I'm Shang Lu, from the land of the free, America.
I smoke, drink, have tattoos, occasionally swear, and am a little stingy, but I know I'm a good boy ^ ^
On my first day as a trainee in Korea, I realized that in this industry, smoking, drinking, getting tattoos, and swearing could all be forgiven as signs of being true to yourself. The one thing you couldn't do was get involved with anyone or start dating.
I carved that lesson straight into my brain: anyone who wants to date me is an enemy trying to cut off my livelihood.
The first time Choi Seungcheol and the other members laid eyes on their future leader and big brother, they said, "Vice president-nim! It looks like some strange person has snuck in..." Shang Lu glanced over at the group huddled together, and watched them squeeze even closer. His only comment was that they were being weird.
Even after their debut, no one dared hang around Shang Lu. They all flocked to the popularly elected deputy leader, Choi Seungcheol, to socialize. Shang Lu grabbed the hem of the youngest member's shirt as he passed. "Do I look really scary?"
Caught off guard when his own leader grabbed him, Lee Chan froze beneath that cold, expressionless stare, the man's eyes fixed on him without blinking. Whoever it was, even if their manager was calling him over to give him a scolding, anything would be better than being left alone with the big brother. Please!
It took the rest of SEVENTEEN a while to figure out their leader's personality. He habitually met people's eyes with the predatory, judgmental stare of someone about to attack. When people shrank back, he seemed to find it perversely amusing and wanted to push things even further.
Shang Lu's fans have something to say about that: if you look past our sixth member's naturally villainous face, isn't he actually just a motherly guy?! He's an expert in medicinal cooking and home-style dishes, knows traditional Chinese medicine and how to stay healthy, doesn't date or make friends indiscriminately, and is a model of idol virtue. He's a total motherly guy! Though I'd rather call him Daddy...
After they've grown tired of explaining, when passersby ask questions, they just say: Don't ask. Treasure good men, don't waste your time on bad ones.
Some reading notes and content warnings:
1. The protagonist's birthday is January 20, 1995. He's from San Francisco and is Chinese American.
2. The protagonist is a main vocalist and will join the vocal team. Due to the butterfly effect, Joshua will join the hip-hop team.
3. The protagonist's MBTI is ISTP-A. He's a standard power-drill bro, with a chaotic neutral personality.
4. The protagonist starts out at S.M. Because his qualifications are similar in various ways to that person, he is trained as a rival to him. After various things happen, he becomes a discarded pawn and joins Pledis.
[Initial character concept saved on March 12, 2023]
Theme: Treasure good men, don't waste your time on bad ones.
