Jo Hyun Jae

I’ve watched a lot of Korean dramas ever since they first became popular in China in 2003.  I couldn’t even remember some of their titles.  I have a fertile imagination and an ultra-reality attitude.  I also have unique criteria and preference for actors.  But I do not have strict standards for my favourites.  20-something girls chasing after idols is understandable.  Someone like me, no longer in the first flush of youth, doing something like this can only be described as naive and meaningless.  In 2008 when the tide of Korean dramas was receding, I then chose to pursue it, all because I got to know a man called Jo Hyun-Jae.  Just seeing his face for the first time made me think of him day and night.

Good looks is the best weapon of the male lead in Korean dramas.  Jo Hyun-Jae’s good looks is the kind that is incomparable, flawless, and nonpareil.  I am very critical the way I look at people.  I can see through the packaged looks of so-called handsome guys.  What is unusual about JHJ is: What my eyes see are a perfect face and perfect profile, and what my heart feels are his gentleness and tenderness.

I like to see him in formal suits — very smart and dapper.  I like to see him in casual wear — very stylish and sharp.  I like the big watches he always wears on his wrist.  I like the way he wears dress shoes with casual trousers.  I can ignore a lot of handsome men, but I cannot remain unmoved by someone as suffocatingly handsome and as innately sexy as you.

Sometimes I wonder: You do not come from a rich family.  How come you have an aristocratic air that is obviously in-born?  You are Seo Dong: you and the part have become one.  If one goes to a country without any understanding of its customs and culture, one can only get a cursory experience.  If one understands an actor’s special qualities and then watches his works, one will feel doubly moved by something beyond the TV screen.

How far is Korea from me?  What is the distance between you and me?  I don’t care about any of this.  I see all these acting and posturing among TV actors, all these rehashing of roles and manufacturing of news — they leave no room for the imagination.  I sit here on a sunny afternoon, listening to light music, thinking of you, fantasizing about our encounter — romance foretold in an earlier life.

I’ve always hoped you would say more, do more, outside of the TV screen, but you only leave us a few words.  The only exception is on the “Only You” TV Special.  (Please see our 4/21/09 post “‘Only You’ TV Special”.)   I’ve just finished watching “Only You” and was frantically searching for your videos on the internet, trying to find an outlet for my emotions outside of the drama.  Thank God for the genuine and adorable you!  I cannot explain; I can only let my imagination run wild.  I can only say this to you: “No matter how good anyone else is, I never want to wake up from my love for you.”

Every drama of yours has its memorable elements.  In “Love Letter” your clear eyes (clear as water) somehow remind me of the “little dragon lady” in the tombs — totally out of this world.  (Editor’s note: The reference is to the heroine of a popular Chinese novel who is a master in martial arts but who lives in a tomb.)  Sister Esther says in LL: “In this world there is no one who is so suitably dressed in a priest’s robes as well as ordinary clothes.”  Without the priest’s black robes, in an ordinary blue sweater, in that scene by the seaside, your beauty is shockingly breathtaking.  In the drama, your lover is by your side one moment; next moment you are divided by eternity.  One line from the drama says it all: “Next time we see each other, we must be blessed.”

“Sunshine” is a drama that I like very much.  Many people cannot accept the ending, but what I want to say is this: Ji Yeon-Woo who is struggling at the poverty line and Jung  Eun-Sup who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth — both have a seed of pain planted in their hearts, but are afraid to touch it.  They meet and fall in love — let the seeds germinate and grow, see what comes out, so they can eradicate it.  Min-Ho says: “I can accept Yeon-Woo’s past.”  And Eu-Sup plans for Yeon-Woo’s future.  Both are equally qualified to love Yeon-Woo.  Compared to the brave Cinderella Cha Eun-Jae in “Only You”, I like Yeon-Woo more — strong on the outside, soft on the inside.

There are certain scenes in “Sunshine” that deeply impress me:

1.  Eun-Sup holding Yeon-Woo’s hands to teach her how to make a cake

2.  Eun-Sup arranging Yeon-Woo’s hair to put on the violet hairclip

3.  Eun-Sup standing closely behind Yeon-Woo to help her get something from a high cupboard

4.  Eun-Sup standing not far from Yeon-Woo singing to her over a cell phone

5.  Eun-Sup holding Yeon-Woo in his arms and telling her he shouldn’t have let her wait too long

There is a slight scent of warm love in the air.  The scene of that kiss in the guest house is perfectly prepped — the two of them sitting against the wall under the window; ES slowly draws nearer to YW;  YW retreats a little; ES doesn’t give up; uses his injured hand to touch YW’s face; YW does not resist; ES closes his eyes and moves nearer to YW’s lips but touches her nose instead; YW shivers a little but does not move away; ES’s kiss is so tender, so protective!

I’m very glad Song Hye-Kyo is the female lead in “Sunshine”.  She is a good actress and always plays the lead.  The development of the plot and the ending are beyond the actors’ and viewers’ control, but we did agonize, laugh, are sad and happy with the actors, and this is enough.

2009 has quietly arrived; it’s a little closer to our reunion.  Tonight is so cold.  Is it snowing in Seoul?  JHJ, do you feel blessed?  Do you feel the love of your fans?  Time passes; life is flat and ordinary.  I let myself into the surreal world of the TV screen.  Because I got to know you, I’ve shed a lot of happy and impassioned tears.  This world that we live in is still bitterly cold, but at least I can cherish your ice-melting looks.

(Translated from the Chinese article by 阁楼汀雨 published in baiduJHJ.com and edited by wulijohyunjae.)

(Credit for photos: 1st photo – param of carpediemJapan.   “Sunshine” photo from blog.naver.com.  Thanks!)