Hello
I’m Park Jaebum’s high school mate. Although we weren’t in the same class, he was a friend I cared very much about.
I can’t write very well, so T-T

The Jaebum I knew was more sincere/honest than anyone else and a kid with many dreams.

Usually people who dream of becoming stars show off but Park Jaebum wasn’t any different from any other Korean high school student. He was just good at exercising and dancing, loved music. At first, none of us could imagine that he was a JYP trainee.

And no matter how tired he was or how much he had to train, he still faithfully came to school.
He did all his work and as this attitude of learning was really beautiful, he was a kid that the teachers really looked after and cared for.

Although his Korean was awkward and he was far from his parents and lonely in another country, even when he looked tired or upset, he’ll still help us friends and joke around with us as normal. Every time he did that he’ll say he’s okay and give us a friendly punch going ‘what sup yo man’, smiling shyly.

When I first saw him, he was very quiet, and down, and just looked as if life was very tough for him. As time passed, because I became envious of this diligent boy that was working hard towards his dreams, it seemed like I was studying harder thanks to him.

And I was a little chubby, so whenever I saw Jaebum, I would tell him that he has a great body and that I was envious. Then he told me “I’ve been looking at you. You’re tall so first, let’s study then go exercising with me and we can both lose weight together” and praised me by saying “You look much better after losing weight and getting a good body”.

There was a couple who just passed the 1000 day mark of dating and the guy asked Jaebum to sing a song and plan the celebration event. Jaebum made a nice rap and took care of the event.

Of course Jaebum was wrong, but to us, his friends, Jaebum was never the bad kid you guys have made him out to be. Please try to understand that.

I was really upset so I went out drinking with my friends. Although I don’t know when we’ll meet again, Jaebum will always been in our hearts, the guy always running towards his dreams. That is Jaebum.

I really wish that everyone wouldn’t hate him and try to understand that Jaebum was indeed really lonely in another country but he worked hard and did his best to fit in.

Even a guy would be jealous of this cool guy Jaebum.
Jaebum, I wish you would rise from this incident and become an even greater person

#2 Posted on Hottest fancafe

Hello. I’m Jaebum’s classmate from school.
Firstly, I would like to tell everyone what kind of life Jaebum led.
Jaebum transferred into our school during the third year of high school.
He wasn’t special, looked like any other student and we heard that he came to be a trainee in JYP after receiving a phone call in America. He couldn’t adapt to the Korean way of life then and his Korean wasn’t good.
At first, he was having trouble adapting and liked being by himself.
As time passed, he made friends and played basketball with him and was a friend that loved exercise period the most.
But away from his friends and family, after leaving his friends who danced and played with him to come here, he passed his trainee life in loneliness.

I remember he always had a lot of things to prepare, studied music diligently, was always writing rap lyrics and building his body. When we said “Let’s go eat lunch” during lunch time, he would say he was fine and only ate protein.
Although life was tough for him, he would celebrate our birthdays with us and come together to play basketball with us. This was his high school life. After graduating, going out into society and entering university, I was proud when I finally saw him performing on TV with a group called 2PM. I heard that he worked really hard to get the first album out. Not just Jaebum but the whole JYP family worked hard. Soon, the second album came out and he was really busy. We had a school gathering somewhere during album promotions and ate together. When I saw Jaebum again, he was more cheerful and more confident than before, which was really great. He told us Boom-hyung treated him well, was nice and how he liked him.

So just when I was thinking that he looked like he was doing fine, news surfaced about the criticism he was getting because of the words he typed on his myspace page and in a short moment, everything Jaebum worked hard for collapsed.
I called him, told him not to worry too much, but after 2 days, he announced he was leaving. I was really worried so I called him and he said he was already at the airport and leaving for America. When I asked if he was coming back, he said “How do I come back when the people here hate me so much?”

I was upset that I couldn’t do anything as Jaebum’s friend and had to send him of like that… He left on the 6:30 plane. I hope Jaebum will have a good time with his family in America, and fulfil the dreams that he was intent on fulfilling, even in America.
Thank you for the many people how showed love to my friend Jaebum during this period.

Jaebum-ah, cheer up!

#3 2PM’s gallery

Although it’s amusing that I’m writing a message in such a place when I’m so old I didn’t know any other fancafes besides this one so I’m leaving a message here. I’m Jaebum’s high school friend Seo JaeHyeok (I can’t reveal my school, right?)

Actually, we weren’t really friends. I only ever studied when I was in high school..being prudent. I’m now a university student, and because I’ve been preparing for my examinations, I don’t really use the internet but I’m using it now because of the news Jaebum….just thinking about this whole thing as a classmate in his high school gets me frustrated. I would like to share something I know about Jaebum and hopefully it’ll help everyone look at him differently.

Being prudent/cautious, I haven’t got many friends, and only cared about my studies. But because my friends were really nice in high school, I never felt lonely. Jaebum was really nice to me too. During the English assessment, everyone will pair off with their good friends but when I didn’t have a partner, I’ll was just practicing by myself in the school’s office during English period when Jaebum came and offered to be my partner (Please don’t misunderstand. Jaebum was a diligent student even in school. He wasn’t a student that used his trainee status as an excuse to skip school).

