Travel NYC like Felix, Lee Know, and Woojin of Stray Kids (We still love and support Woojin)
Since Stray Kids are coming to New York in January, we decided to cover another travel of the boys from their last visit to our city. (Click here for our previous Stray Kids Travel)
We don’t live in NYC. While we wish we could, our day jobs do not make that a possibility. So we have to commute from our homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by taking the train. Every day we go into the city via NJ Transit, probably the WORST train system in the United States. (Google it. We’re pretty sure it is top 10 worst or pretty darn close)
But we digress. The reason we bring up the train is where it funnels into. New York Penn Station. Another nightmare of NYC. Yes, we are jaded to certain aspects of NY that some people will love to experience. The hustle and bustle of people waiting for and then ultimately running to catch trains, all the new food and drink spots that have been added, and now all the brand new construction causing even more pandemonium as half the waiting areas are closed…SUCH FUN.
But on one day several boys of Stray Kids chose to go and visit the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) section of Penn Station and enjoy a staple of New York, Shake Shack. And since we frequent the station we chose to go too! We didn’t eat Shake Shack as we are trying to not eat too bad ALL the time. Lol.
After you arrive in NY Penn Station, make sure to hit up the Shake Shack, have a burger and revel in the fact you traveled NYC like Felix, Lee Know, and Woojin of Stray Kids.
VVXXZY Makes Waves
With his mixture of rock, hip hop, and “kpop inspired melodies,” VVXXZY has released his first solo track “Molly Alexandra.” While we are in New York, and he is based in Texas, we were still able to set up an interview to talk about his music journey, and what music means to him.
At the age of nine his friend showed him a Green Day music video and from there music became part of his blood. “I was really into alternative rock before discovering k-pop and later hip hop.”
Getting into making music wasn’t always in his cards, but after the tragedy of one of his friends committing suicide last year, he realized how short and precious life can be. “When he passed, I began to seriously reflect on my own thoughts, feelings, and actions. I began to write everything that’s been haunting me down and it kind of turned out pretty poetically, like a rap.”
And with that, he has his first single to prove it. “Molly Alexandra,” has lyrics that while they might seem simple, actually have a powerful meaning behind them.
“Pop the molly, pop the xanx, take a picture for the gram, I don’t want to understand, I don’t want to give a damn.” When we asked VVXXZY what he sees in his lyrics, he explained, “To me, it represents the youth in today’s society in the sense that kids don’t inherently want to do drugs but rather take them as a means to forget or avoid certain issues in their lives that are difficult to address.”
Getting inspired by personal experiences, listening to other peoples stories, as well as going to live shows, he ultimately hopes that people can connect to his music in a way that shows them they are not alone.
And since this is a site about learning Korean we asked him for a phrase he would like to teach us. His response:
“ ’꿈 꿀 수 있는 자, 그 꿈을 이룰 수도 있다’ (kkum kkul su eessnun ja, koo kkumool eerul sudue essda)
“This quote means that ‘if you can dream it, you can also turn it into reality’. I chose this quote because it really resonates with me. Oftentimes others put us down or we ourselves may hold inner doubts. But I believe that if you have a dream and work hard for it, it can definitely become a reality.”
We were so excited to find this amazing artist and we cannot wait to see what he has coming next. Check out his single “Molly Alexandra” now on Spotify and Apple Music.
A K-Drama Wedding
Sammie here!
I got married this November, to the man I have loved for the last 11 years. Yeah, we’ve been together awhile. He has been with me through a lot. The goods, like buying a house together and the bads, like having to lay to rest my cat and closing up my business after six years in business. We’ve seen each other’s highs and lows. It hasn’t always been easy, but we have always had more smiles and laughs than tears and that’s how I knew he was the man for me. He has also handles my fanaticism very well.
With that being said he handled my fanaticism during our wedding.
One night I reached out on our Instagram asking what people’s favorite wedding scenes from some K-Dramas. A few people answered and I took those photos to my now husband, who hates taking photos I might add, and asked if he would re-enact them with me during our wedding.
He was hesitant at first. But when I brought up the fact we would already be taking a ton of photos, and the photos that our lovely K.F.C family chose weren’t crazy or out of the ordinary, he let out a defeated sigh and agreed to take them. (Let me again say how much I love my husband.)
