Beanie level: Chaebol’s poor doppelganger

These bois are so tall and lanky. PSJ is almost 6’1″ and LTH is 6’2″. I always forget how tall they are unless either (1) they’re both in a scene together or (2) Kim Mi-so is NOT wearing heels.

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When you FINALLY mastered one foreign language to get your annoying boss off your case and he hands you another language. 😂 #WWWSK

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If anyone’s (still) watching The Undateables, does anyone know who this actor is? I swear I’ve seen him before in minor roles and AsianWiki isn’t helping. Thanks!

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    I also thought he looks familiar but dunno where I’ve seen him. Will update you if remember anything!

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      @meowingme I think I found him! (Legit I just started looking up ALL the dramas I’ve watched on AsianWiki, looking for a picture of the guy in the cast lists.) His name is Shin Soo-ho and he’s only been a named character in three shows: Beautiful Gong Shim, Girl Who Sees Smells, and Reunited Worlds. (I’ve only seen Gong Shim; he was the cashier at the 711 downstairs from Gong Shim’s house if I remember correctly.) He’s probably done a bunch of very minor roles that AsianWiki hasn’t updated, hence why I feel like I’ve seen him in multiple shows. And hence why he’s in The Undateables but isn’t in the cast list on AsianWiki. 😀

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        Oo, nice catch! I somehow keep thinking him as an office sunbae, have been checking a bunch of office drama, haha. Glad to rest my curiosity ^^

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Mr. Sunshine episode 2 thoughts:
-Yoo Yeon-seok stole every single one of his scenes. He has that “couldn’t care less” attitude. Major charisma. Eyes that bore a hole through you. I can see him being one helluva flirt down the road. He looks amazing. See for yourself from the screenshots below.
-Kim Tae-ri is really growing on me. I love how she walked past the chair offered and sat down at the desk like a BOSS.
-It’s nice to see David McInnis playing a good guy.
-Kim Min-jung looks great too. I appreciate a woman who takes care of her staff and doesn’t bend to her gross customers.
-This show is entirely plot driven so far. I don’t DISlike anyone yet but neither do I LOVE anyone, we just haven’t seen enough of them expressing themselves yet.
-I love Yoo Yeon-seok, though, if that wasn’t already obvious.
-I liked this episode better than the first, purely because we spent time in the present (well, present timeline of the historical story, that is) instead of lengthy flashbacks telling the stories of our main quartet’s beginnings.
-IT IS Park Hyo-shin singing the OST playing during the credits! The song is “The Day”. Wow, I don’t remember the last time I heard PHS singing an OST.
-I am so unused to the good English and the mixture of three languages all used within, like, the same scene, it’s a little insane. Great! But my ears and eyes don’t know what to process sometimes! I keep looking at the subtitles when they speak English or wondering how authentic everyone’s Japanese really is.
-DID I MENTION HOW AMAZING YOO YEON-SEOK IS.

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    Question: Who is Kim Tae Ri’s grandfather? I must have missed him in the flashbacks. Lol!

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      I too was confused at first, but I think Kim Tae-ri’s grandfather is an important noble of some sort. Byun Yo-han’s grandfather seems to be an adviser for the king. Hence the two grandkids are going to be set-up because of similar status and the power each family can bring to the other. I could be mistaken, but that’s what I pieced together. (Also, Kim Tae-ri’s parents were Kim Ji-won and Jin Goo who were fighting for Korea’s independence against the Japanese.)

      I think it’s interesting how the four main characters all have different political standings right now: Kim Tae-ri who is following in her parents’ footsteps, Byun Yo-han who is being shaped by his traditional and power-hungry grandfather to be a big leader, Lee Byung-hun who is an American and doesn’t have any love for his homeland, and Yoo Yeon-seok who hates his country after they abandoned him and others, leaving them for dead. Kim Min-jung’s character is still a mystery.

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        I think Kim Min-jung is the daughter/grand-daughter of the Korean man selling out Joseon to the Japanese. He was the interpreter and killed Kim Tae-ri’s parents. He was the old man in the teasers who KMJ’s character states is not welcome in her establishment is my hunch.

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      He was in the first episode in the rain, when the two men brought the baby and the parent’s ashes. His son was her father, who was part of the “Righteous Army.”

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        Yeah but we never got an introduction to either him or the son who was killed.

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          Hopefully, we’ll find out more as the show progresses.

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    He is why I’m watching this…

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    Thank you for the screenshots! YYS looks so good. *__* I really need him in another drama.

