He remembers that first letter so well. It had caught his attention out of the huge pile sitting on his coffee table. There had been a startling lack of garish and shiny hearts and stars and coy, curly writing on it and the envelop itself was not an obnoxious pink as all the rest were. It was a pale yellow, silent and serene and had looked like a piece of calm amidst a sea of chaos.

“I remember the first time I saw you. It was on a TV screen in a Hongdae electronics shop. Your hair was so blonde and your eyes were so tired. ‘chicken nae style aniya’ was the first thing I ever heard you say. I didn’t like you.

One week ago I was walking past the Mnet studio and I could barely get past for the crowd. There were girls of all shapes and sizes in the longest line I have ever seen in real life- all with banners or sweaters that said your name. But I knew it was too early, it was two days before your comeback, I had seen the previews enough on TV to know this. But there they were, all those fangirls, in this freezing November weather armed with nothing but a few flimsy winter coats and cup ramyeon and so much love for you. That was the first time I ever really looked at you, or rather your posters on the road. I wanted to know what kind of person inspires that kind of intense love and devotion in so many other people.

So I sat down one night with my dinner and started to watch your videos one by one-from debut till now. The heating in my room was not working properly and my kimchi was too salty.  But by the time midnight rolled around I was fascinated. Because I knew that all those interviews, talk shows, reality TV, music videos, concerts and fan accounts didn’t even come close to describing who you really are. ”