#basically the 'a' in byan is pronounced the same way as the 'a' in can

[byanyan]

ㅤi'm realizing it's been a while since i've explained why byan is, you know, even called byan in the first place. i feel like a lot of my mutuals probably have no idea, so lemme change that real quick!

ㅤbyan's actual, legal name is yeong-hwan byun — or byun yeong-hwan but, because they exist in a primarily english-speaking setting, they're in the habit of saying and writing it the western way. that is, with their given name first, followed by family name rather than the other way around, as a korean name typically would be.

they've always hated their name. in part, it's because it was given to them by the mother who didn't even want to keep them. the fact that she's never been in their life, yet they're stuck sharing her surname is something they've always despised. mostly though, they hate yeong-hwan because it's long. it's boring. they have to correct people on the pronunciation an exhausting number of times. and, of course, it's masculine. nothing about it has ever felt right to them.

by the time they were about six, they were desperate for something different. so, since no one else was giving them a nickname like they were secretly hoping would happen once they started elementary school, they took it into their own hands. taking the 'by' from byun and the 'an' from the end of yeong-hwan, they crafted the name byan for themself. it was shorter, it was cuter, it was unique and not inherently gendered — it felt so much more like them. it still does. they've been using it ever since, demanding that anyone who interacts with them on a regular basis use it over their "real" name, and they often threaten violence on anyone who doesn't. —and yet at the same time, most of the people they meet outside of school have no idea that they even have any name other than byan.