He gathered up a few pieces of luggage and 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.
He didn’t want to throw away his dream and 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, lime lights, he’s never seen anything like this before.
He felt his heart grow weak because it was so overwhelming.
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 at this very city. The boy went.
in the lobby, he saw so many other boys that are 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 T-shirt 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 sat five cold and expressionless judges, he was very 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 his sadness and emotions.
Even so, you want to continue to listen to his voice, forever and forever,
Be lost in the sound of his voice., even if, 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 skin as white as snow.
They said his face was born to be in the entertainment business.
He got signed by SM, with a 7 year contract, including 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 getting much closer to his dream, the boy signed the contract, knowing in the next two years, his life will be extremely tough.
Tough like he’s never experienced before, but he knows this is his dream, so he refused to 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 by those pounds of cement and dir.
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 job as a waiter at a restaurant.
He quietly does his job, silently takes on everything a 15 year shouldn’t.
Doing everything he can to get through these two rough years.
All for the day he will be surrounded by stage 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 paying 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.. they had landed into the bowl without 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 was short 3 days worth of pay, so once again, the boy dragged his fragile body, and walked three hours to his job at the restaurant.
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.
This also broke the tradition 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 in this worl, 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 was not a single soul in front of him.
He wanted to scream and cry.
The crew members didn’t want to make the scene appear awkward, so they dragged a few fans to the boy.
The boy held his sadness, starting talk to the female fan girl.
But the fan girl coldly threw him a retort: " 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, because he did not want to cry in front of anyone.
Especially himself. The boy did not know why the fan didn’t like him.
But what he doesn’t know was that his fans were still waiting outside the building because the meeting room was full.. their hearts shattered along with his own.
Once he found out online that it was not because others do not like him nor did he do anything wrong.
It was because he was just too pretty.. even the girls were jealous.. reading this silly gibberish, the boy chuckled.
He never gave up, everyday he puts on his sincere smile to public, hoping and praying that others will see him for who he really is and to 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 was afraid that others will dislike him even more because of it.
So little by little, the boy stopped smiling in front of the camera, watching his every action and words.
But because of his actions, the fans were accusing him of pretending to be cool, so the company considered switching him out.. he was seriously scared, he did not want to leave this place that was practically his second home.
But he understand that he was just a "body" that makes money for the company.
if the consumers are tired of this body, the company must switch the body for new one.
He did not 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 youngest 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, and also 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, the boy 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 did not care.
Once during dance practice, the boy fell.. he thought it was normal to fall when dancing.
But this time he could not get back up, his knees were hurting like crazy.
He balled up and started shaking in the corner of the room, the leader, Yunho, without saying a word, carried the boy on his back and took him to the nearest hospital, at the split second when 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 was pretty much gone, he needs surgery asap and it was a major surgery so he needs to rest for a long time after the operation.
But the boy refused, the second day after his surgery, he arrived at the Seoul Olympic stadium with the rest of the members, as per schedule.
He met his fans, before the meeting.
Yunho was by his side all the time, did not leave his side for even a second.
During the fan meeting, they asked what does Changmin want for the new year.
Changmin answered: " 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 and 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 without a word, but the boy knew he has let Yunho and the others down.
The boy was kept in silence by the company for two weeks, he knew that this was actually the lightest punishment for his foolish actions, and he knew his members have been begging the company many many times, so that he will not get kicked out.
Because of this incident, he insisted in the next fan meeting, 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 legend group in Korea, Dong Bang Shin Ki.
The company gave him the stage of name of Young Woong (Hero) JaeJoong.
To remind himself whenever he wants to cry, he cannot do so because he is Hero JaeJoong and a Hero does not cry.
A hero will fight til the end and win the battle.
Author's Note:
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.
Source: ILikeJelly@soompi
Re-written by: 蝶 Cho
