#um:accepted

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Jiang Kai

Born on 25 January 1996 in Hangzhou Originally from Hangzhou Student

freshly baked egg tarts, late afternoons, the way sunrays slant and occupy, fresh pot of fruit tea, falling asleep at the coffee table, jittery nerves, perpetually on do not disturb mode, unread texts, warm winter days in beijing, buttered popcorn, erasable marker on a glass panel, chronologically organised, orange juice, film marathons, woody notes, conflicting tones, old table lamp with a broken switch, dark-framed glasses, bottom drawer that remains locked, every synonym of mess.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Han Somin

Born on 04 November 1990 in Busan Originally from Busan Architect

somin scarcely knows of the word mother. scarcely remembers, save for the ebony-dark hair that flows in her dreams. whether it’s truly a memory or just that, a dream, a figment of her longing, attachment, she wears her hair long all the same. it’s more tangled than silky, knotted at the back of her head, but it’s all that her mother leaves her—that, and her name.

she sneaks into a church one night, flush against the stone of the walls meant to drive rats like her out. candlelit shadows cast onto the ground, she tilts her head at its splendour. holy, holy, holy, they say, but it never meant anything to her. not even when they force her to—holy, holy—kneel at the mercy of adults more important than she’ll ever be.

she learns to build something out of nothing.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Miao Miao Miao

Born on 12 March 1996 in Hangzhou Originally from Hangzhou Unemployed

start: it feels good to have money. to have power. to live life lavish. you live it brazen, selfish, wild between the lines as long as you stay within the lines. (life as you know it is mapped out to a t. your friends, your studies, your interests. wealth comes with a price and as far as you know it is your freedom.)

interlude: shared laughs, halved cakes, pinkies laced, hold your breath, piggybacks, sleepovers, pinched cheeks, snacking, crying, paper cuts, scraped knees, summer of ‘09. (winter chill, scratched phones, raised voices, bickering, unshed tears, hesitation, lingering gazes, words kept at bay, acceptance letters, tearful goodbyes, naive promises; lies, lies, lies.)

end: it feels good to have freedom. this is full circle. this is life like you’ve never known it. you live it the same as always, boldly, spoilt, only in the city of seoul. the air is different, but so are you. (but remember it is an inconvenience. you are an inconvenience. you are—as of now, as of however long ago—intruding in a life that no longer included you.)

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Moon Goeun

Born on 12 March 1998 in Daegu Originally from Daegu Love motel receptionist

dear mum,

hope this package finds you well and that nothing spoiled on the way. my job at the office is going really well and i’m even thinking of asking for a promotion next month. i didn’t think it’d be possible for things to be going so smoothly as they are. unfortunately, i’m not sure if i can come back as expected with my workload growing and all. i hope you understand. maybe i’ll be able to drop by for christmas! tell dad i said hello and that i’m doing fine in the big city. love you.

sincerely, goeun x

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Aiden Yoo

Born on 14 October 1995 in New York Originally from New York and Seoul Freelancer

sometimes, it takes a lot to speak your mind.

words, jumbled up in your head, come out like a hairball that a cat spit out: messy and gross. too much back and forth between your brain and your throat. you start to choke, because you’re afraid.

(or is it always?)

it’s a lot easier when time is on your side. the rein of solidarity that gives you leeway for everything and anything you want to express. you carefully stitch them together along with your emotions that are sometimes too overbearing to be reconstructed into bundles of letters.

(he finds beauty in that itself.)

when even words speak too little, you epitomize it into a small polaroid picture.

and most of the time, it’s way more than just that.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Han Sujeong

Born on 17 April 2001 in Seoul Originally from Seoul High school student and part-time sales associate

a creature of comfort, too preoccupied with the idea of herself as charmingly indolent to pay any close attention to the rapidly enclosing future. it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t let it matter, is what she tells herself

a carefully curated image to contrast the carefree attitude: temperamental and harsh, but generous to a fault and far warmer than she lets on. suppose she had no choice but to be, if nothing else, at least socially competitive

the han family has been teetering on the edge of high society for some time now. leave it to sujeong to stir some untimely discourse, pitting her brothers against each other and against her parents in the discussion of whether she’s truly worth supporting at this point. very uplifting, as you can imagine

really, she just wants to exist. it’s summer, it’s seoul — everything should be easy, and sujeong believes it’s all but owed to her at this point. her entire life has been cramped and daunting, rushed and dragged out, and too much or too little. she wants just enough, just what’s right in the moment and nothing more

