#kwon jiyoung | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

onomatopagu-et-cie · 1 year ago

Text

The Killing Vote (ep. 7 notes)

The Killing Vote (ep. 1-5 notes) The Killing Vote (ep. 6 & overall notes) The Killing Vote: more on Joohyun, Kwon Seokju & Kim Muchan

I don’t know if you saw, but they announced episode 8 will be out next week on October 5th……….. After THIS preview no less, you’ve got to be kidding me aaaaaaaa (PД`q。 ) ·。 ' ゜

This got again really long, sorry again!!!!

Have a nice week!

(SPOILERS UP TO EPISODE 7!!!!)

Let Jihoon, Joomin, Joohyun, KMC & KSJ get their happy found family ending (இ﹏இ`｡) Put them in a slice of life, far far away from this noir genre plsssssss

I appreciated the fact that no explicit violence (except when BWT was beaten up by Min Jiyoung's family & KMC) was shown on screen ie. for Narae nor her dog ; the violence implied from all the scenes were more than enough already (eg. the video on KSJ ; the audio recording Narae’s voice)... ! And by the way, Park Sungwoong's acting in this episode!!!!!! I also loved how KMC’s character was shown trying to maintain a composure/restraint (his voice damn) in front of KSJ’s grief.

And the Jihoon & Joohyun scenes were GREAT!! Joohyun sounds like that sister you can naturally rely on!

(She needs to live, you hear me?!)

(Don’t read the new OST’s lyrics you are warned haha, it was beautifully played for Jihoon’s scene and the lyrics could also very well apply to KMC & KSJ in KMC’s pov!)

♦ September 15, 2015 (Lrae091515)

Narae disappeared on September 15, 2015… Just like how the video test is titled!

OH and something I missed!!! In the first post I mentioned the video test title, I wondered if it could refer to both Narae and Dies Irae (since Mozart’s Requiem was played in ep4):

As for the ‘Lrae’… It could be a wild WILD guess but ‘Lrae’ could be ‘irae’ as in Dies Irae/day of wrath (capital i looks like a lowercase L), which is a sequence in Requiem mass!

But the capital L could also stand for the korean letter ᄂ/니은 (nieun), which is the first letter for Narae/나래. Added to the ‘rae’, it gives ‘Narae091515’.

♦ The items in LMS’s room & his ring

Some of the items that were in the display case in LMS’s hidden room were revealed in this episode (from left to right):

KSJ’s suitcase

KSJ’s book he signed for LMS

KSJ’s mug, which is seen carried in the present by:

Jihoon (we only see him retrieve it from the deliveryman)

LMS (a whole collection)

This Gaetal in ep4 with this particular red mug when they rage as the public opinion is shaken because KMC was believed to be dead.

The picture with Narae seems to have been taken the day of the conference shown at the beginning of the episode. LMS probably stole the picture because it was a significant day to him ie. when he met KSJ in person.

Also, about the ring, LMS had it even in the flashbacks (picture to the right). Could it be some device to send him a reminder to take his medicine?

♦ More on shame

Something I wanted to add to what I said in a previous post (‘On the frames facing down (ep. 1 & 6), shame and guilt’): when KSJ visited his house in the present thanks to Joohyun, he only dusted off Narae’s picture to face her stuffed bunny.

Ep7 showed the other frame was a picture of KSJ and her, so it could show how he still strongly feels he failed her as her father:

♦ Narae, Joomin and Jihoon

FINALLY a bittersweet but hopeful? (I don’t care if it’s wishful thinking, let me hope okay ;;) parallel that’s clearly the opposite of ep4 & 6’s framing, the new OST (Aalia, Blue) was a perfect addition, it was soothing:

♦ The third person meeting with Narae and KSJ

(1) « She »

At the beginning of the episode, Narae met KSJ and said a ‘she’ couldn’t join them for dinner according to the subtitle translation when I watched.

(I’m unfortunately not able to watch on Prime, so I’m not sure if it’s fansubs or the Prime translation ; I wanted to use my free trial to watch the drama and other series, but it’s region-locked in my country and I don’t have a VPN ;;)

The gendered pronoun is an addition of the translation as the original exchange omitted any indication on the subject.

Most of the time [in Korean] the subject is implied, and you would rather address someone by their title or name (with an honorific if need be) depending on your relationship eg. Joohyun calls KMC 팀장님/team leader and KSJ 교수님/professor, Joomin calls her sister 언니/big sister. Note: but it can also be used by a female speaker for an older woman she’s close to eg. a friend, a girlfriend (like 형 = younger man -> older man ; 오빠 = younger woman -> older man or 누나 = younger man -> older woman).

This is how Narae and KSJ’s conversation went:

« — 왜 혼자 왔어? / Why did you come alone? — 또 먼저 갔지. 오늘도 할일이 엄청 또 많대. / [They] left early again. [They] said [they] had a lot of things to do today too. — 셋이 같이 저녁을 먹을랬는데. (…) / I’d hoped the three of us could have dinner together. »

Nothing in this exchange hints at the identity of the person that accompanied Narae. KSJ only mentions the three of them (셋이), nothing else.

(Of course, translating this exchange could be really tricky because it’s about a context that only Narae and KSJ are privy of and we’re unfamiliar to, how to introduce a character we potentially know nothing of?)

But the conversation shows:

— That person usually accompanied Narae to see her father (and probably picked her up from school first & walked the dog together) ; that explains why the subject is omitted in the conversation because it’s implied from their daily life.

— They sounded like an adult habitually swamped with what looks like a usually time-consuming work (which excludes Jihoon)

— They seemed close enough to both Narae & KSJ (who jokingly says it’ll be a father-daughter date if they don’t come), dinner with them sounded customary.

— We know it couldn’t be about KSJ’s ‘late wife’ as Min Jiyoung comments ‘It must be hard for him to raise a girl by himself’ as they’re driving home from the conference.

— It has been highlighted twice already how hard, to society/KSJ’s surroundings, raising a girl by himself must be: first with Min Jiyoung’s housekeeper in ep5 (‘They felt sorry for me for raising my daughter alone, so they would share food with me sometimes.’), then Min Jiyoung herself in ep7. Whoever that was, this person also might've helped KSJ to raise Narae unbeknownst to everyone else.

So it was supposed to be someone close to the two of them.

(2) Kim Muchan?

In the same episode, when KMC said Choi Jinsu knew what kind of relationship he had with KSJ, CJS later described it as a ‘close relationship’ (가까은 사이), the same adjective KSJ uses to describe KMC in the present (see in a previous post the notes on 가깝다).

KMC is also the one shown in the very next scenes working hard to bust drug scenes (to the point of eating those painkillers like it’s popcorn). It’s also highly likely the other cases we saw on the news were also recklessly solved by him. (Also the ‘Lives Here.’ on the mirror is a fitting detail to his workaholic side!)

He's still the same in the present and brings work at home. Even though he gets around the law to arrest culprits, the reputation he has now can also attest to the fact he’s still relentlessly absorbed by his work.

This was indeed how Jodan described KMC to Joohyun:

« (…) aka. Wipeout. Pressuring criminals to admit more crimes. Making a case bigger to take more credit. He somehow makes cases into special ones. That’s how he made his way up to Seoul from the south. The master of promotions. (…) Based on his arrest rate, he should be at the top, but those up there must hate him. »

And KMC was close enough to KSJ and Narae to firmly believe Narae would never run away from home, like family would say ; KSJ was the only person he trusted and looked up to.

Not to mention KSJ was completely tensed as Choi Jinsu interrogated him but relaxed once KMC took over, letting out a sigh of relief and dropping his guard to cry.

EDIT: KMC also knew calling KSJ 'hyung' instead of 'Professor' would eventually make him react, as he was lifeless and caught in his thoughts so far.

(3) How long did KMC know KSJ?

KSJ began teaching at KNPU in 2008, which means KMC and him must’ve known each other for at least 7+ years (it’d be 15+ years in the present): ‘Have you forgotten? I said I’d be your number one fan. I said that at your first lecture at KNPU.’

Also KSJ is 44 years old btw, I missed that detail in ep4 when KMC checked his files!

♦ Relationships conveyed through pictures

It’s interesting how the drama keeps highlighting the importance of KSJ and KMC’s relationship, but there’s (yet) no picture to materialize this truth in people’s eyes, while the other significant relationships are framed in the drama:

-> Joohyun’s family portrait and a picture of Joohyun and Joomin in the present.

-> KMC picture with someone who might be his mother.

-> Many pictures of KSJ and Narae filled the house’s walls and the furniture and there was a picture of Narae and Jihoon with the handmade bunny toys hanging on their backpack.

And even though nobody might’ve heard of KSJ adopting Jihoon soon at the time (except KMC), he was present in Narae’s drawings by her and KSJ’s side. And he also drew the three of them together.

-> Min Jiyoung’s family portrait was ostentatiously exhibited in the past & is still used to build her image for her campaign. But there’s also a small portrait with only her and LMS at her apartment in the present.

KSJ and KMC’s relationship evades common portrayal. (Not to mention family portraits are often shown in dramas to foreshadow underlying dynamics between its members!)

The only picture we were shown of them was on the day KSJ was sent to prison:

♦ KSJ’s health and military service

On KSJ’s resume (first picture), you can see he was exempted of military duty.

Indeed, what’s written on the left column under his military status is 미필 (incompletion, if he had been discharged after completing his military duty, it would be written 군필), and the rank and service term columns are empty.

I can’t quite make out everything that’s under the last column for the reason of incompletion, but I read 기형 (deformity), 친환 (one’s parent illness) and 변재 (accident) … ?

However what we learned when KMC checked his medical files in ep4 (third picture) was that he’s got asthma (천식) and primary spontaneous pneumothorax (일차성 자연기흉) ie. occurring without an apparent cause when there’s originally no known lung disease while there’s a preexisting lung disease when it’s secondary.

« Until now the cause of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) has not been identified, however; several risk factors have been identified such as; smoking, male sex, and a family history of pneumothorax ».

So he was probably exempted due to his long-time health issue (asthma, lung collapse), and maybe KSJ’s family had a history of pneumothorax.

♦ Who is Gaetal?

Is LMS really Gaetal? Are Fan no. 1 & Gaetal different people?

As I said in a previous post, the drama plays with the bias that everything must’ve been done by the same individual/a same group with the same intentions, so it’s possible:

Gaetal in the video test

Gaetal in the prerecorded votes, at least the first one (because the tone, gesture and expressions seemed different compared to the two next votes)

Gaetal broadcasted live (for Cpt. Oh’s vote)

Fan no. 1 who wrote the letters to KSJ

Fan no. 1 JJW said he was working with who described KSJ as the one they admired the most but also said they destroyed the person he loved the most, so he must hate them

Are different people in some cases, meaning:

— The ‘Fan no. 1’ Jung Jinwook worked with might not be LMS, since they never met each other

— It could be Jihoon, or at the very least, he’s an accomplice (there’s this exchange with Joohyun about the shift from an accessory to an accomplice, it could be foreshadowing). He’s well-versed in hacking, he most likely ‘admired’ KSJ and feels guilty over Narae’s death (and probably over BWT’s murder by KSJ), as KSJ said to KMC:

« — [Narae and Jihoon] were supposed to meet that day. — Yes, he thinks all of this happened because he was late. He’s still in shock. »

(He could’ve been the one to have faced Narae’s picture down!)

We don’t know his whereabouts for these 8 years but he must’ve been in contact with KSJ at least once since what happened and given KSJ’s reaction when KMC asked him if he contacted him.

Also Jihoon was definitely searching for KSJ before Joohyun interrupted him when he was at the Police Agency at the end of the episode.

He looked like he definitely knew the content of the ‘video test’ too (or recognized the room), he seemed dumbfounded to learn Joomin found it in ep3:

Determined to help, a part of him could’ve held KMC guilty of the chain of events 8 years ago. KSJ entrusted his handmade bunny toy to KMC and said:

« He said he made them himself, so there are only two of them. Whoever has Narae’s is the murderer, so he told me to use this to catch him. He left this with me. I’m counting on you. »

And KSJ must have some part in whatever is happening now with the Killing Vote: after all, we never got the reason KSJ went out of prison in ep4 (‘If they find out what I did instead of performing labor, they might believe the suspicions are true.’).

