Crushing so hard on Lee Hyuk right now. I fell in love with his singing and more recently, his nice looks. But I read about his past and almost started crying.

Lee Hyuk had an accident when he was younger and lost almost two-thirds of his tongue. His pronunciation was messed up as a result and it didn’t seem likely that he would be able to be a singer, but that only intensified his dream of becoming one. His classmates made fun of him. One of the worst things that was said to him was “I don’t like it when Lee Hyuk sings ballads”, because he couldn’t pronounce “saranghae” (I love you) very well. He remembers confessing to a girl and saying “saganghae” instead, and she laughed at him. Since then, he only confesses his love through letters.

One day, when he was 20 if I remember correctly, he got the news at work that his father got injured in a car accident. He didn’t think much of it and came home. He sensed that something was off when he was at his door - everyone inside was crying. His father had passed away. He saw his father’s journal afterwards - there it was written how much he had wanted to become a musician but couldn’t because of his family’s financial situation. His father had opposed Lee Hyuk’s desire to become a musician, but Hyuk persisted had promised his father just days before he had died that he would become a singer, that he would become successful with his own strength. From then on, Lee Hyuk gave music his all, practicing for hours to overcome his tongue problem and playing the guitar like a madman, all the while thinking of his father.

He released the single <Father> in 2009 in memory of his father. After reading about the singer, I can’t listen to it without getting emotional anymore.

Keep at it man, you’re amazing.