Jo Hyun Jae celebrates his birthday (2006)

(Photos by MoneyToday Star News, Reporter Lee Kyu Chang)

Saturday, May 13, 2006 JHJ meets his fans~For his birthday - weblink, 5 stars

JO HYUN JAE meets his fans~During His Birthday Party!!!

(first published by Priscilla on Prisi4U at Xanga, edited for length here.)

I decided to write a report on JHJ's Birthday Party/Fan Meeting..... After all, news reporters already wrote aplenty about this today! ~I usually complain the reporters don't write much about him or is it JHJ's fault for 'avoiding the spot-light'?

So after reading enough of News Articles (and there are sooooo many of them!), I started reading the fans' reports -- they write more personal stuff and they're more detailed than the objective journalists! SO THE FOLLOWING is my Summary Report, after all that reading. I gathered everything (Fan's reports and News Articles) from JHJ's Fan Cafe 'Carpediem': cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove

When: Sunday, May 7th, 2006, to celebrate Jo Hyun Jae's 26th birthday. (His real birthday is May 9th, and in Korea, he's a year older!) The starting time was set for 11:30 a.m.

It was organized by his largest Fan Cafe, 'Carpediem'. (He doesn't have an official fan club*, so 'Carpediem' can be considered his official fan club.) They met at a college theatre, and 500 fans attended. There were Chinese/Taiwanese and Japanese fans among them. A considerably large group of newscast was there as well.

The MC of the day was Magician Lu. Many fans wrote that this unknown magician did a great job leading this event. He was tall and handsome, and he looked very full of energy, doing so many things at the same time, running everywhere and throwing questions at everyone -- he even did some 'magic' during intermission! Everyone had a great laugh because of him!

He belongs to STAR-J (JHJ's agency**) and they're pretty close. Lu also mentioned that they hang-out together many times, and that JHJ even slept at his house. 'I should put the underwear he wore on sale one of these days!' (Or something like that!) The fans also wrote that he did most of the talking since JHJ didn't say much for the first 10 minutes, all JHJ did was laugh. But Jo's laughter was very real, so everyone was relaxed.

The magician knew how quiet JHJ is, so he made JHJ play some games. The actor confessed he's really bad at games, but he played along a 'pointing fingers' game, making everyone laugh. When he lost, he was told that he must write a letter to his fans before May 10th!

In another game, he had to answer the truth in 5 syllables. They asked him:

1. What's your secret? = That is (he thought for a few seconds) a secret!

2. What's your strength (personality wise)? = I've a good personality.

3. Your weakness? = I think too much.

4. How do you keep yourself fit? = I use a treadmill. (He got lots of cheers for this one because 'Carpediem' sent him a treadmill as a present!)

The fan who wrote the above said that they asked him more questions like this but that she couldn't remember. Another fan wrote that everything worked so much better than expected and that she wouldn't forget this day ever- but that she felt a bit burdened when hearing that he 'thinks too much.' She understands what that means since she tends to think too much also making life more difficult. He was also asked to tell them what he wished while blowing out the birthday candle, and to tell them how he would make up with his girlfriend, etc.

As the pictures already showed, other stars participated on this day. The first one to appear was the 'infamous' Ryujin! ^-^ Many articles reported this incident in detail. According to them, Ryujin was invited to come but he had declined, saying that he was too busy (he's presently working in the drama 'I Really, Really Like You'). His intention was to surprise JHJ at the party. So he came an hour earlier, but they met at the parking lot. When JHJ saw him, he asked 'What are you doing here?' Ryujin just smiled, caught on the spot!

During the meeting, Ryujin said that rumors that they didn't get along were false. He admitted he had a tough time during the shooting of Seodong's Song so that he hardly remembered much else! 'But we were actually pretty close, and we would hang out together whenever we had a chance!' At this, the fans shot back at them: 'Are you saying you aren't close anymore?' On the other hand, JHJ said that although Ryujin played a bad guy in the drama, he was actually really nice and very good at taking care of others. And that the rumors spread only because Ryujin acted very well!

Ryujin brought a T-shirt and a cap for JHJ, saying that the younger actor always wore the same one and it was stinking. Even Ryujin's manager, who happens to be a JHJ's fan, brought a construction toy of some sort. According to the article, Ryujin saw JHJ building something like a dinosaur while shooting the drama. Ryujin felt that it was nice to see JHJ doing other things even under so much pressure (when he had tons of things to memorize), so he too played along.

He also mentioned that they had celebrated the birthdays of so many other staff while shooting the drama, his included, and that Jo had participated in all of them. Ryu was just happy that Carpediem gave him a chance to celebrate the younger actor's birthday also. But then, Ryu had to leave soon, since he had to continue shooting for his present drama, which he had delayed in order to attend this party.

