Producer Kang Na Rae of tvN's 'The Ultimate Watchlist of Latest Trends', Coupang Play's 'SNL Korea', and more took to her Instagram to recall memories of the late ASTRO member Moonbin in a series of deeply personal, moving posts.
Sharing numerous photos of Moonbin and fellow 'The Ultimate Watchlist' crew members, the PD wrote the following series of messages, which you can read below.
"I'll come back and see you soon!"
"It's so funny looking back on those days when you were so obviously my favorite, I called you my 'muse'."
"I quickly got out of the frame and told you guys to take one with just the celebrities, but now I wished I was in the picture too."
"The day we filmed 'Baby (Get In The Car)'. I was hell bent on making your name famous, and I actually made it happen that day."
(Moonbin's hilarious parodies of Rain's "Baby" received much love from viewers of 'The Ultimate Watchlist' and went on to become viral.)
"I was so happy to have given you good results."
"The press conference for season 2. Hyuk Soo and I were blabbing away poking fun at Moonbin, when Bin suddenly asked me for a handshake. I asked, 'What's this for?', and he said, ''The Ultimate Watchlist' was a turning point in my life. I wanted to tell you 'Thank you,' no matter what'. I said back, 'What's this? Are you dissing me right now because I make you do weird stuff on the show;'. He said back, 'I really mean it keke. PD-nim, you're my savior'. I said, 'Aw, you're being too much'. - The day that Kang Na Rae won the prize money -."
"There are days when instead of kindly explaining the scene to the director and the crew members, I just start barking out directions without warning. This day was that kind of day. We filmed the cafe scene. Binnie was already exhausted from another schedule the day before, but I spoke to him harshly. He said to me then, 'I trust you, PD-nim. Know that I trust you'. He was already my 'muse' whom I cherished and adored, but to have him tell me that, those words lingered in my head all day that day. I'd always had affection toward my 'muses', but not necessarily responsibility. This day, I also gained responsibility."
"The day I went and bought everything that my 'muses' liked and brought it all to the studio to 'care emotionally' for the crew. I succeeded in lifting up the tension in the studio from way low to sky high."
"Kekekeke it's a freaking mess but I really love this photo. I miss it."
"The last scene filmed in the studio. That day, Binnie saw me and Lee Sae Young busily packing up the leftover food that was used as props to take home, and he joined us. But once I got home, my stomach was so upset, and the next filming I remember asking him if his butthole was okay."
"Basically me saying 'Act like you all listen to me carefully all the time because I need to act like I'm capable. This set is hella expensive'."
"I was at Hyuk Soo's store and Binnie came by. When I asked him, 'You wanna eat? You hungry?', he said he'll eat if there's something to eat. I was going to cook him instant ramen but the stove wasn't working so I put the pot in the pizza oven to boil the water. He definitely said he ate before he came, but he attacked the bowl like a high school kid rushing to eat his lunch after playing soccer for most of lunchtime. I remember watching you eat like that for a good minute. And that day, you told me your story for the first time since we met. This is the day that I want to go back to most of all the days I spent with you."
"The day I called him back to be on 'SNL'. In my gladness and immaturity, I bumped you in the shoulder, acting confident as I said, 'Things are different on this show than on 'The Ultimate Watchlist'. I won't make you do anything weird'. But for your first scene you looked way too handsome, so I ordered someone to give you a dumb-looking hair part."
"What really makes me sad is that I don't have a single photo of just him and me. I always thought, 'There will be another opportunity later~!', and never took one, and just brought my phone out whenever I made you look funny. I should have given you cooler scenes."
"I'll come visit you again tomorrow, with that beaten up guy next to you. Goodnight."
Moonbin was a fixed cast member of tvN's 'The Ultimate Watchlist' season 1 and 2 from October of 2018 through December of 2019, having worked closely with not only Kang Na Rae PD but Kwon Hyuk Soo, Kim Min Kyo, Lee Sae Young, Ji Ye Eun, and more.
You can really tell just how much the PD cared for him... And the regret that they didn't take more photos together.... There something we can learn from this...