PH CHAMPs Chaem-into Lee Chae Min at his first-ever fan meeting in Manila!

For PH CHAMPs, meeting their beloved Lee Chae Min is a dream come true!

On November 23, PH CHAMPs had the opportunity to meet Lee Chae Min at his first-ever “Chaem-into You” fan meeting held at New Frontier Theater.

The fans warmly welcomed Chae Min with their loudest cheers as he kicked off the show by playing Huh Gak’s “Stay with Me” on the piano. It is one of the beautiful OSTs from his recent hit rom-com series, Bon Appétit Your Majesty. The video showing Lee Heon (his role in the series) on the screen made everyone’s hearts flutter more. He said that, because of the loud cheers of everyone, he enjoyed playing the piano and mentioned that it was his first time to hear a great response from the audience while playing it.

He greeted everyone in Tagalog, “Kamusta? Namiss ko kayo.” and resumed, “Nice to meet you all, this is Lee Chae Min. It’s an honor to finally meet my Manila fans.” He said this is his first time visiting the country and he is excited to meet his Filipino fans. He shared that he feels so overwhelmed by the warm welcome of the fans.

He mentioned that he named his fans CHAEMF (pronounced as CHAMP), a combination of his name, “CHAEM”, and “F” as in “friends”. It means that the friends who will be with him for a long time. He explained that the title of his fan meeting, “Chaem-into You”, means falling into Chae Min through this fan meeting.

In the segment called “In TMI Chae Min,” we got to know more about him, including his hobbies, which are playing the piano, basketball, and swimming. One of the funny moments is when Chae Min said that his favorite pet is a puppy, and the crowd suddenly barked like a dog. Chae Min laughed and said, “Ang cute.”

Chae Min mentioned that he felt thrilled when he heard that Manila is included in the list of this fan meeting tour. “A lot of those around me have been telling me that when I go to Manila, their responses are very warm. But basically, it’s really beyond my expectations. You guys are really amazing, and you have a very beautiful smile.”

Moreover, we all know that Chae Min Lee joined Music Bank as an MC for about a year and 7 months. In the segment called “Chaemin Bank”, he showed his charm in hosting and delivered some Tagalog words such as “Ako po si mini mini Chae Min, the bank manager,” “I-check natin ang line-up para sa araw na ito sa Chaemin bank,” “Guys! Ako lang talaga ang hinihintay niyo di ba?,” “Guys! Anong gusto niyong mapanuod,” “Nagkaon ka na ba love?,” “Akin ka nalang,” “Meron ba kayong gustong makita?” He’s so adorable! He also did the “Kany Challenge,” the “Marikit sa Dilim,” and the “Boys” dance crazes.

One of the highlights of the show was when he joined the crowd to get closer to PH CHAMPs, smiling and waving hi to everyone. His fan service is top-tier. He granted wishes from fans, took selfies, and even gave hugs to others. Another fan played charades with him and re-enacted a scene from a Filipino movie, Starting Over Again.

Furthermore, since he recently starred in the critically acclaimed rom-com series, Bon Appétit Your Majesty, there are parts of the show where we are able to know what his favorite food is in the series, and that is macarons. He mentioned also that his favorite scenes from the drama are in the last episode when Lee Heon had to let go of Ji Young and when Ji Young and Lee Heon met in the present and kissed each other, “I think it was very beautiful,” he said. I also love that scene, especially the letting go scene; Chae Min’s acting made me cry while watching it.

Chae Min served his irresistible charm during the show, expressing his love to his CHAMPs in his own special way. It was such a memorable night for everyone. He also performed 10CM’s Hug Me as well, showing off his sweet vocal prowess.

“You’re the best! Your responses are really amazing. It is one of the best. Because of all this great love that you’ve shown me tonight, I’m fully recharged, and I think I can really wrap up this year very well and start off my next year amazingly because of all this amazing love that you have shown me tonight. CHAMPs, it’s been raining outside, and yet you still made it to be here with me, so thank you so much. I was happy because of you. Thank you so much, and I hope today’s not gonna be the last. Mahal kita!”

PH CHAMPs prepared a video message for Chae Min that made him feel emotional and got him teary-eyed. He was so touched by it. “You have shown me so much overwhelming attention and love, I think this is too much for me to receive. I keep on saying thank you, but I’m not really sure words are enough to express how grateful I am towards all of you. Thank you, and I really really love all of you. You are the motivating strength to me. You guys promise to be with me? Me too, I’ll try my best not to disappoint you, and I’ll try to show you a better self as an actor. I really want to say thank you so much to each one of you, and I hope we’ll see one another more often in the future.”

The show wrapped up with Lee Chae Min singing Doyoung’s I Find You. “No matter the time, no matter the space, I still find you. I’ll do my efforts to really go and find you. That’s why next time we meet together, I hope you’re still gonna be here where you were. See you soon, CHAMPs. I’ll try my best to be back more often.”

To our dearest Chae Min, thank you for making us all happy. We love you and always remember that we are always here, rooting for everything you do in your life. Until we meet again, Jeonha!

Meanwhile, Team Labas CHAMPs who weren’t able to secure a ticket for the event had the opportunity to have a glimpse of him as Chae Min went out and greeted everyone while waving at them. He is so genuine and deserves all the love in this world!

Photo courtesy of PULP Live World and Varo Entertainment