I'm Stuck on D.O. Kyungsoo in BLOOM Jakarta

Aside meeting DAY6 for the second time and more times over this year, I had the chance to meet Kyungsoo twice this year too. This year is definitely the year where I splurged too much money to attend concerts. Why? Because almost all of my favourites are here: from Dreamies, Kyungsoo, RIIZE, and DAY6. I probably will get to see DAY6 4 times this year if the timing is right.

It was a sunny day in Kamakura and I almost forgot the date of the ticketing war. I walked around the small city of Kanagawa that I always longing to go since I knew it from the Slam Dunk manga. There was a cafe close to the Enoden railway that I got to visit back in April. After having lunch at that cafe, I decided to just enjoy times at the beach of Kamakura. And I just remember that I had to secure Kyungsoo's ticket that day. I was too immersed in my Japan trip that I forgot to ask my friend to help me securing ticket. And yep, due to my clumsiness, as you expected I didn't get the ticket initially.

Until the promoter suddenly made an announcement that they will put additional show on July, 13th 2024 to accommodate the huge demand for Kyungsoo's show.

I really thought that the promoter or even Kyungsoo himself didn't realise the popularity in Indonesia. Aside being a well-known EXO member, Kyungsoo has established himself a strong community through his acting project, and yes, his solo is well-received for the public. Kyungsoo's individual colour of music is pretty generic and easy to listen, therefore his range of fans are more various compared to his peers on the same group. Basically, Kyungsoo is that popular! And putting him in a small venue for his fan-concert doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, lesson learned from the first day of ticketing so I asked my friend to helped me secure ticket. ALAS! The next ticketing was held when I was on my way to Jakarta which means I spent more time in a plane and I might skipped the invoicing email. So, here's the thing, this particular promoter has a membership program where you secure ticket through Google Form then they will email you manually and give you certain time limit to make your payment. Otherwise, your ticket is going to be cancelled. Unfortunately, the payment window for me was only 3 hours and that was when I was still in a flight. When I got landed for a transit journey, I emailed them and asked them whether I still given a chance to make a payment outside the time window. I have emailed them three to five times to confirm this. Good thing is, the payment I made is still being recognised. 

So, here I am at July 13th 2024 meeting Kyungsoo for the second time this year!

Since it's a fan-concert and I had few glimpses from his fan-con on another cities before he finally goes to Jakarta, I didn't expect much. Another additional factors like rigged ticketing system so I didn't get the best seat, I already know what songs are there on the set-lists, even down to how bad the individual fandom (akgae) had me going without much expectations. On the journey before the D-Day, I have thought a lot whether I will enjoy the concert or whatnot. I even thought about selling the ticket anyway. That's how I thought I wouldn't enjoy the concert at all. Another thing is that my mind has been occupied by Park Sungjin a lot, so I don't have any room to think about Kyungsoo anymore.

He proved it the other way.

As expected, Kyungsoo swerved me back to his lane. Once again, he made me realise that he can't be dethroned even with Park Sungjin. Kyungsoo is still there, in my heart. He is staying. He made me come back to him although now I have to dissociate him from Park Sungjin in a different universe. Kyungsoo still the top of my heart and mind. While Park Sungjin tops another side.

The last time I attended fan-meeting directly was EXO's fan-meeting ONE in Inspire Arena, Seoul and it didn't left me a good impression. Perhaps I was still high on DAY6's concert dopamine intake or it was just a boring event from the agency. Second time I experienced unimpressive fan-con was through RIIZE's RIIZING DAY online fan-concert, it was boring as well. So I had my expectation low from the beginning. But DAY6's fan-meeting was entertaining and got me feeling content. And unexpectedly, Kyungsoo's fan-con did the same. Hence, it really is probably because of agency's intervention, the MC, and the artists factors that could make an event truly enjoyable.

Kyungsoo opened the fan-concert by singing its current title song Mars from his 3rd mini album BLOSSOM. To be honest, I didn't keen on Kyungsoo's latest album at first. I argued that Kyungsoo's two previous albums are still the best. But the more I listen to BLOSSOM, the more I grew into liking. Especially Mars. It's a song that tells "No matter how different we are, I will still love you regardless." I initially thought this title track is less impactful compared to Rose or Somebody and yet Mars has its own charm. It was especially good to listen as Kyungsoo's fan-con opening.

If we meet too many times

I hope it's no different

Faster than worrying

I want to get close to you

But now I'm stuck on Mars

The song represents me who is now stuck on Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo is my Mars. I gravitated towards him again in this period of life. I put aside Park Sungjin for a while because I have Kyungsoo on my side by now. By the time he finished singing Mars, he got all my attention to him and him only.

Kyungsoo is certainly has his own character development and explosive charms in 2024. Unlike Kyungsoo that I always known these years, I never knew he would let his goofy side took over the whole 2.5 hours of the fan-concert. I've never seen him in this bright mood ever although it was my third time meeting him since 2018. Kyungsoo was always that reserved, quiet man. That day, he's still shy, reserved, and quiet but he had fun a lot! I never knew he smiles ear to ear and kept being amazed with the energy of Indonesia's fans. He loves our energy and I love the way he receives energy very well.

