Cheer Factor: Long wait for K

KIM Hyun Joong photo by JUDE Bautista

It took K-Pop star Kim Hyun Joong two hours to turn up at the press con Thursday afternoon at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel for his “Break Down” album promo visit. To kill time, the emcee asked gathered “fangirls” how they were drawn to the 25-year-old dancer-actor-singer-model.

“Basta, dumating na lang siya sa buhay ko,” said Pat Ragasa, 74, who wore a T-shirt with Korean characters.

“[I like him] ’pag galit siya,” quipped 5-year-old IC, probably referring to Kim in the TV drama series, “Boys Over Flowers” and “Playful Kiss,” or his music videos.

Angelita Rivera, 21, could only say, “Gusto ko lang siyang makita.”

The emcee then asked for “Kim trivia.” Someone shouted, “He sleeps in his underwear!”

Shortly after, another senior citizen who resembled Pat made her presence known. “I took a leave from work to come here,” proclaimed Maru Ragasa, a judge at the Regional Trial Court in Pasay. Turned out, she’s Pat’s younger sister.

Wheelchair-bound and all of 73, Maru went on to say, almost tearfully, that Kim had touched her life in a special way: “His music took me out of the dark.”

Asked what, in particular, she liked about Kim’s music, whose lyrics are mostly in Korean, Maru said: “The melody, of course … and his hot body!”

Everyone cracked up, but the lady judge looked dead serious. We actually expected her to bring out a gavel and hit us on the head with it. Pocholo Concepcion