Luoyang Chiang

**Luoyang Chiang** is a side character who is the father of Shawn Chiang.

portrayed by Lee Byung-hun

## Biography

### Early life

Chiang Luoyang, originally burn Cho Whan, was born in North Korea where nothing had ever been quite simple. Their freedom was often restricted and heavily monitored. Luoyang often felt that his life would always be like this and in a way, it became what he was used to. Watching his back as well as his every move so that nothing dangerous would happen. Throughout his life, he had a series of failed relationships until he met a woman by the name of Min. The two had gotten along better then he had with any other of his past girlfriends throughout his school years and a little after before he met her. A lot of them had been arguments or not enough in common but that hadn't been the case in Min. One thing that had interested him about her was her fascination with the outside world. A lot of people assumed that he was only interested in her because she had just turned eighteen.

Luoyang asked her to marry him to which she had agreed to. During their marriage, they also did what Luoyang saw as fantasizing. Fantasized and daydreamed of moving to England or America. Somewhere out of the country that they lived in that made leaving extremely difficult. Maybe they'd even move to Australia one day where the sun always shined and they could do whatever they wanted. After their first son was born, he could see how serious his wife was getting about moving. It was something that she was almost panicked about at some days. Furthermore, it was something he had to sway away from conversations because he knew that if someone else caught wind of their fantasizing that they'd be in a lot of trouble. After living 27 years in North Korea, he had learned very well that moving was a very improbable action that could also be dangerous. It didn't help that the city near by them were undergoing an uprising in which could put a lot of people in danger.

It could also put at danger the factory job which he worked and had just gotten promoted to. He was getting paid well and young for his position. People believed that he was a full blown patriot which was something of a badge of honor at the factory. That badge was the only reason that he had ended up getting promoted to begin with so it wasn't something he felt comfortable risking with others finding out. Three years later was when his wife had another son which was something that Luoyang couldn't be anything but proud of. It had been something that many men dreamed of to have not just one older son but another one to carry on the name. Unbeknownst to him was that his wife had been in contact with people to help get them out.

This wouldn't be brought to his attention until about a year after his younger son was born. His wife came to him in the quiet of their kitchen to inform him that she had been in talks with a Chinese smuggler. This smuggler could get them across the border and into China without issue including their two young sons. More then that, he could get them all names and IDs that would verify them as Chinese people. Once they lived there a sufficient amount of time, they'd be able to move around a little more freely. A date to leave had been set one week from that point and Luoyang was furious that his wife had gone ahead to speak to such a dangerous man without telling him until now. An argument had began between the two where he expressed his unhappiness with her over this. She held no regrets in his face and it was difficult to argue without risk of neighbors catching word.

He left for work in a hurry that morning as he hadn't really wanted to discuss it. That entire day was when he found himself distracted and going over the plans his wife had laid out. The notion in which she had already paid half way for the man to do all of this and they just needed to finish the payment. After the payment on that day, they could be gone. It seemed more possible then he thought it could be but it was also a risk. A risk that would mean shame on not only his sons but himself. He would lose his job and they would lose their home. They would probably be jailed or at the very least, his wife and him would have. If they were then his kids would be also put in jail or sent off to different homes where they wouldn't be approved. They had survived the famine and could survive anything else thrown at them.

If it had succeeded though, this country with all the controlling it contained would be over. The dangers that came with living would be lessoned. There wouldn't be a shortage of food or surrounded by the reminder of all the family and friends they've lost from the famine. There would be new opportunities to expand his life into something better for his family. It held such blue skies if he could simply take that first step that his wife had provided and he was afraid. For the first time in his years of living, he was afraid of something good that could happen. This life had been one he was used to and a life where it wasn't like this, a better life, was scary to think about. It was one that felt like it would be a bad idea but what if it wasn't.

They did not speak about it again for a few days as he mulled it over. Thinking about this choice very carefully as it was important to think about it. Only two days before the week ended, after one of his co workers were arrested and executed, he decided that the chance had to be taken. It meant putting his sons into a better position where he wouldn't be killed without due trial or an opportunity to defend him. One where they could put their best foot forward to grow and see the world while not worrying over if their choices would lead them to death. Going to his wife, he simply said that a vacation sounded nice as a signal that he would be okay with it. The family began preparing for their leave of this country via packing up. Hiding their packed belongings under beds until it was time to leave. When it came time to leave, they left under the guise of the nightfall with their two young sons in tow.

