I still remember the time when they said, EXO was nothing but a group of handsome guys… I remember they said EXO was nothing but a spoon fed group of SM entertainment… I remember they said EXO was over-rated… I remember it all…

I remember when some members left, many EXO-Ls left with them… I remember when Baekhyun started dating, many other young girls left the fandom… the hate comments he got for dating Taeyeon and then again for breaking up with her… I remember they said 2014 would be the end of EXO…

I remember the hate Chanyeol got when he put on a weight, or Kai got when he started dating, or when Lay got when he due to obvious reasons couldn’t promote with the group that he had waited so long to debut with. I remember how, even after EXO won so many daesangs, they were called rookies and spoon fed in the light of newer groups who composed and produced their songs (Kudos to them). And I remember how they still are compared and judged by people who don’t even qualify to do that.

I don’t want to prove here that EXO is talented because I’m sure EXO speaks for itself through the awards they win and the records they make and the records they break.

But what I see when I see EXO is dedication and persistence for their passion… Suho trained hard for 7 years while he watched his juniors debuting before him but he was stubborn to get what he wanted and he did it, didn’t he? Lay waited 4 years in a country with a language and a culture barrier to be what he is today. Jongin broke his leg and those days were hell for him but he took care of himself because he wanted to dance; for a guy who considers dancing is breathing, what would being unable to dance mean to him? Baekhyun Chen Kyungsoo, our vocal gems – Baekhyun, the beagle might not be serious about anything in the world but he is about singing that he started at the young age of eleven, and it needs ears to listen to how much he has improved in singing and do I have to mention his dancing? Kyungsoo is working so hard with acting (which I might add, isn’t what he had had training for), he doesn’t even have time to rehearse with the group for their next concert but let me promise you, he will still shine! Doing what he does best is Chen but doing what he was worst at is also Chen; our Chensing machine, have you seen him dance recently?? Despite the fact that he is actually a crybaby, Chanyeol named himself a happy virus and reaction king and always laughs so the fans wouldn’t see his pain. Why he? All the members do that. How did I even forget Xiumin? He never used to speak much but our Baozi writes lines on a piece of paper to reach to the fans now...all rounder in everything that he does, our eldest... Sehun, our youngest… should we even call him maknae? He has held on to EXO from falling apart like adhesive and EXO has held on to him like a ship does to an anchor.

They are kings and if someone doubts it or questions it, he has been living under a rock or pile of arrogance. But what touches me more than their achievements is their innocence, their modesty despite all the achievements. There has never been a time that EXO forgets to mention its fandom for all that they achieve when actually they win because they deserve. I think, REACHING THE STARS IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS REMEMBERING YOUR ROOTS.

EXO hasn’t just risen from nothing, they have risen again and again despite the obstacles that came in their way in the visage of Team-rupture, haters, Korea-China clashes and as 24 hours being insufficient. So maybe there will come a time when they won’t rise again…In the next 5 years, EXO may or may not be the ones to sit on the first rows of the year-end awards functions. In the next 10 years, they may or may not top the charts. In the next 20 years, they may not be as handsome as they are today. But K-Pop will never be defined fully without them being mentioned. And to me and to you reading this, to whom EXO is way more than a bunch of handsome faces, more than just celebrities, I know they will SHINE even if they become grandpas…