OUTSIDE CLUB FF WITH BABY.

a warm day bleeds into a cold night. not quite freezing but not far above it, dylan shoulders the breeze with dignity. his jacket is around baby's shoulders as a means to keep her here with him a little longer, sitting on either side of a small round table right outside the club doors. cigarette burns and castaway ashes act as elegant decor. anyway, it doesn't matter what the table looks like—what matters is that he's on one side and she's on the other, but they come together in the middle where his hands lay upon the glass holding hers.

he doesn't mean to be so intimate with her, but his calloused thumbs rub the webs between her own thumbs and her forefingers and he can't help but love her. he won't say it, he never does, and they'll probably end up spending the night together just to wake up and go their separate ways. they always do. but for now, in a delusional place where everything is as it should be, it's almost like she's his girlfriend. the delicate motion of his thumbs continues on.

"what did you do today?" he asks just to get her talking. he cares, of course he cares, but he already has somewhat of an idea of what she'll say. it seems like all she ever does is work, work, work, and maybe carve a little space in her schedule for him. he's always grateful.

"by the way, thanks for staying. i'm sorry to keep you waiting so late."

heyyyyy y’all… i’m peyton [sh/th, 21+, cst—also the mun of selena, hyeon, mouse & dabin] and i’m stoked to be bringing you guys another older character of mine, hwang daesung/dylan hwang. the tl;dr on dylan is that he’s a dude soooo fixated on being the life of the party that he’s actually not the life of the party at all 😓 you can view his stats here, his pinterest here and read all about him under the cut.

dylan hwang, born june 14, 1997 in santa monica, ca, usa to a rock musician/producer/blue collar worker father and a hairstylist mother :~) dylan was their first and only child and he was absolutely cherished. his parents were deeply in love, and you could tell that dylan was a product of that—a very bright, happy, confident kid who took after his father in particular.

he had an interest in music from a young age and would frequently accompany his father to his band’s practice sessions and/or studio recordings; but he didn’t only think the music stuff was cool, he also admired how hard of a worker his dad always was and how he still made time for his family and never seemed tired like…… the most he ever complained about was a headache. in dylan’s eyes, that man was a superhero!!!

also has an uncle (on his dad’s side) who’s cool as hell too; owned a record store in queens and babysat dylan often when he was little and both parents were busy. cool cool guy

but he had a harder time connecting with his mom as she was the more practical adult in his life—very much “good cop/bad cop” and unfortunately she was the bad cop, LOL. making dylan let her cut his hair whilst his dad encouraged him to grow it out, lecturing him for climbing trees in the neighborhood, no sweets before breakfast type deal like… she wasn’t evil AT ALL, just irritating sometimes lmfao

anywayyyy… TW CHRONIC ILLNESS, DEATH / when dylan was 14, his dad went to see a doctor for the aforementioned headaches he’d been having; this turned out to be a series of growths in his brain—he passed away within the same year / END TW

tl;dr dylan lost his dad in 2012, and it turns out his dad was the glue that was holding him and his mom together as well; rather than grieve and heal together, an irreparable distance grew and it definitely didn’t help that dylan was 14… the most evil age ever??? was extremely unkind to his mom, made her cry a lot, the house was silent most of the time with them even learning to have their meals at separate times

dylan really leaned into music more than ever around this time, and even more so once his mom realized she couldn’t pay the bills on her own and needed to go back to south korea and live with her parents for a while; dylan was extremely americanized by this point and didn’t speak korean on a native level, so he felt isolated as all hell in seoul—luckily his uncle richie moved to seoul along with them to stay close to dylan so at least he wasn’t stranded in unfamiliar territory with no one who he felt like he could lean on

his mom’s parents gave her a small loan to start her own salon in jongno-gu and richie relocated his music store to the nakwon musical instrument arcade, where it still is today; needless to say, they adjusted surprisingly quickly and, in a way, dylan felt like he was the only one still grieving and consequently was being left behind (which is not true but yk he was an angsty teenager)

had a lot of sadness and frustration with nowhere to go, and from about 15 to 18 he was a problem child :( picking fights, treating the people around him like shit, getting kicked out of school, etc etc

but around 18 he got a very humbling reality check and has been striving to be better ever since/striving to be someone his dad would be proud of—his relationship with his mom is still quite complicated because, like i mentioned before, he ended up getting kicked out of school which was NOTTTT cool… eventually got his ged, but. should not have happened that way. and she’s consistently asked him to pursue something other than music with his life as she doesn’t want to watch him waste his life chasing a pipe dream, but that remains the only thing that he really wants to do; he does help out at her salon on occasion and she talks about how she wishes he would come on full-time so they could spend more time together and she wouldn’t spend all day worrying about him, but 🤷‍♂️ he really doesn’t want to cut hair for the rest of his life. mostly nice to her now, but never gave her a proper apology for the fucked up shit he said to her before/the way that he treated her, and is still prone to lashing out when she gets on his nerves—familiarity breeds contempt type vibe.

