S064 - Han, Karin

#1

Name: Karin Min-Hye Han
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Drama, conspiracy theories, zombie movies, anime

Appearance: Karin is a small, slight girl of Korean ancestry. She weighs 98 pounds and stands only 4’11” in height, but she sometimes wears thick-soled shoes to try and get herself past the five-foot mark. She’s quite skinny with a slight frame, but she appears compact rather than gaunt. Her soft build lacks muscle tone and feminine curves. Karin has a fairly pale skin tone, and she only rarely suffers from acne. Her voice has a deeper timbre than her appearance would suggest, but rises to a high pitch when she’s excited or angry. Her posture is fairly good when she’s sitting in class or with her family, and she tends not to slouch since it makes her appear shorter. While lying down or relaxing she tends to have a much lazier posture.

Karin has a heart-shaped face. Her cheekbones lack definition, and her chin comes to a slight point. Her default expression gives an impression of mild annoyance or distaste. Her eyebrows are narrow but dark, and rather angular, almost always slanting downwards. Karin has a button nose and thin lips, which she rarely, if ever, defines with lipstick. This gives her mouth a wan, displeased look. Her eyes, however, are very expressive. They are wide-set and large, giving her a slightly childlike appearance. She could easily be mistaken for a younger girl, especially when she’s happy or smiling. Her irises are a rich dark brown, such that they appear black in certain lighting. Karin’s hair is black and very straight, reaching just below her shoulders. She often keeps it tied back into a strict ponytail, but if she’s feeling adventurous she’ll wear it long, in a single braid.

Most of Karin’s clothes are hand-me-downs from her older sister, Charlotte. They were fashionable a few years ago, but they look dated and don’t fit Karin well. The clothes might look better if Karin put in the effort to coordinate her outfits, but she doesn’t care about fashion very much. She often wears loose t-shirts over tank tops, shorts, jeans, or sweaters. She doesn’t accessorize and rarely wears makeup.

On the day of the abduction, Karin was wearing a slightly oversized blue winter coat, dark red earmuffs, and black snow pants. She also wore brown mittens, a dark grey scarf, and white winter boots with flowers crudely drawn on them in blue ink.

Biography: Karin was born on December 24th, 2003, to Gye-chul and Soo-hyun Han. Gye-chul and Soo-hyun met at Salem State University; Gye-chul was a second-generation Korean-American studying business, and Soo-hyun was an international scholarship recipient from Busan. The two fell in love and were married ahead of their graduation in the spring of 1999, shortly before Soo-hyun would have been required to return to South Korea. Because they had not been married for long enough, Soo-hyun’s green card was granted on a conditional basis, and despite the support and encouragement she received from Gye-chul, she would often feel self-conscious about being perceived as a real American. Others in their community whispered that she was only using Gye-chul for citizenship, and when she became pregnant with their first child, Charlotte, a year later, they accused her of trying to have an anchor baby. Even after Soo-hyun managed to secure official citizenship in 2001, she still carried the psychological weight of those rumors.

Soo-hyun still rarely speaks in public, and is often self-conscious. Not wanting her daughters to feel estranged the way she had, she has raised Charlotte and Karin to be as American as possible, giving them Western names and rarely speaking Korean to them. The Han girls were encouraged to spend time with American children, and Soo-hyun tried to surround them with English-language TV and radio from a young age so that they would not develop a strong accent. There was only one concession that Soo-hyun made; the Hans attended a Korean church every Sunday, albeit one where the sermons were delivered in English.

After a few years in middle management, Gye-chul became an accountant. The work provided a modest income for the family, allowing them to settle in a spacious ground-floor apartment in the middle of Salem. Soo-hyun stayed home to raise her daughters and keep the house.

Soo-hyun taught her young daughters to embody what she saw as America’s best core values: boldness, fearlessness, and an uncompromising spirit. These ideals were a natural fit for Charlotte, who soon grew up to become a well-behaved, outgoing child. They were less successful with Karin. She was a very sharp child, but her intelligence came with a mischievous nature and a stubborn streak. Whereas boldness taught Charlotte to become confident and successful in school, Karin became rebellious and subversive, delighting in pushing boundaries with her behavior. She was easily bored by lessons, and spent more time daydreaming or looking out the window than paying attention.

As with most children whose brain activity outpaces their age, Karin often had trouble sleeping. On nights when she could not sleep, she would sit by the window in the bedroom she shared with Charlotte, and stare out at the city lights. The neighborhood looked different at night, and she wondered what might be going on in other houses and apartments. One summer night when she was seven years old, Karin decided that she wasn’t satisfied with imagination; she wanted to go explore for herself. Over the next few nights, she worked out how to work the latch and slide up the window without waking Charlotte up. She walked around for a few minutes before she got scared of getting caught and went back inside. After a few weeks, she tried it again. And again. Her night walks soon became a secret habit, but she was careful about it. She only went out once a week, less if Charlotte slept fitfully, and never went very far.

