Dear Yoona (Deer Yoona),

I apologize for the pun. It wasn’t even a very good one, really, because “deer” isn’t your only spirit animal, so to speak. What about embracing your inner alligator every time you laugh, or pulling off your (in)famous flounder face that’ll bring anyone out of a funk with just one glance? But I’m getting ahead of myself, a little; this is an odd way of opening a letter, isn’t it? So let me start again. Ahem.

Today is a very special day for SONEs. Because on this day, 24 years ago—actually, I’ll stop myself from making the obvious “Into the New World” reference. But regardless of my need for excessive wordplay, no one can deny the effect May 30th, 1990 would have on our lives just 17 years later. And you’ve only gone up from there.

The journey hasn’t been easy, of course. The trip to the top never is. But somehow, you’ve managed to do it, even gracing the world with your enormous smile in the process. And that’s not counting the non-Girls’ Generation activities you have going on the side. An example, you ask? How about your progression from fresh-faced Saebyuk and then fashionable Yeojin, to playing both Jung Hana in present day and Kim Yoonhee forty years prior, to most recently the feisty “Scandal News” reporter Nam Dajung; these transformations prove the tremendous excess you can handle on top of everything else already on your plate. And you’ve got the awards to show for it.

You deserve no less, if you ask me. Being the “face” of any girl group, much less Korea’s Number One, is a daunting task to say the least. And perhaps now, heading into your seventh year as Girls’ Generation, the roles that were so clearly outlined at your debut have blurred, lightened to take some of that weight off of your shoulders. But you know as well as I do that the title won’t ever completely go away. And that’s alright, because you also know as well as I do that you’re more than capable of handling it. And that’s inspiring.

That’s right: you’re an inspiration. It’s hard to be under constant scrutiny, I can imagine, but you’re the very embodiment of “grace under pressure”. And we, as fans, watch because we care. We watch because we are awed, and because we are compelled to find out what you’re doing so that we can follow in your footsteps as best as we are able. You may have many faces, whether onscreen or onstage, but each one still manages to give us the slightest glimpse of who you really are. And each of those glimpses only confirms that we’ve been following the right girl all along.

I hope saying that you’re an inspiration out loud (or at least, writing it for anyone to read) doesn’t make your shoulders any heavier. Because all I’m really doing is putting into words everyone’s thoughts and feelings, which have already been decided days, weeks (months? years?) prior to today. So, shall I continue? You’re Im Yoona: lovable prankster, incredible dancer, fearlessly facing all odds with an alligator grin. Devoted member, caring sister, the hardworking CF Queen convincing us that sliced bread is in fact the greatest thing ever invented.

What’s my wish for you on this amazing day? I suppose I can’t speak for anyone else in this fandom besides myself, but somehow I get the feeling that many will agree with me in either case: a wish for your health, your happiness, your continued success. A desire for the nine of you to be forever Girls’ Generation. And most of all, for you to keep inspiring us, pulling us forward with that smile on your face.

Dear Yoona,

Out of all the things I would most like to say to you, on today of all days, I’ll keep it short and simple:

Have a wonderful, happy birthday.

Sources: JLOOK, SNSD Funny [email protected], SportsSeoul, angelsky@soshified, innisfree, 천의미모윤아
Written by: moonrise31@soshified