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kanmom51 · 10 months ago

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I actually have a crazy theory...

I have already sent this ask as the response to someone else’s thoughts, but then I thought about it and I REALLY wanted to know your opinion about this.

I think Jikook by the beginning of last year didn't know they were enlisting together.

I think they obviously knew about buddy system but didn't actually think they would need to use it. Because it's not really done by idols, and also they both could've gone to safer and easier stations, where they could have more freedom.

BUT THEN Jimin started working intensely on his album and JK started acting out (like having drunken lives), and it became VERY CLEAR that they would not be able to do 18 months apart.

I mean do you remember, that at this time JK said himself that he was not working on anything. And I think the plan was for Jimin to go first (just like a lot of us thought he would) and for JK to have more time for promo alone, when others are gone (I’m pretty sure that HYBE definitely wanted for JK to have big solo debut apart from other members).

But then like I said the drunken lives happened and realization hit, that they have to apply for buddy system, that 18 months apart would be BAD for both of them.

And that's when HYBE (or whoever) made specific demands from JK. Like if he wanted to leave by the end of the year (and he had to for buddy system to work) he HAS TO do the album, and because there was no time to write it from scratch they got all the English songs. Also his schedule was extremely packed and difficult.

So I think that the travel show was something Jikook specifically done for themselves because JK's schedule was so insane that if not for that excuse they would not be able to hang out freely before the enlistment. (By the way am I the only one who thinks that we are getting the travel show only next year? And waiting for it now is kinda crazy?)

But again it's just my theory, mostly because HYBE doesn't feel (to me) like the company who would just let their artists do whatever they want. To me they are waaay more pragmatic than that, and if they decided to allow their stars to enlist together (something that isn't really done in idol culture), than they would make sure to get something in return. They worked JK very hard, and I think he took it because he had a specific goal (more like a person) in mind that he was willing to work for.

So, although we might be on the same wave with some of your thoughts, I don't fully agree with you.

I agree that they didn't know they would be enlisting together way back at the start of 2023.

I think that way back then they were still struggling with the realization that they will have to be enlisting. All the way back to the end of 2022, basically up to around the Busan concert, which was October 2022, they still held hope that some kind of arrangement could and would be found to allow for them not to enlist or to serve a shorter term. It was quite a conundrum for them, something I think most of them struggled with (and I say most because I do think that at least one of them did genuinely want to enlist) - on the one hand this is a life changing pretty scary thing (terrifying even - we saw how sad, and I will even say broken, JM was having to shave off his hair, and that was only a small part of it) they would have to do (joining the army is not a walk in the park, no pun intended), not to mention being in their prime, in the height of their success, having to part with the life they are accustomed to (professionally and personally), not being something they would necessarily want to do. And on the other hand you have that sense of commitment to the country and to their fellow Koreans, that have to face that same compulsory enlistment, adding the knowledge that not taking that path of enlistment could also come at a price. Like us, they knew that there were those that indeed believed they should be given an exemption, but at the same time many Koreans would have frowned upon it, and it's them that have to live among their people. Also, enlisting like any other SK young man would allow them more freedom in the future when it comes to voicing their opinions, as they had, like all others who had served their country fulfilling their duties. Criticisms of anything within a society you live in is easier to swallow when the person voicing said opinion is part of that society and enjoys not only the rights bestowed on those who live there, but has also fulfilled all required duties as well.

Long story short, end of 2022 the decision to enlist became a reality and Jin enlisting hit them all VERY hard. At that point I don't think they had a plan of enlistment just yet, although we do know from RM, for instance, that he was supposed to enlist with Hobi but ended up pushing back as he was busy working on his album and preferred not to lose the momentum.

And btw, hearing this from RM also teaches us that JM was never going to enlist so early on. And here I think our ways part when it comes to the continuation of your theory, because I do believe that JM's plan had ALWAYS been to stick around for JK's solo debut, whenever that would be. And I'll get back to it in a few...

JK was struggling start of 2023. What we got to see, starting with his lives in Feb 2023, him deleting his IG, was him pulling himself out of the pit he was in. Taking initiative and deleting his IG (which I will once again say was a big old F U to the company) and reaching out to us with his lives was JK becoming more active in getting better.

*Side note: I'm using the term getting better meaning pulling yourself out of a bad place you are in mentally (one that effects you physically as well).

Idk if starting the lives was a conscious decision on his part towards getting better, but I do believe that starting them was a key part in it.

Talking to us, sharing things with us, setting (at least trying to set) boundaries with his fans what is and is not acceptable on his part as an idol when it comes to fan behavior and interactions with him, doing it all in the most JK way, intelligently and respectfully.

JM was busy all the way from end of July 2023 through to the release of Face and until the end of his promotions. It's not that they weren't seeing each other or spending time together during this time. It's not that JM wasn't there for JK, as much as he could in the moment. It's very important to state this. But JK was struggling with everything. It's the hiatus, Jin's enlistment, their looming enlistment (the unknown of what will be with the two of them - separation for such a long time is something that both of them would find extremely hard to handle for so many reasons), the lack of direction, the lack of a structured timetable (JK is neuro divergent - there is zero doubt in my mind - if it's asd or adhd or a combination of the two, which in my mind is the most likely of them all). He was kind of lost and his anchor, JM, was not available in the way that he needed. Not JM's fault. Not JK's fault. It just was what it was, and JK was a little lost. It's natural for something like this to happen. I spoke about it quite a bit in my posts about his lives at the time. We saw RM was kind of lost for a while there too. The trick is to pick yourself up and pull yourself out of it (with help of others if necessary), and JK did, and JM was ecstatic to see him doing it. Those comments of his during JK's lives (we are talking about the lives during Feb-Mar 2023) were testimony to that.

Once again I can't seem to reign myself in and keep on point, lol.

So, where was I? Oh yes, they didn't know what will happen, but at the same time JM was not planning on enlisting earlier that year. Understand this: JM enlisting earlier would, to them, mean them being apart for not 18 months, but for 18 months plus. Plus the time between JM's enlistment and JK's enlistment. And plus the time from JM's discharge to JK's discharge. Even without JK's situation this was not something that they would want or agree on. Not to mention JK not only wanting JM around for his solo debut, but NEEDING him around for it. And it's not about being by his side 24/7, which he wasn't and he couldn't be. It's about being accessible. Being there to support him if he needed. Whenever he needed it. Being able to be with him for his first solo performance (this brings me close to another ask I received and am working on regarding JK's FIRST big solo performance). All this has to be within the limits of their glass closet (glass getting a little murky for their own liking since the end of 2021 all the way to the end of 2023), and the limits set by the powers of be (some of which JK very defiantly crossed). So yeah, JM was going to wait for JK's solo debut before enlisting.

As for enlisting together. That was something that was being assessed and in the works for several months. Something obviously kept quiet for good reason.

Was there a give and take with the company when it came to JK and the album? 100%. There were things he wanted, there were things they wanted, there were frogs that it being a first solo album he knew he would have to swallow.

Were some of these concessions given to allow the two more freedom, like allowing the 'travel show'? I do believe they were. Perhaps also prices paid (with Golden) for demands agreed upon in their new contracts. I can definitely see that happening.

The push for a full length album could be one of those, for example. JK was talking about a mini album even as late as mid July, and then it turned into a full length album. Could it have been the company pressuring him into it? Yes it could, as in the company wanting this. But JK is not one to cave in just because the company wants. So very possibly we had a bit of give and take going on here, and some of it most definitley would have had to do with allowances made for the two of them.

But at the same time I don't think it had anything to do with the joint enlistment. Not only don't I think that the company would have a say in it, legally or morally, but this wouldn't be something that either of them would stand for. So, in case I didn't make myself clear here, I will say it again - the company didn't use the possibility of joint enlistment as a tool to get something extra out of JK.

You talk about Hybe not being a company that will allow their artists to do as they wish. BTS belong to Big Hit, which is a subsidiary of Hybe. But Hybe would not have existed if not for BTS. BTS made BH what it is today and Hybe was built on their coat tails. And BTS, the members, they have enjoyed many freedoms within their company over the years. Not full freedom though. And Jikook, well they were allowed to be (while in other companies this was not allowed, couples forced apart or forced out). And not only were they allowed to be, but towards the end of 2020 there was movement towards normalizing their relationship, ear suck, hickey and all.

But then came Hybe and Hybe going public, and I knew the day that was announced that even though the members will get a huge payout this move will cost them freedoms they already had, because now there were shareholders and share prices to worry about, and when your band is the main bread winner for that company, well, as I mentioned, there is a price to pay. And they have been paying that price. The two of them for the 2 years prior to their enlistment. As long as they were under their old contracts they were bound by them. Which is why I feel like there will be changes coming when they are done with their MS and well into their new contracts. This will be freedom regarding their art (I think we can already see part of that with RM's new album) but also regarding their personal lives, in a sense of what they can or cannot show if they choose to. JK telling us he's human, telling us he loves us but he deserves to be happy, or even more needs to be happy to be able to create and perform and make us happy (you need to be especially dense if you don't understand that this also includes being in a relationship with another person, who may or may not be a member of his own band). This includes setting boundaries with their fans - yes they love them and feel indebted to them, but at the same time they need to stay in their own lane (I do think JK has been too nice at times setting these boundaries, while others like RM, Yoongi and Tae - a couple of times - were way blunter).

Once again, Hybe wouldn't have the right to 'allow' or 'disallow' them to enlist together. This would have been their decision and theirs alone. Hybe could talk about timing and what they would like to happen before or after, but not if it can or will happen. Hybe could like or dislike it, support it or not, but they would have no power over it. The military alone would have a say if to allow it or not, and at the end of the day we know how that one ended.

I also want to touch on another point.

Again.

Their choice to enlist together.

I've seen talk about Jikookers using the term NEED when it comes to the two of them - needing to be with one another to get through their military service, and I wanted to put in my two cents on this.

The way I think of it is that when people use the term need in that case it's not about saying that if they weren't allowed to enlist together they wouldn't have survived it. No. That isn't it. Not in my opinion, in any case.

These two young men are strong physically and mentally, and they would get through whatever was thrown their way (wouldn't be easy, I tell you that, but they would get through it). Chances are that if they wouldn't have gone down the path of enlisting together they could have landed a cushier placement, band perhaps, like NJ, who knows. But definitley the choice to do this together had a price tag to it, and their letters from Festa tell us as much as well (even though they obviously sugar coat it for us, but the sentiments are clear - it's hard).

So, they chose this. They knew this was going to be hard. A harder, more difficult, placement if they were to go down this path. And yet this was their choice!!

Why?

And here comes that NEED into play.

Yes, I do think that they needed this. They needed each other. They needed to not be separated for 18 months not knowing if and how often they could get to see each other or be together (maybe, if allowed, once in 3 months, and only if their units allowed the time off at the same time). They needed that person that they trusted and KNEW that would stand by their side, that would support them, be their rock, catch them when they fall, be by their side in their time of need, just like they always have been.

They are each other's PERSON. The one that would ALWAYS be there through good and bad.

They both put it down in words:

And JK

Shock, awe... I must be one of those delusional Jikookers that believe JK's lyrics were not describing his relationship with us, the fans. Another song written for the one person they love, yet given as a gift to Army.

And in his very subtle but intelligent way, he told us that himself:

"Even when I was working on the song, I really wanted to release it as a fan song".

Just like JM did, eh?

Would it be too hard to just say : "I wrote this song for my fans"? He chose not to, didn't he? Once again we have choices here.

I digress.

You could replace NEED with WANT, if you will. Same same in this case, imo. Seeing how hard they fought to find their way to this exact point.

The first, the only idols to ever do this!!

Bottom line:

To me, using the term NEED in this context is not about them not being able to make it otherwise, but more about a choice made to have that person they feel closest to, the person that has since forever been their emotional anchor, the person that lifted them up when they fell, the person that stood by them, cared for them, supported them when they were struggling. The person that KNEW them to the core and would be there by their side to get through this together with.

Each other.

#Jikook #Kookmin #Minkook #Jungkook #Jimin #JM #JK #Jikook MS #Jikook enlisting together #Jikook are each other's somebody

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roo-bastmoon · 11 months ago

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Off My Chest

Rant about Hybe under the cut. I give you my word I will try to post a majority of positive content, because the world (and my mental health) doesn't need more negativity, but sometimes you just gotta vent.

Folks, if you've known me for a hot second, you've realized I am a Jimin-biased Jikooker... but I am OT7, and I sincerely love and support BTS.

I believe Jimin is a grown man who can advocate for himself and I believe Jungkook absolutely supports and adores him, whatever their relationship status is.

I always try to accentuate the positive and avoid online drama and negativity as much as possible, but I need to get this off my chest.

I will never be gas-lit into believing that the way Jimin was treated in solo era was fair, or equitable, or even made any kind of business-sense. I've genuinely tried to entertain other people's points of view and listen to people who claim to have industry expertise, but...

I will never forget his mail being tampered with four times, his leaked insurance information, denial of more music videos, overlapped solo release, only 9 days of promotion, split title tracks, no radio or play-listing, no bio for his Spotify for months, no restock of his single CD for months, hundreds of thousands of frozen and deleted sales, millions of culled streams, shady articles in WeVerse and Billboard, insulting dialogue in In the Seom, failure to submit to RIAA certification for months, only a paywall documentary on WeVerse, zero official acknowledgement of his Hot 100 #1, 1 billion streams on Spotify, or wins for The Fact, MAMA, and two Webbys, plus broken in-ears, anemic little balloons and a sad background tarp as decorations for his fan events… and the company telling him how doing more would just be impossible.

I compare all that to the push that other members and other groups got, and I know it just isn't true. It wasn't impossible.

Hell, Jeon Jungkook put in more effort to promote Jimin’s work and showed more respect for Jimin as an artist during his at-home lives than that whole company did, which honestly makes no sense from a profit standpoint.

I will never forget it, and I will not entertain arguments that say I’m a solo or an anti or jealous about it. I have eyes.

I am not out to shade any other members nor put forth any conspiracy theories. I simply want all our boys to get everything they justly deserve.

And yes, other members have suffered mishaps and neglect, but nothing of this scale, this consistently. It baffles me, I cannot understand it, and I'm done trying. Something strange was going on behind the scenes and we may never be privy to the details.

In trying to put this awful feeling behind me, I will say I am elated that Jikook are serving together and can support each other. I am glad there will be a Jikook travel show. I'm continually impressed with all of Jimin's success (in the military and professionally) despite all odds. I will always love and support all of BTS with my full heart.

And I sincerely hope the company has been taking notes and course-corrects for PJM2, even if it rubs some higher ups the wrong way if they had a different vision. Considering Jimin’s unique talents and his amazing star power—even his ability to bring Paris and New York to a screaming standstill just for the opportunity to see him exit a car—I would hope the company will “do their best to promote all labels and artists without discrimination” going forward.

But what happened truly sucked, and I needed to get that off my chest. I am not interested in further discussion or debate. I am now going to do my best to shift my focus and energy on to the things I want to manifest, instead of the things that enrage me.

So let me end on a positive and hopeful note: I put all my trust in Jimin, who signed a new contract with Hybe and who unfailingly adores all his members. There can be no love without trust. I will always do my best to trust BTS.

But I'm watching carefully. For Jimin and all our boys.

Love, Roo

#jimin #jikook #park jimin

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bangtanhoneys · 1 month ago

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GRACE TOUR DIARY: April 11th 2025, Seoul

Note: this is over 10k. I'm sorry for the delays but now you know why, this thing is a monster. I've linked the songs I used and the outfit that AI helped me create. Enjoy! Can’t wait to read your comments 😂

The Seoul Olympic Stadium stood proudly in the background of the morning news broadcast, where reporters captured scenes of dedicated ARMYs bundled in sleeping bags and tents, determined to be the first inside. The BTS tribute concert wasn’t set to begin for hours, but the excitement was already palpable. Tickets for the 90,000-seat event had sold out within minutes, and whispers swirled about the high-profile attendees: idols, actors, politicians, and even foreign dignitaries, all invited by the South Korean government. The statistics for ARMY in attendance showed a high level of Korean fans but also international, including Japanese, American, European and a few others from further afield.

The lineup promised a night to remember, with performances from Tomorrow x Together, Seventeen, Stray Kids, IU and more. Naturally, BTS and their team as well as families would be in attendance, but the biggest mystery remained: where was Grace?

To the public, Grace had essentially vanished. Her last tour stop was in New York and her next stop wasn’t until April 17th, when she would appear on stage in Paris at the Accor Stadium. There were reports she had flown elsewhere, though no one knew where. Theories were rampant, but only a handful of insiders, including Seokjin, knew the truth. Grace’s appearance at the tribute concert was a closely guarded secret, executed with meticulous planning to keep even the rest of BTS in the dark.

It didn’t help when reports came in of Seokjin returning to Incheon Airport, with a suitcase in hand and looking tanned. Clearly, he had been on holiday and returned in time for the concert, but he hadn’t returned with Grace.

Speculation ran wild online. Social media exploded with conspiracy theories: some claimed she was in rehab, others that she was pregnant or recovering from surgery. A few even speculated she had died. None of them were even close.

