❝ THE BASICS ❞

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° STAGE NAME: sterling

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° KOREAN NAME: choi seungjin

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° BIRTH NAME: sterling choi

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° NICKNAMES:

◎ star — given to him by his parents
◦ his parents started calling him that when he was very young because of how outgoing and talented he was. it started as an offhanded thing they'd refer to him as when talking about everything he was doing, and as more people became aware of his various accomplishments they also started referring to him as such and eventually the nickname stuck.

◎ sweets — given to him by grey
◦ grey was a nervous wreck when he was first introduced to the other members and clearly on the verge of freaking out, and sterling being the person he was immediately did everything he could to make them feel as comfortable as possible. then, when they got to the dorm, sterling also showed them around and ended up sharing a tub of ice cream with them. and almost immediately afterward grey started calling him sweets because of how sweet sterling was to them from the very beginning.

◎ wonder boy — given to him by the fans
◦ the name came after the fans learned of the numerous and sometimes ridiculous amount of things that he's been responsible for as the leader while also being the youngest member of the group. it's mostly used when the group is in the middle of promotions or is otherwise extremely busy, but they'll also say it randomly sometimes to fluster him.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° BIRTHDAY: november 25th, 1999

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° INTERNATIONAL AGE: 23

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° KOREAN AGE: 24

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° ZODIAC SIGN: sagittarius

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° CHINESE ZODIAC SIGN: ox

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° MBTI TYPE: esfj

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° BIRTHPLACE: chicago, illinois.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° HOMETOWN(S):
◎ chicago, illinois.
◎ daegu, south korea.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° RESIDENCES:
◎ chicago, illinois (1997 — 2004).
◎ daegu, south korea (2004 — 2011).
◎ seoul, south korea (2011 — present).

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° NATIONALITY: korean american.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° ETHNICITY: korean.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° HEIGHT: 170cm. (5'7 ft.)

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° NATURAL HAIR COLOR: dark brown.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° NATURAL EYE COLOR: dark brown.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° BLOOD TYPE: o

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° LANGUAGES:
◎ english. (100%)
◎ korean. (100%)
◎ japanese. (65%)

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° GENDER: male.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° PRONOUNS: he/him.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° SEXUALITY: panromantic.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: pansexual.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° RELATIONSHIP STATUS: taken.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° SIGNIFICANT OTHER: tan youngmin (big time rush).

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❝ CAREER INFO ❞

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° GROUP: iMAGE

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° POSITION(S):
◎ leader.
◎ main dancer.
◎ vocalist.
◎ visual.
◎ maknae

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° DEBUT DATE: august 15th, 2017

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° DEBUT AGE: 19

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° TRAINING PERIOD: 6 years (january 2011 to august 2017).

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° COMPANIES:
◎ yg (2011 — 2014).
◎ rebel entertainment (2014 — present).

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° SUB-UNITS: n/a

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° GROUP DISCOGRAPHY:
◎ one of a kind ◦ full length album, 2017
◎ a picture of: us ◦ mini album, 2018
◎ a picture of: youth ◦ mini album, 2018
◎ a picture of: freedom ◦ mini album, 2018
◎ flip the switch ◦ single album, 2019
◎ level up ◦ digital single, 2019
◎ fyi ◦ full length english album, 2019
◎ christmas chaos ◦ mini album, 2019
◎ talk is cheap ◦ single album, 2020
◎ backflip ◦ digital single, 2020
◎ pass me by ◦ digital single, 2020
◎ lockdown sessions ◦ full length album, 2020
◎ fresh start ◦ single album, 2021
◎ jokes on you ◦ mini album, 2021
◎ endless summer ◦ mini album, 2021
◎ scared? ◦ single album, 2021
◎ completely incomplete ◦ full length album, 2022
◎ unlucky ◦ digital single, 2022
◎ game changer ◦ mini album, 2022
◎ bright lights ◦ bright lights, 2022
◎ top of the world ◦ digital single, 2023
◎ the fall ◦ mini album, 2023
◎ in the middle ◦ mini album, 2023
◎ wake up ◦ mini album, 2023
◎ fly with me ◦ single album, 2024
◎ don't feel like feeling sad today ◦ full length album, 2024

