an opus.

[wanderinglust]

	Jung Taekwoon AIM: numbered sonatas @drinkingdeep

©

MUSE NAME: Jung Taekwoon GROUP/SOLO: VIXX MUSE JOURNAL: wanderinglust MUSE IM: # numbered sonatas MUSE TWITTER: drinkingdeep AGE: November 10, 1911; 105 RESIDENT OR IMMIGRANT: Resident as of December 2014. OCCUPATION: Owner of Avec Amour (lingerie boutique) RACE: Vampire ABILITY: Persuasive Music HISTORY: 1911: Jung Taekwoon is born to a Korean couple living in fear of the Japanese annexation of Korea. He is the first and only son, three sisters older than he already set to wed by the time he's born. His parents are too fearful of the changes and due to Order No. 124, the civil registration law, he is the first of his siblings to have a family name at birth. 1921: While attending school, Taekwoon discovers his knack for languages. When the Japanese classes begin, he picks it up with enough speed that his teacher is surprised and writes a letter to his parents telling them to make sure to indulge this newfound talent. His parents seek out an English tutor, and he learns three days a week after class until dinner is ready. 1927: Taekwoon finishes his main schooling and begins training to work with the police force, though his quick-thinking gained the attention of Major General Ono Toyoshi of the Japanese Korean Army. His parents are mortified when he enlists, but there's nothing they can do to stop him. Due to his mastery of three languages, they teach him the art of reconnaissance. 1931: After delivering a report of his findings on the Chinese-Japanese Dispute in July, Taekwoon was assigned to be sent to France to help an old friend of Lieutenant General Hayashi Senjuro. The trip took long enough for him to familiarize himself with the new language on board the ship, and he got to work as soon as he possibly could. 1934: Taekwoon falls in love with a British double agent, never includes word about her in his messages to his superiors, though they certainly have to have an inkling of what's going on. He is still devoted to his work first and foremost, but he's gradually less uptight, finds it a bit easier to smile. 1935: On the eve of a raid on the whorehouse where his lover worked from, she brought Taekwoon to a safehouse and revealed herself as a vampire, offered to turn him so that they could be together forever, just as they'd pledged. The three days of change were the worst pain he'd ever experienced, and when he woke, his sire led him to the hideout of the men who had raided the whorehouse looking for her. None of them survived, throats slit with a thin blade by his sire to hide how they truly passed on. He'd never felt more alive than after such a feast, after watching the life drain from the eyes of men who had wished such ill on his lover. After another month of coming to terms with what his new life meant, the couple disappeared off the map to make their way to London. 1936: Taekwoon, going by the name Taylor Young, settles down with his wife Isadora, and works overnight shifts at a newspaper, changing the letter presses out for the stories to be run. Working there also allows him to stay in the loop with the goings on of the world, while Isadora uses her contacts from nearly a thousand years as a vampire to ensure that they stay on the right side of the local Queen and clans. Isadora works out of their home as a seamstress, sews garments for the girls involved in the local sex trade. 1938: Isadora attends a number of baby showers in the early winter, gives gifts that are slightly beyond the means of Taylor's employ, but no one says anything. In the spring, after a contact tells Isadora that war is brewing, they decide to move to the United States for a fresh start. Taylor receives a glowing letter of recommendation from his boss, though he ends up burning it in the fireplace just before they leave. 1942: After a few years spent travelling along the East Coast visiting a number of Isadora's friends, Taylor Young becomes Corwin Smith, and Isadora becomes Elaine. They end up in California; Corwin works the printing press for a book publisher, while Elaine tries to break into the acting scene with mild success. She decides instead that she'd rather become a singer, and talks Corwin into picking up the piano. This is how they discover just what his ability is, and they use their powers in tandem to make feeding after performances all too easy. 1945: The Soviet Union declares war on Korea; World War II ends. Corwin feels stifled despite having promised to be with his sire forever, because forever is a hell of a lot longer when you're a vampire. He speaks with the clan leader and then leaves his thin wedding band on Elaine's vanity before making his way north, to Seattle. He adopts the name Robert Strickland, and makes a meager living by playing piano in whatever bars or restaurants will have him after dark. 1950: Robert finds himself rather enchanted by a demigod who has been a regular at his shows. The man is unaffected by Robert's power, but that's just fine. News of the Korean War reaches him, but he is mostly unaffected, having been far more loyal to the military rather than his family. 