Jo Hyun Jae

It’s Valentine’s Day! We’re going to spend Valentine’s Day with Hyun-Jae! (or rather his photos.) The very thought warmed our hearts.

At 9:50 a.m. we were already waiting at the entrance of Kintetsu. When the second hand of the clock hit 10 p.m., we were allowed to go in. We headed for the lift, went up to the 5/F, and made a beeline for that smiling JHJ photo.

The first thing we noticed was a new flower basket (from JHJ’s Hiroshima fans.) The placing of this basket caused the Lee Dong Gun photo to be obstructing somewhat Hyun-Jae’s. M and I looked at one another, and without a spoken word, we rearranged the two photos, so that Hyun-Jae’s was now (slightly) in front.

No staff was up and about yet, so with professional speed we snapped pictures of everything. Until we got caught red-handed and were scolded (in polite Japanese way.) We just bowed and smiled, and our skin thickened by an extra mm.

Then we posted new messages on the notice board. Several messages were taken down (including ours of the day before) because the board was full, I suppose. This time we wrote in Chinese: I also wrote one for JoHyunJaeChina and JoHyunJaeTaiwan and another one for JoHyunJaeHongKong — to wish Hyun-Jae Happy Valentine’s Day and happiness forever.

We settled down to watch the DVD (actually it’s just an extract) which soon drew a crowd. It was standing room only. I gave up my seat to a little old lady. I’d already watched it 6 or 7 times the day before (while M was attempting to register with the official fan club.)

It’s Saturday. More and more people came, mostly ajumas, some with their husbands (who sat patiently through the course of the video) and children (who not so patiently listened on their MP3s or played on their PlayStations.)

We bought more JHJ souvenirs. We reckoned this was the most direct and practical way to line Hyun-Jae’s pockets while he was drawing a soldier’s pay. M bought another wall calendar, and the shop girl gave her a bag that could only hold half of it. We solved this problem by going to the Bedding Department (on a different floor) and asking for a big shopping bag (the kind used to hold pillows or blankets.) JHJ fans are smart people!

We had arranged to meet our Japanese friends Makky and Bell whom I had not seen since the Korea Fan Meeting in July 2008. Somehow we missed each other at the August 5 farewell in Seoul. M was meeting them for the first time and soon everybody was chatting like old friends. My observation: JHJ fans are all people with big hearts, full of love for their idol and fellow fans (at least those I’ve had the privilege of meeting.)

Makky and Bell took us to Osaka’s Korea Town where we had lunch (in a Korean restaurant, of course!) We exchanged notes and traded tidbits about Hyun-Jae. Makky’s JHJ site’s anniversary was coming up on February 24. We told them of our plans to start this English blog. After lunch we went to source (unofficial) JHJ souvenirs, most of which we had already bought in Seoul.

And then it was tea time. Makky and Bell said there was an interesting tea house where one could sometimes run into people of the entertainment industry. It’s a very small place, decorated with Korean stars’ memorabilia (but not even a photo of Hyun-Jae!) Already seated at a table were two friends of Makky’s — one and one-third JHJ fans. The one-third was because this Japanese lady had three loves, as evidenced by the three cell-phone straps of three Korean actors (one of which was Hyun-Jae.)

After saying good-bye to Makky and Bell around 5 p.m., we went back to the JHJ photo exhibition. We were pleasantly surprised it was still pretty crowded. Many of the JHJ souvenirs were gone, but the CD had still not arrived. I asked the shop girl and she made a phone call, after which she just said “Wait” (in Japanese.) I waited 10 minutes and asked her to call again, with the same result. I waited another 5 minutes and “made” her call again. I stood right in front of her and exerted some pressure with my formidable presence (Ha!Ha!) Actually I just looked at her beseechingly, but that was enough to produce results. She got off the phone and held up 3 fingers, struggling to find the English words. I suggested hopefully: “3 hours?” “No, no, no.” “3 days????!!!!” I shrieked. “No, no, no.” She got agitated and then disappeared behind a door. I was trying to decide whether I should pursue her when she reappeared with another shop girl who uttered the magic words: “30 minutes.” Thank God! 3 fingers meant 30 minutes? Oh, well!

M had gone back to our hotel to deposit our spoils (JHJ souvenirs bought at the exhibition earlier and at Korea Town), so I whiled away the time by watching the “Last Story” DVD again. No sooner had I pressed “Start” than all seats were taken. Again, I gave up my seat to a fellow fan since I had watched this video so many times already.

I timed my watch, and, as soon as 30 minutes had passed, I went up to the counter again. The girl saw me approaching and held up the CD, half in protest, half in surrender. She was going to charge it when I said: “No!” She looked shocked but I smiled and held up five fingers. “Five?” Boy! Was she impressed! “And another photo album.”

I met up with M and we did the rounds again, scrutinizing each photo of Hyun-Jae, committing it to memory. Poor Lee Dong Gun! His photos were totally neglected, as were his souvenirs. Out of pity, M bought one of his cell phone straps (for old time’s sake — he was an old flame.) There were also lots of souvenirs of other stars like Bae Yong-Jun, Kwon Sang- Woo, and Lee Byun-Hyun — photo albums, photo sets, necklaces, rings, magazines, Valentine stuff — but there were no takers. Everybody who was there came for Hyun-Jae.

We were about to leave for dinner when we ran into that Japanese lady again. This was the JHJ fan who bought a wall calendar but had to clutch it under her arm. We tried to tell her at our second chance encounter that she could get a bag big enough to hold it on the 8/F Bedding Department, using sign language and writing Chinese and drawing pictures. We were now meeting for the third time in one day, and we could see she was carrying the wall calendar in a big shopping bag. She rushed up to us and shook our hands, saying “Thank you” in Japanese over and over again. JHJ fans looked out for one another, that’s all. M said: “Has she been here all day?” I said: “She could say the same about us.”

We went downtown and looked around for a place to have a “romantic” Valentine’s Day dinner. We saw many young couples going down a dark flight of stairs and caught the name of the restaurant – “Love”. That’s it! Let’s try this. After venturing down two flights of stairs, we found ourselves at the foyer of the restaurant — with a bridge and stream! We were led to our private cubicle after traversing alleys and steps. And we had our own Osaka JHJ as our waiter — a fresh-faced good-looking kid (a trainee) who resembled somewhat Hyun-Jae in “First Love”. We enjoyed the decor, the ambience, the service, and, of course, the food. We only wished it wasn’t quite so dark so we could read the menu more easily.

Our Valentine Day’s adventures came to an end with our listening to Hyun-Jae’s songs which accompanied us into deep slumber.