Ji Chang-wook walked onto the stage and sang “Do You Believe in Magic?” — delighting the audience at his fan meet on 6 November at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
It was the South Korean actor debut appearance in Manila, organized by retail brand Bench, which had tapped the Hallyu star as a product ambassador.
The event, dubbed Reach You — which had previously been postponed due to the pandemic — was marked by heart-pounding excitement and thousands of chanting voices of fans who were one in saying it was worth the wait.
“Kamusta? Ako po si Ji Chang-wook,” the 35-year-old celebrity began his spiel, with program host Sam Oh joining him onstage.
A video screen showed clips from his TV series and movies.
Ji dutifully replied to questions including his thoughts about celebrating his 14th year as an actor.
Lucky fans got the chance to join him onstage and playact, reenacting, for instance, the steamy umbrella scene in K2 and the motorcycle sequence in Backstreet Rookie.
Ji proceeded to sing tracks such as “Kissing You” on the drama 7 First Kisses and “To the Butterfly” on Empress Ki. His vocals had passion and emotion.
He demonstrated loyalty to Filo Wookies in his encore number, “I’ll Protect You” from Healer, which gave a sense of intimacy in the humongous arena.
His closing spiels, no matter if scripted, surely melted the hearts of fans: “I was very excited on the way to meet you for the first time, how about you? It’s the distance between Seoul and Manila, but your heart always reaches me. Did my heart reach you today? Thank you always for staying with me.”