let's keep things in focus here
yes gw shouldve never yielded to the gw fan's request to choose her lotto number, even if she's a frequent fansign attendee. (we could go in depth on how the kpop industry as a whole is run on parasocialism and the need to establish more clear boundaries with fans)
yes this was a clear mistake which dug him into a hole. no this does not make him a bad person and no this does not define him or erase all the sincerity, love, and efforts he has shown towards fans.
i can understand his mindset in the moment while also acknowledging it was not the correct move. he was always the punching bag since boysplanet, and due to that he has always expressed deep love for his fans as well as a fear fans will leave. i know he wanted to please and fulfill the request of a fan who shows up to many events for him, but in doing so it upset other fans.
it was a lapse in judgement which has resulted in large backlash and he is clearly aware of the issue and fans' feelings on the matter and has apologized twice.
this isn't some gotcha moment or some reveal of an evil mastermind that some would like to make this out to be. gunwook has shown us time and time again his good character and personality through his daily words and actions.
it's truly the funniest to see people try to spin gunwook of all people as someone who isnt sincere to fans. i have felt his sincerity every single day and being a gpd is still my greatest happiness. even during his busiest moments he communicates with fans every day, when wakeone copyrighted +chat videos on youtube gunwook personally requested them to remove the copyright so fans could continue uploading videos, gunwook was one of the few male idols who sent a message of support to fans who were attending protests against the right wing (ex-)president yoon seok yeol, he dished out his own money to film, record, and create several photobooth covers for fans since he was told the waitlist to do official rm01 covers was months long, every kkobeogu who has his pluschat knows just how much care and effort he puts into making fans happy at the expense of himself.... in fact he is someone who cares TOO MUCH about what his fans think, which is sadly an underlying part of the issue here.
and i dont want to hear that gunwook has it easier for being a male idol when gunwook has been one of the most targeted and attacked idols on ktwt for the past 3 years regardless of gender. he IS getting mass personal attacks for this and in no way has the response level matched the action at all?? asides from antis who have always targeted gunwook, i think part of the reason for the big backlash is quite literally because of gunwook's good reputation. it makes people even more eager to step on him for any misstep and try to take any single thing to misconstrue him.
anyways as hard as this all must be, this was a learning point for gunwook, and the only thing i can do is continue to cheer him on in his journey as an idol🫳🫳🫳
좋아한 이후로 늘 자랑스러운 사람이었어. 물론 가끔 마음이 불편한 순간들도 있었지만 아이돌이기 전에 한 사람으로 보면 그럴 수도 있다고 생각했고 무엇보다 늘 자기 일에 진심이고 책임감 있는 사람이라는 걸 알았으니까. 그래서 ��만한 일들은 크게 생각하지 않았어. 근데 이번에는 솔직히 상처가 좀 받았어.
어쩌면 너한테는 별일 아닐 수도 있고 가볍게 지나갈 수 있는 일이었을지도 몰라. 하지만 우리가 마음이 아팠던 건 그 선택 자체보다도 그 안에서 느껴진 너의 태도 때문이었어.
항상 눈앞에서 만나고 이야기하는 사람들만 팬은 아니야. 집에서 조용히 응원하는 사람들, 투표하고 스트리밍하는 사람들, 어떻게든 더 많은 사람들이 널 알게 해주려고 여기저기 널 홍보하고 응원하는 사람들까지. 다 같은 마음으로 널 좋아하고 사랑하는 팬들이야.
누군가에겐 널 만나는 일이 어렵지 않을 수도 있지만, 많은 사람들에겐 그렇지 않아. 시간도, 돈도, 거리도 각자 감당해야 하는 것들이 있으니까. 그래도 결국 다 같은 마음이야. 널 응원하고, 네가 행복하길 바라고, 잘되길 바라는 마음.
그래서 더 이해하고 싶었고, 더 믿고 싶었어. 너무 좋아하니까 웬만하면 다 괜찮다고 생각하고 싶었고, 더 감싸주고 싶었어. 근데 그 마음이 큰 만큼 상처도 더 크게 다가오더라.
이번 일을 그냥 지나가는 해프닝처럼 넘기지 않았으면 좋겠어. 앞으로 더 오래 사랑받고 더 멀리 가기 위해서는 실력만큼이나 어떤 선택을 하고 어떤 태도를 보여주는지도 중요하다고 생각해.
예전에 너가 했던 말 기억하고 변하지 않았으면 좋겠어. 이번 일을 통해 조금 더 성장하고, 더 많은 마음들을 바라봐줄 수 있는 사람이 된다면 나도 계속 지금처럼 너를 응원하고 사랑할게. 오래 볼수있게 해줘 건욱아.