The government had also kept quiet and with such a star-studded lineup, eager to redeem itself after the debacle in Busan, had spared no expense. While funding came from the state, HYBE and Big Hit had full control over the concert set list (with input from the boys) and creative direction, ensuring everything was perfect for the thousands in attendance and for the millions watching live.

Grace hadn’t had a very good night’s sleep. She didn’t know if it was nerves or worries or excitement—maybe it was a mix of all three—but she tossed and turned. In the end, rather than waking Seokjin with her bad night, she ended up on the couch with a mountain of blankets and pillows. Her cat, Min-ji, had judged her antics with a single glare before retreating to the spare bedroom.

The soft murmur of the television had been her only company as she drifted in and out of sleep. By 7 am, she admitted defeat, taking a scalding shower to wake herself up. By 9, she’d made breakfast - poached eggs, bacon, and toast - and completed a light workout to settle her nerves and get her joints ready for a long day.

Seokjin found her in the living room, sipping tea while scrolling through her phone. He shuffled into the kitchen, squinting at the sunlight. “Rough night?” he grumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

“Try a mix of anxiety, nerves, excitement, and panic,” Grace replied without looking up, her fingers darting over the screen as she texted Sejin for updates.

Moments later, a response came through: Pick you up at noon. The stadium is ready. The crew arrived early this morning. Your rehearsal and soundcheck are at 1 p.m.

Letting out a long sigh, she tossed her phone onto the coffee table and leaned back, closing her eyes. “It feels different,” she admitted. “When we were touring, even now on my tour, everyone knew I was performing. This secrecy makes it... heavier.”

Seokjin, now equipped with iced coffee and looking more awake, joined her on the couch. “That’s the point,” he said with a small smile. “The reveal is going to hit harder because no one expects it.”

He wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make the waiting any easier. Grace had crafted a careful narrative to keep everyone off the trail. Her short, cryptic message in the group chat—Delayed in New York. It’s been a nightmare getting home—had been enough to stop Jungkook from going AWOL. Sejin had done his part, adding another layer of reassurance for the rest of the group: She’s working hard, and we’re all trying to get to Seoul as quickly as possible.

But now, the charade was almost over. By 6pm, the truth would be out. Grace would face the dramatic fallout of BTS’s teasing and complaints, but for now, all she could do was focus on the task ahead.

“Sejin-oppa will pick me up at noon,” Grace said, breaking the silence. “What about you? What’s your schedule?”

Seokjin leaned back, nursing his coffee. “Meeting the guys at the company around three for makeup, hair, and another briefing. Then we head to the venue around 4:30 for the red carpet and... waiting.”

Grace nodded, her nerves still humming. By the end of the night, everything would change. But for now, it was just another morning.

The morning slipped away in a haze of nerves and preparation. Grace triple-checked her bag as if she hadn’t packed it the night before, to make sure everything was in there - rehearsal outfit, outfit to get changed into after the performance, Seokjin’s lunch he had prepared for her and even a few snacks for the hours of waiting she anticipated. Speaking of the man in question, he had returned from his shower a few minutes ago and was now lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone but Grace could tell he was keeping an eye on her.

“Relax,” he said finally, setting his phone down. “You’ve performed these songs a thousand times before.”

“Not like this,” Grace sighed, zipping up her bag with more force than necessary. “I’m not performing it with seven other people, I’m doing some of the songs on my own as well as staying in the centre spot, doing all the choreography and on top of that, it’s a secret performance dedicated to all of us. The whole world is watching and the rest of the group doesn’t even know.”

Seokjin laughed, leaning back with an air of practised calm. “Well when you put it like that,” he paused and caught the look on her face. “You’ll be fine. And besides, the look on their faces when they see you will be worth it.”

Grace couldn’t help but smile at the thought. She could already picture Jungkook’s wide-eyed shock, Taehyung’s playful outrage, Jimin’s high-pitched noises, Namjoon’s sense of outrage, Hobi’s over excitement and Yoongi’s fake calmness but the gummy smile would give it away.

By noon, Sejin arrived, his usual calm demeanour giving her a sense that everything was alright. “Everything’s running smoothly,” he said as Grace climbed into the back of the car, the bag at her feet. “The venue is secure, and rehearsals are on schedule and all the performers have arrived.”

Grace let out a low and long breath, nodding. She glanced back to the house that she and Seokjin owned, tucked away in Hannam-dong and she could see a hand holding a small paw, making it wave from one of the curtains. A grin broke across her face as the car pulled away.

The drive to the stadium took twenty-six minutes, weaving over the Yongbi Bridge, through Seoul Forest, along the Han River, and across the Jamsil Bridge. Though it wasn’t the most direct route, Grace appreciated the detour. It gave her a chance to soak in the city transformed by the concert. Streetlights and railings were adorned with banners, and ARMY filled every corner of the stadium park, creating an atmosphere brimming with excitement.

No one noticed the sleek car as it sped past, but Grace kept her hoodie up and her posture low, even though the tinted windows offered plenty of cover. Upon arrival at the underground entrance, security swiftly ushered them inside.

The moment she stepped out of the car, Grace was flanked by a team of bodyguards, moving with her and Sejin through a maze of hallways toward the dressing rooms. The energy backstage was electric—staff darted around with equipment, costumes, and stage props while coordinating last-minute changes through their headsets.

“You’ve got about half an hour before rehearsal,” Sejin informed her once they reached the dressing room. “I’ll grab your microphone and earpieces.”

Grace nodded, exhaling deeply as she dropped her bag onto the couch and began unpacking. She laid out her personal clothes neatly, tucked her shoes underneath, and set her snacks on the coffee table. A quick check of the mini-fridge revealed it was stocked with iced coffee, tea, and water.

With minutes to spare, she changed into her rehearsal outfit—leggings, a sports bra, and one of Seokjin’s oversized hoodies.

The quiet was short-lived as Sejin returned with her bright orange microphone and matching earpieces. Right behind him was Hana, her manager, ushering in two makeup artists, a hairstylist, and a stylist. They greeted Grace warmly, their chatter buzzing with excitement as they unpacked their supplies. Makeup palettes, hair products, and her first costume were laid out meticulously, while the rest of her outfits were already staged beneath the platform for quick changes.

Sejin clipped the monitor to the back of her leggings as she adjusted one of her in-ear monitors. With everything in place, she followed him out of the room and down the hallway. The other performers had finished their rehearsals an hour earlier and had been taken to lunch to maintain the secrecy of Grace’s participation.

Standing on stage, Grace exhaled the longest breath she could manage. Even without an audience, the sheer scale of the stadium was overwhelming. The sight always reminded her of the massive crowds BTS had drawn over the years: 90,000 in August 2018, 120,000 in October 2019, and millions watching online during Permission to Dance in 2021 and then in person in 2022.

Now, another 90,000 people were gathered to watch a tribute to BTS, featuring performances from idols, groups, and Grace herself.

The soundcheck went smoothly. An hour was more than enough to confirm the staging, ensure the dancers were comfortable, and perfect the timing for her introduction. By the end, Grace felt ready.

Still, nerves churned beneath her surface. Her hand trembled slightly as she returned her microphone to Sejin and removed her in-ear monitors. As she stepped offstage, the stadium lights dimmed, allowing the crew to adjust for the next rehearsal. She caught sight of Tomorrow x Together arriving for their soundcheck, their cheerful voices filling the air.

Soobin spotted her briefly, offering a warm smile but saying nothing before joining the rest of his group on stage.

Back in her dressing room, Grace had a moment to herself to snack and hydrate before the staff returned. Her makeup was light but designed to withstand sweat, and her blonde hair was styled in soft waves for added volume.

And then, she was left alone again.

The hours leading up to showtime were agonizing. She resisted the urge to bite her nails—painted purple for the event—and ignored the lunch Seokjin had lovingly packed. Nervous cramps churned in her stomach, making the thought of food unappealing.

Performing at her own concerts brought its own set of nerves, but this felt entirely different. Her usual shows were her own songs, and her own choreography, and the goal was simply for the audience to enjoy themselves. Tonight, though, the stakes felt impossibly high: ARMY was watching, along with the world. Cameras would broadcast her every move, other idols and groups were part of the lineup, and she would be performing BTS’s iconic tracks.

The weight of expectation pressed down on her shoulders, and for the first time in a long while, Grace felt truly overwhelmed.

The hours crawled by as Grace waited. She changed into her first performance outfit with the help of the stylist and the make up artist did a quick touch-up. No one needed to tell her what was happening as she could hear the noise from above as the crowd started filling the stadium, the sounds of BTS music videos being played across the large screens and outside of her room she could hear the hustle and bustle of the staff.

“One hour,” Sejin said as he poked his head in.

“Fuck,” Grace quietly swore to herself but from the chuckle off Hana, it meant that it hadn’t been too quiet.

She practised her lines, double-checked a bit of the choreography that had given her a little bit of trouble and tried not to let her mind wander too far. Hana forced her to have an energy bar and a bottle of water, more to get her energy up, which ended up in Grace needing the bathroom for one nervous wee.

The noise was building and when Sejin came to get her, her nervousness had settled into a steady hum. No matter what happened, no matter what occurred, she was going on stage to do her job whether her nerves wanted to or not. The walk to the stage was long and she was surrounded by bodyguards and staff, leading to her changing area where she would spend all of the concert when she wasn’t on stage.

“Here we are,” Sejin said, stopping outside the curtained area. “So quick run down,” he said to Grace, Hana, the stage manager who was designated to Grace only and two of the head bodyguards.

“It’s going to begin with a message from the President, then Bang Si-Hyuk, then they're going to play your message and the performance you did of No More Dream and your introduction to Tomorrow x Together. While they're on stage, we’ll get you to your platform and have you ready, there’s a quick message from BTS and then it's your turn,” the stage manager explained.

Grace nodded, sitting down on the couch provided. Although the space was simple and a little small, it contained a mirror and a monitor, which provided the stage feed, a table with water, and two racks of costumes. Not that she had many, but as they had learnt from her own tour, it was better to have a backup.

The stadium’s energy crackled through the walls, sending a shiver down Grace’s spine. The noise from ARMY was overwhelming and the last few notes from the music video playing on the screen were barely heard over the noise of the crowd. She resisted the urge to look at the monitor, letting the noise above her dictate the moment instead.

The sound of the crowd changed as the announcer said, “Please welcome to the stage, your hosts for today, Yoo Jae-suk and Jee Seok-jin.” Two presenters with close ties to BTS, it seemed practical to have them as hosts for the evening and the crowd’s response to the two men as they walked across the stage to where there was a little podium.

“Tonight, we celebrate not only the achievements of Bangtan Sonyeondan but also the global community they have built,” Jae-suk announced, his voice filled with admiration for a group who felt the same admiration towards him. “Their music, message, and passion have inspired millions worldwide, from all different nations.”

Seok-jin nodded, adding, “It is an honour for us, for our country, to host this tribute to their legacy, and we have a spectacular night lined up for you.”

Grace barely registered their words, her mind too focused on the moment when she would appear on stage to start her own performance. She didn’t even notice when the President of South Korea appeared on stage, delivering what seemed to be a heartfelt speech about BTS’s journey, their impact on the South Korean culture, and their drive which encouraged their fans, who in turn came to the country in honour of their idols. While the government and BTS didn’t have the greatest of relationships, the audience roared in approval, their cheers a powerful reminder of what they felt towards their group.

On-screen, Bang Si-Hyuk appeared to the cheers of the crowd. He remembered the early days, of when he first met all eight members of what was going to be the biggest band in the world, how each of them was different and unique yet their bond was clear from day one. He continued with how proud he was of them as a group, of how they broke records, how their solo careers flourished and how they broke their own records with their solo careers.

“You don’t sell out a concert venue in 10 seconds,” he finished saying on screen.

There was a brief pause, silence and the noise from above caused Grace to wince and adjust her in-ear monitors.

“Dearest ARMY,” she heard her own voice say. “Please accept my sincere apologies for not being with you tonight. I’m unfortunately stuck in New York City and every attempt to make it home has been foiled. So I want to send a little message to you all before we start this concert tonight.”

Sejin grinned to himself from where he watched at the doorway to the small area, eyes on the monitor as he watched Grace pull off the perfect ruse.

“It’s been twelve years since we first appeared in front of you all and I remember when No More Dream was picked as the debut song. I’m sure you can remember the eyeliner, the outfits, how we were a small group from a small company with big dreams. And thanks to you, those big dreams became a reality as we grew. And now, here we are, celebrating those twelve years with some amazing performances. And while I can’t be there in person, I hope you all have an amazing night. I love you all and I will see you soon.”

The screen faded to black.

A split second later, the pounding bass of No More Dream shook the stadium, and the screen lit up again—this time, with a pre-recorded video of Grace performing the track, her movements sharp and commanding. The crowd roared in response.

Beneath the stage, Tomorrow x Together passed by Grace’s hiding spot, heading towards the lift that would take them to their cue. Dressed in grey school uniforms reminiscent of BTS’s MMA 2019 look, they practically buzzed with excitement. This was their moment—not just as BTS’s juniors, but as a force of their own. They knew these songs better than anyone, ready to put their own stamp on them.

As Grace’s video performance ended, her voice echoed through the arena once more:

“Please welcome to the stage, our greatest successes, Tomorrow x Together.”

The opening beats of N.O kicked in, and Soobin launched into the first verse. The crowd’s energy surged again as the group powered through a medley of BTS’s early hits—Boy in Luv, Danger, Run, and finally War of Hormone. Each member owned the moment, putting their own spin on the classics while staying true to the spirit of the originals.

As Danger played, Grace stood, gripping her microphone loosely, her lips silently mouthing along to Jangnanhae neo dodaeche naega mwoya as the audience screamed the words in unison. She had timed this moment in rehearsals down to the second. Across the stadium, multiple screens flickered between past and present—the Danger music video, BTS’s very first live performance, their last time singing it together, and the live stage unfolding now.

It was a perfect reminder that no matter who took the stage, BTS would always be there.

Grace exhaled slowly, her heart thrumming with adrenaline as the final beats of War of Hormone crashed over the stadium. From her position beneath the stage, she could hear the deafening cheers, and feel the vibrations of thousands of voices calling out in exhilaration.

It was time.

With a final glance at the monitor, Grace took a steady breath and stepped forward, her team moving in perfect sync beside her. Her grip tightened around the microphone. Timing, precision, energy—every second had to be flawless.

As the lights dimmed on Tomorrow x Together’s electrifying set, ARMY was still catching their breath when the stadium was suddenly filled with the unmistakable echo of la la la...

The opening drums of Fire rumbled through the arena.

No introduction. No warning. Just that familiar beat—and then, in an instant, the surprise was revealed.

"BULTAOREUNE!"

Grace shot up onto the main stage as flames erupted around her, the explosive heat mirroring the roar of the crowd. The backing track carried BTS’s voices, the chants of Fire! shaking the stadium walls.

The reaction was immediate. The stadium erupted.

There she had stood, as if she did this every day, dressed in an outfit that could only be described as sensational. High heel stilettos and a pair of simple gold earrings were just some pieces to elevate the ensemble - it was the rest of the outfit that had people reacting to it over Twitter. High-waisted shirts tailored for a flatting fit, hugging the waist while providing enough stretch for comfort. Adorned with black and red sequins, ensuring they would catch the light on the stage.

The crop top, something Grace wasn’t exactly used to, was fitted with shimmering black and red sequins, a square neckline and sleeveless, highling her shoulders and collarbone for a sleek, yet edgy appeal. Gold chain detailing trimmed the neckline which matched the ones on her shorts.

Ending it all, was the jacket. Black with bold red embellishments, long sleeves with gold chains and easy to pull off when needed.

The perfect outfit for what was about to happen.

As the echoes of Fire and oh-e-oh trailed behind her, Grace strode the steps and toward seven waiting dancers, their silhouettes barely visible through the haze of pyrotechnics. The entire arena was in hysterics—the biggest dupe had just unfolded before their eyes, and Grace had pulled it off flawlessly. Even in the VIP section, six stunned men sat frozen, jaws slack as they processed what was happening.

Seokjin, however, only smirked.

The camera zoomed in as Grace took her position in the centre of the dancers. With a glint in her eye, she grinned at the lens, mouthing Yoongi’s iconic “Bultaoreune.”

And then—she was off.

The all-too-familiar choreography surged through her body, each movement effortless, ingrained from years of performing beside them and long rehearsals. She held the centre position with ease, her voice sharp and commanding as she launched into Hoseok’s verse, the rock guitars roaring behind her.

The screen behind her flickered to life, revealing the live band, the same one from BTS’s Yet to Come concert in Busan. The added instrumentals made the song even more intense, raw, and alive.

This wasn’t just a performance. This was a statement.

The noise of the crowd was deafening even as they sang along, her in-ear monitors almost useless against the overwhelming roar as she moved into the song’s iconic footwork. With each step, she sang louder to be heard, “Need to burn it down.” The crowd’s approval surged, and without missing a beat, she pushed forward, her voice rising as she belted out, “Ssak da bultaewora bow-wow-wow.”

By the end of the chorus, the stadium was in a frenzy. Fans were on their feet, ARMY Bombs waving in the air as the lights cut out once more. The crowd’s energy didn’t fade, it only grew, as the screen flickered to life.

The crowd didn’t quiet—their energy only grew as the screen flickered again.