-> This scene in ep3 (the first set of pictures on the left): of course this shows his relief because he still cares for KMC but it seemed like he somehow already knew for a fact KMC was out of danger, even before the janitor said he was barely hanging on and not off the hook at all.

— This was even before the video of KMC was revealed to the public in the next episode ;

— The present Gaetal might have informed him in advance a police officer got involved in the bombing against their will, without revealing it was KMC. This would explain why KSJ seemed genuinely surprised when the janitor said it was KMC (the last two pictures of the set) ;

— Someone else could have informed him even if it seems difficult from the prison (but we know he got lots of privileges there and we still don’t know what he did for the warden ; the visit register could have been fabricated and someone indeed met him) ;

— It’s worth pointing out KSJ was convinced KMC was Gaetal up until ep6, which adds another layer to this scene.

-> His reaction in ep5 was also curious (the second set of pictures on the right), he only got perplexed for the video test, as though he was well-acquainted with the rest of whatever was going on except for that one detail (which adds to the theory that Gaetal in the video test ≠ Gaetal in the Killing Vote/Fan no. 1).

Curiously, as I said just above, while KSJ seemed unaware of the video test's existence, Jihoon looked familiar with its content on the contrary.

KSJ never outright denied he was Gaetal eg. his interview with Joohyun in ep2:

« — ‘Devils who were deemed innocent.’ The phrase that the killer used… You were the first one to say it, weren’t you? I think the killer has something to do with you. — The two people who used the same phrase must be connected. That’s such a naive approach. »

Ep6 only showed KSJ hoped KMC was Gaetal.

And you wouldn’t say KMC’s ‘I’m a cop.’ is a real answer too. Hate to admit it, but KMC stayed silent when KSJ wanted to confirm he was sincere: his feelings might be genuine, but denying he’s Gaetal could very well be a lie.

As for KMC’s front ie. keeping silent when asked about his relationship with KSJ, I guess it comes from his determination to solve all this by his own hands this time: he knows they would take him off the case otherwise. (And for some reason, I can’t help but also suspect Joohyun aaaaa we still don’t know anything about her past!!)

KMC or KSJ, one of the two might be related somehow ; if so, I guess they’d be trying to plan something without the other knowing in order not to involve them and also because the other would disapprove (eg. KSJ to put an end to KMC’s guilt ; KMC to offer some peace to KSJ after all the tragedy and his past mistakes).

— Plus, the Gaetal of the first vote sounded suspiciously like KSJ (his silhouette and gait too) eg. t h a t tremulous voice when he gets angry (the actor plays a lot with that in his roles overall).

— The first vote was prepared from a redevelopment area and BGC was murdered there (pictures on the right).

In ep7, in addition to the video accusing KSJ of being dubious and the witness statement, Narae being found in a redevelopment area was what made the police suspect KSJ of murdering her, since he was known for standing up against said building’s demolition:

« You’d been to the place where the body was found, right? Don’t even think about lying. We know you protested against demolishing that building. »

(Even before Joohyun showed him the Gaetal video test, KMC must’ve had his suspicions from BGC’s murder scene and the broadcast after the body was found eg. recognizing KSJ’s tone, 'the devils deemed innocent' or the ‘rational justice’!)

Narae might’ve been found in the lower part of the building BGC’s vote was prepared in: even though the first story doors were repainted in red and handrails were added to the bridge, the overall architecture and the sort of electricity meter/letter box on the ground floor look the same.

And even without it being the same building, it holds enough resemblance for it to seem like a disturbing recall of the events 8 years ago, combined with Gaetal’s keywords.

— LMS could’ve killed BGC’s wife as Gaetal's copycat at first but that still wouldn’t explain his involvement to the Killing Vote, saying he would give it to his mother as a present.

(But his conversation with KMC when he interviewed him in the present really gave me the impression he knew something about KMC we were not shown, and that could foreshadow what'll happen in the next episode!)

— About LMS’s true perception of justice: we never got to hear his opinion, Narae came running to her father and KSJ interrupted the conversation. So far, the drama didn’t show if his ideals align with Gaetal’s for example, but some elements in the flashbacks clearly show it could be the case.

In fact, his notes about ‘proper justice’ could align with Gaetal’s concept of vigilantism to make up for a failing official retributive justice.

And his ‘If you pass judgment without looking at things clearly, it’s not being fair. It’s being indifferent.’ clearly parallels KSJ’s opinion in the present (ep6):

« Lady Justice wears a blindfold because she’s afraid of bias in decisions. That always bothered me. If you don’t look at cases and the people involved clearly, how can one pass fair judgment? Can judgments without experience be right? Only after losing my daughter did I realize I was qualified to judge others. »

KSJ’s past self would’ve been moderate and warned him however: ‘Relying solely on your experiences can also lead to bias. Experiences are gained through situations and conflicts. They can’t be absolute truths.’

But this detail is something KMC doesn’t know, he instead focuses on LMS’s elitism because he didn’t have those kinds of exchanges with him.

♦ ‘No. 1 Fan’ & LMS

So…………………… You mean to tell me « No. 1 Fan » was originally a memory both KSJ and KMC held dear? That LMS chose this very nickname as a penname for the 5 whole years he sent letters to KSJ? That LMS described KSJ to JJW as the man he admired the most, just like KMC said in that exchange.......... ?

There’s literally no way in hell LMS didn’t listen KMC and KSJ’s conversation ; « no. 1 Fan » could be common in any other cases but not in this one: LMS made everyone around KSJ gone from the picture, it wouldn’t surprise me KMC was/is meant to be the next (LMS even describes him as a ‘cockroach’ hard to kill in ep5).

As to how he got to learn all that, bugging one of the two’s communications/belongings/Narae’s room (eg. that ‘My Daddy My Hero’ seems to be the only thing taken from the house, or the device Jodan found in the ceiling, as it’s totally covered with dust) or even hiding in KSJ’s house that day and listening to their exchange wouldn’t be that surprising given what he did and how he seems to enjoy playing recklessly.

What Jodan found looks like the kind of device that transmits frequencies to another device (eg. cell phone, a recorder prepared to this end).

In this episode, we saw LMS watched everything among the crowd each time (when Narae’s body was found, when KSJ was sent to prison), there could very well be times he watched unnoticed from KMC or KSJ.

I guess he learned about the ‘rational justice’ the same way: he could’ve heard the ‘devils deemed innocent’ from his mother or some other way (eg. if he hacked the court’s archives, he could’ve found the trial transcripts), but ‘rational justice’ was something only KSJ and KMC knew about (at least, at this point of the drama).

Given his obsession for KSJ, LMS could benefit from deliberately using a precious memory that KSJ could only attribute to KMC and posing as KMC: that would finally make him assume a special position in KSJ’s eyes (and it worked: that’s probably why KSJ firmly believed Gaetal and/or the one who wrote him letters was KMC).

And he probably deludes himself into believing it was originally his by right, not Narae’s, not KMC’s nor anyone else’s (I don’t think he knew Jihoon even if he observed the house): he considers himself KSJ’s only entitled Fan no. 1.

At the same time, becoming Gaetal, a figure that would finally bring the justice to KSJ which KMC failed to do, gives him the opportunity to finally ‘judge’/destroy KMC as he wished. Eg. making him the next Killing Vote target by showing people he was deceiving them (his ‘Wipeout’ reputation) ; or distorting facts about his involvement in Narae’s case (just like the video Min Jiyoung/LMS made on KSJ to divert the attention off her son).

And this seems to be the case in the preview:

The screen on the left side of the shot displays an edit of KMC (which looks like those Gaetal did for the previous targets ; the picture seems to come from when the journalists gathered at the prison when they learned he was alive), and if I’m not mistaken you can read on the banner « 속였습니다 » (‘I/He deceived/lied to [the people maybe?]’), which might be a reference to what he said in ep4 where he also used 속였습니다.

♦ « This house had good natural lighting »

Losing Narae left KSJ lifeless. In this episode’s flashback, his profile, livid, is blinded by white light, like a ghost.

Even though he stood in Narae’s room, he was perhaps longing for the house that was already not there anymore and that initially had ‘good natural lighting’, as Joohyun said in ep4. It symbolized all the happiness he shared with Narae.

And KMC could only witness, helpless, KSJ’s grief.

In retrospect, on the second set of pictures to the right, the sight of KSJ’s silhouette in a similar setting and lighting (when KSJ was transferred to the Police Agency, ep5) might’ve reminded KMC of this memory.

The drama highlighted this theme in other previous scenes too. They have in common a silhouette shot in an overall dark setting facing a strong backlighting.

[And you can notice the shots get gradually brighter as the drama progresses and KSJ gets out of prison!]

Joohyun's scene on the top right was so beautifully shot... !

-> When KSJ is transferred to the Police Agency ;

-> When Joohyun interviews KSJ and makes him listen to Mozart’s Requiem in ep4. And also KMC’s reaction we could better understand in retrospect as he listened (the pictures on the bottom right) ;

-> When KSJ enjoyed the light from the prison in ep4 ;

-> When he looked outside from his cell’s window while meditating in the first episode ;

-> When KMC wanted to visit KSJ but he refused to meet him in ep2 (and we can once again better interpret his expressions in retrospect to ep7).

Note: in ep3, KMC’s reaction to the tagged wall (‘the 13th was wrong’) and the news articles about the case from 8 years ago could also now be interpreted as pained in retrospect ; his surprise upon discovering this also shows it’s at least not him who messed the room that way. If he cared for Narae as this episode showed, he probably wouldn’t have damaged her room. It's also maybe relevant to note again that the video test didn't have the tagged wall!

♦ Min Jiyoung’s classism

Whatever Min Jiyoung found on KMC was something she did not approve according to her standards: she went from ‘that detective’ when she first met him to ‘bastard like you/the likes of you’ at the end of the trial.

I get BIG classist undertones when she speaks to him, and it's not the sole occurrence:

-> When she fired her previous aide because he advised her in a way she deemed unsatisfactory, she commented: ‘촌스러운 새끼’ which was translated to ‘What a loser.’ The adjective she used is 촌스럽다 (unpolished, countrified, dowdy ie. « one’s attitude or taste being unsophisticated and looking like that of a country person »).

The Naver Dictionary also gives the expression ‘촌스러운 사람’ and translates it as ‘a lout, rustic, clodhopper, boor’.

새끼 means offspring (cub or child/kid), but it’s often used as an insult to mean someone’s a jerk/bastard/etc. which is the case here (eg. 개새끼, SOB/bastard).

-> The housekeeper: KSJ described her as ‘도우미’ (assistant, helper) and was getting along well with her and her husband (‘They felt sorry for me for raising my daughter alone, so they would share food with me sometimes. (…) Though we didn’t know each other very well, we were quite close.’).

And Min Jiyoung, who lives with her and her family, calls her…… an expense (‘비용’) if I’m hearing well (at the very least, it doesn’t sound like any of the words commonly used for housekeepers eg. 가정부, 도우미, 파출부, 하녀…), and it could explain why KMC made her repeat.

-> She used 너 같은 새끼 to insult KMC (‘bastards like you/the likes of you’), right after calling LMS his son (아들), which could imply the latter qualifies more as a person than him. She even deems him a taint/테인트 threatening to spoil their status/reputation.

-> She said to LMS in ep5: ‘[KMC] must be trying to make ends meet. You better stay away from those vermins.’

And be it a coincidence or not, Jihoon’s grandmother was also judgmental towards Joohyun and her sister (ep4, first set of pictures).

Her reaction to KSJ’s idea (she was taken aback and raised her eyebrow then looked embarrassed as she tried to answer) could also be explained by some distance she wants to put between her and disreputable people (ep6, second set of pictures).

