The quickest way to Daehyun’s heart is through his stomach— specifically, through sweets. There’s hardly a soul alive knows about Daehyun’s love for anything sugar (somehow, it’s the only thing he truly loves more than himself). He refuses to let this become public; he’s even gone to the length of modifying his mattress so it has a special pocket where he can hide bags of bulk candy that he buys by the pound at corner stores. He’s always guaranteed to have a couple caramels or milk chocolates in his pocket to sneak when nobody is looking, and many nights, he can be found at a bakery that creates his favorite cakes and pastries where he’ll have almost a full meal on desserts alone. Ironically, the baker there is one of the few people Daehyun loves, respects, and considers a true friend, even if it’s only for the sheer quality of the cakes she makes.
For those who may not be so lucky to be privy to Daehyun’s true love, a more well-known fact about him is that he is an excellent cook as well and always appreciates a good, well-made meal. He is extremely proficient in many international dishes and genuinely enjoys making them to keep himself well-fed; cooking for one tends to leave leftovers, however, so those leftovers typically go to his baker when he heads there for dessert. A few select individuals who’ve had the privilege of trying Daehyun’s cooking have described it as good enough to make a person’s eyes water, and he holds himself to nearly an even higher standard cooking than he does with his own music.
prelude. park daehyun is born in the most golden corner of brooklyn, new york, to sleek-imaged socialites who want nothing but the best. he is ready to give it; after all, he may be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he wants nothing but the gold.
01. daehyun learns before most children with his social standing that the way to a businessman’s heart is through his ears, through words of polished flattery and sweet charisma. by age nine, he is fluent in english, japanese, mandarin, and most importantly, his parents’ mother tongue: korean. (he’s fluent in the language of liars, too, though he’d lie if you asked.)
02. at eleven he has perfected his friendly, boyish grin and has begun using it on the teachers at school. he has long since grown cold, manipulative, accustomed to the way his father and mother treat each other the indifference of their arranged marriage. it is at this age he discovers music: a girl, the only other korean student in his class, brings a cd for show and tell. it’s in his parents’ tongue, and he understands the lyrics to be those of hatred. the other students who don’t understand swoon over the song, assuming it’s a romance ballad, but daehyun knows better. he grins.
03. daehyun befriends the girl, jinah, and they chat about their music and sometimes about other students (it’s never flattering when daehyun is the one talking). they learn to dance together, and daehyun becomes fluid. they learn to sing together, and daehyun becomes magnetic. jinah becomes his only real friend; the others only become friends with his smile.
04. daehyun falls in love with the music. though maybe it’s not the music; maybe it’s the girl who showed him that the song that day so many years ago wasn’t a song of hatred after all. he confesses on a spring day when he is a sophomore in high school. she rejects him.
05. “you’re my friend, daehyun, but i couldn’t fall in love with you.”
06. “why?”
07. “you’re too cold.”
08. jinah is talking about his smile, of course. she’s been the only one who’s seen through the charm, the charisma, the polite helpfulness, all to mask a freezing marble statue that couldn’t care about jinah. not in the way she deserved.
09. he becomes a flame after that, fiery and burning and wrathful. brokenhearted, he severs ties with jinah so quickly it’s whiplash, and whether she ever missed him or not he couldn’t tell. the music is all for him now, and at sixteen, he demands to his parents to let him pack up and move to seoul. stunned at the disappearance of their courtly son, they say “yes” without thinking and daehyun knows they’ll change their minds, so he’s on a plane as soon as the word comes out of their mouth. he hardly glances back.
10. he auditions for a scrappy company with hardly a name in the business. they’re going to debut him as the main dancer of a boy group, and he trains for one year. their debut is only months away when the company (he never should have trusted them) finally goes bankrupt. so at eighteen, he transitions to worldwide.
11. he’s got quite the captivating audition, a fast-paced dance that he learned with jinah and bleeds sheer sex appeal. of course, it would probably be more impressive with a partner, but he doesn’t think about that. worldwide takes him, claiming he’d be the main dancer for a group they’re debuting in 2011. in hindsight, he has to wonder if they meant it.
12. they train him nonstop on singing. singing, singing, singing, till it’s almost as if his throat’s totally raw. till he can’t speak the next morning. he questions silently if they want him as the main dancer at all, and at last, they tell him that he will not be debuting. he should have known.
13. pride wounded, he acts even more kindheartedly, while the fire that jinah ignited burns hotter and brighter and angrier than ever before. worldwide trains him for two more years (“you’ll be a soloist. is that okay?” / “oh, thank you for thinking of me. i’d be perfectly fine with being a soloist,” daehyun replies through gritted teeth, not fine with being a soloist. he checks himself when the producer flinches away from the murderous glint that slips into his eyes, and daehyun laughs).
