Face Claim: Matt Weng (of Super Kids)

Tai is quite small for his age at around 143 cm/4'8", and he's very wiry and slender on top of it.

People still regularly call him cute, though now that he's in his very early teens, his features have gotten quite sharp, and he often has a very serious face. He's got rather long black hair, that often gets pulled into a ponytail, and dark brown eyes that he is very good at widening innocently at people. He has gotten really good at raising just one eyebrow, which is a facial expression that he learned from Yunjin and practiced in the mirror a lot to get right.

He currently has no scars, piercings, or tattoos, being considered too young for the latter two. He hopes to get his ears pierced, and he finds tattoos interesting, though he's not sure that he'd want one.

TaiJia loves to dance and sing and play just about any sport he can. He was very active as a little kid, often waking his Uncles up far too early in the morning by dancing around the house. As he got a little bit older, he didn't get less active, but he did start learning to moderate how he showed it, which his Uncles were grateful for. He is definitely very physical in the way that he thinks as well, often doing his best thinking on things while dancing, running, or otherwise being active. He is incredibly gifted in academics despite not being terribly interested in them, and has been reading at a college level for several years now. He reads at least three books a week, one in English, one in Chinese, and one in Korean. He's also started working some Spanish books into the mix as he's focused on getting better at it because of Felix, one of his group members training in Korea.

He hates bullies, especially if they say mean things about his Uncles, about his hair, about his cultures, about his friends, or about mental illness or queerness. He also really doesn't like his maternal grandparents. More than anything else, he fears losing his Uncles, and not understanding what is going on.

Tai has a bit of a temper, though he's gotten better at controlling at as he's gotten older, going from flights of anger at things that seemed unfair, to getting more cold-angry. He's not always good at using his words to show his feelings, especially negative ones, though he does try, especially with people he is comfortable and close with.

He is also very very shy, and kind of socially anxious, and sometimes just anxious in general. He's got incredible confidence in a lot of his abilities, but people are challenging for him. It takes him a while to warm up to people, and having been surrounded by people years older than him for much of his life has sometimes added to the anxiety. He doesn't like being treated like or seen as a little kid. His quiet and focused nature also doesn't always lend itself well to making friends because he doesn't tend to pay that much attention to other people if he isn't having to work with them for something.

He's very willing to and brave about trying new things, and he can get impatient with people who he views as overly cautious or not curious enough about trying things. He's started to get better at seeing other people's perspectives on this sort of thing though.

MOTHER
Name: Yunjia Lin
Birth Year: 1985 (deceased)
Occupation: was a PhD student in Physics
Feelings Toward: Tai barely remembers her, but the memories that he has are positive and warm. From what his Uncles say, he thinks that she would have been a pretty awesome mom, and he wishes that he remembered her better.

UNCLE / GUARDIAN
Name: Yunjin Lin
Birth Year: 1992
Occupation: High School Teacher (Music / Chinese / Korean)
Feelings Toward: He adores Yunjin and in many ways thinks of him as being his dad (though he calls him Uncle Jin). As he's gotten older, he's gotten a better idea of just how much Yunjin had to go through to stay his guardian, and Tai deeply appreciates it. He knows that Yunjin always has his back and supports him.

"UNCLE" 
Name: Sungyong Han
Birth Year: 1993
Occupation: Figure Skating Coach
Feelings Toward: Sungyong may actually be the adult that Tai is closest to. They have a lot in common in terms of personality, and for a good chunk of his early childhood, his Uncle Sheng was the Uncle that Tai spent the most time with due to schedules. There was a small part of him that hoped that Sungyong would come with him to Korea to be his adult there, but he also understands that Sungyong wasn't really in a place to move with his coaching career, and there was someone else already there who was a good fit.

"UNCLE"
Name: Hwangjung Lee
Birth Year: 1993
Occupation: Producer / Songwriter, Bartender
Feelings Toward: He is incredible close with Hwangjung (Uncle Hwannie) as well. All three of the men who raised him are deeply important to him. Hwangjung was actually the Uncle that he told about his interest in becoming an idol first because Hwangjung already had ties to that world through producing/songwriting. He's really glad that Hwangjung takes somewhat regular trips to Korea and produces for groups in his company.

SOON TO BE STEP-UNCLE
Name: Theo Fan
Birth Year: 1992
Occupation: Office Manager at LGBTQ+ Center
Feelings Toward: Mostly positive though still a little unsure. He likes that Theo seems to make Yunjin happy, and he thinks that Theo is generally alright, but Theo also hasn't really gotten past Tai's barrier of reserve yet. It possibly doesn't help that Tai is really close to Thomas, and the two brothers have a complicated relationship. Overall though, if asked, he'd say that he liked Theo.

OTHER SOON TO BE STEP-"UNCLE"
Name: Jiuk Robertson
Birth Year: 1993
Occupation: Secretary at LGBTQ+ Center, Lyricist with Hwangjung
Feelings Toward: Tai had mostly relaxed with Jiuk by the time he left for Korea and is happy to see Jiuk when he visits with Hwangjung. He's interested in Jiuk's lyrics and poetry because it's a skill that he's trying to develop himself. He also really appreciates that Jiuk has been working on getting better at Korean, and it makes him view Jiuk in a better light. (Jiuk is definitely his favorite of the "eventual step-Uncles" though he probably wouldn't actually tell any of them that.) 

