Look who’s back! Though with the amount of publicity he’s garnered even while he was away, I honestly never felt like Hallyu super-star Rain was in the army for the last 20 months. Today was the official discharge for Corporal Jung Ji Hoon (aka Rain) and the man was all business even as he finally got to return to civilian life. I don’t blame him for looking stern and reserved, it’s been a crazy 2013 for him that started on New Year’s Day when the Korean tabloid Dispatch published the biggest news break of the year by photographing Kim Tae Hee and Rain out on a date. That sent shock waves for various reasons. The first was disappointment over this relationship since Kim Tae Hee is the national good girl so folks were shocked and dismayed she was dating Rain, thought to be a playboy and/or bad influence on her, except those two are adults in their thirties so why anyone had an opinion is beyond me. Then Rain got in trouble for seeming to get preferential treatment to be off base to date Kim Tae Hee, and for that he received some sort of slap on the wrist. All so silly IMO. This on the heels of Rain’s enlistment already being a media sore subject since he pretty much dragged out his enlistment for years until the very last moment which makes him seem unpatriotic or an emotional draft dodger. Lastly came a scandal unrelated to him except his name got dragged into it, when other celebrity male recruits were photographed going to a sex-trade massage parlor after a performance and while Rain didn’t go he was at the same performance and had dinner with those guys who went. It appears to me that his name is so big that he’s being used to increase the salacious content of even the most innocuous or tangentially-related scandals. No wonder he looks all tense even after his discharge, he’s probably not all that keen to go back to the even more vicious public eye. His fans, however, were dedicated and thrilled to have their oppa back and some even camped out overnight to get the prime spot to welcome him with deafening roars of happiness. I’ve only ever loved Rain in one thing and one thing only – his first drama Sang Doo, Let’s Go To School, a drama on my top-10 list – and that’s enough for him to get my goodwill. Not to mention his dating my new pet project Kim Tae Hee, who has shown me she has grit and genuine talent in Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love, and just needs the right PD and role to help explore it some more. Here’s to hoping this relationship goes the way of Lee Byung Hun and Lee Min Jung, I totally think Rain and Kim Tae Hee are adorable together and would make beautiful babies. Welcome back, Rain!
omo full of ahjummas:D
Haha I had to check the pictures again. You’re right!
HAHAHA!! Best comment ever! 🙂 I love Rain though and I’m not an ahjumma yet. :p
Those fans are legit. I see some international signs from Turkey and the Philippines…
Rain will always be Lee Young Jae to me. However, you just reminded me that I STILL need to watch Sang Doo. But not really for Rain, but Lee Dong Gun and Gong Hyo Jin. So overdue!
haha:D i am not a deep fan but i appreciate Rain:D btw i am from Turkey too:D really surprised that there were Turkish fans:D LOL
Sang dong is also on my list but like I am sorry i love you i cant watch it for some reason 🙁 oh the saddening factor for a possible sad ending affects big, i might say:D
Love him ! Welcome back
lol those fans do not give a crap about his military scandal.
Welcome back rain.. Cloud is daebak! Always support him…
Can wait to see his next project and his relationship with kim tae hee.
Always remember Sang Doo – Rain crying and cutting daughter’s hair. He can act. He can dance. The rest is his personal business.
So glad you’re back, baby. Now take off that uniform and let me see those Abs.
Loved him in Full House and Fugitive Plan B…..he is seriously a good actor and so adorable!!
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As talented as I think he is, I understand why the whole military thing is a huge issue. The 21 months that the typical Korean male spends during service are painful, stressful, morale-destroying and depressing. So to see him spend an average of 1 in 3 days off base looking like he’s having the time of his life must be infuriating to those who either went through it or had a loved one suffer for almost 2 years.
Although I think it’s the fault of the military system as a whole that lets celebrities get away with it, it’s understandable that he gets blame as well since he seems to have abused the system even more than the typical celebrity.
Anyhu, congrats to him for getting discharged but he might want to think very carefully about his next moves to avoid worsening an already sensitive situation.
Thats why i appreciate it when actors choose the non-celebrity base. i heard one is more lenient than the other.
While I am a fan I am still side eyeing him for jumping ship from his own entertainment company, which he sold to JYP, and going to Cube. *smh* I can already imagine all the horror stories MBLAQ is telling Beast beyond what they already know.
Ditto. Although I’m not sure MBLAQ would “betray” their hyung. And look at what this has done to G.O.’s hair. I still can not compute how he willingly and proudly got that hairstyle. 🙁
I’m not really his fan but man I was kind of glad that he wasn’t involved in the massage parlor scandal. Because hey, we just learnt about his relationship with Kim Tae Hee recently, his image will forever be tainted in my eyes.
KTH just earned a soft spot in me after JOJ LIL, she’s a hard working woman and an example that you can always improve if you really love doing sthing, even if it’d take years it’d always be worth it. ^^
I meant ‘his image will forever be tainted in my eyes if he was involved in that scandal.’
도 귀엽다 비가. 사람들이 그를 그렇게까지 미쳐 왜 몰라???
On a totally separate note, imagine what his body is looking like now after 20 months of military service…
Done.
Now I need ice cream.
Thank you ockoala. I hope at the right time, it’s Rain’s turn to confirm the relationship with KTH. Only hoping for the best for the both of them. I love KTH so much so Rain, pls take care of her.