#hrs kim dasom

[hearsaykrp]

                 Presenting — seo gyuri as the dove.

— info.

name / seo gyuri birthday / 930914 pronouns / she/her occupation / receptionist at veterinarian office

— traits.

( jealous, dependent, faithful, affectionate )

jealous: gyuri has always felt inferior, forgotten. at first she lived on the sidelines of their little group, longing for a way into the tight bond she saw every day between the swan and jungsoo - the whispers, the giggles, the unquestioned power, the crown parting when they walked arm in arm down the school hallway. gyuri was there, but only on the fringes - until tragedy struck and jungsoo vanished. but every cloud has a silver lining, right? she thought that being plucked from her tangential position by the swan to be her new best friend meant that there was something special hidden inside her, something only the swan had seen. after all, she was now trusted with keeping a dangerous secret, one that could make or break her best friend’s life. that was a kind of power, wasn’t it? but that alone wasn’t enough. the swan continued to reign from her throne, and while gyuri was higher in status than before, she was hardly as powerful as she’d like. she’s terrified of losing the swan’s affection and being cast off altogether, to be well and truly forgotten - but she can’t help but covet the love and attention her friend gets.

dependent: who would seo gyuri be without the swan and the lark? her name is never spoken without theirs, as if they were a three-for-one deal. in a small town like ilmyo, everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows seo gyuri as part of a package. everyone also knows (or so gyuri suspects) that without her pretty friends, she would be just about nothing. she has no real ambitions or aspirations except to be pretty and popular, and her popularity is reliant on those with whom she associates. while everyone in the town knows the name seo gyuri, would anyone be able to pinpoint a single thing about her, other than the group with which she travels? her reaching out to the starling is an attempt to change this - maybe if she can rub off on her fame, gyuri can finally stand on her own.

faithful: gyuri is all-in. she’s your ride or die, your right hand, your shoulder to cry on, the person you can trust with a secret. she doesn’t understand betrayal or double crossing as concepts - with the way she relies on others, she can’t afford to not be reliable herself and to lose her friends by letting them down. it does mean she gets swept up in situations she otherwise wouldn’t be in - but she trusts that the people she’s faithful to would do the same for her.

affectionate: lucky you - gyuri likes you! and you’re sure to know it, too. gyuri believes in heaping praise, in giving gifts, in holding hands, in making soup for you when you’re sick. she wants no one to ever feel less than the way she has for her whole life. when you’re in her good graces, she puts all of her energy into being as good a friend as possible and to make you feel loved.

— about.

i. seo gyuri is born on the first day that the weather begins to turn cold after a bright, hot summer. she is a sister, the youngest of three, an only daughter. her family dotes on her. she is raised with all the love and attention a child needs.

ii. gyuri is a bit shy. when she begins elementary school, she can’t work up the nerve to ask the prettiest girl in the class whether the seat next to her is free, but she works up the nerve to take a seat at the same table, just at the end of it instead. by some miracle, over time, they become friends. gyuri’s role in the group is largely providing backup and letting everyone hang out at her house after school (because her parents are the “least nosey”), but she’s happy to be included, to be viewed by the other students with the same jealousy or reverence that her friends got.

iii. gyuri finally worked up the nerve to ask her first crush out, and he accepted! she has her first boyfriend, and it was just like all the dramas and movies she watched! it took a few weeks before she realized something. other than their first couple of dates, they never went out just the two of them. they always hung out with her friends. suddenly it became clear - her boyfriend is less interested in her and more interested in her pretty friends, her social capital, the jealous whispers from his buddies when they saw him with the most popular girls in ilmyo. that made it clear - gyuri is nothing without the swan, jungsoo, and the lark by her side. she broke up with him and cried all night with her friends, but never told them why their relationship ended.

iv. it was just supposed to be a game. a way for the swan to get back at jungsoo for hanging out with the robin. nothing dangerous, nothing deadly. but the night went on and on, and except for the call the swan got, they didn’t hear from jungsoo again. gyuri continues to repeat the same story every time someone asks - jungsoo was there when they fell asleep, gone when they woke up. there’s always been a nagging feeling in the back of gyuri’s mind, thinking that she shouldn’t have laughed along with the swan when she hung up the phone, that she should have run up into that mountain and found jungsoo when the dare stopped being funny - but gyuri leaves dangerous thoughts like those locked away.

v. in jungsoo’s absence, gyuri is promoted. the rosefinch abandons their group. suddenly gyuri’s the one who gets the swan’s undivided attention, who walks arm in arm with her, who gets the swan’s secrets and clothes and power. gyuri revels in it. she’s never felt so energized, so envied, so unrivalled. it’s almost enough for her to ignore the rumours that start to swirl about gyuri’s role in jungsoo’s disappearance - that she somehow arranged jungsoo to be on the mountain or to be kidnapped or to be disposed of in order to take over her rank in the group. gyuri doesn’t correct them - keeping the swan’s secret is too precious to her to even consider it.

vi. gyuri went to university - not because she had a particular path she wanted to follow, but because that seemed like what she was supposed to do. she came back to ilmyo upon graduation and got herself a job at the local veterinary clinic, getting back into the small town environment she feels most comfortable in. by some happy circumstance, she befriended choi goeun - someone who was truly generous and kind in a way gyuri wasn’t used to seeing in her own tight-knit group. goeun seemed so in love, and was so sweet, that gyuri volunteered herself to help plan the wedding. they spent many hours together looking at dresses, trying cake flavours, picking bouquets, and for the first time in a while gyuri felt important and needed. goeun was trusting her with one of the most important days of her life! it reinvigorated her, gave her a sense of purpose. even when goeun’s mood began to shift into something less bright and cheery, gyuri pushed her to keep her focus on the wedding so she wouldn’t lose her drive. when goeun and her fiance disappeared like her old friend had years ago, gyuri felt like her world had collapsed. rumours were swirling again, but this time she wasn’t glowing in the novelty of a closer friendship with the swan. gyuri continued to go through the motions, pretended she couldn’t hear the whispers, but she felt devastated and hollow inside.

vii. gyuri decided she didn’t want to hide this time. she wanted to stand out more than she has in the past. she was tired of always fading into the background and being overshadowed by the swan. she decided to try being a beauty vlogger. she set up a youtube account, posting videos of herself reviewing her favourite makeup products or showing off her daytime look, hoping for a quick ascent to fame. that didn’t happen, so she’s been trying to get close with the starling who’s had her own small share of fame. there is the whole issue with gyuri hiding the hints she picked up from goeun leading up to her death, and the fear that the swan is going to ditch her entirely if she catches her trying to make friends outside their little circle, but maybe gyuri’s become more daring over the years. and wouldn’t it be worth it, if people could finally stop speculating that she was somehow tied into these disappearances and recognize her as special and interesting on her own?