Kim Hee-chul "Pessimistic About Marriage Because Everyone Around Me Is Like This," Creating a Chilly Atmosphere

Super Junior's Kim Hee-chul revealed a unique perspective on marriage. Rather than the romance or happiness that people usually expect when facing marriage, he first thought of the situation after a divorce. However, his cynical view of marriage did not sound like a mere personal tendency, as there are quite a few people around him who have actually experienced marriage and divorce.

In the SBS variety show 'My Little Old Boy' broadcast on the 4th, Tak Jae-hun, Kim Hee-chul, and Choi Jin-hyuk were shown visiting the newly moved-in house of Lee Dong-gun. In this process, it drew attention that the sofa and table used during his past marriage remained in Lee Dong-gun's house. Upon seeing this, Kim Hee-chul immediately asked an unexpected question, "What do you do with the items if you live together and then break up?"

Lee Dong-gun and Tak Jae-hun explained that during the process of clearing out a house they lived in together, the person who needs the items takes them, or conversely, they change all the furniture in the house because it brings back memories. Kim Hee-chul did not stop there and even asked how items like beds are handled. As he continued to ask questions like someone who already assumes the end of a marriage rather than curiosity about an ordinary married life, laughter naturally erupted on the set.

In particular, Tak Jae-hun's reaction was the highlight. When Kim Hee-chul asked about the situation when he was married, Tak Jae-hun retorted, "I have no memory of being married," and when Kim Hee-chul pressed him again about his time in marriage, he shouted, "Why do you keep asking about when I was married?" It was a moment where the heavy subject of marriage and divorce was converted into variety show laughter through the participants' experiences and self-deprecating jokes.

However, Kim Hee-chul explained that there was a reason for his way of questioning. He revealed, "Even when I meet a divorce lawyer, they ask about the worst-case scenario." He revealed his tendency to check the worst possibilities first, even when thinking about marriage, rather than the best future. When Lee Dong-gun pointed out, "Your view of marriage is too pessimistic," Kim Hee-chul replied, "It can't help but be pessimistic because everyone around me is like this."

Although it was a short remark, the scene became quiet for a moment. Not only Lee Dong-gun and Tak Jae-hun, but even Seo Jang-hoon, who was watching from the studio, fell silent, which actually increased the laughter. This was because the experiences surrounding marriage and divorce overlapped significantly with the lives of the cast members. In the end, Tak Jae-hun responded to Kim Hee-chul by saying, "You are the worst among the bachelors," returning the atmosphere back to variety show mode.

Kim Hee-chul's remarks are interesting because they connect with the changing attitudes toward marriage today. In the past, marriage was often explained as a positive narrative of completing love and forming a family. However, now that divorce is no longer accepted only as a special event, an increasing number of people calculate realistic problems that arise when a relationship breaks, such as assets, housing, children, career, care, and psychological conflict, before choosing marriage. It means the view of marriage as a kind of living community and a legal/economic contract, rather than just a matter of romance, has strengthened.

Especially in occupational groups like celebrities whose private lives are exposed to the public, the traces of marriage and divorce remain much longer than those of ordinary people. While congratulations and interest pour in at the time of marriage, once the relationship ends, the divorce process itself becomes a matter of public interest, and past remarks, photos, and broadcast scenes are summoned again. In such an environment, it is inevitable to develop an attitude of calculating the risks that may occur after marriage while dreaming of it.

Of course, there is no need to overinterpret Kim Hee-chul's remarks as a negative view of the actual marriage system. His words on the broadcast are closer to jokes and self-confessions made during conversations with the cast members. However, it is true that the expression "everyone around me is like this" left a strange sense of reality beyond laughter. For those who do not marry, marriage is still an unknown territory, but for those who have repeatedly watched the marriage and divorce of people close to them, the possibility of cracks approaches as a concrete reality just as much as the romance of that relationship.

Ultimately, the laughter created by 'My Little Old Boy' on this day subtly reflects the generational landscape surrounding marriage. Some view marriage as a new start, while others view it as a choice that includes the possibility of failure. Kim Hee-chul's words, "I ask about the worst-case scenario first," sound like an excessively pessimistic way of thinking, but on the other hand, it was a scene that showed the realistic view of marriage these days, which does not package marriage as an unconditional promise of happiness.