Nicholas O'Donnell was very high in Nemesis' eyes. Being one of her favourite children she watched him carefully. When he committed suicide Nemesis didn't have the heart to bring him back. Instead, she took his sense of good and evil - her favourite feature of his - and kept them hidden away. A year from his death, she took the two senses and turned them to two babies inside of her. For a few months she remained pregnant but hearing that Hades was going to target the two, she went and impregnated two women, Hwang Hea-Jung and Xi Yesha with the two children, allowing their DNA to mix in with the babies in an attempt to save them. Both women had suffered many miscarriages and stillbirths and when they awoke to find themselves pregnant, they were overjoyed. Nemesis kept an eye on the two women as they carried her children.
Hea-Jung was ecstatic to be pregnant again, however in the back of her mind there was always a burning sensation that the baby wasn't her husband's, Hwang Jong-Kyu's. Having previous experiences with the Greek gods, being one of Zeus' former lovers, Hea-Jung prayed to the king of the gods for some insight of how she became pregnant without having intercourse. Zeus replied within a dream and stated that a goddess had blessed her with a child and that in repayment said child should be escorted to a special Camp in America when they reached a suitable age. The next morning Hea-Jung thanked the goddess and began to prepare for the baby's birth.
Acknowledging the Camp in America, Hea-Jung was eager to make sure her child had a good knowledge of the English language so when the arrived in the States they wouldn't be lost and hopeless. Hearing of an Americanized neighbourhood in Seoul, Hea-Jung appealed the idea to Jong-Kyu who was against it fully, causing arguments to come up between the two. Hea-Jung often lost the majority of them as she had to go by the fact that Jong-Kyu still thought the child was his and that there was no real need for them to move. One night, their weekly argument got intense enough for Jong-Kyu to hit Hea-Jung. Following that, the woman left and filed for a divorce and pressed charges. In the space of three months she had moved into Seoul and Jong-Kyu was doing some form of community service coupled with a sentence.
Hea-Jung lived well in the community, even managing to get a job as an assistant in an English school to ensure maximum knowledge for her child. She had a happy and peaceful life in her new neighbourhood until she was called out to a cafe to meet someone, a woman by the name of Nadia. Despite being nervous about meeting a stranger who had contacted her out of the blue, Hea-Jung felt like there was a reason as to why she was asked for and turned up regardless. The woman and Hea-Jung talked for a few hours, 'Nadia' being respectful and seemingly happy, before she dropped the news. 'Nadia' revealed herself to be Nemesis, the one to have impregnated her. She mentioned that Hades wanted to kill the child that was growing inside of her, and as such, she placed it inside of Hea-Jung in order to protect it. She also told her that her child would have a twin, who's name she would reveal once the children had been born. Nemesis thanked Hea-Jung once more before leaving.
Hea-Jung spent the remainder of her pregnancy building the nursery for her child with the help of her half brother, Hyong-Kim. On the 10th May 1996, Hea-Jung gave birth to a son who she named Tae-Hyun. As expected, Nemesis arrived to the hospital a few days later, claiming to be a visitor for Hea-Jung, telling her that the other woman named Xi Yesha gave birth to a son named Lei, the boy who'd be Tae-Hyun's twin brother. Hea-Jung was allowed to leave the hospital after a week.
From an early age Tae-Hyun showed signs of being a mischievous and curious child - always pulling from the shelves and seeming to only create noise in public places. Despite this, Hea-Jung doted on him and always tried to give him the best in life, even when she couldn't afford certain things for herself and gave them to Tae-Hyun. By the time he was 3, Hea-Jung had managed to save up enough money to move into a bigger house.
