THE STORY OF A BOY (JaeJoong)
"Long time ago, somewhere in Korea, a 15 year old boy bid goodbye to the
city that had raised him, he gathered up a few pieces of luggage, said
goodbye to 8 sisters and 2 parents who loves him deeply, he got on the
train to Seoul, his family cried at the sight of his back walking away,
the boy heard his loved ones crying for him, but he was afraid to look
back, because he knew if he looked back, he wouldn't have the heart to
leave, but he didn't want to throw away his dream, plus he didn't want
his family to see his tears. Just like that, with a very thin jacket in
a freezing winter, for the sake of his dream, the boy left his home
town for the first time in 15 years, to a big city he's only seen in
his dreams.
Finally, the train has stopped, the boy got off of the train, as he
looked at this strange yet fancy city and all its glory, busy streets,
limelights, he's never seen anything like this before. He felt his
heart grow weak because it was so overwhelming. Really.. can he really
find his place in a city like this? The boy hesitated, his faith was
shaken.
But, the dream he has in his heart can't die, if he just goes home like
this, he'll never forgive himself for being such a weak coward, so,
without any help or anyone, the boy found himself an apartment the size
of a tuna can.. and call it home.
SM Entertainment, the biggest music entertainment company held its
second singing contest, the boy went, in the lobby, he saw so many
other boys are that just like him, hoping to get picked through his
contest so they can be on their way to a great singer, all the boys
were well dressed, they were wearing the hippest clothes, with high-end
mp3 players in their ears as they practice. The boy looked down on his
plain grey tshirt and jeans, he felt like he has already lost half of
the battle.
He was contestant number 12, he walked into the audition room, there
sits 5 stone cold expressionless judges, he was a nervous, until a
judge asked him to open his mouth and sing.
Just like that, his voice touched everyone in the room, that voice, was
by the far the purest, the softest they've heard, when you listen to
his voice, you can't help but feel this sadness and tons of emotions,
but even so, you want to continue to listen to his voice, forever and
forever, just be loss in the sound of his voice. But still, his voice
was too soft, too weak.
The reason the boy won the contest because he has a flawless face,
perfect skin, long eyelashes, delicate features that are even prettier
than a girl's, big watery eyes, pouty lips, and that white as snow
skin. They said his face was born to be in the entertainment business.
He got signed by SM, with a 7 year contract, two years of training, he
has to pay for all of his music, dancing and other classes. The next
five years he would actually become an entertainer, seeing himself that
much closer to his dream, the boy signed the contract, knowning in the
next two years, his life will be extremely hard, hard like he's never
experienced before, but he knows this is his dream, so he can not give
up.
So he begun those two grueling years, he knew his family isn't well
off, so he's never asked his parents for a penny, everyday he jumped in
between 3 different jobs, *when everyone else was still sleeping, the
printer will drop off a stack of newspaper that are as heavy as he is,
he would ride an old bike and deliver those newspapers door by door. ~In
the afternoon he would jump from construction site to construction
doing temporary work, that gorgeous face is being covered those pounds
of cement and dirt, he had to suppress his beautiful voice because he
wanted to be liked by his superior. After his music lessons early
afternoon, in order to save a few dollars, he walks 3 hours to his
waitressing job at a restaurant, he quietly does his job, quietly takes
on everything a 15 year shouldn't. quietly doing everything he can to
get through these two rough years. All for the day he will be
surrounded by bright lights.
The boy did everything he could, but he still couldn't manage three
meals a day, every time he gets his salary, the first he does is pays
for his lessons, even if the left over isn't nearly enough for him to
eat or buy any clothes. Finally one day, the boy realized he didn't
have any money left for food, he had been starving for two days, his
weak body shouldn't even be walking, but with the pressure of he has to
pay for his classes, he still went to work. That night, when he was
cleaning a table at the restaurant, he saw a customer has left more
than half bowl of his noodle soup, it was still hot, he couldn't take
the hunger anymore, his hands were shaking.. he picked up a spoon and
started to eat the left over noodles.. huh. He wonders why it starts to
taste so salty.. then he realized it was his tears.. has dropped down
in the bowl w/o him realizing.
One the day, the boy got sick, he was running a high fever, he laid in
his tiny little apartment for three straight days, thank god he already
paid for his lessons, but he's short 3 days worth of pay, so once
again, the boy dragged his fragile body, walked three hours to his
restaurant job.
On the way back, he saw a blood donating booth, his stomach growled at
him, the boy once again did something he didn't want to.. he walked
inside.. after an hour, he came out with a few bills in his hand,
dragged his lifeless body into a store and bought the cheapest pack of
cracker there is.
Finally, he got through these two years, he was chosen to be in a group
of five, the company have announced that this is going to be one of the
best group of all times. Even though the five boys are very different,
but the company believe that together, they will be perfect. The boys
thought he was so lucky to be chosen in such a group, at the same time,
being the oldest, he got four younger "brothers" who adores him.
When they put out their first EP, even though there are only two songs
on there, they topped the charts in Korea, also broke the fact that EP
doesn't sell well in Korea, the boy finally got a taste of success, as
he sees more and more fan letters everyday, he knew everything in the
past two years was worth it.
