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idolizerp · 5 years

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LOADING INFORMATION ON OLYMPUS’ LEAD VOCAL, LEAD DANCE HUANG ZHANGHAN...

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: Luke CURRENT AGE: 26 DEBUT AGE: 18 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 15 COMPANY: Midas SECONDARY SKILL: Fashion

IDOL PROFILE

NICKNAME(S): trainer luke because of his love for sports and living a healthy life, angel luke because of his good behavior INSPIRATION: watching idol groups perform and seeing the fascination people had for them as well as how they could connect with so much people at the same time inspired luke to become a performer too. SPECIAL TALENTS:

his stamina, luke can do over 120 pushups without getting tired

he can hold a handstand for over three minutes and a plank for two

he can customize any piece of clothing on demand

NOTABLE FACTS:

luke started taking judo classes when he was six, developing his aptitude for it until almost reaching youth olympic level. he gave up judo to become an idol, but still practices it on his spare time. he is currently a blue belt.

he was appointed as an ambassador to the 2014 summer youth olympics in namjing, china, and was one of the torch bearers.

he is known for his charity work and constantly asks fans to donate money instead of giving him expensive gifts on his birthday. he recently joined an unicef campaign against school violence.

voted by other idols as the most friendly sunbae/the idol they would like to be friends with.

IDOL GOALS

SHORT-TERM GOALS:

his short goal is to maintain the status olympus already has, keep their brand as the most powerful amongst idol groups and secure successful comebacks during the year as well as awards at the end of the year.

LONG-TERM GOALS:

for the future he wants to solidify himself as a household name in the fashion industry, have more partnerships with different brands and design his own clothing and accessory line, as well as transition from an idol to a more laid back career in the smoothest way possible.here

IDOL IMAGE

the key to be an idol for a long term career – and you want that, don’t you? everyone wants that – is to be likeable, to be relatable. no one likes celebrities who look too posh, too full of luxury. they like the guy who is seen out at 3am to buy food at the corner store because he wanted to go for a walk, they like the guy who laughs too loud and who has a weird laugh. who is good looking as all idols are, but who doesn’t flaunt it, who is good looking in a way that doesn’t scary the ugly girls who idolize him.

this person? luke huang.

he is not a god, he is your average joe, your good son who does things for his family, who is known for treating his mother like a queen because it’s what she deserves, who pays for staff’s meals and gives nice wedding gifts. more than just likeable and relatable, luke is charitable. he is seen supporting comfort women despite not being korean, he visits orphanages and bring the kids toys, he goes to charity galas and gives one of his stage outfits for auction, visits hospitals and meets make-a-wish kids.

he is an idols’ idol too. the supportive senior, the ones who is seen watching the trainees practicing and who takes his time to give them advice, who listens to his juniors on variety and tells them about how they can improve, how they can reach the same status as olympus.

luke is the one who takes his time talking to fans be it online, be it on fan meetings. who never looks angry or bored when they crowd him at airports, who stops security from reaching the girls and help them up when they fall from trying to walk along him. he is always helping the other members with what he can, lets them talk over him on tv, never tells embarrassing stories about them, only heartwarming ones.

he is marketed as good and chic, always dressed in nice clothes that don’t look expensive, always telling the fans to not worry about the price of what they wear, but if it fits their style. he shops at fast fashion stores too, just like your average person would. tells girls to wear whatever they want and are comfortable with, don’t mind society’s stupid rules. he is the guy who posts #BLM, #metoo, who tells men to do better.

truly a good guy, luke huang, truly an angel sent to make life bearable to his fans, one song at time.

IDOL HISTORY

huang.

mother is a preschool teacher, father works for the government, their life is good. they are not rich, not by far, but they are not struggling, and that is better than what can be said about most of the country. so it’s a count your blessings type of situation in their family, they live well and they have a good, average life. they marry for love, not for commodity, but their story is not a romeo and juliet type of scenario, there are no fights or crying in your pillow at late night. it’s boy meets girl, they fall in love, they marry, a baby boy is born. it’s fine, everything is a long, long line of fine.

zhanghan.

he grows up a loved child.

mother takes care of him well, father takes him to judo classes that they can afford just fine, everything is good. but maybe the mistake is here, in this simple word: good. because mother is good, father is good, they come from two families of good people, so one would expect zhanghan would be good too. except he isn’t, not at all. zhanghan is born with something wrong in the way he sees the world, in the way he counts his blessings; he is born hungry, he doesn’t know what for, but there is a hunger inside him that nothing can stop. not doing well in school, not doing well in judo, nothing.

his childhood is easy, he ignores the hunger, focus on being a good son, on making his parents and his country proud. he has talent for judo, they tell him, maybe one day he can reach olympic level if he trains hard enough, puts enough effort into it. maybe that’s it, zhanghan thinks, the thing that he misses: a goal.