When Tae-Hyun was 6, Hea-Jung's ex husband, Jong-Kyu turned up at their apartment and began to assault Hea-Jung, her screams echoing throughout the whole house. He beat her until she was unable to move with ease. Only intending to injure her and make a point, he turned to flee from the scene when he heard the cry of a small boy in the living room. He stalked into the room and began to hit Tae-Hyun too. Hearing her son's screams, Hea-Jung called for the police and in a matter of minutes the house was surrounded. Jong-Kyu was arrested for a second time and Hea-Jung and Tae-Hyun were treated for their wounds. After the incident, Hea-Jung rarely left her house and adopted a German Shepard who they named Nuri. Nuri quickly became Tae-Hyun's best friend.
Tae-Hyun's first attack happened one day when he was walking back from the local park when he was attacked by a harpy at the age of 13. Scared, he ran down a busy street of Seoul where he figured someone else would see the monster and help him. When nobody did, he got confused and began to run in and out of street stools, knocking over many pieces of food and pushing some people over. Luckily for him, an aged demigod killed the harpy during his run allowing him to run home. He told his mother what had happened who tried to convince her son it was an illusion and a fragment of his imagination, which he believed to some extent.
Although being older than a child, Tae-Hyun's mischievous tendencies never went away, always causing trouble at school which consequently made him have a lot of enemies. Beginning to be bullied Tae-Hyun closed up slightly and put on a innocent façade when he moved schools when he was 15. Whenever he felt down, especially on Halloween (his favourite night), he would go round to his enemies houses, knock on the door and place a knife in a pumpkin's head leaving a note saying 'You' on it before running off, finding their reactions priceless. In many cases people at school would refer to him as "Cheeky Monkey" given from his behaviour and large ears. Throughout this period of a demigod's life, more monster attacks would unfold. However, Tae-Hyun had been lucky - most times in which he was attacked he was accompanied by his uncle, Hyong-Kim who was a demigod himself who defeated the monsters for him and began to train him with a wooden mace.
When he was 16, during a night his house caught alight. Never really sleeping due to low case insomnia, Tae-Hyun was the first to notice and tried to put it out. When he couldn't he went to his mother's room and tried to wake her up to no avail. As he shook her the duvet covering her fell to the floor, revealing the numerous tablet capsules and it dawned on Tae-Hyun quickly that his mother took an overdose. He searched for her pulse but couldn't find it. Scared, he packed some money, clothes and belongings and managed to escape out the front door. The next day social services managed to locate him in the park and put him with his uncle, Hwang Hyong-Kim.
Unknown to most, Hyong-Kim was a demigod himself and it was agreed at an early age between him and Hea-Jung that he would protect Tae-Hyun, which is exactly what he did when Tae-Hyun moved in with him. Although his masculine and intimidating appearance, Hyong-Kim was childish and fully approved of Tae-Hyun's antics. The only time he was serious was through Tae-Hyun's few monster attacks.
Two years passed and the motive behind the house burning down was revealed. It'd seem that Hea-Jung had been undergoing a lot of pressure and Tae-Hyun's behaviour and her being constantly asked to come up to the school added on to it, causing her to snap. The night of the fire she purposely left the gas cookers on and made sure that a pile of papers was near, even opening the window to allow the paper to land in the fire. She then proceeded to strategically place some pills around her body as she lay in the bed to look like she had taken an overdose. To make sure Tae-Hyun couldn't find her pulse, she had many rubber bands around her body to help stop her pulse temporarily. When he found out that Hea-Jung survived, Hyong-Kim pressed charges for attempted murder and after a month of going to and from caught, Hea-Jung was sentenced for prison for attempted murder. Following this, Tae-Hyun's innocent personality became his upfront one, his cheeky side going backwards slightly. Nemesis appeared to Hyong-Kim in a dream and told him to take Tae-Hyun to Camp.
As the two drove towards Camp they were attacked by a chimera which flipped the car over, injuring them both. In haste, Hyong-Kim told Tae-Hyun to run whilst he dealt with the monster. In the distance, a group of new demigods were also getting reading to run into Camp. Whilst running to them, Tae-Hyun heard the screams of the monster and Hyong-Kim and as he looked behind him momentarily, he saw his uncle's mangled body, causing him to run to Camp further, where he was claimed by Nemesis.