In what seems like a million years ago now, MNet scheduled an online Meet & Greet with MBLAQ to celebrate the release of their 6th mini album, Broken. It was initially scheduled for Thursday, April 17, 2014 which would have been really cool for me since I was in Seoul at that time to see G.O in his second musical, Seopyeonje. Then the Sewol Ferry tragedy happened and out of respect for the families who lost loved ones as well as for a nation mourning, MBLAQ and MNet collectively decided to postpone and reschedule the meet and greet. It would happen at some point, we just did not know when. In the meantime, we were encouraged to buy up the CD and vie for position as ‘top buyer’ for some extra special love from the group during the meet & greet. I was determined to be one of those top buyers.
The MBLAQ Meet & Greet finally had a date – June 5th, 12:00 PM KST. Or so it would have seemed. I was stoked. I was still holding my position (4th) as one of the top buyers. So long as I did not slip into 5th, I had a strong chance of remaining in the top five and getting some extra prizes as a result.
Then there was another schedule change and the Meet & Greet was moved to Friday, May 30 at 2:00 PM KST. Ok, ok..this was still ok. It would mean having to stay up past midnight my time but I was psyched and ready to see what an online meet and greet was all about. I had no clue as I never participated in one before. As added security, I cushioned my firmly purchased 37 CDs with a flat 13 more to make an even 50. This moved me into third place and we were five hours from show time.
I have to say watching this event unfold real-time was pretty exciting. And, seeing G.O and Mir seated next to each was a clear indication that things were probably going to be a little out of control. G.O and Mir together are like a perfect comedy duo. Mir’s excitable personality along side G.O’s quick wit is a sound recipe for laughter-inducing hijinks. And they did not disappoint! Seungho and Thunder kept the party under control and Joon was absent due to filming.
Before I continue, let me take a moment here to absolutely LOVE on G.O’s new look post-musicals!!! KYAAA!! He cut his hair and let the goatee grow in. So sexy…so very very sexy!
In addition to them chattering away between themselves, they also were going to have the opportunity to randomly select winners for additional items for those fans who purchased CDs through MNet. When fans purchased one (or more) of the CDs they were able to leave a message for the guys.
As each of them began randomly choosing tiles from a grid mosaic of fan pictures (starting with Seungho), they would pause and read the messages. While Mir generally butchered the fan’s name, the sensible duo of Seungho and Thunder would read the messages out loud and G.O would add his thoughts. It was really sweet. I actually think they were shocked to see so many fans from all over the world. See guys…….there is so much love out there for you from ALL corners of the globe!!
By the time it was Mir’s turn, things were pretty crazy because, well…Mir. I love this maknae – he truly makes me laugh. Plus I absolutely love his dynamic with G.O. There is something about these two that play off each other like no other relationship in MBLAQ. I think Mir’s quirkiness and delightful sense of humor entertains G.O so much. I also think Mir brings out the cute in G.O when they are together and playing off each other. And don’t even get me started about how they sound together when G.O envelops his gorgeous voice around Mir’s rap and, vice versa.
Sometimes I think G.O fights hard to keep a straight face. Mir is indeed lovable and you can sense the strong affection big brother hyung G.O has for him.
At a certain point in the broadcast they singled out and gave special thanks to the top five buyers saying they were appreciative of the five of us for buying so much because they felt in doing so we were going to be sharing their music and sharing them to others. Yes, this is my thought exactly and definitely my plan.
Of course, when they called off each name, Mir promptly butchered mine and called me Michael. Bwaaaahahaaa! Oddly, I am used to this since my mother gave me the unconventional spelling of the name: M I C H E L E. So I cannot fault Mir for getting it wrong. But it was either Seungho or Thunder who repeatedly had to correct him.
I was third top buyer out-purchased by only 34 CDs!! But wait…the best is yet to come. Back to the grid of fan pictures, as they were once again randomly selecting fans. When I saw the grid come up with a number of my pictures on it, I got nervous. REAL nervous. Because the guys are so cheeky, I had no idea how they would respond to a more mature fan among the sea of young things. I think they clicked on my picture – I am not sure now because I was reasonably discombobulated! Either way, my picture was there on the grid and because I made a number of purchases, I had a number of pictures on the particular page of tiles they were stopped at.
OH MY GOD.
Mir once again called me Michael. And, was once again corrected!! LOL! And then the unimaginable happened. G.O made the connect when he saw my picture because he leaned in close to look at the laptop screen once he figured out who I was and recognized me. I SO wish I would have caught a screen shot but I admit that part of me was in the process of dying of nervous embarrassment and fear as to what was going to happen and what they were going to say.
But G.O is ever the gracious and amazing man who absolutely threw me another curve by not only remembering who I was, but also telling the others and all of the people streaming that broadcast live that he knew who I was and that I came to his musicals. OH.MY.GOD.
Let me have a moment, please. *fanning self…fanning self…fanning self*
I did not realize this as I had my screen maximized during the better part of the event, but during the broadcast, people were translating what the guys were saying. I probably should have paid more attention to that! But once I heard my name, I kind of went into a fangirl semi-coma of sorts and well…you can understand, I think! Anyway, this is what I eventually saw:
G.O knows Michele. G.O recognizes Michele as a fan who came to see his musical often.
OH.MY.GOD. I thought he might remember who I was if he saw my picture and could make the connect. What I was not prepared for was him actually announcing it. What can I say about him that I have not already said over and over in my previous posts about seeing him after his Seopyeonje and Kingdom of the Winds performances? G.O appreciates his fans. Every last one of them. His appreciation is genuine and sincere. He did not hold back telling everyone how he knew me. He did not hesitate to let everyone know that he recognized me and how he recognized me. I am at a loss for words for how much I appreciate and adore this man. It is not enough that he is ridiculously talented and outrageously handsome. It is his character that makes him so much more than the sum of his parts and he is perhaps THE most attractive man (both inside and out) I have ever met. His kind heart and warm and friendly nature simply have no match.
And, this amazing man knows me and knows my name. For me personally, that is pretty epic since he is my bias after all! ^^
I am impatiently waiting to see if someone uploads the event and if (and once) that happens, I will supplement this post so that I can both relive and share it.
♥♥♥