On 19 May 2019, Ji Chang Wook made a spectacular entrance back into the entertainment world through his fan meeting entitled “Invitation: Late Spring, Early Night” at the Blue Square iMarket Hall in Seoul.  Since The Kitchen was not able to attend in person, we will provide a short summary from several fan and news reports posted after the evening’s events.

The 2-hour fan meeting, the first of its kind since actor Ji Chang Wook’s departure to military service, sold out as soon as ticket sales opened, confirming his popularity even during his hiatus.  The show opened with a short video showing Wook preparing for the fan meeting, backed with his singing “101 Reasons Why I Like You” from the “Suspicious Partner” OST.

He opened the fan meeting with Paul Kim’s “Every Day, Every Moment” to thank the fans for waiting for him, and said, “I’m so happy to see you again on such a great day.  Today’s special guest is our fans.” ” I hope we can fill the precious time by talking eye-to-eye,” he said, drawing cheers from fans.

In particular, Ji Chang Wook’s friendly appearance was notable on the day.  He even showed his charm at the fans’ sudden requests, went down to the audience seats during the corner segments, met their eyes, listened to them, responded affectionately and impressed the fans.

There was also Ji Chang Wook’s special selection of songs, as the fan meeting was entitled “Late Spring, Early Night.”  Referring to himself for this corner as “DJ Wook” while sitting at table set up with a microphone and speakers, he captivated the fans’ eyes and ears with songs that matched the spring and lyrics with my heart towards his fans such as “You Are The Light,” “With You” and “Good [You’re Here].”

Wook gave his fans excitement and joy by discussing a lot of things usually not talked about in past fan meetings with such corners as “Good Listener,” “I’m Ji Chang Wook in Late Spring,” “Game Time” using fashion items, and “Life Graph,” in which he described his life’s ups and downs.

One interesting corner was when Wook participated in his own ASMR video experiment.  For those of you not familiar with ASMR (which stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), these videos are part of a trend in South Korea called mukbang, or “broadcast eating.”  Mukbang is a popular genre where hosts prepare and/or consume large amounts of food on a livestream while either talking to their viewers… or simply making the best food-eating noises possible.  Wook took on eating close to a microphone a large grape (or was it a cherry tomato), jelly beans, and sour patch gummies, all the while describing the sounds in hushed tones like a real ASMR VJ.

Another corner featured Wook’s best attempts at the “Gwiyomi Song,” but it turned out to be an epic fail when he couldn’t remember which hand gestures were in which order.  A better attempt at the ‘reverse heart pose’ worked perfectly.  But the best corner was when Wook put on a fuzzy rabbit hat and played along to “The Carrot Song” (당근송).

When discussions turned towards Wook’s upcoming drama “Let Me Melt,” he promised that if the ratings hit 5%, he will serve iced Americanos to those who will be able to find the coffee shop where he will serving.  When Wook asked how many cups should be served, the audience estimated 500-1,000 cups.  Wook slowly counted 100… 200… 300… 400… 500… and then admonished the fans for being so bad!  He eventually said that he will decide how many will be served after he studies up on how to make coffee.

At the end of the fan meeting, Ji Chang Wook expressed his sincere heart and gratitude to the fans through a final video letter, filmed at 4:00am on the morning of the fan meeting.  He said, “I am happy we kept our promise to meet again in 2019.  I think I tried harder to keep my promise. Thanks to you, I was able to spend that time well.  Sometimes when I was having a hard time, I could think of the times we had together and laugh again.  My spring was yours too.  I will be with you for many good days in the future.”

Finally, Ji Chang Wook finished the fan meeting by personally seeing off the fans and handing out braided string bracelets to each audience member along with a note and friendly greetings, giving them unforgettable memories. Not only Korean fans were in attendance, but also fans from China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines, along with Russian and European fans.

Ji Chang Wook has chosen tvN’s “Let Me Melt” as his comeback project since his discharge in April, heralding a return as a rom-com craftsman, drawing attention and expectations from many.

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Songs Performed:

Every Day, Every Moment – Paul Kim (“Should We Kiss First” OST)
I Will Protect You – Ji Chang Wook (“Healer” OST)
In A Karaoke Room – Jang Beom Jun
My Spring – Hong Lee Sak
You Are The Light – MeloMance
Starry Night – Jay Chou
[I Want To Go] With You – Lee Juck
Encore:  Good [You’re Here] – Daybreak

As Wook mentioned during his VLive on 15 May, we can only hope that Glorious Entertainment will release a DVD of the fan meeting quickly!

Credits: Glorious Entertainment; Ji Chang Wook DC Gallery; Newsen; Sports Chosun; special thanks to Ilona Lee and Yonhee1052 Instagram