hi :3 this is denver, also the mun of mouse and yua, here to introduce you to ahn dabin aka the soreloser. 1st yr grad student majoring in computer science with a minor in artificial intelligence, president of the photography club.
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born nov 18, 2000 in seoul, south korea. he is his parents' firstborn, but a younger sister comes along three years after him. they're a happy little family with involved grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides. financially... comfortable?
it is worth noting here that dabin's dad is deaf, so he was taught korean sign language from an early age and used it pretty constantly at home.
i would love to say that growing up in a happy family made dabin a happy kid, but unfortunately, it... didn't. he was bullied at school (for valid reasons that i won't get into here for the sake of his pride) so he'd come home and take his sadness/anger out on his family. never really told them what he was going through at school, but obviously they could tell something wasn't right. they tried to help him, which resulted in him lashing out even more. the cycle continued :)
growing up saw him becoming more and more distant from his family. they tried to include him in everything they did, and he usually turned them down - even when he didn't, his good moods were rare and fleeting. def the type to be smiling and laughing while playing a board game and then scream and flip the board when he loses like... his emotions were BIG and often seemed unproportionate to what he was reacting to. luckily his parents were tuned in to that shit and realized it was part of a bigger picture
this is all i'll touch on it here but he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in early middle school. it was... nice to have an explanation? i guess? granted it was still difficult for him + his family to grasp/accept, but they were able to start pursuing "solutions" (i guess) for him, so by late middle school / high school he more or less had his shit straightened out and was tr... tr.. trying to be an active part of society
he became deeply interested in stem. it was the first thing in a long time that actually held his attention, so he threw himself into it pretty fully with coding & programming extracurriculars, joining the robotics team, etc etc
started working on a "class companion" type software in his second year, the goal was to create an application that could be downloaded on a computer or phone and would listen in on classes and send notes with all pertinent information to the students using said software. granted he was like 16 and still had a lot to learn, so he didn't get very far with it (+ ran into the issue of students claiming they wanted to try it out and give feedback but then those students used it to just not pay attention in class which... resulted in not much feedback and thus slow improvements) but anyway he had a prototype developed by mid-senior year that was impressive enough to get him a stem scholarship
decided to attend yeonhwa university :) where he decided to major in computer science + pursue a minor in digital platforms
i guess it was all fun and games for a while. he was part of the coding + photography clubs for his first two years, had to drop from both in his third year because he picked up a nice internship with a successful tech company. his dream company. he was involved with said company's development of an ai-powered software that was pretty similar to his abandoned class companion project, but for a work environment instead (+ way more impressive). unfortunately shit hit the fan
was a victim of workplace hazing at said company, tried to grit his teeth for a little while but eventually lost his temper and got into a physical altercation with the main perpetrator. it was framed as senseless violence, they threatened to sue, he threatened to countersue (bluffing btw) and the matter was "privately settled"
got blacklisted from that company (allegedly) and all of its subsidiaries (allegedly), not to mention his mental health was fucked from it all so he stopped going to class, his grades tanked, he lost his scholarship :) finished out the year (barely) and then took a leave of absence. completed his military service in this time so at least he's got that shit out of the way i guess
returned to yeonhwa march 2024 to complete his final year. didn't want to fucking come back but his family convinced him not to worry about the costs + that it would be good for him
lost his passion for stem in the midst of... all of that. nowadays, i think it's something that comes and goes - he's good at it when he applies himself, but he's just. fucking burnt out. so he never returned to the coding club, but he did return to the photography club because photography is one pointless hobby that still somewhat makes him happy
decided against his better judgment to apply for a master's degree after he finished undergrad, so is now pursuing that in computer science + a minor in ai. is kind of... lost and confused. he's been working on a passion project since high school (the classroom companion software - has taken many different shapes, doesn't really know what he's actually trying to do with it but the base idea is there. nowadays he's trying to twist it into something more everyday-friendly to help deaf people navigate life with a little more ease) but he's not really. passionate about it anymore. has a lingering bad taste in his mouth from what happened to him at his internship. thinks he might like to create his own company, also thinks stem sucks ass. doesn't know what else to do with his life. doesn't know who he is without this obsession he's had since high school. doesn't want to figure it out. anyway...
