static cling

brian's story doesn't begin by an accidental pregnancy; he doesn't get dropped off at some orphanage, nor is he missing either the prescence of a mother or father. his parents aren't teenagers either. they're both fully fledged adults who married each other some odd amount of years ago, and it's not like he's an only child because of issues with infertility. he's the baby; youngest of three children born to Dr. Kang and his wife. his arrival is welcomed and expected and even planned for. sure, he was more a few days earlier than his determined birthdate, but everything went by relatively smooth.

his father is a neurologist, his mother was a paralegal for some time before having children. brian never experienced what it felt like to grow up poor or without basic essentials. hell, he got both gifts and money on his brithday and on christmas. and while many would assume being raised with a silver spoon in his mouth, the young boy would have turned out spoiled. it's quite the opposite. he was raised by parents who taught him respect and who often gave back to the community any chance they got. the life he was born into was a good one.

the move to toronto, canada from seoul happens (the first time) when he's six. his father is given chance to partake in research involving memory loss in children, and so the kang family moves. having once fit in with the rest of the kids in his class, brian is now the odd one out. it takes longer than hoped for him to learn english, being too shy to talk to anyone in order to practice. eventually he overcomes his fear, however, when he finally stands up for himself from a bully who targeted the foreign kid. his english got much better.

about the time he turns eleven, the family is heading back to seoul. his grandparents aren't doing well, and the fact the uncle with whom they reside is always out of town isn't helping. the added stress makes things tougher for everyone. with all their attention being geared towards his grandparents and his older siblings who are preparing for school - brian's parents loosen up any grip they had on raising him.

he didn't complain; at least, not at first.

much of his pre-teen years are spent either out with his friends or held up in his room playing video games and messing around with anything that catches his interest for more than five minutes. one day, he walks by a music store with an acoustic guitar standing in the window. now, not at all in his life up to this point had brian been curious about learning how to play an instrument, but that day must have been destiny. he gets his mother to buy it for him using his allowance money, and he soon takes up some lessons. that guitar saves him from boredom, and it gives him something to brag about.

it also feeds into brian's original dream of being in a band; touring the world and changing the world with his music, some way, some how. he has this new found appreciation for all sorts of sound, and even enjoys the mozart and bach his mother plays throughout the house during the evening. it's not really what he listens to himself, when he's laying in bed deciding whether or not he wants to actually do his math homework, but it's still nice.

toronto, part two. music becomes one of the only ways brian doesn't lose his mind throughout another couple years away from home. except, this time around, he learns to love all the things that canada has that korea does not. if he doesn't get an A in one of his classes, he can relax knowing his teacher won't ask him any odd questions or call his house. canada can hold a lot of his secrets; like how he snuck out once in awhile, drank beer at some senior's party, or how he kissed a boy or two out of curiousity before heading back to korea for good when he was 17.

now what was to become of the young teen? college, obviously. while his parents did their best to explain to him that he didn't have to go, it was always an option, it was clear that they sorta wanted him to. his older brother was already heading down the medical path just like good ol' dad, and his sister was determined to finish law school and one day open her own practice. this left brian with little room to attempt and try to impress his parents with his brains. he wasn't smart enough for those career paths anyway. but he managed to get into yonsei university, at least.

he is no longer dreaming of hitting the big top; being in a famous band or being any bit of a celebrity. honestly, as long as he gets to play his guitar and sing once in awhile, it's all good. sure, some may see him eventually deciding to be a teacher of all things to be a bit weird, especially for brian, but he's come to see this as some sort of calling - instilling kids with a respect for the arts.

freshman year was full of 'crazy', as brian puts it. aside from all the parties and the stupidly long lecture classes, he throughly enjoys this whole 'independence' thing. he also got to finally meet that damn penpal of his; park jaehyung. they've been best buds ever since they first started writing to one another back in middle school, and now look at how far they've come - both pledged to DTD and living the dream...or whatever.

on the topic of DTD; how did rich boy brian kang end up in that fraternity and not another one? in truth, KAO was his original first choice (don't ask; it's just something about how cool KAO is in means of spelling). he definitely didn't fit in BCT, and from what he saw, a lot of people were trying to get into AGR. it's not that DTD was his last option and so he just went with it. he truly began to like the idea of joining more and more during the whole 'rush season', and thus he pledged.

...but he will blame the parties for his drinking habits.