With what little belongings, they were placed with a group where they would travel. The travel was long and meticulous as they had to be careful to not be caught. Their sons were tired and didn't want to walk; it took extra attention to keep them quiet. Keep them from screaming or crying or wandering off to end everything there. The youngest who was about a year old was tied to his mothers back while the oldest held onto Luoyang's hand the entire time in a tight grip. Once they got to the river that they learned they would be crossing was when he moved his oldest son to sit on his shoulders and instructed him to hold onto his head and keep his legs tightened around his neck. The almost four year old followed his fathers instructions as they entered the waters which were tough and one wrong move could be the end. Slipping and falling would mean being taken by the currents. Trudging through the water as the group of about twenty people including his four made their way though.

It wasn't until they were out of the water when the first gun shot rang out. The guard in the backs body fell link as he was taken under by the current. Sparing a glance back as he saw the border control standing there reloading and taking aim for the next shop. A panic filled the group as the leader in the front told them to keep moving and try to remain calm. Luoyang had been towards the front with his wife and as he steadied his breathing, he focused on the steps forward. Gun shots ringing out behind him as some hit the water and some was stopped by body. A sound he would never forget as they got to land having lost sight of his wife in the chaos and unable to stop to look. She was younger then him; she deserved to live. She was the one who got this all set up and thinking that he was dead would be the death of him and their eldest son. Long strides as he climbed out of the water with only the early rising sun as his guiding light. Another shot rang out as a sudden shooting pain came to the back of his leg. Feeling his leg buckle from under him as he started falling. Stumbling to catch himself as his son tumbled to the floor.

Eyes wide as his son went flying off his shoulders and while he was safe on the other side, there were still guns pointed at their backs. It was as if it was in slow motion that he watched one of the men who had been in the group of twenty run towards his son. An older man who was at least thirty years older then him lifted his son up to his feet and shove him towards where the leader of the group was. The shot that was where his son was pelted the man who had crouched to shield his body. The man fell as his son took off running and through grit teeth, Luoyang pulled himself up to keep running. Pushing through the pain until they made it up the hill and towards the trees which put them far enough away from the river. Pushing forward until he swept his son up and held him over his shoulder as he continued to run. The child crying as he kept moving and hoped for the best. Eventually, they got to a road as they traveled through the early mornings hour with exhaustion settling. A truck was parked idling waiting for them with a driver in the seat reading a book before jumping out to help load everyone into the back. The two leaders of the operation helping and counting before climbing to the front seats.

Only twelve people had survived the journey into China's territories and it was only when his eyes laid upon his wife's teary eyed face as he sat down that he let a breath go. Kissing her face all over as he could only mumble about how grateful he was to see her face. The rest of the trip had been a blur of a memory as they were taken to a safe house to be given the ID's that they would need. They were put in contact with people who would give them jobs to start earning money as well as people who could help teach them Chinese. Of the remaining, there had been two families of three, a single man, and a woman who had been the early teens granddaughter of the man that saved his son. Everyone was told where they would go to stay at while they earned money and made their way in China. Luoyang pulled his wife aside to the young girl while they all ate and settled down on cots to rest before the families who'd house them would come pick them up.

Luoyang began speaking with her and learned more about her life. It was then that he offered for her to be apart of his family until they could take her to South Korea. They needed to thank her family and pay respects for what her grandfather had done. It wasn't safe for a 12 year old girl to be alone, they owed a debt that was bigger then they could pay. She agreed so Luoyang informed the head of it to call ahead for the changes. When they made it to the home of the people who were helping it, they had gotten acquainted pretty quickly. It was a single older women whos husband had since passed away. She had more room in her home then she knew what to do with so had putted it towards good use. Luoyang got a job in a factory while he went to school on the side in biomedical engineering. The job was a processing plant for medical equipment so he figured that it was the right step in the right direction.

He lived there with his family for a year before they got their own small home. It had been recommended to them that they stayed in China for at least five years so they needed the place to themselves for the remaining time there. Luoyang wasn't about to go against recommendations after everything that had happened. There had been people lost that day in which they could never get back. Families whos lives were stolen so he felt it would be disrespectful not to listen to what was told of him. During his time in China, he took his time in getting a degree for Biomedical engineering. After the five years was finished, he took his now family of three to South Korea which was a place he wasn't sure he'd ever see. They had not been fully kind to North Korean refugees but that was what the time in China was for. Moving there had been a warmth he couldn't explain; even if he hated his homes ideals, it had still been his home for so long. Dishes that were from there could be find in China but were not the same. South Korea had gotten it pretty damn close though to his pleasant surprise. They could speak Korean which fit better on his tongue and they could do it freely.

