/Intermission image: Myungie is writing up some ideas for songs in his plant-filled lounge, while playfully nibbling on the scaly hide of a dragon fruit./
[You’ve been reading for a while!
Time to take a break!]
[Myungyong is listening to…
BTOB - Missing You]
K-pop, or Korean Pop, is one of the most visible aspects of South Korea's popular culture. K-pop acts are globally known for their eclectic visual style, innovative music production and videography, and organized fan culture.
K-pop performers are generally known as "idols".
Apart from looking perfect at all times, idols are expected to show a high degree of proficiency in many areas of performance, which may include singing, rap, and dance. They can train for years in relative obscurity to get to this level.
Taewoong and Myungyong would have started their journey as K-pop idol trainees when they were about 20 and 19 respectively. (In international age, that is - to calculate their Korean ages, shave off 1 or 2 years!)
To reach their dreams, they signed contracts with an entertainment company called APL, a small-to-medium sized corporation that had a roster of 30 or 40 trainees at the time.
APL would pay for their room and board and training, with the expectation of being paid back at a later date.
From 2005 to 2010, Taewoong and Myungyong lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Yongsan District, Seoul, just north of the Han River.
APL runs the dorms and has a longstanding relationship with the superintendent, who helps the young tenants with all manner of first-time-living-on-my-own problems (good ol' Donghyuk, we'll meet him soon!).
There is a practice gym downstairs, and a green grocer around the corner.
Every floor has the same floor plan, so 2-34 is the same as 3-34. When the weather gets cold, the units are kept warm by an underfloor heating system called "ondol" which is common in South Korean apartments. The one in Taewoong and Myungie's dorm seems to be malfunctioning, causing fun and chaos!
On days when they had lessons, the two would have travelled by walking (sometimes running!) and subway to their company building in Gangnam District. I won't give the exact location of APL's headquarters, but it's somewhere in Cheongdam Ward, alongside many other leading K-pop companies of today!
Taewoong and Myungyong were close from the very beginning. Since they were similar in age, they used informal language to talk to each other, without honourifics. Taewoong always called Myungyong "Myungie". Actually, Myungie also had a nickname for Taewoong...
And that's all for now! Tune in next week for another installment of The World of The Truth Tellers!
As idol trainees, Taewoong and Myungie would have had many expenses covered by their company, but they would not have received a salary.
To afford the things they wanted, and to head off their crushing trainee debt, Taewoong got a job at "Three Sisters Sundae Gukbap" as a kitchen porter. He eventually convinced Myungie to work there as a server.
3SSG is your typical neighbourhood diner, with the added perk of a side-dish buffet during happy hour, which they refer to as the "salad bar".
Their specialty is sundae gukbap, which is a type of blood sausage (sundae) in rice soup (gukbap). It's really good! Taewoong likes his soup broth with a lot of chives, some sesame oil and salt.
Myungyong on the other hand doesn't eat pork, so during lunch break, he would usually get a bagged vegetarian kimbap from the freezer and warm it up in the microwave.
Kimbap is a hearty roll of rice, vegetables, and other fillings surrounded by a layer of dried seaweed, and cut into small discs. Indeed, Myungie ate so much kimbap that this is THE thing that Auntie remembers about him.
Things became just a little more chaotic when Taewoong began bringing Seungho to the dorm during Seungho's summer and winter vacations.
Taewoong wasn't technically allowed to do this, and Seungho often had to hide during the day with Myungie's help. But Taewoong felt very strongly that his household was no place to raise a child, and you might understand why once you meet his family. Anyway, his trainee lifestyle made a huge impression on Seungho.
Like many South Korean youth, Seungho's teenage years would have been tied up with preparing for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), or "suneung".
It is a standardized test, administered to high school students and graduates, that determines their chances of getting into their choice of college or university.
We can guess that Seungho didn't exactly nail it...
But instead of trying again, Seungho decided to use his brother's connections at APL to pursue his real dream of being a singer! Maybe, he was hedging his bets on this all along...
Taewoong thinks Seungho is just being lazy (and he's not wrong, Seungho is a little lazy...), but maybe this isn't a bad thing! After all, Seungho has already used his direct line to Myungie to get free advice. Is he actually a genius??
The World of The Truth Tellers continues next week!
The era in which Taewoong and Myungyong came of age is often informally called the "second generation" of K-pop, spanning the noughties and early 2010s. The group that Taewoong eventually debuts in, the infamous APL Boys, is your run-of-the-mill 2nd gen group.
These artists had aesthetic and musical characteristics that are instantly recognizable: colourful skinny jeans, dramatic eye makeup, streetwear and grungewear, a whole lot of chrome...yes, it was a fun time!
On the other hand, some features seen in 2nd gen are still familiar today. These include striking dye jobs, having regular "comebacks" or new music releases, giving each member of the group a unique role like "leader" or "vocal" or "visual", assigning a name to the fandom...and more!
(By the way, the APL Boys' fans are called "Hackamores", after their magical ponies theme!)
And of course, every generation has its fans and anti-fans, or haters. With Jinnie and crew, it goes even deeper than that. They are sasaeng fans who actively intrude on Myungie's private life.
APL Boys was originally supposed to have 7 members, with Myungie as one of the lynchpins due to his good looks and talent (and Taewoong as one of the side dudes I guess, just kind of there!).
However, all of that changed in an instant...
Somewhere buried in Taewoong and Myungyong's contracts would have been a clause about exclusivity. Myungie was never supposed to work for anyone but APL.
But towards the end of his trainee contract, and even before the ink on his new idol contract could dry, he began to court the attention of a much larger entertainment company called Summit Music Corps. That's where the trouble began.
In the late 2000s and 2010s, several high-profile lawsuits drew attention to the legal issues surrounding breaking an idol contract in South Korea, which often runs 7 years and can be even longer.
Today, it is not unusual to see groups disband after the 7-year mark, and for individual members to negotiate new contracts with new representation - or, disappear completely.
Myungie survived his ordeal only because Summit is armed to the teeth with lawyers. But, his friendship with Taewoong was not so lucky...
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