on a lighter note, he is also now president of the photography club :) spends a lot of his free time planning shit for the club - his motivations are somewhat complicated here, because idt he takes the club super seriously but having something to think about and obsess over keeps him occupied enough to not get sad or angry
since there are a lot of photography club members, i will share this: the club is one of the only places you will see a sliver of personality shining through his bland exterior. i don't think he's the most skilled member of the club by a long shot, and i think that's probably what helped him get the president role - it's not about being good for him, it's about enjoying it and allowing other people to enjoy it too. i think he gives little theme assignments maybe once a month or biweekly, and there is no lower or upper limit on how many shots you can submit as long as you submit something. he chooses two to spotlight per theme - idt he tells people how he chooses, but in his mind he picks one that is creatively good and one that is technically good. has a wall in the club room that all members are welcome to help maintain in which previous spotlighted works are developed and put on display. has an anonymous "tip jar" in which anyone can give compliments or criticism of other members/himself or make suggestions if they think he's doing a shitty job at leading meetings. will dedicate one meeting a month to reading through these anonymous messages and discussing. (discards anything that is pointlessly mean or anything that criticizes him too harshly :))
as far as his personality goes, he's kind of a wildcard. at a glance, he seems very unapproachable - has a bad case of rbf, does not make the effort to smile even if he makes eye contact with someone. kind of hard to talk to if you don't already know him, but he's... not... that bad once you've got your foot in the door. he will rarely answer personal questions (even if asked by people who are seemingly good friends) and doesn't express sympathy if someone vents to him. will directly tell you he has enough on his plate without dealing with your shit too
however, he's not as serious as he can seem. has somewhat of a wall up which i think is a lingering result of having been bullied relentlessly when he was younger but there are definitely cracks in his armor :) he's not pointlessly mean, does his very best to be pleasant and get along with everyone until he determines a reason not to (admittedly his 'reasons not to' can be very small and petty though). he's the guy who will meow to fill a silence... has a very dry sense of humor, can definitely be "cringe" (he'll claim it's intentional if you call him out on it btw but it's probably not), is a... a... almost normal and fun....
and then he ruins it somehow. he doesn't like how someone laughs, like they're laughing at him and not with him, or all of a sudden he feels too vulnerable and he gets embarrassed. something happens. and he shuts down. he's the guy who ruins the vibe because the whole table is laughing and suddenly he says some mean shit and then leaves, like he hadn't just been laughing too
not particularly interested in making friends, but he isn't overly resistant to someone trying to be his friend. it's just kind of like... you have to pick him, because he won't pick you. but if you express enough interest in him, he'll get used to you and start seeking your company too. he's very easy to trick and trap
and for all of the effort that he puts into remaining uninvolved and "not caring", he cares. a lot. about a lot of things. he'll say he's got enough shit on his plate already, but your problems are more important to him than his own - he's just not a comforter. he's an Innovative Problem Solver. he will get revenge on your enemies on your behalf, without being asked. he gets his kicks through plotting and scheming. misery loves company, after all.
i know i already mentioned that he'll rarely answer personal questions, but i mean that shit!!! he'll tell you stupid meaningless things about himself, and he'll tell you enough that it seems like you know him, but he doesn't talk about his family or his motivations or what he wants out of life or why. it's the lingering loser in him... the fear of being judged, of someone finding him out... even though there's nothing necessarily there to 'find out'. it's the perpetual mindset of a kid who hates himself and is trying very, very hard to be nonchalant.
as far as plots go, i love!!! to brainstorm and discuss :3 but i listed a few ideas below just to get things rolling:
your character is a good friend of his younger sister ('03 or '04 liner) and has been since grade school, so naturally dabin looks out for them too. he'll act like it's a pain in his ass probably, but he loves them just as much as his sister :)
your character never chooses the job, but usually gets assigned to talk dabin down at parties when he's had too much to drink and is looking for a fight. classic "wrong place, right time" except there's a man who should just go home involved.
your character witnessed The Great Crashout of 2022. they were a good friend of his, once upon a time - now barely more than a stranger after he abandoned them when he left school.
where's the friend who catches the blame every time dabin's in a bad mood... he's not always toxic, but he definitely is with them. somehow, it's always their fault. for some reason, they stick with him.
and then the friend who can do no wrong in his eyes :) his best friend, the only person who really knows anything important about him. he's open to all types of people so if your character needs a bff please... let me know... maybe they met him pre-2022 when he still had some light in his eyes
any tentative new friends who are trying to get to know him for whatever reason, photography members PLEASE come here, anyone who has wronged him or who he witnessed wrong someone else and became a victim to his too-far-too-dramatic revenge, meet-cutes with other cat owners (he has two cats btw) at the nearest pet store because one party is holding the last bag of the only food the other's cat/s will eat (actually a meet ugly?), someone he carries a secret with that they will both take to their graves (i'm thinking illegal but not necessarily immoral act of revenge on someone), etc etc...













