Arek was also technically a self insert from Minecraft Diaries ?
I am pretty sure he was originally based on Lewis, Solya’s brother
But then he developed into a completely separate person (this is before I brought Lewis and Solya back as ocs a few years ago)
Hai had a mother, father, and older brother. When he was 5, he found both of his parents hanging via suicide. He then was raised by his older brother, who became very abusive physically and (possibly, I havent decided yet) sexually. Hai left home at 16, and worked odd jobs to get himself by, sharing a shitty apartment with another teenager who ran away from home (that oc has it’s own lore completely, this is the only time their stories overlap). When he turned 18, he had saved up enough to move to NYC with his best friend, Solya. Solya and Hai had some mutual friends over there already, so it made things easier. Solya originally wanted to live with Hai, but she never confessed that to him. They were friends with benefits, with Hai having no feelings romantic towards her, but Solya had a crush on him. One of Solya’s friends, Lakomp (don’t judge the name), offered a room at her apartment. There were two rooms she was renting out. There is lore on this that I will explain later. Solya told Hai about this and he took up the offer, while Solya moved in with some of the mutual friends.
Arek grew up as an orphan, never knowing his birth parents. He lived in an orphanage until he was 17 and ran away. He was abused there mainly by other kids, but the staff was very neglectful of his abuse. He was considered too sensitive and weak. He had a job since he was 16 and floated around places from 17-18 until he was able to rent a room that he found online listed by a girl named Lakomp. It seemed a lot safer than the places he stayed at before, so he immediately got in touch with her and got the room.
Lakomp had a pretty good life, growing up with a single dad until she moved out at 20 to live with two of her friends (a guy and a girl) that were dating. They were all childhood best friends. One day, when they were all driving together, they crashed. It was her guy friend driving, they were hit. Lakomp was the only one that survived. While having to deal with her grief, she also was in a tricky financial situation since they split the rent equally. Because of this, she decided to rent out their two rooms, even though she didn’t want to. She could have moved back in with her dad, but she felt like leaving that place was leaving the last part of her friends behind. Her dad was not wealthy, so he couldn’t help her long term. Luckily, two boys quickly messaged her about the rooms and she quickly accepted their offers. She knew it was dumb to not do full background checks, but she was an emotional wreck and was not thinking clearly.
Hai and Arek first met coming out of eachother’s rooms on the way to work. Very cliche “love at first sight” moment. When I was younger I always pondered the question of “if soulmates are real, what if they lived across the world from eachother? What if one of them died? What if they never met?”, which is what prompted their love story. In every universe, except one, they do not get a happy ending. Suing Alex Hirsch for having a similar concept with Gravity Falls bro </3. Arek dismissed what he felt rather quickly. He was openly gay and assumed that he was just feeling like this because he found Hai hot, but Hai appeared to be straight. Which, Hai thought too. This made his crush more “extreme” than Arek’s even though they both fell equally as hard for one another. Hai tried to repress what he was feeling for Arek, and also the fact he liked guys. He just denied it. He started to hook up more with Solya to “compensate” with what he was feeling, which made Solya’s feelings grow for him because she took it as him wanting her more than previous. Eventually, Hai and Arek became very good friends. They grew close rather quick. Hai was seen as a prick to basically anyone you’d talk to, but to Arek he was warm. Of course, he was still rather cold and awkward at first, but he told Arek more about himself than he did to most people. Hai introduced Arek to his friend group (of all Versatites) that included Solya. It was a group of 5, including Solya and Hai. Hai did not tell Arek about him being a Versatite, which he didn’t typically care about (Lakomp didn’t know and he didn’t care to tell her), but for some reason he felt guilty about it, a rare emotion for him. He did let the friends know that Arek was human, and he was not prey. Most of the friends got their source of food from dead people, but one friend named Ten (leave his name alone) was more notorious for eating fresh meat. Hai didn’t really care, but with Arek it was different. Ten took interest in Arek because he did want to hunt him, but eventually Ten and Arek started talking. Ten was bisexual, and an absolute manwhore. He did not care to have any serious relationships. But, for some reason, he was ok with more than a fling with Arek. It might’ve been because of Hai and how he was somehow “important”, it might’ve been because of his original interest in hunting him. Although do not be confused, these are not the same feelings Hai has for Arek. Ten did not care too much about their relationship, he just was ok with it being a real relationship. He did not really have any romantic feelings for Arek at the beginning. When Ten and Arek started talking and then eventually dating, Hai was having a LOT of trouble controlling his eyes from turning red. Becaus, not only do versatites eyes turn red when hungry and hunting, but also when feeling primal emotions. Hai didn’t admit to himself what it was, but he was jealous of Ten. He felt a primal instinct for Arek. He had to start wearing sunglasses because of it and became less talkative and extrovertly confident. His friends were worried for him, but he dismissed any concern. Arek still didn’t know Hai or anyone else in the group was a versatite, and that made Hai and Ten feel guilty. Hai eventually came clean to it, first talking with the group beforehand. He expected Arek to hate him, but for some reason he didn’t. He was sympathetic to versatites beforehand, and wished they didn’t have to eat humans to stay alive but they didn’t choose that life. This made Hai and Arek even closer than before, ironically. The entire group felt safer now that they knew Arek was aware of what they were and wasn’t going to report them to the police (since they were frowned on in society, despite not everyone even believing they were real). It made it harder for Hai to deny his feelings. Solya caught on to it, which broke her. She knew he didn’t like her in that way, but she had hope. She felt like she wasn’t enough for him, but kept this to herself. After a hook up they had, Hai confessed he thought he liked guys. He was confused because he could still picture himself with a girl, but had no sexual arousal from Solya. He felt bad about this, but sex was a stress reliever for him. He was then like “oh well everyone is like that” and Solya explained that for her, she had an actual sex drive and need for it. Solya realised that he was likely Asexual and just Biromantic. Hai eventually started crying, feeling so bad for Solya and also the fact he thought he wouldn’t be able to be with Hai because he liked Ten. Solya, despite her heartbreak (that Hai was not aware of, he only felt bad because he felt like he was disappointing her in realising he was Asexual), consoled Hai.
