Excerpts from FLIX magazine 2008 August edition Part I

(photo courtesy of Japanese sister arayo)

Excerpts from FLIX magazine 2008 August edition

BYJ - a Man Who Speaks in His Own Words

Part I

. BYJ’s thoughts towards his parents:

“Being a good son means to show them I am healthy and doing my utmost…”. But as if he felt he was being too serious he added, “I was hospitalized after finishing the drama… but I told my parents that ‘since the newspapers exaggerated on my condition, I am pretending that I am in pain. So don’t mind the articles.'" As he said that, BYJ laughed “ha ha ha” like an innocent boy.

. His feelings of appreciation towards his fans:

“What I liked most about the Premium Event was that I was able to move around the dome in a car. On stage, I can't see my family no matter how hard I try. This time, I was able to see their faces, and we were even able to have eye contact. We were not able to exchange words, but I was moved to find that we were able to have a transaction of feelings and hearts through looking at each others’ eyes.”

But after saying that in a solemn manner, he said,
“But the other members like Kim PD and Moon Sori-ssi claimed that the muscles of their faces were twitching from trying to smile.”
BYJ placed the palm of his hands on his cheek, and using his long fingers, he demonstrated how their muscles were twitching. Laughing the whole time, he added , “ha ha ha, but I didn’t experience anything like that. It was probably because I was reveling in the happy experience…”

So happy he seemed to have been able to have eye contact with his family, he joyfully added, “when we finished going around, the Korean family members said, don’t bother with the rest of the program, just keep on going round and round.”

Again bursting into a laugh, he said “I felt the same way. And I came up with another idea. Maybe if we made the car smaller we could get closer to the family.”

. About Philip Lee

“I do not have a younger brother, but Philip became like a real brother to me. It may sound strange to say this about a man… but I truly feel affection towards him. He is like a real family to me. Because he was born and raised in the states, he is very straight forward in how he expresses himself. When he calls from New York, he says things like “Hyung (big brother), I want to see you (I miss you)” or “Hyung, how are you doing?” in a frank manner. He is here with me in Tokyo now, and enjoying going to different places in Japan. Park Sung Woong is here too. While I’m doing this interview, they are sleeping and eating to their hearts content, and enjoying shopping (laughs).”
BYJ seemed somewhat envious.

“Since I enjoy taking photos, I told Philip that photography is a good hobby. He bought a camera right away, so I gave him a lens to go with the camera as a gift. He is really into photography now.”

BYJ is giving a lot of gifts to his co-players. Asked what he gave to himself as reward, he thought hard. After awhile, he said unemphatically, “first of all, I rewarded myself with a trip to New York. After that, I came to Japan, and though my previous trips here usually ended up with only work, I am planning to stay on for a few more days this time. I’m hoping to go to a few places so I guess you can say that that is my reward.”

(to be continued)