Gaetal targeted the rich so far (‘The law that is more harsh on victims than on criminals… It feeds like a parasite off of money and power, so the ones who deserve to die are still alive.’), like some sort of Robin Hood as KMC commented.

♦ « Hyung »

(breaking my silence once again…) KMC and KSJ were lovers/KMC was in love and they were in their domestic life bubble (and ngl that ‘… [and the one] I look up to.’ delivery with that hesitant interruption felt like a left out confession)

The scene in Narae’s room was paralleled in the present at the end of the episode:

You can notice with this comparison that most (if not all) of KSJ & KMC’s scenes in the present are submerged by blue tones in the prison cell and at the Police Agency, just like in the lyrics of the new OST with the wordplay on the color blue and feeling blue! eg. 눈을 감아보면 I see blue — 그런 너의 모습에 feel so blue (When I close my eyes I see blue — At the sight of you feel so blue) 네게 가려진 난 I see blue — 몰랐던 너의 모습에 feel so blue (I’m covered/obscured by you I see blue — This side of you I didn’t know feel so blue)

♦ Gaetal, masks and dogs

Gaetal could be translated as ‘dog mask’ (개, dog + 탈, mask).

GAETAL AND MASKS

Gaetal’s excentric and playful, Robin Hood-esque character and their theatrics could be a reference to the traditional Korean masks.

« [Korean masks] were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses ; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits/illness/bad luck out of an individual or a village (often horrifying or grotesque to invoke fear and humor), to remember the faces of great historical figures, and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The present uses are as miniature masks for souvenirs, or on phones hung as good-luck talismans. There are two ways to categorize masks: religious masks and artistic masks. »

Indeed, KSJ had a glass display of Korean masks in his house (it’s a limited Seoul 1988 Olympic Games Korean Masks Collection):

Masks are in fact known to be used in talchum/talnori (mask dance/play), an art developed after a cultural shift in society: masks were initially used in religious activities, but entertainment and festivities factored in through time.

« An ensemble of musicians accompanies masked performers who humorously explore social issues through dramatic combinations of cheerful, energetic and rhythmical songs, dances, movements and dialogue. »

They mostly originated from the pre-modern society of the Joseon dynasty. The country was governed by a rigid social hierarchy (eg. the aristocracy and the buddhist monastic hierarchy) and a strict patriarchal system. They sharply criticized contemporary society with satire and witty humour, depicting the falsehoods and hypocrisies of the upper classes (eg. decadent noblemen, apostate/depraved monks, patriarchal husbands) but also mocked stereotypical versions of annoying personalities within the lower classes (eg. the drunkard, the gossip, the flirt of the complaining grandmother). It offered people both catharsis and important life lessons, and masks are a key means to do that.

On the nobleman mask (Master Kim Dongpyo, maker of Hahoetal): « yangban noblemen prioritize dignity and saving face above all else. The gentle curves of a Hahoe yangban mask embody this character. » In other local traditions, noblemens’ masks may express greedy and pretentious personalities.

Talchum offered an opportunity to commoners to unleash their pent-up emotions, their suppressed anger and for the governing class to hear the people’s complaints, ultimately promoting greater unity within society. Their will for resistance is voiced.

Gaetal's apparent intentions correspond to all this to a great extent.

« Once a person dons a mask – men and women, young and old, nobility and commoners – all are freed from social conventions and restrictions. The appearance of the Korea mask itself is also liberated by convention. Nevertheless, everyone manages to find a part of the mask with which they can identify. In this way the mask is truly the face of the heart's hidden desires. (…) Korean masks are grotesque and vividly colored. Masks are painted in vivid primary colors, representing both the individual personality and social class of the character as well as his or her age and gender eg. black & dark for an elderly character ; red & bright for a young character ; white for a young female character. In terms of personality, a red, darkly-colored mask represents recklessness and aggressiveness; a yellow or lightly-colored mask characterizes foolishness and incompetence ; and a black or darkly-colored mask exemplifies an anxious, socially marginalized character. To symbolize a character's duplicity, masks are sometimes painted half red and half white. »

[For posterity, in the drama, Gaetal’s mask is fully white ; we also don’t know Gaetal’s gender, Joohyun evokes this possibility, it could very well be herself, Min Jiyoung or her assistant, even Jihoon’s grandmother ; Min Jiyoung’s attention to her clothes also reflects the good/evil duality with her outfit at BWT’s final trial.]

Professor Heo Yongho, Korea National University of Arts: « Korean mask-dance dramas deal with such universal themes as freedom and equality. However, they present these common subjects in a distinctively dynamic and exciting way. »

All these emotions, ambitions and desires can therefore be put on display without fear or shame. The characters mock and satirize the duplicity and foolishness of the ruling class and pray for a new world and a better future, like Gaetal does in the Killing Vote.

This page even theorizes 탈 derived from the Chinese character for ‘to rid/free oneself from something’.

« Korea adopted Chinese characters prior to the invention of their own, unique alphabet under King Sejong (1397-1450), and still use Chinese characters extensively. Thereby, the original meaning of the talnori or talchum, is a play or dance that helps shed ones stress and grief. Originally talnori was performed at night, often in a clearing around a fire and the exaggerated colors and expressions on some of the masks reflect a time when such vibrant colors and expressions were necessary to make them visible in the poor light. » [This bit could be relevant later on in this point when I’ll talk about the moon and the fire symbolism!]

The interaction with the audience is important, it completes the performance. As the UNESCO page describes: « talchum performances do not require a formal stage: any empty space can become a venue. The audience plays an essential role, contributing to the production with their cheers and jeers as the drama unfolds. »

Talchum players improvise their lines and actions in response to the spectators, quickly forming a bond together.

In a distorted fashion, the Killing Vote seems to strongly rely on the country’s participation to vote for the ‘judgement’ of the culprit, introduced as corrupt and deeply irredeemable people (even though we know the reality is more ambiguous: two broadcasts were pre-recorded and pretty compelling cases were deliberately chose to obtain an unanimous vote, not to mention Gaetal’s true intention eg. if they’re LMS).

The country even becomes an entertained audience in addition to their participation: each vote brings its fair share of debates, cries of support, admiration, disgust, anticipation or emulation. The Killing Vote becomes an outlet to everyone's fears, anger, frustration.

Gaetal's judgment of 'devils that were deemed innocent' by a failing legitimate system which would even condone their deed inflames passions: revealing the culprit's corrupt side in a sarcastic, unfiltered fashion the conventional society would (or could) never dare to do makes people look up to Gaetal.

It also makes people relate to Gaetal because the votes serve as an example that they wish was applied to their own tragedies eg. Joohyun, KSJ, Joomin & Jihoon. Exemplifying the 'judgment' of their cases could be seen as a prophylactic step to 'exorcise' the deep-rooted evil and appease the tormented souls of their victims.

And Gaetal engages with the people with a witty and sarcastic speech, and sounds deeply concerned with people’s opinion (again, it could be false pretenses) eg. when they cautioned sensitive souls to close the video as its content might be too violent ; when they got angry as they read forums after KMC was thought dead ; when they broadcasted the video revealing KMC was alive.

The Killing Vote also seems to touch on people’s duplicity, hidden desires and ambitions in society eg. especially KSJ, KMC, Min Jiyoung, LMS and people’s ambivalence in the face of good and evil (everybody has in them the risk of becoming a ‘Gaetal’ or one of their targets if faced with certain opportunities and circumstances) as I talked about it in a previous post (’The Killing Vote and a vigilantism built on a twisted basis’).

The hahoetal (Hahoe [Village] masks) are one of the most known Korean masks, designated as national treasures.

They were used during a kind of mask dance called 하회별신굿탈놀이, dance drama of Hahoe Village: it’s a shamanic dance drama passed down from the mid-12th century & performed to appease the local deity, pray for the village’s peace and wellbeing as well as a good harvest. It is said to be one of the oldest mask dances known in Korea.

It's a play in satire and humor directed at the ruling class from the religious perspective of praying fortune. The masks represent 12 stock characters needed to perform the roles in the ritual dance dramas included in the ceremony (eg. the monk, the scholar, the bride, the aristocrat …).

Their origin is not clearly known, but a legend about their original design exists.

« In the middle of the Goryeo Dynasty, there lived a craftsman, Heo. For years his village suffered from misfortunes but no one knew why. One day, he dreamt about a mountain god, receiving an oracle message that the misfortunes would disappear if the villagers danced with masks made by Heo. The god said he was not to have any contact with anyone until he finished. Heo then had a straw rope wound around his workshop to allow him to work undisturbed and immediately set to work. One hundred days had passed. A young woman named Kim was in love with Heo and was growing weary of waiting. She broke her vow to leave him undisturbed for one hundred days and peeked into her lover’s workshop to see what he was doing. He was carving the last mask, the scholar's foolish servant, Imae. The moment she glanced inside, Heo collapsed spitting blood and died. The mask was left unfinished, without a chin. Out of guilt for causing his death, the young woman committed suicide. Afterward, the residents of Hahoe village decided to serve the dead woman as a tutelary god and held annual rituals to assuage her soul. »

An annual winter memorial rite is held at dawn of the first full moon of each new year to console their unrealized love, appease their tormented souls and honor them. They would also pray for the well-being of the village and for its protection against evil spirits.

This also seems relevant:

The word 탈 also includes a second meaning of misfortune, illness and difficulty. Eg. when someone becomes sick or runs into trouble, you can use the verb 탈나다 (an accident happens/have a hitch/run into trouble/fall ill/get out of order or go wrong) or the word 탈 which is a homonym of the mask.

« The word for masks represents something that people hope is only a passing event. Interestingly, people were reluctant to hold onto the word 탈 in its meaning of a mask. In the past, they believed that if they kept a mask nearby, they would be in trouble due to the bad luck attached to the mask. Therefore, they stored the masks in a village shrine or burned them immediately after the ritual for which they were created. People regarded masks as religious objects, something that should be feared, worshipped and enshrined. »

But masks were also considered by ancient Koreans as a sacred symbol of the gods (or a particular god): as such, it was especially valued and worshipped, and always kept a certain distance away from living quarters.

In the drama, the mere existence of Gaetal calls for trouble and the police force endeavors to catch them. Gaetal nicknames themselves 'the citizens' watchdog' who will protect them from evil, and is compared to many heroic figures (eg. Robin Hood, Batman, …) but also to God. For example, Jihoon says to Joomin:

« That devil was set free by our incompetent legal system. If he wouldn’t be punished by the law or by God, I thought he should at least be punished by the people. »

The sight of their figure 'should' be feared by the culprits but only Uhm Eungyeong was really scared ; BGC and Cpt. Oh challenged and dared them to actually murder them. But in the end, the latter begged JJW for his life and promised him money, the thing he cared the most for.

This also ties well with the overall Christian symbolism exhibited in LMS’s room or Saint Michael (see the next point!).

GAETAL AND DOGS

As for the dog part, since one of the main plot points is a commentary on justice and the good & evil in people, it might be a reference to the haetae/haechi (해태/해치), a Korean mythological creature often associated for example to the Chinese guardian lions (also called shishi, lion or fu dogs) or the Japanese shishi/komainu.

Symbol of justice and law, the haetae is a hybrid beast: a mix of a lion, dog and dragon covered in scales or fur, wearing a bell and baring its canines, sometimes winged, sometimes with a reptile tail. It possesses the ability to divine and distinguish the true character in people, right from wrong, truth from lies in people.

The horn on its forehead was used to ram into the guilty in an argument.

It is said to feed off fire ; under Joseon, its statues were placed at the entrance of official places like palaces to protect the capital Hanyang (now Seoul, eg. at the National Assembly and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office) from natural disasters and fires.

« Haetae statues lie on high pedestals at each side of Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace (…) [they] represent the Joseon rulers’ political and philosophical ideals of protecting the nation’s dignity by applying the laws strictly and justly and providing peace and stability to all the people without allowing bias or personal feelings to influence decisions. »

This article explains how the Chinese characters for law (법, 法) derived from the ideogram for haechi.

