hey, hey! cal here with what i'd like to call the less boring version of nate archibald — seo jaerim, also known as the golden boy who falls in love way too easily (but is it really love?) because he needs to fill this void in his life. he's also the moneybags skeleton in the gossipgate subplot. he's very much still a work in progress but i'd love to plot with y'all and come up with some fun stuff! i currently only have his dossier up but everything you need to know about him is under the cut. like this post and i'll come sliding into your ims, i'm also available on discord if that's what you prefer!
(trigger warnings: teenage pregnancy, coercion into abortion)
message: saw seo jaerim in seoul. they were volunteering at a children’s charity organisation. i think they’re a/n museum curator now? a lot of people say they’re kinda apathetic but they seemed super generous to me, tbh. they really look like nam joohyuk and remind me of nate archibald though wtf. thought you might want to know because i remember your post about them that said when he was in high school, he had gotten someone pregnant and coerced her into an abortion. still can’t believe that happened 8 years ago.
ask him why he’s a museum curator and he’ll tell you it’s because he has an eye for pretty things. paintings. women. art. that, and he’s the only heir to seoda museum of contemporary art—the louvre of seoul. seo jaerim was born with a silver spoon in one hand and a paint brush in the other. in his world of art, human beings are merely subjects of artworks; characters of his story. does he really love you or are you just pretty enough to look at, like the artworks displayed in his museum? set to inherit his family’s museum business, he has been working as a museum curator since he graduated snu with a degree in fine arts. everything in life is laid out for him, yet there’s a void impossible to fill; a loneliness in the shape of a monster that doesn’t die. does it stem from a long time guilt of destroying his very first creation before the world got to see it, or the constant chase for love and comfort in a world so brutal? some call him a playboy, but others say he’s too tender to be one.
summary:
only child and heir to his family's museum (think of it as the louvre of seoul; only the most prestigious and renown artistes can showcase their work there)
his family is very influential, especially in the arts, every other relative is an artist, curator, collector of some sort
every child born in the seo family would be sent for art classes, it is as important as learning the korean language
his family is very image-focused, often portraying themselves to be polished and sophisticated, people with refined tastes
they also think they are superior to others because they are "cultured" on top of their wealth
there were always only two pathways for him: to be an artist or to take over the family's business (it was always a career in the arts or risk being the black sheep of the family)
he had been painting since he was a child but figured he prefers the power of deciding who was good enough to earn a place in his museum, to have people cowering before him to exhibit their work at his museum
also he kind of just stopped painting after the whole abortion thing, because everything he created then was just a reminder of all the guilt and regret he had (might be the real reason he switched over to art curation)
he graduated from snu with a degree in fine arts
before that, he was from a private boys' high school near gyeonggi girls' high school
that is also how he got acquainted with the og's from the gossipgate video
the video did not affect him very much, or at all (his family paid off media outlets to keep his name out of the gossipgate news so while you could kind of make him out in the video, there is no real confirmation of him being in it)
what had a greater impact on him was gossip girls' post about him getting someone pregnant and coercing her into an abortion (his family were also the ones that had insisted on the abortion) — it's something that still weighs heavily on him till this day (i've left a lot of details undecided in hopes of someone taking on this connection!)
he never had issues with college acceptances because his family name guarantees him a spot in any art program (probably also due to nepotism because he has relatives who are art professors)
he has been volunteering at children's charity organisations but no one knows if it's his way of fixing his reputation or if he's doing it because he feels a sense of guilt towards his unborn child, or what could've been
he is really good with kids though (could be why women love him)
does not mean to be one but could be a little bit of a playboy, only because he has no fucking clue what love looks like so he's on a constant search for it
but is so sweet and gentle you gaslight yourself into thinking he isn't one
honestly really empty on the inside; desperately looking for that something that would light up his world, whatever it is
wanted connections:
gossipgate people! i'm here for rich kids fucking up each other's lives
lots and lots of exes: ex-girlfriends, ex-flings, ex-crushes, ex-almosts, whatever (basically, nate archibald's dating history)
an ex he had just broken up with would be fun too
fresh/new, ongoing love interests
the girl from his gossip girl post 8 years ago; the one he had gotten pregnant and coerced into abortion (i'm open to any interpretation of this — they could be ex-lovers, friends that hooked up, nothing is set in stone!)
someone who volunteers or has volunteered at one of the children's charity organisations he volunteers at
artists who has or wants to have their art displayed at his museum (he will not make it easy for you though)
the person that leaked his abortion secret to gossip girl
unexpected/unlikely friends (an opposites dynamic maybe?)
neighbours (he's currently staying alone in his bachelor's pad but i imagine it to be at some fancy apartment)
some sibling figures? he'd probably appreciate it, being the only child at home














