OH JUNGHWA
AGE: Twenty-Two COMPANY: 360° Studios POSITION: Harmony’s Lead Vocalist FACECLAIM: Kim Minji “JiU” PLAYED BY: Nia
junghwa was born november 13, 1995, to a middle-class couple in gwangju. her parents never decided to give junghwa any siblings, but she didn’t mind. she found companionship hanging out at the little cafe her parents owned. she would hang out there with the cafe employees’ kids because childcare was expensive, and it allowed parents to be sure that their kids were safe when they were working. though most business owners would be distasteful of a group of sticky kids hanging around the small cafe, junghwa’s parents didn’t mind. junghwa was happy, and their little cafe was like a family.
every day, practically 24/7, the cafe would offer live music. junghwa was entranced by the various musicians that would come in, and all she wanted to do was to play their instruments too. by the time she was six, she would trade the free cookies she got as the owners’ daughter for music lessons from the various artists who played at the cafe during their breaks.
by the time she was thirteen, junghwa had mastered the drums, was proficient in the bass guitar, and was just starting to learning to play the basic six-string guitar.
one night, a drummer for an act that her parents had booked for the evening didn’t show up. the band, knowing junghwa and knowing that she knew their songs, invited her to come perform with them. the girl was apprehensive about it; she had never performed before, and these were experienced musicians. but, she felt obligated to help out, so she performed a set.
that night, an MM executive was in town having a meal with their relatives in the oh family’s cafe, and she saw a small thirteen year old girl having the time of her life and playing completely naturally within a band of thirty-something year old men.
after junghwa finished her set, the MM executive approached junghwa and her parents and told them that MM would be very appreciative of junghwa’s talents. junghwa immediately said yes, and before she knew it, she was living in seoul and training to be a part of the nation’s next badass girl band.
during her three years of training, junghwa sharpened her skills in the instruments and learned how to sing. within the company, she became regarded as her group’s ace. junghwa didn’t necessarily like the attention. she didn’t want to be seen as any different from the other girls. she just wanted to play music.
when she was sixteen, she finally made her debut as harmony’s drummer. for a moment, it felt like every dream of hers had come true.
however, harmony’s failure to impact as a girl band made MM turn it into an idol group. junghwa was thrust into dance lessons and forced to become an idol.
junghwa is not ungrateful; she is happy that she has found success in the music industry as an idol, but there are times she wishes that she could be an unknown musician again. of all the girls in harmony, she is the one who has taken the switch (and the afterward MM-Tyme merger) the hardest.
despite her fierce image on stage (and slight resting bitch face), junghwa is actually a big softie. when she is not practicing, she is curled up in a corner reading a book or studying music theory. she is a very shy individual, even with the people that she is close to. with strangers, she stutters if she gets too nervous. with close friends, she speaks softly. on variety shows, she sits back and cheers on every member instead of trying to put herself out there. at this point, 360 has stopped trying to get her to open up. the only thing that can get her out of her shell is her talking about music. as a result of her soft demeanor, junghwa tends to be more of a follower than a leader, and struggles with making decisions on her own.
junghwa has no time to worry about the rivalry. to her, at the end of the day, idols are meant to be making music, and music is music, regardless of which company it came from.