Kang Jihyun

USERNAME - @thewellversedfangirl

SLOT – DREAM YOUR DREAM

BACKUP SLOT – DO YOU FEEL BETTER NOW

FACE CLAIM – Nu’est Hwang Minhyun

BACKUP FACE CLAIM – Stray kids SEO CHANGBIN(If I get ‘DO YOU FEEL BETTER NOW’ I want Changbin as my main face claim please, I feel he fits the character more)

FULL NAME – Kang Jihyun

NICKENAME(S) – Mama/Mama Kang(because he is very parental and dotes on the members, especially the younger ones. He also cooks for them and offers good advice – he hated this nickname at first, insisting he was a man and was therefore a father but it eventually grew on him and now he loves it) dwaeji/pig(because he cooks and eat A LOT – he doesn’t mind this nickname because he knows it is in good fun) Honey (Because of his honey like voice and because it sounds like the ‘hyun’ in his name – the fans call him this and he finds it very cute.)

BIRTHDAY – 17th December 1996

AGE – 22

BLOOD TYPE – AB-

HEIGHT – 181cm(if minhyun) 167cm(if Changbin)

WEIGHT – 62kg

NATIONALITY – Korean

ETHNICITY – Korean

BIRTHPLACE –  Andong, South Korea

HOMETOWN – Andong, South Korea

LANGUAGES – Korean 10/10
            English 6/10
            Chinese 5/10

BACKGROUND – Jihyun grew up the middle child of three. Although he is the middle child he was always the parent of the group, most likely due to his older brothers dedication to school and the family business. Since he was young he helped around the family hostel, cooking and cleaning and tending to the guests – this taught him an immense amount of responsibility and work ethic. It was also down to him to entertain the guests in the evenings, this sparked his love of performing. Although he was always very nervous to get on stage he loved the feeling of singing and being able to capture an audience. Due to the revolving door of people at the hotel he learned how to make ‘friends’ pretty quickly but never developed the proper skills to maintain good relationships something that still challenges him to this day. Because most of the clientele for the hotel were foreigners he quickly picked up conversational English and Chinese. Though he worked hard at school he never really succeeded always staying in the middle of the class. Through-out school he was in the shadow of his older brother causing him to gain some self-confidence issues in most things, except performing – another reason he loves it so much. Jihyun always took care of his younger brother when their parents were too busy with the hotel or hospitality conferences, helping him become a mature and caring young man. He was hesitant to leave Andong and his family to chase his dream of becoming a singer, he was scared to let the down, but his parents and brothers encouraged him and eventually he went. This continues to motivate him to this day, the thought of his families support and his want to prove that their confidence and trust in him was well placed. He originally trained at SM for a couple years before he was kicked from their training program, this damaged his self-esteem further and caused him to consider quitting but a quick trip home proved to him that he no longer belonged in that little hotel surrounded by family and he quickly returned to Seoul working hard in auditions to find a new company, here he found Dream Candy Ent.

FAMILY –
                Grandfather Min Kwansoo 47 at age of death(Mother side): DEAD – never met, died in a mine collapse

                Grandfather Kang Junyoung 76(Father side): Lives with Jihyun’s family. He helped to raise the kids and taught Jihyun and his brother the ‘valuable’ life skill of Card games, specifically poker. Although he is a gruff man, hardened from war, he loves the boys dearly and can always be counted on for sage advice. Jihyun and his grandfather are very close.

                Grandmother Oh Seunghee 68 at time of death(Mother side): DEAD – Died of a heart attack, Jihyun has very few memories of his grandmother but what he does remember are all very sweet memories of baking with her and clambering onto the kitchen bench to swipe cookies from her ‘secret’ stash of sweets. They were rather close when she was alive.

                Grandmother Kim Heeyeon 63 at time of death(Father side): DEAD – Died from Lymphoma. One of Jihyun’s first memories is sitting in the hospital with his father, the strongest person he knew, crying into his mother’s neck. He had never seen his father cry and this moment had a very strong impact on young Jihyun. That was the night his grandmother died.

                Father Kang Jongmin 52: Jihyun and his father have a close relationship, although they are very different people his father has always supported him whole-heartedly. Any time they spent together was full of laughter and happiness. Jongmin has always been so proud of Jihyun for following his dreams even though he was scared, especially because he was scared.

                Mother Min Sooyoung 49: Jihyun and his mother are close, she taught him how to deal with grief and take care of a family. She was his rock through the deaths of his grandparents, even though she herself was grieving. An incredible woman who has passed her caring nature and strength to her son.

