FULL NAME: jitae bang
ALIAS: haze
DATE OF BIRTH: 2119/02/14
ALIGNMENT: pro-android
OCCUPATION: student at shujin, psychology major; clerk at yamazaki antique shop
AFFILIATION: n/a
ACCOMMODATION: orchard housing, jinbocho
FACECLAIM: kim seokjin
haze | noun | /hāz/ : vagueness or obscurity, as of the mind or perception; confused or vague thoughts, feelings, etc.
Jitae Bang is the son of a well-off family. One look and you could think that he was just another rich, spoiled brat with a silver spoon in his mouth the second he left his mother’s womb. But of course, it’s never right to judge a book by its cover. Unlike most of the high class children Jitae went to school with, he was not lavished in presents. He was not taken out to grand family trips. And he was most certainly not given his own personal android to play games with after school.
While he did live in a rather excessively large house. And have house keepers, cooks, drivers, and nannies – human and android. None of it was his. It was all his parent’s wealth. And as a child they made sure to make this information known to their son. Their luxuries and wealth are all because they worked hard to achieve this success. And as their son, he too, will learn the notion of hard work.
His place in academia was to be the number one student. Regardless of the subject. Because report cards are the single most determining factor to consider when judging the worth of an individual’s life.
His place at the house was to maintain a clean and proper home, his parents having requested that the hired staff educate and show Jitae how to clean and care for the house as they worked. Regardless of the task. Because a clean home is a proper home.
Jitae lived his childhood under a strict set of rules, and watchful eyes. While his parents were never physically around much, they were always calling (phone or video) their son to make sure he met their expectations. While technology was flourishing and adjusting into the lives of many homes and families, the Bang family preferred the more traditional methods to raising their child and maintaining order within their four walls. Things continued simply this way for many years, until Jitae’s tenth birthday that is.
Boarding schools were such a unique concept. The promise of a well-to-do education for well-to-do children from well-to-do homes. Promises of accepting your sons and daughters as children and returning them as respectable men and women of society. He never really understood why he was being sent to a boarding school in the first place. Jitae was a very well behaved boy, and his teachers praised his intelligence and participation in the classroom. He couldn’t possibly think of a reason for why his family would want to send him away to a strange campus in another country. His brain, still too young, cannot begin to wrap around the idea that it’s a rather cruel tradition for wealthy upper class families to get rid of encourage new ideas for growth in their children. By introducing them to new environments, languages, and cultures. To open new doors. And shut old ones.
Of course, that didn’t matter. They sent him off regardless of his confusion. He could not oppose the words of his parents. For what they said was final. Their words, sacred. They were law, and they were order.
And on his twelfth birthday, Jitae stood there at the airport. With a one way ticket to Switzerland in his clammy hand. Just outside of the entrance to the terminal gates. His suitcases by his side, backpack adjusted tightly on his shoulders. His new school uniform crisp and freshly pressed, shoes buffed and sealed under a fresh coat of wax. The airport’s busy commotion did nothing to stop, seemingly unfazed as a lone child simply stood there. Wearing a blank expression… one that could be confused as sadness if they simply glanced at him. Jitae stood there, motionless, a few moments longer. Waiting. Hoping. The air around him slightly suffocating. He willed himself to stand strong and refuse to let his tears well up and fall. He was valiant. However, the airport security was growing worrisome. It wasn’t long until someone came to the boy and gently ushered him into the gates. Turning his back away from the central hub of the building. He was never given a proper send off to his new school. One that was far away from the country he called home.
His parents had never given Jitae the opportunity to even so much as glance at the campus prior to his send off. He had little to no idea about the place he would call home for the next several years, unbeknown to him. However, the moment he arrived on campus and stepped foot on the gravel, he knew it was going to be troublesome.
It was a citadel for canned though. Finding vapidity in uniqueness. Sharing disinterest in dexterous thinking.
Oh, how he struggled to integrate into the new society he was placed in. None of the other children really showed much interest in Jitae’s fascinations about psychology, nature, or about daydreams. He quickly became an outsider. Excluded. Segregated away from everyone else. Yet, what the other children failed to realize was that Jitae was used to this. In fact, their efforts to make him feel unwelcome only made him feel at home. Solidarity was his only companion.
