I’ve whined in the past about how our attendance at Korean promotional events have been largely slanted toward the “Boys Boys Boys” side of the spectrum, and I have only occasionally taken steps to remedy the situation. This weekend, partially through random happenstance and partially through a personal drive of my own I ended up with at least one step in the right direction. I attended another fan sign and it was for ladies this time! Whoo and Yay!

First, a little bit of background: TS Entertainment is the label for my favorite girl group in all of K-Pop – SECRET. I’ve attended numerous events for Hyosung, Ji Eun, and the entire group as a collective whole, so I kind of have a feel for the way the fandom operates and the way the fan manager runs her ship. They have always been impressive to me as a fandom and as an organized group in general. They have proven very open minded and accepting even to foreigners. They have been supportive of groups who are clearly working hard and struggling as rookies rather than just writing them off as nobodies. They have also been very accepting to me and Jessy as individuals, so they’ve left a good impression on us overall. This made me very open to the idea of supporting their new girl group, Sonamoo (A korean word which literally means Pine Tree). The group has been receiving a bit of undue flak from fans both domestic and international because TS Entertainment is currently in the middle of a dispute with one of their major boy groups, BAP, over the division of labor costs and profits as per their contract. There are a lot of conflicting reports but whatever the case, the other TS Artists seem to be perfectly content and have shown no signs of distress during the proceedings with BAP. Regardless of the situation, Sonamoo isn’t at fault so they needed a bit of extra start-up support the way I saw things. It also helps that their debut song, “Deju Vu,” is right up my alley. I took to it right away and even picked out a likely favorite member (narrowed down to two, anyway) based on performance quality, stage presence, and what little I already knew about the group.

I was talking with Vicky, a friend who we had gone to a lot of events with during her time in Korea who had since returned stateside, and was mentioning how I wanted to join thier fan cafe and possibly attend an event or two for them. SECRET’s little sisters had caught my interest and it only seemed natural that I’d want to meet them up close and show my support. Rookie time is the best time to get your foot in the door with a group, too, so it was certainly well worth the effort. I had never guessed that the perfect opportunity was right around the corner. A fan sign event was scheduled at the Gimpo Airport Lotte Mall location that Saturday. I had no other plans for that weekend and Jessy had to do some research for a project she had in mind for Suwoong’s birthday. It looked like it was off to Seoul that weekend to meet the girls!

Since they were such a new group we weren’t too concerned about attendance at the signing. Even SECRET occasionally fails to sell out their quotas for signing events (which is still mind-boggling to me, but it is what it is) so we went into Seoul at a relaxed pace and ended up in the Gimpo area in the early afternoon. I picked up my CD at the Youngpoong book store in the mall, assisted by a staff who insisted on literally walking me from point to point in the store to make sure I knew what I was doing. They also seemed releived that I could communicate with them in Korean. They had that face I was all too accustomed to seeing at first – that “Oh crap, am I going to have to play charades with this customer?” look hidden behind a thin veil of customer service smile. Their sighs of relief were clear when I lifted that worry from their shoulders.

We still had plenty of time and Jessy had a few missions of her own, so we headed back into Central Seoul and cruised around the Gangnam area for a little while. Jessy was on the hunt for some very specific mylar balloons for Suwoong’s birthday collection, a pile of gifts and various favors to be delivered the next week. We found a party store we had gone to once before that was in the general vicinity of the Boys’ studio and checked on both inventory and prices. This was a scouting mission, first and foremost, and the real purchasing and pickup would be happening the next week so once we learned what we needed to learn we headed to our next stop.

