my [very personal] bae journey - part 3
Part 3 My Second Trip to Korea [Oct 2003]I Saw Him! I Saw Him! I Saw Him!
My second trip to Korea was in October 2003. Frankly, by then I was a real fan. I mean, I had already watched every drama I could get me hands on, and I had practically read every single news article on the Quilt. And I had also discovered the Chinese website, loveyongjoon.com, where many fellow fans from China have spun yarns after yarns of beautiful essays and wonderful odes to this certain Korean actor. So between Quilt and loveyongjoon.com, not only was I able to find news about Yong Joon, I also took heart in the fact that I wasn’t alone in this love for Yong Joon.
But all this while, I was a low-profile fan. I mean, yes, I visited these two websites almost everyday, but I never posted or replied to any posting. Well, I guess in the beginning, I felt almost ashamed that I was so besotted with a movie star. I mean, it was and still is the first time ever in my life that I was so attracted to a celebrity who doesn’t even know of my existence! Only my four closest friends knew then. So naturally I did not join any fan club or whatsoever.
Actually it was sort of fun. I was in my own world, in a sense. It’s like I had specially carved a certain part of my world to accommodate all things that related to Yong Joon. I revelled in the private and very personal pleasure of him, watching his dramas over and over again, learning more and more about him, and smiling secretly to myself when I saw magazines with his pictures, and breaking into big toothy grins when I heard people talk about him… It was fun. I felt like a young girl having a secret crush that no one knew about.
A closet fan, I definitely was.
Then, I held a rather senior position in the company I worked for, so all the more I could not let known that I was a fan of Yong Joon. So you will not find any trace of him in my office, no handsome pictures staring back at me from my computer, no Yong Joon mugs, or whatsoever. But like I said, I was enjoying my personal journey as a Bae fan.
In the year 2003, when October neared, I started to toy with the idea of flying to Korea just to watch his maiden movie, The Untold Scandal. At that time, not that many Korean movies were screened in Singapore and I was wondering if Scandal would ever even make its way here. If it came censored for the mass audience, then I would not be able to see the movie in its full glory, or blush blush, I would not be able to see Yong Joon in his full glory.
And if it were not to censor it, then the market would be so small, they might not even bring it in. No! I told myself the risk of not being able to watch his very first foray into the big silver screen was much too high. So… I decided to grab my best-est friend, a non-fan, and off to Seoul we went.
The Untold Scandal:Cast offering prayers before the commencement of shooting
Since I had already joined a packaged tour when I went to Korea earlier in 2003, we decided to just spend our week in Seoul, free and easy. Actually, I bought my friend the trip to Korea as a birthday trip for her.
Anyway, I will just focus on the highlight of the trip, the movie…
No, actually, I saw him I saw him I saw him!
Now in case some of you are not familiar with the way movies are being released in Korea, this is how: Whenever a new movie is out, it is quite common for fan clubs to organise bunggae. A bunggae is just fans gathering together to watch the movie of the actor or actress they all like. It is also quite common for actors and actresses to conduct stage greetings to promote their new movies. So, what happens is that for the initial few days when a new movie is released, actors or actresses either singly or jointly, will appear either before the movie begins or after the movie ends to thank the audience for their support. They typically will not stay long, maybe five to ten minutes. And sometimes, when an actor or actress knows that his or her fan club is having a bunggae, he or she may make an appearance, sometimes impromptu.
Now mind you… I did not know this back in October 2003.
I had decided to go to Korea then just to show support for Yong Joon, because it’s his first movie. And also because he had taken such a brave step in the choice of script and role. I had wanted to show my support. Regardless of the fact that I know he would not know that I, happiebb, had flown to Korea just for him, I wanted to do it anyhow.
Haha, when I went to the travel agency to collect my air tickets, the counter staff had asked me why I was going to Korea. I said, “To watch a movie.” It felt so good saying that! Haha…
Anyway, I did not know a single soul or fellow fan from Singapore, let alone elsewhere. Suddenly I had to come out of my protected BYJ-world, come out of my cocoon and contact Korean fans to help me secure a ticket for the bunggae. Someone did help me, thank God.