A familiar figure appeared.

Namjoon.

His younger self from the Dope era, standing strong as ever. His voice echoed through the speakers, sending a wave of nostalgia crashing over the audience.

“Eoseo wa, Bangtaneun cheoeumiji?” (Welcome, first time to BTS?)

The second the lights cut out, Grace moved. She ran, sprinting toward the thrust stage that led to a smaller, more intimate platform closer to the audience. As the lights snapped back on, she shed the jacket, handing it off to a dancer who tossed it seamlessly to the staff below.

“Ayo, ladies and gentlemen!” she sang, the start of Dope, voice dripping with confidence as she stalked down the stage. The dancers hyped the crowd, amplifying the chaos.

By the time they reached the smaller stage, she was fully in BTS mode, navigating Hobi’s verse effortlessly. ARMY Bombs and phone screens filled her vision, capturing every second of this legendary moment.

She couldn’t see the VIP section. She didn’t know exactly where they were. But she could feel their eyes on her.

Through her in-ear monitors, Grace could hear the audience singing back to her, their voices blending into one overwhelming wave of sound. She powered through the chorus, moving effortlessly into Jungkook and Jimin’s iconic bridge.

“Say what?” she called out, throwing the mic toward the crowd.

The stadium screamed in response, their energy sending a thrill down her spine. A grin spread across her face as she slipped back into position, ready to close out the song.

But it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

The unmistakable beat of Baepsae kicked in—

And the entire stadium lost it.

Fans screamed. ARMY Bombs flickered wildly. The energy in the air was almost electric.

Grace didn’t need to check Twitter to know what would happen next. Baepsae had always been a fan-favorite, a performance that never failed to go viral. The reason? Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jimin’s infamous hip thrusts—a move that had practically become legendary.

And every time the song was performed, fans always pointed out the same thing:

Why didn’t Grace ever do the hip thrusts?

The answer had always been simple.

It was considered too suggestive for a woman in Korea, especially at the level BTS performed it. Instead, she was given a modified movement—a safer alternative that kept the flow of the dance intact without pushing boundaries.

But now? This was her stage.

She stepped forward, locking eyes with the camera, the glint in her gaze unmistakable.

“They call me baepsae,” she sang, standing tall in front of her dancers.

There was no hesitation. No second-guessing. No worrying about the reaction.

This time, she wasn’t holding back.

She could already hear the internet exploding. She could already hear the comments. She could already hear the press and the reactions of the world after that.

The second she rolled her hips forward, the screams reached an ear-splitting level. The bass reverberated through the stage, matching the pounding of her heartbeat as she fully committed to the movement.

The dancers behind her didn’t miss a beat, keeping up with her energy as they powered through the choreography. It wasn’t just a performance anymore—it was a statement. A line crossed. A boundary shattered.

The camera zoomed in at the exact moment she thrusted again, and she knew—knew—this clip would be replayed millions of times before the night was over.

The audience's reaction was instantaneous.

Gasps. Screams. Absolute chaos.

She didn’t even have to look at the VIP section to know what was happening.

The bridge of the song hit, and she owned it, every move precise, every note perfectly controlled. The camera caught her smirk as she moved to the center, leading the dancers into the final chorus with a confidence that could only come from years of standing on stages just like this.

As the last note rang out, the crowd erupted again, their cheers almost deafening. Grace stood there for just a second, chest heaving, taking it all in and then the stadium lights cut out.

As directed by the stage director, the familiar eight members stood together on screen. Another thing they had all pre-recorded together before Seokjin’s military enlistment.

The sight alone sent the audience into a frenzy.

A wave of emotions surged through the stadium—shock, joy, disbelief. The sheer volume of screams nearly rattled the stage as the eight of them stood together on screen, side by side, just as they always had.

The pre-recorded video played seamlessly, their voices filling the air.

"Did you miss us?" Namjoon’s voice rang out first, his smirk unmistakable.

Jimin grinned. "It’s been a while, huh?"

Yoongi, ever so dry, added, "Not that long. But long enough."

Laughter rippled through the crowd. Even through the screen, their dynamic was effortlessly intact.

Then, Seokjin flashed his signature Worldwide Handsome smile. "I hope you didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily?"

The stadium erupted again.

As she was escorted down the stairs and off the stage, Grace felt a lump rise in her throat, but she held it back, exhaling slowly as she watched. Even though she had been there when they filmed it, seeing it now, in this moment, with this reaction—it hit differently. Even though they were seated in the seats above, two were already back from their military enlistment and the others were so close to the end, that unshakeable feeling of simply missing them beside her hit like a wave as she was taken to underneath the stage.

It took awhile to get her outfit off but she stood still, watching the screen as the eight of them powered through their message of how they missed ARMY, how they were excited to be on stage again as eight and that it wouldn’t be too long. But for now, while they wouldn’t be on stage, they would be there through the night, in the audience, enjoying their career being played out for them.

As the video of the eight of them played for the arena, the BTS VIP section was chaotic.

Jungkook was gone, half off his seat, hands buried in his hair as if trying to physically process what just happened. His mouth hung open, eyes darting from the stage to the massive screens above, replaying every moment over and over again.

Jimin? Not much better. His hands were clasped over his mouth, shoulders shaking with silent disbelief. “She didn’t—” He turned to Taehyung, eyes wild. “She did.”

“She did.” Taehyung, for his part, looked far too pleased, his boxy grin wide as he nodded approvingly. “And she did it right.”

Hobi, meanwhile, had launched himself back in his seat, clutching at his chest dramatically. “Aigoo—someone help me! I wasn’t ready!” He wheezed out a laugh, nudging Namjoon hard in the ribs. “You weren’t ready either, were you?”

Namjoon was not ready.

His expression was a whirlwind of shock, scandal, and outright horror. He had been gripping the edge of the VIP railing so tightly his knuckles had turned white. “What the fuck was that?” he blurted, looking around like someone needed to explain immediately. “What did I just witness?”

“That,” Yoongi said, smirking as he finally pulled himself from his stunned silence, “was your sister breaking the internet.”

Namjoon whipped around to Seokjin. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

Seokjin was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, the smirk on his face only growing with every passing second. He hadn't moved much—hadn't reacted as wildly as the others—because he had seen this coming.

“Of course I knew, by accident though,” Seokjin finally said, admitting finally to the truth.

Namjoon gaped. “You let her do that?”

Seokjin turned his head slightly, leveling him with a look. “I didn’t let her do anything,” he said, a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. “She chose to do it.”

A beat of silence.

And then Taehyung cackled, nudging Jungkook, who was still trying to process. “Ohhh, hyung, you’re so done,” he teased, grinning at Namjoon. “Twitter’s gonna be a war zone.”

“Twitter? Twitter?!” Namjoon repeated, looking increasingly distressed. “ARMY’s gonna riot, the government—”

“And they’ll get over it.” Yoongi stretched, looking far too amused. “This was her moment. And she owned it.”

The stadium was still screaming, the crowd refusing to settle even as the pre-recorded video continued playing on the big screens. The energy hadn’t dipped—it had only escalated. “She knew exactly what she was doing,” Hoseok mused, shaking his head in awe. “She knew the cameras would catch it. She knew how the world would react.”

Namjoon exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face.

“This is going to be a problem,” he muttered.

Seokjin’s smirk widened.

“For who?”

For who, exactly? Because ARMY were still reeling, the rest of the VIP section were muttering amongst themselves about Grace appearing from absolute nowhere and where had she been?! But for who, exactly, would this be a problem?

The answer to that question came almost immediately.

The second the lights dimmed for the next performance, Namjoon’s phone buzzed violently in his pocket. He barely had time to pull it out before Jimin’s did the same. Then Taehyung’s. Then Jungkook’s.

A chorus of oh no’s and shit, already? rang out as they stared at their screens, the notifications flooding in faster than they could keep up. Twitter was already ablaze, clips of Grace appearing from the stage, to her starting to sing Dope and finally, her hip thrusts, spreading like wildfire, each one accumulating thousands of retweets and comments in real time.

GRACE DID THE HIP THRUST. I REPEAT. GRACE DID THE HIP THRUST. WE ARE IN A NEW ERA.

BIGHIT STAFF LEFT THE CHAT.

SEOKJIN, CONTROL YOUR WIFE!

THE CAMERA ZOOMED IN. SHE KNEW. SHE FREAKING KNEW.

Jungkook finally snapped out of his daze with a full-body scream, shaking Namjoon’s arm like a child who just saw their favourite superhero in real life. “Hyung, look at this!” He shoved his phone forward. “SOMEONE ALREADY MADE A SLOW-MO EDIT—IT’S BEEN FIVE MINUTES!”

Namjoon groaned, eyes darting across his screen, the sheer volume of mentions making his head spin. “I—this is—” He gestured wildly at Seokjin. “YOU’RE TOO CALM ABOUT THIS!”

Seokjin, still maddeningly relaxed, simply shrugged. “I told you. I knew.”

Nothing more could be said however as the lights on the stage flickered, a mass of dancers appearing out of nowhere and over the noise, “Seventeen right here.”

The roar of the crowd surged again as Seventeen took formation, their presence electrifying. The opening beats of ON echoed through the stadium like a war drum, a call to arms that sent the energy soaring to new heights.

Yoongi finally spoke, voice low but certain. “This night just keeps getting crazier.”

Beside him, Namjoon exhaled, his grip tightening on his drink. “Yeah,” he admitted, eyes locked on the stage.

And something told him—it wasn’t over yet.

The songs passed by quickly with Seventeen taking control of ON, Not Today, DNA. And then, there was a little break for the hosts to take over again and do some talking before finally announcing the second group for the night.

Stray Kids, dressed in pastel and white outfits, appeared through the lights as the backing track for Boy with Luv introduced them and the crowd for what was to come next. They sang their way through the song, to Need U and Save Me and closed out their set to Butter.

The night was progressing well, ARMY were dancing and singing in their seats, even the foreign dignitaries were having fun as they had been provided ear pieces so someone could translate the lyrics into their ears.

Namjoon had finally relaxed and after a couple of drinks, provided by Jungkook, he had joined Hobi and the maknae line in singing along to Butter. They were getting into the vibe, not caring they could be seen or that they were meant to be the VIPs of the moment. They were just living the moment, enjoying themselves, getting led into a false sense of security.

Underneath, Grace had eaten Seokjin’s lunch and had finally relaxed. She had appeared, done her songs and had gotten changed for the next part of the surprise. As much as she wanted the night to be over so she could be with her boys, she had another three parts to go and the night wasn’t over yet.

The stadium had barely calmed from Butter when the lights dimmed once more, a deep, thrumming bass vibrating through the air. The energy shifted—something was coming.

Something big.

A distorted voice echoed through the speakers, layered over a creeping beat.

"What you gonna do?”

The moment the opening to Cypher Pt. 3 dropped, the crowd lost it. ARMY knew exactly what this meant. A cypher performance? Here? Now?

In the VIP section, the reaction was just as explosive.

“Wait—what?” Jungkook jolted upright, his eyes widening. “No way.”

Yoongi, who had been calmly watching with a knowing smirk, finally sat forward, intrigued.

Namjoon, however, frowned. Something wasn’t right.

He knew this song better than anyone. This was his song.

But that wasn’t his voice.

The stage flooded with red and black lighting, smoke curling along the ground. A lone figure stepped forward—tall, poised, dripping with confidence. The second he raised the mic, it became undeniable.

It was Tiger JK.

Namjoon choked on his drink. “You’re kidding.”

Hobi, eyes wide, smacked his arm. “That’s Tiger JK!”

Namjoon didn’t respond. He couldn’t. He was too busy watching one of Korea’s most legendary rappers spit his verse on Cypher Pt. 3, delivering each line with the same venom and precision that had once made the original version so lethal.

The stadium was a frenzy of disbelief and euphoria. A collaboration no one had seen coming.

And it wasn’t over.

As Tiger JK’s verse ended, the beat transitioned smoothly into the next verse—J-Hope’s

Verse.

Except it wasn’t Hobi who stepped forward this time.

It was Gaeko.

J-Hope screamed.

“He didn’t tell—”

Gaeko, one-half of Dynamic Duo, one of the most respected lyricists in Korean hip-hop, was right there, rapping his part, filling the stadium with his signature flow.

It was unreal.

Namjoon was grinning now, fully enjoying the absolute chaos unfolding in their section.

Yoongi, who had been quiet this entire time, tilted his head slightly, curious.

And then the beat switched one final time.

A slow, deliberate pause.

A lone, familiar voice.

Dressed in black jeans with a black hoodie, the hood pulled up, Grace appeared.

Now Namjoon started to understand why this song had mysteriously been added to the set list. It was a cypher they had last performed in Busan with the government concert and he knew Grace well enough that she would have added this in as another little ‘fuck you’ to the government. And if Namjoon knew Grace enough, he knew what was coming.

“SUGA a.k.a Agust D,” she rapped as the camera panned towards, circling around to show the little cartoon design of Yoongi dressed in his Daewitcha assemble.

If any of Grace’s performances from the night caused headlines, this was the one that would shoot straight to the top.

She delivered every line with precision, her flow sharp and effortless, keeping up with what Yoongi had written all those years ago without deviating from a single word. She didn’t soften it. She didn’t adjust it. She owned it.

And beside her, legends stood in her corner.

Tiger JK and Gaeko hyped her up, their voices booming over the crowd as they urged the audience to make some noise. The energy in the stadium was unreal—every ARMY in attendance screaming, chanting, jumping in sync to the beat as the track powered forward.

Then, as the song neared its end, Grace lowered her hood, locking eyes with the camera. And she didn’t stop.

She took over.

She took Namjoon’s final verse.

And with every word she spat into the mic, the message was unmistakable.

"Haters, I have a lot but no problem, I killThe shovels digging on my career in order to bury meFuck, I don't care, you can't control my shitI became a ninja who has endured distrust and returned again.”

The second she finished, the reaction was instantaneous.

The crowd erupted.

It was deafening—cheers, screams, and the relentless flashing of phone cameras capturing what would become the most replayed moment of the night.

Some would later say this was Grace’s warning shot to the government and the world—fuck around and find out.

Fuck around and mess with her career, with their career, and you’d find out.

She wasn’t just performing. She was making a statement, echoing what Namjoon had felt back in Busan when Seokjin’s military enlistment had been looming, the announcement only days away. That frustration, that helplessness—it was all here, laid bare in every syllable she spit into the mic.

Even the hosts weren’t sure what to say. They tried to keep to the script, to smooth over the moment, but everyone knew. Everyone. They knew what had just happened and the reaction it would cause.

But the show had to go on.

And Grace knew that, too.

She disappeared beneath the stage for another outfit change, vanishing into the shadows just as IU took her place under the lights.

Spring Day.

A single note was all it took.

The stadium fell into a hush, a collective breath held as IU’s voice rang out, delicate but powerful. Every word laced with meaning, every glance at the camera a quiet message in itself. Her subtle nod to the Sewol Ferry tragedy wasn’t missed. It never was.

And nearly everyone—ARMY, idols, staff, even the VIPs—felt their eyes sting.

The night continued with various appearances of idols and groups, each having their own take on BTS’ songs and their legacy. Intermissions were strategically placed so people could go and buy drinks, have a break and come back to have their minds blown with whatever was about to happen next.

The stage had been set in total blackness apart from one spotlight, centered on the main stage as dancers in white did ballet choreography while black feathers rained over the audience.

And with the sound effects of wings, Grace appeared.

Dressed entirely in black—tailored pants, high heels, a lace bodysuit covered by a sleek black jacket adorned with gray feathers along the lapel—she commanded attention. Her gaze met the camera, and the audience held its breath.

“Do your thang, do your thang with me now,” she sang, slipping effortlessly into the all-too-familiar routine, flanked by seven male dancers dressed in white.

As "Black Swan" came to its haunting end, the stage darkened, leaving only Grace’s silhouette before the opening chords of "Blood Sweat & Tears" began to play. The audience erupted, knowing she wasn’t done yet.

She commanded the stage with fluidity, embodying the sensual and tragic beauty of the song, easily reverting back to her character from the BU Universe and WINGS, slipping into that sexiness that sometimes didn’t come naturally to her. By the gasps and reactions of the 90,000 attendees, they had somewhat forgotten how sensual the song was.

As the lights dimmed for Blood, Sweat and Tears to end, Grace slipped off her jacket so the lace bodysuit that had been hidden by the jacket could now be revealed. A sexy top for a tragic, but sexy song as the chords of Fake Love hit ARMY like a tidal wave.

“ARMY, sing it,” she yelled.

“I’m so sick of this fake love,” they sang back to her.

The audience fell into a hushed whisper as Grace softly sang the end, slipping into the centre and holding her hand up as the dancers who each represented one of the boys fell into the ending pose of the song.

There was much time left between the end of the show and as the hosts started to reveal the end of the show, with only three more songs to go, Grace rushed underneath the stage for the final change of the night. The next three songs were going to be the most energetic and with it being the finale, the outfits had to be special.

The dramatic music and entrance of Dionysus, especially when the viewers caught sight of Grace sitting at that familiar table. It was a heavy and busy song, its choreography one of the hardest and it was hard for one member just to do their part, let alone everyone’s parts and sing and do the dance break.