One of the fan sites whose admin we know from attending events together all the time was hosting a mini-event for Suwoong’s birthday through one of the local coffee chains. They have those little buzzers that ring when your order is ready and there is a little screen on which you can run little paid video advertisements. Apparently she had bought advertising space for three of the Gangnam cafe locations and was running a short video clip wishing Suwoong a happy birthday. The clip was really cute and the editing and overall quality of it was actually really well done. Jessy took a proof shot of the buzzer as it was running through the video to send to the fan site. Apparently there is some sort of giveaway for fans who go to the locations to view the video. After that was all said and done we enjoyed a bit of down time in the cafe. We munched on honey bread and sipped a Caramel Macchiato (Jessy’s go-to drink) while I pulled out my album and flipped through the pages, learning the last two or three names I wasn’t 100% sure of. It wasn’t difficult. All the members are very distinctive and stand out very clearly. I spent the rest of our cafe time preparing my album with post-its and such for the girls. Most of my questions were pretty basic or generically applicable since there’s not a lot of background yet with them like I have with Boys Republic. Baby steps, Jeff. Baby steps.

It was a long way but a quick ride back to Gimpo since we caught the express train on line 9 (God, do I ever love that train) and soon enough we found ourselves back at the Youngpoong asking directions to the actual event location. We wandered the mall for a good while before stumbling on it by almost pure accident, but we recognized TS Fan Manager and saw the giant Sonamoo Banner right away. The table was set up for the signing and everything was already cordoned off. There were no seats, which was actually welcome because it increases visibility. Instead there were numbered papers placed at intervals on the ground denoting where your place was. We all sat down at our numbered places. I had neighbors on either side of me when I arrived. I offered them mints, which they gladly accepted before I got my camera out and started firing practice shots to mess with the settings.

My seat was in the next to last row of people. I was number 63 and there were only about 75 signing attendees or so. That seemed about right for a rookie girl group. Things were looking great for a good while until the people immediately in front of me in the next two rows up arrived. One was Captain BigHead and he was preceded by his trusty sidekick, Kid Cranium, whose blaring red hat on top of his giant melon-head obscured my view almost as much as his giant boxy camera with a huge porthole of a lens, which he was constantly swinging from side to side to get all angles of picture. It was a situation I could gladly do without since it pretty thoroughly blocked my view of the entire center section of the signing table. It was less than ideal but I would have to make do. Jessy took up her station off to the side, hopefully able to see at least some of the table since the line approached from the opposite end and she was likely to be unblocked from where she stood. She had her camera and her phone as a backup so we had options this time. When I had gone to the 100% signing with her I hadn’t actually met the group, she went it solo. This time she was my backup camera girl and I was the only one greeting the girls.

They actually snuck up on me because I hadn’t noticed them come in from a side door until I heard the ruckus around me. Everyone was cheering and waving and I, bewildered, was looking around like an idiot trying to figure out where they were coming from. They actually entered and walked almost right next to where Jessy was standing before introducing themselves, taking their seats at the table, and getting ready to begin. They did a quick individual introduction as well, their placements from right to left (also first to last) following age order. Sumin was first, consecutively declining in age and rank until NewSun at the end of the line. This meant Sumin would be super busy at all times, almost never having a gap since she was the first at bat. It’s just how things work at fan signings. NewSun was also destined to have more free time than she knew what to do with as the line ender.

Euijin seemed to pick up on my preferential treatment of her almost right away. I spent a good amount of lens time trained on her and she rewarded that with a LOT of posing for me. At one point she even pulled a Sunwoo. She looked up at me, laughed, and started to run through her entire personal arsenal of hand-heart poses. After doing five or six of them she pointed at me, made a face, and then shrugged her shoulders, as if to ask “What do you want from me? I’m all out!” Some of the hearts looked like they were invented on the spot and she was clearly confusing herself trying to make them work correctly but it was adorable. She was getting really creative with some of them.

