𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐁𝐎𝐘.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 / 𝐪&𝐚 : 𝐣𝐚𝐞.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬
for jae

tbh i have no idea where to start with ol boy. people probably see him as overwhelmingly simple when jae is probably 70% as complicated as indigo, but unlike him doesn't repress things as much. despite being naturally quiet, it's not because he doesn't have much to say; it's because he notices almost everything. jae is my first character who is genuinely a "good boy" but has many sides to him 🤭. he's shaped into the mold of "the boy next door" and that's almost exactly what he is.

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐚𝐞 ?
tbh idrk, i think indigo inspired him. i needed someone that was the exact opposite and also somebody a little .. attention deprived. as mentioned before jae's uncle had a constant stream of foster children coming through his home, which requires a whole lot of attention . i also wanted to write a sweet nerd 😛

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 ?
this may seem like a simplistic ass question but it's not really. jae's actual name assigned at birth or his "real name" is yuan ji-moon. yuan is his mother's maiden name. lee is his father's name, the name yosef gave to him after adopting him as well as jae-yong which is always shortened to jae.

𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐬 ?
i felt like this was important to bring up considering the main focus of the book is indigo's traumas. jae also has quite a few as well. one being that he is rather scared to actually embrace being with a male. it's not talked about but jae is a pretty closeted character and though he has never mentioned it, is also extremely traditional in the sense that his beliefs gravitate towards marriage & women, so the fact that he wanted to marry a guy instead is something he definitely processes but in silence. jae also is a first generation immigrant who's father was apart of the yazuka- meaning that the pressure in him to become the opposite is immense, making him a bit of a social recluse - but not by choice.

something i wish i would've expanded more of is jae's sexual & romantic trauma. as we know, lena, jae's first love interest and cheated on him multiple times. because of this and academic pressure jae has a pretty obvious inferiority complex that comes into play many times during him and indigo's relationship. not only did she cheat, but she was sort of .. pressuring sexually and while i can say lena genuinely didn't intend to cause any trauma regarding sex (bc she is my character too) traumatized him in the sense that sex is not something he can just .. do without thinking about it heavily- not in a seggsy way but overthinking whether it was wanted in the first place. ofc with indigo he didn't have to worry about that 🤭, but sexual pressure is something that unfortunately is grained into his character, hence his extreme desire to please and fear of those types of things. he tends to shy away from it mostly unless it's brought up.