BTS in their section were almost holding their breaths, Seokjin included for he knew just how hard this song went and he knew what Grace would have to go through to get all the way to the dance break, finish that and the finally get to her part of the song which was one of the fastest. Her outfit of choice, the same one from the Melon Music Awards back in 2019, was a sore point for Grace - the first time she had worn it, it had almost killed her but here she was, rocking it again, looking more comfortable than she had been and in more sensible heels.

The noise upped in scale as the dance break finished and Grace leaned against the table, taking a moment to catch her breath before she launched into her part, causing the crowd to almost raise the roof in approval.

At the final beats of the song and on the final high note from Seokjin, Grace sat on the silver thrones and for the first time in the night, took in the crowd. Thousands of faces filled the venue—men and women, young and old, Korean and international—all waving their ARMY Bombs, basking in the music, the moment, the legacy.

She was exhausted, sore, her voice on the verge of giving out. She wanted nothing more than to kick off her heels and collapse into bed.

But it wasn’t over just yet.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jee Seok-jin's voice rang out. "It has been our pleasure to journey with you through the remarkable career of Bangtan Sonyeondan—from their humble beginnings to their latest triumphs, from idols to legends, from one dream to a movement…”

A wave of anticipation rippled through the crowd as Jee Seok-jin paused, allowing the weight of his words to settle. The cheers softened into a reverent hush, thousands hanging onto his every syllable.

"This night is more than just a performance. It is a celebration of resilience, of passion, of music that has transcended borders and languages. And as we near the end, we have just two more songs left."

The energy in the arena reignited like a flame catching in the wind.

Beneath the stage and after the quickest change of her life, Grace exhaled sharply, shaking out her limbs. Two more. She could do this. She would do this.

The moment the first notes of MIC Drop echoed through the venue, the crowd exploded. The pulsing bass, the commanding beat—it was a track that demanded presence, demanded power. Grace took her place, the camera focused on her now booted foot, the adrenaline drowning out her exhaustion.

This song had a bite. A message. A testament to every hurdle, every doubt, every barrier shattered in Bangtan’s journey.

The verses hit hard, and Grace delivered them with razor-sharp precision, her voice unwavering despite the strain. Her movements were fierce, aggressive—driven by the raw energy surging from the audience. Every step, every beat, every lyric felt like fire beneath her skin, propelling her forward.

Then came Namjoon’s familiar line:

“Haters gonna hate.”

The entire stadium roared in response, ARMY’s voices rising like a tidal wave, growing louder and louder as the song thundered on. And when Grace placed her hands over the hips of the dancers beside her and executed that all-too-familiar body roll, the eruption of screams shook the arena.

But there was no time to recover—there was no mic drop.

Instead, the electrifying EDM beat of “Oh-oh-ooh-whoa” pulsed through the speakers.

IDOL had begun.

The choreography hadn’t kicked in yet, giving Grace the freedom to sing her heart out as she strode down the thrust stage, closing the distance between herself and the crowd.

“You can’t stop me lovin’ myself!”

She sang directly to them, jumping in sync with the fans who leapt with her, their ARMY Bombs bouncing wildly.

“It’s okay, I’m in love with my—myself!”

Her voice soared, filled with joy, defiance, freedom. Twenty dancers flooded the stage around her, and without missing a beat, she seamlessly slipped into the choreography. From the front row, she caught glimpses of ARMY mirroring her hand movements, their faces beaming.

The heavy EDM bass rumbled beneath her feet, making the entire stage vibrate.

“Sing it!” she shouted, thrusting her mic toward the crowd.

“Oh-oh-ooh!” they sang back in perfect unison, their voices shaking the arena.

Grace grinned, sweat dripping down her temple.

“One, two, three!” she counted down, perfectly timed with the beat drop.

She took off, sprinting back toward the main stage—where everyone who had performed that night was waiting.

Soobin and S.Coups flanked her as she reached them, bouncing on their feet, the adrenaline still rushing through their veins.

Then—the final verse.

“Oh-oh-ooh!”

Everyone on stage sang together, voices blending into one.

With one last spin, they dropped to the floor as the song reached its final beat. The camera pulled back, capturing the entire stage in a breathtaking wide shot—a sea of performers, a sea of ARMY, a night that would never be forgotten.

The moment their bodies hit the floor, the stage lights dimmed, leaving only the glow of ARMY Bombs twinkling across the vast arena. For a few lingering seconds, there was nothing but the sound of thousands catching their breath—hearts still racing, bodies still buzzing with energy.

Then, like the crash of a wave, the cheers erupted.

It wasn’t just applause—it was thunderous, deafening, overwhelming. The kind of sound that shook the soul, that echoed through every heartbeat, every breath. Grace lay on the floor for a second, chest heaving, staring up at the darkened rafters. She felt everything—the exhaustion in her muscles, the sweat clinging to her skin, the ache in her throat from pushing her voice to its limits.

But more than anything—she felt whole.

The stage lights began to rise again, casting a soft golden glow as everyone lifted themselves off the ground. Laughter, grins, playful shoves. Performers clung to each other, sweaty and exhausted but buzzing with euphoria.

Soobin threw an arm around her shoulders, grinning.

“You killed that,” he said breathlessly.

S.Coups nodded, eyes wide with admiration. “I don’t even know how you survived Mic Drop and Idol back-to-back.”

Grace laughed, still catching her breath. “Me neither.”

A booming voice cut through the stadium, drawing attention back to the center stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for a wonderful night. From all of us here at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, to all the ARMY here, to all the ARMY’s watching and to BTS,” Yoo Jae-suk started as he and his co-host, Jee Seok-Jin, stood in front of all the performers who managed to stand up. The camera panned to the seven male members of BTS, all of whom were up and clapping, “On behalf of us all, thank you.”

They all bowed to the audience, to those watching in the stands and to those watching at home, to the crew, to the dancers and finally to the group who made it happen.

As the lights came up to signal the show was over, Grace let out the deepest breath she could and for the first time in the day, she felt relief. It was over, it was done and now she could go and see her boys.

The stage emptied but also filled, with performers disappearing to get changed and to head to the after party. Staff filled the stage and Grace caught the eye of Sejin as he made his way over with Hana and their team of security. A cold bottle of water was given to her and Hana immediately got to work, dabbing away the sweat on her forehead as security led them offstage.

“How are you feeling?” Sejin asked, keeping a steady arm around her shoulders.

“Tired,” Grace all but croaked. “And a sore throat.”

“Not surprising, given what you just pulled off,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “That setlist was brutal.”

They maneuvered through the backstage maze—past dancers, crew, and fellow performers trying to stop and congratulate her—until they finally reached her dressing room.

She should have known it wouldn’t be empty or even just filled with staff. Because standing right there, waiting, were seven very familiar faces.

Seokjin. Namjoon. Yoongi. Hoseok. Jimin. Taehyung. Jungkook.

Two bottles of champagne sat on the table (which was hilarious considering she didn’t even drink alcohol), and judging by the way they were poking around her things, they had been waiting for a while.

“Not even a minute,” Sejin sighed, shaking his head with a fond smile. “I should’ve known.”

Grace barely had time to process before Jungkook launched himself at her, wrapping her in a bear hug.

“NOONA, YOU KILLED IT!” he practically shouted in her ear.

She winced, but couldn’t stop the tired laugh that bubbled up. There was a clamour from the maknae line and Hobi, each chomping at the bit to tell her which bits were her favourite. Sejin didn’t even manage to get in the door, simply handing the honey tea to Yoongi who passed it to Seokjin who passed it to Grace.

Jungkook, pouting because his noona was distracted by her boyfriend, had somehow found his way to the food table, stuffing his mouth with whatever snacks had been laid out. He looked up mid-bite, eyes widening as he realized everyone was watching him.

“What? I’m hungry!” he mumbled around a mouthful of tteokbokki.

Grace chuckled, shaking her head. “You just watched me perform a whole concert, and you’re the one who’s hungry?”

Jungkook swallowed (barely) before pouting more. “I was stressed! Watching you do all of that on your own made my stomach hurt.”

Yoongi smirked, leaning against the counter. “You act like you’ve never seen her perform before.”

“Not like that,” Jungkook shot back. “That was next-level.”

The others hummed in agreement, and Grace rolled her eyes, finally slipping off her heels.

The relief was instant.

“Bloody hell,” she sighed, flexing her toes. “I swear those things were out to kill me.”

Seokjin, not having said a word since she saw him, simply grabbed the pair of slippers that Grace had packed away and helped her slip her sore feet into the fluffiness. There was an instant sigh of relief and Seokjin straightened up, Grace using the moment to all but lean on him as his arm wrapped around her waist.

Jimin flopped onto the couch, letting out a strange noise, completely shattering the moment.

“So!” he chirped. “What’s the plan for the afterparty?”

Grace groaned, sitting down on the couch next to him, tilting her head back against the cushions. “Jimin, I’m dead. You really think I can go out after that?”

Jimin grinned. “Absolutely.”

Hobi laughed, already pulling out his phone. “I mean, it’s tradition. And everyone’s going to be there—HYBE staff, performers, even some industry seniors.”

Grace grimaced. “That sounds exhausting.”

Namjoon, ever the voice of reason, nudged her knee. “You don’t have to stay long. Just show up, say hi, and leave when you want.”

She sighed, knowing she probably should make an appearance. Even if she was tired, having come off her own tour, had a few days of secret rest, done some of the hardest BTS choreography known and had killed it on stage.

“She’s going to need some more energy,” Seokjin simply commented and the next thing she knew, she was being handed plates of snacks. There was a general conversation about TXT, IU, Seventeen and other performers and they all stood about, even as Hana came back in to help Grace change into a simple black dress with flat shoes this time. Her hair was brushed out and her make up taken off, only to be replaced by very light eyeshadow and some lipstick.

“Come on, the quicker we go to this after party, the quicker we go home,” Grace sighed as she watched Hana pack away her things and shoo her off. Her staff would make sure her things returned home and her costumes would be packed away, going into storage apart from those that might not be needed for her tour.

They made their way down the hall, security keeping a quiet but firm perimeter around them as they moved. The afterparty wasn’t far—it was being hosted at a high-end venue just outside the stadium grounds—but the moment they stepped out into the night air, Grace felt the exhaustion hit her all over again.

Seokjin, who had been watching her like a hawk, didn’t miss it.

“You sure about this?” he murmured, just for her to hear.

She shot him a tired smile. “I’ll be fine. One hour, remember?”

He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue either. Instead, he just stayed close, his presence grounding as they arrived at the venue.

The moment they stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted. The bass thrummed through the floor, laughter and conversation filled the air, and industry elites mingled over drinks and light bites. Performers, producers, managers—everywhere she looked, she saw familiar faces.

A cheer erupted near the entrance as TXT spotted them first, Soobin waving them over. “Hyung! Noona! Over here!”

Grace felt her lips twitch into a smirk as they made their way through the crowd. The younger group was buzzing with excitement, still riding the high from their own stage.

“That was insane,” Beomgyu gushed, eyes flicking between Grace and BTS. “Like, we knew you were gonna be amazing, but that? That was legendary.”

“Literally unreal,” Taehyun agreed. “I don’t know how you had the energy to pull off all that choreography while still being on tour.”

Grace let out a light laugh. “Trust me, I have no idea either.”

Hobi threw an arm over her shoulders, grinning. “She won’t admit it, but she’s basically superhuman.”

“She’s also running on fumes,” Seokjin cut in, giving Hobi a pointed look. “So let’s not make her stand here all night.”

Huening Kai nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s grab a seat!”

The group maneuvered toward a VIP section, a little more secluded from the crowd but still lively. Drinks were poured (non-alcoholic for Grace, per Seokjin’s silent insistence), and the night settled into a comfortable buzz of conversation and laughter.

Grace found herself leaning back against the plush seating, soaking it all in. The music, the energy, the warmth of being surrounded by people who genuinely cared.

Maybe an hour here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

So many people came and congratulated on a performance, how she killed it on stage, etc. All words just flowed over her as she nodded, bowed and thanked them for their kind words. She could see so many familiar faces and she focused enough especially when Big Bang’s own G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung wandered over to say congratulations.

But the wariness was getting to her, as was not having enough sleep and the honey tea hadn’t worked as well she had hoped.

Seokjin caught her eye, just as he returned to the table with her water. “Done?”

“Yeah, I think it's time to go home.”

Surprisingly, it didn’t take much to gather the boys and they all said goodnight early to the party goers. They managed to pile into the van together, Sejin at the wheel and Grace let out a sigh of relief as her feet met the cool metal of the van.

Yoongi slipped in beside her, closing the door behind them and without thinking, she reached over and rested her head on his shoulder as Seokjin covered her with his jacket.

“Is she ill?” Yoongi whispered to his hyung, who glanced at Grace and gave half of a shrug.

“Exhausted from tonight and her tour I imagine,” Seokjin replied but he made a mental note to see what Grace would be like in the morning.

“Sleep over?”

It wasn’t Jungkook who was suggesting it but rather Namjoon.

Seven pairs of eyes met, the eighth was closed, and they all nodded.

“Your place?” Sejin asked, catching Seokjin’s eye in the mirror.

“I guess we’ve got visitors,” he grinned.

Grace got a burst of energy when she realised she was home and Jungkook reached over, helping his noona and the woman he considered his mother, out of the van. The eight of them piled around the front door as Soekjin put in the security code and they were immediately met with a pair of eyes on the stairs.

“Uh oh, we’ve been out too long,” Grace sighed as the boys kicked off their shoes and she made her way over the stairs, letting her hand smooth down Min-Ji’s fur. “I know, I’m sorry. You’ve got extra people to pester now.”

Min-ji graced the boys with his presence by wandering around their feet. Hobi and Jimin took control of sorting out beds for everyone, Namjoon checked his emails and social media for Grace updates, Taehyung started making everyone hot chocolate and Yoongi & Seokjin almost bullied Grace into getting a shower and changing into her pyjamas.

A hot shower and clearing all the makeup away, Grace found the seven men spread across the various couches with the TV on as the news reported back on the concert. “Are you going to keep watching this?” Grace teased, her throat sounding even worse but she felt more awake and more clearer.

“Hey, let us bask,” Jungkook pouted.

Grace stepped over feet and planted herself between Seokjin and Yoongi, the latter passing her a mug of hot chocolate. It was nice to hear them after all this time, and she hadn’t even had a chance to say how much she had missed Namjoon, Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin with them being away for the military. She saw Yoongi whenever his social work for the military would allow him to and Hobi was busy with his solo projects.

But here they were with her, with Seokjin, as they boasted about her performance, and interacted with fans on the V app, teasing each other for their over-reactions. And as she watched and listened, she settled into Seokjin’s side and felt him press his lips to the top of her head.

She did it, she was home, her boys with her and soon they would all be back together as an eight. She just had her tour left to do, the Paris date was looming but she would worry about that later. Right now, she just wanted to relish in the feeling of having Seokjin’s strength beside her, Yoongi’s silent comfort, Namjoon’s careful watch, Jimin and Hobi’s warmth, Jungkook’s care and Taehyung’s sweetness. They were all home, finally.

#bts 8th member #bts eighth member #bts additional member #bts female member #bts fic #bts fanfiction #gracechu

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slaaverin · 24 hours ago

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What is up with this entire fandom jumping on the erasure of Jikook's bond? The Jikook who for years were commuting everywhere together and pissing everyone off? The jikook who were always together and glued during memories and pissing everyone off? The Jikook who got their "fanservice" title specifically because of how much time they spent together on and off camera and behind the scenes? So much so their interactions were accused of being company forced and scripted. Couldn't be because they loved spending time together, there had to be a company agenda, accusations.

But today Suddenly people are even drifting from Fanservice, to just completely erasing them cause its easier for them. Threads being created saying JK is closest to this member and always has been or Jimin is closet to this member and always has been. Lies Jikook don't ever spend time together outside of work. Reporting real moments of Jikook for copyright. Excluding Jikook from basically everything. Lies saying Jk has rode with x member for years or Jimin has always rode with x member for years. Lies Jikook travel with other people and always have, but Jikook only travel together for Hybe content. Lies they aren't together in the military. A complete rewrite of Jikook's history and also a rewrite of JIkook's history with other members. And if you notice alot of these antis pushing these theories are newish fans. And what is sad is you won't see a single veteran OT7 correct them, cause they want Jikook to not exist in this fandom anyone either. IG era destroyed this fandom, but really Chapter 2 made this place go mad to the point there is no going back and they're hell bent on erasing Jikook and only Jikook. I hate to go there, but it really seems like a direct attack stemmed from homophobia, since they're attacking the only two members who act like a couple or have literally been asked by their members, if they are a couple. We know what y'all antis are.

I agree with you anon.

I think there's no denying it can only be homophobia.

This erasure goes so far that it seriously became insane.

But you know what? This is a true call for every jikookers, supporters like us out there to be AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE.

Tweet about jikook, make threads, tumblr posts, edits, love letters on any social media plateform. It's a call to every one of us to share our voice, opinions, love, support about jikook in any way we can.

The only way you can fight darkness is by shining light. Many of us have been reflecting jikook's light and love to spread it further and I beg everyone to keep doing it.

As long as we will be there, continously showing support jikook will never be erased. The truth will be kept safe and live on.

