A heavy day

September 18 2023, FNC made an official announcement that SF9 will continue with 8 members without Rowoon. In other words, Rowoon has officially left SF9 and going solo.

FNC’s announcement was rather vague, but nonetheless, we get the message. At this point in time, my heart does feel a tad heavy even though I knew it was coming. Rowoon hasn’t actively participated in SF9 activities for a while. It was telling. Fantasy and his diehard stans would know more than I do.

Is this why Rowoon said in the interview that a year ago he was going through some tough times? We can only speculate. It’s definitely not an easy choice to make, and this is already considered a really late announcement but a necessary one if his back injury won’t ever healed. It has been prominent that he couldn’t dance as well and forceful as he used to be. But health must always comes first.

There have been all sorts of posts and comments online today. I do not wish to add mine on social media. I wish Rowoon is either with his family or friends today, or he’s so busy with filming that he isn’t looking at the internet. It’s maddening that Knetizens still leave so many negative, bad comments about this announcement and Rowoon’s letter to Fantasy.

We all know being a trainee and an idol has never been an easier path to take, yet people so easily hide behind the internet and write so much hurtful things. All idols, including Rowoon has put in many years of sweat and hard work.

I first knew of Rowoon as an actor, but as I looked into all of his past video clips as an idol, I was really surprised he was really good as an idol too. He isn’t the best singer out of the KPOP world, but he can definitely sing and dance. To me, he is an all-rounder kind of performer. I enjoyed him as an actor a lot, but when he is performing on stage as a singer, he has another kind of charm and I’m sad I won’t ever see this side of Rowoon again.