A Boy's Life Towards His Dreams...

Long time ago, somewhere in Korea, a 15 years old boy bid goodbye to the city that had raised him. He gathered up a few pieces of luggage, said goodbye to his eight sisters and parents, who loves him deeply, and got on the train to Seoul. His family cried at the sight of his back walking away. The boy heard his loved ones crying for him, but he was afraid to look back, because he knew if he looked back, he wouldn’t have the heart to leave. He didn’t want to throw away his dream nor he didn’t want his family to see his tears. So just like that, with a very thin jacket in a freezing winter, for the sake of his dream, the boy left his home town for the first time in 15 years, to a big city he’s only seen in his dreams.

Finally, the train has stopped, the boy got off the train, as he looked at this strange yet fancy city and all its glory, busy streets, limelights. He had never seen anything like this before. He felt his heart grow weak because it was so overwhelming. Really.. can he really find his place in a city like this? The boy hesitated, his faith was shaken.

But the dream he has in his heart can’t die. If he just goes home like this, he’ll never forgive himself for being such a weak coward so, without any help or anyone, the boy found himself an apartment the size of a tuna can...and called it home.

SM Entertainment, the biggest music entertainment company, held its second singing contest. The boy went. In the lobby, he saw so many other boys are that just like him, hoping to get picked through this contest so they can be on their way to a great singer. All the boys were well-dressed. They were wearing the hippest clothes, with high-end mp3 players in their ears as they practice. The boy looked down on his plain grey t-shirt and jeans, he felt like he has already lost half of the battle.

He was contestant number 12. When he walked into the audition room, there he saw five stone-cold, expressionless judges. He was nervous, until a judge asked him to open his mouth and sing.

Just like that, his voice touched everyone in the room. That voice, was by far the purest, softest they’ve heard. When you listen to his voice, you can’t help but feel the sadness and emotions, but even so, you want to continue to listen to his voice, forever and forever, just be lost in the sound of his voice. But still, his voice was too soft, too weak.

The reason the boy won the contest was because he has a flawless face, perfect skin, long eyelashes, delicate features that are even prettier than a girl’s, big watery eyes, pouty lips, and that white as snow skin. They said his face was born to be in the entertainment business.

He got signed by SM with a 7 year contract, two years of training, he has to pay for all of his music, dancing and other classes. The next five years he would actually become an entertainer. Seeing himself that much closer to his dream, the boy signed the contract knowing in the next two years, his life will be extremely hard. Hard like he’s never experienced before, but he knows this is his dream, so he can not give up.

So he begun those two grueling years. He knew his family isn’t well off, so he’s never asked his parents for a penny. Everyday he jumped in between three different jobs. When everyone else was still sleeping, the printer will drop off a stack of newspaper that are as heavy as he is and he would ride an old bike and deliver those newspapers door by door. In the afternoon he would jump from construction site to site, doing temporary work. That gorgeous face was covered with pounds of cement and dirt but he had to suppress his beautiful voice because he wanted to be liked by his superior. After his music lessons in the early afternoon, in order to save a few dollars, he walks 3 hours to his waiter job at a restaurant. He quietly does his job, quietly takes on everything a 15 years-old shouldn’t, quietly doing everything he can to get through these two rough years. All for the day he will be surrounded by bright lights.

The boy did everything he could, but he still couldn’t manage three meals a day. Every time he gets his salary, the first he does is pays for his lessons, even if the left over isn’t nearly enough for him to eat or buy any clothes. Finally one day, the boy realized he didn’t have any money left for food, he had been starving for two days. His weak body shouldn’t even be walking, but with the pressure of he has to pay for his classes, he still went to work. That night, when he was cleaning a table at the restaurant, he saw a customer has left more than half bowl of his noodle soup. It was still hot and he couldn’t take the hunger anymore so he shakily picked up a spoon and started to eat the leftover noodles. "Huh", he wondered why it starts to taste so salty. Then he realized it was his tears. It had dropped in the bowl without him realizing.

One day, the boy got sick, he was running a high fever. He laid in his tiny little apartment for three straight days, thank god he already paid for his lessons, but he was still short 3 days worth of pay. So once again, the boy dragged his fragile body, walked three hours to his restaurant job.

On the way back, he saw a blood donating booth. His stomach growled at him, the boy once again did something he didn’t want to...he walked inside. After an hour, he came out with a few bills in his hand, dragged his lifeless body into a store and bought the cheapest pack of cracker there was.
When he finally got through those two years, he was chosen to be in a group of five. The company had announced that this is going to be one of the best group of all times. Even though the five boys are very different, the company believes that together, they will be perfect. The boys thought he was so lucky to be chosen in such a group, at the same time, being the oldest, he got four younger “brothers” who adores him.

When they put out their first EP, even though there were only two songs, they topped the charts in Korea, also broke the fact that EP doesn’t sell well in Korea. The boy finally got a taste of success, as he sees more and more fan letters everyday. He knew everything in the past two years was worth it.