I swear to you, even if all these people are more than us in numbers, they will never be able to change reality. They will never be able to completely instinguish that love because it lives through all of us.

I don't care whatever low tactics they use to push their agenda of hate, we need to stand strong and stand tall, and keep our integrity to protect jikook's love.

I think all of us know this is the right thing to do. All of us who connect with their bond, and love Jimin & Jungkook unconditionally, and wanna show support must be prepared because the next few months is gonna be especially rough.

You're right, chapter 2 was a divider in this fandom, now everyone is looking out for themselves only, pushing their own selfish narratives, brainwashing new armys who have no clue.

Of course we naively want the reunion to make everything right but let's face it, it's not gonna happen. At least not right away. No.

At first it's gonna be absolute chaos.

Much like it has been.

When jikook will reunite the hate will reach a new insane peak.

So that's why us jikookers need to be ready for it.

If not us, than who else?

When reunion happens, I wish each of us will be as loud as possible, as supportive as possible.

I truly cannot stand the idea that hate will win, however the number of haters, however insane it gets. I can't tolerate that. I won't.

You know that what jikook have, it's something so precious and beautiful and pure and true, I cannot bear the idea of ANYONE, no matter hateful they are, to affect even a little bit their bond. I don't want psychopaths to affect jikook in any way.

But look how far they go? Look how deep the hate is? At some point, some time, it only need one event where haters can truly mess things up.

We say it's only on the internet. We say it doesn't affect them.

This is not true. The members have received death threats before. Insane people have stalked Jungkook before.

Jimin disappeared from social media because of the hate.

Saying it doesn't affect them is an illusion.

It does, it can, and if it continues down this path, it will.

You only need one deranged individual.

One psycho that took the narrative a little bit too seriously. One psycho whose hate goes deep enough that they are willing to do the unthinkable and actually try to harm jikook.

It's not all fun and games. What's happening right now down the line can have true consequences.

We might think what we do doesn't matter. We think we are only one voice drowned in the ocean of hate but I disagree.

As people who love Jimin & Jungkook, who care for them, it matters.

Even one voice matters.

Because what if jikook do a live, and get hundreds of messages of hate, and suddenly feel very down because of it? But what if in the midst of all they see support? And it makes them smile even for a second? That's already a big fucking victory.

So everyone, I know everything is very discouraging and infuriating and unfair, I know we're drowning in hate and angry at this fandom, but please do not give up.

Don't give up on Jimin & Jungkook.

I think in this chapter we truly saw they only have us.

The hate is getting bigger and more twisted than ever, but it only means we need to show up even more for them. We need to be so loud it covers the noise.

Honestly that's all we can do.

So let's focus on this and spread positivity. Spread their love. Spread their history. Spread the truth as you know it. Spread your opinions. Spread videos and photos and edits no matter how many times they want to copyright it.

We need to keep pushing. We need to stay united.

We need to be prepared for this next chapter that will be a hell of a ride for everyone, us, as for jikook.

I don't know about you, but love is the most important thing to me. If we don't fight for it, then what even to fight for?

Will we all get squished and reduced to silence by the hate and the bullying? Will jikook's love be twisted so much it ends up affecting them and ruining everything? Will we let them win? Even if we are outnumbered?

I refuse. For real. I refuse.

I don't care how insufferable we get. I don't care how loud we scream. I don't even care if we need to bring support banners to concerts to tell you the truth. I don't care if we say the wrong thing and the whole world starts bullying us and put us and jikook down.

I will never stop cherishing jikook's love and shoving it in everyone's face. I will never stay silent.

Preserving what is beautiful and true and precious IS IMPORTANT. It's not important only when it comes to jikook but in the world in general!

It's important because I think each of us wants this world to become a better place, not a worse one.

A place where jikook are free to be who they are, to love however they want, to be their fullest self, in total freedom.

A place where people with different sexualities can express themselves without fear.

A place where love is celebrated and encouraged and valued above all else.

I don't know about you, but that's what I want.

So really, let's protect this ideal, and do what we can - stick together and speak and share and support.

At least we will be able to say we will have done our very best.

💜

#jikook #kookmin #jimin #jungkook #ask #I do pep talks occasionally lol

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jikookuntold · 11 months ago

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Jikook and the Untold Narratives

As a hardcore Jikooker who deep-dives into everything related to Jikook, I always have different ideas, theories, and analyses in my mind. But most of the time, I hesitate to contextualize them, develop them into actual essays, and share them in this blog. This post you are about to read was an almost a one-year-old topic running in my head, but I wasn’t sure about writing it until the Bangtan episode for D-Day Seoul concerts came out a few weeks ago, but as a professional procrastinator, it took me this long to write. According to the title this was supposed to be about the narratives related to Jikook, and I tried rooting and analyzing them, but somehow, it turned out mostly as a long rant about hypocrisy and misunderstandings in this fandom. Anyway, these are only my opinions and observations, and I don't claim to be 100% right. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

The Narratives

What do I mean by the narratives? Are there any narratives related to Jikook? Why did I even decide to write about this? Well, at some point I noticed that we, as Jikookers, have always been blamed for falling for "company narratives". It is widely said and believed by Jikook antis that the company wants to represent Jikook as the "couple/ very close and special duo" in BTS to the point that they call the Jikook ship the creation of Bang PD himself. A specific group of antis believe this is for hiding their real relationships, and the rest of them think it's just for fanservice. They think we are fools to fall for it because if Jikook were a real gay couple, they would hide it from us because of homophobia.

I know this is literally a conspiracy theory made by them, but conspiracy theories are also theories, and like any other theory, they have to be based on some external evidence. So, where is the evidence that leads antis to the conspiracy theory of Jikook being the “company couple”? Antis believe everything Jikookers get as moments, is company content, and this content is designed, faked, and manipulated to make us believe Jikook are a couple, and based on their logic, believing the things we see instead of their conspiracy theories means that we have fallen for company narratives. I can’t deny the fact that we get lots of Jikook moments from official content, but this applies to every other duo, not just Jikook. Then what is so special about Jikook that makes antis believe there is a narrative being pushed?

The answer is the nature of the Jikook moments we get. Some of the interactions between Jimin and JK are nothing like the interactions between the other members. The high dosage of couple behavior in these interactions is not justifiable with common excuses like Korean culture, flirty friends, or even KPop fanservice. Therefore, antis need to make up another excuse, which is the conspiracy theory of the company narrative. This narrative contradicts the principle of “Gays have to hide because homophobia, duh!” which their theory is based on. Also shipping culture in other boybands always insisted on the company and management hiding the gay relationship, not pushing it. And this is another thing that makes Jikook different and special.

Let’s deep dive into this contradictive narrative. Being the company couple doesn’t stop in the company narrative and spreads much further. Let’s imagine Jikook is the official couple that the company is investing in, to make fans and the general public believe they are special and gain more money from the narrative. Then the media should follow this agenda and use them together for headlines and clicks. Then fans also have to go with the flow and make their sub-narratives aligned with this agenda. But does any of this happen in reality? The following parts of this post is going to be a long answer to this question.

Company Narratives

Does BigHit/Hybe use Jikook? pairs the two of them together more than others? encourages them to behave in a certain way? includes more interactions of them in the official content intentionally? In order to answer these questions, we need to overview the official content provided by the company. First I have to clarify that not all the official content has the same weight in this examination, and we can classify them into different categories regarding the prevalence and accessibility to the public.

The first category can be called the public content. This type of content is usually free and accessible to everyone online with just a few clicks. These are the things you get when you type the names of the BTS members or songs in a Google search, like official MVs, Bangtan episodes, Run BTS, or live performance videos, that introduced most of us to the Bangtan world. The other category is a part of the main content that is mostly not for free, like documentaries, travel shows, Army zip content, seasonal packages, etc. This content is accessible in its original form to a big group of fans who can afford to pay or know their ways to pirate.

The last category is the content that not all the fans consume despite being officially released, even a big group of them are not aware that this content exists. This group of content might be free or paid, like Behind-the-scenes episodes of the main shows, official DVDs of the concerts, and memories of each year. They are like the leftovers of the main content that for some reason, didn’t end up in the public or main content, and only the dedicated fans or chronically online ones originally consume them.

Disclaimer: This classification was all done by me, and it’s not claimed to be official or accurate. Feel free to disagree and have your own categorization and conclusion. But what is the point of this classification? As I admitted earlier in this post, we get lots of Jikook interactions in official content released by BigHit/Hybe, same as the unofficial content like Vlives/Weverse, social media posts, livestreams, or fancams from concerts or award shows, which gave us so many incredible and unforgettable Jikook moments while they were not released by the company, but my focus is on the official content and how it’s connected to the narrative of comply couple.

If you pay attention to the ship moments, you will notice that they are not equally distributed in the different categories of content I named above. In the first category AKA, the public content, Jikook moments are not much dominant, and all the ships and duos pretty much equally have their moments overall. The second category is almost the same as the first one, maybe the Jikook moments in these two categories still feel more couply and spicy compared to the others but they are still balanced because the editors usually push the extra moments to the last category.

The last category which we can call as “leftovers” is where we get the most of the eyebrow raising moments of the original content, like almost kiss or hickey. It's the content all the extra Jikook moments that had to be cut out of the main content for balancing things up, end up there, and it’s the content not all the fans follow because a big portion of this fandom is not chronically online and do not have stan Twitter/X accounts or care about Twitter trends. For me, the best example here is the second season of ITS and how all the organic Jikook interactions were pushed to the behind-the-scenes episode with viewers one-third of the main episodes. This doesn’t mean that the main episodes of ITS2 have no Jikook moments, they do, but not more than Taekook or VMin or Jihope, thanks to the modifications done by editors.

So, based on this analysis, can we say there is a narrative going on? I leave the conclusion to you, but I think there is no narrative here other than showing some fun interactions and closeness between the members. They have more of the Jimin and JK interaction moments because Jikook happen to spend more time together and interact more, and these interactions sometimes cross the platonic line regarding the nature of their relationship. I believe if BigHit wanted to palm Jikook off as a couple to the public, they wouldn’t push their couply moments into the content that the vast majority of fans don’t even know about.

Another thing we should keep in mind is that the leftover content is the most organic one, and unlike most of the moments from public or main content (for example the Run BTS episodes or Bon Voyages), there is no script involved. It’s just how members naturally interact and cameras happen to be there to film them. I’m not saying the first two categories are fake. In fact, I believe the majority of the BTS content we get is authentic, and even when there are scripts involved, it’s based on the natural dynamics between the members. If you have been following the members and listened to them carefully in the past decade, you know they are never being forced to do things together against their will, at least not after their rookie era.

Antis also bring up another argument to prove their conspiracy theory, and it is the argument that “Jikook have been paired together a lot”. I don’t have access to any reliable statistical information to confirm that Jikook had the most pairings between the BTS members, but if someone makes this claim, I can partially agree with them. This might not apply in all the eras of Bangtan group activities, but overall, this can be considered as a fact, and it has a simple explanation; Jikook get paired together a lot because they are the main/lead duo, and their vocals match very well, and they can work in sync and communicate perfectly. When a duo can do the job with great chemistry, without wasting time and energy for syncing and communicating, why the company has to give it to any other duo in the group? This is how things work in the entertainment industry, and there are no narratives and forces needed to be involved.

This is mostly about the vocal and dance projects or photoshoots Jikook have done together several times, and there have been no other examples except the potential travel show we know they filmed in 2023 that made antis stand on their conspiracy theory even stronger than before. First of all, we don’t know how and when this travel show will be aired and what agenda it will follow. Will it be this year or the next year? Will it be a whole series or just a 30-minute Bangtan episode? We know nothing until we get an update on it. We are not even sure if they traveled just for the show or if it was an excuse for Jikook to travel before their enlistment. I recommend you to read this post about an interesting theory on the travel show.

Okay, now let’s talk about the other narratives related to Jikook, the ones that were not conspiracy theories and were actually planned by the company. BigHit, as an entertainment label, debuted BTS with a narrative, and Jimin and JK, as the members and a duo, had their designated roles. At first, Jimin got the role of the macho man in the group who had to go through a physical transformation because of it. Fortunately, this harsh role changed after some time, and Jimin got a new narrative. This time, he was the awkward member who became the punchline of the jokes by losing every game, the member who got rejected several times and wasn’t supposed to debut at all.

These parts of the narrative were far from the real Jimin, but some parts were close to his real personality like he is the sweetest member, a hug and gift fairy who is there for the others. But even these positive features were misused and turned Jimin into a cheerleader and outcast who might get “left out by the heartless" bandmates he loves and supports. You may say I’m exaggerating, but these narratives are still going on to this day and feed his antis. These narratives were one of the main reasons Jimin’s successful self-made solo debut became a hard pill to swallow for the majority of fans ad even the company because they expected this triumph from any vocal line member other than Jimin.

As I said earlier, Jikook as a duo also had their narrative since their debut. This narrative was technically a roleplaying between them; Jimin was assigned to show one-sided affection to JK on camera, and JK’s role was to reject Jimin and rank him as the least handsome member. This narrative went on for some time until it stopped around 2014/2015, but the damage was already done. Some people might question this one-sided affection being a narrative by BigHit. I’m sorry, but if you think a teenage rookie idol in KPop can show real affection in public to his same-sex bandmate, the joke is on you. I know most fans believed this roleplaying, and that was where everything went wrong.

Antis may say this narrative by itself "birthed the Jikookers breed", while it did the opposite. Despite this narrative being over for years, its aftermath is still visible in the fandom, and even dramatic Jikookers use it for their “fell first, fell harder” agenda, which I find really toxic and damaging. Other than portraying JK as a mean and insensitive kid, this roleplaying with the help of the narrative of awkward Jimin, turned Jikook into something unacceptable and even cringe-worthy because “how could JK even like Jimin when he hated and rejected him for years? because Jimin is not likable and makes JK uncomfortable”. It’s ironic, but the antis who keep repeating these lies, are in fact the ones who fall for the company narratives.

If Hybe wanted to push the narrative of Jikook being in a relationship, why did they pick such an unusual approach that backfired, and turned fans against them, and drawn them to the other ships? Hybe not only doesn’t promote Jikook more than other duos but also stops them from becoming mainstream by pushing their moments to the content no one sees. Maybe this is their way of gatekeeping and protecting Jikook which I appreciate, but it’s time for this fandom to realize that Jikook has nothing to do with the company narrative, and in fact it’s the opposite.

For example, in one of the recent Bangtan episodes (public content), when JK was resting backstage at his music show, and Tae came to visit, according to the Weverse live JK had before the show, we knew they cut the part where he said “Army” was looking for his whereabouts because otherwise, it would look like he doesn’t care where he was. But in the other Bangtan episode, they didn’t hesitate to keep the part where Jimin sounded like being left out, meanwhile, we knew all of them were headed to the same destination to celebrate Yoongi’s last concert. because that’s the narrative they push, the narrative of Jimin being left alone and Jikook having nothing to do with each other.

If Jikook were the company couple, they would have sat down together to announce their ship name for the official content. If Jikook were the company couple, Hybe would not cut out their moments, and we would have gotten some content from their numerous rendezvouses during the SYS tour in the US and Europe, but we got nothing, not even for the leftover content. If Jikook were the company couple, Hybe would not released their buddy system announcement only in the Korean version of the statement. If Jikook were the company couple, the GCF videos that had started with Jimin, would have been kept that way, and wouldn’t be turned into ot7 videos. If they can’t force JK, then nothing is forced.

If Jikook were the company couple, they would not plan Yoonmin/Taekook's solo debuts at the same time to make them appear in the same promotional activities and namedrop each other. This doesn’t mean Yoonmin/Taekook are the company couple, in fact, the dumbest question is "Jikook or Taekook?" The whole point is, that there was never a ship agenda, they never tried to push any ship as the real one to the general public or common fans. But their bonds have been used a lot for clicks and clout, and as a Jikooker I am confident enough to say I was not the one falling for any narratives or mediaplay by the company or media.

Media and Jikook

It’s a known fact that all different forms of media earn money from public attention, this is what keeps them going on. I said earlier, that if Jikook were the company couple, and Hybe intended to promote them as the official duo, then the media wouldn’t lose this opportunity to chase the clout because in that case, they would have the permission to follow this agenda and use the duo for headlines and clicks, but in reality this doesn’t happen to Jikook.

I’m not saying that Jikook don’t get any media coverage, they do. The media inside or outside Korea make headlines for their duo activities like the Black Swan dance or vocal collaborations, but there are many examples that Jikook didn’t make it to the headlines while another duo did in a very similar situation. I bring an example from Dispatch that everyone knows has the closest connection to Hybe; when Jimin posted the shirtless photo of them together for JK’s birthday, this media didn’t make any headlines for it, not even as the announcement of Jimin greeting JK's birthday.

But when Tae posted the screenshot of his video call with JK the night before his enlistment, while they were both shirtless, it became a headline on the Dispatch website. If you check the Dispatch website for 2023, you will not find anything about Jikook other than their departure and arrival together for the Japan trip, even their trip together in NY was not worthy news for this outlet. Also their joint enlistment in the military, despite being the first and only case of Buddy System in the KPop industry, didn’t get much media attention or specific headlines.

