As I told my French friend who also a big fan of Choi Si-won, my French friend who has
long been chasing Choi around becomes jealous of me covering him ... with eyes wide open,
my friend was in awe, commenting that Choi simply cannot plausibly be from this planet—for
Choi is too kindhearted, too gentle, too tall and too handsome to be a human ...
(Men’s UNO Taiwan, 2014/2015, 101)In November 2014, Taiwan’s Men’s UNO featured Choi Si-won in a cover story titled “Too
Good to be True.” The quotation above reveals how the reporter started this interview to cover
Choi’s life narratives. Similar to many idols from South Korea (henceforth Korea), Choi embod-
ies the contradictory qualities in Korean masculinities that are prevalent in the K-pop scene.
On the one hand, Choi looks boyishly cute, fashionable, and perfectly put together. On the
other hand, as a member of music group Super Junior, he is simultaneously presented as strong
and tough in some of his artistic videos, which draw on elements of African-American macho
gangsta/hip-hop/rap aesthetics. People in Taiwan, while not necessarily big fans of this juxta-
position of being soft and macho simultaneously in performing Korean masculinity, have never-
theless probably started to become familiar with it. Similar to most, if not all, Korean male idols,
whose clothes hide ripped bodies, Choi has “chocolate abs”—as chiseled abdominal muscles are
known in Korea. Although Choi is extremely well equipped physically, in the cover story of this
issue of Men’s UNO he appears rather subdued, wearing a white tank top in one likeness and a
leather coat in other photographs. Readers are presented with Choi standing with one hand in
his pocket, with the accompanying text: “Most people would intuitively believe that my torso
is my favorite body part, but, in all honesty, I like my eyes the most.” Choi elaborates: “It is not
because my eyes are the best looking; rather it is because through them I am able to capture the
kindness and regard that unfold before us, and which we have long forgotten.” In these photo-
graphs featuring Choi, the reader can examine Choi closely, observing his nicely groomed