The first trip they made was to drop off Xing Hua, birth name Choi Hana, with her family. It hadn't been out of their way because they had no idea on where they had wanted to settle. Hua had become like his own daughter in which he had even referred to her as his adopted daughter when talking about it. The families shared a meal as Luoyang pawned off some money while uttering a lot of thanks. From there they found a home to move into where they could live happily. They raised their boys there as they even found a future wife for their oldest. A young woman from a respectable Korean family in which they arranged a marriage for when they were older while they were in just middle school together. Life was going by well now that they were free from the grasps of North Korea. It was a whole new world for them that was better then he could think. It almost didn't feel real or like he deserved any of it but he had learned not to question good things. He had gotten a job in the line of selling hospital equipment to different hospitals.

When he was 43 years old was when the company that he was selling equipment for offered him a job that was exactly in his field but it was in an American branch that they were opening. Seeing him hesitate, they simply told him to take some time and think it over. The offer would be there for whenever he decided whether it be in a day or a year which was another branch of kindness that Luoyang had never had at home. The truth was that he had settled in and his son was getting along with his future wife. She seemed rather smitten with him. Tearing that away hadn't been something he was sure he could do. Until almost a year later when it was revealed that his son was caught with the older sister of the women he was supposed to marry. It had brought a lot of shame to his family and all he could do was profusely apologize as the engagement was called off. It had felt like a slap to his face but his wife used this as an opportunity to get them where she had dreamed of which was America.

So he went to his boss and informed him that he would take the opportunity. Packing up their entire life as they sold the home they had lived in for the past about eight years was a odd thing to feel. Everything was loaded up and to run from the shame presented by his eldest son, they left. Settled down in Red Lieu California where they enrolled their sons into school. The oldest would be a Junior in High School and entering part way would be rough on his son but he believed that the least he could do was manage. It had taken some time to adjust but eventually his son had seemed to find a group that he hung out with often. It was his youngest son who seemed to struggle to find anywhere where he fit in. Meanwhile, Luoyang was doing very well at adjusting to work. It hadn't been as difficult as he believed it would to adjust into his new role at his business. Rumor flung around of a boy that went missing but Luoyang was too excited to focus on the negatives.

### Season 1

Only a few years after the disappearance, and his oldest went off to college, was when word had gotten out. Luoyang had adjusted perfectly to his new job and the word of all the trauma that his son as well as friends faced caught word to him by a phone call from his wife while he was at work. She had assured him not to leave early and that she was at the station but felt he should know. Being a man, it was know to him that he had to leave work to show up. Excusing himself as he left to go down to the police station where he could pick up his son despite him being of age. The whole ride home all he could do was question his son on how the hell this could happen and what happened with no answer that his son could provide.

### Season 2

The only answers that Luoyang would get would be when the trial went live. The finding of Sam Blackmore had been a wide spread thing with news coverage and a full trial case. It was the case that he listened to and figured a little bit of the horrors that his son went through. The doubts that seeped in couldn't be fought off. All his son had wanted was to go back to college and finish out his degree. There wasn't much of an argument that Luoyang could put up with his son so he let him continue off to school while his youngest was still working on finishing High School. The next two years was spent working and trying to reach out awkwardly to his oldest son. In that time, his wife had seemed to add even more pressure to Shunyuan in finding a girlfriend or more particularly start dating Katy Jung. A nice Korean girl that Shunyuan had often referred to as his best friend but notably, not girlfriend.

It was the school year before his eldest son returned that his youngest had told him he had some news. Luoyang sat down with Haoyu in a willingness to listen and understand. That was until his son informed him that he did not want to go to college but instead the US military; navy seals or marines if possible. It had been hard for him to swallow as he even argued about it. They had left North Korea to get away from that possibility and so he could go onto college. One where it would mean his future would be limitless but instead he wanted to go and possibly fight for some country. It took some back and forth arguing for him to accept especially that he would be leaving this summer when Shunyuan had just graduated from college.

During am meeting set up with Mayor Rose, the possibility of Shunyuan's engagement came into the picture again. It is a process in the works on if it will actually happen.