The next step was asking my photographer if she could make them happen. I had no doubt she could (Check out @loveshackphoto on instagram) but I wanted to make sure we had enough time.
She loved the idea and on November 1st, 2019 my K-Drama fairytale happy ending became a reality.
K-drama’s we re-enacted:
어비스 – Abyss
힘쎈여자 도봉순 – himssaenyoja Do Bong Soon – Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
이번 생은 저음이라 – eebon saengoon jeooomeera – Because This is My First Life
아버지가 이상해 – abujeega eesanghae – Father is Strange
A massive thank you to my husband for humoring me and our amazing photographer Jackie of Love Shack Photo for making these photos a reality.
Travel NYC like Mark and Jaehyun of NCT 127
A rainy day was suddenly made bright and cheery when we realized that we had walked the same steps as some of our favorite idols.
It was the night after a very stressful day of work when Sammie left to meet up with some of us for dinner. As she ran to not be late, she went past her absolute favorite place in NYC, New York Public Library. Behind said favorite place is a park. Bryant Park to be exact. A small park that, during the holiday season, becomes an decked out ice rink, gifts galore, food stall filled, Christmas marketplace.
That particular day, while gloomy, was still mid-summer so the trees still had their gorgeous big leaves, the flowers were in full bloom and the water fountain spouted its nourishing H2O.
A lot of these places we know but don’t know that we know. (Yes that was a ‘Friends’ reference)
So when she ran into the corner where Mark and Jaehyun stood, after going to see Phantom of the Opera, to admire the gorgeous view of the Empire State Building, she texted us to meet her so we could take a few photos.
Located at the corner of 42nd St. and 6th Ave. is this spot where you can enjoy the greenery of Bryant Park, nestled behind the massive library of the New York Public Library.
Grab a book, take a seat in the park to people watch and as you leave, run across the street to Travel NYC like Mark and Jaehyun of NCT 127.
Travel NYC Like Sang Yeon, Jacob, and Sun Woo of The Boyz
We were hype when KCON NY 2019 announced one of our fav rookie groups, The Boyz, were performing. We were even more hype that The Boyz made the absolute most of their trip to NY. They traveled up and down the city, and even into the borough of Brooklyn. We find it funny how ‘hip’ Brooklyn has become in the last ten or so years.
We’ve grown up going to Brooklyn as a couple of us have family there. When we told our families that these kpop idols keep coming to the area they laugh. And when we told Sammie’s mother where we were going to take pictures of this location her eyes went wide with worry.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead there…actually I would probably end up dead there,” she explained, not making us feel all that great about making the trek up that way. But after doing our research we found that the area has definitely changed since her mother had lived in any of the boroughs.
The area of Brooklyn, named Bushwick, is now filled with breweries, beer gardens, restaurants, and insane street art. Seriously, the street art covers almost all the old factories now turned hipster shops, and apartments. This was another location we could’ve spent an entire day and not gotten enough pictures.
This corner we shot was a part of their “D.D.D” music video. There are actually several locations in the vicinity of this particular one. We will cover those in future articles.
Like The Roxy, where Stray Kids visited, this awesome crossroads is three street corner mish mosh. The intersection is Troutman St., Scott Ave., and St. Nicholas Ave.
We enjoyed living out a Beatle’s crossing Abbey Road scenario to get this photo and we hope you will too when you travel NYC like Sang Yeon, Jacob, and Sun Woo of The Boyz.
Travel NYC like Many K-pop Idols
While on our Travel NYC Like ___ journey, we knew this next place was a definite must see! From all the pictures we had seen of so many different idols making the spot a stop on their NYC travels the place was a no brainer.
ATEEZ shooting a dance practice video The spot we’re talking about today is a setting that we have seen many a k-pop idol frequent. Not even just K-pop idols like Stray Kids, and ATEEZ, but K-drama actors, like our boy Woo Do Hwan, who inspired Hwan Soo in Seoul Searching, jokingly, made a stop here.
Woo Do Hwanss funny insta post at the famous location This was another location that we had always seen and wanted to go to, but never actually went. But as we drew up the plans for this series, it was one of the top on our list. Rather easy to find, and not actually in Manhattan but in the borough of Brooklyn, we found this gem of a location.