Eventually some time passed, Ten and Arek were officially dating. Hai tried to repress his feelings for Arek, but he was coming to terms with being Bi. Solya did not buy that Hai was over Arek and that it was a “fleeting crush”, though, because Hai looked at Arek the way Solya looked at him for years. Ten started to catch on to Hai’s feelings, but did not say anything to Hai at first. Ten did not really care that much about Hai having feelings for his boyfriend because he knew that he wouldn’t try to advance on him while they were together. But then he saw the way Arek stared at him. And even though Arek denied his feelings as well, Ten knew. Ten broke things off with Arek, telling him he didn’t see things working out and that Ten was not the one for him. He told him he saw the way he was looking at Hai, and he told Arek he wouldn’t get that with him. Funnily enough, he actually started liking Arek romantically when they broke it off. Sort of a “you won’t know what you lost until it’s gone” situation. Arek kept his feelings for Hai a secret, since he still assumed he was straight. He also assumed Solya and Hai were dating, since they would sneak off together. Arek did ask Hai if they were together, and Hai told him no, but they did hook up occasionally. Arek felt like a hypocrite for being jealous, because he just got out of a relationship himself. That was another reason he kept his feelings under wraps.
After time had passed, Arek received a letter in the mail. It was his birth mum. He didn’t even know she was still alive. It read that, after he turned 18 she started trying to track him down and did not try to sooner because of his Father, who was an abusive alcoholic. She left him and got with what was now Arek’s stepfather. She said, that he didn’t have to, but she would love to meet him. She still lived in Ohio on a farm with her husband. She attached the address, and said he is free to come whenever and offered to pay for the trip to and back. Arek was so shocked by this. He told Hai about the situation, since they were really close at this point and nobody else really knew about Arek’s past. Without thinking, he asked if Hai wanted to come with him. He immediately said yes. Arek wrote her back and asked if a friend could come with, and she said yes. He offered to pay but his mum insisted. Arek and Hai would, in a few weeks since, go meet his mum. Arek was extremely nervous and fearful, what if she didn’t like her? What if her husband didn’t? What was she even like? Hai was his rock in this, the only one who could help him calm down. This made it harder to repress his own feelings for Hai. When they met her, she was so happy she started crying instantly. She asked if she could hug him, and when he said yes, she held him like he would die if she were to let go. Arek met his stepdad, who was very nice too. Despite not being his biological father, he showed love for Arek. They stayed a few weeks up there, and a few days in while they were at dinner, his stepdad asked how long they had been together (Hai and Arek). They both stopped eating and Arek told him they were just friends. The stepdad apologised for his assumption, but this made Arek and Hai both realise they couldn’t keep denying their feelings anymore. After a few days had passed with being very awkward around eachother, they ended up getting drunk at a party hosted at their house to celebrate Arek. When everyone left, they kept drinking together in the barn. Hai said he liked Arek, a lot. Arek said he liked him a lot too. They didn’t say anything more, and kissed until the sun went down. The next day, they both realised what had happened. Hai said that it was just the alcohol and how paranoid they had been about Areks parents thinking they were together that they developed psuedo-feelings under the influence. Arek agreed, despite not believing that. Hai didn’t either, but he lied because he felt guilty, considering Arek just got out of a relationship with one of his closest friends not too long ago. After a week or so, they headed home. Things were still awkward between them. When they were finally home, Lakomp was out, so it was just them. They stood in the hallway for a while, staring at eachother. Until Hai admitted he lied and kissed Arek. Things escalated after that. They eventually started dating, with Ten being supportive of their relationship. Solya was too, but was still in heartbreak. She knew this meant that he could have physically developed feelings for her, but he didn’t. She wasn’t Arek. The other friends were happy for them as well. Lakomp was too. They eventually moved into the same room and made an art studio for Lakomp in the spare room. They did not know who the rooms belonged to previous. This made Lakomp cry, not because she felt a part of her friends erase over the change, but because they made her pain into something beautiful, an expression of herself.
Honourable mention that Lakomp had feelings for Solya and tried to hide them, Solya caught on and told her that she wished she liked her back but she just didn’t like girls. Solya felt guilty because it was similar to what had happened with her and Hai. Lakomp was eventually able to get over her, and got a girlfriend named Izzy who was a barista at their local coffee shop. Ten started taking dating more seriously after that, and eventually Solya and Ten got together.
Btw, this is not the one happy universe for Hai and Arek.