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° SOLO DISCOGRAPHY:
◎ tongue tied ◦ mini album, 2019
◎ imaginary friends ◦ full length album, 2022
◎ we're not really strangers ◦ mini album, 2023
◎ eventually ◦ digital single, 2024

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° SKILL SET:
◎ VOCAL - 77/100
◎ RAP - 41/100
◎ DANCE - 97/100
◎ STAGE PRESENCE - 92/100
◎ CHARISMA - 88/100
◎ PRODUCING - 30/100
◎ COMPOSING - 46/100
◎ SONGWRITING - 68/100
◎ CHOREOGRAPHING - 95/100
◎ PUBLIC SPEAKING - 96/100
◎ VARIETY SHOWS - 76/100

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° KNOWN FOR: his magical (and slightly concerning) ability to handle everything that life throws at him. the ability to move his body in seemingly impossible ways. a smile that can melt even the coldest hearts. top tier aegyo. bright hairstyles. stealing his member's hoodies. eye smiles. giving blank stares to his members when they do something wrong. flirting with everyone. always carrying a stuffed animal around with him. impulsively dyeing his hair a new color. doing dance covers of girl groups more often than he does of boy groups. always carrying a beanie around with him. offering his dsi or nintendo switch for the members to play with whenever they mention that they're bored.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° ICONIC MOMENTS: the inspirational speech he gave his members right before their debut stage. repeatedly tripping over his words when accepting the group's first award. a video of him singing during his early training days. teasing a fan so much during a fan meeting that they turned as red as a tomato and couldn't properly speak to the rest of the members. the variety show incident. a video diary of him slowly descending into madness when he spent almost a whole day villager hunting for tangy in acnh. his shoes flying off mid-song during a concert and making him slide all over the stage. getting stuck on top of a ferris wheel for half an hour during a music video shoot.

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❝ PERSONAL INFO ❞

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° PERSONALITY:

one of the first things people tend to say about sterling, is that he is extremely extroverted. he's the first person to put himself out there in any given situation; whether that's through introducing himself to everyone in a room he doesn't know or immediately making it his mission to cheer up the saddest-looking person in a room. his curiosity is part of what makes him go out of his way to meet and speak to as many different people as possible, but he also does so because he's extremely caring and likes to make sure everyone around him is alright.

that isn't to say that he doesn't like messing with people though, because he very much does. from a young age people often commented on how charming and handsome he was, and he took their words to heart. his friendly and open nature morphed into him becoming an incredibly flirty person as he got older. he loves to flash someone a bright smile or a wink to try and make someone at least blush, if not get completely flustered. and with that, he's also fairly clever and often surprises people with one-liners and compliments he randomly says to the people around him. everything he says though, whether it's a compliment or a pep talk, is always something he means. he's an extremely genuine and honest person who rarely lies because doing so genuinely makes him feel physically horrible.

despite how outgoing and put together he seems on the outside though, internally he is incredibly stressed and anxious almost all of the time. he feels an immense pressure to succeed, more for the sake of others than himself. with so many people relying on him, he's become terrified of failing and worries about that happening more than anything. which usually has him overextending himself on purpose because he thinks that's the only way he can improve his skills. unfortunately that unhealthy habit of his can, at times, extend to the people around him and cause him to be very intense. he becomes such a perfectionist sometimes that he has to be reminded that people need to rest (himself included) and be forced to take a break.

he's always struggled with taking care of himself and not really caring about his limits, but he's gotten better since meeting the other members of iMAGE. they've gotten so on him about taking care of himself that now he can't push himself too far without hearing his hyungs scolding him in the back of his head. which was hard and frustrating for him to deal with in the beginning, but has ultimately allowed him to enjoy the life he's worked so hard for.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° MEDICAL CONDITIONS (IF ANY):

◎ generalized anxiety disorder
though not officially diagnosed until almost a year after debuting, sterling has been dealing with anxiety since he was young. it used to get that he couldn't sleep; he'd spend hours in bed with his mind spinning at a million miles an hour. and some days he'd be get so worried that his parents couldn't leave the house because of how much he'd freak out when they did. and while his anxiousness somewhat alleviated as he got older, it got worse after he was designated the leader of iMAGE; both because of the extra pressure that was thrown on him and because all of his coping strategies were suddenly thrown out the window.

it was then, after everyone around him noticed how fragile he was, he was ordered by the ceo ryeo won-shik (aka shi) to meet up with a therapist, who ended up diagnosing him with anxiety. and it was only after that he started getting help and started to feel like his mental health was somewhat manageable.

