while thinking of things to make for your birthday, i suddenly was hit with the urge not just to paste pretty pictures of you on photoshop and then upload them to tumblr, and that’s it, but i wanted to make something that represented you. i spent a long, long time looking for photos. i collected quite a few actually: performances i thought were special, remarkable candids, photos of your smile. i had collected over 60 when i thought - these aren’t your memories, they’re mine.

but when if there’s something i know about things that are precious to you, changmin, i remember that one quote about smtown nyc. about how special it was to stand up there with your hyung, in front of thousands of people (including me!) who most likely didn’t understand your language, but cared and loved you just the same. how many obstacles you had to cross to stand on that one stage. the smile on your face at the end of the concert was absolutely beautiful. i remember you, a shy little boy who got thrusted into an sm audition, got accepted, next thing you knew you were practicing for your debut with a group of people you didn’t really know.

and now look at you.

and so, i scrapped the idea of a giant 60-picture edit of you in turn for this one picture. a picture of you happy. happy standing on stage, happy performing, happy being with your friends, happy with yourself. and your happiness is the only thing i could ever wish for.

happy birthday, shim changmin, and here’s for another twenty-four years of perfection to come!

(Source: katkars)