On 24 February, just two days before Dear M premiere, KBS announced to delay. On 28 February, it was Jaehyun’s last day as Inkigayo MC. It was sad that we didn’t know the status of Dear M and seeing Jaehyun left his position 2 days after the supposed premiere date. Truly unfair moment for him and us fans. Jaehyun being Jaehyun he put a smile on his face, his last day as the MC with the other two was heartwarming.
4 March, KBS announced that they will postpone Dear M indefinitely. This was when we lost all hopes and dreams. The fact that we almost got to see Dear M aired on TV but everything was taken away from us 2 DAYS BEFORE THE PREMIERE. Brutal..
Then, valentines went through starvation, hunger, drought… we called it The Great Depression. This was the period of time where Jaehyun disappeared for quite some time. He rarely sent bubble, hardly posted photo on Instagram (even if he did, he never showed his face). He was nowhere to be seen unless he had to film for 127 content. The first time we saw his face when he went out on a dinner date with Ten. Ten posted on Instagram first and then some vals noticed the person who took the photo was Jaehyun because you can see his reflection on the mirror. It was funny everyone was like omg that’s Jaehyun. Then Jaehyun himself posted on Instagram. It was him wearing a black and white tshirt with a long hair, the post was edited in black and white filter. That was the first time we knew that Jaehyun grew out his hair. Other internet breaking moment when he went to a tulip field trip with taeyong then spammed a lot of photos on his insta but of course, without showing his face. We later learned that it was taeyong who asked him for a trip to clear jaehyun’s mind and listen to his thoughts and Jaehyun said it was a healing moment from him. This was actually a hint that jaehyun was having a hard time trying to cope for what had happened.
I don’t know if you understand the gravity of lost he experienced. He was literally filming the drama for four months straight non-stop during winter time. It was also end of the year where award shows were being held left and right that he had to practice and perform, plus his duty as an inkigayo mc as well as other jobs as 127 member. He was juggling multiple schedules but not a single complaint came out of his mouth. Mark even mentioned that he saw how busy Jaehyun was but he never showed that he was tired (Mark Award Video). Despite his hectic schedule, according to Jeno, he managed to learn Resonance choreography in one day (Resonance Behind The Scene). That was also his first acting gig that he looked forward to see the result. Imagine having to work day and night only to see that it probably will never be released.
Vals were living in limbo waiting for Jaehyun crumbs. Every time Jaehyun bubbled, even like a simple “How are you doing” will get above 10k likes. It was crazy. Vals were mourning the whole year like the mention of phs’s name or the drama would trigger us. Jaehyun was also extremely jobless as well except that only Prada that gave him jobs (first promo ig post April 2021). Not even once Jaehyun mentioned his mental state during that time. He just simply took a time off, grew out his hair and being active again during Sticker come back (Sept 2021). On Nov, someone on a fancall mentioned about Dear M. OP asked how did Jaehyun cope when Dear M fell through when it wasn’t his fault. OP said that Jaehyun was strong that he managed to endure bcs OP was experiencing something like that and OP wanted to hear his advice.

For the first time ever, Jaehyun opened up that at time it was hard for him too. He didn’t elaborate but he told OP to talk to people that will listen and also to try new hobbies to release stress because that’s what he did. He said something else but I don’t remember. We felt so bad when we learned that because we know he wasn’t okay at that time. In his Billboard interview for Forever Only, the interviewer asked him about Dear M and he answered “there are definitely some hard times, but I try to concentrate on what I can do at this moment — that’s what I try to always focus on”. His mindset has always been something I adore.
Well, 2022 was the better year for Jaehyun like it started to look up in May 2022 (his first prada fashion film with Vogue Korea) then he flew to Milan and came back as ambassador. He became more active and been focusing on his craft more since he started singing his solo song Lost in November 2021. Now here we are; a solo album, a movie and a drama are upon us: the better days for vals and jaehyun enjoyers.
Well, that was all I can remember. Sorry that was way too long and I didn’t even proof read so there might be mistakes here and there but hope that anon would read.