Did you know tha Lee Min Ho and Jung Ill wo met an absolute tragedy that reshaped their lives, followed by a parallel rise to stardom. Lee Min-ho and Jung Il-woo did not actually attend the same high school, but they grew up in neighboring districts (Heukseok-dong and Daebang-dong) and met through mutual neighborhood friends. Even before they officially met, they knew of each other because both were legendary in their areas for being incredibly good-looking. Jung Il-woo later shared in an interview that he had heard rumors about a ridiculously handsome boy nearby. When they finally met at a school festival, Il-woo recalled: "He was so good-looking that it almost felt like he was glowing... he was the only person who came into my sight." Because they both shared the dream of becoming actors, they hit it off instantly and became completely inseparable teenagers In August 2006, when they were both just 20 years old and trying to break into the acting industry, they decided to go on a weekend road trip to Gangwon Province with two other close childhood friends. While driving, a vehicle traveling from the opposite direction veered violently across the centerline and crashed head-on into their car. The driver of the offending vehicle was fleeing a prior hit-and-run. The crash was catastrophic:The front-seat occupants: The driver and passenger in the front seat of their car—their childhood friends—were tragically killed instantly. Lee Min-ho (seated in the back): Suffered horrific, life-threatening injuries. His thigh bone (femur) and ankle were completely shattered, his knee cartilage was torn, and a 46-centimeter metal rod had to be surgically inserted into his thigh. He was bedridden and completely hospitalized for nearly a year. Jung Il-woo (seated in the back): Suffered a severe concussion, cerebral hemorrhaging, a cracked pelvis, a crushed wrist, and localized amnesia (he temporarily lost parts of his memory due to the severe head trauma). Jung Il-woo was hospitalized for four months, but he had just signed the contract for the legendary sitcom Unstoppable High Kick. Desperate not to lose his breakout opportunity, he hid the full extent of his pain, skipped consistent physical therapy, and went straight to the filming set—often filming intense physical and stunt scenes through pure agony. Meanwhile, Lee Min-ho had to lie in a hospital bed for an entire year, watching his best friend become an overnight superstar. Lee Min-ho recently opened up about this time on a Korean variety show, admitting the dark mental space he was in: "We were both just 20 years old... Suddenly, everything stopped without warning. I went through denial, anger, depression, and eventually acceptance. I wanted to cheer for my friend wholeheartedly, but I also wanted to be recognized and make a name for myself. I hated myself for feeling that way." Once Min-ho recovered, he had to restart his career from scratch. Just a couple of years later, he landed the role of Gu Jun-pyo in Boys Over Flowers (2009), skyrocketing him into global megastardom. Because of the permanent damage from the crash, both actors were exempted from active combat military duty and instead served as public service officers. The accident left permanent scars. In 2016, it was revealed that Jung Il-woo had been diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm (a ballooning blood vessel in the brain), which doctors directly linked to the severe head trauma he sustained in the 2006 crash. Il-woo admitted that the diagnosis felt like a "time bomb" in his head and threw him into a deep depression, but he eventually overcame it by changing his outlook on life. Because of his partial memory loss from the crash, he also revealed that he keeps over 70,000 photos on his phone to help him actively remember his life and past events. #JungIlWoo #LeeMinHo - @hismajesteystory