[Phantom]

Vincent Hyunjoon Shin

Full Name: Vincent Hyunjoon Shin
Pronouns: He/Him
Nicknames: Vince, Hyun
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Room # -
Birthplace: Butte, Montana
Birthday: March 3rd
Orientation: Heterosexual
Status: Single
Powers: Bi-location, Teleportation (Limited)
Play-By: Taeyong Lee
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 160 lbs


Personality:
Vincent is confident to the point of arrogance. Even if he doesn't always have faith in other people, he believes in himself. Vincent is firm- in his principles, and his words. His boundaries are rock-solid, and if he says he's not going to do something- there's no talking him into it. Generally, Vincent is kind- and good-natured. He is bold and forthright- honest- but gently. When he does trust someone, he is faithful, almost to a fault. Whatever he does- Vince does not act without purpose. In anything that he is involved in, he is active- never passive. He is, usually, calm.

Though, he can be more than a little intense. Vincent is ambitious, driving, and determined- when he truly wants something, he will do everything in his power to get it. If he needs to carry a few people on his shoulders to get there- so be it. To a perfect stranger, Vince may come off as aggressive. Yet, in most situations, he acts quite casual. He prefers to be more moderate. He is experimental, and enjoys taking a hands-on approach when possible.

So, Vincent can easily come off as arrogant, sometimes even a little haughty. He has no problem, and doesn't think twice, about being assertive (and, often, he comes to Griffith's aid when he's having trouble asserting himself). He is not just firm- he's rigid. Vincent is moody- more so than he lets on. He is usually physically tense, even if he's personally calm. He often acts out of self-indulgence. Vincent is a hater. He enjoys hating people, places, and things for fun- although it's never that serious. You'd be surprised at what he hates- probably things you think he likes!

He'd like to say he's a dignified person- he certainly acts like it, but he's also pretty damn happy in the mud. Vincent is clever and daring. He's not usually the type to cause trouble, (he's usually solving it,) but when he does- he really does. He's just usually too high-minded to do so. Vince is charismatic, he's never really struggled to make friends- in fact, for most of his life he was making friends for two! While he has been resistant to the idea for a long time, recently Vincent has been questioning himself and his identity.

History:
When they were born, Griffith and Vincent were completely indistinguishable to anyone but their parents. They had no unique birthmarks, and were completely identical. The only difference between them was the day that they were born. Vincent, on the third- and Griff seven minutes later, on the fourth. Their resemblance, Vincent would say- even in the present day- is truly uncanny.

Their formative years were anything but normal. Their mother was an experimental archeologist. She often brought them to work with her. Vincent wasn't happy to be an observer, but he was also aware that the things he wanted to do were dangerous. If they were trying to recreate a cooking technique- sometimes they got to eat the food.

Vincent was always interested in the hands-on things- he especially loved, and remembers fondly, the group once trying to forge a sword using an ancient technique. It did not turn out how they thought it would, but it left a deep impression on him.

She was the person he could thank, (or blame,) for his future career choice... And at least one of his hobbies.

He and Griffith had similar interests back then- but they both loved soccer.

And- being perfectly identical- they were able to cheat and get away with it.

When one of them was running with the ball, and started to get tired, they'd trade places. Sure, it probably looked off that the twin that wasn't anywhere near the ball was suddenly sweaty and panting, but they were kids- they were probably just overheated, or excited about the game. Thankfully they both seemed to be aware that teleporting in front of that many people was a no-go. Nobody else did it, so they shouldn't either.

While his twin was timid, Vincent had no problem navigating the social landscape at school.

He made friends easily, and not just because he wasn't afraid to ask someone directly if they wanted to be friends! Vincent never resented the fact that Griffith leaned on him to have a social circle. He didn't even mind when he told someone else his name was Vincent- or when he needed his help to deal with a situation. He just wasn't that good at it- and Vince was. If they swapped places, Griff would do the same for him- he was sure.

There was one thing he felt bad about though. He was born first. And since he was the more outgoing one, people always assumed that Griffith's birthday was the same as his. Sure, it was probably childish- but he could understand it. They were a unit- but he didn't enjoy it when people didn't treat him as an individual.