But nothing's perfect, good times are always short, it's cruel
actually. The first time they held their fan meeting, the people that
came were fans of other members, watching lines of fans lined up in
front of other members, there's not even a single soul in front of him
self, he wanted to scream and cry, The crew members didn't want to make
things weird, so they dragged a few fans in front of the boy. The boy
held his sadness, starting talk to the female fan girl. But the fan
girl coldly threw him " I was forced to stand in your line, I don't
even like you".. his heart was shattered again. But he didn't cry, he
rather bit his lip and let it bleed, but he doesn't want to cry in
front of anyone. Esp himself. The boy didn't know why the fan didn't
like him, but what he doesn't know is that his fans were still waiting
outside the building b/c the meeting room was full.. their hearts were
shattering along with his.
Once he found out online that it's not that others don't like him nor
he did anything wrong, but because he's just too pretty.. even the
girls are jealous.. reading this silly gibberish, the boy chuckled. He
never gave up, everyday he puts on his sincere smiley face to public,
hoping and praying that others will see him for who he really is, hear
his voice. But the harder he try the more pressure he felt. Whenever he
makes a mistake during performances, it makes him nervous, because he's
scared that others will dislike him even more b/c of it. So little by
little. The boy stopped smiling in front of the camera, watching his
every action and words.
But because of it, the fans were chatting he's pretending to be too
cool, so the company should consider switching him out.. he was
seriously scared, he didn't want leave this place that was practically
his 2nd home, but he understand that he's just a "body" that makes
money for the company, if the consumers are tired of this body, then
the company must switch the body out for new one. He didn't get
switched, he found out that his fans roamed the streets in his honor
for days, begging the company to keep him in the group. Also, the
maknae of the group, changmin, despite what the manager forbids him to
do, begged in front of the camera, that if the company takes the boy
away, he will tear up his contract and go back to being a high school
student.
The boy cried, he knows that everyone in this group has a passion for
music, Changmin the youngest, just like him, has gone through hardship
to get to where he is today. The boy cherished everything he has even
more, he begins to practice harder and harder, to thank his fans, also
he wanted to show his best to his fans that loves him. During concerts,
the boy always looks around in the audience, the director said that
looks funny when he sings, said it's better for the singer to
stare at one particular spot when he sings, but he can't do that,
because he wants to see the face of every single fan out there, even if
the picture captured of him was ugly, he doesn't care.
Once during dance practice, the boy fell.. he thought it was normal to
fall when dancing. But this time he couldn't get back, his knees was
hurting like crazy, he balled up and started shaking in the corner of
the room, the leader, Yunho, w/o saying a word, carried the boy on his
back and took him to the nearest hospital, at the split second that the
emergency room door was closing, the boy saw four familiar figures on
the other side of the door. Worrying for him, praying for him.
The doctor said his right knee is pretty much gone, he needs surgery
asap and it's a major surgery so he needs to rest for a long time
post-op, but the boy refused, the 2nd day after his surgery, he arrived
at the Seoul Olympic stadium with the rest of the members, like his
schedule, he met with his fans, before the meeting, Yunho was by his
side all the time, didn't leave his side for even a second. During the
fan meet, they asked what does Changmin want for new years, Changmin's
answer " I wish for hyung to get better soon"
The boy hates crying, he looked down, tried his hardest not to let his
tears fall, he finally looked at the fans, he saw them crying for him,
his heart was breaking, he picked the microphone and said " I'm not
hurting at all, really, please don't cry for me, let's face each other
with smiles, please?" this is the first the boy has lied to everyone,
it was within 24 hours of his surgery, how can it not hurt? But he
toughed it out, for the love he has for his fans.
He finally recovered, he celebrated with his friends, on the drive
home, he was pulled over by the police for drinking and driving, Yunho
came to pick him up at the police station w/o a word, but the boy knew
he has disappointed Yunho and others.
The boy was kept in silence by the company for two weeks, he knows that
this is actually the lightest punishment for his foolish actions, and
he knew his member have begged the company many many times, so that
he's not going to get kicked out. Because of it. He insisted in the
next fan meet, he will apologize to everyone. That was the first time
the boy has shed tears in front of his fans, .. when his fans said that
they forgive him and they still love him.
The boy started to get more and more popular, people started seeing him
for more than just a gorgeous face, he's a passionate musician with a
beautiful voice and he's a brave soul who isn't afraid to face his
mistakes. Three simple words " we forgive you " from the fans gave him
all the faith he needed to carry on.
This boy, is Kim JaeJoong, a member of the hottest group in Korea.
DBSK. The company gave him the stage of name of YoungWoong Hero JaeJoong.
So whenever the boy wants to cry, he reminds himself he can't.. because
he's Hero JaeJoong and a Hero doesn't cry.. a hero will fight 'til the
end and win the battle.
Once a DBSK fan said that the first time she saw JaeJoong, she thought
his name couldn't possibly be Hero because it didn't suit his fragile
image, but she knows now why his name is Hero, because underneath his beauty, lies the soul of a true hero.”