    And now I need to check out PHS’s new ost song! Yay! ❤️

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    I’d be totally okay with it if he betrayed the US for his bro Eugene. 🙂 And yes, it is really nice to see returning KES-drama cast members. (I recognize almost everyone who was in Goblin, less so for DoTS since that was a while ago and I didn’t enjoy DoTS as much as Goblin.) She’s basically got her own little troop at this point, like Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson have actors they always work with!

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Mr. Sunshine episode 1 thoughts:
-Production is A+. This budget must’ve been HUGE.
-Tragic parent deaths, tragic children crying.
-Nice to see the DOTS and Goblin cameos! Jin Goo is looking FINE.
-WHERE WAS YOO YEON-SEOK. He’s the main reason I’m watching this show.
-The age of the kids they got to portray LBH and YYS seem off. I was so confused at first because I kept thinking we were just following little Yoo-jin around until the kid on the battlefield said “abuji” and I was like, Oh—that must be YYS’s kid counterpart. And then I was like, Why is he OLDER than Yoo-jin?!
-I dearly hope that Kim Tae-ri’s fierce/rebellious teen character stays that way for the entire story. I hate it when strong female protagonists lose their good qualities halfway through a show.
-Did I mention the production values are A+?!
-YOO YEON-SEOK BETTER BE IN THE NEXT EPISODE WITH HIS MANE OF GLORY OR ELSE I WILL FLIP A TABLE.

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    It’s a massive miscast that took me straight out of the story. If they can’t even get the age of the kids right in the first episode, I’m afraid to think what else they could ruin later. Young YYS is at least a teenager, whereas little LBH is still a kid not too far from a toddler. So they’re telling me that the exact same time passed and yet they age at a different rate? Or something’s really wrong in the water at the US, lol.

    One of them is a miscast. If they want LBH to play Yoo-jin so badly, then they should’ve casted someone who looks older for YYS’s role and vice versa. But looking at the rest of the casts (BYH, KTR and KMJ) I’d say YYS fits right in and LBH is the obvious miscast here. Don’t kill me.

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      well, they want someone who can speak english fluently. their choice is too limited. drats.

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        Very true, they did want a famous actor who can speak English so their casting pool shrunk to, like, LBH and two other people. :-/

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          which other two you mean?

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            I was being sarcastic because I can’t think of many other high profile actors who can speak English fluently, haha! Gong Yoo can certainly speak it well but I don’t know about total fluency, though he did Goblin so I doubt they would have picked him again. 🙂

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            I understand it’s tough. The pool is very limited if they’re aiming for actors who can speak English with suitably decent accent. There’s Lee Seo-jin (who studied in the US, but he’s only a year younger than LBH so no point), Kim Ji-suk (who studied in the UK when he was really young so slightly doubtful if he can pull it off), and Peter Lee Jae-yoon (who’s Canadian so speaks good English but not as high profile), and Don Lee/Ma Dong-seok (who’s in every bit lovable but does not suit KES’s male lead profile at all, lol).

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            @m3lon4 Oh that’s right, I forgot about Ma Dong-seok who can speak English! As much as I love him and think he’s a great actor, you’re right that he doesn’t fit KES’s male lead profile. But now that I think about it… I’d love to see him in a rom-com. He’d be such a lovable, grumpy teddy bear, lol!

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          Actually YYS speaks good english, with that drool worthy voice of his. Not sure if you’ve heard him. Can check out the youth over flower Laos edition. 😊

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            I’ve heard him! I wasn’t under the impression he’s fluent, though, and Kim Eun-sook insisted on someone fluent for this role. Maybe she also just wanted YYS for second lead, knowing he could do a terrific job with that specific character (she’s been known to write roles for specific actors and then go after them until they accept the role, haha). And everyone except Kim Tae-ri so far also has quite a lot of lines in Japanese. (And not knowing any Japanese myself, I wonder how good their pronunciation is!)

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            Haha…yeah, not as fluent but that was in 2014. He travels overseas a lot and as we can see his good diction in japanese – to my ears, those are perfect! And I am heavily biased – my bet is that given English lines, he will nail it as well. But again, DM is a better suited role for him. And for us to bath in such awesomeness!

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    Even if we forget about age difference between actors, I cannot accept LBH as someone younger than 40 yr old! Despite most of korean actors he’s not a baby face and looks 40+

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      I just searched up all their real ages: Lee Byung-hun is 47 years old. Yoo Yeon-seok is 34. Byun Yo-han is 32. Kim Min-jung is 35. Kim Tae-ri is 28.

      I agree that LBH is not baby-faced and looks very much his age. YYS and BYH look their age. KMJ looks her age, too. But KTR who is almost 30 looks so youthful that she just comes off as a teenager/early 20s to me in this setting.