◎ dyslexia
diagnosed in elementary school, when his struggle with words became increasingly clear to everyone around him, he's been struggling with reading for as long as he remembered. it's something he's incredibly embarrassed about, and a big reason why he hates reading anything not music related.

he didn't even let his bandmates or fans know about it until almost two years after their debut.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° LIKES: dyeing his hair. cold weather. bright colors. pizza. fruit-flavored bubble tea. lofi music. squishmallows. making people smile. fruit-flavored candy. carrots. girl groups.  spongebob squarepants. cats. any sort of physical contact with other people. creating original choreography for random songs. beanies. hanging out with his group mates. bulgogi. long complicated guitar solos. flirting with people. filming dance covers. playing games on his dsi and nintendo switch. meeting and talking to new people. animal crossing: new horizons.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° DISLIKES: taking breaks. disappointing people. black licorice. coffee. sleeping. rude fans. pretentious people. being underestimated. panic attacks. nighttime. not knowing how to help his friends feel better. horror movies. silence. being alone for a long time. not being listened to. reading. extremely hot weather. dispatch. having tight things around his neck for an extended amount of time. getting sick. people trying to make him cook. stupid rumors. seeing other people overwork themselves. sour candy. not being able to talk to his parents.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° HOBBIES: choreographing dances. playing the guitar. playing animal crossing: new horizons on his nintendo switch. learning new dances. picking flowers for his friends and family. collecting magnets from places he visits. cuddling and playing with his cat. having long calls with his parents. spending long amounts of time in the practice room. trying out new fruity bubble tea flavors. buying new beanies. coming up with and recording guitar parts for other people's songs. taking pictures of his cat dressed in stupid outfits. looking at cool guitars he'll never buy.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° HABITS: pushing back hair that's falling into his eyes. hitting his members on the back of the head. winking whenever he makes eye contact with a camera. dabbing. twisting around rings on his fingers whenever he's wearing them. drawing hearts on his member's wrists. singing the jeopardy music when he's waiting for something. completely covering his face when he gets embarrassed. flashing a peace sign whenever someone takes a picture of him. constantly readjusting any hat he's wearing. hugging his members whenever he gets nervous or starts to panic.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° BACKGROUND:

from a young age sterling's parents, choi jiwoo and park sunyoung, could tell that sterling was musically inclined. beyond his tendency to try and sing along to any song that was playing, he had a natural talent for dance and was always moving around to any noise that was playing in the background. and by the time he turned five, his parents had enrolled him in dance classes (that he quickly excelled at).

two years later his family moved to south korea, and that was when things really started taking off. he originally focused all of his attention on improving his dancing and continued doing that exclusively for more than two years before he finally started branching out. his love of music only grew as he continued to dance, and his parents picked up on that. so, on top of both school and dance classes, he was also enrolled in guitar and singing; both of which he also excelled at.

he was showered with praise by both his teachers and parents; which is what initially inspired him to want to make music his job, but it was also when he started to feel pressured. knowing how proud his mom and dad were of him combined with how much money he knew his parents spent on him became a big source of guilt for him and the anxiety he'd been sorta dealing with since he was young grew into a massive cloud that always hung over his head. and somehow that pushed him to want to dive into music completely.

after convincing his parents to allow him to become a trainee at a company, he ended up auditioning for and being accepted into yg entertainment. he quickly became a standout because of his skills in dance and his eagerness to improve in the areas he saw as lacking (even if that meant pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion), and also became someone people would go to when they needed support or help with something.

his singing and guitar skills also grew greatly while at yg, but after a few years of training there he started to feel stuck. despite his growth and the continued praise he received from people in charge, it became clear that there were no actual plans to debut him in a group. and with his mental health also on a steady decline, he decided to leave the company in 2014 to join rebel entertainment; the company that had approached him a few weeks before his departure from yg.

