[This post originally appeared as part of Thank U Thursday on r/8TEEZ subreddit. It is being reposted here for archival purposes. You can read the full post and comments here.]
I started watching the airport live with a lot of trepidation and anxiety, so I was immensely relieved when it became clear that things had improved from the last time.
There were barriers! And more security! And organization!
And so I want to thank KQ as a whole for readjusting after discovering that what they did last time wasn’t enough. But, also I want to specifically thank this man in the white sweater, who I assume is a manager, but I don’t know for sure.
In the video, there is just a series of absolutely beautiful moments that make me so happy to see, which I didn’t think was possible from an airport live video. First, the man rubs San’s shoulder and San basically hugs him back. We see Hongjoong, the self proclaimed hater of skinship, go in for a hug, and then we can see this man basically fluff Hongjoong’s hair. The man rubs Yunho’s shoulder as Yunho comes over to say bye. Then Yeosang comes up beside him and wraps an arm around him, and the manager holds on to Yeosang’s hand.
We hear about (and frequently see) so many examples of companies doing terrible things, and I know KQ isn’t perfect. I know they’re a company. But, they also employ people like this man in the white sweater, who so clearly loves and cares for Ateez. You can’t fake that level of closeness or love. And the feeling is mutual—as much as he clearly loves and cares for Ateez, Ateez clearly loves and cares for him back.
When we see Ateez moving to their next airport location, there’s a concerning moment where the barriers are gone, and you’re not sure how things are going to go. But then you see these managers or security guys just protecting Ateez with their whole bodies, not letting anyone get close to them. They basically create a moving barrier for them to walk through, and I’m really grateful to them for it.
And finally, as is his tradition, Jongho posted a photo of himself in his seat, and now we know that Ateez is flying in comfort for this trip (they also did on the US leg of the tour too). So a thank you to KQ for spending the extra so that the boys could have a better and more restful flight.
It makes me so happy that Ateez has good people around them and that they’re supported in big and small ways. We have a lot of examples of their staff loving them and Ateez loving their staff back. They talk about eating with their managers and their managers buying them gifts—choose any live video that their managers are in and you can see them positively interacting. But the man in the white sweater really got to me today, and I’m feeling really at ease. And so, I wanted to take a moment to thank this man, KQ, and all the security the boys had as they were at the airport.
This part of the tour started on a positive note, and I think all of the fans breathed a sigh of relief because of it. So thank you.
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