In September, she was abducted. Someone shone a bright light into her eyes, blinding her, and picked her up. She was taken into a place she didn’t recognize, and a strange figure questioned her in words she didn’t understand. Eventually, she spotted her chance and escaped through a metal door, after which she tripped and fell to the ground, fracturing her arm. She ran to a playground near her apartment and hid there, sobbing, until the police found her the next morning. She told them what she believed had happened: that she had been abducted by aliens.

The Hans were extremely concerned, both by the incident and Karin’s bizarre explanation. They hired a therapist, who went over Karin’s scattered and inconsistent recollection of the incident and concluded that she had most likely been seen wandering in the dark by a helpful stranger. Many immigrants lived in the Hans’ neighborhood, and not all of them spoke English fluently. It was likely that the person who had picked her up was only intending to help and were too afraid of what the police might think to come forward. Karin rejected this explanation outright, and refused to talk to that therapist ever again. She has gone through four other therapists since then; the first three variously posited that Karin was sleepwalking, that she may have dreamed or fabricated some of the incident, or even that she’d escaped an abduction of the non-alien sort. Karin refused to believe any of these explanations, and has consistently maintained to her family and her therapists that she was taken by extraterrestrials.

Karin's parents took some practical precautions, installing a lock on the bedroom window and outfitting the house with a simple alarm system overnight. But they have never given credence to Karin’s story, and their patience wore thin after eighteen months. They settled for sending Karin for therapy as best they could afford it, and they otherwise began to avoid the topic as much as possible. Karin knew that her family didn't believe her and neither did the therapists or her teachers. Some of the kids at school were a bit more credulous at first, but others made fun of her. At first, Karin was known to break down in angry tears when she was accused of lying. By the time she was in fifth grade, her rage had dulled to quiet resentment. Her classmates had largely been told by their parents to ignore fantastic stories, or had otherwise aged into natural skepticism. Most kids settled for simply ignoring Karin, but a few girls picked on her. They gave her nicknames like Crazy Alien Girl and The Illegal Alien, and sometimes they drew pictures of flying saucers and put them in her backpack and her locker. Karin never spoke up about this, but she seethed internally. She became sullen and withdrawn, and was often terse or rude when she talked to other kids. She was disciplined by her teachers for outright refusing to participate in group projects. Eventually one of the girls pushed Karin too far, and she was suspended after punching her in the face during gym class. Soo-hyun met with school officials that afternoon, and made arrangements to have Karin transferred to another school. When they got home, Soo-hyun broke down in tears of frustration, and snapped at Karin for always getting into trouble and destroying the family’s reputation. Soo-hyun would later apologize, saying that she hadn’t meant it, but Karin knew that she had. The experience scarred her deeply.

At her new school, Karin didn't talk about the aliens to any of her classmates. She embraced a reputation as a quiet person, and rarely spoke. She kept her head down and wrote in a small notebook at her desk. She tried to pay attention as best she could, but she still struggled. Her grades only showed a mild improvement, but her parents were pleased to note that she was no longer arguing with other kids.

It was at the new school that Karin was introduced to the girl who would become her best friend, Soo-Bin Kim-Reyes. Soo-Bin had recently moved to the area, and her family had begun to attend the same church as the Hans. The girls’ mothers happened to meet at a prayer meeting, where each of them requested prayer over some of the difficulties their daughters had been facing. In the course of conversation, the two women suggested that the girls might be good companions for one another. Soo-Bin was struggling to keep up in some classes, so Karin’s mother suggested that Karin could help take notes, and the two girls could study together. Karin herself hated this idea and had no interest in making friends with a stranger, much less one her mom chose. However, after enough nagging she eventually gave in. After a series of forced sleepovers and study sessions, she found that she enjoyed Soo-Bin’s company. The two girls have become quite close, and Soo-Bin is the only person in several years that Karin has confided in about the alien abduction. The relationship has been beneficial for both of them, and they are frequently at one another’s houses or peoplewatching in town.

In seventh grade, Karin was introduced to her current therapist, Dr. Friedman. He has made no attempt to explain the abduction, or to pass judgement one way or another. Instead, their sessions focus on coping mechanisms and opportunities for personal growth. He remarked on her rapid improvement throughout middle school, but cautioned that she was socially withdrawn. When she entered high school, Dr. Friedman suggested that she join a club in order to socialize with other students. To her parents’ surprise, Karin joined the drama club. She had reasoned that it didn't seem like much work, and because of her vivid imagination she'd had good grades in the subject throughout middle school. Drama club is one of the few places where Karin speaks openly and engages in discussions with other students. Despite doing well in the club, Karin’s fear of bright lights keeps her from ever appearing onstage in a production. She tells everyone that she has stage fright, to avoid spilling the real reason. She generally takes backstage roles, but whenever a play requires an offstage narrator role, she tries out for that and usually gets it. She also sometimes helps with sourcing props or costuming, and will occasionally help with set building.

