Character Analysis
Dae Hyun and Min Soo Bae are the parents of Daniel and Charlie. They fell in love in South Korea and moved to New York City after Dae Hyun's cousin opened a prosperous business there. The cousin gave the newlyweds a loan, and they opened a black hair care store—there's an interesting mini-chapter about how the South Korean domination of the whole black hair care industry became a thing (264-265).
We don't know much about their love story, but we learn that Papa Bae grew up poor and was supposed to take over his family's crab fishing business. Dae Hyun was all set to accept his familial duties, but his first trip out on the fishing boat didn't go so well: He's never forgotten the sight of the crabs doing anything and everything they could to escape.
Dae Hyun's views are an interesting paradox. On one hand, he wants his sons to go to Ivy League schools and become doctors so that they will have more than he had. He knows what it's like to be poor, and his insistence on a better life for his kids stems from his own struggles. He cannot even fathom why Daniel would reject a financially stable life and to risk everything in the name of love and happiness. To him, money and happiness are one and the same.
On the other hand, he himself risked it all to move to America in pursuit of happiness. Maybe he mentally justifies it because he was chasing financial security, but still—for a guy who acts like going against your parents' wishes is the worst thing you could do, he did the exact same thing.
As for Mama Bae, she chose both her sons' names with immense consideration, ultimately giving them American first names so they'd have an easier journey to success and Korean middle names so they wouldn't forget their heritage. In South Korea, Min Soo was a talented painter, and her sons didn't even know until their father gave her some paints and canvases for her birthday because he remembered how much she used to love creating art.
Daniel sometimes wonders how his mom's life would have turned out if she had pursued her artistic dreams instead of having a family, but he thinks she's happy with her life. In a way, Min Soo's life is an alternate universe for Samuel Kingsley's (and vice versa). They're both artistically talented, but Min Soo adapted her dreams to fit the reality of her life and Samuel didn't.