What I gathered from this page is that law was initially written as 灋. Looking at its structure:

— The radical to the left, 氵, is associated to water (水): which means that the law must be as fair as water — The character 去 is placed under the character ‘chi’ 廌, which depicts the haechi. Making a creature said to judge right from wrong a part of the law character brings out its meaning even more.

The character was later simplified by removing the 廌, thus written 法.

[And as I said in a previous post, the hanja 橅, which means law, can be used for the Mu of Muchan!]

The haechi was also closely associated to the Chinese judicial system eg. on decorations and paintings, embroidered on the robes, crowns with a horn. The judicial officers were also named after the haechi.

It has become Seoul’s symbol since 2008.

The haetae is also mainly assimilated to the Chinese xiezhi, a mythical single-horned creature (a sheep, goat or ox) commanded during imperial criminal proceedings to ram into the guilty in the same manner.

Since Gaetal chases after evil, it could also be a reference to a breed of dogs native to the Korean Peninsula, the Sapsali/Sapsalgae.

Their name literally translates to ‘one that roots out evil spirits’ or ‘drives out devils’. Due to their appearance, they’re often associated to the haetae and sometimes called ‘Lion Dogs’.

Lion dances are indeed performed because it was thought lions contained the power to expel evil spirits and bring good luck.

Sapsali are also nicknamed ‘Ghost Hunters’ or’ Sunshine Dogs’.

Some aspects of the drama also involve dogs:

-> Gaetal used a mail address titled ‘watchdog’ that the journalist wanted to use as a catchphrase for her broadcast ;

-> KMC called KSJ their ‘hunting dog’, urging Joohyun to ‘get him off the leash’ ;

-> Narae’s dog LMS killed and all the past dogs of his family ;

-> The scene at the beginning of ep7 shows BWT beaten by Min Jiyoung’s family as his parents watch powerless. The next shot shows the Dalmatian puppy sitting quietly by his neat doghouse as the violent scene continues to unfold before it off-screen. The absence of pictures of BWT’s family in the house unlike the Dalmatian puppy could be interpreted as a further highlight of the family being poorly treated by Min Jiyoung’s family, even worse than a dog. It also aligns with the classist behavior of Min Jiyoung & co.

-> Indeed, 개 is often used as a prefix to an insult (or to emphasize words in slang, but it’s not used in the drama so far eg. 개싫어, ‘[I] freaking/really hate [it]’).

For posterity also, the word ‘mask’ (탈) is also the homonym/paronym of 달 (moon/month) and 딸 (daughter, perhaps a reference to Narae, since the video test seems to be titled after the day she was missing?).

For the 달 (moon/month), the most relevant connection to the Killing Vote is that they’re held every 15th (new moon) and 30th (full moon) of each month. It also ties up with how the talnori/talchum were originally performed at night.

If there’s also some symbolism with the moon, combined to the fire and dogs, the mythical dogs Bulgae (불개, lit. fire dog) might come to mind:

« According to a myth, one of heaven's realms, the kingdom of darkness, was called Gamangnara, the Dark World. Its king was concerned and weary with the perpetual darkness and desired the light of the sun and moon for his kingdom. He sent one of the gigantic fiery hounds, the Bulgae to chase the sun to bring it to his realm. However, when it tried to bite the sun, the sun was too hot, which made the dog unable to hold on to it, resulting in him giving up, and running back to the king, angry at the failure. He sent another more ruthless dog to steal the moon. When the Bulgae tried to carry it in its mouth, the moon was so cold, that the mouth of the dog was icy and frozen, and caused the Bulgae to drop it. The Bulgae tried many times to grab the moon in its mouth, but eventually gave up and ran back to the king in disappointment. The king never gave up this mission though. He continued to send fire dogs that were fiercer than the others, but none were able to collect the sun and moon. According to the Korean eclipse belief, during a solar eclipse or lunar eclipse, the dark sections are the parts where the dogs are biting. When the eclipses are over, the dogs have given up and run away back to its kingdom. »

Noting it down if it’ll hold meaning in the next episodes, we’ve got two scenes shot in the moonlight:

In the first episode when KSJ looks out from his cell’s window and moonlight enters the room ;

Right after KSJ got his health checked by Jihoon’s grandmother in ep6 and Joohyun gets in LMS’s car!

♦ Saint Michael and Kim Muchan

Following the previous point, in the nightclub KMC was investigating, a big statue right behind where he sat sometimes showed up.

It looks like a reproduction of the St. Michael bronze statue by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt on top of the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome (the set of pictures in the middle).

There are other examples of similar iconography (the two pictures on the right):

— St. Michael defeats Satan by Guido Remi — Fontaine Saint-Michel in Paris (Bvd. Saint-Michel) by Gabriel Davioud, the sculpture, Archangel Michael and the devil, was designed by Francisque-Joseph Duret

I’ll quote this interesting page from EHNE, an online encyclopedia project developed in 2012 by the Sorbonne University.

« Saint Michael was a unique saint. As an archangel, he acted as the preferred messenger between Heaven and Earth. His struggle against the forces of Evil allowed him to serve as both a guardian and a warrior angel. » He’s also depicted as a champion/guardian of justice and a healer of the sick.

'Who is like God?' mmmmh

[What I didn’t know is that he was also considered the patron saint of the police, justice, military and many other trades and places, which is why he’s represented on the Saint Michael pendant!]

« As a victorious angel, defender, overcomer of evil and leader of heavenly armies, Michael the Archangel is often depicted in medieval art as an armored soldier [eg. pteruges, Byzantine armor or a fully feathered body or a mix of both] carrying such arms as a cross-inscribed shield, cross-staff, or the sword or spear he typically employs to fight the dragon during the Apocalypse. Outside of the apocalyptic combat scene, Michael also may be shown trampling and piercing the dragon as part of his overall iconography. (…) He's also featured in other important episodes, such as the biblical narrative of the Fall of Angels and the Last Judgment [Day of Wrath/Dies Irae, where the just will be welcomed to eternal bliss, separated from the wicked, cast into ‘eternal fire’.]. In Last Judgment scenes, Michael the Archangel is often shown holding the scales of justice laden with good and bad souls. »

This thesis (p. 287 ss.) on Saint Michael’s italian iconography by Clémentine Denèle was also interesting:

[It could align with KMC’s restraint in front of KSJ most of the time, his mainly unreliable narration and expressions you could only interpret in retrospect. The same could be said of KSJ, but it’s less apparent to me: it was strong in the beginning of the drama but by now, KSJ feels less ‘cryptic’ than KMC who’s been hazy the whole time.]

Most of the time, Saint Michael's representations depict him with a neutral expression, totally disconnected to the threat and tension of his whole body engaged in his battle against evil that belie no hesitation: no emotions pass through (eg. compassion, anger, fear, remorse, hesitation, pride, judgment/disgust against the evil’s deeds or the violence he executes), only a solemn severity can be seen. Even for other angel figures of the Christian iconography, feelings were initially expressed through their gestures and hands. This changed at the end of the Middle Ages: angels were depicted with emotions and expressions eg. smiling to suggest their angelic gentleness, especially when represented suffering next to the Christ being crucified. But Saint Michael stays depicted with an impassive/calm expression, at most with a discreet rictus. Clémentine Denèle comments it could be explained by his ethereal nature and superior quality as an angel unlike humans & the overall idealistic representation of angels. She quotes the art historian Jean Wirth: he says the immobility and the impassibility are characteristic of the superior beings, because they convey an abstraction and reflect the stable order of invisible things. To materialize their constant presence by God and humans’ side, angels make themselves visible to the humans by assuming a human form as well. Vivid expressions were exclusive to the damned and the demons. It aligns with the attitude he exhibits in the Epistle of Jude 1:9: « But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” » Passing a partial judgement on the evil is not his mission, Clémentine Denèle says he only assumes his role as God’s armed wing and as such, his faithful obedience and trust in God command quietude under any circumstances: as the executor of divine justice, he knows for a fact his mission is devoted to the good and it must be fulfilled. She reports there were only rare occurrences depicting him with anger and aggressiveness or fear (he’s most of the time confident in the battle’s aftermath), and he’s also rarely present to mourn the Christ as he is crucified: it is not his place.

On a related note, Narae’s name (나래) is the synonym of wing, spelled 날개. 나래 was officially admitted as an alternate orthography for the word in 2011. But from what I gathered, it’s only used in a literary/poetic context, while the common spelling stays 날개.

♦ More on names & hanja

After all these episodes, some hanja that could be used for KMC, KSJ and Joohyun’s names now seem relevant to note:

— For Kim Muchan

-> Mu in Muchan Law (橅 & 膴, 법) as I mentioned in the first post: it aligns with his ambiguous position on justice on the past (‘a rational justice’ that doesn’t follow the official law if it’s unfair) and in the present (manipulating evidence and proceedings to arrest culprits but still handling them within the law, rejecting Gaetal’s ways)

Deceive/lie (誣, 속이다) & fog/mist/haze (霧, 안개): his unreliable narration, the way he deceived people to catch Gaetal in ep4 & the edit that appears in the preview ; KMC now seems even more ambiguous than KSJ.

Full of rumors (楙, 무성하다): his ‘Wipeout’ reputation

Rough/violent/tough (蕪, 거칠다): his overall reckless and violent behavior as he works

Work hard/try hard and strive/work/endeavor ie. devote oneself and contribute to doing sth (務, 힘쓰다): self-explanatory given what we saw in this episode, combined with the shots of his house and the first episode that explains his reputation!

Stroke/touch/caress with hands and figuratively soothe ie. calm down sb with warm words and acts (憮, 어루만지다 and 애무하다 which can have a romantic tone = caress, stroke affectionately ie. for sb to gently stroke the one they love): his overall restraint to reach out to KSJ and guilt over being too late to save Narae. The new OST’s lyrics also refer to those kinds of feelings (whoever the narrator is), especially ‘Let me hold your hand, 더 가까이 너를’ (‘Let me hold your hand, Closer to you’), ‘익숙치않은 이런 내 모습 미안해’ (‘I’m sorry for this unfamiliar me [I showed you]’) and ‘Oh, please tell me why — 더는 네게 — 늦지 않게’ (‘Oh, please tell me why — I won’t be late for you anymore’).

EDIT: also, some shots indeed focus on KSJ's hands as he buries himself in them to cry in front of KMC!

House (廡, 집): KSJ’s house he seems to know pretty well and possibly holds precious memories to him, and his own house he doesn’t seem to tend to, probably out of guilt (see a previous post, ‘On the frames facing down (ep. 1 & 6), shame and guilt’)

Warrior (ie. person who learns martial arts and practices it as a job) & soldier/military/army (武, 무사 & 병사 respectively): his potential association to St. Michael who led heavenly armies + for posterity, if they reveal later in the drama he also knows martial arts and it somehow involves him with the Killing Vote (the first episode & ep3 at least showed he was quite agile)

Shaman (巫, 무당 ; though the word is mainly associated to female shamans, male shamans can also be called mudang): a shaman « employs magic to effect cures, to tell fortunes, to soothe spirits of the dead, and to repulse evil »

Dance (舞, 춤추다): like… the talchum… masks… in addition to the shaman... you know… haha

— For Kwon Seokju

-> Kwon [You can also apply relevant meanings to Narae, since it’s her last name]

Prison (圈, 감방): both physical and figurative ever since Narae died and he murdered BWT

Abstain/refrain from ie. be careful about one’s speech or behavior (惓, 삼가다): his overall behavior in the present

Tired/exhausted/weary (倦, 고달프다): what he wen through these whole 8 years

Take care of/look after/oversee, heartfelt/caring (惓, 정성스럽다) & warm/friendly: self-explanatory about his character in general when we see his past self with Narae, Jihoon & KMC, and other people in general (BWT’s parents, LMS, his students) before Narae’s case

Loyal/devoted (惓, 충성스럽다): devoted wholeheartedly to his family

Look back/reflect on the past (睠, 돌아보다): also self-explanatory

-> Seok in Seokju

Untie (釋, 풀다 ie. return what has been tied, bound, or twisted back to its original state)/relieve anger or sorrow/get rid of one’s agony by handling it : he’s still waiting for the accomplice to Narae’s murder to be arrested to find some closure after all those years, he perhaps also wants to put an end to it all for KMC to stop feeling guilty over the case.