Stray Kids during one of their challenges Located at the intersection of Washington and Water St. in the area lovingly named DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass), is where you will find this picturesque setting. Settled between the cobblestone streets and old brick factories now converted to shops and apartments, it has a view of the Manhattan Bridge so breathtaking it’s no surprise why idols make the trip.
Sammie and E. enjoying their day at the gorgeous area of DUMBO We felt like we could’ve spent all day stood in that intersection. The lighting changed with every passing cloud, and the sun dipping back down to bring on the moon, and we wanted to stay to witness it all. We unfortunately had a lot more ground to cover and we had to sadly move on. Maybe we will hit it up once again and spend all the time we had planned. And maybe we will even see you there while you take amazing, Instagram worthy photos and enjoy your travel like many kpop (and K-drama) idols.
Sammie wishing she could dance along with ATEEZ (Actually just wishing she could dance) Travel NYC like Bang Chan, Changbin, Jisung, and Hyunjin of Stray Kids
On a hot summer weekend in NYC, the heat not only radiated from the sun above but off the concrete below causing us to want to spend the whole day in the nice cool AC of our hotel room. But no! We were determined to go hunting for travel spots. With our list as long as Priyanka Chopra’s veil, we ventured out into the jungle.
Hopping onto the subway, we made our way to the always entertaining area of SoHo (short for South of Houston). A place filled with amazing restaurants, cool shops, and all around fun stuff to adventure and find.
On this adventure we were going to a place we had actually never been, but knew from a movie called Two Weeks Notice (released in 2002). See how we have, are, and always will, love love. While they had put a different name on the building, Sammie’s mom had said she knew where the place was and had been with coworkers years prior.
When we watched “Stray Kids: 제 9구역 시즌2 ( chae 9 guyeok shijon 2 – the 9th district season 2) we loved seeing so many sights of the city we love, which will be showcased in future articles, but when we saw them walk past an iconic scene in RomCom history we paused and proceeded to screech. We knew the image very well.
Sandra Bullock running to save Hugh Grant Sandra Bullock had run to that very spot to find Hugh Grant had called her for the ‘emergency’ of not finding the right outfit to wear to an event. And our fan fiction hearts started imagining Jisung meeting us in one of the gorgeous rooms in the hotel for a romantic rendezvous, or Bang Chan ordering room service so we didn’t have to leave our room and simply spend time together, or Changbin buying us a drink while Hyunjin performed on the small stage in piano bar.
Stray Kids Bang Chan, Hyunjin, Changbin, and Jisung outside The Roxy We knew we had to go. And so here it is. The Roxy Hotel is located at the intersection of 6th Ave, Church St. and White St. Yes, three roads all meet to make the area that is The Roxy Hotel. Outside is a gorgeous old black clock with a white face that reminds us of the clock in the historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel (which is currently closed).
Sammie outside trying not freak out too much that she was living out a childhood memory. After you see some art at a small local gallery, do some shopping at some cute boutique, get a gelato from the local creamery, or a drink down at one of the local pubs, go and relax in the gorgeous venue that is The Roxy Hotel so you can say you travelled NYC like Bang Chan, Changbin, Jisung, Hyunjin of Stray Kids.
PLT make fans Go Holic in NJ
White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ was once again packed with K-pop fans. This time, it was for PLT. A group consisting of five solo artists ranging in different genres of music, like R&B, rap, and pop made NJ their kick off stop in their US tour. Fans lined up around the block, even in the chilled windy air, to wait to get in and get the best spot to see, Gaho, Moti, Jung Jinwoo, Villain, and June perform not only their solo songs, but also their combined music as PLT.
A little background on PLT. The five members, like stated above, are all solo artists under the label Planetarium Records. They have mixtapes, solo albums, singles, etc. singularly and then together to mix their genres to make music as a group, named PLT (a play on their record label name).
As we entered the venue, which we have been to many times, it never ceases to amaze us how gorgeous the place is with it’s stained glass ceiling windows, the large open space for fans to clamor into and the stage in the far back awaiting the presence of the artists who are waiting in the wings to perform.
The lights cut out, a screen dropped to promote the company that was able to make the concert possible, My Music Taste, and as the screen raised, the curtain opened and out walked Gaho. Dressed in a sleek black suit that, when he turned around, had pieces of printed cloth on the back, Gaho grabbed the mic and kicked off his set. He nervously explained her was jet lagged, but hearing the fans cheers gave him all the energy he needed to perform. The fans swooned as he sang his dulcet tracks like, “Going On”, followed by the soul crushing, heart breaking, ‘WHO HURT YOU?!’ song called, “있어줘 (eessojyo- stay here)”, and his most recent single, “Pink Walk,” which we still have stuck in our heads.
