have. Whilst it should have been a huge red flag, Elijah went right along, knowing nothing better and desperately wanting to be the best. It didn't help that he was arrogant from his success in martial arts, thinking that he was absolutely invincible.
The next twenty years of Elijah's life were spent mixing with the wrong crowds, becoming part of the same mob that his father and grandfather had joined. He continued to work on his martial arts skills, becoming a champion and never once stopping at perfecting his abilities. He had to be the strongest, the most agile one in the room. He had to be the best. And whilst that's what he did out in public, with many people either loving or absolutely hating him, behind the scenes, he was a whole other person. He had no issues doing what the mob asked him to do, all stemming from his need for approval and validation.
Climbing up the ranks and becoming the best - or trying to - was incredibly difficult, but Elijah never once gave up. He raged when he lost a championship, but then trained a thousand times harder to win again. He loathed anyone who was a bigger favorite of the boss and did everything in his power to make them fail. He played dirty, obsessed with wanting to be accepted, disregarding everything else in his path.
It was bound to all come crashing down, but Elijah would lie if he said he was expecting it. Actually, he probably did lie. There was a shake-up in the mob he was part of, and after an extremely brutal takeover, their boss was murdered in cold blood. Many went down with him, his father included, and when consciousness left his body, Elijah thought that he would join them, too. So when he woke up, consumed by pain and rage, surrounded by bodies of those he once deemed acquaintances, Elijah was confused. Running on pure adrenaline, he managed to get away, get himself patched up just enough, before getting out of the city. Even in the state that he was in, he knew better than to go back to his old home, and
Whilst the recovery of his injured body took a while, the healing of his wounded pride took even longer. With his father dead and no way to go back into his old lifestyle, Elijah was at a loss. There was only one thing he knew; rage. It drove him to crave revenge, and the next years were spent recovering from his injuries, getting back into shape, and planning a way to take down those who took his old life away from him. Elijah was almost alarmingly quick with being consumed by it, so when he stumbled upon a sudden discovery, his world came to a complete stop once more.
For a long time, he had no idea why he was so shocked by the discovery of being a father. All of his life he focused on making his father proud, living up to his expectations, and finding out he was a father himself threw him off. Was he... excited? A mix of emotions Elijah did not recognize boiled within him, and he had no idea what to do. He wanted to get revenge for his father because that was what he was trained to do, and he didn't know how to react to anything else. At first, Elijah wanted to disregard it - the poor bastard child just had to live with not knowing they were Elijah's- but as months went by, he couldn't.
Slowly, the raging thoughts of revenge were replaced by the thoughts of his child. He knew who the mother was - the young woman he met roughly twenty years ago, someone who wasn't scared of calling him out or bringing his ego down - and it took him only so long to track her down. It took even less time to track his child down in some small city in the United States.
Roughly a year ago Elijah had left South Korea and made his way to the United States. He had no idea what was pushing him towards it, and he refused to admit the obvious. His own upbringing doing nothing but pulling him down into the darkness was affecting his decision-making, but slowly, Elijah learned of his own feelings that he had been suppressing for all those decades. Was it actually care? Love? Or desperation that was running through his mind when he finally arrived at Aurora Bay, settling down with a plan of meeting his own child.
Whilst Elijah had retained most of his character traits - he is still as egoistic, arrogant, and prideful as he had always been - he has been working hard to change. It's painful, and it's difficult trying to break down the traits his father had instilled in him, and whilst he relapses fairly often, he knows now that what he had done - and was made to do- in the past is not the right way to go about life. Recognizing his own faults is still a work in progress, but Elijah wouldn't be himself if he wasn't a determined and hard worker.
wanted connections
The mother of his child - it would be someone around his age - maybe a year or two older/younger, at most, as they would have had their child when they were still very young. This is someone who was not scared of challenging Elijah, arguing back, or calling him out when he was being insufferable. Their romance was quick and passionate, and when duty called, Elijah did not hesitate to leave her behind and do whatever he had to do for the organization. Deep down, he's always admired her for her amazing qualities, and even all these years later, he can still admit that he tolerates her.
His child - someone who would not know about Elijah. They could have his traits, or they might have been smart enough to realize that it was no good, and worked hard to improve themselves. Whilst Elijah knows of their existence, they do not know of Elijah or that he's even in the same city as they are. - Arabella Park
Clients at the Titanium Gym. Elijah's way of training isn't exactly orthodox. His clients would have had to work hard to prove that they were worthy to be trained by him, and once they have achieved it, he has been extremely hard on them. This is all because he's seen their potential, and wants nothing more than for them to succeed. Not to mention, Elijah just likes to be surrounded by the best.
The odd best friend. Elijah's been struggling with making close connections, still working hard to destroy the way he was raised, but this person has managed to get through to his soft side. Whilst it's rarely on display, Elijah still cares for this person, and would do whatever it takes to help them - complaining the whole time, of course. - Eric Kang
@aurorabayaesthetic