Night (夕, 밤), tide (汐, 조수 ie. seawater flowing in and out from the shore because of the gravitational pull of the sun and moon) & tideland (潟, 개펄 ie. wide expanse of mud revealed when the tide goes down): [if the moon and sun imagery holds some meaning in the drama] ; also, most of KSJ’s scenes in the beginning were shot in the dark compared to the bright scenes with Narae and Jihoon

... The Mont Saint-Michel is known to be a tidal island and for its fog haha

-> Ju in Seokju [You can apply the relevant meanings to Joohyun too]

House (宙, 집): the house that had good natural lighting (Narae, Jihoon and perhaps KMC) he cherished is now gone, it is derelicted after all these years

Bear/endure/put up with ie. endure sth for a long time, resist (拄, 버티다): self-explanatory too

Sunlight/sunbeam/sunshine (晭, 햇빛): the shots of him mourning or basking in the light

Timely rain but also heavy rain/downpour (澍, 단비 and 폭우) & wick and burn out ie. burn and eliminate sth (炷, 심지 & 불사르다) as I mentioned in the first post!

The fire imagery is also present with Joohyun’s character and her scar.

It’s associated to the tragedy she had to live, and we could project the same theme to KMC & KSJ who went through the same, all linked by this ‘terrible rage’ still waiting to be put out.

The hanja 火 (which is what 炷, the hanja for wick/burn out is composed of) is associated to anger (화, anger, fury) and fire (불).

Given the previous posts, you can also link it to the haetae (symbol of justice which feeds off fire, is said to prevent fires) or the eternal fire at the Last Judgment.

— For Joohyun

-> Hyun in Joohyun

Snoop/nose around (俔, 염탐하다): self-explanatory hahaha

Bright ie. a place being light as a result of getting a lot of sun/light or brilliant (adj.)/break or dawn but also fig. cheerful/bright (炫, 밝다), sunlight/sunbeam/sunshine (昡, 햇빛 and 晛, 햇살) and kind-hearted/benevolent (賢, 어질다): self-explanatory for this lovely character!!

Wise/sagacious/sensible (賢, 현명하다): she has a soothing and mature side to her eg. as she talked to KMC & Jihoon

Clever/bright/intelligent (儇, 영리하다): self-explanatory too!!

Connect/link/join (縣, 연결하다, can also be used for people): she seems to connect with people around her with ease, and she looks like she’s trying to reconnect KMC to KSJ

♦ « The person Kwon Seokju cherished the most »

I don’t know where this will lead, but KMC JJW’s quote in ep6 as he relayed it to KSJ: initially, it was about ‘the person KSJ loved the most’ (��장 사랑하는 사람 ; 사랑하다 = love/care ie. cherish, value, and care for sb with all one’s heart).

KMC quoted it as ‘the person KSJ cherished the most’ (가장 소중한 사람 ; 소중하다 = valuable/precious/cherished/dear): while the two adjectives almost mean the same thing, ‘cherished’ feels more personal than the general ‘loved’ (사랑하다 is also used a lot) and conveys the invaluable dearness better in this situation to me.

#국민사형투표 #the killing vote #tkv #kdrama

40 notes · View notes

boysplanetrecaps · 11 months ago

Text

Build Up, Ep 5 Recap: Hoobae versus Sunbae

Welcome back to the one of the top twenty best Build Up recaps out there! In the previous one, we saw the wild outcome of Team Blue Sweater versus Team Beige Jackets. Now, we’ll be seeing the weird grudge match between Inhyuk and Joohee. Let’s do it!

Dahee announces the next two teams. One member is Choi Haram, who was the judges’ unanimous choice for Top Tier in the performance of Breath first round; he’s a pianist as well as a singer. Haram is working with Hwang Inhyuk, who was a member of team Tomboy and also contributed a lot of excellent sweaters to the show’s mood board.

Haram, left, and Inhyuk, who has styled his hair to look a lot like Haram. At least he’s sort of wearing a sweater.

Another member of team Tomboy was Park Joohee, who was my personal favorite on that team. Joohee is, as you might recall, a trainee and is Inhyuk’s biggest fan. And, as it turns out, Joohee is challenging Inhyuk this round, along with his partner Kwon Euibin, the “robotic” one who sang Something Like That in the first round.

Ooh, spicy!

We flash back to see Haram and Inhyuk stepping up to the Rival Choosing Platform Area, only to be approached by these two.

Everyone reacts strongly to see the fan take on his idol. We get a little montage of the two of them working together, with Inyhuk being a good hyung and Joohee being an adoring hoobae.

Joohee voice overs, “Brothers betray and stab each other!” But that’s generally considered a bad thing…. Like historically… am I wrong?

Inhyuk interviews that he was “boiling” to see his little brother approaching him like this. It’s actually a bit tough to tell how serious he is or isn’t about it. It seems like maybe he really is annoyed about it.

Back in the performance theater, judge Solar asks Joohee why he picked his hero Inhyuk to be his rival. Joohee replies, “Although I like him very much, I thought it would be boring if I chose to join him in the second round as well. So if I can’t have him, I’d rather destroy him.”

I get it that he’s being, I don’t know, playful or funny or something, but I don’t like it.

I don’t think Inyhuk and Haram like it much either.

Everyone’s like, wow, what a scary kid! Haram is like, “It’s time for Joohee to go to school, so I’ll send him to school.” Ooooh!

Side note: Kwon Euibin looks like a completely different person than he did in the first round.

Gotta say, I prefer his new look.

So, how did Haram and Inhyuk prepare?

In a gray board room with a big conference table, of course!

I don’t know, fam, are these sweaters? I feel like the answer is no.

Anyway, they’re trying to figure out what song to sing, and soon decide on To My Youth by Bolbbalgan4 (also called Bol4).

So, let’s talk about the song and the original artist thereof! Bolbbalgan4 was originally a duo, but it was mostly the one girl singing all the time, and eventually the other girl left and now it’s just the one girl, Ahn Jiyoung. My favorite song of theirs is probably Workaholic, but Jiyoung has a really distinctive voice that makes almost any song of theirs/hers worth listening to.

You might remember To My Youth from when Hyolyn and Minyoung sang it on Queendom 2. Or you might remember it from Produce X 101, when it was performed by 5 trainees, including Wooseok.*

*Wooseok is from Up10tion just like Hwanhee and Sunyoul and Dongyeol. Wooseok did great on Produce X 101, even making the final lineup, and then his agency thought, I know, let’s just promote Wooseok and not bring his fame back home to Up10tion. Because fuck you that’s why, I guess. So many rabbit holes… Ok, back to the point…

The lyrics of To My Youth address the feeling of looking back on an unhappy childhood and being grateful that things are better now, and feeling empathy and sympathy for the child you once were. I think…? You can check out the lyrics for yourself. Here’s a lyric video, if you like those.

Also, there’s a real theme going on, between Play, My Sea, and To My Youth, huh?

Choi Haram, who seems to have had a pretty high pressure childhood/young adult period, says that he listened to To My Youth over and over again. He says he was homeschooled and spent most of his time alone. Jeez, that’s rough. We see him at a pre-production meeting saying that he started playing piano “very late” at the age of 16 -- wow, ok -- and people told him that he wouldn’t make it because he started too late.

For him, the song To My Youth was very comforting and helpful. Wow, I feel like most of the guys on this show just need a LOT of hugs.

Haram says that the song begins on the piano, and Inhyuk is like, oh, I get it, you can play the piano! This is perfect!!!

“You can play the piano!!!”

Haram offers to do the arrangement for them, to make the stage really their own.

We get a mini montage of Haram preparing the arrangement, checking in with Inhyuk, all that, and them practicing together. And then it’s time for the performance!

Fighting!

Full version without reactions

Haram, left, and Inhyuk, right.

My thoughts:

Oh wow, this was really great.

It always helps when I like the song itself, so I’m trying to be fair and not unduly prefer it, but ottoke? I feel how I feel.

I really like Haram’s voice. His upper mix is pretty amazing because he can sing those high notes in a full voice, even very softly. That’s not easy to do. His full belts are stunning, even if he uses like 10% more vibrato than maybe I’d prefer. Also, his piano arrangement sounded lovely. On the negative side, I think he could work a bit on his breath control, and I think it’s always better when people sing with their eyes open.

Inhyuk has a very specific vocal color that’s a bit reminiscent of Lim Junhyeok’s. He’s got a slight sharpness to his tone that I think could go either way for someone. I think in the past I haven’t always cottoned on to what he does, but this time, I don’t know, I liked it. Maybe I’m just softening in general. Four airplane flights a week, hours driving, weird hotel rooms -- sometimes just a comforting song feels good and I’m in the mood to like it. I never promised to give perfectly objective opinions here.

Their harmonies sound fantastic toward the end -- I wish there was a little more harmony throughout, but the song was sort of designed to be stripped down.

At the end, when they sing 얼마나 over and over (eorlmana, something like that, I’m terrible at transliterating Korean), it means, “how painful, how painful it must have been”, and it shows on their faces, this sort of complicated combination of sympathy and self-pity.

Someone hug this guy right away.

Oh, and if you’re wondering -- this went on the playlist.

In the MNET edit, we find out that Wendy and Seungkwan both really like this song. Then Seungkwan wonders out loud whether he might be a harsher grader when it’s a song he really likes, because then he has high expectations. It’s a tough line to walk, for sure. That’s why I think the guys should choose songs that are slightly familiar, or at least catchy enough to be likable on a first listen, while avoiding classics that the judges have heard 1000 times.

During the performance, we get a lot of happy and thoughtful nods from the judges. Seungkwan and Wendy might be tearing up a little, and the guys backstage seem impressed. We get an instant replay of one of Haram’s amazing belts.

Right at the end, Seungkwan mutters, “I’m about to cry.” When the guys are done, all the judges burst into applause and talked to each other about how touching it was. The guys backstage agree -- this was great. Even their rivals are like, well, that was amazing.

Joohee (right) is regretting his life’s decisions for sure right now.

The judges punch in their votes, and we find out that the high score is 100, and the low is 85.

Seungkwan gave it a 100, which makes sense. He explains that he was really immersed in the song, that it made the tip of his nose tingle, and made him think, “Seungkwan, don’t make a fuss.” In other words, he was holding back tears.

Eunkwang says, “While watching this performance, I thought that Build Up is a great show!” Once MNET has duly given him $50 for saying that, he goes on to say that he really likes Inhyuk’s vocal color, which is “very full and comfortable to listen to.” He says that Haram’s high notes are “refreshing and stable” and would be useful on a team.

Solar is the one who gave the 85. We saw her during the performance sort of adjusting her earpiece, so I wonder if that’s related. We don’t get to hear her feedback at all, though.

And with that, we rather quickly transition to Joohee and Euibin’s preparation for their performance.

WHAT IS IT WITH KOREAN HEATING? They’re fully indoors and just casually wearing full on winter coats. How can I see their sweaters if they’re all bundled up like this?

Joohee says that “this is a couple’s fight, because we” -- meaning he and Inhyuk -- “used to be in love.” Weird, but ok. We find out that Joohee approached Inhyuk to make a duet together, but when he asked Inhyuk if he liked rock music, Inhyuk said no, and Joohee assumed that meant that Inhyuk didn’t want to work with him. You can actually see a slight flash of surprise on Inhyuk’s face as Joohee walks away, but Joohee doesn’t see it. He just begins asking everyone if they want to do rock music. Euibin says he likes band music, which is close enough, and they form a partnership.

Then there’s a weird little conversation, where they agree on all kinds of random musical tastes, and Joohee says he really likes Euibin and picked the right partner, and it has that feel of when you’re talking to a new person from your preferred gender while your ex is nearby and you’re like, laughing way too hard at their jokes. Big time that vibe.