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    The age difference doesn’t upset me, it’s just the inconsistency with casting the child actors and how we progressively saw a little boy who then changed to a teenager, so I thought it was the same character at first. To me, Lee Byung-hyun looks quite a bit older than Yoo Yeon-seok, so I was initially confused when LBH’s child counterpart was indeed still a child by YYS’s was already a teenager. But, hey, people age at different rates so going forward it’s definitely not going to be a big deal. 🙂

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    I’m not sure whether it has been explained or not but YYS storyline is not yet covered in episode 1 (that includes his story as a child if it will ever be told).

    That kid is the child counterpart of Seung-Goo, played by Choi Moo-Sung (Reply 1988, Prison Playbook).

    Another supporting evidence is the Park Hyo Sin OST MV shown the first encounter between YYS and KTR. I think that’s the actual child version of YYS.

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      That’s if the asianwiki and the subs I referred to are correct.

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      Interesting, we’ll have to see!

      Also — thanks for confirming it WAS Park Hyo Shin’s voice I heard during the ending credits! I feel like it’s been years since I heard him do an OST so I wasn’t 100% sure it was him, although I was certain it was his voice, haha!

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Chansung singing 2PM’s “Heartbeat” in episode 10 was the cherry on top! I love the 2PM references in this show! #WWWSK Also… here’s a 2PM throwback for you!

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    I’m pretty sure the cafe where he did the singing was Bok Nam’s cafe in BTLIOF… it looked very familiar.

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      Now that you mention it, I think you’re right! I love the BTLIOF references too, ha!

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    And he sang it SO. BAD.

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      It was hilarious. But I kind of hated that they wasted Chansung’s real talent, haha!

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        Me too lol! I was like “Oh this is gonna be so good!” wah wah wah…… But then Secretary Yang opened his mouth and I forgot all about it.. <3

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    Omg, I remember when I saved all of the Heartbeat performance stages because they had a different ending in each one. In 240p quality because those were the “What is HD” days :”’)

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What an adorable mug! I want one! 😻 #TheUndateables

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I swear this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone leave a coffee shop WITH their coffee!!! #TheUndateables

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I just watched The Beauty Inside. What a sweet, sad story. One of the few instances where I’m okay with an ensemble cast because it actually was part of the story. I knew Park Seo-joon, Lee Dong-wook, Yoo Yeon-seok and other big names were in it — but I was pleasantly surprised to find Go Ah-sung in it too! (She’s won me over with her amazing portrayal of Officer Yoon in Life on Mars!) Also, may I say that Han Hyo-joo struck GOLD with this role. What I wouldn’t give to be able to act with all those amazing people!

P.S. I really don’t know how the drama version is going to work… I appreciate the gender-swap (I guess…?), but having her change appearance every month, like she’s on her period?! The point of the story is to love the “inside” of the person, not to care about their physical features. By having her (in the drama) stick around for a whole month just guarantees there will be some amount of attachment formed for each new person she wakes up as. I don’t know how well it’ll work, but we’ll see. *Shrug*

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    I forgot Go Ah sung was there too!? When I saw her in LoM I only remembered that she was in God of Study, back then in 2010…

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      I haven’t seen her in anything but Life on Mars and now The Beauty Inside, but I’m curious to see her in other roles. Was God of Study any good?

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        It’s kind of a feel good high school thing. Go Ah Sung was my favorite character. Yoo Seung Ho is really good in it too as the main student character. Bae Doo Na plays a teacher… and there were other notable actors.

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          Huh, I might have to check it out then! Yoo Seung-ho is pretty solid and Bae Doo-na is a veteran. I’m not big into school-themed shows, but often I’ll check stuff out at least at first for the acting. Thanks, mugyuljoie!

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        I watched it when I was in high school and I was happy enough just to see Yoo Seung Ho hahahah I don’t remember much about the story, and I’m not sure if my current self gonna like it tbh… But it might be a good throwback to see the younger versions of the actors..

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          It’s always fun to see the earlier works of established actors! It’s like, Wow, look how far so-and-so has come! It’s a very nice nostalgic feeling. 🙂

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    I haven’t seen Han Hyo-joo in anything but this and the first five episodes of W – Two Worlds, so my knowledge of her acting is pretty limited. She’s gorgeous though!