Half of the events were filled with an interaction sections guided by our friendly and helpful MC Indra Herlambang. At first, I doubt that he will guide the show by putting all the attention to the main star, because it is always happened when local MC guiding the Korean shows. Most of Indonesian MC shifted the attention to themselves which I don't want to know anyway. Indra Herlambang is such an exception. I never knew he is THAT GOOD MC, I mean he knows a lot about Korean entertainment industry, he did his research very well to accommodate the artists he is MC-ing, and he helped the artists to feel comfortable. Throughout the fan-con, I can see Kyungsoo is really comfortable and enjoy the show as well. Indra Herlambang, the man you are! No wonder, almost Korean events hire him as the Master of Ceremony. In Indra Herlambang we trust!

I knew that all the segments has been rehearsed and scripted, there's no such things as an impromptu or spontaneous act but Kyungsoo's fan-con going so natural and enjoyable. The questions Indra Herlambang asked, the request are all enjoyable. So I got to know Kyungsoo more. For example, there is this segments where Kyungsoo being asked about self discipline and his preference.

1. Kyungsoo is the type of person who loves washing dishes because it helped him relax and think about nothing.
2. Kyungsoo is the person who just spread out his blanket, not the type who folded it.
3. Kyungsoo is the person who rolled the toothpaste and push the paste from the bottom.
4. Kyungsoo doesn't like to wear his outdoor clothes to bed, he needs to change first before getting up the bed.
5. Kyungsoo prefers to shower before bed.

And so on, sofort.

When it comes to the segments talking about food, Kyungsoo is as excited as usual. As expected our foodies! He was introduced to Sup Buntut, Martabak, Soto Betawi. But the dish that had left impressive taste for him is still Nasi Goreng followed with Martabak. I expected him to love Sop Buntut, but I think he seems not to keen of the ox-tail itself as a food. Next time, you need to try Pempek my dear~

The most enjoyable and fun segment was when Kyungsoo needs to read fan request of the bulletin board. DAY6 has done this too on their 2024 fan-meeting. On DAY6's fan-meeting most fans request DAY6 to sing their old gems, while in Kyungsoo's fan-con fans are asking few things not just sing songs. I recorded the whole 7 minutes Kyungsoo's fulfilling and responding to fan requests and questions. Actually the whole 7 minutes was that worthy but if I had to pick top 3 they are: Kyungsoo's flirting with us by calling us "Sayang~", He kept refusing to show his abs saying he has no abs or choosing to give the fans watermelon instead, and the last he sang "DAD" which I wrote on the bulletin board.

It is safe to say that I am now experienced in attending fan-concert or a fan-meeting thanks to my experience attending DAY6's fansign event in Jakarta earlier this year. I saw everyone also wrote letters or such. Thanks to watching DAY6's fan-meeting event too, I now know how to write a notice-able piece of suggestions. So, I came prepared for Kyungsoo. I bought letter kit and had prepared 4~5 sticky notes to be glued on the bulletin board.

The key for being noticed is to increase your chances being seen. And that day, finally Kyungsoo indirectly notice me. This is an achievement ladies and gentlemen~

DAD is a song from Kyungsoo's 1st mini album Empathy and rarely being talked by the community. I love how emotional Kyungsoo sang that song back in the day. Honestly, I really loved Kyungsoo's 1st album and I have wrote it here in full. I also expected him to sing My Love or I'm Fine which I really love, but Kyungsoo sang a verse of I'm gonna love you instead. That's fine, although Kyungsoo admitted that he forgot the songs, it is still meaningful that he remembers he had released two precious albums before.

Even on this fan-concert, Kyungsoo only sang the whole track from his recent album which I don't complain. He added 2~3 songs from the previous album like: Somebody, It's Okay, and I do. The rest is history. Kyungsoo didn't even include Rose on the setlist. I'm pretty upset Kyungsoo felt like he forgot the rest of his solo career when in reality his first two albums were THAT GOOD! I get that he might not want to be associated with SM Entertainment post his departure from the company, but those albums are still his?

I don't want to forget where Kyungsoo came from. I knew him from EXO, I knew he built his career through SM Entertainment. He might not get decent amount of promotion for his activities, it's just unfortunate to pretend that all of those years didn't exist. Those what shaped Kyungsoo to this day. Without debuting in EXO and being the prominent main vocalist, we won't know Kyungsoo today. Therefore, I am so upset when Kyungsoo's akgae tried so hard to dissociate him from his roots and group.

Anyway~

Everything on the fan-concert was so beautiful. Even the fan-project is also beautiful. The Dandanies did good deeds like growing up coral reefs or adopting Orangutan. It successfully made Kyungsoo in awe. He never knew that he had adopted lots of things from the nature thanks to fans. The second half of the concert was filled with Kyungsoo's solo performance of his recent discography. Fans are hyped at most of the songs, especially Somebody, It's Okay, and I do. The show is closed with Popcorn as the final song with beautiful confettis. And as a Blue ticket holder, I need to stay to do a send off. 

The send off is basically different from the last send-off I experienced in Jay B's concert. Kyungsoo just come back to the stage and interacted for few minutes with the fans. Then he praised us for having such a great energy. The most special send off was on the last show, the additional 2nd show of the 2nd day concert. There Kyungsoo sang a bit of EXO's songs. During the send off, we were prohibited to take pictures of videos which people can still do that regardless. And I didn't do that because I just want to enjoy that send off events with Kyungsoo. He really gave his all. So I want to immerse myself and stuck to him once again.

I thought Kyungsoo is no longer sparks joy for me, in reality he really still the same guy that got my attention. I still experience joy whenever I see him. I even got dressed as a Disney character for him. So, this is love. I'm gonna love you, it's like taking a breath, I'm gonna love you.