Euibin thinks they can add rock and hard elements to the song The Moon, and that it would be nice. Joohee is like, sure, whatever, as long as you think Inhyuk will be proud of me, wait, did I say that out loud?

I looked up the lyrics to The Moon but could only find them in Korean. Since I had to translate them anyway, here they are (and this is all via Google translate):

Today when I open my eyes I believe it was yesterday, a day with you It's not over, lie to me

Even when I look back, it’s so clear I'm doing well, how are you? you were humming I remember the singing voice

It's awkward being alone here It's okay because your warmth remains tell me you're doing well too You may not hear it, but

On a night when the moon rises On the day I pictured you I'm lost alone and lost, yeah, yeah In my dark heart, There's no room to breathe I guess I have to let it go now

(Then you repeat the last three parts one more time through, ending on the phrase “I guess I have to let it go now.”)

The lyrics are quite sad, and the song sounds like a ballad to me, so I’m confused as to what happened here. Joohee turned down working with Inhyuk because he wanted to do a rock song, and then ended up doing a ballad. What’s that about? If they’d wanted to do a rock song that showcases vocals and has “moon” in the title, why not Moonshot by N.Flying?

Anyway, the performance begins!

Full version without reactions

My thoughts:

Well, hmm. I mean, mostly very nice, with an obvious issue: Joohee starts crying at the end, to the point that he can’t sing. But let’s talk about it other than that for a bit.

I like Joohee’s voice a lot, but for me the star of the show is Euibin. The way that Joohee begins and ends the song makes him feel like the “center”, in a way, but I really, really liked Euibin’s performance here. His voice is just that exact kind of timbre that sets off a funny feeling in the back of my neck, like D.O.’s voice, and I really like it.

I was wondering, “wait, was he this good last time?” and had to check over my notes. He was ranked 9th overall, ahead of Jay Chang, in the first vocal check in. In my notes for the vocal check in, I said that Euibin was singing a ballad, “but his voice was unexpectedly sweet and pretty compared to his serious countenance. He strained a little on some of the higher notes and the whole thing felt a little uneven, occasionally kind of shouty. It’s nice to listen to despite all that. I’m not quite sure what to make of him so far, so I’ll reserve judgment for now.”

In the Pre-4 mission, he sang in Something Like That, and I got the sense that he was really nervous and it made him pitchy and nasal at the beginning and the end, but in the middle he showed “technique and lovely vocal color that must have earned him a spot on the show.” I thought he had a great belt too.

I guess somehow he was less nervous this time, and finally did what he can do. I’m glad I had a chance to hear him really sing. I hope this isn’t the last time. He could improve his breath control a tiny bit, and ok, he got a tiny bit nasal on some of the highest notes, but that’s just quibbling. I really enjoyed it.

As for Joohee, of course I also like his voice. He’s great. I think that in this performance, he’s a little pitchy throughout, and I think he needs to work on his breath control quite a bit. There were some notes that felt like they should have lasted 1 more second, but he ran out of air. More than that, though, he needs to work on his agility. Those leaps up to high notes are kind of strained and uncomfortable. He seems to get almost stuck between registers sometimes and it makes some notes sound almost froggy.

I really, really liked their harmony. Their voices blended really well together.

So, yeah, Joohee was unable to sing the last line or two because he burst into tears. I’m not sure what I think of this. I write something, then delete it, then write it and delete it. I guess I can’t make up my mind whether that was sweet and human or sort of unacceptable, or maybe both. I do know that the pressure of a show like this that has to be incredibly stressful and scary, especially for a younger person like him. Also, I believe that Inhyuk means a lot to him and I think his emotional state was affected by the situation he was in -- even if it was a situation largely of his making.

I dreaded watching the MNET edit, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

The first few notes garner happy reactions from the judges and the guys backstage. Everything seems to be going pretty well until…

There’s something so sort of absurd and hilarious, in a dark way, about how Joohee stands there crying while Euibin stands completely still with his arms to the side, and then goes over to sort of robotically comfort Joohee.

The judges aren’t sure what to do. Solar picks up the mic and says “Don’t cry,” and a few other judges agree. Eunkwang attributes it to the stress of being the youngest.

The judges key in their votes. Backstage, the other contestants are divided. Some of them think it is unprofessional or wrong to cry like that. Jay says that he liked it -- it means Joohee was immersed in the lyrics.

The high and low scores are revealed...

Seungwan, Solar, and Wendy all gave 90s, Jaehwan gave an 80, and the others gave somewhere in between. As a reminder, the first team’s highest was 100 and lowest was 85, so even though people are acting like we can’t know who won, it seems pretty obvious to me who won.

Eunkwang asks Joohee why he cried. He says, “I’m not sure, but when I was singing… I suddenly became overwhelmed and couldn’t stop crying.”

Jaehwan says, “You have those days,” and VCG guy says, “You have those moments.” Eunkwang attributes it to Joohee’s “focus” on the song.

Jaehwan says, “It was still a bummer because…. “ He trails off and tries again: “You might think I’m cold hearted, but… it was a bummer you didn’t finish the song. I like how you’re sincere about the music and take the lyrics seriously, but you have an audience in front of you and as a professional singer, you should have controlled your emotions. But you’re young and don’t have much experience, and I’m sure you learned a lot from this.”

Seungkwan says it’s a good experience to cry… when you’re practicing. “You can only cry while singing when you’re 100% into it,” Seungkwan says -- and of course it’s nice to see someone get full into it. But, he points out, crying on stage is basically not acceptable anywhere else, with the implication that it’s not really acceptable here.

Backstage, Park Jeup says, “I’ve cried before! I’ve wailed!” Our unproblematic fave, Park Jeup, everyone.

It even made sad Donghun smile a little.

We didn’t hear a darn word about how great Euibin’s performance was. This is the Park Joohee show, I guess. Well, I noticed it, Euibin.

You did well, Kwon Euibin. 수고했어, 권의빈.

It’s time for the other team to come out and for production to reveal the full scores.

Haram and Inhyuk take it, 648 to 607.

Doing the math, if we take out the high and low scores for each team and average the rest of the scores, Haram and Inhyuk’s average score would be 92.6, and Joohee and Euibin’s would be 87.4. So it was pretty clearly a win for Haram and Inhyuk, no matter how you look at the numbers.

Park Joohee says…

“At first, I joked a lot and provoked them. But I was worried I might have hurt their feelings.” And he starts crying again!

Everyone laughs a little, which, in my experience of traveling around in Asia, is a fairly common response to tears in many places. It’s not meant to be unkind. In the US if you start crying and someone laughed at you, wow, that would be kind of mean, but in I think most parts of Asia it’s not. I think the impulse is more to help the person stop crying by keeping it light, or something like that.

After a few moments, VCG, trying to help lighten the mood, says in mock seriousness, “So why did you say you’ll destroy them?” Eunkwang says, “All he can destroy is ramyeon!” That gets Joohee to smile.

And that’s the end of this segment.

There are some shenanigans coming up, so in my next post, I’m going to talk about the four performances we skimmed over. After that, I'll do some wrap up on this round, including some math and some BRAPPY awards.

See you then!

#mnet build up #bpr recaps build up #build up mnet #build up

3 notes · View notes

sakurajjam · 2 years ago

Note

Pode sugerir fcs coreanas entre 1995-1999? Quero fazer uma muse coreana, mas não conheço tantas fcs assim.

Claro que posso sugerir, pompurin! A lista ficou gigante, então vou deixar depois do cut, temos 150 mocinhas que são conhecidas e "desconhecidas", mas são todas lindas e merecem uma chance! Muitas contam com uma gama de fotos, enquanto outras não, mas espero que encontre uma que agrade.

1995

Kim Jisoo, Blackpink

Kim Jiyeon (Kei), Lovelyz

Kim Mihyun (Mimi), Oh My Girl

Park Junghwa, EXID

Jung Dasol (Yiyeon), BVNDIT

Ki Huihyeon, DIA

Choi Heejae (Heeyu), MIXX

Lee Jooeun (Jueun), DIA

Han Haebin, Gugudan

Kim Jiyeon (Bona), Cosmic Girls

Ahn Jiyoung, Bolbbalgan4

Yoo Siah (Yooa), Oh My Girl

Im Nayeon, Twice

Kwon Eunbi, Solo e IZ*ONE

Lee Siyeon, Dreamcatcher

Oh Seunghee, CLC

Chu Sojung (Exy), Cosmic Girls

Kim Nayoung, Gugudan

Kim Minju (Seoyeon), Favorite

Kim Yechan, Pink Fantasy

Kim Sojung (Sowon), Gfriend

Im Nayoung, Pristin

1996

Park Haeyoon, Cherry Bullet

Lee Hyebin, MOMOLAND

Kim Jennie, Blackpink

Hyun Seunghee, Oh My Girl

Kim Chungha, solista (ex-I.O.I)

Nim Daewang, Pink Fantasy

Park Myungeun (Jin), Lovelyz

Oh Hayoung, Apink

Lee Dabin (Yeonwoo), ex-MOMOLAND

Choi Yujin, CLC e Kep1er

Jung Yerin, Gfriend

Jeon Somin, KARD

Kim Sejeong, Gugudan

Hwang Woolim, Playback

Park Sooyoung (Joy), Red Velvet

Park Soobin, Cosmic Girls

Jeon Jiwoo, KARD

Im Soeun (NC.A), UNI.T

Yoo Jeongyeon, Twice

Jang Seungyeon, CLC

Jang Sojin (Soyee), Gugudan

Lee Dawon, ARIAZ

Kim Seri (AleXa), solista

1997

Kim Yoohyeon, Dreamcatcher

Lee Saerom, Fromis_9

Jo Miyeon, (G)I-dle

Park Jisoo (Jihyo), Twice

Roseanne Park (Rosé), Blackpink

Lee Yoojeong (Haru), Ho1iday

Choi Yuju, Cherry Bullet

Lee Luda, Cosmic Girls

Lee Yoobin (Dami), Dreamcatcher

Nam Dawon, Cosmic Girls

Kim Songsun, TRI.BE

Kim Hyebin, AREAL

Choi Moonhee, Bonus Baby

Ji Suyeon, Weki Meki

Ma Eunji, Playback

Oh Hyesoo (Lina), RedSquare

Ha Sooyoung (Yves), LOONA

Jung Eunbi (Eunha), VIVIZ/GFriend

Choi Yoonsun (New Sun), Sonamoo

Kim Chaewon (Woo-ah), CRAXY

Baek Yerin, 15&

Song Yeonjoo, P.O.P

Park Jimin (Jamie), 15&

Baek Yebin, DIA

Oh Sejin (Lina), ANS

Kim Minkyung (Roa), Hinapia (e ex-Pristin)

Kim Eunji (EJ), ALICE

Jo Haseul, LOONA

Ahn Solbin, LABOUM

Bae Yubin, Oh My Girl

Song Hayoung, Fromis_9

Choi Yuna (Yuju), GFriend

Kang Kyungwon (Yuha), Hinapia

Kim Chaewon, APRIL

Yoo Jiyeon (U-Si), BADKIZ

Ryu Sujeong, Lovelyz

Seo Yuri (Seoyul), Berry Good

Jung Chaeyeon, DIA (ex-I.O.I)

Im Hayoung (Lu), NATURE

Sung Jiyeon (Jane), MOMOLAND

Jang Gyuri, ex-Fromis_9

Son Hyunmi (Mia), MIXX

1998

Park Jinhee (Jinny), Secret Number

Jeon Eunji (Danny), Ho1iday

Lee Hyunjoo, UNI.T

Lee Yeji (J), ANS

Jeon Hyunjoo (Royeon), ANS

Kim Hyunjung (Daye), Berry Good

Seo Soojin, ex-(G)I-dle

Park Jiwon, Fromis_9

Lee Suji, UNI.T

Park Jiwon (E:U), EVERGLOW

Son Juyeon (Eunseo), Cosmic Girls

Kim Dahyun, Twice

Hwang Eunbi (SinB), VIVIZ/GFriend

Jeong Yein, Lovelyz

Jeong Eunwoo, Hinapia/ex-Pristin

Lim Hyosun, H.U.B.

