Baek Cirrus is the male lead from Lost in the Cloud, a manhwa by Paskim, along with Yeon Skylar. He is introduced as a friend of Seong Chan-il, who was Skylar's initial crush. When he learned that Skylar was taking photos of Chan-Il, he became curious about him (namely his attraction to men). Cirrus blackmailed Skylar with this information, with the two of them forming a volatile companionship of sorts. He later ends up falling in love with Skylar and attempts to get closer to him.
Background[]
When Cirrus was eight, he lost his mother, Baek Jaehee. Not even a year after she had passed, his father brought home a woman, and proclaimed her as his stepmother. As a form of protest, he kicked her out when he got older. In response, his father brought home another woman, and Cirrus eventually kicked her out as well. This cycle continued four times, until his current stepmother, Kim Jisu, came into the family. Currently, he is trying to get her out as well. She is emotionally and mentally abusive towards Cirrus. The two of them humiliate each other whenever possible. Her actions regarding this usually take place around the house, while his tend to lean towards public humiliation (eg: kissing another man in front of her, to embarrass her in front of her friends).
Cirrus's father is abusive and the two of them share a very strained relationship. He neglects Cirrus for the most part, only giving him attention when he is physically abusing him. This usually occurs when Cirrus has defied his wishes or talked back to his abuse. His father is not very present in Cirrus' life due to work. This leaves him alone or with his stepmother often.
Cirrus is an only child, with his only real companion being a pet dog named Cotton Candy. According to Cirrus, Candy is an 'old dog', her age is 10 years old (said in his character profile). He is extremely attached to her, which is clearly a result of his relationship with his parents and peers.
Cirrus went to the same middle school as Chan-il and ended up befriending him. He seems to get along with his peers well, but has trouble forming close relationships with them. He is also implied to have hurt a classmate when he was in elementary school, with people know have known him longer than Chan-il deeming him 'dangerous'. Therefore, some of his peers at school avoid him.
Characteristics[]
Personality[]
Cirrus puts up a front in public, to appear like a good student or son. This persona involves being nonchalant, polite, harmlessly playful, humble, and forgiving of most situations. He dislikes talking about himself, often attempting to steer the conversation towards the other party. Cirrus is extremely concerned about how he appears to others, causing this meticulous management of his reputation. This persona also stems from a fear of getting close to others, leading for him to create distance by not showing any 'vulnerability' (his real nature, in this case). This behaviour also displays how controlling Cirrus is and how quickly he loses face, upon that control being taken from him.
Cirrus' real personality is possessive, cynical, and somewhat calm. He is manipulative and gets jealous very easily, while also being far more introverted than his persona. It is implied that he speaks more softly and monotone, He has a tendency to be aggressive when people get too close to Skylar, this aggression sometimes being directed as Skylar himself. He seems to believe that the ends justify the means, harassing people and tricking them as he sees fit. He seems to enjoy messing with others and forming a power dynamic, something he may have learned from his childhood. It must be noted that he seems to dislike holding power over others 'just for the fun of it', as he always has reasoning for his actions.
He has a tendency to be apathetic to other's feelings, as shown when he was desultory when Skylar tried to explain why he was angry with him. It is shown that Cirrus struggles a great deal with being vulnerable and opening up to others, leading to this aggressive and cold behaviour when cornered. Another example of this when he used Skylar to humiliate his stepmother in public (by kissing Skylar,Saying he is his boyfriend.),
even though the man was uncomfortable with it. Cirrus did not seem to understand why Skylar was not attracted to him, despite how he treated him in their first few months of knowing each other.
Cirrus will move to getting physical when pushed to anger, but it is difficult to make him properly angry (with an exception of when Skylar is in the picture). When he is not concerning himself with his persona, Cirrus has a habit of being overly brusque when asking questions. This means that he can come across as inauthentic or mocking, despite being completely genuine. Due to not speaking about his emotions often, he struggles to find the words for them.
Cirrus quickly latches onto Skylar, as he is the first person to ever see the real him and not run away. He can be very clingy, as shown by when he waited for hours outside a study centre for Skylar and calling his voicemail twenty three times. He despises when others spend time with Skylar, wanting him isolated and only have his attention on Cirrus. He displays a degree of obsession with the other man.
Physical appearance[]
Cirrus is eighteen years old, making him a third year in high school. He has straight, neck-length, light brown hair. His bangs are semi-long, stopping just a bit below his eyes. His eyes are cyan with red tints. He stands at 182cm (6 ft) and is considered attractive by his peers. He wears a variety of outfits throughout the manhwa, usually seen in his school uniform. Young Cirrus looks largely the same, implying that these characteristics are natural.
Story[]
Season 1[]
The stupid look on Chan-il's face tells him he forget, and Cirrus sighs as he details how Chan-il made them wait over an hour in the freezing cold the other day before adding whatever, it is up to him.
Seeing that he made Skylar jump, Cirrus apologizes and mentions how he was just stood at the door. Telling Skylar that he does not have a good poker face having picked up on his unease, Cirrus speaks how he should be careful unless he wants people to find out he has been secretly taking photos of Chan-il.
With Chan-il raising what he said, Cirrus tells him to not take it wrong but he happened to see some files in Skylar’s folder and they kind of had something to do with him. Stating that he could have misunderstood something, Cirrus claims he tried feeling Skylar out, and the way he reacted makes him think he was right. Cirrus is clear that Skylar has been taking secret pictures of Chan-il.
After being seized by Skylar, who asks if they can talk for a minute with a somewhat manic expression, Cirrus apprehensively replies sure. Confirming that he is the one who messaged Skylar, he is upfront that he came across the photos after computer class when he stayed behind to tidy up. Seeing they were all of Chan-il, while Cirrus tells Skylar he is sorry for looking at his photos and deleting them without permission, however once he knew he could not just let it slide. Asked to keep this a secret, Cirrus answers he cannot pretend like he did not see what he saw, especially when it is about his friend. Affirming that Chan-il should know, Cirrus explains to Skylar that he is sure Chan-il will forgive him if he comes clean, it is not like he took any weird photos.
After Skylar begs, Cirrus is concerned that his uniform will get dirty. With Skylar crying and saying he will tell Chan-il so to not say anything, Cirrus gets down on one knee and promises he will not say anything. Guiding him to calm down, Cirrus states to get up.
Seeking out Chan-il to remind him he said he would play soccer with them at lunch today, Cirrus questions if he forgot again.
He had bought a camera to take photos of his puppy Candy. Mentioning how Skylar and Chan-il are in the photography club, Cirrus states he wanted to tag along.
With it asked why he is doing this, Cirrus answers he would like to know more about Skylar. Curious how Skylar can have feelings for another guy and be gay, Cirrus questions if it is like how other guys feel about girls. Handing him the USB stick with the images back, Cirrus asks how being gay works, whether one is born that way or if it something that happens later.
Images[]
Lost in the Cloud Wiki: Baek Cirrus[]
For further details on this character there is the Baek Cirrus article on the Lost in the Cloud Wiki!