Shin Muyeong is a chachaoong who has primarily lived in the human world, and is a long-time friend of Yu Jin. He never reveals what he is to Jin until the appearance of Imae. He possesses a yongma called Shadow and has enhanced eyesight.
Appearance[]
Muyeong has pink eyes, dark hair, and a left ear with five piercings. He frequently wears black leather clothing, rarely changing into civilian clothes. He also wears what seem to be two very thin chokers. He nearly always wears sunglasses to suppress his extremely sensitive eye-sight.
No matter his attire, Muyeong usually goes to extreme lengths to keep his left arm concealed due to the numerous self inflicted scars that run down its length.
Personality[]
Muyeong, though very loyal and caring to Jin, is an unusually impatient, irritable individual. He is quick-tempered and quick to resort to violence when someone gets on his bad side or threatens Jin in any way. That said, despite his punk-like appearance, he holds down a respectable job and has shown himself to be quite a responsible adult. He is quite conservative in nature, being extremely disturbed by Ella's revealing attire, and very nearly blowing a gasket when she kisses him.
He is also very alarmed by the prospect of Jin getting married at such a young age.
Abilities[]
Shadow, Muyeong's Beast which he can summon to fight
Muyeong's eye with his shades, activated to an even greater degree.
Muyeong prefers to materialize firearms such as hand guns and a large cannon that is bigger than he is. Primarily though, he relies on his yongma, Shadow, which actually "lives" in and materializes from his shadow. The beast has both a monster, or a battle form, and a human form. It is also capable of scouting out or spying areas where Muyeong cannot be (however it cannot be separated for very long nor does it do well in the sun), teleporting, and physically moving things.
Muyeong also possesses superhuman skills like other chachaoongs, such as speed. But perhaps his most characterizing feature is his eyesight which is very powerful, even for a chachaoong. He often wears sunglasses to "blind himself" as Maru put it. Without them, Muyeong is able to see every intricate detail on the face of the person sitting across from him to such extremes as being able to count or measure their pores. He was also able to locate Imae on the top of a building, and see other things from extreme distances.
Relationships[]
Yu Jin: Initially, Muyeong did not know Jin was a chachaoong until the boy was made candidate for king. Jin did not know Muyeong was a chachaoong, either. Muyeong views Jin as a younger brother, or even as a son, and is extremely devoted to caring for him and ensuring his safety. Though unrelated, the two are very much like family.
Imae: Muyeong and Imae share an antagonistic relationship. Muyeong intensely dislikes Imae, and Imae makes it a point to taunt Muyeong at every available opportunity. They appear to only tolerate one another for Jin's sake. When Jin interrupts their fights, Imae will quickly point out Muyeong as the one in wrong. Much to Muyeong's dismay, Jin will agree with it.
Kang Maru: Maru is initially Muyeong's only chachaoong acquaintance. When he needs information, he will ask Maru to get it for him. Maru refers to him as Hyung-nim.
Ignatio: Born at the same time and in the same place,
Muyeong (left) and Ignatio (right) when they were children
Muyeong and Ignatio are "twins", something highly uncommon among chachaoongs, and considered an abomination. Muyeong has no memories of his childhood with Ignatio, but Ignatio, who refers to him as Lang, cares for him very deeply. Their relationship may go deeper as Ignatio becomes physically ill while Muyeong battles Leon's poision.
Cheoyong: He found the twins when they were infants and raised them for many years so he could keep an eye on them and uncover if they were actually twins. Muyeong is extremely intimidated by Cheoyong and does not seem to like him. Cheoyong was the one who separated Muyeong from his brother and left him in the human world.
Sora: A close friend of Muyeong's, Sora is a human doctor who works at a hospital Muyeong has some sort of connection with. He is acquainted with her parents and though he and Sora appear to be just friends, her parents are interested in arranging a marriage between them as they are eager for her to get married. Neither Muyeong nor Sora seem to take this connection seriously.
Notes[]
- Yu Jin and Muyeong met a year and a half ago (before the events in the first episode).[1]
- Muyeong was into self-harm since childhood, but he stopped after meeting Yu Jin.[2] This explains the numerous scars on his left arm.
- He is not gay. (Author's notes Ch.55.5)
- In one of the extra comics, he was shown watching "My Little Pony", claiming Pinkie Pie to be his.
- At 6'0", he is one of the taller characters in the webtoon.
