Seventeen Preferences & Scenarios

3 Years With Seventeen

So... it's been three years since our shining diamonds debuted.

Humour me for a bit, and let me talk about what Seventeen means to me.

They're not the first k-pop group I discovered, nor even the second or third, but somehow they ended up meaning the most to me. With Seventeen, I felt genuinely loved for the first time in my life. They have no obligation to love me, yet they do, with all their hearts. You can tell they love every one of their Carats with everything they do.

I've only been in the fandom since this past July (the 12th, to be exact), a few weeks before — wouldn't you know it — my seventeenth birthday. However, it took a matter of only a month for me to learn how amazing they were to the point of writing and publishing fanfiction.

In February, they released Thanks — here are my thanks to Seventeen.

To the group as a whole: thank you for being here for me. Thank you for giving me hope and joy and inspiration in everything from wanting to audition with Pledis to writing little drabbles of fics. Thank you so much for making me feel loved. Thank you, thank you, for persevering through the hardest of times and yet never giving up.

To Seungcheol: thank you for being such a fantastic leader. Thank you for looking after the boys, for never giving up on them. Thank you for your love for Carats. You have so much love for them, I always tell people "he's totally in love with Carats — he doesn't just love them, he's in love with them." Thank you, for going from the young boy who hid from his friends because he didn't want to lose face for skipping a ball game, to the strong, wise and caring leader of twelve crazy boys who have so much love and energy to give. I can't imagine how hard your life was, with so many years in training and waiting so long to debut, but thank you for continuing even when it was hard. Thank you for your smile, for your laugh, for your huge dimples and your cute, enormous eyes. I hope you have many more years of joy in the future; and remember to eat well!

To Jeonghan: thank you for being our loving angel. Thank you for taking on the role of the "mom" on top of the stress of idol life, for taking the boys under your wing and caring for every one of them. Thank you for your hard work in improving every aspect of your performance — your dance and vocals have improved so much since debut, I'm so proud of you! Thank you for integrating yourself so easily into the group, even though you were one of the last few to enter. I know the burden of being the second oldest must be large, but you carry it effortlessly and seem to enjoy it. Thank you for everything you do, from your teasing way of looking after the boys to your sweet habit of buying them socks! I hope you get to take lots of naps in the coming year, and are always happy; remember to look after yourself well!

To Joshua: thank you, our not-so-gentlemanly gentleman. Thank you, first and foremost, for inspiring me, one of my greatest inspirations, not just in the group but the whole k-pop industry. Thank you for making me believe that a 17-year-old Christian kid from Southern California could become a k-pop idol. Thank you for being our silly, unashamed goofball, for your hilariously embarrassing poems and all your jokes and teasing, for the bent of silent mischief you add to the group dynamic. Thank you from going from "a smiling kid with a guitar bigger than him" to our lovable, loving, gentle Shua, our dear gentleman and yet our crazy, embarrassing, beautiful jokester. Thank you so, so much for everything you do, for looking out for everyone in your own quirky way. You've improved so much, and I hope you continue to improve in everything you do; and remember to eat lots and be happy!

To Jun: thank you for being our first "den mother". Even though you struggled with being a trainee in a foreign country, you took the role of caretaker so easily, looking after all the boys in your quiet way and making sure they ate before going to school. Thank you for your perseverance in this unfamiliar place, for your determination to learn Korean well. Thank you for working so hard that you, who had only done acting, martial arts, and piano, were placed in the Performance Unit with three experienced dancers, and made yourself a standout in their dynamic without taking away from the others. Thank you for your quiet, adorable sense of humour. Thank you, thank you, for sharing your sweet personality with us, your shyness and awkwardness and yet your flirty habits and boundless confidence in your looks, our sweet little visual. I hope you get to visit your family a lot; and always know that Carats and Seventeen love you!