Jung Yong Hwa of K-pop boy band CNBLUE recalled his popularity during his school days.
On February 14, a new video of entertainer Lee Su Ji and girl group Kep1er's YouTube show, with Jung Yong Hwa as their guest, was released online.
As soon as Jung Yong Hwa joined them in the studio, the members of Kep1er XIAOTING, MASHIRO and CHAEHYUN, from China, Japan and Korea, excitedly welcomed him and mentioned how popular he is in each of their country.
Then, Lee Su Ji brought up about his Cyworld (social media platform that was popular in the '00s) photos that went viral online before his debut.
Showing the photos to him, she said, "As far as I know, you were in the third year of middle school here, right? You pretty much took over the internet with these photos taken at a ski resort back then."
Upon seeing the photos, MASHIRO commented, "Oh, you were in middle school then? You don't look like a middle school third-grader in the pictures," making him burst into awkward laughter.
Following that, Lee Su Ji asked how many girls have asked him out when he was in school.
Sounding proud, Jung Yong Hwa replied, "Well, I always received pepero (chocolate-covered pretzel sticks) from students from other schools too."
Then, he shared that he never used to take the bus to school or back home due to his incredible popularity.
"I couldn't take the bus, because there were just too many middle school girls on the bus. After the Cyworld photos spread online, I got even more attention from them. So, being around too many girls like that made me kind of feel uncomfortable."
When Lee Su Ji asked, "Didn't you ever simply want to enjoy your popular moments though?"
Jung Yong-hwa answered, "Ah, yes. I did want to at times. So, I actually once tried to just be in the moment when some middle school girls recognized and stared at me."
He continued, "At that time, I greeted those girls, who were watching me walking on the street from their bus. But I ended up crashing into a utility pole while waving to them. It was because I was looking at them, not where I was going. After crashing into it though, I pretended I was all cool about it. I calmly said, 'Oh, I didn't know there was a utility pole here.'"
Hearing his story, the four girls burst into great laughter, and could not stop laughing for ages.
(Credit= '스튜디오 호락호락' YouTube)