Gaho After thanking the crowd for coming, and letting him perform his music, Gaho walked off the stage to make way for the next artist. Jung Jinwoo, with his fluffy curls, oversized suit jacket and pants, stepped out to kick off his set with “위성 –weeseong – satellite) He was so nervous and excited, and the crowd was so happy he was on stage he missed his cue and asked for them to restart, letting the crowd enjoy his melodic entrance once more. He was sweet as he grabbed the hands of the fans as he walked across stage singing “She’s Got Everything,” a yet to be released song, and also “문제 (munjae – problem)” Jung Jinwoo had everyone begging for more and when he walked off stage, it was June’s turn to make the crowd lose their minds.
Jung Jinwoo June kicked of his set rather calmly. Sitting relaxed on a stool, dressed in a green and black flannel, with the new version of UFO pants (which we didn’t think would ever make a come back and have and we’re here for it), and a voice like Jay Park, he slayed the R&B game with his songs, “Gas Station,” and “Serenade.” The chill vibes of his set didn’t stop the fans from screaming for him to continue. When he wrapped up a few songs he spoke about how excited he was to be there and how he wanted to share some new unreleased music. Honestly, most of the members announced and performed an unreleased song and mentioned that new music was coming soon. It not only was exciting for them, but it made the fans crave more. After “오늘 밤은 (onul bamun- tonight)” he concluded his set and asked the crowd if they were ready for the next performer.
June We don’t believe they were and neither were we. As the music started, the fans went absolutely bat sh*t crazy and Villain, in his white denim jacket, spray painted jeans, blue hair with a center part and round Harry Potter like lenses, took the stage to start singing “Fairy.” Now we have never seen PLT perform live, we had heard that all their stages are amazing and we had seen some videos from previous shows but Villain came to kill. His overtly sexual motions as his hands ran up and down the mic stand caused us to hear squeals and even some straight moans from the crowd as he continued. He knew what he was doing and it fueled his entire performance. He finished the song and went into a personal story about how people are essentially shitty, and realized as he went to start his next song he had forgotten his set list. With a laugh and a smile he continued on and performed his hits “마니또 (Manitto),” and “Luhvin It” before also announcing he would be coming out with new music soon.
Villain It was then time for the final solo act. Moti. Once again, a man rocking a black suit, white shirt, but this time he added his own flare by having some pretty sick diamond chains. He kicked his set off with, “겸손 (kyeom seon- humble/modesty)” and when he moved away from his mic stand all hell broke loose. We’ve been crushed by fans before while taking photos. ASTRO at K-expo was probably the most insane. That was until this show. While we were crowded and pressed against the stage for all the other performers, when Moti came out is was a whole different ball game. The dude was running from side to side and seemed to always stop right in front of us. See crotch shot below for proof. He had the crowd who had already been at a 10 shoot up to a damn 20 as he performed, “Blue,” “GO,” and a new track set to hit the rest of the worlds ears next month.
Moti (crotch shot lol) Did you think after he performed it was over? Oh no. They still had their group act to perform. Remember how the crowd had bounced up to a 20? Yeah at the point they were over 100 and climbing to flipping infinity fast. PLT came out and it was like we entered Coachella with how loud and chaotic the crowd went. As they sang their group tracks like, “Igoholic,” “Blah,” and “Hocus Pocus,” they began showering the fans in water. As we were crushed in the front we got a solid shot to the face a few times. And while we were hype on how excited it made the fans we weren’t hype on it getting our camera wet. But such is the life of a concert photographer.
PLT Chaos All in all this concert over shot our expectations. We knew PLT were coming for us but not as savagely as they did. Every solo performance brought new waves of excitement, and when PLT came together there was no stopping the tsunami of hype. If you’re interested in seeing them and are in the US. Their up coming stops are Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago so hopefully you can make your way over to any of those locations. We highly suggest experiencing “We Go Holic” for yourselves.
