Found this on tumblr. It brought me to tears. Literally.
This is Shin Soohyun. He’s a country boy from the province of Gyeonggi-do. He is currently 22 years old, born March 11th 1989. He’s a blood type A, a Pisces, born in the year of the Snake. He has a mother, a step-father and two sisters—one older and one younger.
His birth father died when he was in the second grade, when he was only about 7 or 8 years old. He was so confused back then, always thinking that his father would get better and become healthy again. He was with friends when his older sister told him his father passed away—he never even got to say goodbye—and he fainted when he was told the news.
Having only one parent, one income, with three kids; they had little money and experienced periods of starvation. Some people might have never recovered from that, might have given up all their dreams for a more practical future. But Soohyun used this experience to grow, to realize that he could never stop until he achieved his dream.
He was first a trainee with Good Entertainment, and then eventually JYP around 2005. At JYP he met some people who would become lifelong friends—Jay Park, Jo Kwon and Junsu to name a few. Yet for some reason, he left the company or was taken out, and his friends went on to debut in different groups without him.
When he auditioned for U-Kiss/NHM, he claims they debated on him and he had to go back 4 or 5 times because they wanted “a pretty boy group” and in his opinion he has no good looks, only skill. They eventually decided to put him in the group and after they debuted, he was the first to start sobbing backstage.
This is Shin Soohyun, who always pushes himself to be the best he can be. He practices and works out for hours, trying to compensate for what he thinks he is lacking in looks. He never stops trying, even when he’s sick or hurt and wants to give up.
This is Shin Soohyun, who had to watch all of his closest friends debut and become hugely successful. He watched them win awards, appear on shows, make big names for themselves; while all he wanted was for U-Kiss to be recognized as a group with talent—something that never seemed to happen.
This is Shin Soohyun, who never takes the title of “leader” lightly. He was so strong during the member changes, he never let himself show weakness. Ever since he was given that title, and even in the transition period before, he has taken responsibility for all of U-Kiss’ downfalls, their scandals, their failures.
This is Shin Soohyun, who apologized on behalf of Ryan Jhun to KARA and their fans, when he did nothing wrong. He said that as leader, it was his fault. He seems to be in a constant gay scandal just because of his relationships with his friends. It made news when he said he watched porn. Fans were actually upset when he got his teeth fixed (despite it being pretty clear that he only did it now because he could actually afford to). He is only recognized for stupid reasons, rarely for the unending talent that he has.
This is Shin Soohyun, who gets so overwhelmed thinking about U-Kiss and the fans, that he has cried in the middle of performances. He is never one to hide his emotions; he laughs loudly when he’s amused, he cries when he’s sad, and he grins—oh, how he grins—when the fans respond to him or when his fellow members are happy.
This is Shin Soohyun, who has infinite talents and skills. He is an amazing singer and a great dancer, but he is also a pretty good rapper, he can beatbox, he can play piano, he took taekwondo for 13 years, he won the idol marathon, he plays in the FC Men soccer team. He also has a fantastic personality, he is endlessly romantic, he can be confident on stage and shy in front of girl groups, he is funny, personable, great on variety shows.
This is Shin Soohyun, who once stated his motto as “There is no success without suffering”. He sang “I Believe I Can Fly” at his auditions. He gives 110% in everything he does, regardless of his health. When a fan fainted at one of their fan signings, he helped her out of the crowd, down the stairs and then stayed with her to make sure she was okay. He does not put himself above anyone; his friends, his family and his fans come first.
This is Shin Soohyun, who scrunches up his nose when he sings. He puts his hands on his waist when he has nothing to do with them, he puts his middle finger down when he is singing bigger notes, he has dimples under his mouth that only show up when he makes certain faces.
And this is Shin Soohyun, who is never given the attention or respect he deserves. Fans care about him when he’s being affectionate with other members, when he’s flashing his abs, when he’s doing his typical power notes. But when he’s showing his true vocal talent with softer notes, no one is listening. He was going to be in a musical, but he had to pull out. He had a duet song with Eunyoung, but it was overshadowed by Kevin & Hoon’s song.
People talk about Kiseop as being good looking, Kevin as being a great singer, Dongho as being cute and multi-talented, AJ as a good rapper, Eli as good in taekwondo, Hoon as very kind. But when we get to Soohyun, all I ever see is “keke pedo soo!!! ^^”, “power vocal leader~” or “he has sxc abs XD”. He has so many things to bring the table, and not only is he disregarded in the kpop community as a whole, but by the actual fans of U-Kiss.
But despite everything he has going against him—from the circumstances he was born into, his own insecurities, the indifference from the fans—this never stops him. His troubles never weaken his grin, never dim the brightness in his eyes, never dull the way he shines.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Shin Soohyun and he is perfect.
3 Blingers to 1 Locket, dang. Chloe was there too HI CHLOE I KNOW YOU’RE READING THIS oh and Lizzi too! And my sister who was in the moshpit…
I couldn’t really take many pictures, so I got a few soundbites :>
