Jaejoong's heartfelt childhood story has moved audiences after it was revealed on KBS2’s 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant.'  

The episode that aired on March 28 featured Jaejoong reminiscing about his past with his parents as they looked through old photo albums together. While flipping through kindergarten photos, Jaejoong spotted a childhood crush, prompting his mother to tease him. "Was she your first kiss? The first girl you pecked?" she joked. 

Laughing, Jaejoong denied it, saying, "What kind of kid kisses in kindergarten? I just had a crush on her, so I sat next to her." Looking into the camera, he playfully addressed his childhood crush, saying, "Sookyum, how have you been? I wonder if you got married and are living happily. This is how I'm doing." His mother humorously added, "If she’s still single, she should come find my son!"

The conversation took a more emotional turn when they reached photos from when Jaejoong was three years old, the time he was adopted. His mother, gazing at the pictures, reflected, "This was when you were three, the day you came to me."

MC Boom, also watching the old photos, was touched by the sheer number of pictures. He remarked, "You can tell how much she cherished you. She took so many photos."

Jaejoong's mother then recalled their first meeting. She said, "When you came to me, you immediately called me ‘Mom, Mom’ and clung to me. When I held you, you said, ‘Mom, please don’t abandon me.’" She continued, "All of our relatives were there that day, and when you wouldn’t let go of me, one of them said, ‘She’s the one who has to raise him now.’”

She fondly remembered how attached he was to her. She continued, "You followed me everywhere. If I went to cook, you came to the kitchen. If I walked away, you grabbed my hand and asked, ‘Mom, where are you going?’" Her words brought a wave of emotion, revealing how deeply Jaejoong had bonded with her from the very beginning.

Jaejoong was adopted at age three into a family with eight daughters. He was unaware of his adoption until he received a call from his birth mother while promoting as a member of TVXQ.

His biological mother later shared her painful story in a 2013 interview on TV Chosun. She revealed that she had endured domestic violence in her early 20s and, after divorcing at a young age, struggled to raise her son alone. Facing extreme financial hardship, she made the difficult decision to send him to another family at a friend’s recommendation without realizing it was an official adoption.

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