APPROXIMATELY STEP-BROTHER
Name: Thomas Fan Qiwang
Birth Year: 1999
Occupation: Tutor, Translator (English, Mandarin), Driver, and Assistant Manager at Dreams Ent
Feelings Toward: Tai adores his Qiwang-ge in a truly uncomplicated way. However, trying to explain how they are related is deeply complicated and Tai mostly just says "he's basically my step-brother." Thomas was one of his regular baby-sitters when he was a little kid and Thomas was one of Yunjin's students in high school. They have very similar personalities and drives in many ways, and they clicked really well, especially because Thomas would take Tai's curiosity and understanding levels at face value. The thing that Tai was honestly the most excited about when Theo started dating Yunjin is that it kept him and Thomas in closer orbit. He was sad when Thomas left for school in Korea before he was ready to go, and he's thrilled to have Thomas as his adult in Korea, especially because Thomas is now fully involved in Dreams Ent.

OTHER BASICALLY STEP-BROTHER
Name: Teagan Fan
Birth Year: 2002
Occupation: In a trades program
Feelings Toward: Tai honestly doesn't know how he feels about Teagan. They never really connected or clicked, and Tai knows that's partially because he never really tried. Or well, the things that he did early on to try didn't seem to go anywhere and he didn't know what else to try. Then he left for Korea and being a trainee. He knows that Thomas is very protective of Teagan, and he doesn't dislike Teagan, but he just doesn't really know how to interact with him.

CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND
Name: Anya Young
Birth Year: 2006
Occupation: Student (9th grade) / JBN Member (vocal/dance)
Feelings Toward: He and Anya have been close since they were in early elementary school together. He really admires her ability with people and has tried to learn from it as much as he could as he's gotten older. He was very used to being constantly attached at the hip when they were little kids, and coming to Korea and being more separated has been strange. He's very conscious that they could end up shipped as idols as they get older, and he has some very uncomfortable feelings about that, but he's glad that they've been managing to find time to spend together at the company. He feels a little strange about being the grade ahead of her now, but in some ways, he feels like it makes their lives simpler, not that he'd actually say that to Anya, and he does miss being in school with her.

SUNBAE / HYUNG - LIKE AN OLDER BROTHER
Name: Kim Kangwan
Birth Year: 1999
Occupation: Yuseong Member (Vocal)
Feelings Toward: Kangwan was who really gave Tai the idea to become an idol. He looks up to Kangwan a lot, and he really enjoys getting to spend time with him in the producing studio which is mostly where they see each other these days. When Kangwan was in the states finishing high school, he was one of Tai's regular babysitters, and that was how they got to know each other. Tai would sometimes help Kangwan with his homework (math) despite being a lot younger than him, and Kangwan encouraged Tai in dance and his dreams.

FORMER BABYSITTER / FRIEND
Name: Inkar Mun
Birth Year: 2000
Occupation: College Student (UW Bothell)
Feelings Toward: They've stayed in touch despite him being in Korea now. Tai enjoys talking with Inkar, and it was a relief to him to get to know someone else who had a similar feeling of being very good at academics but having a passion that was elsewhere. She was part of his rotating cast of babysitters (who were all pretty good friends with each other).

FORMER BABYSITTER / FRIEND
Name: Elizabet Sarangerel Gambold
Birth Year: 2003
Occupation: Senior Level Figure Skater (Mongolia)
Feelings Toward: They've stayed in touch despite him being in Korea now, and he hopes that if she gets to come to Korea for any competitions he might get a chance to see her. He initially got to know her because she was his Uncle Sheng's first private student for figure skating, and she became one of his regular babysitters.

OTHER SUNBAE / HYUNG - LIKE AN OLDER BROTHER
Name: Yeo Taehoon
Birth Year: 1994
Occupation: Yuseong Member (Main Dancer), Choreographer
Feelings Toward: They bonded almost instantly, much to Tai's surprise. Taehoon was very present during the Training Camp and very much stayed involved with working with the trainees, but Tai is probably the one he ended up the closest to, and Tai is amazed that someone fourteen years his senior is willing to treat his skill and knowledge as valuable. He loves working on choreography with Taehoon, and he really appreciates getting to go to temple with him as well. He has very small guilty feelings for probably being (slightly) closer to Taehoon than to Kangwan these days.

SUNBAE / NOONA - LIKE AN OLDER SISTER
Name: Woo Seojin
Birth Year: 2002
Occupation: JBN Member (Leader, Main Dancer)
Feelings Toward: He was a little shy with Seojin at first because she's older, but she reminds him of Inkar in some ways, and they're both really good dancers. He got close with her working on the choreography for JBN's debut with her and Taehoon and an outside professional choreographer. He respects her a lot and appreciates that she talks to him as a peer when it comes to dancing. She's a big part of the reason that he decided he wanted to attend Yego for high school.