    And I do agree that it’s a happy story, too. He did find love and acceptance in the end. I also viewed Han Hyo-joo’s character as having to make peace with her choice to stay with him despite people looking down on her. They both made sacrifices in their lives but became strong enough thanks to the other to overcome their fears of being judged and having a challenging life if it meant they could be happy together. Agh, I’m getting emotional again! 😭

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😍 How adorable are these two?! Her shoe fell off, she paused and ran back — and he ran back with her! It looks like she was smiling, too, and then there was an editing cut, so I’d like to believe this was actually unplanned cuteness that they decided to keep! I SHIP! 😍 #LifeonMars

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Everyone loves Tae-joo! (But he’s Na-young’s! Get your hands off, Dong-chul!) 😂 #LifeonMars

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    I cracked up at everyone looking at him with a ‘is this really happening?’ face and then Lee Yong-gi telling him he hurt his finger just to get the “you’ll live” reply XD

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Can we talk about the 2018 doctors playing BTS’s “Fake Love” for Tae-joo?! #LifeonMars

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    This entire scene was so incredibly trippy and at first I couldn’t believe they were blasting BTS!

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    I loved it. Fake love was so jarring in that scene and setting that it snapped me out of show just as it snapped Tae Joo out of 1988.

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    Isn’t the doctor the same guy that was shown in episode 2? The one who convinced him to jump? What is happening???

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Life on Mars episode 7 was an emotional roller-coaster and pretty darn bloody. I forgot it’s OCN we’re dealing with, so the violence surprised me momentarily.

But dang, the preview for episode 8 has me reeling. It feels like we’re moving too fast too soon, but I trust the show writers. I just hope they don’t do anything to Na-young! After this episode’s scare with Dong-chul that had me crying (I knew they wouldn’t kill him off, but then I had flashbacks to Signal and how that show played with time-travel regarding deaths and I had a long moment of doubt), I’m honestly not sure how far they’ll go! Please, just keep Na-young safe! That’s all I ask!

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    It is too soon!! If the manicure murder’s original culprit is apprehended in the next episode, Tae-joo no longer has any reason to stay in 1988 and we’re only half-way through the drama. What’s going to happen in the second half then?

    I was worried for Dong-chul for a second but when they start playing the overly sappy song, I was half-crying and half-laughing from the anticipation of the twist.

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      I know! We even got our first flash-forward to 2018 with Tae-joo in the hospital — things are moving too fast for my liking! I hope we stay in 1988 until the end of the show, I’d be disappointed if they brought us back to 2018 and then reintroduced the characters from ’88 in the present timeline. Also, not having seen the original TV show, I have no idea if there’s more meaty material for them to work with, although I suspect yes, there is. I just have NO IDEA what we’re in store for!

      And yes, the sappy music and slow-motion walking was a pretty dead giveaway, and I knew they wouldn’t axe Park Sung-woong this early, but I was still anxious if he’d be perfectly fine or seriously hurt!

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I’m loving the Bong Sera and Secretary Yang ship! Also, how adorable is it that Secretary Yang was about to take a picture of his macaron?!

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    He is just such a sweetie. I’m so glad something made her turn her eye on him, because as of now Suit Dude is obnoxious and I’m just hoping Sec. Kim 2 will set his suit on fire.

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      Honestly, any guy who hides your fallen-out bra insert from the eyes of your crush is a pretty neat guy! Secretary Yang is a hero and Bong Se-ra has found her knight in shining armor!

      And yes! I can’t wait for Kim Ji-ah to set Go Gwi-nam straight and yell his head off. Burning his suit would be epic, but I doubt she’ll go that far, haha. Ji-ah is a plucky girl and Mr. Go needs someone to rein in that ENORMOUS ego of his.

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    He’s a complete cinnamon roll. I thought that detail of him taking a photo of the macarons was absolutely adorable, it makes me so happy.

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Please appreciate Kim Jongdae’s vocal powers (better known as EXO’s main vocal Chen).

1) “Tears” is ridiculously high, even for a woman’s register. You need seriously good technique to hit those notes, do it well — and do it safely.

2) Jongdae sings this in the original key.

3) Jongdae hits the high notes.

4) … Because Jongdae has amazing vocal technique and control. He’s stable and he’s able to project the notes out without pushing too hard. (Yes, his veins are popping and his face is red. But there’s a difference, trust me, I used to sing professionally and was classically trained.)

5) Jongdae is also under pressure and probably not warmed-up to ultimate satisfaction. The fact that he delivered this cover so well is astounding. (Eunkwang from BTOB also covered this song in the original key and did hit the notes, but he was obviously more nervous than Jongdae and did have to strain a bit to hit them. Not saying Eunkwang is bad — he’s amazing, too! — but Jongdae has probably sang this at karaoke hundreds of times and actually worked to get good at this, which is why this was almost a walk in the park for him.)

6) The original singer, So Chanwhee, named Jongdae as the #1 best cover of her song.