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Ellen Lui

Born on 15 December 1996 in Hong Kong Originally from Toronto  Graduate student

NOTES

lobbies, foyers, and waiting rooms are completely invented spaces that serve no purpose but to a) be intermediary b) contain air and people, and optional c) politicize that air

—

disgust sinking at a cruising altitude of 11 kilometers b/c

the asshole sitting in front is leaning so far back your face is an inch away from the monitor

miss breathy sitting adjacent is oversharing body odor and last week’s woes with you

the toddler sitting behind wails and kicks you into everything but an alternate dimension

holy shit…

—

backwards looking forwards moving time (it’s merciless!) backwards moving forward looking, i’m (it’s hopeless!)

—

xiaoxiao xu, aeronautics in the backyard

“all over china, individual farmers started building their own designs of airplanes, most of the time working out of their own backyards. not every design is equally successful. some of these amateur planes are very dangerous and hardly functioning, yet some designs work so well that they get recognized by the professional market. either way, this is not the main goal for these aeronauts. they are not in it for the money, they simply build in search of new alternatives; cheaper, lighter, stranger and better ways to fly.”

—

this is the week you’re joining the fucking ensemble, ellen GET IT TOGETHER, ELLEN

—

夏 貳零壹柒

青心烏龍

1500 公尺

拉拉山

—

dream, 11/22/17

it’s morning and i’m in my five-year-old body getting ready. doing my present-day skincare routine and applying makeup. right when i’m about to spray my perfume principal bennett comes into the bathroom with a dead frog and suddenly the only thing i’m smelling is formaldehyde. she whacks me over the head and i wake up lol

—

dream, 11/26/17

ed sheeran is my boyfriend and we’re sitting cross-legged sipping on two mugs of over-steeped tea. he’s got a full-length beard and i swear to god there’s a bird making a nest in there because it’s MOVING as he flexes nonstop about his platinum sales or whatever. absolute fucking nightmare

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Choi Sungjin

Born on 29 September 1994 in Seoul Originally from Seoul Korean language teacher

The mama’s boy whose good-for-nothing father left for another woman, for another family. He’s raised by internalizing his mother’s bitterness as his own, her words meshing with his very thoughts until he’s not sure they’re his or hers anymore. Choi Hyewon is set on making him an honest man, one that will make her proud. So she holds him with an iron grip. So he studies, studies, spends his youth studying and clinging to his mother’s legs until he’s admitted into one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, graduates with honors and makes her proud. But it’s endless. Barely enough. The more time passes by, the stronger her grip around him becomes–and by now, it’s just a matter of time before Sungjin finally snaps. Moving out was the first step.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Shin Haesun

Born on 24 April 1983 in Gwangju Originally from Gwangju Interior designer

Everything you know about love, you learn from your parents.  

So here’s what you learn:

When Mommy and Daddy don’t sleep in the same rooms, it’s not because “the bed isn’t big enough”.  (How the fuck did you even fall for that?)

Mommy doesn’t give a shit about the family.  Maybe that’s why she throws everything away just to jump at the chance for someone new.  Too bad you’re the sole witness.  Too bad she thinks she’s got everything under control.  

She doesn’t.

But you do.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Go Roeun

Born on 26 December 1996 in Busan Originally from Seoul Bartender and university student

full disclosure: you are not a nice girl. you have never been a nice girl. there is no tragic backstories, no redemption arcs, no particular trigger that explains why you are the way you are. you, go roeun, has never carried a genuine word into your father’s church in your life. funny, since you’ve been there all your life.

you, are rotted. you, are ordinary. you, are crude.

high school, you are the snake’s head. lady gorgon and her underlings. her venom, her claws. your friends are not your friends. mere vultures feasting on the spoils of your reign. you, roeun, you are someone’s nightmare. someone’s trigger. someone’s terror.

high school, you are in deep shit. (you are too much. you are too wicked. you are the head of this. you are at fault. yeah. yeah. you say. that’s me. i know. i fucking know.)

after, you are redeemed? redeemed? no. yeah. no. you are in hiding, wolf in sheep’s clothing. you bear the smiles, the stuffy fits, the abhorrent shoes. you do this all to avoid any more hail marys. you bear the moniker, brush up on academics, get into college a whole city away from home.

get a job somewhere easy soon. your art degree, it’s useless, it’s whatever. dad has properties to sell once he kicks the bucket. you just have to wait.