Every time I turned the lens toward Nahyun she was a hilarious goofball. Kid Cranium was in my way for most of the signing but Nahyun actually leaned off to the side depending on which side I was leaning to get a better angle. She was compensating for a lot of the shots herself. I appreciated that. The first time I turned the camera to her she hammed it up like crazy, pointing at herself in a way over dramatic “What? Moi!?” sort of face. I laughed and nodded and she made a face of utter astonishment before she stuck her tongue out and started to wave, throw hearts, and pose like a fiend. She trolled Euijin a lot during the signing as well if there was ever a gap between signings. She’d elbow her and make her do poses if she saw me or my neighbors getting shots of either of them. There was also a lot of secretive whispering between them and I wondered what that was all about. Once she mocked me while I was snapping pictures of her. She made a square frame with her hands and “clicked” it repeatedly until we both laughed. Then she paid for her fun with another complimentary pose. There was a lot of back and forth between me and Nahyun. She was a lot of fun and is now a potential candidate for my favorite slot because of her attitude, only slightly behind Euijin.

Hi.D was a totally different kind of hilarious. Nahyun was kind of a mischievous mood-setter whereas Hi.D was just a big dork. When she’d laugh she’d laugh heartily and throw her mouth wide open, going all in on it. She seemed to be close to NewSun at the end, and they talked a lot while the line slowed toward the end of the table where they sat. That was good because NewSun seemed a little lost at times. She had far too much time to occupy herself in and didn’t seem to know how to handle the excess. She spent a lot of time looking around looking a little lost. Every so often she would pose kind of awkwardly but if she’d wave or make some kind of heart or gesture or something with her hands she would fidget and move it around constantly. You could tell she was restless. She also made a really stern face at the camera a lot and if she did pose she kind of had this “How long do I have to do this?” vibe about her. It was kind of funny.

I was almost completely blocked from D.Ana most of the signing so I can’t speak much to how she composed herself during the majority of the proceedings. Minjae and Sumin were also blocked until the end of the event, but once they had a clear field of view to me they had some fun, too. When Sumin had wrapped things up she pointed at me, leaned in, whispered something to Minjae, and then they formed a double-arm-heart for me and held the pose for ever. It was so random, unsolicited, and pretty awesome, to be honest. I was really thankful and shot them a thumbs up, which they returned after they let their arms back down. Euijin did the same later as well, and I was sure the poses were intended for me because they would actually check to make sure I’d successfully gotten the shots and wink or thumbs up or do something to confirm they got the hint afterward.

As for the actual signing itself, my time came pretty quickly. There were only 75 people there and Fan Manager was moving things around at a breakneck pace. It was actually one of the fastest signings, if not the fastest one, I’ve attended so far. After a long time of playing with the members from where I was seated it was time to go up myself. I was strangely not nervous, but then again I usually am not, even for the girl groups. It’s a skill, I suppose.

Sumin was first in line. As soon as I stepped forward from the queue line, before I even made it to the table she threw me this coy, angled glance and went “와아아! 멋있내!!! [“Loosely = “Whoooah! Cool/Handsome!]” which apparently got a huge laugh out of me according to Jessy, who was watching on the sidelines. She claims I was laughing a LOT during the course of the signing, to the point where she was wondering what I could possibly be talking about to them up there. That’s good news, I suppose, since it meant I was comfortable and everyone was enjoying themselves. Being the foreigner at the signing can be awkward, especially for a new group since they don’t always know what to do with you, so if there is any way to break the tension it’s welcome to all parties. Sumin didn’t seem to think it odd that I was speaking in Korean either, which was oddly welcome. Usually a first-time meeting with a new idol group is full of “Wow, your Korean is really good.” Sumin asked instead how old I was, which is another common first meeting thing in Korea since age is an all-important factor in most social interactions. I answered with 29 at first, then floundered and bounced back and forth between 28 and 29 because I wasn’t sure how the new year affected my Korean age (and I’m honestly not sure if that’s even right, now that I think of it). I explained why I was confused and she seemed to find it amusing or cute or something because she kept snickering about it. She also denied my answer right away and was all surprised, saying I didn’t look that old and she would not have guessed that (loose translation, I only caught about half of what she actually said. It was fast). I also told her, when asked, that I came from the states and this seemed to impress her for some reason. She didn’t have the opportunity to address my post-it, though. She read it over and was clearly thinking of an answer, and just as she was about to speak up Fan Manager moved me down the line and she said “Don’t worry, next time you can ask again,” to which I agreed and moved on with a wink. TS Fan Manager is the boss, no doubt about that.

