Right after their set finished, and the lights came on.
Friday, the 20th of August 2010 (must never forget this day), there was a fan-sign event at City Square Mall. Seeing their faces in real life for the first time just blew my mind. They were ALL unbelievably pretty. Not in a gay way.
Since we (Ai, Mel and Ai's friend Dorothea) got CAT 2 tickets, we got an autograph from a random member. I didn't really have a definite must-have favourite for CN Blue, but Jungshin was the one I knew the least about, so I was a little disappointed that I got him, but he looked so nice and friendly that my disappointment with getting him soon turned into disappointment that our interaction went too smoothly and didn't last longer. I walked onto the stage and passed by all the other gleaming faces of the CN Blue members to get to Jungshin, but when I tried to show him a little sign that basically said "Jungshin-ah, jia-you" in Korean, some stupid ass security person beside me pushed it downwards so he couldn't read it. It's not like I was telling Jungshin to write my name or something >:(. When he looked up to give me the poster, (and this all happened in a space of barely 2 seconds) I took it while shouting "KAMSAHAMNIDA" in his face, because everyone around us was so loud. I probably scared the poor boy to death. Oh why why why couldn't I have just smiled sweetly and made longer eye contact before getting off the stage? I was almost the last person for him to sign for!
Aishah got a really bad cramp in her leg/ foot while we were just a few people away from getting our autographs, and could barely walk, so the staff had to support her while she limped on stage to Jonghyun. We went out by the side of the stage instead of getting back into the queue so that Aishah could rest and check on her legs, and by some divine coincidence it was where CN Blue would eventually exit the stage. Jonghyun and his BB Cream whiteness passed us by twice when he went to the loo (Lo! he is human after all!), and then the entire band passed us when they'd finished with the event. Yonghwa blew kisses and waved in the i-the-king-graciously-accept-your-love way, the rest I kinda missed because my camera was jamming :/ Dorothea got her hand clasped by Jonghyun I think! Large, sweaty hands? Haha
My Jungshin-signed poster.
Jungshin greeting fans.
Minhyuk in all his loveliness.
Jonghyun looking up at the fans gathered on the 2nd and 3rd levels.
Minhyuk with an ah-jumma fan, while an over-zealous security guard interferes.
Jonghyun on his way to the toilet.
His Majesty Jung Yonghwa thanking us for our presence.
Here you can see Mel doing a high 10 Jonghyun (she just wanted to show him her palms on which was written "Himnae", or jiayou), before Aishah is helped by a staff member to the table:
The next morning we met early, to hang around the van that would follow CN Blue and take us to the UCC for the showcase. It was my first time ever doing something like this (in fact my first time ever seeing Korean stars in real life) so I didn't know what to expect. We ran to the hotel entrance once the heads up had been given (nearly 2 hours after we'd arrived; it's all a waiting game). I got only one picture of Yonghwa and Jonghyun, because digital cameras snap really slowly haha. And as soon as their van left we ran to our van to CHASE! We were really lucky to have been driving right next to their van before their curtains closed too much. I only saw Jungshin's outline before he closed the curtain, but we saw Minhyuk shyly give us a backhanded wave (and we know it's only to us since we were the only ones who could see!).
When we arrived at the UCC, we gathered around their van and could see them exit clearly. By this time I'd learned from my mistakes: Whenever they're leaving or arriving, videos are always better than pictures. And it's on YT now!
We spent the rest of the time (between 10.30 and 3) hanging out in the toilet, where we could hear their soundchecks through a speaker connected to the main hall. Nobody else had cottoned on to this fact, so we were alone in the toilet most of the time. Except when people had to use the toilet, in which case we tried to talk over the soundchecks to distract the interlopers.
The show was... simply indescribable.
Yonghwa was an incredible showman, since his style and movements, which always appears over the top on TV music shows, translates well onto the live stage. He made jokes, he got our spirits high, he sang so well it should put many idols out there to shame, and he played his guitar with just the right amount of swagger and cockiness. He even spoke English with that same kind of swagger. But during the question and answer sessions he was personable and playful - his fanservice was unsurpassable. He seemed to understand almost exactly what it took to get us laughing or screaming in approval.
The good thing about sitting right smack in the middle is that you always think he's looking at you when he's speaking or singing.
(There's an obvious difference in the photo quality between the first and second day. The difference between my cheap camera and my brother's camera.)
Jonghyun looked shy, almost coy, like he didn't look at us as directly as Yonghwa did, but slid a glance every so often. His skills on the electric guitar got everyone screaming for more (heehee), and his deeper voice was steady and controlled and beautiful. When he speaks, though, his voice is soft and... doughy? Haha can't find the word to describe it, but it was very attractive. And yes, his slathered-on BB Creamed skin shone so luminously among his other members on stage that he kinda reminded me of a vampire. Non-human. The same shade as his white shirt haha.
Cheeky-looking Yonghwa knows how to get girls' hearts beating faster.
Jungshin was cute, and smiley, and shy looking. He doesn't seem like a natural showmanm but it was nice to see him play around on stage with Yonghwa while they were playing their songs. He teased us a little during the introduction part by not saying anything until fans were all shouting his name. Not much else I can really say about him, because my eyes were always wandering to either Yonghwa the magnetic showman (sounds so funny lol) or...
I think this was where Yonghwa said that the bad part to being famous was having to eat prettily. Minhyuk concurs.
...Minhyuk, who was sitting at the drums right behind Yonghwa. Fans sitting right in the middle, like Aishah, could barely see Minhyuk because of the microphone placements. But because I was slightly off-centre, I could see Minhyuk playing his drums. He looked so cute playing his drums, because his hair flipped to the beat and he was always mouthing the lyrics to the songs at the same time. He couldn't really look up to stare into the audience like Yonghwa could, but even if he could, I still think he'd seem so adorably shy and lovely. Yup, LOVELY is the perfect way to describe him. He turns away to drink his water, he sits with the most amount of propriety among the boys, his skin was baby smooth and glowing, and he smiles so prettily and cutely you just want to squish him up and take him home. The camera really doesn't do him justice, because he looks so unbelievably beautiful in real life, even if "beautiful" may seem a strange choice of words. Did I mention his hands looked so delicate and smooth when he waved at us in the van? Some lucky girl chosen in a lucky draw we didn't even know existed got to win his drumsticks. *dies*
And thus ended an incredible KPop adventure, my first encounter with stars and stalking and showcases and signatures. It was fun because of the company I had with me, but I don't think I'll be doing too much stalking after this. Maybe only waiting in the venue carpark to get a look, and that'd be it. It costs money I'm running out of. I'm not a natural at it, and I don't really feel comfortable chasing people. I never even called out their names once throughout the two days, except in the concert hall. Seems like I need to be in the dark, with nobody paying attention to me to be able to let loose haha. Sorry to all the people out there I may have annoyed by my fangirling about Minhyuk and screaming during the showcase. I thought myself too uptight to scream, but I couldn't help myself haha.
And next month, Jay's fanmeet!
P.S. songs I remember them playing: Let's Go Crazy, Love Revolution (in English), Love Light, Now or Never (in English), LOVE, I'm A Loner. Jonghyun strummed and sang a few lines of Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 while waiting for Minhyuk's earpiece to be fixed. I know I forgot one song, but it was the one song I'd never heard before.