Jikook have never attended any event as a duo, they never had a photocall together as a duo, and since they have never made an official name for themselves, the media can't use a duo name for them. Meanwhile, they can use “Taekook” for the Tae and JK duo in their headlines and tags because the company has permitted by making this duo name official. As I mentioned earlier, I do not believe that Taekook or any other ship is the official one, but the audacity of antis to ignore these facts and label Jikook as the company couple is just ironic.

I’m not really interested in giving examples from Taekook, but I have no other option. Everyone remembers the premiere night of the movie “Dreamers” in April last year when Tae and JK attended together and had their photocall moment. Like any other movie premiere with big stars, this event also was covered by the media, but they got the biggest attention and social media engagement because of Taekook appearing together. Even though the reports of JK being shy and having a feminine haircut caused Taekookers to think they were being announced as a couple lol, in general, it was a pleasant moment until it wasn’t anymore.

A few months later, in August, a similar event was about to happen, and the media announced that Tae was going to attend his friend’s new movie premiere along with JK. As expected, a big wave of social media engagement started, but JK didn’t show up. I don’t know if he never intended to go or if he changed his mind just before the event because according to Dispatch, his name was in the guest list. All we know is that he logged into the Bangtan official Twitter account after years and posted some random photos just an hour before the event and logged out.

After that embarrassing moment for the media, I was expecting them to stop using Taekook for mediaplay, but they didn’t stop, and again in November, the media outlets reported that Tae would attend JK’s solo concert while we knew he was busy recording his Running Man episode the same day. I’m sure the media knew it better, but chasing the clout was their priority. There are many other examples of how media doesn’t work in favor of the “company couple narrative” for Jikook, but I will stop here because this post is getting too long.

Fandom Agendas

When there is a successful narrative launched by an entertainment label, the fandoms go with the flow, and alongside accepting the main narrative they make their own sub-narratives aligned with this agenda. But in the case of Jikook, this is far from the truth. When I say fans, I mean the collective representation of a group supporting an artist, something non-fans see from the outside, not just a focus group. Yes, we Jikookers exist but we don’t represent or control this fandom. According to some unofficial polls, we are not even between the top three of the biggest groups of shippers. So, it’s safe to say the so called narrative of Jikook has not been successful.

It’s not a secret that this fandom is against Jikook, but the discussion doesn’t end here. The sub-narratives made in the fandom have their own story. This opposition with Jikook contradicted their observations of them being close and always together, and they had to make the sub-narrative to justify it. But since they had already accepted another narrative made by BigHit, it wasn't a hard one. They decided that "Every interaction between Jikook is initiated by Jimin because he has always been in love with JK, and anything JK does is forced because he has always been uncomfortable with Jimin." This narrative and its sub-narratives caused Jimin to be labeled as the intruder and much worse names I will not mention, and it caused him to get so much hate, especially after every interaction he has with JK. It's true that he has the biggest fandom and the most devoted and supportive fans, but his anti-fans are also the biggest and the vilest ones.

JK also had his sub-narrative made by fans, and according to the vast majority of them, he is a straight playboy. I don't know where this sub-narrative comes from, maybe confessing to having a girlfriend as a teen or naming himself the "international playboy" did it for fans and made them ignore all the queerness in his personality and behavior, but this is the reason this fandom treats his "dating rumors" very differently even by his gay shippers. Army joke and say he is scared of girls, but they never make stories up about him being uninterested in women like they did for others (for example: an influencer asked Tae for his phone number, and he gave his manager's number, 100% fictional, but vastly believed as fact).

It’s actually quite funny when we see a local Youtuber is able to guess Jikook are the closest just by watching a few minutes of content, but the fans who have been here for a decade can’t and don’t want to see it, they can’t even let go of the 2013 jokes of “JK hates Jimin”, let alone accepting that they are close. They do any mental gymnastics they can to normalize, delegitimize, or ot7ify Jikook moments, meanwhile, when JK and Tae, themselves talk about drifting apart, fans dismiss it and call it fake. For example, last year, when Jikook were in Tokyo, JK was seen leaving the location of his shooting, which was a hotel different from the hotel where Jimin was staying, antis said: “They hate each other, to the point they can’t stay at the same hotel”. While a trip would have been solid proof for any duo in BTS to be close and in love, for Jikook, it becomes the reason for being distant and despising each other, and this is the hypocrisy of our fandom.

Maybe we get lots of Jikook from official content, it’s the outcome of Jikook’s closeness, but in the end, it’s Jikook themselves who confirm it with their behavior. When antis were celebrating Jikook not interacting, amid their lack of public appearance, it was JK who showed his love and support for Jimin by streaming his videos on YouTube. When antis claimed they don’t spend time together, it was JK who begged Jimin in his half-naked live to join him. He went live at his place right after the movie premiere, and musical theater, and explained the situation after Vhope did a live there. He explained Tae's claims about recording Layover at his place and talked about his delightful alone time when he was at the ski resort with Tae and his friends. He read JeonJimin comment out loud and announced that he wouldn’t stop holding Jimin. Maybe an older example is his post on Weverse right after the 2020 Taekook live apologizing for not talking much, and then a month later, when he went live with Jimin, he made it clear that he had a great time just doing the live.

These examples are countless, but there is no hope for the fans who even label the moments from unofficial content like lives and posts as planned or even forced by the company. If you think antis will let us have a happy day and enjoy the legit Jikook moments, you are mistaken. If there is Jikook, they always find a way to ruin it with their toxicity, and if there’s no Jikook, they use it to hurt us and spread their lies and fake moments on every social media platform.

Antis have the upper hand in social media because Hybe failed the so-called Jikook narrative, and it not just didn’t become the mainstream ship of Bangtan, but also fans turned against it. Despite this failure, Jikook still bothers antis so much, and they try hard to fight it and its shippers, but these fights and attacks are limited to social media. Whatever they do on social media, the hashtags they trend, the lies and hateful tweets and comments they leave out, are not gonna affect what Jikook have in real life because Jikook are real people, and against all the odds and real struggles, they are together and closer than ever.

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ppyopulii · 1 month ago

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maestro’s muse 💿 interview no. 13

PREVIEW. Has HYBEHAX always been this… unserious?

FEATURING. lee jihoon x gn!reader, various non-idol!hybe groups & reader GENRE(S). coming of age, fluff, some angst LENGTH | WC. <10min | 2.2k words EXPLICITS. soonyoung is chaotic. & i guess one (1) curse word

JAY’S MUSINGS. prologue (part two) for maestro’s muse, the series. not every part will be written in screenplay, just like how not every part will be written in smau format, just like how not every part will be written in prose, etc etc... just havin’ fun writing (: enjoy!

www.hybehax.tech/interview

THE INTERVIEW FADE IN.

A cozy dorm room lined with comforting trinkets. The digital clock sitting on a neatly stacked shelf indicates it's almost half past seven o'clock. It’s quiet in the shared bedroom, and YOU (college freshman, music fanatic, prospective HYBEHAX organizer) sit at the desk, nervously tugging on your bottom lip with your teeth.

A monitor shows the join feature of a Zoom call. YOU stare back at yourself through the small camera screen displayed.

There’s a soft ping from a notification. A pause, and then YOU take a deep breath and click the join button.

On the screen, SEUNGCHEOL (college junior, President of HYBEHAX, mutual acquaintance of YOU) smiles at you from his impressive HD face-cam.

SEUNGCHEOL Hello, we’ll get started in just a minute. Soonyoung is having some difficulty logging on.

Shuffling noises sound from another screen. JIHOON (college sophomore, Internal Vice President of HYBEHAX, music theory classmate of YOU) grumbles under his breath.

JIHOON (irritated) You’d think with this being his thirteenth interview he’d have gotten the hang of it now.

SEUNGCHEOL (warning) Jihoon.

JIHOON mumbles a sorry and mutes. A minute passes and SOONYOUNG (college sophomore, External Vice President of HYBEHAX, friend of YOU) pops up on-screen, face grainy from bad internet.

SOONYOUNG Hi! Nice to see you!

YOU (warmly) Hey, Soonyoung. Still doing alright in your math classes?

SOONYOUNG (groaning) Not the same without you, man. You actually carried me through calculus.

YOU Aren’t you just in business statistics now? How hard can that be?

SOONYOUNG Don’t ask.

There’s a few coughs from SEUNGCHEOL. Conversation dies down and SEUNGCHEOL moves his camera to center himself on screen.

SEUNGCHEOL Alright, hello and welcome to your HYBEHAX organizer interview! Thank you for taking the time to apply; we were impressed by your application. Now that we’re here, think of this as a time for us to get to know each other, and for you to ask us any questions you have.

SOONYOUNG (interjecting) It’s really lowkey, don’t worry.

SEUNGCHEOL clicks his tongue. SOONYOUNG giggles and mutes.

SEUNGCHEOL We’ll start with a round of introductions. I’m Choi Seungcheol, a rising senior and double major in computer science and mathematics. I’m also the current President of HYBEHAX. I run pretty much… everything? Let’s see… uh, I’ve been an organizer of HYBEHAX since I was a sophomore, but I’ve been involved with hackathons since I was fifteen. I actually remember trying to code my first project in that 24-hour period. Even though I barely had any idea what I was doing, all the organizers and my teammates were so nice. Made me feel really welcomed.

YOU (smiling from ear-to-ear) Fifteen? That’s some serious dedication, I respect it. What drew you to want to be HYBEHAX’s President?

SEUNGCHEOL’s lips part in an ‘o’, like he’s surprised YOU asked a question.

SEUNGCHEOL Well… I guess you can say I’ve grown attached? The people that I’ve met and grown with through HYBEHAX have really made my college years worth it. That, and I want to be able to keep organizing a space that made me feel as safe as I did as a kid.

YOU Yeah, I understand. That’s really admirable, congratulations!

SEUNGCHEOL Thank you, that means a lot. I really hope I can continue to make this upcoming hackathon worthwhile to attend, especially since it’ll be my last year being an organizer.

SOONYOUNG unmutes.

SOONYOUNG And it’s our 10th year!

SEUNGCHEOL (laughing, albeit stressed) Yeah, that too. Ah… how could I forget?

A tense silence falls on the four. YOU shift your focus to SOONYOUNG to alleviate the tension.

YOU Wanna introduce yourself next?

SOONYOUNG Oh! Yeah, I can. You already know me, but I’m Soonyoung, EVP of HYBEHAX. I manage all the external affairs, like talking to building managers for renting and university officials for fundings of our hackathon. I’ve been organizing for awhile too, like Cheol-hyung, and I’m super excited for this year!

YOU (joking) You, trusted with money?

SOONYOUNG (mock offense) Yah, I’m literally a business major!

YOU Yeah yeah, whatever. What’s been your favorite part?

SOONYOUNG’s eyes light up.

SOONYOUNG Shopping!

YOU Shopping?

SOONYOUNG For the hackathon! I’m in charge of it.

SEUNGCHEOL (exasperated) With my card.

YOU watch JIHOON snort silently. He unmutes.

JIHOON You get reimbursed by the university, at least.

SEUNGCHEOL (sulking) But does he have to do it with my card?

SOONYOUNG You’re the president!

JIHOON rolls his eyes and scoffs good-naturedly.

JIHOON Hey, we’re in an interview right now.

SOONYOUNG (dismissively) So what? We all know them, and they know us. We worked with them last season when they were a volunteer.

YOU raise an eyebrow.

YOU Shouldn’t we at least try to maintain some formality though? Just for record’s sake?

SEUNGCHEOL …they have a point. Jihoon, go ahead and introduce yourself and we’ll actually start asking questions.

JIHOON Hi. My name is Lee Jihoon, I’ll be your Internal Vice President. Rising junior, computer science major. I work specifically on the inner-running logistics of HYBEHAX.

YOU nod and go silent at his lackluster introduction. SEUNGCHEOL chuckles.

SEUNGCHEOL Ah… Jihoon-ah is what keeps this club running. Think of him as the maestro conducting the orchestra—his back is to you but he’s secretly doing all the work.

SOONYOUNG (laughing) You’re making him sound like he does more than you.

JIHOON presses a palm to his face. His facecam slightly lags, blipping the view for a second.

SEUNGCHEOL (clearly enjoying the teasing) Well, at this point he basically does. Once I graduate he’ll be first runner up for President.

SOONYOUNG grins. His camera goes slightly out of focus as he rocks back and forth in his chair.

YOU Well, it’s nice to meet you Jihoon.

JIHOON Likewise.

There’s a beat of silence as YOU and JIHOON stare each other down via webcam. His gaze is sharp, meticulous. Yours is relaxed with a hint of a smile.

SOONYOUNG So formal. Why don’t you go next?

YOU Alright… hi everyone! Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I’m a computer science major with a focus in front-end development, but I hope career-wise to go into front-end regarding data science. I was a volunteer this past fall for HYBEHAX and I really loved helping with the event, so I want to try my hand at organizing this year.

SOONYOUNG You were running around like crazy during the event. I think I saw you like, twice?

YOU (laughing awkwardly) Yeah… the last Marketing Team lead kind of recruited me. I ran around with them a lot getting pictures.

SEUNGCHEOL (amused) I specifically remember you during the welcoming speech. The President and I were trying to talk into the mic and you kept telling us to move slightly to the left ‘cause it looked better on camera that way.

YOU Hey! Because of me we had great shots. We can use these for marketing this time around.

SOONYOUNG Oh? You sure you don’t wanna be a part of Marketing Team?

YOU Oh, hell no.

SEUNGCHEOL and SOONYOUNG burst into laughter. The corner of JIHOON’s lips crack open to reveal a small smile.

SEUNGCHEOL Relax, the Marketing Team Lead from last year left. Our Lead this year will be a lot better.

YOU Glad to hear that.

SEUNGCHEOL Are there any questions you have for us before we get into the specifics of your role?

YOU No, not that I can think of.

SEUNGCHEOL Sounds good! If there are any questions you have along the way, feel free to ask.

SOONYOUNG (raising his hand, not unlike a too-excited kid in school) I have a question!

Metaphorical lights dim. YOU fidget with the hem of your shirt. JIHOON bites his lip to fight a smirk.

JIHOON Yah, you’re the EVP, not Pres.

SEUNGCHEOL (skeptically) No, go ahead Soonyoung.

SOONYOUNG What made you choose Design Team instead of Tech? You’re a CS major, aren’t you?

YOU smile, as if expecting this question.

YOU I did briefly mention this in my application, but I feel like the integration between the arts and technology is so important to cherish and understand these days. Bridging that gap between two worlds that are seemingly unrelated is what I want to do—technology can be used to create art, and art can be used to create technology. It’s all relative, I feel.

JIHOON nods along appreciatively to your words. SEUNGCHEOL is listening intently.

SEUNGCHEOL As an organizer, you’re expected to specialize in your team’s work. You, on the other hand, have experience in multiple aspects—marketing, tech, design. Like Soonyoung said, we all saw how hard-working you were last season as a volunteer. We’d love for you to join us as a proper organizer for our 10th year.

YOU Thank you, that's very sweet of you. I'd be honored!

SOONYOUNG Oh, right. You said you’d be interested in being a Team Lead, too—are you still interested in that?

YOU Yeah, I think it would be fun. What specifically does Design Team Lead do?

SOONYOUNG You’ll be in charge of designating tasks to the members. Last season we only had, um, one member on Design Team. It was a lot and incredibly overwhelming and they quit. Understandably. So having someone who oversees everything would be preferable.

SEUNGCHEOL Yep, things like the sponsorship packet that goes out to sponsors, merchandise for the organizers and participants—those tasks wouldn’t necessarily be completed by you, but you would be in charge of making sure they’re getting done on time and in a professional manner.

YOU That sounds doable. If I’m being honest, I’d feel better managing tasks. I feel like I’d be pressured a lot to go above and beyond if I was just a regular organizer.

JIHOON Do you have experience in leadership?

YOU Only a little bit, but I’m definitely open to learning more, of course. I lead an outreach organization for my scholarship program.

SEUNGCHEOL (nodding along) Impressive.

SOONYOUNG We can call it, right? They’ll be our new Design Team Lead?

YOU Hey, I’d be down if you guys are down. This interview is more relaxing than I thought; barely even one at this point too.

JIHOON (shrugging) Only because we know you from the previous season.

YOU smile at him and JIHOON breaks eye contact.

YOU Question.

SEUNGCHEOL Yeah, what's up?

YOU Has HYBEHAX always been this… unserious?

SOONYOUNG Yes—

SEUNGCHEOL, JIHOON (simultaneously) No.

YOU Well. Glad to join the team anyways.

SOONYOUNG excitedly claps his hands. His screen lags.

SOONYOUNG Does that mean it’s a yes?!

YOU ‘Course. Anything for my calc buddy.

The man pumps a fist into the air and his webcam freezes. JIHOON audibly sighs.

JIHOON We’ll send you the contract via email soon. It just goes over more generalized rules about being an organizer—attending weekly meetings, making sure you keep up with your team, the usual.

SEUNGCHEOL Happy to have you!

YOU Thank you guys so much. I’ll be sure to not disappoint!

SOONYOUNG’s frames cut back into view. He’s peering at the camera and making gibberish noises.

SOONYOUNG Hello? Hell-oo? Can you guys hear me?

JIHOON (mumbling to himself) …and this is why he’s the EVP and not on Tech Team.