And frankly up to the time I left Changi Airport for Seoul, in fact up to the time I stepped into the CineCity in Kangnam on 3rd Oct 2003, I still absolutely no idea what a bunggae was. But I had guessed that it was probably a fans’ gathering of some sort… And I was also not expecting Yong Joon at all. Really, not at all.
Anyway, 3rd October was the third or fourth day of our week-long trip then. I can still remember being extremely excited the night before the movie. I was afraid that my friend and I would oversleep and miss the whole thing. I was so worried that I barely slept at all that night. The next morning, we woke up on time and made our way to CineCity in good time.
Movie promo banner on CineCity Building in Kangnam
Now at this point, I’ve to remind you again that up to that point, I was not exposed to any fans’ activities of any sort. So what greeted me on the floor that I was supposed to collect my tickets was quite a shock to me.
Well, first of all, there were a lot of women there. Really. I don’t remember seeing any man there, save perhaps for those who were working behind the drinks stalls. And it was quite packed, and people were talking around me all the time. Now I’m usually someone who shies away from chattering crowds and all, but somehow that morning, I was actually feeling excited at the mayhem around me. Some women were taking pictures with the movie posters, some were busy helping out with the movie posters that the fan club had managed to secure for distribution to the fans, some were queuing for their movie tickets and freebies. And quite an efficient-looking team was working out the logistics of identifying who’s who in the queue and giving out their respective tickets and freebies. And most of the others were just standing around, chattering with their friends.
Most of the fans there were that morning were Koreans and they were naturally conversing in Korean. It was all very exciting to me. Hey, this was the country that my beloved Yong Joon lives! And hey, this was the very language that my beloved Yong Joon speaks!
And occasionally I would hear a smattering of English, or Mandarin, or even Cantonese. I was not surprised, I had read on the net that the fan clubs from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and I’m not sure where else had formed groups and were there too. In fact, I had heard that these guys were going to Busan to watch the movie at PIFF [Pusan International Film Festival] too!
Oh, forgot to mention that each fan also got sort of a goodie bag for attending that bunggae. I think there was a Scandal poster for everyone, and there was a name badge with Yong Joon’s picture in Scandal as well. Also, there were also some postcards with his pictures. I did not know it then, but later I realised that the postcards were for us to write our comments and feeling after watching the movie, and I think the fan club would arrange to collect these postcards and forward them to Yong Joon.
Too bad I didn’t know it then… I brought the cards back with me to Singapore…!
The fan club gave away posters of these two different designs during the bunggae. I later understand that these posters were not supplied by the film distributor, the posters were from Yong Joon himself!
Anyway, let’s go back to the main point of this part…
After my friend and I collected our tickets, we waited for the time when we could enter the cinema. Once we were inside, I was actually quite disappointed. The cinema had three sections, just like many cinema, a bigger section running down the middle, and two smaller sections at the two sides. We were given aisle seats by the side of the right section, meaning the two seats of the right section closest to the middle section. And we were the third last row. I remember complaining to my friend why was it that we were allocated seats so behind and so sideways when I had actually requested for the tickets quite ahead of time. And I think the fan club had even prepared a box of food for everyone. Very sweet! I had long read about how special Yong Joon fans were, and I had experienced it firsthand when they were so helpful in helping me to arrange the tickets. And now this…!
Anyhow, we just settled down and readied ourselves for the movie. I was getting a little apprehensive at the time. I mean, that was Yong Joon’s first movie, and it was quite a drastic change from his usual roles in the TV drama. Not only was he appearing in a period drama, he was challenging a playboy role. I hoped he did well, and I hoped his fans as well as the public could watch the movie with an open mind.
