Dear Yuri,

Whenever I look at you, I’m stunned for just a brief moment — and for various reasons. But I was particularly caught off-guard when I first sat down to write this letter. Because it really is hard to believe that when I asked myself which word I’d use to describe you, I was unsure of the one that would highlight the part of your personality that stands out most to me; there just isn’t a part that doesn’t come to mind.

And that’s a strange reality, isn’t it? For someone I’ve never met in person — someone who lives oceans and continents away — to allow me to know her well enough that I can think of countless defining characteristics, is pretty astonishing, to say the least.

Because you’ve proved that you can let loose with the craziest of them all, work hard with the most driven of them all, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of them all. You’re revealing new talents every day, to the point where I’ve just started to think that whatever you don’t get the chance to show us now, you’ll always get around to surprising us with later. And that’s something I will always look forward to.

But what if I could only pick one word? If this letter was cut down not just to mere sentences, but to a single adjective, which one would I choose? A difficult question, to be sure, and it’s one of those that doesn’t have a single right answer; that one word will vary depending on whom you ask. And that’s perfectly okay. So I’ll just go ahead and tell you the one I finally decided on:

Sincere.

And what is the meaning of “sincerity”, exactly? Again, depending on whom you ask, you’ll probably get slightly different definitions: the quality of not lying. Of being genuine. Of sticking to your principles. But when it comes to you, Yuri, being sincere is more than just us hearing you speak and knowing that everything you say is true.

For you, being sincere is breaking out into some wild movement that still takes even your members by surprise, just because you feel like it.

Being sincere is sneaking into Kyungsan’s room on “Hello Baby” simply to cherish that small chunk of quiet time you’d always wanted to spend with him.

Being sincere is keeping everyone’s health in mind without forgetting about your own, showing us by example through something as simple as a “Channel Girls’ Generation” segment, or through something as indirect as the tidbits your members let slip (it’s been a while since we’ve last heard of your daily dose of ma, but if you’ve moved on, you’ve probably replaced it with something else just as horrifically healthy that we’ll learn of in the very near future).

And that’s not all.

For you, being sincere is not controlling your expression when you’re confused, and laughing when you’re tickled pink, because why in the world would you ever hold it in?

Being sincere is stepping onto your latest stage and giving much more than you already have, because you think we don’t deserve anything less.

Being sincere is smiling so widely at both your members and your fans, reminding each and every one of us that in these precious moments, you don’t want to be anywhere else in the universe.

And the last one I’ll list, for now: being sincere is giving me so many words to choose from to try and capture exactly what you mean to me and to this fandom.

But there’s still so, so much more.

Your sincerity is a phenomenon that we’ve been able to witness from the very beginning. It’s the clarity we see in your eyes, the lightness we hear in your voice, the warmth we feel extending from the bottom of your heart to the very depths of each of ours. You grin and you cry and you keep on moving, knowing that if where you are right now isn’t where you want to be, there’s no sense in sticking around and pretending.

And to me, all of that is sincerity.

Here’s to you, Yuri, and all that you’ve given us. We hope that you will never lose your smile, your spontaneity, and perhaps most importantly, your mindset — the one that lets you accept the grayest of clouds alongside the most brilliant rays of sun. So we extend our sincerest wishes to one of the most sincere people on this planet, and hope that this is the happiest celebration you’ll have to date.

Have a beautiful, glorious, absolutely wonderful birthday.

Sources: 891205.COM, Dooooly, “Cosmopolitan”, CASIO, [email protected], SONE PLUS+
Written by: moonrise31@soshified