SEUNGCHEOL (exasperated fondness) Yes, Soonyoung, we can hear you.

SOONYOUNG Awesome! We’ll send you the paperwork right away so you can officially become an organizer!

JIHOON I already said that.

SOONYOUNG pouts and begins to whine, to which JIHOON huffs at. SEUNGCHEOL forcibly mutes them both.

SEUNGCHEOL

Anyway, I’ll also send you the Discord link to the server with the contract. That’s our main way of communication. As for the contract, it’s a PDF—you can sign it by like, opening it up in Adobe and using the pen tool. No need for fancy formalities.

YOU (laughing) Alright, sounds good. Thank you guys again for this opportunity!

SOONYOUNG is making cringey aegyo hearts at his camera. Your laptop begins to whirr softly from overheating.

SEUNGCHEOL Thank you for being interested in joining us. Details about our first meeting will be out soon. See you then, okay?

YOU See you then! Have a good night!

SEUNGCHEOL beams at YOU. YOU note his barely there dimple and fight back a smile.

On the other hand, JIHOON types a ‘Have a good night, thank you’ before promptly leaving the call. SOONYOUNG waves goodbye for an eternity before being kicked off by SEUNGCHEOL.

YOU wave and press the leave button. The call drops and your laptop quiets down. It’s suddenly silent in the bedroom, and YOU let out a yawn as YOU stretch your arms above your head.

YOU Welp. Design Team Lead, here I come.

FADE OUT. END.

#seventeen #lee jihoon x reader #woozi x reader #seventeen x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen imagines #lee jihoon imagines #lee jihoon fluff #woozi fluff #🏆 hybehax #maestro’s muse 💿 ljh #🐈‍⬛ ppyopulii's spotify

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curio-queries · 9 months ago

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I genuinely think the answer they're going for with this statement is 'All of the above'. None of these statements are exclusionary to the others. And it'd honestly be a bad marketing scheme to have one actually be the correct answer as it sets expectations that you have no intention of meeting. So I guess I don't really see the point of this kind of post other than a not-Interesting engagement tactic...imo

MUSE THEORIES

I want to hear every theory every one if you comes up with regarding MUSE. They've explicitly shown they want us to read deeper into it so I want to see EVERYTHING y'all come up with. No matter how delulu, abstract, or just plain wishful, I wanna hear it.

I'll go first:

Is there any meaning to which locker Jimin opens? It's in the 2nd bank, 1st column, 1st row:

Checking the 2:11 time stamp of Closer Than This: Serendipity??

When I think of Serendipity, I think of the choreography. Perhaps we have another Brian Puspos work coming up?? We KNOW the company got a hold of him last year.

#MUSE Theories #park jimin #HYBE marketing

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jaeyunluvbot · 2 months ago

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[dream] heeseung x reader

profiles. roommates

y/n l/n ᝰ.ᐟ early childhood education major w/ a minor in music, loves arts and crafts, constantly anxious, manages her pinterest account like it’s a full time job, works as an afternoon daycare teacher on weekdays, huge homebody, her volkswagen beetle is her pride and joy

@/applegirl73 ᝰ.ᐟ y/n’s private account

@/applegirl74 ᝰ.ᐟ y/n’s private private account that she uses to keep track of her thoughts

sakura miyawaki ᝰ.ᐟ psychology major, met the girls when she transferred to HYBE U from a different school and they needed one more roommate, second most introverted girl in the apartment, loves videogames and cats, also loves crocheting and knitting

@/39saku_chan ᝰ.ᐟ sakura's private account

kim chaewon ᝰ.ᐟ communications major, was y/n's randomly assigned roommate freshman year and now they live together in an off campus apartment, very outgoing, loves partying, commitment issues fr, loves arts and crafts

@/hellokittyluvr7 ᝰ.ᐟ chaewon's private account

huh yunjin ᝰ.ᐟ music composition major, met y/n in their music theory class freshman year and moved in with her, chaewon, and sakura sophomore year, also loves going out, fashion girly, plays the guitar all the time and used to keep her roommates up all night, also never stops singing

@/huhyjz ᝰ.ᐟ yunjin's private account

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zeronetxt · 6 months ago

Text

i just want to say this for the sake of saying this.

the batkids' fav kpop groups (according to me)

i hc that they listen to kpop bc I listen to kpop. so heres the list starting w the 4 robins

Dick Grayson

TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS MAN IS A GG STAN. i can feel the vibes from here. he might enjoy a few lil bg songs but he is def one of those cutesy gg stans. i think hed vibe well w fromis_9's music bc its really upbeat yk

ULT: fromis_9

Le Sserafim

Twice

Jason Todd

there is NO ONE. ON THIS SAD EARTH. that can convince me he isnt a twice ult. however, he probs enjoys hardcore/noise music from bgs as well (which is fair enough) so there we have ateez and skz. im CONVINCED hes a chan ult, no idea why though. also i put lesserafim there bc yes. that man is just gonna be girling girling.

ULT: Twice

ATEEZ or Stray Kids

Le sserafim

Tim Drake

i was a bit less sure on tim's one, but im pretty sure these would probably be some of his top three, since the music is somewhat either really poppy or really hardcore, but i also feel like he'd enjoy listening to nugu groups, mainly nugu ggs. probably learns choreos too (get it girl)

ULT: æspa

TXT

Red Velvet

Damian Wayne

on the OTHER side of the spectrum is damian. this guy definitely knows the big groups (by 'big' i mean yg, jyp and hybe groups. anyone else, and hed be like "who?") i know for a FACT hes a bp fan.

ULT: Blackpink

NewJeans

(maybe) BTS

in conclusion however, id like to point out they are ALL twice stans real men stan twice

thats the robins done (minus steph, shes up next)

I personally dont know what i rly expect from the batgirls this time 😔

BUT

the batgirls (im bouta lock in)

barbara gordon

THIS WOMAN IS A GG STAN. is all i have to say pretty much about her. i just KNOW she loves hwasa. or just the girlbosses of kpop because yes.

MAMAMOO

(G)I-DLE

(i cant think of a third one, but i feel a bit of itzy or lesserafim)

adding kiss of life bc yes

cassandra cain

now for cass, my theory is she likes more rock or 'happy' music, no in between. like my mind thinks she'd like tws for some reason, like plot twist might actually be one of her favs. but then i also see her vibing to dreamcatcher, rolling quartz and day6 clear as day(6)

Dreamcatcher

Day6

TWS (casual probs)

Rolling Quartz

stephanie brown

now listen when i say this. THIS GIRL IS A MULTISTAN FOR SURE. i also definitely see her being into the music with a lot going on, such as nmixx or nct, or the groups with a diverse music range such as txt, enhypen or boynextdoor (for me personally), and p1harmony. i think girl would just LOVE itzy, and sing it in the shower or smth

NMIXX

NCT

ITZY

now there are a bunch of other groups that i think one of them would like, but cant place my finger on eg. kard or nu'est. but meh whatever, i have most of my repressed thoughts out. the one thing i need to say though: EVERYONE STANS TWICE IN THE BATFAM. and/or (mostly and though) lesserafim. thats is all :)

bonus:

duke thomas

im a bit less sure w duke's but i def know (in my messed up head) that he likes bnd. now i have this belief that EVERYONE in the batfam is a once, its a rule atm, so obv he also likes twice

boynextdoor

twice

lesserafim or kiss of life (not sure which he'd like more tbh 🧍👺)

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peachjagiya · 5 months ago

Text

I don't know if I'm going to word this right but let's try.

This latest report hasn't revealed much to me about Taehyung and Jungkook's relationship with Hybe and hasn't changed much about my thoughts. All it's really done is reinforce what I already believed and added to the dossier if you like. It's been shocking to see it written down, maybe? Shocking to see how it's happened? Shocking to see that a fair few TKKrs on tumblr at least have been talking about this for as long as I've been around and how a lot of the theories that have developed here are absolutely spot on despite regular accusations of conspiracy theorising. But shocking like "I can't believe this!!!"? No.

I didn't even find JK defending NewJeans to be revelatory. Nor his calling out sasaeng outside his house.

(The first moment I realised JK was possibly not as much of a company guy as people thought was during Jimin's birthday live where he is audibly questioning staff about putting a mic on him and then the way he talked about being on his way home on camera.)

But TL;DR - It hasn't changed my thoughts on Taekook.

That being said:

This is my first time watching this clip in a few months. I used to be on the fence about it - I think I answered an ask saying this - I was never completely sure if he was referring to his relationship with Army or with someone else. It's been a Taekook Maybe for me.

But watching this particular clip now... with the context... maybe I am looking at it a bit differently? Knowing who JK is, how conscientious he is to injustice (against himself, his loved ones and others), it feels a little more like he might be venting in a more personal way rather than a generic idol vent.

Maybe this report has slightly removed my inclination to try to explain things away cutely to uphold some kind of "rational TKKr" idea when actually other readings might even make more sense with the Hybepocalypse backdrop.

Does anyone know what I mean?

#taekook #jungkook

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solarwynd · 9 months ago

Note

that's real acc and I wonder if geffen and bighit had a meeting just to talk about how to not do their job for jimin because months ago the same guy was hyping promoting jk . atp pjms theory about everyone against jm is 100% real

“jimin didn't sign a contract that includes geffen and hybe going all out, that's for sure. we love our indie artist 💀 but thanks to that dude for letting us know that jimin isn't in their graces or plans aside from the barest of minimum.” -anon #2

“it is 100% a real account 😭” -anon #3

Even if that man hadn’t just idiotically posted what he did, we would’ve known that there was something going on behind the scenes. But him openly being that unprofessionally just confirms it concretely.

It is so mind boggling how it’s HYBE and GEFFEN both working in tandem to make sure that it’s only Jimin that goes through the hardest times possible when it comes to releasing music. And then you have fuckass armys over here trying to make it group sabotage like we didn’t just come of RWRP where it showed that they can execute the job I’m sure they’re getting paid millions for without a problem. Much less that “fan song” JK dropped that they were though they were being slick with and promoting it like an official single.

Someone whether it’s Bang or Scooter gave these people SPECIFIC instructions to fuck over Jimin as much as they could, but armys would rather try to link Jimin with the same man who obviously hates him and sees him as an obstacle to protect the image of another member. This shit is not normal. Jimin is literally stuck being subjugated to this mistreatment and the only people calling it out in truth are pjms. I hate this for him.

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roo-bastmoon · 2 years ago

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IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE CULT'S DYNAMICS

Disclaimers: Sensitive topics are discussed below the cut; please do not incite drama, speak hate, or engage in bullying. I am not a mental health professional; I make no claims of expertise (in anything). This is a collection of my thoughts about what is currently happening on the Taekook side of ARMY, in the hopes that it may help us as a community respond more effectively to the toxic parts of our fandom. If you click below this cut, you are assuming responsibility for your own behavior and agreeing to engage with my blog respectfully, or you will be blocked.

THE NARRATIVES AT WORK

I submit that shipping Taekook is both an evolving conspiracy theory and a living cult.

There are various narratives within this subgroup, but in general, to ship Taekook, one must believe Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook are in a closeted gay romantic relationship.

One also likely believes that their company (both BigHit and Hybe) and everyone around them have always actively hid their gay relationship.

Initially, Taekook (the “real” gay couple) was being hidden by Jikook (the “fake” gay couple) because Jikook was somehow more popular in Korea and therefore considered to be more profitable.

And this was the main narrative for years. It got Jimin dragged and hated online and in real life, to the point there was even a credible shooting threat at a concert.

Now, the narrative is being modified in light of the video footage revealed this week involving Taehyung and Jennie.

If Taekookers accept at all that Jennie and Tae were indeed photographed holding hands in Paris this week, then they likely believe both their companies are using this as a PR Relationship stunt to hide their real gay relationships before military service and comeback projects.

This belief includes:

1) assuming Taehyung and Jennie are not being honest;

2) believing Taehyung and Jungkook have no agency or power within their own companies; and,

3) all of their members and managers are also in on this nefarious plot.

Whether they believe Taennie is just cosplayers in an orchestrated smear campaign, or two actual idols in a PR Relationship, regardless, a large segment of this subgroup still believe that Jimin is the company favorite who gets special treatment.

Therefore, things that should be Taekook’s (such as songs and subunits and couple-like interactions) are instead given to the company’s king of fan service, to the point where Jimin “assaults” Jungkook with “unwanted” attention and physical contact.

THE LOGICAL FALLACIES

As amazingly popular as our Korean It Boy is, I have serious doubts about Jimin being the “company favorite” ever since Hybe took over two years ago.

As the “company favorite,” I’d love it if he got more lines in group songs, or was allowed to film as many music videos as he wanted, or could be given more than 10 days of promotion time for a project he spent a year working on. It would be stellar if the “company favorite” had in-ears that worked correctly during live broadcasts, or was invited onto IU’s show, or could host streaming parties or sell exclusive merch. To say nothing of the “company favorite” getting far more reality show appearances and magazine interviews and a Disney documentary with behind the scenes footage! Heck, I’d settle for his songs not being split on Spotify, his views not being culled on YouTube, and maybe just one congratulatory statement to the press or even just a CAKE celebrating his historic Hot 100 #1.

At least Jimin was “allowed” to include a hidden track with Jungkook (that wasn’t advertised or available to stream, so not fan service) and he was allowed to queer code his Like Crazy music video. So I believe he has some agency and say over his projects. I’m not sure he’s entirely understood or appreciated by his company—frankly, I think his potential was underestimated—but I don’t claim he’s a victim. Victim narratives play into cult dynamics.

But I digressed. I was talking about logical fallacies.

Let’s entertain the idea that for more YEARS, Jungkook and Taehyung have been horribly abused by their management and forced to hide their relationship.

They never thought to address this issue when they were renewing their contracts?

Also, what’s up with all the footage during RUN episodes when they are standing together, or on the same team, or hugging and cuddling, or leaning their heads on each other’s shoulders and legs?

Why were they allowed to flirt and dance and do skinship on stage—and all that stuff even made it into official footage?

Now let’s entertain the idea that Taennie is a PR Relationship.

So… two rival companies, just coming out of a bitter failed deal around a music industry monopoly, are now working together to make people believe Jennie and Tae are dating?

Even though idols LOSE popularity and company stocks take a DIVE when couples are revealed?

So Taennie is the strategy to promote solo albums and upcoming projects?? And both companies’ PR teams say “We can’t confirm it as it is their personal lives.” So no PR statement is the PR strategy??

We know it’s bullshit. It makes about as much sense as Hillary Clinton running a child sex trafficking ring out of the basement of a pizza parlor that doesn't have a basement.

But many in the cult believe it’s Absolute Truth.

The question is why?

The answer is in the dynamics at play here.

CULT DYNAMICS

It starts with a MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN.

Baby ARMY get curious about BTS, hop on YouTube or TikTok, and are bombarded by the algorithm that claims Taekook is real.

Unless they go searching for original content (which takes up dozens and dozens of hours to sift through and much of which sits behind a paywall), they will not have much to contradict these claims.

Most older ARMY are understandably so sick and tired of the ship discourse that they don’t go into Taekook spaces and duke it out in the comments. Plus, content creators know that Taekook content gets hits and likes, which translates into passive income, so they keep making it.

See this video where a cult leader shows you she made over $109,000 in a year just from her Taekook edits:

So in the din of all this nonsense and noise, it’s up to Baby ARMY to seek out other voices, other input, to form an opinion. They have to be proactive. And sadly, a large segment of the population lacks critical thinking skills and do not WANT to seek facts.

We live in a very busy, post-fact world, where “credible messengers” (i.e., someone you know and trust) tell you their opinions. Then you try those opinions on for size, and they eventually become your opinions. It’s faster, it’s easier, and…

It lets you be part of the IN-GROUP. Next thing you know, you're part of a group chat with 400 indoctrinated members, spitting conspiracies like gospel truths.

In today’s globalized, fast-paced, hyper digital world, most people cannot tell you the names of their neighbors or local butcher or even their state’s politicians, let alone what all they stand for. But they can tell you how the Kardashians feel about organic salad in a plastic bowl, or what Trump believes about election results.

There’s a lack of real-world relationships that tether people to a shared reality.

And yet, there is a human need for Tribe.

A cult uses that instinct for TRIBE by constantly re-enforcing the notion that People Out There don’t understand, aren’t very nice, will even persecute you for knowing the truth.

But People In Here, the IN-GROUP, they appreciate you, they are reasonable and open-minded, they will be there for you when everyone else turns their backs on you and puts you down.

All you have to do to belong to the IN-GROUP is subscribe to these CONSPIRACY THEORIES.

First, you should think about becoming Anti-Establishment.

You cannot trust the Authority (company, government, scientists, whatever). The Authority is corrupt and will lie to you because it wants something from you (money, votes, microchips in the vaccines, whatever).

Do not trust what your eyes show you and what your ears hear. Believe your in-group. Be loyal to your found family. Your found family is SPECIAL.

Second, you need to begin to wake up to the Signs and Wonders.

Once you’re willing to see the truth, suddenly there are all these hints. All these little “Q-drops” of information. Like Taekook touching face moles during a song. Or seeing slowed-down, edited videos of facial expressions that look like evidence of jealousy. Or maybe hidden meanings behind tattoos of tigers and green mics. Or making a secret handshake or symbol with their fingers. These Signs and Wonders are FOR YOU.

