My Heart in a Nutshell

Looking back at the whole train wreck we had survived last year, it’s only fair to say that 2021 has been soo average this far. The world is still crawling back to contain the damages without any significant sign of expected subdued recovery, apart of the coronavirus vaccine development & distributions. I, too, believe that the economy is still fragile given all the uncertainty and risks ahead. This lukewarm atmosphere is painting a lot of people into a corner, if not driving them insane.

If you are following the news regarding South Korean entertainment industry, you must’ve been familiar with several idols and actors’ bullying allegations that have been blowing up these past weeks, many of which were never expected to the eyes of public. A short gist is as follows (not in chronological order), you can look it up yourself for further details.

1. Actress Park Hye Soo allegedly bullied her schoolmates in middle school, and this drama has actually turned so makjang that I could no longer follow what is wrong or right. Basically she was accused of perpetrating school violence during her school years, victims of which came from her middle school, high school and even a the way to university. It took her so long to write a personal post in response to the controversy as translated here and she admitted to being a victim instead. The company is also protecting her at all costs that it resulted in the upcoming drama Dear M‘s postponement and a huge loss for the production team. It feels like an unending battle since there were too many victims despite the actress and the company’s consistent denials.
2. Actor Kim Dong Hee (who played a bullied guy in Extracurricular) turned out to be a brutal school assailant ever since his primary school days lol read the post here. The company has denied all accusations after checking with him and the school (but not the victims), but there wasn’t any concrete proof so I’m still inclined to believe the statements made by the victims.
3. Actor Jo Byung Gyu (whom I actually liked a lot in the hit drama Uncanny Counter!!) is an alleged school violence perpetrator during his study in New Zealand. I do believe that the claims made by the victims are valid since he hasn’t been able to show proofs otherwise. Whatever the truth, it has seriously tainted his name at its finest with his deeply-emotional personal statement here.
4. Idol group STRAY KIDS Hwang Hyun Jin allegedly bullied his schoolmates in middle school and already posted a written apology, but his company was still doing their media play to shield him despite the victims’ statements here.
5. Idol group SEVENTEEN Hwang Min Gyu was accused of school violence, sexual harassment and even tormenting a disabled kid (which were later retorted by the disabled kid’s mother and, as for the sexual harassment allegation, none of the claims have yet to be confirmed by the company) read the updates here.
6. Idol group (G)I-DLE Seo Soo Jin allegedly bullied her schoolmates in the past, including the child actress Seo Shin Ae who shared the same middle school as her and alluded to be bullied too. Read her accusation dumps here and the way things have been getting out of control (the company being thugs for protecting her and disregarding the victims, the confessions of more victims and the fans’ monstrous arrogance towards the victims) here.
7. Idol group APRIL members, too, all of whom allegedly ostracized ex-member Park Hyun Joo to the point of attempting suicide once before leaving the group in 2016. This fact was first confessed by Hyun Joo’s younger brother as translated here, which has turned into a total mess with DSP’s announcement to sue Hyun Joo’s family and friends over the allegations. It also gave light to Lee Naeun’s true colors all along (read here).
8. Actor Ji Soo (whom I was once head over heels with for his sweet acting) was accused of committing harsh school violence as confessed by his victims here and admitted to the accusations in his letter of apology, that led to him being taken off from the ongoing drama River when the Moon Rises and putting the production crews in a huge loss (but still, I’m glad that KBS threw him under the bus and recast Na In Woo as his replacement). What a way to end your career in less than a week.

Note: There were more allegations on other idols and actors too, but I only wrote some which have been trending for a while these past few weeks.

Frankly speaking, I felt disappointed with some actors whose acting performance I was actually fond of and cherished, As the saying goes, it only takes a blink of an eye for someone’s career and life achievements to crumble before his eyes. Still, they deserve all the pointing fingers if al the accusations ended up being true. I experienced bullying in middle school and, although I wouldn’t say that it was severe enough for me to feel miserable over, I still remember the pain I went through up to this day. School bullying should never be excused no matter what and who.

Putting the snowballing scandals aside, never would have I imagined seeing U-Know Yunho in the headlines for his first scandal ever after 18 years of his clean career in TVXQ. He was booked by police for breaking covid19’s social distancing regulations by staying over KST 10 PM (he stayed until approximately KST 12 AM). Up to this point, the accusation was harmless and Yunho quickly posted a genuine-sounding public apology that people were so forgiving to him. I mean, this is Yunho we’re talking about, my ultimate bias who has lived such a clean life all along and is respected by both his juniors and even seniors.

source: Netizenbuzz

Source: Netizenbuzz

Nonetheless, the tables quickly turned when it was revealed that the place was an illegal adult entertainment bar disguised as a restaurant and there were female employees that accompanied them. Moreover, the police also said that he attempted to escape before getting arrested (which was later retorted by the company). Here is the translated news. And now the public have turned their back against him.

Source: Netizenbuzz

Now that he has been in the chopping block, more shocking news were revealed about him attempting to evade tax by establishing a paper company here. All of the comments are now negative, it’s as if he has been living a fake life all along.

I seriously feel empty after reading all those horrible accusations and comments. I feel that my life has been nothing but a lie. Throughout those years of cherishing those idols, this is one of the greatest betrayal I have ever experienced. I mean, I was upset but didn’t exactly crumble when it occurred to Yoochun, who had turned into trash with weird toilet fetish, but this one hit me differently. It was Yunho, who had always been praised for his great attitudes and personality without an ounce of scandal all his career. Maybe because he was a person whom I pictured in my head as an upright person that should become everyone’s role model. Maybe because I have spent almost all of my adolescence stanning him as an almost perfect idol.

That being said, it only emphasizes the fact that nobody is flawless and worth-idolizing so much that you only see that person as a perfectly-sculpted being.

It’s still an ongoing case and I sincerely hope that Yunho didn’t turn out to be the person we all least expected him to be.