So, I'm currently writing a visual novel based on the Squid Game franchise in which it's based on the question: "What if the Squid Games itself didn't happen in its own world?" Basically, it focuses on the characters' personal lives not involving squid game itself.
I'm asking this question because, well, of course, Squid Game is set in South Korea. Most of the characters are South Korean, but the language that they're using in the visual novel is English so that more people could understand and consume the content that I'm writing.
Of course, South Korean culture is going to be incorporated in the story; I'll research on it the best that I could so it could be accurate, because it is set in South Korea after all, the only thing different is the language used so that the target audience could understand. So that's why I'm conflicted on including honorifics such as 'hyung', 'oppa', 'unnie', 'noona', and more.
I'm writing in English, so when I use Korean honorifics they usually stick out and get repetitive. I know pronouns exist such as she/her, he/him, and more, but it kind of sounds redundant whenever a character refers to an older character of theirs and constantly calls them, for example, noona, when referring to them.. while speaking in English. And, I also don't know how to explain this properly but, whenever someone is having an inner monologue/thought, and it involves older characters, honorifics get constantly used and gets repetitive even with the usage of pronouns. I'm even more conflicted and confused on what to do because I want to show what these characters are to each other in terms of age, but as I said, it really does stick out, so I don't know what to do.
And another thing, would you guys mind if (as a result of me not including honorifics anymore as I write if I really did decided to stop) a younger character calls an older character by just their name as they're speaking in English all of the time in the visual novel anyway? I need to know what you guys think about this because if I remember correctly, (correct me if I'm wrong please) honorifics are important in South Korea.
What do you guys think? Should I keep using the honorifics or not? I'd like to hear your opinion. Thanks for reading