14. finally, he debuts in 2013. he’s glad that he has at least some say in the direction of his music, and that dance plays a strong role in it. though he doesn’t have the best start, he garners popularity over the times; he’s excellent at keeping image. to idols and managers and producers, he’s the ideal gentleman . . . yet what frustrates him to no end is how some netizens who haven’t even met him once somehow manage to call him out for the disguised maliciousness set deep in him. perhaps it’s those few interactions where he smirks at and just walks by a fan who drops her drink, or the time he subtly tripped an idol who’d gotten on his last nerve, but they know.
15. he hates them for it. he hates almost everything, almost everyone.
prelude. park daehyun is born in the most golden corner of brooklyn, new york, to sleek-imaged socialites who want nothing but the best. he is ready to give it; after all, he may be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he wants nothing but the gold.
01. daehyun learns before most children with his social standing that the way to a businessman’s heart is through his ears, through words of polished flattery and sweet charisma. by age nine, he is fluent in english, japanese, mandarin, and most importantly, his parents’ mother tongue: korean. (he’s fluent in the language of liars, too, though he’d lie if you asked.)
02. at eleven he has perfected his friendly, boyish grin and has begun using it on the teachers at school. he has long since grown cold, manipulative, accustomed to the way his father and mother treat each other the indifference of their arranged marriage. it is at this age he discovers music: a girl, the only other korean student in his class, brings a cd for show and tell. it’s in his parents’ tongue, and he understands the lyrics to be those of hatred. the other students who don’t understand swoon over the song, assuming it’s a romance ballad, but daehyun knows better. he grins.
03. daehyun befriends the girl, jiah, and they chat about their music and sometimes about other students (it’s never flattering when daehyun is the one talking). they learn to dance together, and daehyun becomes fluid. they learn to sing together, and daehyun becomes magnetic. jiah becomes his only real friend; the others only become friends with his smile.
04. daehyun falls in love with the music. though maybe it’s not the music; maybe it’s the girl who showed him that the song that day so many years ago wasn’t a song of hatred after all. he confesses on a spring day when he is a sophomore in high school. she rejects him.
05. “you’re my friend, daehyun, but i couldn’t fall in love with you.”
06. “why?”
07. “you’re too cold.”
08. jiah is talking about his smile, of course. she’s been the only one who’s seen through the charm, the charisma, the polite helpfulness, all to mask a freezing marble statue that couldn’t care about jiah. not in the way she deserved.
09. he becomes a flame after that, fiery and burning and wrathful. brokenhearted, he severs ties with jiah so quickly it’s whiplash, and whether she ever missed him or not he couldn’t tell. the music is all for him now, and at sixteen, he demands to his parents to let him pack up and move to seoul. stunned at the disappearance of their courtly son, they say “yes” without thinking and daehyun knows they’ll change their minds, so he’s on a plane as soon as the word comes out of their mouth. he hardly glances back.
10. he auditions for a scrappy company with hardly a name in the business. they’re going to debut him as the main dancer of a boy group, and he trains for one year. their debut is only months away when the company (he never should have trusted them) finally goes bankrupt. so at eighteen, he transitions to worldwide.
11. he’s got quite the captivating audition, a fast-paced dance that he learned with jiah and bleeds sheer sex appeal. of course, it would probably be more impressive with a partner, but he doesn’t think about that. worldwide takes him, claiming he’d be the main dancer for a group they’re debuting in 2011. in hindsight, he has to wonder if they meant it.
12. they train him nonstop on singing. singing, singing, singing, till it’s almost as if his throat’s totally raw. till he can’t speak the next morning. he questions silently if they want him as the main dancer at all, and at last, they tell him that he will not be debuting. he should have known.
13. pride wounded, he acts even more kindheartedly, while the fire that jiah ignited burns hotter and brighter and angrier than ever before. worldwide trains him for two more years (“you’ll be a soloist. is that okay?” / “oh, thank you for thinking of me. i’d be perfectly fine with being a soloist,” daehyun replies through gritted teeth, not fine with being a soloist. he checks himself when the producer flinches away from the murderous glint that slips into his eyes, and daehyun laughs).
14. finally, he debuts in 2013. he’s glad that he has at least some say in the direction of his music, and that dance plays a strong role in it. though he doesn’t have the best start, he garners popularity over the times; he’s excellent at keeping image. to idols and managers and producers, he’s the ideal gentleman . . . yet what frustrates him to no end is how some netizens who haven’t even met him once somehow manage to call him out for the disguised maliciousness set deep in him. perhaps it’s those few interactions where he smirks at and just walks by a fan who drops her drink, or the time he subtly tripped an idol who’d gotten on his last nerve, but they know.
15. he hates them for it. he hates almost everything, almost everyone.