7) Until this moment, the world did not know the capabilities of EXO’s Chensing Machine / Dinosaur / Beagle / #1 Whiner.

8) Until this moment, EXO themselves didn’t seem to realize the capabilities of EXO’s Chensing Machine / Dinosaur / Beagle / #1 Whiner. (Look at squishy D.O., he is SHOOK.)

9) Jongdae is my Korean-member bias in EXO. When Lay’s off in China, I have eyes and ears only for Chen / Kim Jongdae! <3

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    I feel like Chanyeol and Sehun knew. They look like proud parents LOL

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    I was kinda afraid when he did Tears. What if he hurt his vocal cord??? His face was so read and his veins looked like they want to pop. LOL..

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      Songs this high and not intended for male voices shouldn’t be attempted too often by them or else that could damage their voice… but every now and then and with proper technique it’s okay. 🙂

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    Baekhyun at the end though: See? I told you Chen was really good.

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      Baekhyun is Chen’s #1 fanboy here, it’s adorable! In the video before starting to sing, Baekhyun assures the show hosts that Chen is comfortable singing this. Whoo, no pressure, haha!

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        Ah, Baekhyun is growing on me. No pressure indeed. He did so well though!
        By the way, Chen seems to be growing out his hair again and I love it!

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          Aw, yay, I love Chen with longer hair. (More hairstyle options!) He also looks great with the blond from Ko Ko Bop era in this video, but I prefer him (and everyone, actually) with dark hair.

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            Me too! I love dark hair on everyone (maybe except Chanyeol, he looked so good in silver/white during “Love Me Right”). Chen was lethal in the “Lotto” era.

            This.

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          In reply to your last comment — agh, what a great picture of Chen!! I love him so much, I don’t understand why he’s one of the less popular members of EXO. Sure, he may not be as classically handsome as Sehun, Suho, etc, but he’s got a fun personality and I am always blown away by his talent. Plus he has really expressive eyebrows, I have fun watching his eyebrows smoosh together, hahaha.

          I also agree that Chanyeol can rock the silver hair.

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            This one was from the Lotte Family Concert they did last week. I watched the fancam today and almost screamed when I saw his hair, lol.

            I can’t say he caught my eye at the beginning, but his personality is growing on me so much! I love his whiny self (“Hyung wae?” will always be iconic) and he is so polite and humble! And also very talented, of course. EXO-CBX are having a travel variety show right now and it’s great to see their personalities there. They’re so much fun to watch!

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          Chen’s WAAAAE is iconic. I’ve literally watched crack compilations because he’s just so darn cute!

          I typically don’t watch variety shows, but I do check out fancams when I’m interested enough. *Scurries off to YouTube*

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            He is!
            I am not that much into variety myself, but sometimes I am not in the mood for dramas. And you know, when it’s EXO… 😉

            Oh, I forgot to comment on Chen’s eyebrows – I loved them in the “Power” MV! They were really eye-catching. Lol.

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Please give a listen: this is music, voice, and vocal technique creating a breathtaking moment. This is MORE than “just K-pop.”

“At Gwanghwamun” was originally meant for Super Junior-K.R.Y but when Yesung got vocal nodes and the song wasn’t going to happen for the subunit, Kyuhyun begged for the song instead so it wouldn’t go to waste (and I’m glad he did, because he gave the song JUSTICE). Having the three of them, some of the best voices in Korean music, finally sing it together just got to me. I already loved this song because Kyuhyun is prince of ballads, but seeing Yesung sing it despite not being in top form and hearing my bias of SuJu Ryeowook’s clear, pure voice — ah! I even showed this to my mother who still thinks all these K-pop boys look like girls and look alike, and she admitted they have amazing voices.

For those of you not as in-tune (bad pun, sorry!) to Super Junior and its members, Kyuhyun is in blue, Yesung is in green, and Ryeowook (my favorite little fluff) is in red. All three have solo careers and I highly recommend checking out their individual songs and albums. (I’m not as big of a Yesung fan as I am for Kyu and Wookie, but I can’t deny he’s also got talent. He also acts. You may have seen him in dramas like Awl and Voice.) The two maknaes of SuJu are still in the military, but Wookie should be getting out very, very soon and Kyu still has about a year to go.

Stan talent. They may be in their 30s now, but they’ve been in the business for 13+ years, have amazing voices and technique, and are professional and seasoned AF.

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    This was a really lovely performance. I have a soft spot for Suju cause they are how I got into Korean entertainment though I don’t follow them as much anymore. The three of them really do have great voices.

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I feel ya, hun. 2PM is the best PM.

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Is that so? 😏

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I am going to return to the coffin from which I came. Please join me in the afterlife.

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