Pentagon lights the universe at Beacon Theater in NYC
A cooling end-of-summer Thursday night in NYC always brings out some beautiful things. The last budding daisies blooming in corner parks, the restaurants fill their outdoor seating with patrons who enjoy people watching as the street lights flicker on to light others paths home. And finally, far off into the distance, the universe lights the night with twinkling stars to guide the world safely below.
But the universe in the sky wasn’t the only lights shining bright. The Universe of 펜타곤 (Pentagon) shown more dazzling than the heavens, as the band brought their fans to the Beacon Theater for what was to be a night that will not be soon forgotten.
Fans not only lined-up around the corner to wait to get in, they wrapped around the entire block. It was a sight to be seen.
Met cool people waiting online Walking into the theater we were greeted with an impressive architectural and artistic beauty. The theater was ornately painted and had insane large statues of goddesses and knights. We hope more concerts are at the Beacon Theater just so we can take more pictures of the venue itself.
While the concert started a little late, it didn’t stop the fans from freaking out the second the lights cut turning the whole building black and a video of the members began playing. 펜타곤 consists of 9 members (formerly 10, E’dawn left amid controversy of him dating Hyuna), Jinho, Wooseok, Yeo One, Kino, Hui, Shinwon, Yuto, and Yanan. While Yanan was not present for to concert due to injury, the other 8 carried on to perform and make him proud.
Once the video ended, fans got even louder as the members appeared on stage to perform the intro to their debut album, “Wake Up.” Fans were wide awake not wanting to miss a second of these guys owning the stage. “Sha La La (신토불이-shintobulee- there really is no real translation. It is Shalala…)” followed, which felt like a warm up, prepping us for what they had in store for the rest of the show. We’ve have followed these guys since their debut in 2016 under C**e Entertainment (If you’ve seen Sammie’s youtube channel you will understand this joke. If not click here to see.) and have been waiting patiently for them for them to come to the NY for their own tour. This summer has been the one where a ton of our favorite groups have come to NY and we are not complaining.
during their first ment In the middle of performing several title tracks from their albums like, “Gorilla,” “Like This,” “Runaway,” and their most recent “Humph!” they introduced themselves (but let’s be real, they need no introduction) and spoke about how excited they were to be on a US tour. They cracked jokes with each other and interacted with the audience asking questions like, “Are you excited to be here?” and “Are you ready for more?” Oh and did we forget to mention Hongseok pulled open to show off his abs but some one *cough* Shinwon *cough* walked in front of our section so we couldn’t even see?!? THE NERVE!!
Wooseok sending hearts to the audience The second video break ended, and they had clearly finished an outfit change, one member stood on stage. Kino. Now, Kino has slowly been creeping up our bias list and after we watched the sway of his hips as the opening music to Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” pumped through the speakers, we knew we were done for. Suddenly, YeoOne, Jinho (who had actually done a cover video on Youtube of this song), and Hongseok joined him on stage and, we cant lie, panties hit the floor. These boys were able to seduce us with a song we actually can’t stand due to it being so overplayed. That. Is. Skill.
When that song completed and the four men walked off the stage, the other four members, Yuto, WooSeok, Hui, and Shinwon came out and slayed another overplayed song, “Uptown Funk,” by Bruno Mars. Seriously, both these are songs we have been so sick of hearing and suddenly we didn’t want them to end!
Uptown Funk These boys went through more outfit changes than we had seen in a while and all 8 came out in all white ensembles to slow down the pace of the concert with several of their ballads including, “When it rains at night(밤에 비가 내리면 -bamae biga naerimyun- If it rains at night),” and “Beautiful.” Their vocals could bring tears to anyone who heard them. The harmonies? UGH! PHENOMENAL! No other word can truly describe what was heard. Even if we have video it couldn’t do it justice.
So let’s just recap:
They blew minds.
They dropped panties.
They melted hearts.
It was time for them to put all three together for their mind blowing, panty dropping, heart melting final few songs. Hitting the stage in yet another outfit change (not joking so many changes and they all looked handsome in different ways), they took the standard group photo with the crowd and performed “Critical Beauty (예뻐죽겠네- yepo jukkaettnae- deadly gorgeous) “Naughty boy(청개구리-chonggaeguri- tree frog),” “Shine(빛나리- beechnari – shine),” and a new fav of ours, “Fantasystic.”
