age: 02 liner
company: higher records
position: dance trainee
traits: (+) proud, creative, focused (-) manipulative, argumentative, headstrong
played by: ide
Jung Dokyoung was born into a family of strong women. Her mother had grown up in Great Britain, so her views on gender norms were much different from her husband, a man who was born and raised in South Korea. Maybe that’s why Dokyoung’s parents got divorced. It definitely played a part. Regardless, when Dokyoung was five, her mother got remarried to a nice woman from the States, giving the girl another strong female role model to look up to.
She was raised to take charge and be unapologetic. Dokyoung was a very intelligent girl, so it was hard putting anything past her. Between growing up in England, with her mom and her African-American step-mother, she was well informed on social issues and what was right and wrong. When her father had custody of her for two months of the year, that caused problems. They had clashing viewpoints, and while Dokyoung was right, she didn’t know when to quit or drop the matter. While she credits her progressive views to her moms, her temper and social skills come from her dad. Like him, she’s unwilling to drop anything very easily and can get angry and hostile very easily, at the drop of a hat.
Her love of dance can be credited to her cousins. Lian and Kyle were both dancers in a crew, and when Dokyoung and her moms permanently moved to Seoul and she got to see the boys more, it became something that really intrigued her. She loved it; she wanted to be part of that world, all but forcing Lian to teach her how to dance. She tried perfecting the skill herself, pushing until she was the best, or damn well near it.
Dokyoung and Kyle got scouted together, both auditioning for Higher as dancers and making the cut (Lian got scouted too, but he refused, not wanting to leave the crew). While Kyle eventually quit and terminated his contract, Dokyoung did her best to try to stick with it, but wasn’t well suited for working with others. She had awful social skills and she was too commanding onstage; she needed too much attention, and if she was put in a bigger group, it was clear that she wouldn’t share the focus. And she wasn’t solid enough yet to be a soloist. So they kept training her, hoping her social skills would eventually improve.
Dokyoung is quick to anger. It’s easy to get on her bad side. Once you’re in her bad books, she’s good at hiding it and keeping it under wraps from the general public, but she will immediately begin talking down to you and making you feel small to make herself feel more powerful. If that doesn’t work, she’ll get a little creative about ruining your life, often using blackmail, or straight up hurting you (she’s got a wicked punch). This is only if you’re on her bad side, though.
Good relationships aren’t normal for her. She gets skeptical when people genuinely like her and want to be around her, without her having to intimidate them into it or anything. Her walls come down quick after that; she does her best to keep them up, but once she gets flustered, she gets sloppy and uncoordinated. In relationships, she likes to have the power, taking control 100% or the time. She is very physical; Dokyoung is clingy and affectionate and not at all shy about it. And while she won’t admit it, she’s definitely gay.
She is extremely into her work, and throws everything into her dancing and. She is a menace onstage; big and bold and impossible to take your eyes off of, even if you’re supposed to be paying attention to the act she’s supporting. When she pushes herself too hard, things begin to slip, and her quality of work suffers.
