We spent Valentine’s Day with Jo Hyun-Jae (Part 3)
wulijohyunjae | February 20, 2009 | 6:37 pm
Our flight was scheduled to depart at 6:25 p.m., so we still had the whole morning to spend at the photo exhibition. We were there promptly at 10 a.m.
We did the usual routine — took more photos, watched the video (for the Nth time), checked out the souvenirs, and posted more messages. We were like two old-timers, even acting as volunteer ushers — directing newcomers to the right sections.
We loitered there all morning, savouring every moment, saving every data on our P.C. (memory) — they had to last till at least June 2010.
We saw a Japanese man who was acting suspiciously. Actually he was openly taking pictures and videotaping which was suspicious since such activities were supposedly prohibited. We guessed he must have been commissioned by the authorities. Since M and I could only take photos of one another, I decided to give this professional a chance to prove his skills. I asked him to take a picture of M and me, actually two — one with JHJ’s breathtakingly handsome photo at the entrance and one with the flowers. The latter included Lee Dong Gun, unfortunately, because the man apparently did not understand my sign language when I indicated I did not want Lee in the picture. The whole of Lee was there in the photo, but I lost half of my right arm. Professionals do things differently from you and me.
M and I did one last round — to make sure we didn’t miss anything. And then we said our Goodbyes to Hyun-Jae. I don’t know if M would kill me if I reveal here HOW we said Goodbye. We looked lingeringly at those big posters (the ones outside) and we couldn’t help but caress Hyun-Jae’s face…..and hair…..and eyes…..and nose…..and ears……..We even contemplated (for a crazy moment) stealing the posters (the official fan club staff was off on weekends), but desisted for fear of making newspaper headlines.
And we almost missed Hyun-Jae’s autograph! As we were leaving, we noticed two panels (facing outside) covered with writing. On closer examination, we realized those were stars’ signatures. We quickly scanned for Hyun-Jae’s which was difficult to find (even though it was right in the centre of one panel) because it was easily lost amidst all the other more fanciful names with flourishes. His signature was pure and simple and had no decorations, unlike many of the others.
After lunch at a restaurant called English Teatime in Kintetsu, we took the train to Kansai Airport. We were listening to Hyun-Jae’s songs on our MP3s and almost didn’t hear the announcement that cars 1 – 4 were going to Kansai and cars 5 – 8 somewhere else, and that the cars would be disconnected at a certain station. As it turned out, we were in car 4.
In the course of eight months (since June 2008), I have become a seasoned star-chaser. But the only star in my firmament is JO HYUN-JAE.
NOTE: Jo Hyun-Jae’s Photo Exhibition was held in Osaka Feb. 5 – 17, 2009.
Wow, reading about all these devoted women doting over this young man is enough to make any star jealous. However, after perusing through these postings, one is still left to wonder whether the writers actually met JHJ face to face.
I HAVE SEEN JO HYUN-JAE — 5 times! At Osaka’s Kansai Airport on 6/21, the Osaka Fan Meeting on 6/22, the Tokyo Fan Meeting on 6/23, the Korean Fan Meeting on 7/19, and seeing him off to the army on 8/5, all in 2008. Let me resurrect the reports I wrote on these occasions so you can read about my close encounters with JHJ. He looks even better in person than in his photos.