FUTURE GROUPMATE
Name: Felix Choi Sungjin
Birth Year: 2002
Occupation: High School Student (12th) / Dreams Ent Trainee (Rap, Dance)
Feelings Toward: He got to know Felix first at the training camp, and they got close there. Tai respects Felix's dance ability a lot, and he tries his best to help his older friend with Korean and settling in to a new country (even though it's new for Tai too). He works on keeping up his Spanish with Felix (he started taking Spanish in middle school in the US, but at this point he's definitely learned more from Felix and books than from that). Sometimes he feels really young next to Felix though, and he doesn't love that feeling.

FUTURE GROUPMATE
Name: Tae Seoji
Birth Year: 2003
Occupation: High School Student (12th) / Dreams Ent Trainee (Main Vocal, Leader)
Feelings Toward: Awkward. They're both a little bit shy, and Tai's not good at smoothing over the weird edges of interaction. He can tell sometimes that he intimidates Seoji a little bit, but over time that seems to be getting better. He's pretty sure that they'll never be the closest in the group, but slowly they're starting to be friends.

FUTURE GROUPMATE
Name: Song Meri
Birth Year: 2005
Occupation: High School Student (10th) / Dreams Ent Trainee (Dance, Vocal)
Feelings Toward: Very close. He and Meri got off to a slightly wobbly start due to the dangers of throwing two highly socially anxious people into a room together without much structure or warning, but they've gotten very comfortable and close after basically doing everything together. Tai's really glad that he and Meri are classmates in school now, though he initially worried that it might make things weird with Meri that he was three years younger and in the same grade. He is also developing the beginnings of a crush on Meri, which annoys him because what's he supposed to do with these feelings.

Tai's mom may have conceived him entirely accidentally, but she loved her child fiercely and was determined that she would build a good life for him. She had plans for all sorts of things for him, and he just barely remembers her as a bright, energetic, loving presence of his early childhood. His Uncles are all rather different from his mother, but he knows that they love him so so much, maybe nearly as much as he loves them.

He likes learning new things, especially things that involve moving around, but he's often been a little bit scared of getting to know new people because he's not sure that they will be nice to him. He's mostly faced bullying of the taunting kind, and he's mostly self-confident enough that it rolls right off him, he's definitely got some insecurities around the fact that while his family is amazing, he knows it isn't normal. He's also been the youngest and smallest in all of his classes since first grade because he's skipped a few grades in school.

He's grown up speaking three languages because his mom and his Uncles all spoke Korean, Mandarin, and English with him from the time he was a baby. When he's angry and knows he shouldn't say something actually, he'll sometimes express his frustration in a language that he doesn't think that the adult he is dealing with knows. He started picking up his fourth language (Spanish) in middle school in the US and has continued learning it in Korea from Felix (his Argentinian group mate among the trainees).

He was babysat for a while by Kangwan, who is an idol, and that was what really set him in motion towards wanting to pursue that career himself because it combined a lot of the things he really liked. Not too long after this time frame, Thomas Fan also became a common person to help look after Tai, and that became even more so when Yunjin started dating Thomas's older brother Theo, and the Fan brothers moved in with them. Tai was sad when Thomas left for university in Korea, but he knew that there was a good chance that he would be following not too long behind him. Tai likes Theo well enough but isn't necessarily very communicative with him, and he's not sure how he feels about Teagan, who is closest to him in age. Of his "new family" members, Thomas is definitely his favorite as they have a lot in common.

Over the past few years, he's put a lot of his focus to preparing for auditions. In March 2019, he cleared the first round of auditions for Dreams Ent (Kangwan's company), and then was invited to a training camp leading up to a final audition. He did very well, getting a lot of praise and attention, and some recognition online as the company posted the videos. It didn't hurt that he was the kid who Kangwan had posted a few dance videos of a few years before. He was accepted to train with Dreams Ent at the end of the training camp on June 30, 2019. He then relocated to Seoul, South Korea to live in the Dreams Ent Trainee Dorms and while training to eventually debut and also go to school.

During the process of transferring him to the Korean school system, there was a bit of a mix up, and he was placed into starting 8th grade (the second year of middle school there) instead of 7th grade (the second year of middle school in his school district in the US). However, with his native level Korean and his high academic skill level (and considering he was already young for his grade), by the time the mix up was uncovered, they just left it be because he was already reaching the top of his class.

In February 2021, Tai started high school (10th grade) at Seoul Arts High School (Yego) in the composition major. He'd dithered between applying for dance or composition, but he felt like he would learn more in the composition track, especially because Dreams Ent was encouraging him to do more songwriting now that he'd done some stuff that they'd actually used. (Tai isn't quite sure what he thinks about the fact that this is going to end up with him graduating high school at fifteen as long as he stays on track with school, which he plans to.) His group is looking like it will debut right after he and Meri graduate high school.

Hello! My name is Etienne!
I was born in 1989.
My pronouns are he/him.
This profile is complete.