Meeting Taeyeon's parents at Eyebis in Jeonju.

[FAN ACCOUNT]

After eating Jeonju's famous bibimbap, 4 of us, Jennie (@djjenniee), Dee (@diana_truong), Andrew (@TaenDrew), and I went to visit Taeyeon's parents' eyeglass store. Apart from seeing the shrine agian, since Jennie wanted a pair of glasses, it gave us an excuse to go haha When we first arrived, the shop was fairly quiet with only two of its workers there, both which I had seen during my first visit. Then while we were looking at glasses frames, a really pretty lady walked through the doors. In my mind, I was already getting excited at the possibility of her being Taeyeon's mom. Then one of my friends who had met her before told me that it was Taeyeon's mom. We then noticed her dad who had magically appeared behind the counter. After exchanging a short greeting (a smile, a bow and hello), we continued looking at frames. Finally after picking out on that she liked, Taeyeon's umma came out to help Jennie with her contacts and an eye exam. While we were waiting for the glasses, another group of guys came into the store. It was funny because we had seen them at the bibimbap restaurant at the table next to us, and it just so happens that they were always Soshi fans. Such a small world haha xD One of the guys seemed to be a regular visitor of the shop as Taeyeon's parents both seemed to know him pretty well and greeted him like an old friend. The other two were J-Sones, probably travelling Korea and stopping by the infamous shrine. I noticed that Taeyeon's mom had really pretty nails and wanted to ask if Taeyeon had done them for her When she didn't look too busy, I asked Andrew if he could ask her for me since my Korean is so poor >< Taeyeon's mom laughed and told us that Taeyeon didn't paint them for her this time. We talked about Taeyeon's IG and how she's modeled her fingers in a few of the pictures. Taeyeon's mom told us that her daughter was very good at painting nails. We all agreed and told her that she had very pretty fingers too haha
Later, Taeyeon's umma came out with a tray of ice cream bars and handed them to us. Her hospitality was beyond fantastic, and we could only return her kindness through warm smiles and endless thank yous. While we were eating, I couldn't help but to ask about Ginger, and how he was doing with the recent vet visits. Taeyeon's mom told us that he's doing really well, but he got sick because of eating a plant in the house. Ginger had to go to the vet's regularly for about a month and get IV because he was really sick and threw up many times. Fortunately he's fully healthy again (: Taeyeon's mom then told us how much Taeyeon loved Ginger, and jokingly said that when she comes home from Seoul, it's to see the dog more than the humans (her family). But since she's been so busy recently, Taeyeon hasn't had much time to go home.
Finally, Jennie's glasses are ready and made (sooo fast!), and we went to look around in the shrine. After writing in the message book, the four of us just chilled around and watched TV haha. Around 5:00pm, we decided that we should start heading back soon, but as we got up, Taeyeon's mom came out from the backroom with a tray full of ricecakes and flower tea. There is no way we could refuse her hospitality, and backtracked our way to the shrine again haha She asked us if we were in a rush, but we all told her that we had time. She is seriously so generous and warmhearted as she worried that we would miss the train/bus. We reassured her that it would be okay. About half an hour later, it was really time to go. Taeyeon's mom came to see us out and told us we really should get going if we wanted to catch the 6:30pm train back to Seoul. Taeyeon's dad also came and urged us to leave because of traffic. Since they both worried that we would be running late, Taeyeon's mom helped us call a taxi and even walked us all the way into the car. As we filed into the car, we couldn't stop thanking her for everything she had done for us, and promised her that we would be back again to visit soon.
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Honestly, this experience was beyond wonderful. I really think myself as lucky to be part of such an amazing fandom where not only the artists, but their family members, are also so grateful for the support we give to the girls. After today, I think I understand Taeyeon a bit more as well. Having such warm and loving parents, no wonder this kid is full of smiles and always shares such wonderful energy wherever she goes. During these few hours at the eyeglass store, I think all of us were deeply touched by Taeyeon's parents' kindness, and we left Jeonju in very high spirits.
cr: @FrozenArctic