I remember the first time I was introduced to TVXQ.
It was back in 2006 and I was still a high school sophomore. I always watch this Japanese program and they happened to be guests there. I was struck by Kim Jaejoong's outrageously blond hair and let's face it: he's a visual shock. Then I started wondering who this person was. It was then that I noticed the four other guys with him. Lo and behold, Shim Changmin had long, light brown hair and one of the most captivating eyes I have ever seen. That, and he was ridiculously tall. Then he smiled and his eyes became mismatched, it was absolutely adorable. Of course, I didn't know their names then and because I was curious as to who these five good-looking people where, I started researching about them.
What shocked me was that they weren't even Japanese: they were Korean.
It's safe to say that I was thoroughly impressed that they could speak Japanese so naturally. It was through my obsessive research about them that I learned of their Korean and Japanese debuts, their shows, scandals, and (unfortunately) their accidents, among others. I spent many sleepless nights switching from studying for school and catching up on TVXQ.
TVXQ were literally my gateway to K-Pop.
Fast forward two years and the five gods from the East were suddenly having a Korean comeback with Mirotic. TVXQ have transformed into men. Their comeback single was literally stuck in my head for three weeks. I celebrated with them for every performance even if I am a flight away from the guys.
But of course, there will always be bumps on the road.
The lawsuit happened and like any other fan, I was hurt. I can't imagine how worse it would for the boys. But what really hurt me more were harsh words being thrown left and right. It made me angry when people spat in TVXQ's (Yunho and Changmin) faces for being "traitorous bastards". When they painted the two as "SM slaves" and many other even more degrading names. It was brutal and I lashed out.
But time passes and suddenly, we're here. 11 years down the road and we're still going strong. I don't think I could really put in words how special TVXQ is to me. They've opened a lot of doors for me without realising it, making me achieve my dreams one by one.
So all I can really say to TVXQ is thank you and I love you. Thank you for being my inspirations, my motivation, my guardians. Thank you for being with me at my most challenging times and my greatest achievements.
Thank you and I love you. 11 years down, forever to go.
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