- According to public records, he is 25 years old, but it is implied that this may be inaccurate.
- He is a really bad cook due to his tendency to get distracted while cooking.
- He is said to be rather wealthy.
- Muyeong smokes, but his foster parents are not aware that he does.
- It was revealed that Muyeong served in the military.
Plot[]
History[]
Muyeong was born at the same time and in the same place as Ignatio. The two of them look almost identical, and share the same powers. They were found by Cheoyong shortly after their birth and due the fact that he was unsure if they were twins or not, he took them in and raised them for a significant portion of their childhood. When Cheoyong saw that Ignatio and Muyeong had the same yongma, then he realized the "error" but couldn't bring himself to kill one of them outright. Instead, he took Muyeong in his sleep and left him in the human world alone, suspecting one of the twins would eventually die. Due to the extreme trauma, Muyeong forgot much of his past over time, but harbored a deep dislike for Cheoyong, that followed him into adulthood.
Raised by humans, Muyeong had little interest in involving himself in the chachaoong world until Yu Jin was revealed to be the chachaoong candidate to succeed Jack O'Lantern. He has lived a fairly normal life, and has a job which can take him out of the country, though what he does exactly is not mentioned. He is frequently seen working on a laptop in various locations and has mentioned getting rid of a group of Pharmaceutical scammers, presumably as part of his job.
Imae has said that Yu Jin and Muyeong are the only two chachaoongs to be able to adapt to and live among humans, highly irregular behavior that somewhat makes him unsuitable for chachaoong society.
Part 1 Season 1[]
Muyeong first appears in the story as Yu Jin returns home from a trip to the store. He and Jin greet each other warmly as Muyeong has just returned to the country. They reminisce briefly with Muyeong assuring Jin that he would be over later after having noticed Imae watching them.[3] Thinking Imae is a suspicious person, Muyeong attacks him.[4] The two briefly fight on a rooftop before they are interrupted by Jin and Cheoyong.[5] After having the situation explained to him, Muyeong decides to support Jin and continue to look out for him as there would assuredly be others seeking to hurt him.
Muyeong enlists the help of Maru, a friend whom he admits is the only chachaoong he knows, and who is more involved with chachoongs than he is himself.[6]
While trying to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior regarding Jin, Maru encounters a woman with a strange heart beat. He has Muyeong help him spy on her and Muyeong witnesses her grisly death first hand. He later is able to use his connections to view her corpse, surprised that the various bits that were left of her do not seem to fit together.
Later, Muyeong becomes the center of his own plot arc when it is revealed that he has a "twin" by the name of Ignatio. Though Ignatio clearly remembers Muyeong, Muyeong has no memory of his "brother". Muyeong is targeted several times by Ignatio's friends—first by Ella, who attacks him in the park (though she later is glad he is okay since he seems nice) and then by Leon. Leon first overpowers Muyeong with a powerful illusion, then injects him with venom that nearly kills him.
Though he never chooses to live with Jin as the Tals do, Muyeong consistently spends a great deal of time with him so Eunyul, who was with Muyeong at the time he was poisoned, returns with him to Jin's place. By the efforts of Imae and Saeha, Muyeong's life is spared.
Finally fed up with the Ignatio's refusal to deal with the situation, Cheoyong forces Muyeong and Ignatio into a confrontation. Because Muyeong is not fully healed from his encounter with Leon, he very nearly loses to Ignatio. At the last minute, Ignatio is unable to kill him and Cheoyong returns Muyeong to Jin's place.
Shortly after, Jin and Imae return with Ignatio in tow. Though Muyeong still does not seem to have any real recollection of him, he drags Ignatio along with him to stay at his place.
References[]
- ↑ @in_tbot. "유진과 무영이 만난지 1년 반 정도." Twitter, 7:51 AM - 18 Jul 2017, twitter.com/in_tbot/status/887323930746159104
- ↑ @in_tbot. "무영은 어릴적부터 자해를 했으나, 유진을 만난 뒤 부터 멈추었습니다." Twitter, 8:21 AM - Jul 18, 2017, twitter.com/in_tbot/status/887331463477075968.
- ↑ TAL, Part 1 Season 1: 07
- ↑ TAL, Part 1 Season 1: 08
- ↑ TAL, Part 1 Season 1: 10
- ↑ TAL, Part 1 Season 1: 13