Minjae was second and her English skill was easily the best of the members. I approached and used a little Korean but she clicked right over to English and kind of locked there. She seemed very polite and had a very “golf clap” sort of personality. She wanted to know where I was from as well (clearly not Korea) and when I replied with 미국 she answered with a “Wow! I really really like America!” I kind of wondered why but then she launched into a big long thank you speech about coming out to see and support them. I complimented her English (it really was quite good), which I think embarrassed her a little, but she said thanks again before I moved along.

This was my first real interaction with D.Ana because of Captain BigHead and Kid Cranium, so I was intent on making it count. Luckily this panned out in my favor since she was really active and cute when I approached. She’s really fierce on stage but up close she’s adorable, she doesn’t seem to match her stage presence at all. She was really confused at first when I slid down the album to her, page still opened to Minjae’s photo. She had this “Wait, this isn’t me!?” face until she went “Oh, next” and turned the page. She was all thumbs. She pulled one of my post-its away by accident and had to scramble to replace it neatly. She was all apologetic but I told her it was OK, I really didn’t mind. I just kept laughing. She finished fixing it and giggled back. After a quick exchange of the usual self-introductory stuff she saw my post-it asking for a guess about my age. She looked up at me and had this “Oh damn, I’m in for it now…” face. It was a deer-in-the-headlights moment if ever there was one. I struck a pose for her which obliterated the tension and we both laughed like crazy (again, making Jessy wonder what the hell was going on). She practically studied my face while really slowly writing “21” on the post-it. I pointed upward and said it was waaaay more, echoing my conversation with Sumin. She practically debated the point and was really fervently against the idea that I could possibly be that old. She even said I was lying. I said she had really good sense and 눈치 [Noonchi – Like an ability to read the mood and respond with social smoothness. It’s tough to translate but it’s like a social atmosphere meter and response engine. If you don’t have it you’re considered rude] and made the mood really good. She decided to take the chance to troll me a bit and changed the “1” in her number to a “5” and I went “Nonononononono!” and we both laughed again. I got a quick High-5 before I had to move on.

Nahyun was really excited when it was my turn at bat. She was also making this really mischievous face which made me fear a little for my own safety. Personality-wise, she almost reminds me of Haruhi Suzumiya, if you’re familiar with the anime series. We sallied forth through the usual “where are you from” bit and she seemed to be really amused by my name, actually chanting it as she signed the album. She read over my post-it question and started to examine my face. I had asked her what animal she thinks of when she looks at me and she wrote down 토끼, which means rabbit (Never got that before, but OK). I asked her to draw her answer and she made a bunch of excuses about not being able to draw, but then scribbled a really quick sketch down at the last second. I assured her it was OK and thanked her as I was asked to move on as fan manager tried to usher things along. I got a really quick trailing High-5 as I slid down to the next station, still talking to Nahyun as I was moving.