Get you a man who looks at you like Kino looks at Shinwon (Yes we stole Sammie’s tweet) While we had to leave before the encore, we heard they came out in their tour t-shirts for a final speech and performed a song or two while waving and throwing their hearts to fans everywhere in the audience.
Talking about their tour 펜타곤 came, saw, and conquered NYC. Their vocals made us shiver, their rapping made us quake, and their choreography shot us up into the sky to become the Universe they love so much. It was a night to not be forgotten by the fans and hopefully not by 펜타곤. We wish them the best of luck on the rest of the tour. If they’re in an area near you we suggest checking them out immediately. If the ticket prices are out of your price range, we totally get that, we suggest you check out their music anyway you can.
#WAFFLEDEBACLE
Sammie here. Thanks for reading our blogs about the recent concerts we’ve been to and even our book Seoul Searching. This post is a little different than what we’ve done in the past. This is my account of what we here at K.F.C, as well as my coworkers and friends, have now deemed the IMFACT #waffledebacle.
Enjoy.
The day started like any other concert going day. I picked out an outfit, proceeded to change it fifteen times, until I ended up going shopping and finding the cutest dress to wear (on clearance too! I love me a sale J). I put on my most basic of make-up as I have zero skills in that department. And I spent an hour fixing my hair only to throw it up in my usual bun because I hate my hair any other way. My normal concert routine.
I arrived at the venue, waited in line, met up with friends, got into the building to meet the members of IMFACT as they signed an album to me, even some of them wished me a happy birthday. I fangirled a bit as we took group photos, and then the concert began. I rocked out, screamed, danced, and went crazy when they played my favorite songs. Again, my normal concert routine.
Then the show concluded, and it was time for the Pick-a-poses. This has always been one of my favorite moments of concerts run by Studio PAV. While most other companies have a hi-touch and a quick group photo after the show, Studio PAV delivers a once in a lifetime experience. A short, but intimate time with idols one on one. I have been to close to ten shows that Studio PAV has put on and usually I tend to say very little to the idols during these Pick-a-pose sessions. They say, “Thank you for coming.” I quickly respond with a smile and maybe a, “You’re show was great.” Click! The photo is taken, I walk away to get on the next line and repeat the same steps. MY NORMAL CONCERT ROUTINE!
WELL NOT THIS TIME!
I stood in line, waiting patiently, talking to the people around me about how amazing the show was and how hard IMFACT had gone during both their group and solo performances. I had no order to whom I wanted to see. As much as Jian was my bias, after the show they put on I was ready to make them all my biases. So, I chose the shortest line and asked who I was in line for as I couldn’t see the members ahead.
Main vocalist, visual, aka: perfection in an idol, Lee Sang.
A name I know I will now never forget. Nor will any of my friends, coworkers, or even my fiancé.
I was internally practicing what I wanted to say, like always, knowing the second, I was in front of him I would say absolutely nothing of what I had planned.
I heard the click of the woman ahead of me as her final photo was being taken and braced myself. It was my turn. My heart was racing, I told the woman with the camera in her hand the two photos I wanted and walked up to Lee Sang, his smirk could’ve knocked me off my feet if I wasn’t too preoccupied in my head. Thinking about it now, it was probably one of the sexiest things ever directed my way and I was too stupid to register it in the moment. I walked over and proudly, in Korean, told him the two numbers I wanted. The smirk suddenly became a full out smile as he asked if I spoke Korean. I responded quickly that I was learning and looked toward the camera for the poses.
And then, something I never planned for, happened. Something I never in a million years thought would ever be spoken to me from anyone apart from maybe my fiancé, left this idol’s lips.
“You’re very pretty.”
I’m not even joking I could feel his eyes on me. They were on me, and nowhere else.
My response? I laughed. I hadn’t looked at him. I couldn’t. Surely, he couldn’t be serious. And when he said nothing and the woman taking the photo still hadn’t taken the photo, I looked over to him. His eyes surprised at my response. Finally, my brain came to the conclusion, “Beesh he’s serious.”
I bowed my head and said thank you.
He followed up by asking me my name.
THIS WAS MORE INTERACTION THAN I’VE HAD WITH ANY OF THE OTHER IDOLS I HAVE MET!
I was simply staring at him for a little too long and his eyebrows raised while in my head I’m screaming, “Answer the damn question!”
I respond with my name. Mind you, we still have not taken the first photo. The woman was simply watching us. I’m pretty sure she had been in the middle of changing the film. It’s the only way the conversation was able to continue.
