Face Claim: Ryan Guo (of Super Kids)

Lek is slender and lanky but not super tall. He's active and has some scrapes on his knees that left scars, but they are fading over time. He's relatively tan, more so during the summer when there's a little more sun to help him out. He's very very good at making a wide eyed, innocent face.

Lek likes making people around him happy, and because he's been rather doted on by his mom and older brother, he tries to do that by being sweet and cute. While he's doted on by his mother and older brother, his father makes it abundantly clear that he wasn't really wanted, and that he thinks that everything that Lek stands for is a problem. When he was younger, Lek desperately wanted his father's approval, but he's starting to realize that he's not sure he wants to be the him that his father would approve of. He really looks for approval from the sort of substitute dad figures in his life though. He get's scared of a lot of things and wants to be around and close to people who he finds comforting. Mostly that's his mom and brother, but he's the kid who will stick right by the teacher on field trips because he feels safer that way.

Lek is a sweet boy who isn't really sure where the world is going around him. He's very imaginative and lives in his own head a lot, but he's also very open minded and knows a lot more about the world than people give him credit for. He's grown up with some of his best role models not being straight, and some of the people who have hurt him the most being very cruel towards them so he has a very negative view of bigotry towards the queer community and in general.

MOTHER
Name: Malee Saejin
Birth Year: 1968
Occupation: Mandarin Teacher
Feelings Toward: Deep love and caring. She dotes on him a lot, and he loves her so much. He's got her a little bit wrapped around his finger, but he doesn't really know that.

FATHER
Name: YeungLi Zhou
Birth Year: 1948
Occupation: retired
Feelings Toward: Growing resentment. He used to really want to be someone that his dad would approve of, but he's starting to realize that the him his dad might approve of is not someone he wants to be. Glad he only sees him some weekends.

OLDER BROTHER
Name: Kit Zhou
Birth Year: 1994
Occupation: Dancer
Feelings Toward: Deep love and admiration bordering on hero worship. His older brother dotes on him, and he thinks that his older brother is pretty much the coolest person in the world.

Lek was born when his older brother was sixteen, and shortly after his parents got divorced. He mostly lived with his mom and older brother, but he did have to spend some weekends with his father. As a little kid, his father's house was where the expensive toys were, and his father would bribe him with candy and other rewards to do, say, or wear certain things. Lek always felt kind of awkward there, but he really wanted his dad to love him and approve of him.

While his mom didn't have the same sort of money, she always showed him how much she cared for him. He knew, 100%, at home that he was cared for by her and his big brother. As he got a little bit older, he started to figure out that his parents had divorced because his big brother was gay, and he started to resent his dad for being cruel. He started to see that a lot of the ways his father tried to get him to act were also not things he wanted to do.

He started resisting going to his father's house, but it was part of the divorce agreement, and Lek's not old enough to try to get it changed yet. He spends the visits counting down going back most of the time, though he does like some of the people who work for his dad taking care of the house, which makes it a little more bearable.

He's a reasonably good student, but hasn't really figured out what interests him. He's not too worried though because his mom reassures him that he's only just finishing third grade, and he's got lots of time to figure out what he likes. The important thing right now is that he try hard and try lots of new things.

Because he was getting bullied some in school, his mom did sign him up for martial arts classes at the temple, and he does really enjoy those.

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