Goguma, Go Gu Ma. It's confusing why people romanticize the idea of a root crop, what we know of as sweet potato in our language, a food that conveys a great meaning for a couple casted in a reality TV show few years ago. What is behind a sweet potato that only fellow yongseo fanatics are capable of treasuring the word so much?
It may be a surprise for those who are not a regular fandom visitors of the KPOP world, but Goguma was not a normal passing trend for us who are living in this so called gochun (goguma village), yes it may seem cray and weird, all I have to say is, I was not this floating inspired butterfly but I made the mistake of opening the door to the goguma village, trapped and could not get out, surprisingly I am happy here, always searching for secret messages to decode , patiently waiting in the ambiguous world of sweet potatoes.I too does not consider myself as one of these so called fanatics before. Where did it all started to struck me? Teenaged I was, so curious about what is in and what is out. Of course I wanted to follow the track, when my cousins introduced me to SNSD (Girl's Generation), they all got their biases. I was left alone with no one as my choice. I mean the first look I had for them was flabbergasted. They were all straight A's for having angelic faces and wonderful body curves. Who am I to look twice to decide whether I should admire the ladies or not. Since then, I posted photos of them in my room and pray every night to look like them. I was a child with these shallow dreams. I wanted to be an SNSD member, I can say that now because it happened a very long time ago. Since then I followed everything GG. Never in my thoughts that I would be attracted to the maknae (youngest) of the group, Seo Juhyun. She was so boring for my taste, too upright, silent and very calm.
I'd always look forward for Yoona, Taeyon, and Yuri who are more dominant in my young years, or so I thought. In my first college years, people are somehow allowed to watch korean drama without being judged as tacky. Maybe because we can watch it, talk about it for some time and get it over our system. I watched a lot of Korean dramas while waiting for my exam answers to go inside my mind. When I say a lot, it ranges from 50 to 100 dramas. Heartstrings is surely a "don't miss" item for the list. There, Yonghwa started capturing my heart. He was extraordinary with the guitars. He exuded some of the most attractive skills of a man in my vocabulary.
I started searching more from him. I found out that he does not only perform music but he makes his own. What can be more melting to a man that has this amazing voice, great guitar skills, charming appearance and a poet. Does it remind you of your first image of a husband to look forward to when you wake up someday. Someone who could look that good and serenade you with his own written songs for you and only for you. I was so engrossed with Yonghwa and almost didn't notice one of the most important show he has made. It caught my attention when it said he was casted with an SNSD member maknae, SeoHyun. I immediately look up to it and found out it was a variety show in a pretend marriage he has done even before Heartstrings . "Seems legit, nothing like it, let us try" just the thoughts for the first time I tried searching for the video links. There I was, enjoying the first episodes. And it was just as I expected from the young SeoHyun, she was too polite, actions are well measured but what was beautiful about her is the innocence that is rarely found today in women. She loved sweet potatoes so much that she and her older snsd sisters created a symbolism out of it, to shout goguma when she finds her husband likeable in their first met up, and that is where the world of Goguma fandom came about. She was so light to see and very cute surprisingly. Though gentle as she is, she somehow managed to quietly mentioned Goguma as she faces her husband to make sure her sisters will receive the message. As for Yonghwa, he was playful, he was making sure that his new met wife would smile once in a while. I got interested to it as days passed contradicting to what the others says that it was too boring. They have not done anything that could ignite idyllic emotions from the audience. I stayed because I got the feeling that there is something going on with this fake marriage, tweeting inside my suspicious brain are the images of two people shy towards each other and might have really liked each other in the process of filming. How on earth could they take their pace so slow when both of them are from the entertainment industry, they ought to be familiar with how to make their audience spaz with joy?