At her parents’ insistence, Karin also joined the Worship and Prayers club. She attends it regularly, but often sits in the back doing homework and doesn’t contribute much to discussions. She does believe in God, but dislikes most Christians and finds them too narrow-minded.

Karin still isn't particularly good in school, and despite her natural intellect often has to study hard just to keep up with everybody else. Her best grades are in gym class, as her slight build and energy give her a decent turn of speed, which often helps her compensate for a lack of physical strength. She particularly excels in games like badminton, where agility and speed have a greater impact. She has never tried out for a sport, because she has no interest in being part of a team. In her more academic classes, Karin often tries to take a lot of notes so she can share them with Soo-Bin and go over them later. She is easily frustrated with people who slack off during class, goof around and interrupt her note-taking, or seem full of themselves. She's often quite judgmental of the people around her, and enjoys people-watching and making snarky comments with Soo-Bin. She's picked up a bit of Soo-Bin’s ASL in order to communicate with her, but she's not fluent. She mostly knows insulting phrases and general phrases. She is fiercely loyal to Soo-Bin, and will defend her at any cost.

When she’s not hanging out with Soo-Bin, Karin tends to hide in her room. She has an old laptop, handed down from Charlotte when she got a new one. Karin uses it to watch a lot of anime, as a quiet act of rebellion. Her parents strongly disliked Japan and Japanese culture intensely, and Karin was scolded for watching it as a child. Her rebellious side wanted to watch it even more, simply because it was forbidden. Ever since she figured out how to watch shows on her computer without her parents knowing, Karin began secretly watching anime in her free time. She started with generally popular shows like Hunter X Hunter, and after overhearing about the series at school, she went through Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. She continued watching other shows from there. She enjoys Death Note and Overlord, but particularly likes horror anime like Another and Deadman Wonderland. She also enjoys zombie movies from time to time, particularly the Dawn of the Dead remake and Train to Busan, but tends to be ambivalent about most other horror films. She enjoys zombies more than other horror genres because she's often felt alienated from other people and society at large, and the idea of being alone against a mindless populace resonates with her.

Karin is a member of several internet forums about anime and horror films, and often maintains at least two accounts: one for serious discussion, and the other for trolling. Online as in real life, she enjoys stirring up controversies and debates for her own amusement. When she’s in a less mischievous mood, she sometimes looks at online conspiracy boards, looking for stories about abductions and UFOs that mirror her own. On a few occasions she’s attempted to contact people who’ve had similar experiences, but she has yet to find anyone whose story seems credible. This makes her feel lonely and discouraged, so she rarely does it.

Karin doesn’t get on well with her parents. She loves them, and they love her in their own way, but Karin knows that they’re embarrassed to have a child in therapy. The Hans rarely spend time together, except for on Sundays where they attend church together and go out for lunch afterwards. Gye-chul and Soo-hyun seem satisfied with the progress that Karin has made in her therapy, and as long as she’s not actively causing trouble they are generally content to let her do as she pleases. Karin does not get along with Charlotte, who has moved out and is now a sophomore at Brown University. She does follow Charlotte on Instagram under a fake name, purely out of obligation. She does this so that she’ll have an answer when Soo-hyun asks questions about how Charlotte is doing, as she believes that the girls share a sisterly bond. This covert activity is the only real contact the two of them have outside of holiday visits.

Karin isn’t sure what she wants to do after high school. Her parents insist that she go to college. Karin would prefer to go somewhere out of state, but her parents are wary of another psychological incident and want her to attend somewhere closer. She was accepted to Salem State University, because it’s the cheapest school in the area. She hasn’t declared a major yet, and is still debating whether she will actually attend.

Karin still attends therapy sessions with Dr. Friedman once or twice a month. He’s been consistently impressed with her improvements and tends to schedule her more casually so that it feels more like a check-in than a routine therapy session. Karin still has occasional nightmares about being taken by aliens and a paralyzing fear of bright lights, and her sessions generally revolve around discussing and managing them.

Advantages: Karin spends a lot of time in backstage environments, and thus is good at moving around silently and invisibly in low-light environments. This will give her an advantage at nighttime and in situations with low visibility, and make it easier for her to hide or avoid other students. She is also fairly agile, and a decent runner, making her harder to catch if she runs away. Her small size means that she can also escape through small openings if she needs to.
Disadvantages: Karin is absolutely terrified of bright lights, and will either become extremely panicked or throw up if an opponent catches her eyes with a flashlight. In either state, she will be helpless and extremely vulnerable. Karin also has few positive relationships with the rest of her class, and is unlikely to trust anyone or be trusted in return. Her small frame will also put her at a distinct disadvantage in physical altercations, and make her clumsy or ineffective with large or heavy weapons.

Designated Number: Student No. 064

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Designated Weapon: Battery-powered drill

Conclusion: Oh wow! Look at that! A power tool for a powerless tool. - Jim Greynolds