http://www.smlounge.co.kr/grazia/article/28431
You went to Africa with your Ssangmundong friends recently through Youth Over Flowers?
“I saw the horizon for the first time in my life. Seeing the sun set towards a horizon that had the fields and sky as it is naturally without any obstructions like power lines or buildings was overwhelming. I wouldn’t get bored even if I saw that every single day.”
How were the members that you went with? You all had your roles - Didn’t you Go Cashier-nim?
“Joonyeol Hyung could communicate well, so he was in the forefront throughout the trip. Since Jaehong Hyung likes to eat delicious food, he has his firm opinions about cooking. And Maknae Bogumie really went through a lot. He even slept awkwardly in order to be considerate towards his hyungs. There must have been a lot of uncomfortable things for him.
Why did you volunteer to be the treasurer?
“The reason I spilt the money at the beginning was in order to allow the hyungs to spend their money without any burdens. Honestly, I had no thoughts of spending money. I was planning on distributing my money to them when we gathered our money together later on. But the Hyungs said, “I know your intentions, but if you don’t eat and don’t spend, us Hyungs will be uncomfortable too and won’t be able to spend either”, and there were various other problems, so I said I’d take care of it.”
So you managed the money throughout the trip?
“They said that I managed the money the best of all the YOF casts.”
Did you have more left over than the Iceland boys?
“No, there was no reason to have left over. We did everything our budget could allow. Jaehong Hyung would always say that we have to eat breakfast, so we’d skip a meal. He’d secretly bring breakfast, so we’d eat it as brunch. For dinner, we’d go grocery shopping and cook.”
You could feel the great chemistry between the members.
“Honestly, YOF isn’t a program where you acts as a tour guide. But the people who are watching could think, “Ah, so you can have that kind of vacation on that budget”, so I didn’t want to take any shortcuts. Although I did get a bit stressed thinking that it’d be great if we could go on a vacation honestly and have the viewers enjoy it as well.”
What’s the place that you remember the most?
“There’s a place called ‘Pan’ in the Etosha National Park. It was originally a lake, but it dried up. You can see forests far back, and other than the road we took to get there, you couldn’t see anything else. There wasn’t even soil - that’s how dried up and dead that land was. But I loved it so much, to the point of wanting to lie there if I were to die in Africa.”
Why did you say you missed Bora after seeing the sunset?
“That was a joke. Since we went as soon as the AM1988 reward trip was over, whether it was the actors or the viewers, everyone still had lingering thoughts of the show on their minds. So in order to comfort those thoughts for those watching YOF, I made a joke. Because of that, I even bought a purple top. However small, I wanted to repay the people who loved Sunwoo and Bora.”
Seeing you cry, you must have had a hard time.
“I think I was fully deserving of criticism for the things that I did. I wanted to personally apologize to the people that got hurt from the mistakes that I made. But thankfully Yoo Byungjae Sunbaenim called me first. He said, “If you work as a celebrity, incidents spring up here and there. Since the person that’s having the hardest time right now is Kyungpyo-sshi, don’t feel sorry. First, pull yourself together”. I was so thankful and apologetic.”
It isn’t easy to pull yourself together in order to get over something like that.
“I think that that was just how wrong I was. For something like a rumour that I’m a ilbe, it’s absolutely ridiculous. Since I’m not, I could stand tall. But for this, I think it’s a given that there are people who criticize me because they can’t forgive me. I have to take responsibility for the things that I did.”
To go on a vacation after getting over a difficult incident - is it something different?
“All the emotions that I forcefully held in before going all exploded in Africa. At that time, I didn’t even think that it was a show, and I told the Hyungs all about my situation while crying. I gained courage while receiving comfort and thinking, “Let’s not have a hard time. It’s fine as long as I acknowledge, reflect on and correct my mistakes. There’s not need for me to collapse here”. I’m not shaken now.”
So it was a vacation where we could see the true nature of Go Kyungpyo The Person?
“I’m so thankful to the people that kidnapped us and allowed us to go to Africa. Honestly, after going to Phuket, I was going to go an a vacation, but now there’s no reason to. I organized my thoughts and heart through the Africa vacation. For that reason, the Africa trip became a vacation that I can’t ever and shouldn’t ever forget.”
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