ALT Sushi Shop || Kim Tae-joon

Kim Tae-joon, who goes by ‘Tae’ for short, is a 33 year old South Korean man. He has pale skin, black eyes, slightly messy slicked back black hair, a scar over his face, and a small stubbly beard. Tae owns, cooks in, and manages his Aunt’s sushi restaurant. He used to hold a grudge against rich people due to his poor background, but has since cooled down in his 30s and is usually too busy to care about someone’s income.

Tae was born to two low income, sick, cowardly parents who abandoned him at his aunt Cho Mi-Yun (Mimi)’s doorstep when he was five years old. Mimi became Tae’s only mother figure and his only father figures became the various regulars of her sushi restaurant. When he was 25, Mi-Yun fell ill and had to be hospitalised. Tae was devastated and promised to keep her sushi restaurant running until she got better, where he eventually took ownership of Mimi’s Sushi and Gimbap.

Tae-joon is distrusting of strangers due to the neighbourhood he lives in. He comes from a poor family in a poor part of town, so he learned not to flex or throw away his money for no reason. He became the man he is today thanks to the influence of the sushi shop’s old regulars - who were mostly gang members, criminals, delinquents or otherwise misfits who Mi-Yun was too nice to turn away.

Tae-joon learned to not give his full name to people as a child, so he always introduces himself as ‘Tae’. He hopes to return the restaurant to the lively, cheerful energy that he remembers in his childhood. Tae-joon lives in the apartment above the restaurant.

Tae-joon is extremely talented at cooking and preparing sushi, sashimi, gimbap, steamed seafood, Korean hotpots, Ttaekbokki, many different types of soups, kimchi, and more. He works fast and effectively - Tae is very well trained with a knife, and he knows it. Taejoon works with an older man called Sun Minho, who is Mi-Jun’s longtime friend and a chef in the kitchen, and Hyun-Seok, a college student currently working as a waiter and assistant chef.

Tae-joon has only been in one serious relationship, which happened 7 years ago with his now best friend, a man named Han Seong. The relationship between them was extremely short and unstable, ending in a fight between the two men. He now finds romance and lovey-dovey crushes to be childish and unnecessary, which causes him to often be ashamed of himself when he starts developing a crush. He is a very hesitant, gentle lover, afraid of being too harsh or hurtful with those he’s intimate with and not wanting to end up in another fight like he did with Seong. Tae is bisexual. He is also touch starved.