Dear Leeteuk,

I won’t call you oppa, I’ll call you hero, because that’s what you are. Enlisting is something not everyone does, and what you have done is something heroic and beautiful. You have so much talent on your hands and I believe you’ll come back as a much better person than you already are. I’m not ELF, I’m not much of a Super Junior fan, and yet I’m crying as I write this, because this is something so brave and beautiful, and because even though I don’t know much about you, I feel like I’m going to miss you. Please take care, don’t be hurt, and be brave.

My name is Valentine, they call me oppa because I know I was meant to be born as a boy, not as a girl, and my very best friends know what I feel about myself. I come from a very small country with difficulties and I’m unhappy; you guys, idols, make me want to keep living my life, even though I’m living it in the body I wasn’t meant to be born, you inspire me, you make me smile whenever I feel like I can’t do it anymore, you are the reason a million people are happy right now. I’m feeling the ELF’s pain, and I’ll wait for you, I’ll wait for you for 10 years if I have to, because you’re a hero, and you deserve to at least be recognized. I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but from the bottom of my heart, I will call you a hero, because that’s what you are. Today, October 29th, I write this, lonely in my room, with tears in my eyes, because you show me there’s still hope and there’s still brave and good people.

 Take care Leeteuk, please do. I will wait for you.