Aww, reading this hurts and also somehow makes me feel relieved. It’s nice to know Jong was loved dearly by many people in his life (not just by us fans), but that he was object of so much love also means his passing must have been all the more difficult for the people who knew him. I remember crying the day he passed away and I never once met him, and having lost precious people in my life to suicide, I can only imagine how intense the grief must have been for Taeyeon (as well as for SHINee, his other SM colleagues, his family, etc.).
His passing definitely hit hard, and I’m sure it hit hard for a lot of people, regardless if it was made known to the public or not. Not everyone that was grieving him during the time of his death and funeral chose to do it in a public manner (like JaeJoong, who chose to attend the wake after hours), and not everyone chose to grieve in such a was as to cry their eyes out, but kudos to these people all the more, because it takes great strength to allow yourself to grieve, but it takes even more strength to channel your grieving into something other than sorrow (like IU, who was grieving, but chose to use her grief to encourage others during her first appearance and acceptance speech, not even a month after his death, at the 2018 Digital Daesung Awards).
My understanding is that a lot of people probably attended after hours. Many of the people who attended during the busier hours were people from other agencies and groups who, it seems to me, were probably less well-acquainted with Jong. Just my gut observation though.
I remember watching IU’s speech. It was beautiful, and it was so important for a popular K-pop singer to publicly and directly tackle mental illness in a public, widely-broadcast speech.
I didn’t know Jae-joong knew Jong! I guess it makes sense though; he would have been at SM until shortly after SHINee debuted. I imagine it must have been difficult for him to attend the wake in light of how things went down at SM (does he still keep in-touch with anybody at SM? Is he still good friends with anyone?).
A bit of a digression, but one day you have to fill me in on your thoughts about the whole TVXQ thing, since my opinion on the whole thing is necessary based on hindsight and occluded by the fact that I know very little about the TVXQ members who left. (I confess that, up to know, I’ve always been under the impression that the three left because they were unsatisfied with how much they were being paid.)
There were, both, close friends and simple acquaintances of JongHyun who attended during one or the other time slots, whether it be during official hours or after hours. I had a hunch at the time that many of the agencies of the more popular groups purposely made it known– and into a PR thing– that their groups were purposely making time and taking time out of their schedules last minute to attend the wake… But what do I know?? I could be totally wrong
I think the OG DB5K members know a lot of people in the K-entertainment industry in general– but seem especially respected seniors within SM despite the who lawsuit mess– just because of how long they were with the agency, even before their debut, as trainees– Xia Junsu still stands as one of SMs longest running trainees, having began his training under the agency since he was 11 years old, but hadn’t made his debut as a member of DB5K until he was ~ 17 years old.
A lot of anti-fans of JYJ (who claimed to be fans of DB2K) bashed JaeJoong when they found out that he had actually attended the wake after hours. Irregardless that he went after hours, the anti-fans attacked him simply for attending the wake, period, because the anti-fans were upset that he was making contact with anyone from SM.
There’s definitely a heavy dose of media play and influence from anti-fans, or fans of the OG DB2K who might’ve felt a sense of ‘betrayal’ from JYJ when the 3 decided to go through with the lawsuit, and we as outsiders looking into the whole thing, we as outsiders not living in SK and not receiving firsthand news updates about the whole situation only get what we see is being published in, mostly, English news sites which may or may not, at times, also misinterpret or sway things differently as well.
To my understanding of the who situation, the whole of DB5K had just renewed their contracts with SM not long ago at the time, but the terms and the distribution of profits stated in the new contracts seemed unfair in the eyes of the JYJ members (13-year contract, not all scheduled activities were confirmed by the members, contract terms were changed without the members’ knowledge, and and ‘group earnings were not fairly distributed among the members’, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Junsu#2003%E2%80%932009:_TVXQ,_Lawsuit_against_SM_Entertainment), so they decided to sue. The court granted the lawsuit, stating that the JYJ members were only allowed to promote themselves under SM, so they changed to JYJ, but also, that SM wasn’t allowed to interfere in their activities (which SM clearly didn’t follow because of the unwritten broadcast ban/blacklist that the ‘Big 3’ networks basically put out for fear of being boycotted by said ‘Big 3’ networks… But the court didn’t care)…
… The lawsuit went on for a good 3 years, not having an agreement reached until November of 2012, and SM said they would stop interfering in the activities of JYJ (which goes to say that they inadvertently admitted to interfering in JYJ’s activities before and the courts just ignored it, but whatever *cue eye roll*).