he grows up, but the talent doesn’t grow with him, not in the way everyone expects. he was good for a child, but he isn’t in the same level as the other teenagers, can’t even cut the team for the youth olympics. mother and father don’t complain, they tell him that he will find a better passion, something he is good at. he is young, he has time.

time seems to drag for zhanghan, seconds passing by like centuries in the mediocrity that is his life, trapped in what seems like an endless loop of school, casual training and going back home. it’s a good life, everyone tells him, he has parents who support him and friends who like him, a girlfriend or two, who would complain about it?

it’s still not enough, not nearly enough for someone who starves for so much more, for more opportunities than maybe college, maybe a good job. he doesn’t want good, he wants spectacular, he wants extraordinary. he wants a life he can only dream of, a life he has no idea of how to achieve now that he is a kid without a talent or special ability, but zhanghao is hungry and determined, and he will not live a life like he his parents; his future will not be of boy meets girl, gets married and has a family in some shitty part of town with some shitty job and shitty salary. his life will not, by any means, be just good.

the opportunity presents itself on a summer day when zhanghao is almost 15, limbs all lean and awkward, hair always messy and face always serious. it comes to him in the most innocuous of the conversations, a classmate talking about how her sister has spent the past days listening to the same awful korean song because she will audition for midas to be an idol. zhanghan turns to girl and smiles – he was always told he had a pretty smile, boyish and innocent – and asks her to tell him more. she does.

from that moment zhanghan knows what he wants to do.

mother and father are shocked, but supportive. you never liked music, they tell him, you don’t know a word of korean, they watch as he borrows korean dictionaries from the school library, already writing down some words.

everyone likes music to different degrees, he tells them, people say chinese is the hardest language to speak and he already knows that, korean can’t be that much harder. it will be easy, but first he has to come up with some ability, something that would make them want to sign him. mother and father don’t say a word, if this is what he wants to do he can do it, he can at least try. try and succeed, zhanghan tells them.

the audition happens at some tall building cramped in the middle of the city. blink and you mistake it by one of the many others, nothing special about it at all. midas rants a large room where they sit all the kids, tell them to fill some forms, for the parents to sign and for all of them to wait. zhanghan watches the competition, sizes up every other boy who take his spot, decides they may be more talented and more prepared, but he is more determined. he is hungry.

his is a very average performance and they tell it to his face, but he has charisma. i couldn’t take my eyes from you, a woman tells him in english, and zhanghan smiles. are you willing to work hard? he is. are you willing to leave your house, your family and friends and everything for a chance? he is.

he is willing to do whatever it takes, just please take him away from a life of mediocrity, of fines and goods.

mother and father are more than happy to sign the authorization if that is what he really wants. their little boy is about to become an artist, they say, hugging zhanghan.

maybe not an artist, he wants to tell them, but he sure as hell will become a star.

luke.

when asked for his birth date zhanghan says october 28th, but when asked for the day he was born the answer is different. because zhanghan was born the day he first entered the midas building. it’s a monday and he spent the worst weekend of his life getting used to the life in seoul and at a dorm where he knows most of the other trainees dislike him already – another mouth to feed, another person to get in the line when it’s time to shower, more competition for whatever spot midas sees him fit.

he knows enough english to get by with the coaches, but not nearly enough korean to understand the other boys – it’s fine, zhanghan is here to build something for himself, not to make friends – so midas throws him on classes all day long. korean classes, high school classes, singing, rapping, dancing, acting, they throw him towards all directions and see where he lands.

truth is, he is not particularly good at anything, but he has something, a sparkle, a magnetism, something that makes people want to look at him. it goes beyond the looks he is growing into, beyond the body he continues to train, there is something special about him, they say, star quality. we are not making artists here, kiddo, says a coach once, we are building idols. you don’t need to be good, you need to be likeable.

and that zhanghan is.

training is not easy, it’s days and nights learning the same steps, trying to reach the same notes, doing this and that and this and that again because it wasn’t good enough the first time. the other boys are mean, evil creatures ready to take each other apart if it means a chance at success. zhanghan is mean too, hungry for fame, for a life of money and power, and he will be damned if anyone tries to take it from him with empty words and fake smiles.

mother calls, asks if maybe he doesn’t want to give up, maybe this, like judo, isn’t for him. but zhanghan is set on making it happen because he won’t go back home and live a mediocre life like his parents, he won’t settle for a comfortable marriage and a good job just because. he wants more, he needs more, he needs the excitement of being on stage, of millions of people knowing his name, of having power his family and friends would never dream of.

so he doesn’t give up, stubborn and prideful, and three years later zhanghan is called to a room, told to sit down and wait. he needs a new name, zhanghan won’t stick to the korean audience, and they are courteous enough to give him a list of pre-approved names and tell him to pick one. he picks luke, like in the bible, not because he is a believer, but because it’s short, simple, easy to remember. people won’t have a problem telling him apart from the other boys, or that’s what he thinks.