1953: Robert and the demigod move in together, and the slow burn of the last three years boils over. The vampire is addicted to his lover's blood, settles for a quick drink from the inside of his thigh on most days. The blood of humans is bland in comparison, though he has to drink it to keep his strength up, it no longer brings the joy he was so used to. 1958: The demigod ends things with Robert all too suddenly, and he succumbs to madness the likes of which Seattle had never seen. A broken heart is just as painful when the heart doesn't need to beat. He doesn't terrorize Seattle long, heading southeast before zig-zagging in a mostly southern direction. 1967: The vampire comes to his senses and finds himself in San Francisco during the height of Mantra-Rock Dance in January. Hippies are nice enough folk, and he falls in with a group of like-minded mutants. They travel the country for concerts and protests, Robert offering to drive the van through the night in exchange for a bit of blood now and then. All the concerts make him miss the piano, and while he might play a concerto against the steering wheel now and then, he has no need for his power at the moment. They call him Jade, weave flowers and leaves into his dark hair, enjoy food and drinks and drugs and each other. 1972: The group of mutants forms a commune and starts a farm in Colorado. Jade can't stand the smell of manure or how loudly the rooster crows when he's trying to sleep. He hugs each of them in turn before walking East. He hides in the woods during daylight hours, wrapped from head to toe in a large blanket from the first real friends he's ever known, their lingering scents mingling together enough to keep him going between finding those he can feed from. He's fallen a long way from the lives he lived as Taylor and Corwin, but his sire had warned that even the life of a vampire has peaks and valleys. For the first time, he misses her. 1973: New York City is different than he remembers from passing through years before. It's dangerous. Jade fits right in, plays piano where he's allowed, appeals to the vampire leader before daring to feed. He usually feeds from those who try to mug him, roughing them up before knocking them out in the seediest alley he can find, the wounds from his fangs hidden under the back of their shirt collars. 1977: The whole city goes dark, and it's glorious. Jade feasts, feeding off of would-be looters, leaving them disoriented before returning to the corner of a crowded vampire commune he calls his own. He feels stronger than he has in a long time, and he looks it, as well. 1979: Jade travels to New Jersey on the weekends to sell his blood, putting all of the money he makes into a bank account opened under his birth name. He wouldn't dare sell in New York City itself, fears the wrath of the High Lord should he find out. 1980: Jade reunites with his sire. It isn't necessarily pretty, given the hurt he caused, but he accepts the wounds as well as the men she brings him to feed from. None of them taste very good. She lets him feed from her, and then feeds from him, and things seem okay. Mostly. He adopts the name Nishimura Daiki, she becomes Maria, and they move together to Tokyo after he empties his bank accounts. 1990: Daiki feels trapped again, unable to reach his full potential, and once more he leaves his wedding band on Maria's vanity before leaving. He makes his way to Hong Kong and learns the language, decides to go by his birth name, and he finds a place to live and a piano he pays to have repaired. He quietly sells his blood on the side to pay for a keyboard, stand, and case. He spends most of his nights busking near dive bars, makes friends with a few college students, keeps himself on the Council's good side. 1992: Taekwoon meets Alisa, the charm of her smile doing much to heal the void where his heart once was. He is careful around her, never purposefully uses his power on her, would rather she be his of her own free will. He begins to appeal to the Council for permission to turn her. 1994: He finally wins the Council over. Taekwoon makes the evening as romantic as possible in an attempt to make it easier for Alisa, though he certainly remembers the pain, the hunger that followed. She is adamant at first about only feeding from small animals, something he could never bring himself to do, but when they are very nearly robbed, he pins the man down and encourages her to feed. The convinces the man to return the money, and once the would-be robber leaves, he gives Alisa a fond smile. She'd done well. 1995: Working to encourage Alisa to leave her family behind completely is difficult. She does not belong with them any longer, he tells her. It is safer, now, to have that distance. Even as he works on that, he aids her as best he can with the power she's manifested. 2002: They travel around the world, smart investments made on Taekwoon's behalf benefiting their cause, though his busking and use of his ability certainly doesn't hurt. She meets his hippie mutant friends, moved to Vancouver where it's more progressive; and Venice, where a good contact from his days in New York City had taken up residence. Anywhere she wants to go, he's happy to take her. Her smile lights up his entire world. 