                 Older Brother Kang Seungmin 23: Jihyun and his older brother have a good relationship despite that fact that Jihyun was always in his shadow at school. Seungmin always makes sure to that Jihyun knows that he is smart and talented and that he loves him. They share the same friend group for the most part due to being so close in age.

                  Younger Brother Kang Jongho 16: Jihyun has a great relationship with his little brother and has always looked out for him, even now in Seoul he still looks out for his little bro. Because of their parents busy schedule Jihyun was basically his third parent. Jongho is an avid reader and he and Jihyun used to play make believe games where they were princes saving the princess or knights defending the realm.

Personality – Caring: He is caring because he spent his life taking care of his family and watching his mother do the same. Jihyun grew up in a household full of love, love for each other and for every guest who came to their hotel. He was taught that everyone deserves love and compassion.
                         Mature: He grew up surrounded by smart, intelligent adults who were always willing to dole out advise but were also all for learning opportunities. This allowed him to mature with the support and intelligence of his family. He gives good advice and is always there for the members whenever they need anything, from help with practice to a shoulder to cry on.

                         Enthusiastic: He goes into everything with enthusiasm and excitement and is always ready for a new challenge.

                         Hard-working: Because he started working at a young age he has developed an extremely strong work-ethic and he doesn’t give up easily.

                         Responsibility: Jihyun is also responsible due to working at the hotel and helping around the house. He had to do things he didn’t want and follow through on his agreements. He also had to shoulder responsibility for chores and other things that come with working. This has caused for him to be very responsible and not cave under pressure.

                         Charming: Because of the revolving door of people at the hostel he learned how to make friends quickly and charm the vacationers who stayed there. This is in contrast to his self-consciousness.

                         Self-conscious: Since he started school Jihyun has been compared to his older brother, never living up to his older brother’s incredible intelligence. This harmed Jihyun self-confidence in most things, excluding performing. Being kicked from SM, however, harmed his confidence in his performance ability as well.

                         Closed-off: Due to the revolving door of people in the hotel and the constant theme of death in his younger years Jihyun expects most people, outside of his immediate family, will leave him and doesn’t open up to them. This is not a conscious choice and he longs for a meaningful connection with people.

                         Guarded: Also due to the revolving door of people in the hotel and the constant theme of death in his younger years Jihyun has become guarded, he doesn’t make true friends easily but he makes a lot of ‘friends’. These ‘friends’ think they are close with him but actually barely know anything about him or his family. This is a protection mechanism.

Hobbies – Jihyun loves to sing an perform, thus the career choice.
          Jihyun loves cooking and baking, thanks to his grandmother and mother, and he loves testing new recipes on the members.
          He enjoys reading, thanks to his younger brother, and spends his free time doing so.
          Jihyun also has a weird enjoyment of cleaning and tidying.
          Playing instruments, piano and cello specifically.
LIKES – Jihyun likes:  Blackberries
                        Cats
                        Fashion
                        Family
                        Dance Dance Revolution
                        Tabletop Games
                        Stretching

DISLIKES – Jihyun dislikes: Shellfish
                            Spiders
                            The letter C
                            Horoscopes
                            Math
                            Getting his hair done(and having his head touched in general)
                            Sports
HABITS – Cracking his knuckles when stressed
                  Cocking his head to the side when confused
                  Flicking a light on and then off and then on again when entering a room and off, on, off when leaving one
                  Biting his lip when in thought
                  Chewing on things like pens and pencils.
                  Bit of a clean freak
                  RUNNING HIS HAND THROUGH HIS HAIR CONSTANTLY

PET PEEVES – People holding chopsticks, pens etc. incorrectly
                         People fidgeting loudly or obviously
                         Irregular sounds like an off-balance fan that rattles.
                         Nail-Biting
                         Slow-walking people on sidewalks, store aisles etc.
                         People not listening to what others are saying
                         Interrupting people speaking
TRIVIA –
His favorite school subject besides music was foreign languages because he was good at them
He was in a fried chicken ad that ran in his region when he was younger
Favorite colors are black and green
He wants 3 kids, a girl and twin boys
The songs he used for his audition to SM were SHINee’s love like oxygen and So Chan Whee’s Tears
He auditioned for Dream Candy Ent. With EXO’s Miracles in December and Seventeen’s Very Nice
He has a fear of hospitals because of his grandmother’s death
He gets homesick easily
His favorite board/tabletop game is Carcassonne
His favorite food is Bibimbap

EDUCATION – Not in University and graduated High school.

FORMER COMPANY – SM Ent, Jihyun trained here for 3 years before being let go at a monthly evaluation

TRAINEE YEARS – Jihyun trained for 3 years at SM and a year and a half at Dream Candy Ent.