So it’s been a few years now since everything has concluded, but things still aren’t as normal for the JYJ members as the members, and as fans, would like to have it, but baby steps, I guess.
Yeah, I had a suspicion that some of the attendance at the wake was a media stunt. Some popular groups who don’t seem to have been particularly close to Jong attended (Wanna One, BTS, etc.). But what do I know?
Re antis attacking Jae-joong, that’s horrible, absolutely horrible. He was there to honour, as well as pray and grieve for, a friend and a hoobae. The fact that antis would attack somebody who was already struggling emotionally and who was there to gain comfort and closure is just reprehensible. Although, to be honest, I’m not entirely surprised; K-pop fans are not the sanest or most self-aware people (I remember that, during IU’s speech where she honoured Jong, fans cheered and screamed enthusiastically when the camera panned to Wanna One and BTS, even though she was talking about losing a friend and about the importance of seeking help for mental illness).
I don’t really know much about the other members of JYJ, but I really like Jae-joong, who is so kind and sweet. It sucks that his career has been diverted for so long as a result of this SM imbroglio. I hope he gets more opportunities to properly promote, perform, and act.
Maq
August 12, 2019 at 8:07 PM
Another one with Jong. I miss him, but there is some small comfort in knowing he made good music with great artists like Taeyeon.
Bebe | Nessa❣️
August 12, 2019 at 9:54 PM
He was her male bestie 🥰🥰🥰 I believe she adopted his dog(s) after his passing
Maq
August 12, 2019 at 10:39 PM
Aww, reading this hurts and also somehow makes me feel relieved. It’s nice to know Jong was loved dearly by many people in his life (not just by us fans), but that he was object of so much love also means his passing must have been all the more difficult for the people who knew him. I remember crying the day he passed away and I never once met him, and having lost precious people in my life to suicide, I can only imagine how intense the grief must have been for Taeyeon (as well as for SHINee, his other SM colleagues, his family, etc.).
Bebe | Nessa❣️
August 12, 2019 at 11:06 PM
His passing definitely hit hard, and I’m sure it hit hard for a lot of people, regardless if it was made known to the public or not. Not everyone that was grieving him during the time of his death and funeral chose to do it in a public manner (like JaeJoong, who chose to attend the wake after hours), and not everyone chose to grieve in such a was as to cry their eyes out, but kudos to these people all the more, because it takes great strength to allow yourself to grieve, but it takes even more strength to channel your grieving into something other than sorrow (like IU, who was grieving, but chose to use her grief to encourage others during her first appearance and acceptance speech, not even a month after his death, at the 2018 Digital Daesung Awards).
Maq
August 13, 2019 at 10:26 AM
My understanding is that a lot of people probably attended after hours. Many of the people who attended during the busier hours were people from other agencies and groups who, it seems to me, were probably less well-acquainted with Jong. Just my gut observation though.
I remember watching IU’s speech. It was beautiful, and it was so important for a popular K-pop singer to publicly and directly tackle mental illness in a public, widely-broadcast speech.
I didn’t know Jae-joong knew Jong! I guess it makes sense though; he would have been at SM until shortly after SHINee debuted. I imagine it must have been difficult for him to attend the wake in light of how things went down at SM (does he still keep in-touch with anybody at SM? Is he still good friends with anyone?).
A bit of a digression, but one day you have to fill me in on your thoughts about the whole TVXQ thing, since my opinion on the whole thing is necessary based on hindsight and occluded by the fact that I know very little about the TVXQ members who left. (I confess that, up to know, I’ve always been under the impression that the three left because they were unsatisfied with how much they were being paid.)
