Most people would think that Song Minho had it all easy in life. His paternal and maternal grandparents were both old money and whose wealth was increased as it was passed on from one generation to the next. His father, Yang Hyun Suk became richer when he went on to become a member of one of Korea’s first generation Kpop idols and who later on became the founder of YGE, today’s leading Entertainment Company who has Psy and BigBang, to name a few, as its artists. YGE had become bigger company throughout the years as it diversified into other businesses by acquiring makeup and clothing lines, modeling agency, chains of restaurants and other establishments. Her mother Lee Eun-ju was an award winning actress who had made it big both in movies and television drama.  She stopped accepting drama offers when she gave birth to Minho and soon became the director of the Artist Management at YGE.

As a sole heir to his parent’s growing empire, his parents had high hopes for him.  And that is the part where he didn’t have it easy. His family’s status and wealth were both a comfort and a burden at the same time and he will carry that for the rest of his life. If there was anything he ever wanted, it was the autonomy of his life - to be his own person and live life according to his own terms. And that’s a difficult and complicated process.  But if there’s anything he learned from his parents, it was being strong willed. His father was stubborn enough to defy his own father when Yang Hyun Suk signed up to become an idol and later on proved that he can stand on his own feet. As for his mother, becoming an actress was an accident and which her family disapproved of at first but had been accepted later on. If his parents can do that, he certainly can. After all, it runs in the blood.

Contrary to what some Asian kids experienced in foreign countries such as United States, Minho had a pretty normal childhood and teenage life like those of the rich kids in his affluent neighborhood. He lived with his Aunt’s family in a posh Los Angeles subdivision. His Aunt’s husband was also of Korean descent migrated to United States to take over the family’s business establishments in Koreatown, a neighborhood in L.A where highly diverse  Asians, Latinos and Mexicans live. Their only son Kim Jinwoo was three years older than his cousin Song Mino but treated each other like real brothers. These two practically grew up together and knew each other well than anyone in their family. It’s a good thing he was able to persuade his mother not to send him to boarding school and instead let him live with his Aunt’s family who had been more visible in his life than his own parents who had been busy with their businesses in other country. During summer break, he’d go home and visit his parents. They would go on a family trip and spend some time together like the traditional Korean kind of way. They’d go on camping and set up a bone fire then go on a fishing trip in the nearby lake and while waiting, they would be having conversation just about anything.

It was that summer before he became a senior at the university when he came home to Korea. He and his father were spending sometime over a coffee at his family’s den when the conversation turned out to be a little more serious. His father was well aware of how he had been doing at Uni. Just like most of college students, Minho had his share of troubles and fun. He was a carefree person who likes to have fun and live at the moment. He would go to parties with his friends, hang out with girls he likes, only to wake up on a different room the next day. At times he’d go to class half drunk and half high from the booze and drugs at previous night’s party so he usually end up sleeping in class half the time. He wasn’t a straight A student but his grades were pretty decent enough to land him a serious job after college. His father understood that it was typical of students to do that especially when he had been raised in a country different from the more conservative Korea. But Yang Hyun Suk wasn’t also happy about it. And it was during that conversation one morning when Mino was once again reminded of what his future should be according to his father’s plan. He knew about it from the start but he was busy living his own life to think about the plans his father made for him. It was as if he was living in two worlds- one where he thought he was the master of his own choices and the other being the exact opposite. In a few years time, he dreaded that he’ll have to cross to the other side of that world where he would have to give in into his father’s plan.

And so after that serious talk he had with him, he set off to United States to finish his degree in Business and after a year he received his diploma. It was only the beginning for Song Mino. He would come back to Korea not as a son of CEO Yang, but as Song Minho.

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Park Sandara had gone a long way from being the rookie actress who used to act on the smaller screen with a few minutes of screen time. After several dramas, she eventually landed a lead role for a cable network. The drama did poorly on the ratings but that didn’t stop her from accepting other roles whether it was as a lead or supporting cast. It was her movie Dr. Ian that propelled her to her first step to stardom. Her movie was both critically and commercially successful and it earned her her first acting award. It was only the beginning of her career and everything that followed after that had cemented her status in the Korean entertainment industry. Before she became a superstar that she was today, she was a model for different cosmetics and clothing line. Even when she was already an actress, she would accept offers to appear on the runway and if she was not on those runways, you’ll see her on the front rows during fashion shows.

If there was anything that was easy to notice, it was Sandara Park’s ethereal beauty. Her beauty was a mixture of innocence and sophistication that draws men. Other than from his acting and modeling, she was famous for having high profile dating rumors with her co actors Song Joong-ki and  Lee Junki, as well as idol like Lee Donghae and rappers Beenzino and Jay Park whom she all had met when she appeared on their music videos. It seemed like Sandara Park had a history of involving herself with famous and not to mention rich men she had worked with. She was what most people would call as someone who does business with pleasure. At least people don’t label her a gold digger compared to other actresses who had hooked up with rich actors and idols. After all, Sandara Park had made a lot of money as an actress and model. She may not be old money but at least she had worked hard to earn that millions of dollars that she has right now. She knew how it was to have nothing and to have no one, and she’ll never go back to that status even if it would mean she’d have to work for the rest of her life.

Most actresses in her generation are still living of that image of innocence expected of them by most audience. Like Kpop idols, actors should maintain a clean image for people to like them and make them more bankable. It is only in Korean entertainment where dating is synonymous to a ‘scandal’ and actors are highly regarded than idols or those in the music scene. Park Sandara had broken off that stereotypes or at least she had the courage not to be as pretentious as most celebrities were. Her reputation was like that of a love-hate relationship. One day, everyone would be praising her acting on drama and the next day she would be the topic of hate among netizens on the Internet communities and forum. If there was something she was hated for, it was for her carefree lifestyle and for the men she had been associated with. Sandara Park was a fixture at parties and most of the time she had been pictured drinking and partying up until the wee hours with her celebrity friends. If she wasn’t working on any acting and modeling projects or seen at some bars, she would travel to different countries in Europe and would take a lot of pictures with here Polaroid camera and writing her journals. It was her own way of taking a break from the camera because even when she was out drinking with her non-celebrity friends in Korea, paparazzi would sneak in to take some of her photos and plastered it all over the Internet for netizens to talk about how she lived her life as if it was any of their business.

It was after her annual Euro trip when she landed a project with Givenchy, a luxury accessory and clothing line. She was Korea’s representative and was the only Asian celebrity to attend the high end fashion show held in New York. And with every show,     after-party is something one should not miss. After-parties are the real life of the show where you get to meet big names in the industry and a great place where you can build not just business connections but also a personal one.  And that’s the place Sandara Park liked to be at. She had met several celebrities and snapped a picture or two with them. Hollywood life was never far from what she had been accustomed to in her home country. Name, status and ego were important for these celebrities and what a celebrity-wannabe would want to have. And it wasn’t easy to have it all. You have to work harder than most people and of course one has to have all the luck the world can give.  

And as luck would have it, Park Sandara met the only son and heir of Korea’s biggest entertainment mogul, Song Minho. But she doesn’t know his wealthy background yet.

 At least not until when he was back in Seoul and as another luck would have it - both would be working on an ad campaign for a clothing brand.