Sadly, nothing’s perfect. It's so cruel how good times are always short. The first time they held their fan meeting, the fans were of other members. Watching lines of fans lined up in front of other members, there’s not even a single soul in front of himself, he wanted to scream and cry. The crew members didn’t want to make things awkward, so they dragged a few fans in front of the boy. The boy held his sadness and started talking to the fan girl. However, the fan girl coldly rejected him, "I was forced to stand in your line, I don’t even like you". His heart was shattered again, but rather than crying, he bit his lip and let it bleed. The boy didn’t know why the fans didn’t like him, but what he doesn’t know was that his fans were still waiting outside the building because the meeting room was so full...their hearts were shattering along with his.

Once he found out online that it was not because the others don’t like him nor did he do anything wrong. It was simply because he's too pretty that even the girls are jealous. Reading this silly gibberish, the boy chuckled. He never gave up, everyday he puts on his sincere smile, hoping and praying that others will see him for who he really is, hear his voice. But the harder he tries, the more pressure he felt. Whenever he made a mistake during performances, it made him nervous, because he's afraid the others will dislike him even more because of it. So little by little, the boy stopped smiling in front of the camera, watching his every action and words.

However, it had an negative affect. The fans were chatting he’s pretending to be cool, so the company should consider switching him out. The boy was seriously scared, he didn’t want leave this place that was practically his second home. He understand that he’s just a "body" that makes money for the company, if the consumers are tired of this body, then the company must switch the body out for new one.

He didn’t get switched, he found out that his fans roamed the streets in his honor for days, begging the company to keep him in the group. Also, the youngest of the group, Changmin, despite what the manager forbids him to do, begged in front of the camera, that if the company takes the boy away, he will tear up his contract and go back to being a high school student.

The boy cried, knowing that everyone in this group has a passion for music. Changmin the youngest had gone through hardship to get to where he is today, just like him. The boy cherished everything he has even more, he begins to practice harder and harder to thank his fans. He also wanted to show his loving fans the best of him. During concerts, the boy always looks around in the audience, the director said that looks funny when he sings, the boy said it’s better for the singer to stare at one particular spot when he sings, but he can’t do that, because he wants to see the face of every single fan out there. Even if the picture captured of him was ugly, he doesn’t care.

Once during dance practice, the boy fell. He thought it was normal to fall when dancing but this time he couldn’t get back on his knees since it was hurting badly. The boy balled up and started to shake in the corner of the room. The leader, Yunho, without saying a word, carried the boy on his back and took him to the nearest hospital. At the split second when the emergency room door was closing, the boy saw four familiar figures on the other side of the door. Worrying for him, praying for him.

The doctor said his right knee is pretty much gone, he needs surgery as soon as possible and it’s a major surgery so he needs to rest for a long time, but the boy refused. The second day after his surgery, he arrived at the Seoul Olympic stadium with the rest of the members. He met with his fans before the meeting with Yunho,who didn’t leave his side for even a second. During the fan meet, they asked what does Changmin want for new years, Changmin’s answer was "I wish for JaeJoong to get better soon."

The boy hates crying, he looked down, tried his hardest not to let his tears fall. When he finally looked at the fans, he saw them crying for him, his heart was breaking. He picked the microphone and said, "I’m not hurting at all, really, please don’t cry for me. Let’s face each other with smiles, please?" This is the first time the boy has lied to everyone. It was within 24 hours of his surgery, how can it not hurt? But he toughed it out, for the love he has for his fans.

When he finally recovered, he celebrated with his friends. On the drive home, he was pulled over by the police for drink and drive. Yunho came to pick him up at the police station without saying a word, but the boy knew he had disappointed Yunho and the others.

The boy was kept in silence by the company for two weeks. He knew that this was actually the lightest punishment for his foolish actions, and he knew his members had begged the company many many times, so that he was not going to get kicked out. Because of it, he insisted in the next fan meet, he will apologize to everyone. That was the first time the boy sheded tears in front of his fans, when his fans said that they forgive him and they still love him.

The boy started to get more and more popular. People started seeing him for more than just a gorgeous face. He’s a passionate musician with a beautiful voice and he’s a brave soul who isn’t afraid to face his mistakes. Three simple words "we forgive you" from the fans gave him all the faith he needed to carry on.

This boy is Kim JaeJoong, a member of the hottest group in Korea, DBSK. The company gave him the stage of name of YounWoon Hero JaeJoong. So whenever the boy wants to cry, he reminds himself he can’t because he’s Hero JaeJoong and a Hero doesn’t cry. A hero will fight 'til the end and win the battle.

Once a DBSK fan said that the first time she saw JaeJoong, she thought his name couldn’t possibly be Hero because it didn’t suit his fragile image. She knows now why his name is Hero, because underneath his beauty, lies the soul of a true hero.

Credits:ILikeJelly@soompi