2003: Against his warning, Alisa visits her family. He waits for her a few blocks away, silently opens his arms to offer her what little comfort he can. That was the part about being with someone that he was never really good at. 2004: Despite the brightness of Alisa's smile, his wanderlust has returned, and he has to go. He cannot offer any reassurance, simply disappears from her life while she's on the hunt one evening. He makes his way to Seoul, offers his skill with the piano to artists in the emerging pop music scene there. He begins to compose music as well, drawing on his own experiences in attempts to have the songs resonate without the use of his power. He falls in with another demigod, carefully guards his heart that time, but that doesn't make their relationship any less intense. 2008: Taekwoon and his lover begin to go by a moniker in the industry to distance their personal lives from their work. The vampire enjoys the security of the growing numbers in his bank account, feeling greed for something other than blood for the first time in his life. 2014: The demigod is killed by a hunter, and Taekwoon transfers all of his money to the account he'd opened in Hong Kong before notifying the Council of his intent to move. He works closely with the Lady of his clan, learns that his sire had been killed in London not one month prior. Everything feels like it's crumbling down around him, which certainly means that it's time for a fresh start. The trip is made, and he secures housing at the place he couldn't afford it before- Mansfield Quarters. He celebrates the end of the year at a party, feeds quietly off of the first pretty face that dances against him. 2015: The news does little to reassure Taekwoon that things will be okay, but he forces the thought from his mind and instead takes an online business management course, even though the light of a computer screen makes his eyes ache. He opens up an upscale lingerie boutique staffed by mutants and demigods who need a reliable form of income who also have an eye for the finer things in life, works the closing shifts and does inventory overnight once a month. To him, the boutique is an ode to his sire, to her Hollywood glamour and the pieces she liked to wear around their home. 2016: The boutique isn't going anywhere, which does do some reassuring. He appoints another assistant manager, works every other night shift, and starts to spend time at Divino, where he can watch some of the custom-made pieces at work. It also made it easier to feed, given the presence of the Blood Den downstairs. Now and then, he finds a cafe with a piano to play and put his power to work, just to make sure it's still working. Sometimes, he thinks about Alisa, and hopes that she's doing well for herself. PERSONALITY: If most anyone had ever been asked to describe the man born as Jung Taekwoon, soft-spoken would be the most common denominator. Really, though, he doesn't deign to speak unless the need to arises. He is restrained even when other vampires might lash out, opting to observe and calculate the proper response. Even when backed into a proverbial corner, he takes his time and lets someone think they have the last word, then enacts revenge at a later date. Does this make him somewhat petty? Yes. Does he mind? No. He has to find joy in something after being alive for a century. It takes a lot to get his blood boiling, but once he snaps, it takes a lot for him to calm down- usually roughing up criminals, or spending an evening with a punching bag before making his way to Blood Den does the trick... usually. Shapeshifters do tend to get under his skin more quickly than most anyone else, though he tries not to hold it against him personally. It's just the way things are, isn't it? He does have his weaknesses- children, small animals, and objects made cute for no good reason. He'd always wanted to have at least one child, and being a sire isn't quite the same- it's a longing that never truly goes away, though he doesn't let himself dwell on it often. Another, much more hidden weakness, is how bland he now finds the blood of humans. He's fed so much from demigods (and his sire) in the past that he can't quite shake it, though he hides his distaste as best he can. His notable mannerisms are on the peculiar side- he tends to hide his face when he comes remotely close to smiling or laughing, whether it be by bringing one hand up or nearly faceplanting against the nearest horizontal object depends entirely on the situation at hand. He gnaws at one side of his lower lip when he's lost in thought, eyes going slightly out of focus while he stares off into space. This tends to attract the attention of whomever he may have been looking at last, for better or worse. ABILITY: Persuasive Music, the ability to sway the subject's thoughts in a certain way with a melody. restrictions ♪ Taekwoon's brand of this ability only works when he is playing a piano or keyboard. ♪ The subjects have to hear him play the music live, any sort of recording renders it void. ♪ Maximum number of subjects is five. ♪ Maximum range is four meters from the source of the sound, useless at a larger venue. ♪ Subjects all gain the same suggestion. ♪ Suggestions are just that, suggestions, and someone with a strong enough force of will (or immunity to powers of persuasion) can easily fight it off. ♪ Suggestions only last for thirty minutes, and may only be vague in nature. ♪ I should go say hello when he's done is too specific. Meet him is more general and may work. ♪ He has to work to put a suggestion into a song he's playing, and thus saves it for the end of a set. He can only keep it going for ten minutes at most, but he's drained enough afterward that feeding becomes a necessity.