Kwon Mirinae was born in rural Gwangju as the second daughter to traditional etiquette teacher, Kwon Beom-su, and long-retired taekwondo athlete, Heo Dambi. She grew up on a family farm/etiquette school that helped employ a few of the village's residents so it was always a warm, community-oriented upbringing for her.

In the mornings, she and her sister, Hanyeseul, would recieve lessons from their father in etiquette before heading to the local school that taught only half the day. This allowed for children to go home and help with their family farms and/or businesses. For Mirinae and Hanyeseul, this meant any combination of sitting in on classes to encourage shy or nervous younger kids, tending to easier-to-handle crops, harvesting, or attending pansori and taekwondo classes.It was certainly a busy upbringing but Mirinae always looks back on it fondly because it was a simple life.

Her dive into celebrity started with one of these simple pastimes. By the time that they were 12 and 10, the girls had begun performing in their village, and surrounding ones, as a pansori duo with both of them as vocals while Yeseul played the buk and Mirinae played the gayageum. The girls were well recieved and as videos began to make their way around the internet, there was high praise as the South Korean government considers many pansori singers to be "living national treasures." Dubbed the Kwon Sisters, they played together at festivals all around the country and even on a major talk/variety show.

As with any duo, though, there was the possibility of one overshadowing the other. Hanyeseul was talented, definitely, but media had a tendency to focus on how the younger Mirinae could freestyle like a seasoned pro, how she had perfect pitch, and how powerful her voice was despite her age. A mere year and a half after they got their start, Hanyeseul stopped doing traditional music to focus more on taekwondo. Despite feeling guilty for her sister's departure, Mirinae, who loved both equally, stuck with both hobbies well into her teen years until the accident.  She was injured during a match—the same injury that forced her mother to retire early—and though they laugh about it occassionally, the first few months after having to quit were very hard.

Losing such a big part of her life was a major blow to the 16-year-old but she merely put that emotion into her pansori and the piano, which she had been playing for about the same time. She continued playing festivals and traditional concerts but she was still relatively unknown outside of the traditional music world. That is, of course, until she began to put a spin on things for her own enjoyment. Mirinae was a fan of all kinds of music—from pop and indie to rock and classical—and she wanted to somehow put together her musical interests.

So, in addition to playing traditional songs, Mirinae had begun to rearrange western and Korean pop songs, among other genres, for the gayageum; she posted these videos, which featured both her playing and her singing, on YouTube. After about a year of doing this, one video went viral which put Mirinae on the international radar. Over the next year or so, she'd begun to appear on American talk shows and performed at a few Korean culture festivals in the west. The Roomies invitation came on the coattails of this climb in popularity.

Personality: Despite her resting sad face, Mirinae is a very bright and friendly person. She has a tendency to be shy and quiet but there are also times where she clicks with a stranger right away. Those are the friendships she cherishes most because, as someone that believes in soulmates of all kinds, she sees them as irreplacable. Mirinae is kind, considerate, and always willing to provide for those around her. She's hardworking and doesn't spend much time doing nothing, so even if she spends an entire day at home or in her room, it's a productive day where something is getting accomplished.

Likes: all kinds of music but she's very fascinated with classical and traditional, strawberries, snow pears, semi-sweet desserts, salty goods, snow, animals, children, flowers, springtime—the season and its associated aesthetics, learning, and really stunning cinematography

Dislikes: being idle, sweet things, really hot weather, grating noises, and liars

Hobbies: baking; reading; watching history documentaries and taekwondo videos; videography; playing gayageum, guitar, and piano; singing; hiking; going on walks; fishing; and pressing flowers

Goals: to produce an original gayageum album and to try her hand at being a singer-songwriter

Misc.:
- her dad always says her resting sad face is because she lived as someone unfortunate in her past life
- at home, she has a dog named Boki
- her Taekwondo accident left her temporarily blind for a few days and her vision isn't the best now but, according to her "not bad enough to need glasses"
- she gets really bad migraines and those are the only times she'll let herself be unproductive