My name is Suho Kim. No, in this world, my name is Lloyd Frontera!
Suho Kim is a former civil engineering student and the main protagonist of The Greatest Estate Developer.
He is currently inhabiting the body of Lloyd Frontera, an irrelevant side character from a novel he once read, after being granted a random wish by the "Absolute."
Appearance[]
Suho has described himself as being filthy and unattractive, though his face has rarely been shown in full. His eyes are brown often obscured by his messy black hair, only being shown in times of strong emotion such as shock or despair. He is typically seen wearing the same purple tracksuit.
During his time in the military, he had short cropped hair and wore the same camouflage uniform as those around him.
Personality[]
As Suho[]
While living in South Korea, Suho seemed to be rather quiet, hardworking, and nonconfrontational. He studied diligently in order to get a scholarship in civil engineering and joined the Traditional Building Research Club out of a desire to learn whatever he could. He was aware that people were laughing and insulting him behind his back due to his circumstances, though never said anything in return and only silently took their words with the hopes of one day climbing out of poverty. This kind of treatment has left him with a staunch rejection of companionship and its values, instead only seeing such things as something to be taken advantage of.
Despite this, Suho does hold a softness in certain areas, such as family, as he was forced to lose both of his parents and his pet dog without being able to say goodbye. He harbors great amounts of guilt for not being able to support his father during his financial strife and for not treating his dog with enough love before he passed. This presents itself even during his life as Lloyd, as when he finally paid off the debts of Arcos and Marbella Frontera, he could not bring himself to celebrate and instead spent the afternoon crying into his pillow. He is also sure to cherish and appreciate the work done by Ppodong, Bangul, and Hamang after coming to the realization that he would deeply regret it otherwise.
Illness[]
When revisiting Seoul in search of the Kiaora, Suho immediately displays very visible symptoms of distress, such as excessive sweating, shortness of breath, and an expression of fear or discomfort. When questioned by Javier, Suho (still in the body of Lloyd but having revealed most of his true identity by this point) describes himself as having had an "illness of the heart" while living in Seoul that worsened after the passing of his parents. He describes some symptoms of it as being scared of the world, shying away from it, and deeply loathing himself, and that he had forgotten how debilitating those feelings were after so long spent living freely as Lloyd.
Judging by this description and Suho's behavior, it can be assumed that Suho's illness was mental rather than physical and aligns with the real world DSM-5 diagnosis for panic disorder and agoraphobia. This specific diagnosis can be differentiated from a more general anxiety disorder by Suho's intense physiological reactions and specificity that his late parents were the only people he felt comfortable around. Despite living under this immense pressure, however, Suho displayed incredibly levels of loyalty and tenacity by continuing to carve a life for himself regardless, explaining that he wished to honor the incredible virtue of his parents by living properly in order to prove their critics wrong.
Currently, Suho's illness appears to be much more manageable or even absent due to living a more fulfilling life as Lloyd than he ever did as Suho, with an incredibly strong support system around him as well.
As Lloyd[]
After being transported into the body of Lloyd Frontera, Suho is initially unsure of how to act before finding a comfortable middle ground between his own virtues and Lloyd's prior life. Resourceful and witty, Suho quickly learns to take advantage of the noble's hooligan reputation to threaten and force his way into favorable situations for both him and those around him. This particular aspect of his personality has only grown more severe with time, at times bordering on sadism with the cruel and merciless treatment that he bestows upon those who have wronged him or his close ones. Part of this arrogance is likely spawned from the feeling of helplessness he suffered in his previous life, viewing his circumstances as a second chance at life and determined not to let it slip away from him as well.
He cares deeply for the welfare of his family, friends, and employees, paying close attention to the struggles of the former and ensuring adequate compensation for the latter. He is sure to hide this this behind an overconfident, at times arrogant exterior that often infuriates those around him, though that does not keep them from placing their utmost trust in his abilities. Suho has been seen getting flustered when confronted with this kind of praise, often shouting at crowds of grateful civilians to knock it off and get back to work to cover up his embarrassment.
History[]
Suho was born as the only child of an ordinary family. He passed the college entrance exams and was able to obtain a low-income scholarship as a civil engineering student, where he studied diligently and attended extracurriculars in the hopes of learning more. He struggled to maintain the cost of living on top of his school expenses and had to constantly jump between part time jobs, relying heavily on the free food provided by the tiny goshiwon he stayed in and suffering through multiple nosebleeds a week due to exhaustion.
He only had a single friend at this time, who looked down on him just as greatly as the others and only spoke to him in order to feel better about his own charity. Suho was grateful for this relationship regardless, as it occasionally provided him with food, and continued sustaining it for his own personal benefit. The effects of living this way still linger with him and he does not value things like friendship because of it, instead only seeing it as a tool to be bought and bargained with.
Confession by Suho's Friend
However, as the story progressed his friend's parents were caught in an affair with a politician. His friend explains that he believes that most relationships are about give-and-take, and that Suho won't need to hang out with him anymore as his wealth is going to disappear along with his parents' struggle. Here his friend's real motives for hanging out with Suho are revealed, as he confessed that the true reason he hung out and helped out Suho is because he truly believes him to be an amazing person, someone who as an outer-worldly tenacity that allows him to keep moving forward despite his unfortunate circumstances and situation, confessing that he wishes to become like Suho.
During his mandatory military enlistment, his parents were caught by a real estate scam and lost their home, property, and lives. Suho was forced to forfeit his inheritance as he could not afford to pay off the debt the incurred. His father discouraged Suho from getting involved in their finances, promising that it would work out and telling him to focus on his studies instead, a choice that Suho continues to deeply regret agreeing with. At some point after this, Suho lost his pet dog as well.
Suho, enraged
While working at a construction site, Suho was often harassed by another worker, but held back his frustration under the belief that kindness will breed more kindness. This lasted until the worker crossed a line by insulting Suho's parents for having not raised him well, and he flew into a rage while beating the worker to a pulp. He was already resigned to the consequences while doing so and believed himself to have screwed up. However, the worker showed himself to be intimidated by Suho afterwards and did not bother him again moving forward.
Immediately before the start of The Greatest Estate Developer, Suho read the novel Knight of Blood and Iron down to its last page while lying in bed. He fell asleep and later woke up in the body of Lloyd Frontera, a character in the novel, and is currently using his newfound life to bring the wonders of modern engineering to the novel's archaic world.
Trivia[]
Suho's Flag
- The name "Suho" (수호) means "guardian". The characters for this can be seen in the logo that he occasionally adds to his buildings.
- Suho is tone deaf and extremely bad at singing.[1]
References[]
- ↑ Episode 89