He continued on like this for years. Excelling in academics, and yet, showing little to no interest in social activities. Instead he stuck to his books, his ideas, and all the wild fantasies he could conjure up in that head of his. Seeping away further and further from reality. Deeper and deeper into the world of dreams. It became so easy for him to do. He could just gaze out, slowly disassociating from reality, and suddenly be on another planet entirely. It was safe. It was comfort. It was the only place where he could really be himself. Since the real world didn’t want him to be that.
His dorm was piled up with novels, research studies, and thick textbooks ranging from the bottom of the sea floor to the careful and detailed analyzations of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. On his desk was a composition book full of his daydreams. His personal philosophies. And his innermost thoughts. Every inch of the book was filled, carefully with dates and times. Brackets off in the margins providing supporting source material for his ideas.
While his imagination grew to tremendous heights, it eventually backfired on him. Developing strange quirks that seemed to bother him to no end if he didn’t complete them. He spent more time focusing on words, numbers, and colors than on actual interactions with people. Sometimes stopping mid-sentence just to finish counting the number of letters a word had. He would lose his train-of-thought easily, and would cover many topics at once without taking a breath. It became overwhelming at times… even becoming a walking hazard to himself when he would walk into things or end up leaving scuffs and bruises all over himself. All habits he never learns to outgrow.
He spent more time in his false reality than he did in the real world.
And as such, didn’t pay it much notice when graduation was just around the corner. Rather than choosing to go back to South Korea immediately after completing his secondary education, he chose to wander around Europe and explore the sights for a while before returning back to his home country. Truly letting his mind wander. Finding peace in the open world, as compared to the confines of his school.
The moment he returned to his parent’s home in South Korea he was to begin applications for university. His time spent abroad in Switzerland would prove to be beneficial, as he was able to enroll in his first choice school with ease. Shujin University. Jitae’s parents were proud of their son’s academic success, and they expected him to continue to bring honor to the Bang name. As soon as all documentations were finalized, Jitae was shipped off once again.
Japan and Switzerland felt similar for some time. Both incredibly foreign upon arrival, but both starting to feel more like home than his actual childhood abode. His time at Shujin University seemed to go by much easier than in secondary school. The other students paid him no mind, not because of his strange antics, but because there were simply so many students. So many things to do. So many things to study for. Everyone was just trying to stay afloat…
Jitae preferred to stay as far away from the commotion of Tokyo as possible. Finding solace in The Orchard Housing in Jinbocho. In the outskirts of the lower level. While the travel times were a little bit of a hassle, Jitae much preferred the comforting silence of a good night’s rest. Of a long commute where he could daydream, count the numbers in the letters of signs, or catch up on class material before the next lecture.
It’s no trouble being away from South Korea. Away from his family. Because while all the other upper class children his age got to play with their sparkly new androids and go on expensive trips abroad, he learned to maintain a house. To cook, clean, and care for himself properly. He’s learned to take care of himself as early as he could remember. Never having to rely on anyone else for much. He could fulfill all his childhood wishes now that he’s older and away from his parents. He could daydream selfishly. After all, university is supposed to be a memorable experience, right? What could possibly go wrong?
POSITIVE TRAITS: humble, outside the box thinker, stops to smell the roses
NEGATIVE TRAITS: clumsy, always thinking but rarely pays attention, easily distracted
a seemingly old soul. jitae is a simple boy with simple interests. he likes to read and think. the world is so large, so much larger than we could ever know… and he just wants to understand it, and understand those who live on it. he is soft spoken, but the meaning behind his words are deafening. he’s definitely not the type of person to put himself out there, much preferring to stay in the library or in the comfort of his apartment. spaces out more than anyone would like, and talks some nonsense from time to time, but means no harm. when listening to music he prefers to lay on the floor and shut his eyes, letting it envelope him completely – of course, this looks ridiculous to onlookers, but he pays it no mind. while he is proud of the technological advancements that humanity has achieved in the past hundred years or so, he feels bombarded by it constantly. always feeling overwhelmed by just how much stimulus there is all around him. he finds relief in printed media and things without screens. there is tranquility within it. maybe it’s the fact that it reminds him of his childhood house. the old stillness.
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