Bebe | Nessa❣️
August 13, 2019 at 11:18 AM
There were, both, close friends and simple acquaintances of JongHyun who attended during one or the other time slots, whether it be during official hours or after hours. I had a hunch at the time that many of the agencies of the more popular groups purposely made it known– and into a PR thing– that their groups were purposely making time and taking time out of their schedules last minute to attend the wake… But what do I know?? I could be totally wrong
I think the OG DB5K members know a lot of people in the K-entertainment industry in general– but seem especially respected seniors within SM despite the who lawsuit mess– just because of how long they were with the agency, even before their debut, as trainees– Xia Junsu still stands as one of SMs longest running trainees, having began his training under the agency since he was 11 years old, but hadn’t made his debut as a member of DB5K until he was ~ 17 years old.
A lot of anti-fans of JYJ (who claimed to be fans of DB2K) bashed JaeJoong when they found out that he had actually attended the wake after hours. Irregardless that he went after hours, the anti-fans attacked him simply for attending the wake, period, because the anti-fans were upset that he was making contact with anyone from SM.
There’s definitely a heavy dose of media play and influence from anti-fans, or fans of the OG DB2K who might’ve felt a sense of ‘betrayal’ from JYJ when the 3 decided to go through with the lawsuit, and we as outsiders looking into the whole thing, we as outsiders not living in SK and not receiving firsthand news updates about the whole situation only get what we see is being published in, mostly, English news sites which may or may not, at times, also misinterpret or sway things differently as well.
To my understanding of the who situation, the whole of DB5K had just renewed their contracts with SM not long ago at the time, but the terms and the distribution of profits stated in the new contracts seemed unfair in the eyes of the JYJ members (13-year contract, not all scheduled activities were confirmed by the members, contract terms were changed without the members’ knowledge, and and ‘group earnings were not fairly distributed among the members’, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Junsu#2003%E2%80%932009:_TVXQ,_Lawsuit_against_SM_Entertainment), so they decided to sue. The court granted the lawsuit, stating that the JYJ members were only allowed to promote themselves under SM, so they changed to JYJ, but also, that SM wasn’t allowed to interfere in their activities (which SM clearly didn’t follow because of the unwritten broadcast ban/blacklist that the ‘Big 3’ networks basically put out for fear of being boycotted by said ‘Big 3’ networks… But the court didn’t care)…
Bebe | Nessa❣️
August 13, 2019 at 11:21 AM
… The lawsuit went on for a good 3 years, not having an agreement reached until November of 2012, and SM said they would stop interfering in the activities of JYJ (which goes to say that they inadvertently admitted to interfering in JYJ’s activities before and the courts just ignored it, but whatever *cue eye roll*).
So it’s been a few years now since everything has concluded, but things still aren’t as normal for the JYJ members as the members, and as fans, would like to have it, but baby steps, I guess.
Maq
August 13, 2019 at 1:36 PM
Yeah, I had a suspicion that some of the attendance at the wake was a media stunt. Some popular groups who don’t seem to have been particularly close to Jong attended (Wanna One, BTS, etc.). But what do I know?
Re antis attacking Jae-joong, that’s horrible, absolutely horrible. He was there to honour, as well as pray and grieve for, a friend and a hoobae. The fact that antis would attack somebody who was already struggling emotionally and who was there to gain comfort and closure is just reprehensible. Although, to be honest, I’m not entirely surprised; K-pop fans are not the sanest or most self-aware people (I remember that, during IU’s speech where she honoured Jong, fans cheered and screamed enthusiastically when the camera panned to Wanna One and BTS, even though she was talking about losing a friend and about the importance of seeking help for mental illness).
I don’t really know much about the other members of JYJ, but I really like Jae-joong, who is so kind and sweet. It sucks that his career has been diverted for so long as a result of this SM imbroglio. I hope he gets more opportunities to properly promote, perform, and act.
Possum
August 12, 2019 at 11:33 PM
Amazing song but the video has always been uncomfortable to watch.