Tae-Eun Song

Tae-Eun Song is a member of Pastel Project.

She performs the backing vocals for Walkin' the World.

## Background

Early in the morning on February 21st, Tae-Eun was born in South Korea to Su-Bin Ryu and Ji-Min Song. Despite both of her parents loving her very much, they were both workaholics — her father climbing the ladder to success at his company quickly due to the aid and contributions of his wife, his personal secretary with a knack for office politics and steering her husband in the right direction at every turn. Though they had two more children several years after their daughter - first Kyu-Eun and later Yu-Eun - their success continued at a steady pace, leading to Tae-Eun practically raising her siblings alongside a series of tutors and nannies.

Despite the added pressures, Tae-Eun never minded helping out, loving and doting on her younger siblings and priding herself on her hard work, keeping up high marks in school and training in numerous styles of classical dance — the same training her mother underwent before abandoning her craft to marry and raise a family. By the time she was fourteen, Tae-Eun was well skilled in an astounding number of dance styles, embracing the modern moves and sound of the K-Pop idols who had overtaken the local arts scene. Becoming entranced by their suave and sexy style, she soon expanded her interests to fashion and everything related to idols, so much so that they practically became her entire life. Attending a string of tryouts, Tae-Eun was signed to Starsphere, an international talent agency, and started undertaking the necessary training to make her dream come true.

This dream was challenged less than a year later when her dad was promoted to lead the entire South Korean division of his company, necessitating he and his family relocate immediately to their headquarters in Japan. Given less than a week to prepare, Tae-Eun packed up what she could before being dragged away from every friend she had in the world in the most dramatic fashion she could manage. Luckily for Tae-Eun, she had signed on to the right agency, being transferred to their office in Tokyo where, her producer said, she may have even better success with her particular style than in Korea. Not entirely sure if that was a compliment or not, the girl relocated with her family, setting up her space in the Starsphere dorms but spending a lot of time at her family's new estate a few train stops away, helping her siblings practice their Japanese and get acclimated to their new surroundings.

It was while coming home from one of these visits that Tae-Eun would make her first real friend in this new country. Even though the girl sitting two rows ahead of her had her headphones on, Tae-Eun could still hear the beat of her favorite K-Pop song booming. It was a longshot — K-Pop was popular around the world, and it wouldn't be out of the question for her to simply enjoy the music without understand it entirely — but the girl understood Tae-Eun's half-shouted greeting, and she excitedly chatted away with her new friend Dam-Bi the entire ride. The two Koreans exchanged numbers, talking and texting on the phone frequently while bonding over their love of their native culture, fashion, and dance, or even meeting up to hang out every now and then. Tae-Eun even gave Dam-Bi a tour of Starsphere's Tokyo facilities, introducing her to many of the other trainee idols in the dorm. Tae-Eun started to thrive again, no longer feeling completely alone at times, until for the second time her world was hit with a snag.

As the oldest child of one of the Hoshino Corporation's junior executives, Tae-Eun was frequently dragged to corporate get-togethers and charity events to show off just how perfect the employees' families are. It was at these events that Tae-Eun eventually met the similarly bored daughter of the company's CEO, Akira, and struck up a minor friendship, the two often sneaking off to talk, show off their dance skills, or just skip out on the most boring events to hang out elsewhere. At least until one fundraiser where the girls were under a particularly watchful eye, when they decided that if they had to be present for the boring socializing that they may as well have some fun. Rejecting the numerous invitations of executives' sons and instead accompanying each other to the dance floor, the girls threw caution to the wind and proved why they were the only dancers at the event suitable for each other's company on the dance floor. Despite having the most fun she'd had since moving to the country, their parents were mortified at the display, her father blaming it entirely on his delinquent daughter and her obviously bad influence. Despite Akira insisting she was just as much to blame, both girls were removed from the event and sent home.

After the following day of school, Tae-Eun tried to apologize to Akira, only to find her number out of service. Trying to get an explanation from her mother, Tae-Eun was told simply that their behavior had been unacceptable, and that it was time for her to focus on her studies and career, always being welcome at home but no longer at her father's work events until she could get over her "rebellious phase". Turning to her only other friend, Dam-Bi was dealing with a crisis of her own, worrying about her time in Japan coming to an end — a fate Tae-Eun could only wish were happening to her. Separated once again from all of her friends with no warning — however temporarily — Tae-Eun developed a chip on her shoulder that grows larger every day and an icy demeanor to match her shocking silver hair, biding her time until she's old enough to return to Korea and let her destiny as a real idol play out.

## Other Data

Tae-Eun attends Kinmokusei All-Girls Private Academy.

She features in an issue of the 4koma: 21.

Her Blood Type is A-.

## Gallery

Tae-Eun's 2019 Birthday Art. Drawn by Eden.