JUNE is his favourite month and was the perfect name.
Park Seonghwa was born in Seogwipo-si, Jeju Province/Island, SK, to two hyper-traditional parents. His paternal grandparents lived with them on a small, historical property off the coast-line. On Sundays they went to church, and every other day, especially in the warmer seasons, they tended to the resort.
Back home, Seonghwa could never be June.
The majority of his schooling was done locally, until his last high school year, after weeks of groveling, he convinced his parents to let him go on an exchange program to Australia.
It was one of the most life changing experiences of June's life. He met friends, practiced his English nonstop, joined a band, and discovered parts of himself he'd kept neatly tucked in the darkest corners of his closet. It was at this Australian high school, that Seonghwa was nicknamed June for the first time by the boy that took his first kiss.
Max was tall, tanned, blond and considered surfing more interesting than school. He played drums in their amateur band and from the moment June had met him, he'd been in love. It was the most magical year of his life. And the start of something new. Until his parents died in a car accident, and his dreams were cut short.
Returning to Jeju felt like a prison sentence for June. He didn't know how to live a life without his parents. June felt responsible for their death. They had died while he had been living it up. The moment he was able to leave home, he did. To his grandparents' horror, he didn't leave to go to university, but to join DSF Entertainment.
JUNIE came to be in June's first year as a trainee. Homesick, anxious, and lost, he tagged along with some roommates to a rave. The technicolour world was like an acid trip. The heavy beat in the music fueled the gyrating bodies, which were an eclectic mix of men and women, dressed scantily in beads, sequins and spandex. June was peer pressured into drinking for the first time - and maybe experimenting with some Molly - and that was that.
The more raves June attended, the more confident he became in dressing like the others. Eventually, he even donned a wig, and painted his face, and strapped on some heels, and Junie was born.
Much like when June had met Max, he felt freed. There was something liberating about being able to float between genders, and kiss who he wanted to without a thought for what the public would think.
If only he could be that way every day.
DEBUTING in Royal Flush put a swift end to June's flip-floopping between June and Junie. He now had a public image to maintain, and other people to think about. Junie was a blurry dream from his past now.
June shoved himself back in a tight closet, where he suffocates every day, torn between being who he is and who people want him to be.