My (likely) favorite was up next! Euijin is by far the prettiest member in my opinion and her stage presence and dance ability is also the strongest, and both hold huge amounts of clout to me. Seeing her up close only confirmed what I had assumed earlier about her appearance. The same is true for all the members but I really don’t think the jacket photos and teaser photography released for this debut does any of them proper justice, they all looked way better in person than in any official media that has been released. Too much makeup and overexposed lighting, if you ask me. I was really excited to meet Euijin but things were a little awkward at first. I think she didn’t realize that I actually knew a good smattering of Korean so she didn’t know what to say and I, not knowing much about her yet, had little to offer as a conversation starter myself. As a result there were a few short silences. As she was signing she also made a comment about my name. I wonder what makes it so interesting – I actually think it’s kind of a boring name. When she finished the actual signature she looked up at me and there was like a full 5 seconds of unbroken, slightly awkward eye contact which felt like way longer before she went “Uh…thankyouthankyou!” all as one big word. I don’t know who was more awkward, her or me but we both laughed after her thanks. She still had a moment and saw the post-it, read it quickly and went “Oh, Nickname?” I had asked her to give me a Korean nickname based on what she thinks when she sees me. She said she didn’t know what to write and I made a square frame with my hands and framed my face for her and made some goofy expresion while she was considering. She apparently found this hilarious and it lightened everything up from earlier. She ended up writing 젶오빠 [Jepoppa – kind of a smashtogether of Jeff and Oppa]. She looked up with a really sheepish face that said “Sorry, I know it’s lame” but I told her any name is OK and thanked her.

After Euijin was Hi.D, and I’m fairly sure that “D” stands for “Dork” because that’s all I could think of the whole time we talked. She had sort of a reckless abandon for herself in the name of just laughing and having a good time and it was refreshing. Some idols feel the need to be in a constant state of demure modelling lest their image be stained in some unplanned and unpredicted fashion. Hi.D was having none of that. She was really chipper when greeting me and after the whole “what’s your name, where are you from” bit she asked my age. I spun it back on her and asked what she thought. She said “Oh I don’t know…” and then I did another pose thing while she considered things but I think I actually aegyo’d at her. That’s not a thing I do, ever but somehow it just happened. She thought it was a riot and said it was cute and we laughed and laughed while she wrote down her signature. I then caved and told her my age since it didn’t seem like she would offer an answer and she screwed up her face in confusion and disbelief. I called myself 할아버지 [grandfather] and she lost it again, saying “no you’re not” over and over.

NewSun actually overheard the entire exchange with Hi.D and I and was already laughing when I moved down to her from the 할아버지 comment. I think she actually overheard most of the conversation because she almost completely skipped over the usual introductory pleasantries. This made a bit of sense because apparently I had slowed the line somewhat so by the time I reached Euijin both Hi.D and NewSun had no one in front of them. She fiddled around a bit, trying to figure out where my name was until I pointed out the post-it and told her myself. She asked if I knew how to speak Korean, at which point I told her the usual “A little, but I’m not good at speaking and I am still learning.” She kind of smirked but that was the only reply I got on that. She thanked me for coming and I thanked her back and held up my hand for a High-5. She nailed it! I mean it actually hurt a little. That girl’s got a fire in her and I wasn’t expecting that at all. It was hands-down the most intense high-5 I’ve gotten in a long while. Who would have seen it coming from the little baby NewSun in Sonamoo?

There were only about ten more people after I was finished so there was not a lot of play time left with the girls but they made sure to pose even more once the line thinned and the members didn’t really have anyone occupying the space before them. They stood up to say their goodbyes, some of them getting the chance to speak individually. They asked everyone to go see them at Inkigayo the next morning (which I would have liked to do but wasn’t going to be able to do this week) and bowed out. Euijin looked my way and made a huge arm heart before she turned to leave. Nahyun was also waving furiously. When looking through my pictures later on I noticed that in a LOT of them that I took of members next to her, she was leaning in and poking her head in to be in the shot as well. I think she’s one of those who fish for fans, but it seemed to be working. I’m still not sure 100% if I prefer Euijin or Nahyun. It’s a close race, and I’ll know for sure the more I learn about them.

After their bow-out they headed out the way they had come in, going past Jessy who received waves herself from a few members. The signing was over very quickly, and despite the fact that we had prepared ourselves for an overnight stay there was more than enough time to make it back to the bus terminal and catch a ride home. Sleepy but satisfied, I arrived back at Gamgok where I would call it a night.

Until next time, Pine Cone Jepoppa signing out!