Young Man Overcomes Troubled Past and Seeks Advice on 'Ask Anything'

A young man in his 20s, who has been fearful of rejection and overly conscious of others' opinions since childhood, appeared on the show to seek advice.

On the KBS Joy show 'Ask Anything' aired on the 9th, a man shared his story. He began by saying, 'My parents divorced before I was born. I had four fathers in total.'

He continued, 'When I was born, my mother had already remarried my second father. Due to his gaming addiction, they eventually divorced, and my mother and I ended up living on the streets.' He added, 'We lived like that until my sibling and I were placed in foster care,' evoking sympathy.

The man recalled, 'I lived in a foster home from the age of six, where what they called education felt like violence to me,' reflecting on his troubled childhood. He continued, 'After about seven years, I finally lived with my mother again, but we didn't spend much time together. Perhaps out of guilt, my mother tried to show her affection through food, spending around 2 million won a month on groceries.'

He explained, 'I gained a lot of weight from eating so much and was bullied for a long time. In fifth grade, I was 150cm tall and weighed 65kg. Although I wasn't extremely overweight, the other kids saw me as a pig.'

He also revealed that his mother remarried for the third time when he was in sixth grade. 'My stepfather was violent towards my mother, even stabbing her. He punched her in the eye so hard that she couldn't open it for months,' he said, shocking the audience. His stepfather later took his own life. The man, who had a difficult childhood, said his low self-esteem made him think negatively whenever he faced rejection.

Seo Jang-hoon comforted him, saying, 'You've had a tumultuous life. It breaks my heart.' He added, 'You lack confidence and feel intimidated because you care about what others think. You want to be with them and fit in, which is why you are so conscious of their opinions.'

He continued, 'When you deal with elders, you don't feel intimidated, right? If you don't want anything from them, you won't feel intimidated. What I'm trying to say is, you don't need to seek approval from anyone.'

Seo Jang-hoon added, 'You can live well on your own. If someone wants to be friends with you, then you can get along with them. You don't need to seek them out first.'

The man confessed that on the day of the recording, he misunderstood the production team as ignoring him when they didn't contact him for 20 minutes. Seo Jang-hoon advised, 'You can't have a normal relationship if you think like that. Don't assume you're being ignored just because you don't get a response right away. What if they can't respond for a moment? Do you answer every call when you're working? Understand the other person's situation and broaden your mind.'

Sojung Lee, TenAsia Reporter forusojung@tenasia.co.kr