*Now, I’m inclined to give Taekookers a bit of a break on queer couple coding because, culturally speaking, similar clothing and jewelry are couple-coded in Korea. And there are just as many if not MORE theories about Jikook using similar black and white clothing, matching jewelry, related tattoos, using special numbers in songs and timestamps, and even changing up lyrics as secret messages.

The issue here is that Jikook ACTUALLY DOES SOME OF THOSE THINGS. They actually deliberately type out specific numbers on some of their social media messages. They actually have dressed in the exact same outfits or worn each other’s clothes. They actually have changed up lyrics and sung them to each other.

Even so, any reasonable Jikooker will say “all of this is suspicious as hell, but not proof.” Like when Jungkook says his J tattoo stands for Jungkook—the placement over the M is suspicious, yes—but all sane Jikookers accept that Jungkook has spoken about that tattoo and he did not say it was for Jimin. We don't sit around calling Jungkook a liar just because we preferred our theory.

Taekookers, however, want what Jikook have so badly, even as they scorn it for merely being fan service.

Half the time the hints they claim are completely made up.

They see sandal footprints in the sand, and their leaders say it’s proof that Jungkook went on a secret beach date with Taehyung. Even though Taehyung went out with a friend and his parents that night.

Taekookers will see a photo of shoes all neatly lined up and say it’s a secret ski date with Hobi. Even though Jimin owns the exact same pair of shoes and there were no photos or accounts of them ever being at a ski lodge the day after Jin went into service.

Taekookers will swear they hear Jungkook’s voice off camera during Taehyung’s vlog and insist he was hiding in the trunk of the car during the drive to film. As if JK would hide in the trunk for hours instead of just… go in a different car that didn't have a camera??

All of these Signs and Wonders require a huge leap to arrive at the conclusion that Taekook is a romantic couple.

Meanwhile, evidence of Jikook spending birthdays together and couple holidays together and going on trips alone together and having integrated families and inner circles (stylists, tattoo artist, boxing coach) are ALL fan service. Every single person is in on the conspiracy.

Yes, even when JK’s mom screams “I love you!” to Jimin and makes her son eat seaweed soup on Jimin’s birthday, (JK was clearly FORCED to make up that story) it has to be fan service.

And when Jimin’s dad posts a photo of JK’s old dog on JK’s birthday (a birthday where Jimin visited him in the middle of working on his album, but Taehyung did not even though he wasn't working on anything), it's fan service. And when Mr. Park hosts a give-away event at his café where JK’s music is playing and cap and photo are proudly displayed next to JImin? Absolute fan service; he’s a money-hungry, attention-hungry cad, don’t you know? Even the charity he and his son do are fan service!

But JK went bowling with Wooga, so, Taekook are married. (Legally married. Not in Korea. But you know. They ARE married. Coming up on their third anniversary already!)

It’s all there, if you’re just willing to see the Signs and Wonders. And believe your cult leaders when there's nothing to see or wonder about at all.

Third and perhaps most important, is the Star-Crossed Lovers angle. The VICTIM CARD.

You see, it’s not bad enough that openly gay couples face pure hell in conservative countries anyway—losing their jobs, their families, sometimes their will to live because the stigma can be so bad. But on top of all that, for years and years, Taekook have been forced apart.

They’ve been just tortured by Jimin’s attention-whoring greedy nature, and made to endure fabricated fan service skinship!

(When Tae and JK look happy to be around Jimin, it’s just because they are professionals and such good actors!). Darn that Park Jimin, the abuser and sexual predator!!

And after so long being forced to hide, now in solo era, poor abused victimized Taekook can be loud. So loud. So very loud and wild and free!!

After all, during the Vegas concert, Jungkook sat on Taehyung’s lap!! He's NEVER sat on any other BTS members' lap (except for all of them).

And when Jungkook came online and said “Keep being jealous, I’ll keep holding Jiminie!” and that Jimin was HIS! Then fans kept asking him about Taehyung, so he also said Taehyung was his. It was totally his own organic idea (except for how it wasn't).

When fans kept pestering Jungkook during his camping VLive about Taehyung, he said he was forced to admit that Taehyung was attractive, he’d never seen a man so attractive! (FORCED to admit it! So romantic!)

Meanwhile, as all this shakes down, there’s this scandal in the press that Jimin didn’t pay his insurance premiums because his mail was omitted by the company. News of this dropped EXACTLY the moment his first OST With You came out, and he went totally quiet.

And then, Jungkook also went quiet for a while too. He deleted all his previous Insta photos that were personal and changed the layout to be totally professional. He went to the White House. He did a collab. He partied for JitB. He went on a Meat Tour of Korea. He did a concert with his members. He headlined World Cup. But mostly he was getting quieter and quieter.

Eventually Jungkook deleted the app entirely. Sometimes he stayed in his home for six days at a time. He stopped working out or going into Hybe; he started drinking whiskey. And nowadays he doesn’t even want to look at the comments on lives. Not because he was sick of the Taekookers or anything, but because “the company is forcing them to hide!”

Of course.

And all throughout 2022, Taehyung and Jungkook are paired up for things, and Tae's talking about a fortune teller saying he and Jungkook were “fire and water.” And rather than be taken as cute moments between friends, these are just VERY LOUD SIGNS AND WONDERS.

Then there are leaks online of all these photos that involved Tae and Jennie.

And thus begins tons of lives where he mentions Jungkook.

I'm not saying Kim Taehyung had an agenda to throw fans off the scent of his actual relationship, but I'm also not NOT saying that.

Whatever his motivations, the cult interpreted this as a direct message for Taekookers to keep the faith!

And indeed, Taekook do hang out—sometimes openly. (Sometimes where there’s press that make them hold up signs while cameras are going off—but that’s not for work, that’s a date, because the security team there wasn’t Hybe’s, and it was a friend’s premiere.) Sometimes quietly, where they share photos of hanging out afterwards.

But it cannot be just two friends hanging out. It’s Signs and Wonders!! SO LOUD!! SO FREE!!

So many reveals—mostly coming from Taehyung, but Jungkook doesn’t often deny them. And it’s mostly Taehyung stroking Jungkook’s hair or laying his head on Jungkook’s thigh or whatever—but Jungkook doesn’t stop him. And Jimin seems totally unbothered by all of it, which is strange because it sort of debunks years of his efforts at fan service.

Yet, clearly THIS cannot be fan service or misdirection.

It can’t just be friends playing games, or a TikTok made for work. It can’t be recording someone without their informed consent for attention. It can’t be going to a concert with other members and sitting in separate rows as friends. Or going to a musical or movie to support friends. Unlike all the things Jungkook has done with Jimin, this has to be Real Love!!

So just to recap:

When the cult had no evidence of Taekook hanging out, they were a private couple.

When the cult had ever-increasing evidence of Taekook hanging out, they were being loud.

When the cult had evidence that Jikook hang out outside of work, that was just fan service.

When the cult had no evidence that Jikook hang out outside of work, that was just fan service getting exposed.

When the cult has evidence that Taehyung has a girlfriend, that’s a punishment.

MARTYRDOM

You see, Jungkook and Taehyung would go on WeLives without permission, remember? And Taehyung set up a dual live chat on Insta and JK didn't seem that into it but he was persuaded. Then they giggled and couldn’t find much to talk about for ten minutes. And Taehyung said he would take full responsibility for it.

And the cult now believes that “taking responsibility” means pretending to be in a heterosexual relationship. Even their insider sasaeng accounts predicted it!

Never mind how mad all of this seems. And it would be one thing if just one or two ideas were far-fetched, like looking at a pair of shoes and making assumptions. But all of it is far-fetched.

Facts do not matter. Because you cannot trust the Authority. You can only trust the In-Group.

And the In-Group sees Signs and Wonders. So the In-Group knows the Real Truth.

The In-Group DECIDES TOGETHER what is real.

They can make entirely fake edits; cosplay; post false witness statements; harass models, coworkers, brands, businesses… they can hire trucks to circle the building with loud speakers, protesting and shouting their truth!!

And anyone who doesn’t believe the Real Truth is a Fake Taekooker.

No disbelievers allowed. Get out of the tribe. Only the faithful can stay in the Tribe.

Right now, you might be asking yourself: Why would you stay in a tribe like this??

Because the dynamic is ever-evolving, which is titillating, and participants get a sense of power, because they are able to help craft the narratives—by being so smart as to see the truth where others are blind sheep—so they can bond over how unique they are.

Plus… TAEKOOK NEEDS THEM.

The boys absolutely depend on their support. You see, Taekookers are the real HEROES here.

They understand the boys like normal people never could. If you know you know, and they are steadfast against any and all lies presented as evidence. They are loyal.

The whole world is against their baby bear and baby bunny!! They are the boys Only Defense. Just take a look at this video of their rallying cry:

If you've got martyrs, you've also got... CRUSADERS.

Yikes, right?

So, here are millions of fans who were lied to, misled, misinformed… They developed relationships over time with people who also believe this misinformation… They get a sense of power in crafting their own reality, in which the objects of their affection are victims and they are the heroes… And the only way to prove themselves worthy of the group is to stalwartly ignore anything that contradicts these narratives.

This is a literal, textbook cult.

Cults use deception, isolation, peer pressure, group-think, and suppression of critical thought. To varying degrees, all Taekook spaces do this too. (And yes, other ships and solos and mantis ALSO rely on these tactics. But I've never seen anything quite so open or pervasive in ARMY like the Taekook cult tactics.)

I feel I should make one thing should be made clear: a LOT of people sincerely believe in Taekook.

But there are also a lot of Taekook content creators who sincerely believe in the money they make off people believing in Taekook.

Like all cults, at the end of the day, it's a scam.

Now there’s evidence of a real relationship, and of course anyone who has invested time and money in Taekook is going to be pushing back—hard.

So how do we navigate this chaos?

Well, most cults end in one of two ways: an FBI raid, or everyone drinks the Kool-Aid and dies.

But more often than not, cults don’t really end so much as fizzle out over years.

Plenty of cults are still alive and well despite amble debunking (Scientology, Q-Anon, Illuminati, flat-Earthers, Larries—what they believe doesn’t really matter; it’s how they believe that makes them a cult.)

Cults are a bit like hydras—you cut off one head, three stronger ones pop back up.

They won't stop. They have to BE STOPPED.

HOW TO DEPROGRAM A CULT

Well, back in the 70s, in the early days of deprogramming, the only thing that was effective was to separate the individual from access to the cult (by kidnapping if you had to), then bombard them non-stop with facts (using imprisonment or restraints if you had to) and eventually they are coerced into re-integration. But none of that is humane or legal by today’s standards.

It also leads to relapses.

Really the only way to deprogram cult conditioning is for a mental health professional to slowly and methodically discredit the cult leader(s) and gently present contradictions.

(How can Jungkook really be in a relationship with Taehyung if he’s always mentioning Jimin? How can Jimin be hurting Taehyung and yet they are on FaceTime for hours, trading fan art and watching tv shows? Why would the two most rich and famous pop stars in the world need a publicity stunt?)

And even then, the cult member has to be sort of able to question things for themselves, and it just helps to have other supportive people echoing their own questioning sentiments back to them.

It can take YEARS until a cult member reaches the breaking point and begins to listen to Out-Group ideas. (On average, five years, to be exact.)

And then they may begin a journey of self-expression, where they openly voice doubts or complaints against cult narratives. They may even engage in transference, jumping off the Taekook ship and onto another (the need for tribe is very real). This is an extremely vulnerable stage and should not be taken advantage of.

At this critical moment when someone is tittering on the fence, trying to figure out what reality is, you need to REWARD THE BEHAVIOR YOU WANT.

You want them to question. You want them to express their grief and doubts. You want them to look for real sources of information.

This is NOT the time to kick someone when they are down, or look for “gotcha” moments to shame them publicly.

If you see a Taekooker wondering if they’ve been lied to this whole time—they HAVE. And that is abuse. And abuse victims need to be handled with care.

I know that Taekookers have dragged Jimin to hell and back for years so I’m not about to preach love and acceptance.

But it’s also fair to say that Taekookers have been gas-lit and realizing that can be traumatic.

Wounded animals are dangerous. A traumatized human lashes out. And you know who the prime target always is. They are already starting to take it to Jimin directly.

I strongly recommend you take a very cautious approach if you engage with them right now. Especially if you’re thinking about arguing with them.

People who defend Jimin or Jikook end up doxxed, suspended, harassed--and someday, I fear a wounded cult member will get physically violent.

Be especially careful because plenty of big accounts are closeted Taekookers. Here's a thread exposing some "mystery cult" members:

THE MOST EFFECTIVE RESPONSE

I normally don’t try to police people or preach too much, but I’m going to give you some unsolicited advice if you managed to read all this:

Don’t go into Taekook tags or spaces. Don’t debate them. Don’t talk trash about them or the members. Don’t slam-dunk or spike the ball with snarky words or memes. Don’t give them a taste of their own medicine. Don’t be cruel.

First of all, don’t do any of that because Jimin and Jungkook would be mortified by it.

But second of all, don’t do it because it just makes them dig in harder; it adds weeks or months to the deprogramming timeline.

The goal is to get the cult out of ARMY fandom. Because they thrive on a victim/hero complex, attacking them reinforces cult dynamics.

I believe there is a better approach.

First, you can and should go Gray Rock whenever possible.

Starve them of oxygen. Don’t acknowledge them. If you do, be generic in your responses—boringly bland, detachedly polite. Ignore them completely; their hot takes do not matter.

Block and report if warranted, but never engage. On some level, they really want to be persecuted for their beliefs. It's why they keep coming into Jikook spaces looking for a fight.

But their beliefs are so ridiculous that they aren’t worth our time. Instead, direct your focus on what you want, which is to promote and celebrate Bangtan.

Second, you can provide what’s called a Graceful Exit.

It doesn’t always work if they know that’s what you’re doing, but it is perhaps the most effective technique, especially if they are already questioning the cult narrative.

You see, a shamed human being gets defensive, doubles down, won’t listen. But a human being offered a Graceful Exit Out of a Bad Place gets to reinvent themselves in a way that allows them some dignity while they change direction.

A Graceful Exit has a few components to it:

“Hello, Taekooker. I also saw a lot of misleading content when I was a baby ARMY. The algorithm feeds you Taekook content almost immediately. Then you make online friends, and they all believe in Taekook. Suddenly everyone is telling you really complicated theories about how Taekook is being hidden. Once you believe that, you have to also believe that Taekook are lying by omission, that Jimin and the members are also lying, that the company executives and translators and managers and staff are all lying, that Korean ARMY is lying, that fellow I-ARMY is lying… and that’s a lot of people spreading a lie for no real gain. Now that you have some evidence that Tae is happily in a relationship with someone else, it’s only natural to question your beliefs, because YES, Taehyung and Jungkook absolutely love each other. But are they IN love? NO. For my part, I trust Taehyung. I love and support Taehyung. I don’t spread the idea that he or Jungkook engage in fake relationships. If you support them, then you’ll accept what they are showing you. When you’re ready to stop shipping Taekook, ARMY will be ready to welcome you back. We can stream together and vote together and help our boys achieve their dreams. We can watch their content and go to concerts together and enjoy fan-works. But what we can’t do is make up really complex stories around BTS’ reality. Our place as fans is to appreciate their music, and let them live their own lives in their own way. It’s time to let go of old ideas, and embrace the new things they share with us.”

This tactic allows the cult member to feel sympathy for being human. It provides understanding that they’ve been deceived. It appeals to their higher nature and love for the objects of their affection. And reassures them they could have a place in a bigger tribe if they let go of the in-group.

It invites them in, instead of calls them out.

Now, you guys might not be willing to do that. Especially considering the hate trains and rape jokes and death threats they gave Jimin for years. Believe me, I get it. I GET IT.

So if you see someone spewing vitriol, now is not the time to call them in. Now is the time to block and report.

However, if I take out my anger on them, it’s serving my own feelings.

And I’m here to serve Jimin, Jungkook, and BTS, not my own need to be right.

So I believe the best way to do that is to Gray Rock the Die-hards and provide a Graceful Exit for the Questioners.

Many cult members are not going to believe in Taennie unless Kim Taehyung makes an announcement directly--and even then, he’ll have to do it in such an emphatic way that they buy what he sells.

So we should accept that the cult is going to be around for a long, long time. Conserve your energy, my dears.

But for the ones who just got fooled but don't intend any harm, we can either hope they let go of their own volition, or we can try to make room for them as part of true ARMY.

What we shouldn’t do is get down in the mud and start slinging. Everyone loses ground that way.

THIS WAS THE LONGEST EVER POST; I AM SORRY!

But these have been my thoughts over the last few days. I’m okay if you want to comment, but I would like to ask that you DO NOT reblog to tag Taekook and that you don’t weaponize this post by spreading it around specifically where it could cause drama.

Drama is the exact opposite of my intention.

My desire is to provide some better understanding around how cults work and how to disband them.

In conclusion: Keep it classy. Ignore assholes. Be gentle with people recovering from gas-lighting. Stay true to the principles of BTS and ARMY. Apobangpo.

Love, Roo

#jimin #jungkook #jikook

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