Personal Message
Staff
lee taemin
literature teacher
Id#: 816013114
2019 - 2020
Description
"through the vast wilderness, in this life of uncertainties..."
"my lips are the gun, my smile is the trigger and my kisses are the bullets." taemin's laughing, fingertip tracing around the rim of a cocktail glass. there's salt on it, and he it off with a grimace. some of it has caught on his mouth, and it burns the recent piercing that curls round his bottom lip. "girls label me a...killer." his friends' voices are lifted in a deafening cacophony, all protesting at the kitsch joke he's just made, but his eyes are narrowed and rapt on a feminine figure at the other end of the club. his best friend. she's with that other guy. taemin doesn't like him, but she's made her choice; he merely turns away when she raises her head to kiss him, attention flitting elsewhere.
너의가는곳그어데이냐
"you are running, yet where are you going?"
his lungs ache, strained with his sprint. as he steps into the water, the high tide testing his mettle as he seeks to leave the shore - his life - behind, he feels lost. here in this vastness, in the beautiful, dying light of day, he is insignificant; but it is comforting. the apricot tendrils that streak through a softly glowing incarnadine background do not know his name. they do not heap undue expectations on his shoulders. they do not force his back to remain rigid and bear the strain. the currents that desire to pull him under recognize that he is no god, no atlas; he is just a man, too-important and yet inconsequential to the people in his life. the warmth of the sun that gradually leaves him does so because it is in its nature, not because it has chosen to forsake him. salt is on his tongue once again, but this time it is the saline of tears.
쓸쓸한세상험악한고해에
"in this lonely world, through the rough seas,"
너는무엇을찾으러가느냐
"what are you searching for?"
his girlfriend hasn't returned his calls. taemin glares daggers at his ceiling, back pressed against the arm of his sofa. after fumbling around in his back pocket, he places a cigarette between his parted lips. he flicks open a lighter, the end of the cylinder luminescent vermilion. his eyes are closed as he breathes in deeply. his head quirks to the side as he lets the smoke leave his lips lazily: a languorous dragon encircling him. he's truly alone, now. /mother/. he lifts his hand to the ceiling, watching the white light turn his palm translucent. in a different world, another hand would envelope his, one that yielded warmth and comfort. In a different world, then. /right, mother?/ he chokes as the smoke doesn't leave the way it's supposed to, body jerking forward as he has a coughing fit. he crushes the cigarette under his boot heel. "."
삶에열중한가련한인생아
"engrossed in living this miserable life,
너는칼위에춤추는자로다
"you are the one dancing on the knife's blade."
눈물로된이세상에나죽으면그만일까
"this world that will become tears, will everything end if i die?
행복찾는인생들아너찾는것설움 "
those lives searching for happiness, it is really sadness that you are searching for."
taemin closes his book with a snap, favouring his class with a particularly impish smirk. there's complete silence as he s the cuffs of his black shirt and rolls up the sleeves, hip nudging against the edge of his desk as he surveys the bemused students with gentle eyes. "yun sim-deok, hymn of death. not exactly poetry, but it's interesting enough to be studied as such. don't you agree?" the onslaught of protests amuse him, and he removes his spectacles, placing them on the desk. "i want a literary analysis by tomorrow morning..."
the ocean, books, the stars, anime, comfortable clothing, silver jewelry, baby animals, art, food, music.
his family, incomplete assignments, overt stubbornness, dishonesty, difficult situations.
+ a well mannered™ young man (i.e. in the present day. kind of sadistic.
+ sarcasm and bluntness alert.
+ very receptive to new experiences. has a thrill-seeking side that he has to suppress now that he is a respectable, upstanding, moral citizen™.
+ quite sly, good at cheating without really cheating (he exploits loopholes) to achieve an end he desires.
+ taemin has a terrible temper but an aversion to being loud, so his anger tends to manifest in passive aggression.
+ he has grown pretty soft; has the penchant to baby anyone or anything younger/smaller than he is.
+ taemin's the son of a rich man's mistress, a popular socialite/heiress. his older half brother was gravely ill for some time, so taemin was expected to inherit the business in his stead. literature - stories, books, and writing - were his only reprieve from his stressful situation.
+ his father's original family were still intact, so taemin was forced to bear their hatred as well as that of his father. he, in turn, rebelled often and despised his mother for allowing him to be born into such problematic circumstances. then she died :) and he regretted everything and turned his life around. yay.
+ his brother got better, so taemin was absolved of responsibility. though his relationship with his family is strained, he is still respected by the company's personnel and the staff at the family manor. his mother left him all her assets after her passing. he currently lives in her former residence.
+ taemin has several ear piercings.
+ he has a large tattoo of a raven on his forearm, a wild tribute to edgar allan poe.
+ he has a lip piercing that he wears out of school.
+ taemin smokes, a lingering bad habit that he can't seem to cull. he's switched to e-cigs as the smell of smoke has begun to make him feel ill.
+ he can be considered a bit eccentric, what with his bizarre appearance and bachelor's lifestyle. he regularly invites the neighborhood old ladies for morning walks and breakfast.
+ he has three cats and two dogs. they love him and each other to pieces.
what of instinctual enmity? nugu. we don't know her.
+ he has a portion of his salary dedicated to their comfort and refers to them as his children.
"hey taemin, want to hang out?" "can't, i promised to watch howl's moving castle with the kids."
+ he graduated with first class honors and is doing his mphil part time.
