I don’t usually blog about celebrity encounters if I don’t have photos of or with them. (I just tweet about it.) However, this encounter is an exception because of the circumstance. It was really quite epic. LOL.
I was with my friends in Apgujeong and as we were walking down the street, I saw a mobile phone (a Samsung Note 2/S-series, I forgot) lying face down on the floor. Naturally, I picked it up and looked around but there wasn’t anyone who seemed to come back for it.
So I pressed a button to activate the screen to see if there’s someway to try to return the phone. I know how it feels to lose a phone so I would return a phone if I can. What shocked me was that THE LINE WAS CONNECTED AND THERE WAS A WOMAN ON THE OTHER END OF THE LINE!!! I think it was connected for at least a minute or more when I pressed the button on the phone. WHO LOSES A PHONE IN THE MIDDLE OF A TELEPHONE CALL?!!?!?! Unless it was a butt/pocket call as the phone dropped or something. But still… it was so strange.
I tried to explain to the woman (I assume it was the phone owner’s girl friend coz the name said something like “darling”) that I found the phone on the floor but my command of Korean was so lacking that I couldn’t get anything across. She was saying something back to me but I didn’t understand her as well.
I tried to stop a couple of passer-bys if they spoke any English to try help translate and explain to the girl on the line that I found the phone and would like to set up something to return the phone but no avail. 🙁
Fortunately, while I was flailing about wondering what to do with the phone and the phone call, some dude who could speak English stopped and asked if we needed help. So I passed the phone to him and explained to him what was going on.
Just as I was done explaining what is going on to the nice dude, SHINee’s Minho drove up and stopped his car in front of me. He got out of the car of coz, that’s how I knew it was him.
My mind went blank. I was torn between running after Minho and finishing up my good samaritan deed for the day with the phone. Fortunately, it was a really easy decision because Minho decided to run into the shop after parking his car.
In the end, the nice dude arranged something with the girl to return the phone and we laughed about the bizarre situation that just happened before we went on our separate ways.
We then decided to hang around for a bit to wait for Minho to come out just for kicks. While waiting, I was looking at Minho’s car. It was one of the latest model of KIA cars, the K7.
I must say that his car is SO dirty!! (I only looked at his car from a distance. I didn’t bother to peer into the window or anything of that sort) LOL… it was so dusty and almost like he has never washed his car ever. ** Also, I have no intentions of releasing the license plate number of his car so you don’t have to ask. You also don’t have to believe me so don’t bother to slam me for this as well. I’m not going to respond to anything of that nature.
Within the hour, Minho left the shop. His reaction was everything that I’ve heard from other fans. Minho is not nice or friendly at all. Also, he doesn’t even acknowledge the presence of fans and he hides behind other people and have other people shoo fans away. He’d just stay silent the entire time with no expression.
As a regular autograph collection and celebrity stalker, I just had to try my luck with getting an autograph from Minho, I mean since I’m already there right? I know photos are usually off limits coz they don’t have make up on etc, etc but Minho looks very much the same without make up.
However, as I called him, the other dude with him barked at me to stay away. There was another fan who wanted to give him something but she didn’t even get the chance to do or say anything at all.
That said, there were only 5 girls (me included) present at the scene. No one was screaming or rushing forward. In fact, we were strolling towards Minho and I just called out his name as I walked over (I was like a good 2 or so metres away when I called him).
I’m not sure what kind previous horrible experience SHINee has with fans but it is incredibly disappointing if you are a fan of SHINee and you get this kind of attitude from them. (Luckily, I’m just a SHINee casual.)
I know SHINee seem nice and approachable on the various TV programmes but here’s a reality check: it’s only for TV.
That said, I know some artist treat fans differently in different countries but so far, everything I’ve heard about SHINee is quite consistent in all countries. I wouldn’t bother approaching them for anything if I ever see them again coz it really is just a waste of time. There are many other nicer artists (kpop or not) out there who are more worth stalking.