And. When he got his Korean ID card, he was so proud of it. (When I used the term ‘Korean ID card’, I confused many of you… it wasn’t really a Korean ID card, more of a domestic residence card for overseas Koreans..but Jaebum kept calling it his Korean ID card so I wrote it as that.. It wasn’t a Korean ID card…but it really looked like one..) He put his Korean ID card (domestic residence card) in his wallet where it could be most clearly seen.

I don’t have a way with words so I can’t really write the things I want to say about Jaebum down. Such a pity.. Although it’s been a long time since we last contacted each other As a person who knows how much Jaebum had to go through to become a singer, I feel really sad. I wish he’ll come back cheerfully

Thank you for reading this at such a late time.

#4

I’m Jaebum’s classmate during his third year of high school. I’m writing this not to cover up for the words he wrote on an online community nor am I rationalizing his behavior. I would just like to give everyone a little more understanding to Jaebum as a person and cheer Jaebum on.

When Jaebum first transferred to our school, he looked like those characters you’ll see in a manhwa and gave off a cold image with his thick eyebrows, single eyelids, wide eyes and fair skin. Although he was short, his firm body and solid muscles made him the envy of the boys in our class. When we asked why he came to Korea, he said he was a trainee in JYP and dreamt of becoming a singer.

Jaebum wasn’t ashamed of those words, and during lesson time or break time, I often saw him writing rap lyrics, humming songs, practicing raps and beatboxing. He would train too late at night yet come to school on time and he would never reveal how tired he was or what a hard time he was going through. I don’t know whether it was because he couldn’t fit in yet or because he felt like doing it but Jaebum didn’t eat much during lunch period. One day, when everyone was going off to eat during lunch period, Jaebum was doing pushups while listening to music and I noticed a crumpled notebook open in his bag. He wrote Park Jaebum in his broken hangul and in round brackets, wrote Jay Park. I realized then, that he missed America a lot. Yet it is heartwarming when I see him writing his name in Korean and his awkward Korean.

Although the Korean he wrote in his notebook had bad grammar, he wrote quite a lot of rap lyrics. Jaebum was a thorough kid, he never slacked off during training and trained himself well. If he ever made a mistake, he would reproach himself and get all guilt ridden. I cheered him on when he debuted as 2PM’s leader although we were never that close. I have never thought that he wasn’t qualified to be their leader.

Sometimes he would show everyone his B-Boy skills during break time, or he would just burst into rap or beatboxing in school. When I see that I wonder how long he practiced to do all this things so naturally. And the huge blisters on his hands are the scars of the tough training he underwent. Jaebum was especially sensitive to the mistakes that he made so I have an inkling of how he must have felt when this whole thing blew up. To this kid who still doesn’t know Korean culture very well suddenly becoming a hot issue on the internet, where countless of reports and rumours are written about him, showing the bad side of the netizens and how Koreans blow things up, he must have been really guilt ridden about this whole issue, afraid that he will ruin 2PM’s image, afraid that it might leave scars on the 2PM members who were as precious to him as life itself. I can imagine the fear that kept piling up within him the past few days. That’s why he left the 2PM members whom he loved and treasured like life itself.

Jaebum sometimes talked about his younger brother (Jaehan?..I can’t remember his name) but he didn’t go into details so I’m not sure but whenever it was his brother’s birthday, he would write a letter with some scribbling/drawings. Even when he joined university, the place Jaebum would go back to on days like his brother’s birthday wouldn’t be the loving arms of his family but to the practice room or the lonely hostel. Throughout all these, Jaebum never showed how tired or discontent he was so when news of him criticizing Korea came out, I was shocked.

Whenever he wrote his name on books or things he never wrote “Jay” but ‘Park Jaebum’ in his awkward handwriting. When I think of the cheerful Jaebum in high school now, I get really upset and frustrated. I will always support Jaebum. Although I don’t approve of the things Jaebum wrote on the online community, I do believe that Jaebum’s attitude towards Korea has improved. When Jaebum returns, I’ll meet him in the airport smilingly.

Whether you criticize or not it’s up to your own opinion. You might think it’s wrong for me to speak up but everyone, you have hurt his friends too with the words you typed so lightly. I know that you’ve also criticized 2PM’s fans, Wooyoung and his classmates for covering up for his crimes (although I hate to use such a word to describe it). But if your own friend was suffering in this situation would you just stand back? Of course I’m not praising Jaebum for what he did, but as a friend, and as someone who knows that Jaebum isn’t like that, shouldn’t I cheer him on? Do you just keep quiet, not defending a friend when he’s in trouble?

What I’m most afraid of is that Jaebum, who has begun to like Korea, now leaves with an even worse impression of Korea than before. You can say anything you want about what I wrote but I won’t delete this message. I hope Jaebum would cheer up and come back as 2PM’s leader once again showing everyone your cheerful smile.

Source: Bestiz
Translations: Sparkskey