Byeon Woo-seok in Singapore: Fans charmed by Lovely Runner star but upset with lapses at fanmeet

It was a roller coaster of emotions for Singapore fans and those who arrived from overseas just to meet South Korean actor Byeon Woo-seok at his Summer Letter fanmeet, held yesterday (June 30) at the Singapore Expo.

While Tong Tongs (name for his fans) had to wait for close to an hour beyond the stated starting time of 6pm, the 32-year old certainly did not disappoint when he took to the stage.

He kickstarted his fanmeet with the upbeat song Loveholic, from the Lovely Runner soundtrack, and cheers erupted from the audience.

Greeting his fans in Korean, which was translated by an interpreter, Woo-seok said: “I’ve been waiting for so long [for the fanmeet] and I’m really excited to meet all of you.”

He added that it was his first time visiting Singapore and had a good experience so far.

“Yesterday, I had the opportunity to have a little outing and I found the country to be so beautiful, to the point that it really made me think, I want to come back again,” he said, as Tong Tongs screamed with happiness.

A video posted on TikTok by a fan showed him at Marina Bay Sands the night before the fanmeet.

In Lovely Runner, Woo-seok played singer-actor Ryu Sun-jae with actress Kim Hye-yoon playing his love interest Im Sol.

In the first segment All Times of Sun-jae, Woo-seok recreated iconic scenes from the drama with three lucky fans, including the one where Sun-jae held an umbrella for a crying Im Sol, another where both of them were in a photo booth and Sun-jae posed with a hand heart on Im Sol’s cheeks, and a scene where Sun-jae placed two cups against Im Sol’s face.

One of the fans almost cried on stage from happiness and nervousness, and Woo-seok also took selfies with each of them on his own mobile phone.

Crying at fans’ touching gesture

While everyone had a good laugh during this segment, it soon became sentimental when a compilation of video and written messages from Singapore Tong Tongs was shown on screen.

As fans expressed their love and appreciation for him, hoping that he would take good care of himself, Woo-seok cried.

Fans screamed in Korean, telling him not to cry. They also sang the chorus of Sudden Shower (also known as Sonagi) from the Lovely Runner soundtrack, originally sung by Woo-seok, expressing that he is a “gift” and a “precious person” to them.

“It was an unexpected timing,” Woo-seok said in tears, while fans laughed.

Expressing his appreciation to them, he said: “I absolutely have no idea that you will prepare this lovely surprise at this most unexpected moment… I am getting so much positive energy from all of you and I hope the same for everyone here.”

‘The most important part of a great trip is having good food’

Fans also got to know Woo-seok better through the Taste Balance game. When asked to choose between not being able to take photos at Marina Bay Sands’ Infinity Pool and not being able to eat chilli crab, he chose the former, as he really wanted to try the local signature dish.

He added: “The most important part of a great trip is having good food.”

As the host teased that the road to Woo-seok’s heart is through good food, a fan sitting in front of this reporter screamed: “I can cook!”

He was also asked to choose between having a 100 per cent chance of winning 5 million won and a 10 per cent chance of getting 10 billion won in the lottery, and he chose the latter.

“I would buy a house and make sure I take good care of my family. I will also save about half of it. I am happy just thinking about it,” Woo-seok laughed when asked what he would do if he had the money.

Towards the end of the fanmeet, he also sang I Think I Did from the Lovely Runner soundtrack.

After that, the lights dimmed with Woo-seok’s voiceover playing on stage, expressing his love for Tong Tongs and thanking them for coming to see him. Some fans thought it was the end of the fanmeet.

As they shouted for an encore, Woo-seok returned to the stage again for his final act, singing the much anticipated song Sudden Shower.

Fans held up small yellow umbrellas, similar to the one Im Sol held over Sun-jae in Lovely Runner, which was distributed by his Singapore fan club before the start of the fanmeet.

After spending about 1.5 hours with Woo-seok, Tong Tongs reluctantly bid farewell to him.

Tong Tongs felt ‘short-changed’

While they were charmed by Woo-seok’s good looks and affable personality on stage, fans also directed multiple criticisms at the event organisers online.

One of the most widely discussed issues was the event duration.

In a Telegram chat for the fanmeet, fans felt that they were “short-changed” because the fanmeet started late and they were not compensated for their time.

Woo-seok’s fanmeet held in Jakarta on June 28 was also reportedly longer, lasting about two hours.

Similar discussions were also held on X, where they felt all the activities were done in a “rush”.

Some fans claimed that the one-hour delay was due to the long queues for the wristband collection, which resulted in some not being able to enter the venue on time. In addition, the collection timing was also changed from 10.30am to after 11am, stopping for a break at 2pm and resuming at 3.30pm.

A fan shared that they reportedly queued for 1.5 hours for the wristband.

When AsiaOne reached Singapore Expo at 4.30pm, hundreds of fans formed a snaking queue, all the way from inside Hall 3A, where the fanmeet was held, to Hall 5.

Fans were also unhappy with the crowd control at the end of the fanmeet, where they were told to form two lines to exit the hall and say their goodbye to Woo-seok in person.

Those who went out first realised that Woo-seok stood in a corner on their left and it was hard to have any interaction with him as they were told to move along quickly.

One of them wrote: “What’s the point of being so strict when Woo-seok himself is probably super cool with fans taking pictures and videos of him?”

With these issues, fans hoped that Woo-seok still had a good time in Singapore.