after he was kicked out of school, he started working for his uncle richie at his music store as a sales associate; is still there to this day, but has job-hopped quite a bit over the years… richie always takes him back when he inevitably quits or gets fired. nowadays, he’s operating as a sales associate/instrument and record player repair tech/halfass assistant store manager like… what does he not do? he acts like he owns the place.

started a band in 2019, tentatively called both haze and through the haze (sounds like: silica gel, thornapple) depending on who you’re asking. a psychedelic rock band with a bunch of random ass influences; slow start, but they’ve been gaining a fair bit of traction recently. not quite known internationally, but most people in the jongno-gu area know the name and they play shows in the area often, as well as being invited to perform at independent rock festivals throughout the year. still…. the band’s not paying the bills, so 🤷‍♂️ they can’t quit their day jobs yet…

here he is now: a 26 (almost 27) year old man still doing the same shit he was doing 5 years ago, seemingly at a standstill in life. personality-wise, he’s very kind and humorous—forever trying to make up for the jackass that he was as a teenager, feels the best when he’s making people smile or laugh. treats everyone he encounters like they’re special to him in some way, “because they are”. much more intelligent than he’s given credit for, but lives as a piece of comedic relief instead of letting his skills (beyond music) show. absolute party animal, can outdrink anyone and can go for hours; hosts a lot of afterparties following haze’s shows, so stop by if you’re looking for a good time. a candle burning at both ends, but if you don’t look too close, you can’t tell; has an alcohol problem, but 🤷‍♂️ claims that it “comes with the territory” and “is no big deal”. friendly, well-meaning guy who never made peace with his grief and has to be fucked up to feel good, and no matter what levels of success he reaches, it never feels good enough. like i said before, he treats people like they’re special but fails to maintain meaningful relationships as he runs from commitment in any form and wants to know a lot of people a little bit rather than know a few people really good. lonely lonely man.

plot ideas

i always say this, but: i love extensive plotting, so if you're trying to discuss all the little details and build a strong storyline together, i'm your girl! however, i'm also 100% game to get a loose idea together, jump in and see how it develops. that said, here are some small ideas:

naturally, dylan's band members. the band has been around since 2019, but the current members do not have to be original. if/when these spots are taken, i would like to get together and discuss the band's dynamic as a whole as well! currently seeking: bassist, lead guitarist, drummer.

a friend around dylan's age (born '96 to '98 ideally) who he met when he first moved to seoul in 2013. they've been friends for 11 years now, so this is someone who knows dylan better than anyone else in his life, and his #1 supporter but also his biggest critic - they see how toxic/unhealthy his behavior is and call him out on his bs, which quite frankly scares him LMFAOOOO so maybe there's a little distance between them now that's never been there before? let's figure out the details together

musicians who often come to spins & needles for things like guitar strings, picks, cords, various music equipment, etc etc... connections he's made this way who don't have their own band, but sometimes fill in if a member of haze is unable to play a show? connections who DO have their own band and sometimes open for haze or vice versa? jam session buddies, young/budding musicians who think dylan's way cooler than he actually is, someone who just really loves music and drops in to chat the shit with dylan.

an ex-girlfriend, probably someone introduced to dylan by his mom as she used to frequent his mom's salon. they dated for a while, but dylan wasn't serious about her/wasn't willing to settle down at the time while she was wanting a partner who could be husband material. sorry!

a random ass eclectic friend group... people who have absolutely nothing in common with dylan, but they have a great time together anyway.

party friends, and ultimately, bad influences on each other - constantly pushing each other's limits, waking up with gnarly hangovers and doing it all again the next night. perhaps these are friends who dylan will grow apart from throughout his development as he tries to steer away from drinking, but that's a bridge to cross in the future!!!

let him have his christopher wilde (from starstruck, for those who don't know) moment... someone who doesn't like him/has been talking shit about how he's "pretentious" or whatever and now he's fixating on making them change their mind. "you don't like me? but you don't even know me.. i think... i think if you knew me, you would really like me" monologue type beat.

etc etc etc... open to anything!!!

[240119] 'Memories' @ OO-LI FINALE