I will say again, I’ve done these Pick-a-poses multiple times. I have been there when the film needed to be reloaded and I stood awkwardly next to the members who simply waited for the film to be filled and the photo to be taken. We say nothing to each other. And I acknowledged it as, this is there job, they are being paid for this, they are tired and they want to go home so they want these pictures done and done quickly. I don’t blame them for that at all and I always forget to wish them a nice rest, but as you can all clearly see, talking to the idols is not my forte.
Lee Sang was different from all of them. Even from the rest of his members. He spoke confidently, but nervously. He was worried he had something incorrectly but also knew that he wanted to get out what he had to say.
I had again looked back to the woman ready for the photo, only to once again be asked a question, “Are you from around here?”
Snapping my neck in surprise that this conversation was continuing, I nodded my head and said, “Born and raised.”
That’s when the woman finally put the view finder up to her eye and we made the first pose.
Click.
One photo down. I looked to the poses as at that point I had totally forgotten what the second one I chose was and that’s when another thing fell from this man’s lips I never thought I would ever hear someone of his magnitude say to me.
He leaned in a bit and spoke slowly to make sure what he said was perfectly clear, “What should I do after the show? What should I see?”
My body felt like it had gone limp. My soul had left my body. No way. This god of a man was most definitely not asking me to hang out. No way. He just wanted to know what he should go and do before he had to hop on a plane back to South Korea.
I shrugged and responded, “hmm. I don’t know. What is it you want to see?” while internally I was saying “DO ME! SEE ME!” (disclaimer: I love my fiancé. With all my heart. But a damn sexy idol was potentially hitting on me. I’m still a woman. I have urges. And by the end of this, you’ll all see why my fiancé has nothing to worry about.)
The woman had begun to rush us to take the second picture. I was sad that moment had finally arrived but as she was trying to take the picture he kept talking saying, “We can still talk.”
WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO KEEP TALKING TO ME!?!?
He then mumbled something while smiling that I couldn’t understand, and I simply nodded my head thinking he had asked a yes or no question.
When I went to pull away he grabbed my hand and kept repeating a word that at first I was unable to understand and finally he spoke louder and I realized he was saying, “Waffle.”
I nodded to say I understood and repeated, “Waffle?”
He nodded excited and said, “I really want to try them.”
And here is where you will all see why my fiancé has nothing to worry about.
I responded, “Oh yeah! I love waffles.”
He smiled brightly and the hand that was holding onto mine went to my neck. I was dreaming. It had to be a sick vivid dream that wanted nothing more than to torture me. And then he gently squeezed and massaged, confirming I in fact was not dreaming, and suddenly 18+ thoughts were running in my mind begging for me to let them live their fantasy.
He let go and all I could think to do was walk away with a small “맛있어 (Masheeso- it’s delicious)”
You read that right. I WALKED AWAY! Instead of taking the bold move of saying something like, “I know I great waffle place!” for him to ask where and me to offer to take him…my dumb nervous ass walked away.
I could’ve gone back. I could’ve bought another Pick-a-pose, stood on his line, walked back up and said, “So about those waffles…”
So many scenarios I could’ve done, that I have now since played out in my head, all ending with me potentially EATING WAFFLES WITH LEE SANG OF IMFACT!
But alas, I didn’t do any of these things. I walked away never to see him again. Not knowing if he got those waffles he seemed so eager to devour. I walked away from an unfinished fan fiction moment. The romance writer inside of me died and has been laid to rest. She no longer resides in this body because she can’t believe what an idiot I was.
I told my friends and coworkers and all they could do was shake their heads in shame and say what an epic fail I had pulled. And that is how the IMFACT #waffledebacle ended.
But did it have to end like that? I could write a better ending, saying we found the typical New Jersey twenty-four-hour diner and got those waffles. I could say we talked about our lives, our likes and dislikes, and had some deep conversation over a large plate of warm fluffy squares topped with butter and syrup with a side of strong coffee to keep ourselves awake to enjoy each others company. I possibly could’ve said we drove around finding the perfect spot to wait for the sun to rise over New York City knowing I had to bring him back and we had to face reality.
And yet, none of that would be true and I am sat here left simply to wonder if Lee Sang got his waffles or not.
#waffledebacle
