Hwang In Youp comes home, gifting Filipino HIYLIYs with the sweetest memories.

South Korean model-actor Hwang In Youp made his way back to the Philippines and spent a delightful time with his Filipino fans last September 24 at the New Frontier Theater.

Welcomed by the loud cheers of HIYLIYs, the actor opened his first official fan meeting in the country, the 2022 HWANG IN YOUP 1ST FAN MEETING IN MANILA, with “Starlight”, an official soundtrack from the drama True Beauty. He then greeted the audience with his sweetest smile as he says, “Mabuhay, Philippines! Ako po si Hwang In Youp.”

After the sweet serenade and hello, he sat down to share his thoughts about coming back to the country and his undeniable love for halo-halo. According to him, he had halo-halo at a local fast food chain in the mall near his hotel. But still, he did not let the chance pass to eat the desert he obviously enjoyed on stage.

But the fun only started, because the next segment, Hwang Quiz, tested the actor’s (and everyone’s) knowledge of Philippine history. For his HIYLIYs to get a signed polaroid, he needed to answer the questions correctly — which he successfully did! Randomly chosen lucky fans took home a signed polaroid as a result of his effort.

Sharing more about himself in the IY Q&A segment, he revealed his plan to make a secret trip to Davao this year. He added that every time he comes to the Philippines, he feels like he is visiting his hometown. The actor also showed off his love and appreciation to his fans, saying that just being with them for a long time is already the greatest gift.

He also talked about modeling, sharing some of his know-how in posing such as focusing on the eyes and doing laid-back or cozy poses — even giving the crowd a live sample of his poses. The actor also shared his thoughts about his first variety show, Young Actors’ Retreat or Youth MT, which features cast members of director Kim Seong Yoon’s previous dramas including Sound of Magic which starred Hwang In Youp.

Hwang In Youp said that the Hwang in Youp they see on the show is his actual self. He admitted to being worried about fans’ reaction to witnessing his actual self. But fans at the fan meeting assured him that they love all his moments in Youth MT.

With Manila as the final stop of his first fan meeting tour, he said it will also be nice if the fans can come to Korea to spend time with him, have fun together, and eat good food. And he showed what it looks like to spend time with him in the special vlog he prepared for the fan meeting where he went on a drive and eat delicious Korean food.

Making sure everyone comes home with the best memories of the evening, Hwang In Youp surprised everyone when he went around the venue to come closer to his Filipino HIYLIYs. We definitely fell deeper in love with his conscious effort to gift fans with the best fan meeting experience.

From Park Dan Ho to Gong Chan: A Look Back on the Many Roles of HIY

Coming back on stage, he looked back at his filmography through the Inyoup_Filmogram segment, starting with Park Dan Ho, his character in the 2019 historical drama Tale of Nokdu. According to him, he has to wear three layers of clothing for the role, but he remembered most how tight the ponytail was that he was losing a lot of hair. The drama served as the actor’s first historical drama. Given the chance to star in another historical drama, he expressed interest in playing the role of a king or a royalty as he remembered the Korean drama Princess Hours was popular in the Philippines during his stay here.

He then talked about his 18 Again character Goo Ja Sung, Serim High School’s basketball team captain. Asked about playing basketball, the actor said his friends in Davao taught him to play. Aside from the basketball skills, Goo Ja Sung became the talk of the town with his proposal song. And the audience became Hong Shi Ah for a night as Hwang In Youp serenades fans with the song he sang to confess in the drama.

With excited squeals from fans, everyone’s favorite Han Seo Jun showed up on the screen. Hwang In Youp’s True Beauty character stole everyone’s hearts in the drama with his tsundere personality and his loyal love for Lim Ju Kyung, giving everyone a second-lead syndrome.

And of course, when talking about Han Seo Jun, we cannot miss his iconic “Okey Dokey” dance in the drama which Hwang In Youp gamely reenacted for fans. In addition, he let Han Seo Jun posses him that evening as he utters “salamat sa inyong pagmamahal” and we swooned.

Knowing that True Beauty received so much love from the Filipinos, the actor said he wondered if his friends in the Philippines also watched the show. According to him, his Filipino friends encouraged him to try acting once he returns to South Korea.

The year 2022 was also quite a busy year for Hwang In Youp. He starred in two dramas, The Sound of Magic and Why Her. Sharing his similarity with Na Il Deung from The Sound of Magic, he said he is interested in piano, drums, and the beatbox which his friends in Davao taught him.

Meanwhile, asked about his character in Why Her, Gong Chan, Hwang In Youp shared that the biggest reason he chose to take on the role is that it is different from the previous characters he played. In his portrayal of Gong Chan, he focused on the character’s pureness and kindness despite the wounds he suffered. Moreover, like Gong Chan, he is straightforward in expressing his affection to another person. He said he will tell her directly if he likes her.

For Hwang In Youp, the kiss scenes with Seo Hyun Jin and the beach scene are the most memorable. He added that all the scenes that fans like are memorable.

And always making sure that fans get the best memories, Hwang in Youp then engaged in fun and kilig games with lucky fans, including a starring game, clapping game, and arm wrestling. Originally set for only three fans, the actor requested one more game for one more lucky fan. Aside from the heartstopping moments, the lucky fans also took home a polaroid with the actor and his merchandise.

But the surprises are far from over because Hwang In Youp made a special gift for one lucky fan to take home — a personalized fan he designed on stage!

Hwang In Youp is not the only one with a surprise, because his Filipino HIYLIYs prepared a special fan project for him with the sweetest words of “Welcome home, among palangga” printed on the banner and touching words on the video read:

We are happy to see you are loved by many. You have worked hard to achieve this success and you have proven that you’re worthy of all the big things in life. From Gi Jae Yeong to Gong Chan and to more characters and roles that you will play in the future, we are here to support and love you. Your heart is worth 70 billion dollars and our love for you is more than that. You did well!

From Philippine HIYLIYs to Hwang In Youp

With a grateful heart, Hwang In Youp capped off his first fan meeting in Manila and his Asia fan meeting tour with a photo with fans and a performance of “I Mean It”, his original soundtrack from The Sound of Magic. The evening ended with everyone saying “see you again” to the actor in the hi-bye event.

Ever-charming and always generous, Hwang In Youp gave everyone that night more reasons to love him with his enthusiastic effort to give fans the best memories in his first Manila fan meeting and with his never-ceasing smile that lighted up the venue from the start to the very end.

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The 2022 HWANG IN YOUP 1ST FAN MEETING IN MANILA is presented by Ovation Productions and Applewood Korea. Special thanks to Ovation Productions for the invite to the event.

Event covered by Danica and Cent