and wait.

and wait.

and keep your goddamn mouth shut. i know, okay. i fucking know.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Sydney Gun

Born on 17 October 1996 in Los Angeles Originally from Los Angeles Barista and intern at Seoul Metropolitan Government

you have one voicemail from sydney 💕

hi mom, it’s sydney! sorry for calling you so late ( a pause as she considers the time ) orrrrr so early i guess? you’re probably at work right now aren’t you? anyways, sorry for not picking up your calls lately! i’ve just been suuuuper busy with work and my internship but i’ve been good so i can’t complain. i mean, my job’s pretty chill and my supervisor for the internship seems cool so there’s that. i haven’t been doing too much though, mainly busy work, but that’s fine, i just need more things on my resume and having a government internship is going to look really good when i apply to grad school later.

by the way, i don’t think i’m going to come home until after my internship is over but i promise our plans won’t be ruined! it’s not summer until i’ve been to malibu at least once, ya know? ( she lets out a quiet laugh before silence descends as she considers whether or not to bring up the whole purpose of her call ) also, are you, um, you know… coming here for dad’s death anniversary? it’s just been so long and i … ( she trails off with a wistful sigh, already half-resigned with the answer she knows she’ll receive tomorrow morning )but, uh, i know you have work though so it’s cool if you can’t.

i hope you’ve been doing well by the way. i miss you a lot. ( the tenderness and love bleeds through even thousands of miles away ) anyways, i’m probably gonna go to bed soon so good night! i hope you have a good day today and i love you lots.  

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Yeon Sangwoo

Born on 01 February 1977 in Jeonju Originally from Jeonju Neurosurgeon

“appa!” down the hall to the right.

“appa! i’m hungry!” downstairs in the kitchen.

“APPAAAA!” the youngest one running around with his shirt off.

“oh my god, appa, i have to go to school!" the oldest impatiently waiting at the front.

"j-just wait!” he calls. “yoonoh, put your shirt back on!” he sort of successfully finishes packing their lunches. “eunha, eunbi and eunji, get your lunches!"

"I WANT UMMA!” yoonoh cries.

sangwoo looks to yoonoh, nearly in tears. “i want umma too.”

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Yeon Soeun

Born on 28 October 1977 in Seoul Originally from Seoul University lecturer

life is fast, cutthroat, and unforgiving. it’s a good thing soeun quickly adapts to it.

she becomes filled to the brim with ambition and hard work that eventually pays off, earning herself a scholarship to attend seoul national university. nothing can distract her.

cue the classic boy meets girl story. dork meets cool scholarship student. somehow, sparks fly. they start dating ( she doesn’t get distracted ). graduation rolls around. they’re back in school. graduation round two, let’s go. a few bumps along the way but soon there’s a wedding. she’s in love and — oh god, she’s pregnant.

a family of six. never would’ve seen it coming.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Sawayama Aiko

Born on 03 August 1994 in Nagoya Originally from Nagoya Singer and waitress

hillside boys

my silhouette is in the frame of your shades again; and your cigarette’s facing its final breath; just once or twice is too many times when you know the end; so hard to deny, so hard to forget

hillside boys you call my name; you make my heart sparkle like champagne ( oh me, oh my ) you break my love machine; hillside boys you call my name

why do i try, when in your eyes i just melt again and you’ll only stay until our tan lines match; it’s over in your range rover; and i don’t, don’t know why i want ya; but you look so pretty when you’re breaking me

i’ll carry on, summer is done, done and so are we!

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Bang Dohee

Born on 04 October 1999 in Busan Originally from Incheon Student

ingredients needed to make bang dohee: a bag full of peach rings; clunky, objectively ugly running shoes; bubble tea with 100% sweetness; freshly-made 붕어빵; lively summer afternoons; playgrounds after school; the smell of orange peels; tiramisu cake by 위아더나잇; warm sand between your toes; finger-painting; heavily-highlighted textbooks with some extra doodles to cure the impending wave of boredom; an extra pinch of love to taste.

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Ju Jitae

Born on 03 November 1993 in Daegu Originally from Daegu Architect

flannels flung across the bedroom floor, sketching under bus shelters on silent nights, the smell of coffee at 2am, endless eraser shavings and a mess of tracing paper, a warm summer breeze slipping through the window, weighted eyes uplifted by sunrise — running and tripping and on and on.

in his dreams, there is a light, reflecting off glass and steel.