Another guest star was actor/model Lee Chun-Hui, who played JHJ's rival in 'Only You'. According to fans' reports, he stayed at the party the longest, participating in the 'pointing game,' where Lee had to write his name with his butt when he lost. Lee too mentioned that JHJ doesn't talk much, but that he's a really nice guy. They looked like they were really comfortable with each other, whispering things to one other and they even went to the men's room together!

Later, they read a fan's 'Love Letter' which brought up nostalgic memories of JHJ's beginning and that opportunity was taken to introduce another guest star: Soo-Ae, his co-star and love interest in his 2003 drama 'Love Letter'. JHJ was really surprised to see her, saying that it's been almost 2 years since he last saw her.

He also mentioned that this drama was his first leading role, and that she made him very comfortable back then; and that although she might give the first impression of being 'cold,' Soo-Ae was actually warm-hearted. According to Soo-Ae, JHJ makes her feel so comfortable he felt like a good friend at times, and at other times, like an older brother, or like a younger brother, or at other times, he felt like a lover to her! Ha!~ Many fans screamed at this: Oh NO!!!

But then, the MC asked the fans 'Which female star was best matched with JHJ?' The fans screamed at once: "Soo-Ae!" To this, Lu fired back, jokingly?: "They both belong to STAR-J! One of the rules is, no dating within the management!" (On a side note, I remember reading a report several months ago, where JHJ mentioned Soo-Ae, and Ji Jin-Hee from 'Love Letter', and Ryu Sung Bum from 'Sunshine Pours Down' were among the few stars he kept in touch with.)

I also read that his foreign fans sang happy birthday to him in Japanese and in Chinese, and that they were given the chance to hug him but one fan didn't want to let him go, so much that she was rebuked! On JHJ's part, he too sang to his fans: First, he sang 'I Love You' by Position. The fans encored him so he sang 'Sarangtoo' by Yoon Do Hyun. A fan wrote that she worried at first when she realized he'd sing 'I Love You,' one of her favorites, but a tough one to sing! But he did it so well she understood why he was a singer before!

Descriptions of him followed. Everyone agreed that he looks a lot better in person than in front of the camera, and that his face is really small. But some said that while on TV he comes out too angelic, there is a tough side that you can only witness face to face. But others disagreed saying that he still looked 'beautiful' and not 'tough.' One thing I found very interesting is that, according to their description, JHJ's side profile is very different than his front profile. They said they both give different feelings, the front one being softer and the side profile being sharper. In addition, most agreed he looked really happy all throughout the meeting, but that he looked very tired by the time he was greeting everyone. Actually, I read that he caught a severe cold before and that he was in bed for many days. During the meeting, he was coughing many times, and he looked very skinny.

Also, when asked what his next project would be, he said that he had not decided on that yet. And one fan also mentioned that according to Lu, JHJ quit smoking. But she was just hoping this would be confirmed. According to another fan, JHJ smelled a little like cigarette, but he was just coming out of the men's room which was full of smoke. So we shall see!

At the end, he shook hands with all 500 of them, one by one. One fan wrote that he shook hands one person per second. So she thought of a way to make her encounter a bit longer. When she was in front of him, she screamed: 'Get well soon!' So he paused for a second to look at her and to smile. She felt so clever for doing that. So she wrote at the fan cafe: 'Others saw him face to face for only a second. I saw him for 2 seconds. This means I got to see him twice as long as everyone else!!!' Another one said that she was so nervous she looked down while shaking hands; she only got to see his side profile up-close! She regretted this so much she felt like hitting herself! Overall, I think the meeting ended later than expected, but no one was complaining! And the fans continued celebrating even after the Fan Meeting was over!

P.S. I forgot to mention that the club also did some fund raising, I believe... and that they were going to donate that to help cancer research. A few days ago, another article talked about another fund-raising event (a star-clothes selling event) where Carpediem Fan Club caught the media's attention for their serious involvement in social activities.

After His Birthday Party - weblink, 5 stars
JO HYUN JAE wrote to his fans!!!

Translated by Priscilla Title: Nice to meet you! (May 9th, 2006)

It was great to meet everyone who attended the birthday party.

My only regret is that I wasn't feeling well. Had I been healthy, it would have been even better.

I was very happy to see so many people coming to congratulate me.

Thanks to you all, I was able to celebrate my birthday in a joyful and fulfilling way.

People also came from faraway countries.

I hope that, not only them, but everyone who came on that day had a great time like I did.

I always receive so much from you.

I really don't know how I could repay you for all the love you have shown me.

I believe that the person I am right now would not exist without you all.

I will never forget the love and encouragement I received from all of you: the people who attended the birthday party and all the fans who watched me through the years.

I will try my best to come back to you through a better piece of work, showing you a better part of myself.

Take care of your health and be happy always*^^

(* Editor's note: The Jo Hyun-Jae Official Fan Club was established in Japan in June 2008.)
(** Editor's note: Star-J was JHJ's old agency; he is now with Star n Hit.)