It will not take months for these two unveil a spark. And I was right. When everyone was so frustrated with when are they going to hold hands, we were shocked to see first how Yonghwa conveys the message of a love struck man in the song he made for seohyun : Love Light. He was asked by Seohyun who became so brave in singing the song first as her birthday present for the husband. He knew then why she chose to sing Love Light. She needed to know who the song was dedicated for. Her hopes was right. It was written while Yonghwa thought of her during their filming days. Or maybe even the time in between where they exchanged text messages. They were even blunt to argue why the other lack time to text the other or who gets to text first. It only provided me the speculations that they shared couple moments not only in front of the camera but as well during their personal own time. Love Light was the start of it all, then and there I started to gain the answers to my questions. Yonghwa has created a genuine feeling for his onscreen wife. He even gave out more obvious messages when he made another song for her. Seohyun who is unable to speak informally towards her husband, was the subject of his song, he sang a song that speaks of a man asking for a woman to become closer to him, he created a message of melody that states his desire for a a fake relationship to come true, I WISH WE COULD FALL INLOVE WITH EACH OTHER was one of his lines. Banmal song became one of the most nostalgic number in my playlist ever since. He could only tell it through a song. They were so true that it made him fear his own actions to be shown in the small screen nation wide. As for Seohyun, I noticed her slowly changing from this very meticulous girl, calculating her and his actions to a girl who became fearless in slowly showing affection to her husband. It was not a fake marriage stage they have portrayed but a true courtship period. Through time we observed how they grew fondly of becoming jealous or questioning why she or he is this and that. They have become true lovers in a show that was meant to be unreal. Though the last episode was tempting to watch, I departed myself from the goguma world before I could click the last play button. Maybe it get me to a point of exaggeration but I was not honestly in the mood of crying that day. I was certain that I would shed tears when Yongseo would finally close the red curtains. I avoided GoGuma for years, and finally accumulated the courage to end it after two years. As expected, I cried. Who would have not, when all Yonghwa did was send off Seohyun in the most magical way, it was closest to a fairytale every girl would have wanted. They reenact their first meeting while holding hands and they did the most unexpected from each other. Seohyun has modified the lyrics of Banmal song to speak informally towards her husband and even added a line that says "I CAN FINALLY LOOK INTO YOUR EYES AND TELL YOU I LOVE YOU", some of the rarest moments of the Seohyun vocabulary, to see a girl transforms from this young child who refuses to kiss or like a guy on screen to a woman who is slowly revealing her emotions is a blue moon moment. She was now brave enough to confess. Who would have not reciprocate Yonghwa's way of saying I love you. He led her wife to his car and requested her to open the trunk for him, there lay balloons and a bouquet of flowers with him saying "Please accept my heart", there was no response from a shocked Seohyun for there was still one last surprise that left her half crying for joy, a pink guitar that she has always wanted ever since she exerted interest in learning the craft that his husband also loves. She was so grateful and was speechless. She was brought home in a cold winter night kept warm by holding her husband's hand. They bid goodbye countless times, knowing that they both still do not want to end it there. And as she enters the lobby of her dorm she looked back, paused and ran outside again to hug him. It broke my heart into million pieces. I wished it could just stay just as it is, the two of them hugging each other.
For those who were gravely affected by yongseo, I send out my comfort. Yongseo is a painting masterpiece that was undone. It misses the last color to be painted on. It can't be shown off in the gallery because the last color was nowhere to be found. Yongseo was a test question left unanswered, you didn't get the correct answer and you never heard of the correct answer since. It was always a speculation that gathered specks of evidences through time but was not strong enough to be stated as a theory. Now as I look at the aftermath, there was no confirmation of a picturesque love story but we refuse to end it. Gogumas are all over the world hoping for a good ending from a novel they beautifully started. Up to this date all I can do is be observant, these two gave out some hidden messages through wearing the same jewelries, same shirts, same caps and even learned each other's favorite musical instruments. And as Yonghwa produced more songs, the puzzle is slowly being made whole. Listening to his music is like reading the missing pages of the yongseo story. Good thing he is a composer, his songs tells the truth for him. Since the kind of industry they are in prohibits them to have a public relationship, all the gogumas can do is decode these hidden messages and imagine the two of them in a date holding hands just like before. I do not know why I have so much faith in this couple, the more the years has been added, the more distant they may seem on cam, the more I believe that in between these estranged treatments they gave each other , the more proofs they had installed upon the delusions after the show has been wrapped up, they will be wrapped up around each other's arms or so I dream.
The images are not originally mine. I just screen grabbed it from the owners. Thanks to instagram
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