Haneul's Background Story - Notes
Sang Haneul was born and lived during the early 900s at the beginning of the Goryeo period in early Korea. Long story short, his father was a top ranking general in the army, subordinate only to the king, himself. He raised his son to also be a military man, and when his father was too old to fight anymore, Haneul fought for the right to take over. At the time, the old king felt he was no longer able to effectively rule his kingdom after having unified the country, so passed it down to his young, 21 year old son. Haneul was 23 at the time.
Haneul had never thought of romantic pursuits, always being martial-minded. When he met the young king, he promised to be his personal guard as well as top general, and over time, he found himself having feelings for him. The king seemed to be returning those feelings. Homosexuality wasn't unheard of in those times but not for the king; other East Asian monarchs might indulge but not the king of Goryeo.
The problem was the king's advisor, who wanted to be the power behind the throne and gain all the wealth and control for himself, using the king as a puppet. Haneul knew this and tried to protect the king, so the advisor had Haneul framed for attempting to assassinate the king. He turned the king against Haneul with lies the king bought. When the king ordered Haneul killed, the advisor told him he had a better idea; to curse him for all eternity. The king agreed.
The curse was this. Using ancient magic employed by dark enchanters, Haneul would be encased in mystic ice, frozen in a completely aware state, feeling the painful effects of the cold and being conscious throughout the entire time he was encased that way, and was made immortal by the process, so that he would suffer like this for eternity. He was marched into a special box constructed for the purpose and therein, encased.
Modern times, about 50 years ago, his entombment case was found and taken to an archaeological facility for examination. In the night, something happened and the lid blew off and Haneul emerged after all this time. He escaped the facility but his body had changed since ancient times.
His rich black hair had gone moonlight white and his skin was almost that of a frozen corpse, though not quite creepy with the taint of death. His brown eyes had turned an unnaturally icy blue, and in a particularly warm environment, his breath would subtly frost in the air the way a regular person's breath frosts in cold air. He had an aura of cold about him, like how a block of ice gives off a faint fog of cold. The style of his hair is a half-pony, where only the top part of his hair was gathered into a ponytail pulled high, while the rest was allowed to hang low and long. He also has extremely thick and fluffy hair. Whether up or down, it's fluffy like a lion's mane.
None of these things were so obvious as to alarm the average person as he tried to keep them in check, but if he was especially emotional or someone was especially astute, they might notice some of these things. His skin was also cold to the touch.
He is doomed to walk the earth for eternity in this painfully frozen state unless he can find the exact person who can help release him from this curse. Because he doesn't believe that person exists, he always has a melancholy way about him even when something happy has happened. It's in his eyes, even when he smiles.
Due to his savvy nature and strong work ethic, (plus 50 years unhindered to try to build up all of this) he managed to build himself up and learn about modern times such that he now owns a large company that creates sustainable options for many everyday things and promotes healthy living and eating. He owns a chain of health food restaurants where he tries to promote a healthy lifestyle.
He's warm despite his cold body, and giving despite all that was taken from him. Because of what happened to him, he made a vow to try to give to those who had no one to support them, and is involved in many charitable endeavors through his company.