Louie

If you have been passing by Edsa, you would know that Bench got Siwon and Donghae (SiHae) of Super Junior as the brand's new endorsers. In line with promotions for the clothing label's new collection, Bench organized a fan event on Wednesday. Since there are thousands of Super Junior fans in the country, the brand came up with a promo to get sure seats or slots at the venue. By buying P1,000 worth of items from participating Bench stores, you get one raffle ticket for a chance to get close to the K-pop idols. I only had one raffle entry, but thanks to the K-pop fairy, I was one of the lucky 700 who got a slot.

The SiHae event was scheduled at 5 p.m. but as early as 10 a.m., I was getting text messages from friends saying that a lot of fans were already waiting at the venue. I wasn't worried then since I have secured a seat. When I arrived at TriNoma at 3 p.m. though, the picture in my head of  me getting really close to Siwon and Donghae flew out of the window as I saw that most of the seats were already occupied and other fans have surrounded the activity center. I so wanted to get in there  but I couldn't because I still had stories to write which were due that day. I decided to work that day since I am still on probation and calling in sick when I wasn't just didn't seem right even if as a Super Junior fan, that event was really, really important to me.

I went to the entrance of the activity center at 4:30 p.m., and by the time I got there, hundreds of fans who did not have the winning raffle stubs were forcing their way in. I thought I would never be able to enter because of the pushing and shoving and as the guard was busy blocking the entrance. After countless "excuse me pos",  I got the attention of one of the guards and showed my printed e-mail from Bench. They let me in but because most of the winners arrived earlier, I did not have a seat anymore and had to stay at the back.

The fans were already screaming while waiting for Siwon and Donghae but that was nothing compared to the noise the moment the boys appeared on stage. Every person in there went berserk. Every ELF (Everlasting Friends of Super Junior or what the group's fans are called) in the activity center had their camera or cellphone up and there was pushing and shoving once again. It was impossible to get a very good view of the boys from my spot even if I was tiptoeing in my four-inch wedges.

The event lasted for some 30 minutes and the boys were talking mostly in Korean. (Why should I even be surprised?) There was an interpreter translating what they were saying to English but I did not understand most of it because of the oh-so-high decibel level in there. I swear, those other ELFs were loaded with energy. The boys made an attempt to speak a few Filipino words which resulted in more screams and cheers. Donghae said: "Nami-miss ko kayo," while Siwon said "Maganda" when asked what he can say about the fans. Both guys also said: "Mahal ko kayo."

The messages were for all of the fans, but in my head, it seemed like they were only saying it to me. I know that seeing foreign artists giving short messages in Filipino is nothing new but because I am really into Super Junior, I still appreciated Siwon and Donghae's attempts and found it really cute.

At the event, some of the 700 lucky winners were given the chance to get really close to the boys either through having a poster signed or a having  a picture taken with them. Those luckier fans were picked through draw lots and I wasn't one of them. Even if I wasn't picked, it was nice to watch how the boys interacted with the more fortunate fans though. Donghae was giving them high-fives, while Siwon, being the gentlemen that he is (one of the reasons why he is on my top three list) even helped some of the fans get up the stage. (Plus points.)

Siwon also planted a kiss on the forehead of one of the luckier fans (or maybe we should call her the luckiest of the lot). The luckiest fan is an adorable five-year old girl. When Siwon pinched her cheeks and then gave her a kiss, it reminded me so much of his drama Oh My Lady! where he played an actor who had a daughter out of wedlock. How can you not like a guy who is so nice to kids? That totally got me, which is why for now, he is number one on my top three list.

I had already imagined the scene which I wanted to happen prior to going to the SiHae event. In that scene I created, I would have pictures taken  with them and then, I would give my card to Siwon to tell him that we should be in touch because I am interested in working with them. (Producing events is something my friend Riza and I talk about every now and then as a business venture we are looking to explore. It is more of a dream actually because we know nothing about how it works.) None of that happened of course.  I don't feel so sad about it not happening though. Knowing that I was in the same place as they were and seeing them for a couple of minutes still made me really happy. As I have said before, I don't know why they have this effect on me, but everytime I see them live or just watch them on TV or listen to their songs, I feel really happy. I don't know how long Super Junior will give me this kind of feeling. Just like anything else, I will have to enjoy it while it lasts.

- Super Girl Louie signing out