originally it was just him and konu training, which motivated him to work harder because it was just the two of them training together, but that desire only grew as more trainees joined the company. and since he'd been with rebel entertainment for so long, he was the person everyone turned to for advice, comfort, or a pep talk. which is probably why he ended up becoming the leader. and despite it being unexpected, he tried to embrace the role wholeheartedly despite the extra pressure it put on him.

he held it together for as long as he could, but eventually, he cracked and had a mental breakdown that resulted in a stint in the hospital and being forced to go to therapy where he finally got officially diagnosed with anxiety and started getting a handle on how to manage his emotions.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° FAMILY:

◎ FATHER
BIRTH NAME: choi jiwoo
BIRTHDAY: may 4th, 1975
NATIONALITY: korean.
ETHNICITY: korean.
OCCUPATION: data analyst.
RESIDENCE: daegu, south korea.

◎ MOTHER
BIRTH NAME: park sunyoung
BIRTHDAY: september 18th, 1978
NATIONALITY: korean american.
ETHNICITY: korean.
OCCUPATION: secretary. baker.
RESIDENCE: daegu, south korea.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° FRIENDS: hyunjin, felix (stray kids). big time rush. jungkook, namjoon, and hoseok (bts). treasure. sungjin and wonpil (day6). jeongyeon, momo, mina, and dahyun (twice). blackpink. seventeen. san, mingi, and jongho (ateez). winner. haru and lily (former synergy, current lov3r). akmu. chinhae and sam (apex).

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❝ EVERYTHING ELSE ❞

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° TRIVIA:

◎ even though he knows how to play guitar, and has known how to play for years, he only owns one. it's a black electro-acoustic guitar with the solar system painted on it in white. it was a gift from his parents to celebrate his official debut, and it's one of his most treasured possessions.

◎ he started collecting magnets when he and his group members went on a group vacation for the first time. he wanted to get something to remember the situation by and the magnet was the only thing he liked, so he got it. and as they continued to travel around and go to new places, he kept up the trend and accidentally ended up growing a collection of them that he proudly displays on the dorm refrigerator.

◎ he has a pet cat named macy that got while living in the dorms. he got her a few months after he joined the company, in large part because of how much he missed his family's cat, and she quickly became his emotional support animal.

◎ his seasonal allergies are horrible, and he usually can't get through spring without having copious amounts of allergy medicine in his system every day. watery eyes, a stuffed nose, sore throat, and headaches; he's always gotten hit with the gambit of allergy symptoms. which usually means that the first few days of allergy season cause a complete reversal in his usual personality, making him at times almost un-interactable.

◎ though he will wear them if forced, he hates chokers, or anything that tightly wraps around his neck. they tend to make him feel very restricted, and worst case they make him feel claustrophobic, so whenever the stylists try to put him in one there's always an argument between them.

◎ out of all the dance styles he knows, his favorites to perform are either contemporary or hip hop — his personal style tends to be a mix of the two. he appreciates any form that gives him a lot of freedom and room for expression, and it's in those two genres that he finds it the most.

◎ he's incredibly heat sensitive, so when it starts to warm up he tends to lose the ability to properly function. while he's never the kind of person who complains about stuff, no matter how uncomfortable he might be, he can get snappy or start to move a lot slower depending on how he felt beforehand. it's widely known that when he gets stuck in hot weather or coming right off stage it's best if some mini fans or cold water are on deck so that he can cool down as quickly as possible.

◎ he's generally a horrible cook, and debatably the worst cook in the band, but he makes the most amazing bulgogi (which the members will attest to). he used to make it all of the time but now he only pulls out when they've either had a moment of massive success, someone in the group needed a pick me up or as a thank you for when they've had to help pull him out of his brain.

◎ despite reassurance from the members and nothing but praise and encouragement from the fans, he's incredibly insecure about his vocal skills. he doesn't think he measures up to everyone else's skills, so he gets very nervous when it comes to singing solo, and used to refuse to do so.

◎ he loves stuffed animals and has come to love squishmallows specifically over the years. his room is filled to the brim with them, and in the early days of iMAGE, they were most of the gifts he was given during fan meets, which tied many precious memories to them and made him collect them with even more eagerness.

[ ◉¯] ✧˖° ICONIC QUOTE: "me? anxious? never? my heart just naturally races at a million miles per hour... just like everyone else's does. right? i'm pretty sure that's a normal human thing to do."