While waiting for the movie to start, the Korean lady who was sitting next to us was very friendly and nice. She said to me in halting English that Yong Joon lives in xxx-dong, very near to this Kangnam Cineplex. A sudden thought crossed my mind…. Would Yong Joon know about this bunggae? Would Yong Joon appear???
Before any other thought crossed my mind, I heard a sudden commotion coming from outside the cinema. Remember we were sitting very near the exit? I looked back and before I knew it, Yong Joon was walking into the cinema! I had taken the aisle seat and by the time I steadied my eyes, he was already standing right beside me.
He was less than a palm’s distance from me!
I was in total shock. I mean, he wasn’t supposed to appear and he did!
He was in a pink round-neck sweater with white stripes and blue cargo pants [frankly, I was too stunned to notice what colour his pants were, I only realised it was blue when I saw the pictures afterwards]. He was wearing brown shades. That was the first time I actually saw him in the flash. He looked tall and strong. Not particulary stout, but strong. His face was surprisingly small and yes, it looked every bit as gentle and fair and handsome and charming and wonderful and… as it did on your TV screen.
Thank God my friend was not a fan. So while my thoughts were going haywire and my heart was close to failing me, she was in good mental shape. She pushed and nudged me to chase him all the way to the front and take some pictures. Meanwhile she had already gone forward and touched him on the chest! Not fully realizing what I was doing, I just mirrored what my friend did. So I reached out to touch his chest too. It was a very brief moment. And to this day, I still had no idea why I did it. Blush blush. But well, if you really have to know, his chest felt, err… solid and nice..?
Anyhow, most of us were very surprised at his sudden appearance. Really, he had not said that he would come, but he came anyway… A lot of people were screaming, shouting, or generally making inaudible sounds of “oohs” and “aahs”. He was at the front of the cinema by now, but he could not speak because of the noise. I saw him put his [lovely!] finger to his lips to signal to us to quiet down so that he could speak. Then everyone started to do the hush sound, and some peace and quiet returned so that we could hear our prince speak.
Naturally, I did not understand a word of what he said. But that did not reduce any pleasure of hearing him first-hand. His voice was as lovely as in the dramas that we’ve watched countless times. It was not too high, not too low, a very nice manly baritone coated with a velvety film of sweetness. Just perfect!
I thought I could drown in the sight of this handsome man with such lovely voice. Really.
At one point, he suddenly stopped all movement and speech. Then he raised one hand to rub at his eyes. Everyone started to wonder if he was so touched by our warm support that he was tearing. I still don’t have an answer to this one. But the ever-optimistic part of me prefers to think that it was so. I like to believe that he was touched, and that made my flying over there all the more worthwhile.
Before I knew it, everything was over. He had left. I do know why it didn’t occur to me to chase after him when he left. I just didn’t. But I can remember very vividly that when he left, I felt something that I had never felt before. I felt as though Yong Joon had taken my heart away with him when he walked out of the cinema that day.
Later… I read online that what he said that day was: Thank you all for your close attention to my movie. And thank you for all loving and supporting me so much. In the days to come, I will produce even better works for everyone.
In all honesty, my heart was beating so quickly when the movie started. I don’t think I was able to concentrate on the movie for at least the first twenty minutes. A lot of thoughts were swimming in my head: Oh my god, I saw him! Why didn’t I run after him? Oh my, what colour were his pants? Why didn’t I notice it? What on earth was he saying just now? Why didn’t I take more pictures? Why didn’t I grab his hand when he walked past him? Where was he going after the stage greeting?
I’m not sure how long it was before I was able to pull myself together to concentrate on the movie. And I’ve to also share with you that there were no subtitles whatsoever, and even though I had watched Dangerous Liaison, it was still not easy to understand the movie 100%.
But anyhow, I subsequently bought the DVD and I also watched the movie on the big screen in Hong Kong as well as Singapore. Here, I share some pictures either from the movie or related to the movie.
So… that was it, my first time seeing him close up in person.
First posted in joonsfamily, 28 feb 2005
posted by bb @ 7/15/2005 03:20:00 AM
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