LAKE CHOI...
aka LAKE!

FULL NAME: lake heejun choi
nicknames: lay, laken, mr ocean man by mason, lakey by his boyfriend
korean name: choi heejun (최희준)

BIRTHDAY: december 5, 2000
AGE: 24
BIRTHPLACE: toronto, canada
NATIONALITY & ETHNICITY: canadian; south korean
LANGUAGES: english, fluent. korean—90% fluent. japanese—35% fluent.

PERSONALITY
Lake is known for being incredibly excitable—he's one of HQ's resident fanboys for a reason, after all. He can be shy, but has a helpful nature that leads to him ending up with friends all over, especially online. Obsessive and curious, Lake loves gossip and Knowing Things, and he's very much a romantic.

BACKGROUND

Lake grew up as the second son of three in a Korean-Canadian family living in Toronto. He never left Canada until he was in his teens, and while he did learn Korean as a kid, he was far from good at it. He still struggles sometimes, but he's mostly fluent now.
As a kid, Lake was pretty normal, honestly. He liked to hang out with his friends, watch tv, and play soccer. He was known as a bit of a weird kid, mostly due to his interest in sort of niche topics like specific tv shows. Lake has always been a kind of obsessive kid, it's safe to say.
As a teen, Lake started to get interested in music. He had always loved music, as most kids did, but at about thirteen, Lake and his younger brother discovered kpop. He instantly fell in love. Kpop groups were pretty much designed for kids like Lake to obsess over, and his knowledge of Korean made it easier for him to understand the music. He didn't think he could do that kind of stuff himself, not then, but he very quickly got invested in the music and groups and fandoms. He was a pretty normal kpop fan, as far as they go, especially at the time, and he followed several groups.
Lake went to community college, getting an associate's degree in English, and then decided at age 20 to go to Korea to try and become a trainee at an entertainment company. He'd been working on his singing for a while, including being in choir in high school, and figured maybe, just maybe, he could pull it off. With his education, Lake was able to find a temporary job as an English tutor to Korean kids while he auditioned.
In 2024, Lake discovered HQ Entertainment through their groups Mesmer and, a little later, Mirage. He loved the music, the concepts, and the way the idols talked about their company. He wanted to be part of that, a desire only made stronger when he attended the big concert for all HQ idols and trainees. He auditioned as soon as he could afterwards, and was accepted, despite being only mediocre at dance and abysmal at rap. He's improved a lot since, and honestly loves his life.

FAMILY: mother, evelyn choi. father, adam choi. older brother, river choi (26). younger brother, rain choi (21).

STAGE NAME: lake
STATUS: trainee
SKILLS: vocal, dance
REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI: 🌊
INSTAGRAM: underwater_choi
FACE CLAIM: i.n of stray kids

SEXUALITY: bisexual
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: taken, dating
PARTNER: sato chikao ( Paradoxical_Eclipse )
lake liked chiko (who he typically calls babe or prettyboy) pretty much right away. he's never been shy about who he finds attractive, so he gladly went on several dates with chiko before eventually making their relationship official. they're really happy together, and lake loves him like he's loved no one else in his life.

TRIVIA
- Lake tends to dress in earth tones and blues, in loose-fitting shirts and plain pants. He always looks very casual, though, usually in a hoodie.
- He enjoys lighting candles.
- Though he has an affinity for water, Lake's favorite color is red.
- He is a very strong swimmer, and can sail as well.
- Lake has worked hard to be able to improve his Korean skills over the last few years. He's also learning Japanese because of his boyfriend.
- He never left Toronto before coming to Korea four years ago.
- Lake can't stand sand, it's his least favorite thing about the beach.
- He had a fan account on instagram for the HQ groups Mesmer and Mirage under the username @amezmerizingmirage. He was an OT4/OT6 fan, rather than declaring a bias for either group. He switched this account to a personal one and unfollowed a LOT of people when he was accepted to HQ.
- He doesn't have any pets, but thinks he'd like to have lizards.
- Though he dresses simply, Lake does have a strong fashion sense.
- Lake is honestly terrible with technology. He barely knows how to work his phone or computer, and the fact that he ran a decently popular fan account is a minor miracle.

(HQ Entertainment is an applyfic by elsaccount
I may have made lake specifically to give Chiko a boyfriend, but I really grew to love this oc. He's so fun to me.)