Maeng Chaesol, Cignature

Jung Haerim (Elly), Weki Meki

Kim Nayun, MOMOLAND

Jang Yeeun, CLC

Kim Yewon (Umji), VIVIZ/GFriend

Jeon Soyeon, (G)I-dle

Kim Hyungseo (Bibi), solista

Kang Yebin (Rena), Hinapia e ex-Pristin

Yoon Songhee, BVNDIT

Roh Jisun, Fromis_9

1999

Lee Jinsook (Yeoreum), Cosmic Girls

Yoo Jeongahn (Daisy), ex-MOMOLAND

Lee Gahyeon, Dreamcatcher

Kim Jungeun (Kim Lip), ex-LOONA e ARTMS

Lee Yoona (Keina), H.U.B

Kim Yewon (Yehana), Pristin

Kim Bora, Cherry Bullet

Kim Yerim (Yeri), Red Velvet

Park Minji, Secret Number

Kim Jiwon (Jeewon), Cignature

Uhm Jungwoo, BVNDIT

Kim Seokyung, GWSN

Im Dayoung, Cosmic Girls

Bae Sungyeon, Pristin

Kwon Chaewon (Eunchae), DIA

Lee Simyeong, BVNDIT

Choi Yewon (Arin), Oh My Girl

Kang Hyewon, IZ*ONE

Kim Sohye, solista

Choi Yoobin (Chaebin), NATURE

Yu Yeonjung, Cosmic Girls

Kim Sihyeon, EVERGLOW

Lee Joowon (Joo E), MOMOLAND

Na Goeun, Purple Kiss

Choi Yeori, ARIAZ

Moon Sua, Billie

Lee Ahin, MOMOLAND

Choi Yena, IZ*ONE e solista

Son Eunchae, bugAboo

Kim Jiwoo (Chuu), ex-LOONA e solista

Lee Chaelin, FANATICS

Choi Euijeong (Boni), Dreamnote

Lee Yukyung, ALICE

Lee Soodam, Secret Number

Choi Yoojung, Weki Meki

Kang Mina, Gugudan

Kim Doyeon, Weki Meki

#♡ · ✉️ : respondidas #( rinn a poderosa chefinha )#♡ · 🖼 : fc help #fc help #korean fc #♡ · 🌸 by sakura

7 notes · View notes

tokyotrendnews · 20 days ago

Text

#KPOP #HYBELABELS &TEAM 'Deer Hunter' Official MV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1balyin1yE &TEAM ‘Deer Hunter’ Official MV &TEAM ‘Deer Hunter’ Official MV Credits : Production : Creative Studio AEDIASTUDIO Director : Kim Jooae 1st AD : Choe Kyuwon 2nd AD : Song Youngmin, Um Jiyoung Executive Producer : AWKPAK, Spearman30 Producer : Kim Jihee Production Assistant : Son Daeyoung, Hong Kisu, Kim Daeun, Kim Yujin, Choi Joonhyuk, Kwon Hyeongjun,…

0 notes

girlygguk · 4 months ago

Text

EASY ⋆ JJK (Prologue)

summary it was simple, really. his laughter, the sense of comfort he brings, the way he just gets you. but when you’re young and swept up in the whirlwind of idol life, where every little move is scrutinized and relationships are hidden behind layers of secrecy, something that once felt effortless begins to change. the constant pressure of the world watching makes everything so much more complicated. it's a lot. of course it is. yet, to jeon jungkook, loving you is still the easiest thing in the world.

pairing idol!jk x (f)idol!reader

genre idol au, bff2l

full fic rating 18+ minors dni, smut, fluff, angst

prologue word count 4k

prologue rating sfw

prologue content lumi members have idol faceclaims, y/n has a visual & style aesthetic of blackpink's jennie kim (imagine whoever u want baby its just for the inspo pics), profiles & segments based on various idol pages from kprofiles, kpopping, reality shows, etc., y/n is korean with the last name jang, lumi is under bighit, use of korean honorifics, google-translated eng>kor words that may be inaccurate, yn's profile is a lot more detailed & lengthier than the others bc.. cmawn now... ur the main girly!!, i made some yt videos for this au 😭😭 AHHHH they're sooo rough plzz lower your expectations

author's note hi guysss <3 this is sort of a teaser & prologue mixed into one xx tryna see if this tickles any1s fancy before i post☝️ let me know what u think? thank youu love you x

extended a/n | masterlist | join the taglist | banner credit

LUMINOUS (총명한) is a South Korean girl group formed under BigHit Music, (a subsidiary of HYBE Labels). The group consists of four members: Nari, Eunji, Jiyoung, and Y/N. Better known to the world as LUMI, the group made their debut on April 4, 2014, with the lead single ‘Get It’ from their 8-track studio album ‘Unclassy.’

Fandom Name: Nova

Light Stick Color: Silver-Gold

Reality Show: LUMI-TUNES

Dorm Arrangement (as at 2018): - Individual rooms at the dorms - Members are currently each living on their own (source: LUMI 5th anniversary special) - Pre-2016 the members shared a room (source: Jiyoung's A day in my life vlog 150921)

Group Discography: - Unclassy (Studio Album, 8 tracks) - 2014 - Girls (Single Album, 4 tracks) - 2014 - Weekdaze (2-Part Mini Album, 5 tracks) - 2015 - Weakend (2-Part Mini Album, 6 tracks) - 2015 - Supernatural (Single) - 2016 - You (2-Part Mini Album, 5 tracks) - 2016 - & I (2-Part Mini Album, 6 tracks) - 2016 - Addicted (Single Album, 3 tracks) - 2016 - Make A Wish (Japanese Debut, 3 tracks) - 2017 - Pretty Liar (Single Album, 2 tracks) - 2017 - CTRL+Z (Studio Album, 9 tracks) - 2017 - Golden Hour (Studio Album, 12 tracks) - 2018 click here to view 7 more results...

Trending LUMI YouTube Videos: 1. LUMI 눈리더 Y/N 'UP' prod. SUGA | DANCE MV 2. Agust D - '대취타' (Daechwita) Y/N of LUMI Remix ver. 3. HYBE HOUSE 2019 (하이브집) - JET (가사) Lyrics 4. LUMI (총명한) - GET IT (네 멋대로) Lyrics click here to view 6 more results...

Lumi Member Profiles —as at 2021 !

Nari Face Claim — Kwon Eunbi

Stage Name: Nari (나리) Birth Name: Kim Nari (김 나리) Nicknames: Mother of K-Pop, Rap Mother, Nana Position: Leader, Main Rapper Birthday: May 20, 1993 Debut Age: 20 yr 10 mth Zodiac Sign: Taurus Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea Height: 170 cm (5 ft 6¾ in) MBTI Type: 2015: ESTJ | 2019 Update: ENFJ Nationality: Korean Representative Emoji: 🦁

⁃Nari was born in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

⁃She attended Sinsa Middle School.

⁃She studied at the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA) and Global Cyber University.

⁃Nari was the first member of LUMI to be revealed to the public.

⁃She trained for 3 years and 3 months, the longest training period among the LUMI members.

⁃Nari officially signed her contract with BigHit Music on October 6, 2010, and moved into the dorm on December 30, 2010.

⁃Prior to LUMI’s debut, Nari was part of an unofficial pre-debut sub-unit with BTS members RM and Suga. The trio later reunited to release the special track "Renegade," featured on BTS' 2018 album LOVE YOURSELF 轉 'TEAR'.

⁃She is the only remaining member from LUMI’s original lineup, which underwent six member changes before the final group was formed.

⁃Nari was raised by her single mother, Go-eun.

⁃In 2018, Nari purchased a house in Seoul for her mother and two younger sisters, Sumi and Lia.

⁃Nari speaks Korean, English, and Mandarin, and is currently studying Japanese.

⁃Nari has an IQ of 151 and ranked in the top 1% of the nation in her high school exams.

⁃She was an MC for KBS 2TV's Music Bank (뮤직뱅크) alongside NCT's Jeong Jaehyun from July 11, 2016, to September 30, 2017.

⁃Nari is notably close friends with Cherry Bullet's Haeyoon, BTS' Suga, and BTS' RM.

⁃The public gave her the nickname "Mother of K-Pop" for her leadership skills, which are evident in LUMI's public appearances. Nari takes her role very seriously, with fellow members saying they wouldn’t be close to where they are today without her.

⁃The nickname "Rap Mother" started as an inside joke in LUMI, first mentioned by Y/N in LUMI-TUNES (EP19). Nova quickly embraced the name, and it soon became widely recognized as it perfectly captured both Nari's exceptional rapping skills and her protective, motherly nature. It was later revealed that the nickname originated as a cute matching title with BTS' Kim Namjoon (Rap Monster).

⁃On December 1, 2019, Nari became the last member of LUMI to debut as a soloist with the title track "Round One" from her studio album "Finale."

⁃For her audition, Nari performed a self-composed rap track titled "What's Mine Is Mine."

⁃Nari has writing credits on 101 songs within the K-pop industry.

⁃Her role model is BIGBANG's G-Dragon.

⁃Nari has a pug named Seaweed.

⁃Her favorite actress is Song Hye-kyo.

⁃Her favorite K-pop group is BIGBANG.

⁃Nari’s favorite song is "Get It" by LUMI.

⁃Her favorite color is forest green.

⁃Her favorite number is 4.

⁃Nari is skilled in multiple instruments, including guitar, piano, and saxophone.

⁃Her favorite food is anything baked by Y/N (source: LUMI-TUNES Episode 18).

⁃Her biases in ¹SHINee, ²2NE1, and ³BTS are ¹Key, ²CL, and ³Jin (as revealed in Knowing Bros episode 98).

⁃She is a main brand ambassador for Prada.

⁃Her hobbies include making music and deep cleaning.

⁃Nari enjoys collecting records.

⁃In 10 years, Nari hopes to become a producer (as revealed in: LUMI-TUNES 'about me' special).

⁃Nari's most notable dating rumor involves BTS' RM.

⁃Nari’s ideal type is someone intelligent, caring and likes to learn new things (as revealed in the LUMI BuzzFeed Interview 2018).

⁃Nari ranked 5th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2018”.

⁃Nari ranked 3rd on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2019”.

⁃Nari ranked 4th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2020”.

⁃Nari ranked 2nd on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021”.

Eunji Face Claim — Kang Seulgi

Stage Name: Eunji (은지) Birth Name: Choi Eun-Ji (최 은지) Nickname: Dancing Queen, Eunnie Position: Main Dancer, Lead Rapper Birthday: February 18, 1995 Debut Age: 19 yr 1 mth Zodiac Sign: Aquarius Birthplace: Gyeonggi, South Korea Height: 173 cm (5ft 8¼ in) MBTI Type: 2015: INFP | 2019 Update: ISFP Nationality: Korean Representative Emoji: 🦊

⁃Eunji was born in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

⁃She attended Osan Middle School alongside fellow bandmate, Jiyoung.

⁃She studied at the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA) and Global Cyber University.

⁃Eunji was the second member to be revealed for LUMI.

⁃She trained for 2 years and 8 months, the second-longest training period among the LUMI members.

⁃Eunji officially signed her contract with BigHit Music on June 1, 2011, and moved into the dorm on July 13, 2011.

⁃Eunji's parents are Seo-yun and Chul, and they currently reside in Seoul.

⁃She has no siblings.

⁃Eunji speaks Korean and is currently studying English.

⁃Eunji is close friends with Red Velvet's Irene, NCT's Lee Taeyong, and Apink's Yoon Bomi.

⁃The nickname "Dancing Queen" was given to Eunji for her exceptional dancing skills. She is known for giving 110% in every performance, even during stage tests.

⁃On May 5, 2019, Eunji became the third member of LUMI to debut as a soloist with the title track "28 Reasons" from the EP "28 Reasons."