the problem with debuting in a group is that you’re not a star, you are a part of a whole, a piece of a puzzle called olympus, each boy bringing something that in theory makes them all shine bright together. in practice it means fights and more fights about screen time, about who is the most popular, about who gets which line and who is in the forefront of the group. everything about their lives has always been a battle, luke guesses this wouldn’t be different.

it’s when they go to variety shows that he learns he needs to be more, do more. his korean is good now, but it’s not native level and so when he is asked about his life luke does what he does best: he fakes. he tells a story of struggle, of poor parents who lived from charity of their family members, of barely paying the bills on time and his judo classes being paid by an uncle because he really wanted to do it but his parents could afford it. he says he wanted to be an idol to help his family, that he sacrificed his own olympic dreams ( “i didn’t get to the olympics but i got into olympus, hahaha” he says ) because being an idol is more profitable and he couldn’t let his parents starve anymore, he needed to take action and help despite his parents being against it.

the result is instantaneous – articles written about him, people commending his bravery, picturing him as the best son ever, someone all parents would be proud of. how many kids can’t even study to their sats and here is this boy, this boy from another land, who gave up everything, who sacrificed everything to help his family, who was selfless and a hero. if only my child was like you, someone writes.

when mother calls, her voice trembling from crying, and asks why he said that, why he lied like this. we always supported you, we never struggled, we didn’t have the best life but we had a good life. why, she asks, why did you lie. because good is not enough, luke wants to say, because good is just that, just middle of the road. i want excellent, i want extraordinary.

“i’m sorry mother, the company forced me to.” it’s what he says, and the words come so naturally they sound like the truth.

he goes from the filler olympus member to the good boy, to the one everyone fights for because he is fighting for his family. give him more lines, his fans say at every new comeback, give him more screen time, give him something to do when olympus is not promoting, look at all the sacrifices he made for this, look at how much he is suffering. please, they beg and beg, please give him a chance, give him a chance to show his talent.

life is so much easier when you have other people fighting your battles for you.

olympus grows, award after award, accolade after accolade. the name is justified, they are gods. people know their names, people buy everything they put their faces on, they reign supreme, sitting above and looking at the others struggling. for luke it means the life he wanted, of money on his account, of brands giving them expensive clothes, of fans giving them expensive gifts.

opportunity comes for him to go back home and he goes. olympus is on down time anyway, he can be part of a show in china. mother and father visit him and the show caughts them on camera, luke crying like a child when he sees his mother. it’s only half pretending this time, he did miss her. he missed her embrace, her encouraging words. he trends on weibo for a whole day.

maybe he will leave, some people say. it’s been three months, why is he taking so long to return? he may be shooting a variety show, but it shouldn’t take so long, he shouldn’t be allowed to be there for so long. maybe he should leave, father says. but father doesn’t understand, he signed a contract, he is bonded for life – or something close to it. people start to be wary, his fans start to worry. they are all like this, these chinese members, they come, take our money and leave, people say online. his fans still blindly defend him, shield him from everything, every attack, every rude word.

this is what power feels like, luke thinks.

but luke comes back, midas already pulling at his shackles, reminding him of who he belongs to. he had a nice stunt back home, but olympus is his home now, this is his life. and truth be told, luke hates it a bit. the lack of privacy, the crazy fans, the working schedule, it’s all suffocating, not as glamorous as he thought it would be.

and yet, it’s better than whatever life he would be living at home, it’s better than good. olympus grows beyond everyone’s expectations; they become bigger, better, their fights escalate to impossible levels too. there is no brotherhood, their personalities clash, they already went through too much together to properly love one another. they are a collection of resentment and anger and tiredness, but they stick together because they have to. what’s mount olympus without its gods?

singing was never his dream and as time goes by luke grows tired of it. the songs are boring, the choreographies are not interesting, they have a formula and stick to it because it’s what brings them money and luke can’t care enough to ask for a change. he goes with the motions, but his heart is not there, it never was.

he does have a pretty face and a good eye for shiny things, a good taste in everything he buys, so midas goes with this, puts his face on magazines and tells him to express his love for fashion, make him attend seoul and beijing fashion week, throws him at fashion industry parties and tells him to make connections, and surprisingly luke likes it more than he likes judo, more than he likes singing. he is good at it, at understanding how the industry works, at ass kissing the right people so he has exclusive contracts.

it takes him long enough, but luke finds something that is not good, it’s excellent, exciting and interesting, something that definitely sets him apart from the others, something that will still give him the life he wanted when he was a boy. when he looks back, thinks of the struggles, the years of living in cramped dorms and sharing cheap meals with other kids he knows it was worth it. for his name known worldwide, for his luxurious penthouse and car, for the comfortable life he gives to his parents now.

and the best part? he didn’t have to fake a lot. just a little, just enough.

the ends always justify the means, after all.

#id.bio #id.jackson wang #id.midas #id.olympus #id.reign

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