What he did enjoy, was when people couldn't tell them apart. Sometimes it was annoying. But, most of the time- he and Griffith just liked to mess with people. There was nothing funnier than people thinking he was Griffith, until he said something wildly out of character for him. It was always a fun hour and a half when they had a substitute teacher. They played all kinds of games with people when they were in middle school.

He and Griffith shared almost everything- even when they were apart.

Vincent found himself knowing things that he shouldn't. Things he'd never learned about- or if Griff had a class before him, he'd walk in and know all the material before the teacher even said a word. He had information about hobbies that he'd never done before- memories of places he'd never been to before. He sometimes had strong emotional reactions that didn't match what he was doing.

There were some things, thankfully, that he was able to keep private- he figured (hoped,) the same was true for Griffith. He was his brother, and he loved him, but there were some things that he just did not want a second row seat to.

In the lead up to, and through high school, Vince went through a pretty hardcore anime phase. And you know what? He's not embarrassed about it at all. He was drawing constantly, and learning all kinds of skills making his own cosplays. It certainly didn't hurt to have a brother that was into taxidermy- if he needed fur he could hook him up. With each costume he made, he tried to learn a new skill. It didn't always turn out perfect- but he was really proud of the work he did then. He even worked on couple's costumes with whoever his girlfriend was at the time.

That meant that he was out- often. Especially when he wanted to go to a con. Sometimes he even went out of state, and nobody was the wiser!

Griffith was home almost all the time. If he was out later than he expected- or skipping something he shouldn't have been skipping- bam! Home in time for curfew. Attending the boring school spirit rally. In time for soccer practice! Every once in a while, he was able to do the opposite for Griff. Just slip away into the bathroom for a minute, wait until the coast was clear, and he'd be there. His friends were cool- they'd give him a ride home.

School wasn't actually that easy for Vincent. He had... Well, he had almost exactly the same issues Griffith did. If it wasn't interesting to him, he had a hard time applying himself. But he knew that he needed to focus on his grades.

Ever since he was little, he knew he wanted to be an archeologist. It wasn't until later- when he started thinking seriously about his future- that he found out about marine archeology. He'd always loved the ocean. Ever since he first saw The Blue Planet on TV as a kid.

History may always be repeating itself, but humans cannot go back into the past. (Yes, that's a One Piece quote. No, he's not sorry about it.) Pictures of shipwrecks always fascinated him. There was so much history- human history- buried out there, submerged under the ocean's surface. Even in a lake, or a river bed- that was only revealed in drought.

Archeology is a form of time travel. Retracing humankind's footsteps. He always felt there was a lot that our ancestors could teach us- he knew that when he watched his mother and her coworkers- trying to recreate old recipes, old techniques. Sometimes, simple really was best.

But that meant that he was going to have to go to school out of state. Montana did not have a marine archeology program. He'd never been that far away from Griffith before. Would their connection hold over such a long distance?

Florida took some getting used to. It felt more like moving to a different county, than a different state. It was ungodly hot when he arrived. The silver lining was that he could still see Griff whenever he wanted to. It was exhausting to cross that long of a distance at first, but like running, it got easier. He even got used to the heat- eventually.

Vincent left behind cosplay. He found a great LARP community waiting for him. It turned out knowing a thing or two about forging swords made him pretty popular. The group that he found himself in was hardcore. He liked that, it was a welcome break from studying.

On holidays- instead of spending a small fortune on a plane ticket- he'd send some gifts home overnight, and teleport to Griffith's place. He didn't even need to bring clothes- he'd just borrow his brother's! They were the same height, and the same weight.

To Vince his power was just a convenience. One he wasn't afraid to use often. They had this connection for a reason- why shouldn't he use it?

It was almost like living two lives at once.

Finally, it was time for him to learn how to dive. He took to water easily, even if he was from a land-locked state.

Vincent had dived many, many times without issue. So when he went out that day, he wasn't worried at all. They did all the normal safety checks, and he went into the water.

He was under for a while before he realized something was wrong.

He was pretty far down. There should have been plenty of oxygen in the tank still. Suddenly, it was empty.

He couldn't breathe. He was swimming up.

He was getting weaker. There was a black outline starting to form at the edges of his vision.

Then, he was inside. Water dripping on a wood floor, and a pelt in front of him.

They'd swapped places.

He gasped for air for a few moments before he was back in the ocean again.

They kept switching like that- Over and over again. Workshop, ocean, workshop, ocean. Until he was finally back in Florida- his head above the water, coughing violently.

They hauled him up into the boat like a fish.

If it wasn't for Griff, he would have died. Sunk like a stone- straight to the bottom.

It didn't occur to him until later that Griffith might have saved his own life too.

It was hard to get back into the water again after that. But he had a goal, and he had to do it. It was a freak accident. He'd lived- and was no worse for wear. Griff had gotten sick- but he was yeeted from Montana to the ocean and back again- multiple times- without warning. So it made sense, even if he felt a little bad about it.

From then on, if he was on a dive, he triple checked everything.

After he graduated, and applied everywhere, he got a job in San Diego. As luck would have it- so would Griffith. It was nice to live close to his brother again- he could drag him out and away from his work for a while. They had both changed over the years- but they were still confusing people. (And, they still enjoyed confusing people!)

Truthfully, Vincent always wished he could be more like him. Griffith lived in his own little world- and he seemed to like it a lot there. He did exactly what he wanted. Vince did too: but he always felt like he came off as an ass rather than an eccentric.

Life went on like that for a while. He enjoyed his work just as much as he thought he would. Even the boring stuff- archeology wasn't about making surprise finds... But, piloting the underwater robot was pretty cool. Mostly, they were doing systematic testing and statistical modeling. Then they catalogued things. Then they wrote extensively about the catalogued things!

Vincent had a bad habit of not checking his mail often. It was all usually junk anyway. So it made sense that he had missed something important.

Even if he had gotten it, he probably would have thrown it away. He and Griffith were doing perfectly fine.

This woman showing up- to him out of nowhere- was definitely confusing. Even more so when she started talking about "Infinity", and "school for the gifted", and about the invitation that he'd gotten. And how he hadn't responded yet. Lucky for her, Vince wasn't the type to slam the door in someone's face- even if she made Griffith look like the most grounded person he'd ever known.

When she realized what was going on, and properly explained herself, he got a feel for the situation immediately. He hesitated- did they know about Griffith? They had to, right?

But he barely left home. Vincent had almost always been the one teleporting. Should he tell him to come? Would he be in any danger? Would he be in danger if he wasn't there? Vince had always looked out for him, like he was his little brother. They were the same age, but Griff always felt more... Innocent, and sensitive.

Yeah. He'd be pretty pissed off if he found out about this later. Griffith was there in the blink of an eye. He looked at him, and then he looked at the woman, and swallowed nervously. Vincent could feel him panicking. She knows. He tried to reassure him.

Knows what?

Good question.

She knew about them, but to what extent? There was a place for people like them. And considering she'd just shown up at his door with no invitation- when he hadn't gotten a piece of mail- he couldn't help but wonder how serious this whole thing was.

He also started to wonder about something else.

It was a question that he'd put off for years. But he knew that Griffith was fiddling with it. Dwelling on it- it weighed heavy on him.

It didn't for Vincent. He was born first. He was bold, and often he felt more like an older brother than Griffith's twin.

He was confident.

He and Griffith were uncannily similar. If he hadn't dyed his hair (and if Griffith hadn't copied him! He still liked to tease him about that,) nobody would be able to tell the difference between them. Sometimes, he wondered if they were actually twins- and not just one person- bi-locating so rapidly, that they seemed like two people.

If they weren't twins- if they were the same person- he had to be the original.

...Right?

Vincent has spent so much of his life looking to the past, but at Infinity- he has a chance to shape the future.

Question be damned.

Other:
The Powers:
Bi-Location- Vincent and his twin, Griffith, are capable of bi-locating. They can trade positions rapidly, and there doesn't seem to be a limit to their ability to do so.

Teleportation (Limited)- Vincent has a limited teleportation ability. He can teleport using Griffith as an anchor- and can teleport anywhere within roughly twenty feet of him. Beyond their own physical limitations (best not to teleport underground, or twenty feet up,) there is no limit to how often they can teleport in a day.

While not technically a "power", Vincent and Griffith have always had an almost supernatural connection. They can tell what the other is thinking, and also transfer strong feelings between each other. It's not quite on the level of telepathy though, and only between the two of them.

Love him, hate him, wanna date him?