⁃For her audition, Eunji performed "Bad Girl, Good Girl" by miss A.

⁃Eunji’s role model is soloist BoA.

⁃She has writing credits on 55 songs within the K-pop industry.

⁃Eunji has 2 Siamese cats named Bo and Ba.

⁃She has known her fellow bandmate, Jiyoung, for 11 years.

⁃Her favorite K-pop group is Red Velvet.

⁃Eunji’s favorite song is "Only One" by BoA.

⁃Her favorite color is red.

⁃Eunji can play both guitar and piano.

⁃Her favorite number is 100.

⁃Her favorite foods are doenjang jjigae and fried squid (source: LUMI-TUNES Episode 18).

⁃Her biases in ¹SHINee, ²2NE1, and ³BTS are ¹Taemin, ²Minzy, and ³J-Hope (as revealed in Knowing Bros episode 98).

⁃Eunji is a main brand ambassador for Burberry and Levi’s.

⁃Eunji’s hobbies include hiking and photography.

⁃She enjoys collecting plane tickets.

⁃In 10 years, Eunji hopes to become a choreographer or a photographer (as revealed in: LUMI-TUNES 'about me' special).

⁃Eunji's most notable dating rumors involve NCT's Taeyong and Red Velvet's Irene.

⁃Eunji’s ideal type is someone who likes to dance and isn't a picky eater (as revealed in the LUMI BuzzFeed Interview 2018).

⁃Eunji ranked 11th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2020.”

⁃Eunji ranked 5th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021.”

Jiyoung Face Claim — Kim Chungha

Stage Name: Jiyoung (지영) Birth Name: Lee Ji-Young (이 지영) Nickname: Queen of Fashion, Jiji Position: Lead Vocalist Birthday: November 11, 1995 Debut Age: 18 yr 4 mth Zodiac Sign: Scorpio Birthplace: Gyeonggi, South Korea Height: 171 cm (5ft 7⅓ in) MBTI Type: 2015: ESTP | 2019 Update: ESFP Nationality: Korean-American Representative Emoji: 🦇

⁃Jiyoung was born in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

⁃She attended Osan Middle School alongside fellow bandmate, Eunji.

⁃She studied at the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA) and Global Cyber University.

⁃Jiyoung was the third member to be revealed for LUMI.

⁃She trained for 2 years and 4 months, the second-shortest training period among the LUMI members.

⁃Jiyoung officially signed her contract with BigHit Music on October 16, 2011, and moved into the dorm on November 24, 2011.

⁃Jiyoung's parents are Bora and Ken, and they currently reside in Seoul.

⁃She has an older sister, Jia, who lives in the USA.

⁃Jiyoung speaks Korean and learned English from her father, who is from Dallas, Texas. She wants to learn Spanish.

⁃Jiyoung is notably close friends with EXO's Kai and soloist Jeon Somi.

⁃The nickname "Queen of Fashion" was given to Jiyoung due to her distinct and influential style since debut. She was ranked as "Glamour Magazine's #1 most fashionably influential idol of 2021".

⁃In February 2019, Jiyoung became the second member of LUMI to debut as a soloist with the single album Gotta Go.

⁃For her audition, Jiyoung performed "Mirotic" by TVXQ!

⁃She has writing credits on 41 songs within the K-pop industry.

⁃Jiyoung’s role model is soloist HyunA.

⁃She has 1 pet, a Pomeranian named Chacha.

⁃Jiyoung has known fellow bandmate, Eunji, for 11 years.

⁃Her favorite K-pop group is 4Minute (disbanded).

⁃Jiyoung’s favorite song is "Crazy" by 4Minute.

⁃Her favorite color is black.

⁃Her favorite number is 11.

⁃Jiyoung's favorite foods are tteokbokki and Y/N's chocolate chip cookies (source: LUMI-TUNES Episode 18).

⁃Her biases in ¹SHINee, ²2NE1, and ³BTS are ¹Taemin, ²Minzy, and ³Jimin (as revealed in Knowing Bros episode 98).

⁃Jiyoung is a main brand ambassador for Bvlgari and Yves Saint Laurent.

⁃Jiyoung’s hobbies include spending time with friends, online shopping, and exercising.

⁃She has an extensive shoe collection.

⁃In 10 years, Jiyoung hopes to have her own clothing brand (as revealed in: LUMI-TUNES 'about me' special).

⁃Jiyoung's most notable dating rumor involves soloist Jeon Somi.

⁃Her ideal type is someone taller who enjoys spending quality time together and loves 4Minute (as revealed in the LUMI BuzzFeed Interview 2018).

⁃Jiyoung ranked 7th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2020.”

⁃Jiyoung ranked 4th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021.”

Y/N Visual Aesthetic — Jennie Kim

Stage Name: Y/N Birth Name: Jang Y/N (장 리더) Nicknames: BigHit’s Princess, The Center of K-Pop, Honey Position: Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Center, Maknae Birthday: July 9, 1997 Debut Age: 16 yr, 8 mth Zodiac Sign: Cancer Birthplace: Daegu, South Korea Height: 169 cm (5 ft 6½ in) MBTI Type: 2015: INTJ | 2019 Update: ISFP Nationality: Korean Representative Emoji: 🐈‍⬛

⁃Y/N was born in Suseong-gu, Daegu, South Korea.

⁃She attended Gyeongshin Middle School.

⁃She studied at the School of Performing Arts Seoul (SOPA) and Global Cyber University.

⁃Y/N was the final member to be revealed for LUMI.

⁃She trained for 1 year and 8 months, the shortest period out of the LUMI members.

⁃She signed her contract with BigHit Music on October 20, 2012, and moved into the dorm on December 4, 2012.

⁃Y/N's mother, Soodam, still resides in Y/N’s hometown, Suseong, and frequently sends her snacks in the mail. Her father has not been publicly mentioned.

⁃She has 1 older brother named Minho, who is an engineer. Minho is a big fan of her sunbae group, BTS, and his bias is V (source: LUMI on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon).

⁃Y/N speaks Korean and learned English by listening to music at a young age, further improving her skills through her school studies.

⁃She is notably close friends with GFriend’s Choi Yuju, NCT's Jeong Jaehyun, and BTS' Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook.

⁃The nickname “BigHit’s Princess” was given to Y/N by the public due to her prominent role in LUMI’s early music, where she often received the majority of lines. Fans also noticed her close relationship with BigHit Music staff and idols, fuelling the perception of her special status within the company.

⁃Y/N's nickname “The Center of K-Pop” reflects her extraordinary stage presence, beauty, and charisma. Her natural ability to command stages and captivate crowds has solidified her as one of the most influential figures in the industry.

⁃Y/N is often referred to as "Honey" by her fellow LUMI members. The nickname originated after their producer remarked that her voice reminded him of honey, and the girls quickly adopted it as a term of endearment for their maknae.

⁃On August 1, 2018, Y/N was the first member of LUMI to debut as a soloist with the title track “Up” from the mini-album For You. The release was critically acclaimed and broke several records for female Korean soloists on both domestic charts and Billboard.

⁃Following the release of For You, while the album was a major success, Y/N faced an overwhelming amount of backlash from netizens. Many criticized her for debuting first despite being the youngest member of LUMI, accusing her of being spoiled and undeserving of the opportunity. The nickname "BigHit’s Princess" was used to support the narrative that she received special treatment and favoritism within the company. The criticism was so intense that Y/N took a short hiatus from both solo and group activities after her promotions.

⁃Y/N originally dreamed of becoming an SM artist, but after stumbling upon a pre-debut video of her future bandmate Nari, she fell in love with her talent. Y/N was inspired to audition for BigHit Music, saying she thought Nari was "so young and cool" (source: LUMI for J-14 Magazine, May 5, 2017).

⁃For her audition, Y/N performed "Wedding Dress" by BIGBANG’s Taeyang.

⁃During her time as a trainee, five different agencies attempted to scout Y/N, with some approaching her even after LUMI’s debut. She revealed that she nearly accepted one of these offers during a very difficult period in her group's career but was convinced to stay by a close friend (source: LUMI Radio Interview, Feb 11, 2017).

⁃Y/N has a love for rap music and enjoys rapping, although she cherishes her role as a vocalist (source: You Comeback Live).

⁃She has writing credits on 87 songs within the K-pop industry.

⁃Y/N’s role models are Paramore's Hayley Williams and SHINee's Kim Jonghyun.

⁃She has 1 pet, a chocolate Dachshund named Boom.

⁃Her favorite actor is Hyun Bin.

⁃Her favorite K-pop group is SHINee.

⁃Y/N’s favorite song is "All I Wanted" by Paramore.

⁃Her favorite colors are black and pink.

⁃Y/N can play the guitar and is currently learning the piano.

⁃Her favorite number is 4.

⁃Her favorite foods are kimchi-jjigae, ramen, and cookies (source: LUMI-TUNES, Episode 18).

⁃Her biases in ¹SHINee, ²2NE1, and ³BTS are ¹Jonghyun, ²CL, and ³Suga (source: Knowing Bros, Episode 98).

⁃Y/N is the face of Chanel Korea and a main brand ambassador for Calvin Klein.

⁃Y/N found trainee evaluations ‘fun’ and consistently ranked #1 overall among female rookies (source: Jiyoung via LUMI VLIVE, Jul 21, 2019).

⁃Her hobbies include spending time with friends, baking, and listening to music.

⁃She enjoys collecting scented candles.

⁃In 10 years, Y/N would love to own a bakery or cafe (source: LUMI-TUNES ‘About Me’ special).

⁃Y/N avoids exercising alone during promotional periods to prevent overexertion but visits the gym for at least an hour daily during breaks. She also enjoys pilates (source: VLIVE, Feb 11, 2019).

⁃Y/N’s most notable dating rumors involve NCT's Jeong Jaehyun and BTS' Jeon Jungkook.

⁃On March 30, 2021, Dispatch reported that Y/N had been dating NCT’s Jeong Jaehyun for about a year. HYBE and SM both declined to comment.

⁃Her ideal type is someone older than her, with a nice smile and a love for music (source: LUMI BuzzFeed Interview, 2018).

⁃Y/N ranked 3rd on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2018”.

⁃Y/N ranked 2nd on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2019”.

⁃Y/N ranked 2nd on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2020”.

⁃Y/N ranked 1st on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021”.

special thanks to: zoya, 군대 사랑, minime, 울보, eunjified, forever_young, kookiekrumbs, 너와 나, yndefender & novagracie for the fact submissions and corrections!

LUMI Facts—as at 2022 !

⁃In 2016, LUMI nearly disbanded following the Weakend era due to extremely low funds, poor sales, and being denied appearances on various music and reality shows. These obstacles pushed the group to the brink, marking one of the darkest periods in LUMI’s history.

⁃Their comeback with single Supernatural was a major turning point. The single’s phenomenal success revitalized their career, opening the door to significant opportunities. It even earned them their first Daesang at the 2016 MAMA Awards.

⁃In 2017, LUMI became the first non-"Big 3" girl group to have a music video surpass 300 million views on YouTube, achieving this milestone with their track "F.O.M.O." from their 2016 mini-album You.

⁃Since 2017, LUMI is the only group to have released music simultaneously with Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) and still won multiple music show awards against them, including victories on Inkigayo and Music Bank. This achievement solidified LUMI’s position as a formidable force in the K-pop industry.

⁃In 2018, LUMI made history as the first female K-pop act to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts with their title track "Filter" from the album Golden Hour.

⁃In 2019, LUMI announced that they would be postponing their highly anticipated winter comeback, refusing to release any group content during member Jang Y/N's hiatus. Y/N returned in April of that year, and the group released their 4th studio album, XO, with the title track "How’s It Taste?". The album became LUMI’s best-charting and highest-selling album to date and set the record for the highest-selling album by a female act in South Korea's history.

⁃In 2019, LUMI earned three Guinness World Records for their single "How's It Taste?" after the video amassed over 86 million views in just 24 hours. The records (previously held by K-pop group, BTS), included: