NCT OT21 Sexuality Analysis
Here you go with the updated version!
I want to emphasize again that this is my opinion and it is okay for you to not agree with me! I’m also not forcing anything on the boys, I’m simply writing what I personally think ;)
- Masterlist of the groups I’ve done!
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☆Taeyong - Gay
Oh, God. Taeyong. I think most of the fandom agrees that Taeyong is not straight, and another good bit agree that he’s heavily in denial about being gay himself. I am one of those people who thinks he’s in denial.
When another member is getting close to him and starting to get touchy or affectionate, he gets extremely flustered, and a lot of idols do react that way, but the way Taeyong does it is really something else. It’s like he gets so embarrassed, maybe even ashamed that he’s enjoying the closeness of another guy, that he starts to panic, and not in the funny ‘panicked gay’ sort of way, but a genuine panic.
So, the whole ‘bullying/homophobia’ scandal where it was revealed he was being homophobic to an ex-classmate of his was icing on the cake, in a way. I feel like the only reason Taeyong would do something like that was because he was jealous and angry. The jealousy and anger could come from a million things, but I personally feel like most of it came from Taeyong’s own inability to recognise and accept the fact that he’s attracted to the same gender.
Despite him apologising for the incident, I do still think he harbours some negative feelings about homosexuality. I don’t think it’s an extreme case where he hates all gay people or anything like that, more like he doesn’t really want to entertain the idea of LGBT being around him. If that makes sense.
Now to the present, I feel like Taeyong tries a little too hard to seem straight sometimes, which just ends up backfiring on him. His lyrics are a good example of this. While they don’t exactly ‘backfire’ on him, I do feel like the reason he writes them at all is because he needs to appear ‘straight.’ He seems genuinely frustrated, and I feel like all those lyrics he writes are just a product of his sexual frustration and his inability to accept himself. I feel like the living situations aren’t much better for him, either. He’s living with a bunch of other guys right now while refusing to accept his sexuality, and it’s just the perfect way to end up sexually frustrated with weird feelings.
To be completely honest, I’m not sure if Taeyong will ever accept himself. I think he’s going to end up marrying a woman, despite there being no romantic/sexual feelings there whatsoever, and telling himself that “this is how it’s supposed to be.” I feel like he’s been repressing himself and his feelings for so long that he has a pretty toxic view on a lot of things now. It’s like he tells himself that he’s supposed to be into girls, despite his body and mind clearly disagreeing, and refuses to believe anything else. - Helen
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(My opinion on Taeyong has no changed much aside from the fact that I do think he is more comfortable with now than he used to be. He is related to Hong Seokchun, one of the very few openly gay celebrities in S.Korea, and he did finally meet him a while ago. I think this might’ve helped him see things differently and might’ve gotten him to not be as scared maybe? So in my opinion I do think he is gay and I think he used to have a lot of internalized homophobia, but I don’t think he does anymore. I think he seems much better and much more comfortable with himself now.
- Dan)
☆Taeil - Straight (Bisexual?) / Bisexual (Dan)
A while ago, I would have thought Taeil was straight and left it at that. Now however, my thoughts have been wavering, and I think there’s a chance that Taeil might be bisexual. While he doesn’t exactly ‘ping’ me as LGBT, I have noticed that something has seemed like it’s changed, and based on the opinions of other people, I’m not the only one who’s noticed it.
So, I’ll get right into it. In an interview, he was asked if he liked long or short hair on girls, and I believe he answered that he doesn’t care weather they’re a guy or a girl, which is something that I don’t think a lot of straight people say. I believe he’s said that the outfit he finds most attractive on girls is a typically ‘boyish’ style of a hoodie & baseball cap, and that’s something that could potentially have a deeper meaning. Conversely, it could just be his preference.
There’s a joke in the fandom that Taeil is into white guys because he pays a lot of special attention to them, and that he has a bit of a crush on WinWin, both of which I think hold a bit of truth. Paying special attention to a certain type of person can sometimes mean there’s an attraction there, or a preference, which usually goes hand-in-hand with attraction. Remember the Buzzfeed guy? Taeil went a bit too far, in my opinion. Yeah, all the other members were polite and surprised/impressed with the guy, but Taeil looked like he was ready to risk it all. Taeil looked at him with a bit too much interest and interacted with him just a bit too enthusiastically, and it didn’t seem like it was just friendly, either.
I am torn in my decision for Taeil. Part of me thinks he’s straight because he just seems straight, however the other part of me thinks he could be bisexual because of the little things he does. I think it’s more likely that he’s straight but appreciative of men and comfortable enough in his sexuality to express it. -Helen
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(I used to think of Taeil as fully straight but I’m not entirely sure anymore. I still don’t know where I stand with him, maybe bisexual? Maybe bi with female preference or something? But I do think he may possibly be into guys as well.
- Dan)
☆Johnny - Straight
I think Johnny is a person whose laid-back personality makes it seem like there’s something deeper to him, and for me, I struggle with determining just how far it goes. He’s obviously into women, so there’s most likely an attraction there to go along with that, but it also seems like he’s into men as well.
His carefree and comfortable personality is something that I find a bit difficult to look past. It seems like he’s into both genders the same way, but the slight issue of his naturally open personality comes into play. He could just be straight and see no issue in acting the same way towards men and women; he is from USA, after all, and he most likely doesn’t have the same mindset towards LGBT people that most Koreans do.
His personality definitely plays a big part in why he’s so comfortable around the other members, but I do think it could go a bit further than just that. He seems confident in his sexuality, but he does seem pretty apathetic to a lot of other things, which makes him, as a person, a bit tricky to read well.
I have a tiny feeling that gender might not be something Johnny attaches much importance to. I do think his openness is genuine, but I’m not sure if it actually extends all the way to his sexuality as well. There’s a possibility, and I’m not going to completely discount it.
For me, there’s really only two possibilities for Johnny… either pansexual, or straight. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was pansexual, but I think that him being straight is more likely. -Helen
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(My opinion did change on Johnny as well! I think with the more content we have gotten from him I can kinda see where he was coming from with the actions that seemed suspicious to me at the time? I still think there are a few things he does that are a bit weird and suspicious for a straight guy, but it is not nearly the amount it seemed to me before and in my opinion can easily be dismissed as just him being himself and it’s just part of his personality.
- Dan)
☆Yuta - Pansexual / Bisexual (Dan)
Okay, is there anyone who actually thinks Yuta is straight? I find it fairly obvious that Yuta is LGBT, and I don’t think that thought is an unpopular one. It’s pretty obvious that he’s interested in guys, but he seems/acts more or less the same around the opposite gender as well, which causes me to think he’s either bisexual or flat-out pansexual.
I don’t think I have to say much about him to get my point across; many fans have gotten the idea that Yuta might be LGBT because of the way he acts and because of the vibe he gives off. He doesn’t really ‘hide’ himself like some of the other members do, but because of that, I’m not really sure where the line gets drawn between his genuine personality/eccentricities and the ‘idol persona.’
So, Yuta gets my vote of ‘pansexual’ because that’s the vibe I get with him. He seems like he’d be open to all kinds of people and I don’t think he’d discriminate against or favour a certain gender.
Also, he grinded on a minion. If that doesn’t scream pansexual, then I don’t know what does. -Helen
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Personally I do think Yuta is someone that would never really want to attatch himself to a label, I don’t think he’s ever really considered his sexuality? He seems very much attracted to everyone regardless of their gender identity, the man would flirt with a wall if it could talk back, he’s just naturally a very charming person with a lot of charisma. His obsession with Win Win and Mark has always been something that’s a dead give away to me, bar 3 members everyone in the group is like a younger brother to him, so why is he just particularly affectionate to those two members? I really don’t think there’s much of a heterosexual explanation to it, he said he considers his relationship with Jaehyun to be that of a real brother so why does he not show him the same amount of affection he shows both Win Win and Mark? There’s got to be some form of attraction there I find it very difficult to believe that he views them as his brothers with the things he says to them.
I think Yuta is someone who has very important and progressive views, on a tv show he once said a child shouldn’t be limited to what they can do because of gender roles, and I think that is such an incredible thing for him to say, it’s also very much true, nobody should be restricted because of the roles society assigns them to because of their sex. I do think Yuta is someone who doesn’t really care for over thinking, he seems like a very chilled out and laid back person, I really don’t think he would pay much attention to labels at all. I very much see him experimenting with a guy because he wants to and then not thinking much of it, I struggle to see him going through a denial phase and struggling to label himself.
I do think he’s maybe more physically attracted to men but I still think he’s the type of person that focuses more on the persons personality rather than their looks, he seems very genuine and down to earth he also has a mum and sister who he speaks about very respectfully, he has in general just always been very respectful towards women. He’s also said that in his household they contradict the traditional order of bathing, where the men of the house go first and instead the women actually go first, which in itself shows he’s grown up being taught to value and respect women. I ultimately see him much like Kun having a very traditional lifestyle where he meets someone, falls in love, gets married and starts a family but I do feel like he may settle down a lot later on in life.
Although he has progressive views I do still think the part of him that was raised in a conservative society is very much still there, he does seem to project slightly more heteronormative views but I don’t think that’s because he doesn’t consider anything else, again I think it’s just maybe lack of familiarity to openly talking about anything other than that. Ultimately I do think Yuta is very much open for interpretation, I think he doesn’t really look into his own sexuality too much and does just follow what he wants.
- Caitlin
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(I don’t think Yuta is 100% gay anymore, even back then I wasn’t so sure about him and I do now lean fully into bi/pan. I don’t think he is fully straight and for Yuta I would personally go for bi rather than pan. But my opinion is pretty much the same as the other admins we’ve talked about him often. Pretty much all that Caitlin described is what I’ve said about him before as well.
- Dan)
☆Kun - Straight
I don’t have much to say about Kun. He’s caring and a bit motherly towards the members, but that’s as far as it goes. He’s protective, he loves his members, and everything he does with them just gives off that super caring vibe. There’s nothing really else there.
I’ve never thought Kun was into guys, and nothing he’s ever done made me even think about the possibility because I don’t get any vibes from him. His behaviour reminds me a bit of Ravn from ONEUS, who I think is straight but very protective and caring. -Helen
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For Kun it’s never really been a conflicting opinion of mine or of the fandom I think we are all pretty much in agreement that he’s very much straight. There’s nothing about him that makes me question him, he is very caring towards the other members but you can just tell that that is very much in his personality, he’s also one of the oldest members in the group so he probably feels a certain obligation and responsibility towards the younger members to protect them and take care of them which is why he’s extremely affectionate with them.
I know Kun does seem to have a slightly more “effeminate” side to him he’s not perceived to be as stereotypically “manly” as other members because of how almost motherly seem to the members but I personally don’t think that suggests anything at all about his sexuality, a man can very much be feminine and heterosexual. He’s definitely a lot more in tune with his emotions than a lot of the other members of the group, he speaks very sincerely so I feel like once again he may be slightly speculated by people however I do think hes just naturally a very caring and emotional person it’s just not as common for a man to show how in touch with their emotions they are.
I do think Kun will settle down at quite an early age, he does remind me a lot of Chen from Exo in some ways, like Chen, Kun is always a person I’ve just been able to see falling in love with a girl, getting married and having children, a very traditional lifestyle that wouldn’t be forced. I think Kun comes across very much as a relationship person, he doesn’t seem like the type to casually date I think he’s the type of person that would date for marriage and I don’t think he’s been in many relationships. He seems to present a huge respect for women and he just seems very gentlemanly, he’s a very likeable person and a valuable member to the group, he provides balance and stability.
I think Kun definitely has some more traditional views purely because of his lack of exposure and experience with anything other than his probably heteronormative lifestyle, but I don’t think he would ever make someone feel bad for their orientation. He’s very close with Ten and I honestly do think Ten is a member within the group that teaches members a lot of tolerance and helps them to become familiarised with different lifestyles and presents them with different views and opinions. I think Kun and Ten have an extremely strong relationship and I do think Kun has probably become a lot more familiarised with other people’s lifestyles because of Ten, ultimately I think Kun is just a very loveable person with a very big heart.
- Caitlin
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(My opinion has not chaged about Kun and I feel now more certain. - Dan)
☆Doyoung - Gay / Straight (Dan)
Doyoung is a bit of a reserved guy, almost secretive. A lot of fans seem to think Doyoung is gay, or bisexual with a heavy male preference, and I can see it, but I can also see him just being straight as well. He does tend to keep a lot of himself private, but I still do get some weird vibes from him and I’m not sure if they’re genuine LGBT vibes, or something else entirely.
I feel like there’s a little more to Doyoung than meets the eye. He tends to pull away from skinship and affection, but I don’t think he does that because he doesn’t necessarily like it, I think he does it because he feels the need to appear ‘straight.’ He’s a bit confusing in the way he acts because he contradicts himself. He seems almost insecure at times, and to remedy that, he plays up another aspect of himself, which is usually his ‘straight’ side. I don’t feel like he’s in complete denial about his sexuality like Taeyong is, but I do feel like he is in denial to some degree.
Doyoung’s tendency to play up his ‘straight’ side is kind of suspicious. Guys tend to do that when they’re afraid of appearing too ‘gay’ in front of people, and it ends up being pretty obvious that it’s not genuine. I feel like Doyoung has a lot of those moments. Sometimes, the whole ‘aggressively straight’ thing is something that should be taken at face value, and something that’s actually genuine, though. I know that sounds contradictory, but I do have a short explanation to go along with it. If someone is constantly accused of acting/being gay when they’re actually not, it would make sense that they’d be upset about it. (Daehwi from Wanna One is a good example of this, despite me thinking he is LGBT.) It would also make sense that they start taking precautions to fix their ‘gay’ behaviours by doing something else, which is usually acting ‘straight’ instead. However, there’s always the other side of the matter which is the argument that these accused people act that way because they know it’s true, and they don’t want to be outed or draw any further speculation; it could be extremely dire for them and for their career.
So, I feel like there’s a chance Doyoung is actually straight but upset about being called ‘gay’ so often that he feels that he has to exaggerate that side of him. On the other hand, he could actually be upset about being called ‘gay’ because he knows it’s true.
With all of this said, I have to admit I’m still bit conflicted about Doyoung. I can see him being either straight or gay, but with the things he’s done, said, and supported, I think that him being gay is more likely. -Helen
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Another thing to add about Doyoung is the fact that he has been quite openly supportive of the community, he said in a v app once when a fan was talking about having a crush that they didn’t know the gender of either people involved so it could be a “boy and girl, girl and girl or boy and boy” and I remember before I was an admin I actually submitted the screenshots of this to Dan which he posted if you guys want to check that out. His brother Gong Myung also played a gay character in a film who had a boyfriend, and he too has been openly supportive of the community and respectful about his role, Doyoung seems to admire and look up to his brother a lot and this could possibly be the reason why. Gong myung is also speculated to be gay however I don’t think that’s the case at all, if anything I wouldn’t be surprised if Doyoung is in fact gay.
I do think Doyoung has a very nurturing and sensitive side which is why he often gets labelled as “feminine” however that’s not why I believe he’s gay, I just think that he’s very friend zoney with women from what I’ve personally seen, for example with red velvet when you compare how the other members acted around them to how Doyoung acted around them you can see the difference, he was very comfortable, didn’t get flustered at all and never really seemed in awe of them he honestly just treated them like his friends, I’m not saying a straight male can’t be friends with females I just think when you compare how comfortable and casual he was with them to that of the other members that I believe are straight there’s a really definitive difference and obviously if his attraction to them isn’t there he may find it much easier to feel comfortable and at ease around them, if that makes sense.
Something I want to note is that Doyoung is known as the serious member, he’s the member that really keeps everyone in check, he can joke about with the others however he does seem to get slightly stressed or overwhelmed when members start to lose focus of what the task is or of what the script is, he seems extremely business orientated which is why I think it’s hard to distinguish whether he’s straight or not. He knows exactly what to do or say in order to maintain a certain image and I don’t think he necessarily wants to “hide” who he “is” but I think he more understands that in order to keep everything going the way it’s supposed to and to keep the groups image in tact he needs to follow a certain script and maintain an image the company have created for him, I do believe he’s gay but I think that he knows how to hide this and be discreet about it due to the fact that it could affect his job. Which is why I think he gets stressed when he loses slight control of a situation, just because the thought of him and his “secret” affecting the balance of the group really disrupts his peace and he wants to be assured that everything will go to plan. That’s just my personal observation but it seems likely that this is the case in my opinion just because I genuinely have never seen his attraction to women at all, it seems so forced and just like he’s simply trying to maintain an image.
- Caitlin
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(Contrary to the other admins thoughts and even my previous analysis I actually think Doyoung could just be a straight ally. I’ve thought of the possibility of maybe Gong Myung being LGBT and him knowing and being supportive and that’s why he acts so comfortable with the matter and so nonchalant. It could also have nothing to do with that but I do think he could definitely be a straight ally!
- Dan)
☆Ten - Gay
I don’t think many people disagree with this. Ten clearly displays many textbook signs of same-sex attraction and most people, gay or not, can pick up on it. His interactions with the other members, and just men in general, are something I have an extremely hard time believing a straight man would do without dying of embarrassment. He frequently pushes normal, friendly boundaries and is way too comfortable doing so.
His infamous reaction to Hyunseung’s ‘Hit The Stage’ performance is something I’d like to touch on since it’s a pretty famous video that a lot of fans like to talk about.
First of all, while I do agree that his reactions to Stephanie’s dancing seemed pretty neutral and disinterested, I don’t feel like that’s the only thing going on. He was focused on the ongoing performance and focused on how his own performance would size up to theirs, so I don’t feel like it’s fair to judge Ten too much because of his reactions while watching it. He was probably nervous and trying to focus on the performance as a whole, which is a big reason his face was so expressionless. That being said, the way he looked away when Stephanie… well, did this, was pretty uncharacteristic of what a straight man would do. However, there’s always the argument that maybe he was just trying to be respectful since not many male idols would want to be caught ogling a female’s butt on camera anyways, but the fact that not many other people were trying to do the same kind of tells me that his reaction was natural, and not something that was practised or forced.
I don’t want to make this any longer than it should be because I don’t really think there’s much explaining to do. He’s a very ‘confident gay’ and doesn’t really get flustered, instead, he seems to be the one doing the flustering. He shows no interest in females and way too much interest in males, so much so that I can pretty confidently rule out any bit of female attraction. -Helen
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Ten also really admires Troye Sivan and has openly talked about how much he likes Troye Sivan’s music, he also was pictured at Troye’s Bloom Tour in Seoul and Troye is a very openly gay artist who bases his music around LGBTQ+ themes and storylines, a lot of his music videos are about him with a male partner, he includes male pronouns too and he’s in a happy relationship. Ten also follows Troye Sivan on Instagram, a lot of people enjoy his music and listen to him but the majority of his fan base are LGBTQ+ people as his songs are all stories that they can relate to, he creates a safe environment at concerts for his lgbtq+ fans and although there are many allies that like his music I do think that he is very much an artist that the community resonate with which is why I feel like Ten may be LGBTQ+.
Ten’s music video from a dream in a dream features a mysterious man (now we know it’s Lucas but the video was published before anybody knew about Lucas) all the way through and some of the lyrics say “I don’t wanna come down from your love, we’ll get lost together” while showing a silhouette of another man? Ten has a dance scene with a girl in the music video but there’s nothing remotely romantic about it, it’s genuinely just an amazing contemporary duet section, I just still don’t understand why throughout the video there was shots of another man, and at one point their paths crossed towards the end and it just seemed like there was some massively romantic undertones towards that, the aesthetic for the mv also featured subtle rainbow lighting too, which is minor but I’ll still mention it.
While on the topic of Ten’s solo music I want to talk about his song New Heroes, there’s quite a few scenes that seem fairly similar to that of MY MY MY by Troye Sivan so I think Ten gained some cinematic inspiration from that MV, he also has a verse that goes “took out the wolf in sheep’s clothing, stood up for what I believe, turn my mess into messages and learn from the lessons” which to me seems to have some possible LGBTQ+ undertones, I’m obviously not stating that as a fact but to me it sounds like he’s talking about being himself and not trying to blend in with society and live up to their standards, “stood up for what I believe” again to me sounds like he’s trying to embrace himself and stop letting other people look down on what he believes in. These are just a couple of things I really wanted to add on to Helens analysis because I do think they’re very important things to note.
- Caitlin
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(My opinion stands - Dan)
☆Jaehyun - Bisexual with Male Preference
So, it seems like Jaehyun might have been questioning himself in the past. I feel like now that time has gone by, he was able to experiment and figure out what he likes and what he doesn’t, and I do think he’s into men.
Since his early days on SM Rookies, it has been implied that he pays attention to men a bit too much and it starts to become very easy to see. I do believe that he himself has made gay jokes, and that Taeil has even called him and Doyoung gay. While I’m talking about Doyoung, I do think there was some type of crush between them at some point. The relationship between them didn’t seem entirely platonic, and on Jaehyun’s part, the feelings were terribly obvious.
He seems extremely curious and way too willing to get close to the other members, which isn’t gay in and of itself, but it’s enough to make someone entertain the idea. There are just so many things that make me think Jaehyun is gay, starting with his his nonexistent interest in women, the way he gets so flustered when male MCs interact with/touch him, and the fact that there seems to be gay jokes about him. He literally choked while staring at Doyoung’s collarbones on EnNaNa, and to me, that is extremely not straight, all joking and fanservice aside.
His relationship with his parents is something that I’d like to touch on briefly because of how it might have had an impact on Jaehyun figuring out his sexuality. I do believe that he’s brought up his sexuality to his parents at some point and opened up to them, which probably led to the confidence he has in himself now. I think he was met with understanding and acceptance from his parents, which might be another factor as to why he’s comfortable and confident with himself.
Jaehyun is someone who I see as very open and understanding, so it makes sense that he’s accepted his attraction to men. He doesn’t seem to be affected by women at all, which makes me think that there is no interest there.
It seems easy for him to touch other guys, but when other guys touch him, he seems a bit uneasy, which may sound contradictory to everything I just said, but I’m not really sure how else to say it. You’d think that being so confident in his sexuality would mean that he’d welcome affection from other guys with open arms, yet that doesn’t seem like the case 100% of the time. I’m not really sure how to address this without chalking the uncharacteristic behaviour up to either a fear of being prosecuted, or simply just heteronormative gender roles. (Like, ‘guys shouldn’t be affectionate with each other’ despite the norm of fanservice/skinship in K-Pop.)
I think Jaehyun realised that he was gay fairly early in life, was able to explain his feelings freely and safely to people who cared about him, and is now comfortable with himself. Of course, there’s always the fear of being outed/talked about, so he doesn’t always act as confidently, but for the majority of the time, his relaxed aura is present.
So, I personally think Jaehyun is gay, but I also think that the possibility of him being bisexual with a male preference is high. -Helen
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Before discussing Jaehyun with the admins and asking for submissions, I was a heavy believer that Jaehyun was nothing but straight, I never for a second considered the possibility of him being anything else has he really just reminds me of a stereotypical perception of a romantic heterosexual man, I genuinely never even questioned my opinion until everyone started sharing there’s with me and now I cannot stop noticing so many things I’ve missed before.
I only wanted to contribute to Jaehyun’s analysis purely because of his interactions with Wonho of Monsta X, as I’ve already made a post of this I won’t go into details and explain every interaction, if you would like to know what moments I’m talking about please look on the blog for the post. It’s difficult for me to believe after seeing their interactions that Jaehyun is straight, he was so flustered when Wonho complimented him, he stuttered and couldn’t say thankyou, he acted extremely awkwardly about it and I just think it was a very peculiar reaction for a straight man to have, when we compare Jaehyun getting complimented with Johnny getting complimented they have very different reactions, Jaehyun lost his words and became very embarrassed whereas Johnny although surprised made a joke about it and said thankyou, he seemed quite unaffected. Throughout the radio show Jaehyun kept looking in Wonho’s direction when another member sat on the opposite side was speaking, he seemed to consistently mess up what he was supposed to say when he was speaking to Wonho too, I don’t really know there was just a very strange vibe between them.
That’s all I wanted to say for Jaehyun really, as I’ve only just changed my opinion of him I don’t have many things that I’ve noticed or can comment on :/
- Caitlin
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(My opinion stands, though I agree he could go deeper into the bisexual spectrum - Dan)
☆WinWin - Straight
I don’t think WinWin is into guys. A good bit of the fandom tends to think that WinWin isn’t straight, but I just don’t feel that way.
He doesn’t like skinship very much and rarely starts it at all, but he will allow the other members to do it to him. That might sound a bit opposite, but his reactions to all that kind of stuff are pretty consistently on the flustered side, however, it’s not the ‘I’m kind of liking this, please keep doing it’ flustered way, it’s more like a generally uncomfortable ‘I’m not enjoying this, but I have to do it’ type of way.
I’ve never gotten any strange vibes from him, nor have I really thought that his interactions with the other members warranted any speculation. -Helen
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I must say I’ve definitely had conflicting opinions for Win win but I did come to the conclusion that I think he’s straight. There was a period of time when WayV first debuted where him and Ten were extremely close and did a contemporary dance piece together and I’ve always thought there were some romantic undertones, some speculate that it’s about the two sides of a person which is extremely plausible however Ten and WinWin have left the meaning to however the fans interpret it, to me it definitely seemed more like an LGBTQ+ relationship. The bright side and the dark side, the dark negative side takes over the bright side but with their connection they always overcome it, and at the end the two halves of the trees that were featured on each individual side in the beginning of the video are then tied together with red string. Now the red string is why I feel like it could have romantic undertones as in both Chinese and Greek mythology/history the “red string theory” suggests that soulmates (normally lovers) are connected to eachothers souls through red string so that even if they lose eachother the red string will still always connect them so they can find one another again, honestly it’s a very famous belief and it wouldn’t surprise me if this is why the boys included this in their video. And the choreography itself tells a very touching and raw story, it does seem pretty urm gay.
However I do think that there were many different interpretations for this piece and they themselves never set a particular meaning to it, I do think Win Win is very much heterosexual and just one of those people who doesn’t particularly enjoy affection or attention, I don’t think it’s some kind of deflection or denial because he’s lgbt, and I do think that maybe he’s just become a lot more supportive of the community especially since he became so much closer to Ten. I think maybe ten may have opened his mind and his views quite a lot so he is a lot more affectionate and open now in comparison to how he once was.
- Caitlin
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(My opinions stands - Dan)
☆Jungwoo - Gay
Jungwoo was pretty easy for me to come to a conclusion on. He teases and flirts with the members way too much and way too comfortably for a straight man, and he genuinely seems to enjoy making them flustered and taking things to the next level… and I don’t feel like it’s just for the sake of fanservice. I feel like a lot of people agree with Jungwoo being gay, or maybe bisexual with a heavy male preference. I personally think it’s the former.
I can’t really see Jungwoo in a relationship with a girl because of how much he prefers men. It’s pretty obvious that he’s biased towards men, and I think it’s a natural thing that stems from his inherent attraction to them.
He turns normal, friendly interactions into flirty ones just because he can. It’s not even expected of him or anything, he just does it. Much like Ten, I think Jungwoo doesn’t really need much explaining. Jungwoo is another member that most fans agree is gay, and judging by his own actions, it seems like he’s okay with it, too.
I’d like to draw a parallel between Jungwoo’s flirtiness and the flirtiness of Yeonjun from TXT, who I believe is straight. It’s no secret that both of these guys love flirting with their members, it’s just that the way either of them go about it is completely different. With Yeonjun, it’s pretty obvious that he’s just ‘doing his job’ when he’s touchy and flirty, and that he does it because he knows it’s required of him as an idol because the fans want to see that kind of stuff. Simply put, it’s not natural with Yeonjun, it’s practised. With Jungwoo, it’s the complete opposite. He doesn’t care if it’s expected of him or not, he’s just going to do it. Unlike Yeonjun, it’s natural for Jungwoo, and that tiny aspect is a huge telling difference between a guy I believe is straight, and a guy I believe is not. -Helen
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(My opinion stands - Dan)
☆Lucas - Straight
Lucas is slightly confusing to me because he can seem pretty into guys at times, but then he goes around and acts the same way towards women. I don’t want to mark him as bisexual just because he acts more or less the same toward both genders because it could just be that he’s very good at doing his job as an idol.
If it really came down to it though, I’d say that bisexual with a strong female preference, or just bi-curious, wouldn’t seem like the most unlikely thing in the world for Lucas. That being said, I do think Lucas is straight regardless of how he may act with the other members.
Going off what I said earlier, though, I do think Lucas’s slightly above-normal interest in guys is just something he’s learnt from being an idol. He knows that fans love seeing them being cuddly and close to each other, and of course, he knows that fanservice is a thing, so I think that’s about as far as any potential ‘interest’ in the same sex would extend, if at all.
He is one of the members who confuses me a bit, so take this piece with a grain of salt. -Helen
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(Lucas for me seems a bit like Johnny! The more I watch with him the more it seems like his most suspicious actions get explained but then again I do get some vibes from him and sometimes it seems like he himself is unaware of how weird some of the stuff he does actually is? So I really don’t know.. I do think Lucas could actually be straight and if I head to bet on something that’d be straight right now.
- Dan)
☆Mark - Straight
So, to start Mark off, I’d like to dive into a bit of history between him and Haechan, who I believe is not straight. These two have had such a roller-coaster relationship and I do think it’s because of their differing views on some things. To put it simply, I feel like Mark has a bit of internalised homophobia. He’s given a Bible to Haechan for his birthday, which is honestly pretty weird in and of itself, but I felt like it went a little deeper than that… like it was a jab at Haechan’s sexuality.
Mark has mentioned that he’s considered leaving the group because of Haechan and he’s said that Haechan is the member who scares him the most, and it just seems like he has a bit of a personal vendetta against Haechan overall. I do think there could be a bigger, underlying reason as to why Mark feels that way towards Haechan, and I think part of that reason is because he’s such a devout Christian and liking the same sex isn’t ‘right.’
Anyways, onto Mark’s part of the analysis. It was pretty easy for me to settle on him being straight. Personally, I find him to be among the more easier members to analyse. He doesn’t do much that makes me seriously question him, and his reactions to certain things are those of a typical straight guy. His sexuality isn’t a hot topic in the fandom because there’s not much to discuss; Mark radiates straightness.
He does seem awkward whenever the other members are engaging in over-the-top fanservice and skinship and it’s pretty obvious that he reacts that way because he’s not too keen on seeing two guys get super cuddly and kissy with each other. Mark doesn’t really initiate skinship and he seems to avoid it a good bit of the time, so I think he’s fine with just being friends with guys and nothing more. He doesn’t show interest in men at all and his behaviours have been pretty consistent, so I don’t think he’s anything other than straight.
If you Google the word ‘heterosexual’, a picture of Mark will pop up. -Helen
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I have no doubts that he’s anything but straight. This boy is so painfully heterosexual that he reminds me of a 12 year old boy who’s obsessed with Minecraft and Fortnite which is just about as straight as someone can get. -bambi
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I don’t necessarily think that Mark is internally homophobic or uncomfortable with Haechan’s sexuality anymore (if he is lgbtq+) as he’s extremely close with Ten and seems to have no problem at all with him, there’s no tension between the two. However I do think that maybe because Mark was so close with Haechan that he could’ve struggled to adjust to this which could’ve caused a strain on their friendship, again due to his religious views he may have felt really conflicted however I don’t think that it’s at all an issue anymore the two are closer than ever.
Anyway onto his uncomfortability with skinship, at first I doubted Mark’s heterosexuality mainly on the basis of how genuinely uncomfortable he seems with skinship or anything remotely bromance like, most straight men really don’t have an issue acting “homiesexual” or having “bromances” but Mark just always seemed so uncomfortable with it and I do think that maybe because of his religion and beliefs he had a certain toxic masculinity as he was going through puberty, being surrounded by men who some are also lgbtq+ it could’ve definitely made him confused however I do think that there was just a phase in his young adult life where he had a very fragile masculinity due to his religious values and they were tested often in his new environment, but I think as he matured and adjusted to the lifestyles of those around him he became a lot more comfortable and secure within himself. He genuinely seems like a really lovely person and I don’t think he would intentionally hold animosity towards anybody due to their sexuality, I just believe that because it may have been someone so close to him he could’ve thought that it could change their friendship IF haechan is LGBT.
- Caitlin
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(My opinion stands - Dan)
☆Xiaojun - Bisexual
Okay so again Xiaojun was someone that kind of instantly pinged this opinion for us all. I personally don’t believe he is gay because his genuine interest in women doesn’t at all seem forced or fake, I do think he is attracted to them but I definitely think it’s more romantically than sexually. I think his sexual attraction seems a lot more inclined to men than women whereas I do think he would rather pursue a romantic connection with a woman rather than a man. I think Xiaojun would most likely prefer the comfortability of a heterosexual relationship and would only pursue romantic relationships with the opposite sex.
Personally I don’t think it seems like Xiaojun may have fully accepted this about himself, just from observing his interactions he does seem to really control his expressions and reactions a lot, it’s quite hard to tell what he may be thinking or what his emotions are a lot of the time. Again he is really close with Ten, I think Ten just has this quality about him where everybody just instantly loves him, he’s so open and free that I think many people within the group look up to him and I do think Xiaojun is one of them people.
I don’t really think that Xiaojun is that easy to figure out, even though I’ve followed wayV since their debut I still can’t decide whether Xiaojun is introverted or extroverted because it really depends on the situation, he’s a very versatile person and he seems to have quite a lot of different personalities and moods which is why I think he could be bisexual, I’ve noticed that me and most of my bisexual friends all have that in common, there’s a lot of duality to our characters and we really do have so many different qualities and traits. 
- Caitlin
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(Really not sure about Xiaojun so I’ll leave it for the other admins - Dan)
☆Hendery - Bisexual
So, Hendery is someone I have formed a pretty solid opinion on and I do think he is bisexual. At first, I thought of him like that mainly because of the vibe he gave off, but as I got to see more of him and his behaviour and personality, I realised that there’s probably a reason/basis for that thought to have come to me so quickly and easily.
He seems to enjoy skinship and touching the other members a little bit more than a straight guy would, which seems fine and normal at first because idols know that skinship is something that fans want to see, but it seems like Hendery wants more. His movements, looks, and touches to the other members are not completely innocent sometimes or just for the sake of fanservice, but rather because he genuinely enjoys showing affection to other guys.
I don’t think Hendery naturally being a bit of a goofy guy in general has influenced my opinion of his sexuality, but it was something I considered at first just because he can seem so flirty and frisky.
Plus, he adopted a cat with Ten in Japan after MAMA 2019. That’s… kinda gay. -Helen
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Okay so ever since Way V debuted I’ve always got the most “bi” energy from Hendery and honestly I do think he could be gay too. His closeness with Ten is something that I instantly noticed once the group debuted, there’s just so much to their friendship, Hendery seems to really admire and look up to Ten, Ten is a free person who openly expresses himself and I really see that in Hendrey too, they’re like two peas in a pod.
I think Hendery and his mannerisms hint that he is slightly more effeminate than the other members, and obviously straight men can also be effeminate but it’s more associated to his mannerisms and not his over all personality. He seems to be very comfortable with any skinship even when it’s slightly crossing the line he doesn’t seem to have an issue with it, however he still gets flustered like he never looks uncomfortable but sometimes it’s come across like he’s really focused on the other persons touch, I’m not sure how to explain it but it’s like when you’re physically close with someone that you may be attracted to and they’re resting a simple hand on your thigh your skin almost burns and you can only pay attention to that but you’re trying not to, that’s what I think Hendery does, especially when Ten initiates skinship with him, you can almost see that his attention isn’t fully on the situation or whoever is speaking unless it’s Ten. I do think there may be some kind of attraction there from Hendery’s part but I really doubt that there’s anything questionable going on, I just think that maybe Ten in the past helped Hendery realise his sexuality or Ten may have been the reason he questioned himself purely on the basis that Ten isn’t exactly discreet about his sexuality and in my opinion if he is gay every single member knows about it and sometimes when a closeted/questioning person sees an openly lgbtq+ person being themselves and not hiding who they are it encourages that person to accept and embrace themselves.
However I think there’s still an attraction to girls there, but I do think he has a strong male preference, he seems very comfortable with himself and very cheerful I don’t really feel like he’s had a hard time questioning himself possibly because of the openness of other members. I do think NCT has many LGBTQ+ memebers who are open with their sexuality and honestly the group as a whole do seem extremely accepting and open.
- Caitlin
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I always thought Hendery gave off major bi vibes. He seems really into guys but seems really into girls too. I don’t think he has any gender preference. - Bambi
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(Not very sure about Hendery either but he seems very questionable to me and in my opinion I do think he is LGBT. I do agree with other admins that bisexual seems to fit for him.
- Dan)
☆Renjun - Straight
Renjun is extremely difficult to read. He seems to stump most fans with his extreme indifference towards, well, nearly everything, and I am no exception. Even though I’m still unsure of just how deep his indifference extends, I do think it could be important, and I do want to entertain the possibility of Renjun being somewhere on the aromantic/asexual spectrum.
I think the possibility of Renjun being anything other than straight is pretty low, but like I said before, it’s difficult for me to get anything from him because of his reactions — or lack thereof — to a lot of things.
I don’t really see any genuine interest in taking things further when he interacts with another member, nor do I feel like he has any curiosity to do so. I don’t think Renjun is bi-curious, either. -Helen
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The dreamies have really given us a hard time, no joke, it’s so difficult to form an opinion on the majority of the dream members because they’re all so on and off with how they act. Renjun for me was somebody that I’ve always just thought was straight I’ve never really considered another possibility.
Honestly I do think he seems extremely indifferent to most things, however maybe that’s just his professionalism? He reminds me of Johnny in a sense that he can be quite jokingly flirty with his boys, in a “bromance” type of way but it doesn’t exceed anything other than that, I do think Renjun is quite professional and has really managed to form an image for himself, he’s sweet, funny and handsome; everything a fan wants in a male idol, and although he will definitely have other aspects to his personality I don’t really believe he pretends to be this way, I don’t think he’s hiding anything at all.
I have also speculated ace for Renjun simply because I’ve never really seen him react some type of way to anybody, like Helen said he’s extremely indifferent with his reactions he seems to have very similar reactions to most things, and I could definitely see him being the type of person to build a connection and relationship spiritually and emotionally before doing anything remotely physical, but I don’t think it’s because the physical/sexual attraction isn’t there, that might just be the way he is due to the values he grew up around.
- Caitlin
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(My opinion stands but I am more certain now - Dan)
☆Jeno - Straight
At first, Jeno seemed a bit suspicious to me, but as time went on and I was able to see more of him, I stopped feeling that way. While he can seem a bit shy and flustered around his members, it doesn’t look like it goes any deeper than just a genuine, slightly panicked reaction because he’s not used to it or comfortable with it as opposed to an eager or flirty reaction.
I can see Jeno being heteroflexible because of his relationship with Jaemin, but it’s easier for me to just see him as straight with a bit of a liking for physical affection. -Helen
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Honestly I’ve never really thought that Jeno could be anything other than straight, I know he’s very clingy and affectionate but I just think that’s the way he’s always been, although he’s older than me there’s just this natural innocence about him, he just gives off this vibe that he’s a very kind hearted person, he seems very welcoming to anybody and everybody. He just reminds me of a very typical teenage boy there’s nothing particular about him that really stands out to me as him being LGBTQ+, I do think he’s most likely an ally.
The only thing that has slightly thrown me off about Jeno is the fact that he grew up very religious and heavily catholic but now he doesn’t believe in a religion or hold any religious values, he’s also the only member in NCT in which there’s very little information about his family, unlike the other members Jeno doesn’t really seem to talk about his family that much and a follower submitted something saying that apparently it’s been said in an interview that he isn’t that close with his family but I’m not sure how accurate it is, if it’s true it’s definitely something that’s thrown off my original opinion of him being straight. I think he’s still got a good relationship with his family but they’re not as close anymore. I’m kind of speculating hetero flexible/ fluid for Jeno, maybe he has experimented but gained nothing from the experience however I do only see him being with a girl.
- Caitlin
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(My opinion stands - Dan)
☆Haechan - Bisexual (Male preference?)
I find it pretty obvious that Haechan is into boys. He’s always doing questionable stuff, always taking things too far, and it often ends up pushing the other members out of their comfort zone. Everything he does, skinship-wise, is just too natural and comfortable for him to not think more of it; I don’t think he’s doing those things solely for the sake of ‘doing them.’ He enjoys physical affection way too much and genuinely relishes it.
His whole thing with Mark is really weird. Mark is extremely straight and Haechan is extremely not straight, so it definitely makes for a bunch of weird and awkward interactions between the two.
I can see Haechan more easily with a boy, but I can also see him with a girl. I think that the latter wouldn’t happen very often because of how same-sex oriented he seems to be. -Helen
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(Mostly same as for Taeil! I don’t really think he is straight anymore! I’m not sure exactly where I stand with him either, possibly bisexual like the other admins mentioned, but I do personally think he is definitely LGBT.
- Dan)
☆Jaemin - Straight
Contrary to what I’ve seen a lot of people saying online, I don’t think Jaemin is into men. I’ve also seen a lot of support for the possibility of pansexuality for Jaemin, but again, I don’t personally see why so many people think that. I am very sold on the idea that Jaemin is straight.
He’s definitely great at piling on the fanservice, which admittedly is suspicious because there’s rarely any hesitation when he does, but there are many straight idols who understand that engaging in great fanservice is a necessary skill to have in order to be well-liked by a lot of fans. I do think Jaemin’s affinity for fanservice has no ‘secret basis’, as in, he doesn’t do it because he subconsciously craves it or particularly likes it, but more like because he’s young and comfortable with showing affection to other guys since he’s grown up with them during his teenage years.
Jaemin does seem flirty towards either gender, but I feel like it doesn’t mean much in his case. Most straight idols are flirty/receptive to male and female fans because they want to be seen as kind and playful to everyone. However, I do feel like Jaemin’s flirtiness towards either gender further solidifies my opinion that he’s straight, because if he wasn’t, it would seem like he’d be favouring/acting different towards a certain gender, and then that really would be suspicious. I take his willingness to flirt with both genders as a sign that he’s confident in his sexuality.
I have a LOT to say regarding the ship between Jaemin and Jeno, but maybe I’ll save that for another post. Something quick I want to touch on between them is how ‘real’ the ship seems. I’m neither agreeing nor disagreeing on the validity of the ship, but some of the things they do and say to each other are… not really commonly seen in a normal friendship, no matter how strong it may be. Some extremely intimate gestures are done between them without batting an eyelash, but I do question how genuine it really is. A lot of things they do seem very natural and real, but a lot of things can seem like that if it’s practised enough, so I am a bit sceptical about how real their interactions are with each other. That being said, I do believe their friendship/relationship has a bit of a blurred line. To me, it seems that neither of them are cognisant of their boundaries with each other, which make for a LOT of questionable moments between them.
My last thought on the Jaemin and Jeno ship is that, because of the blurred line there, both boys are aware that the relationship between them isn’t exactly typical. However, I don’t think that either of them have fully realised that there may be a genuine feeling there that isn’t just friendship. Since I do think Jaemin is straight, I’ve kind of chalked his questionable relationship with Jeno up in my mind as a phase. I have a feeling that Jaemin has gotten used to this — to Jeno — and after his idol life is over, he’s not going to have any romantic/sexual interest in men. On the off-hand that I am wrong, I can see a bit of an EunHae (Eunhyuk & Donghae from Super Junior) vibe from them… but it does seem one-sided on Jeno’s part sometimes.
So, I think Jaemin is straight but comfortable enough to explore his relationship with Jeno a bit more than friends would. -Helen
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(Still not very sure about Jaemin either… He leaves me very confused, on one hand I agree with the other admins that he could definitely be straight and just flirt jokingly and it could just be part of his personality but on the other hand it seems like there is a bit more to it sometimes and I’m just not entirely sure about him being fully straight. I could see him being straight but I could definitely see him being bisexual maybe with a female preference or something.
- Dan)
☆YangYang - Straight
I’ve never gotten the feeling that YangYang wasn’t straight. To me, he seems a bit goofy and playful with the other members, but I think that may just be due to his age and his maknae status (in WayV). I don’t think there’s any genuine flirtiness or desire there, just innocent playfulness. -Helen
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Yang yang is a member I’ve been 100% certain on from the beginning, he is one of those people with a very easy to read personality, he’s a very open book, he doesn’t seem at all like a secretive person and from what I’ve seen of Way V from their YouTube channel and their variety show he doesn’t seem to be able to lie well, I feel like if he was anything other than straight there will have been a dead give away now.
He’s very close with all of the members and I know he definitely isn’t as physically affectionate and seems a lot less comfortable with skinship than the other members but he did grow up in Germany and in European countries like Germany, France and the UK, although boys are still slightly physically affectionate and mess about they definitely do not have the level of skinship that I see displayed between men in Asia. Maybe it’s because of the more open views and acknowledgement of lgbt relationships in many european countries, people don’t want to be mistaken and thought to be in a relationship and it’s something that’s just never really been a part of modern European culture, again skinship does still exist but just not to the same extent which is why I think Yang Yang is less physically affectionate.
Again he’s very close with Ten and I do think that he has a very brotherly bond with him, I think as they’re the two members who haven’t really grown up in Chinese culture in WayV and grew up with very different lifestyles and views to the other members they just became extremely close. Ten really seems like a big brother to Yang Yang, if ten is openly gay amongst his members I can’t imagine YangYang having an issue with it, again he grew up in Germany and although homophobic attitudes still exist there it’s a fairly progressive country and the over all opinion on LGBTQ+ people and relationships is quite progressive. I do not think his closeness with Ten suggests anything about his sexuality, I do just think he has a very special bond with him.
I can’t exactly picture Yang Yang in any relationship other than a heterosexual one, once again much like Jeno he reminds me of a very stereotypical teenage boy, we haven’t yet gotten to see his interactions with female idols or his reactions to their performances however I do think he is very much attracted to women and that would be evident if we did get to see his interactions with women more. I’ve never really got any particular vibe from Yang Yang, he’s never really showed any type of interest to the same gender, there’s nothing questionable about his relationships with any of the members, I do think he’s very much straight and I don’t have much else to say about him as it seems to be a pretty common opinion.
- Caitlin
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(No big opinion but I do agree with straight Yangyang - Dan)
☆Chenle - Bisexual (Gay?)
Chenle does give off some LGBT vibes. I don’t think he’s fully gay, but I don’t think he’s fully straight, either. I’m a bit unsure about him right now, but I do think that the possibility of him questioning himself and experimenting to find answers isn’t too far-fetched.
While he may still be a bit young, I don’t think he’s so young to the point that he has no idea what he is/might be into. At his age, most people have imagined what it would be like to be with the same sex, and I do think Chenle has entertained that idea and has found that he isn’t completely turned off/repulsed by it. -Helen
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I think Chenle is a member I personally struggled to settle on a decision for the most, honestly I think he’s gay but in extreme denial, I’m not sure what it is about him but there’s just something. I cannot at all picture him being romantically involved with a girl (lmao watch him be dating one) but that’s just my personal opinion, I do think maybe he’s realised, he’s 2 years older than me and I feel like I’m pretty self aware about my sexuality and at my age is really when experimenting starts and it can obviously happen at different times for different people but I wouldn’t be surprised if it already has for him. He’s very close with Felix of stray kids and I’m only saying this because Chenle seems, like Jisung, to have found it difficult to make friends, I’ve not really heard him talk much about his childhood friends and I’ve rarely seen him interact with other idols his age however him and Felix are extremely close now, and I believe Felix to be bi, I’m not saying that this is why they’re friends but it could definitely be a possibility, a lot of idols are in “glass closets” so most people in the industry know of their orientation and maybe Chenle felt like he could trust Felix a lot and felt comfortable with him? It’s just a possibility and something I’m theorising in no way is it fact.
Another thing I want to comment on is his perception of “manliness” and “being a man”, Chenle very frequently seems to use phrases that are quite stereotypical to men, I do think he has progressive views however I also think he was brought up in a very rich, traditional Chinese family with very traditional and possibly conservative values. I do not think he has or experienced the same kind of “toxic” masculinity as Mark however I do think it’s very much there, Chenle seems to try to act a certain way in front of the camera, he’s very loud, lively and “cool” but I do think there’s moments where you can just see that although that’s him, it is just one side of his personality, he actually seems quite reserved and vulnerable at times, I think it’s seen a lot more on live broadcasts as although they’re scripted they don’t get edited and shot again. I do think there’s extreme internal homophobia from Chenle, I think maybe he is conflicted with his feelings and values, he probably grew up surrounded by values that are very heteronormative, I don’t think he’d ever really accept himself, ultimately I can see him probably trying to ignore that part of himself for a very long time. I think that may change as Korea is slowly progressing, but the entertainment industry has probably progressed a lot quicker than the rest of society and I think as he grows more and becomes more accustomed to this he may accept himself more?
Honestly I’m not really sure I just don’t think he’s straight, he definitely falls somewhere on the spectrum, as for him and Jisung I mention that in Jisung’s analysis.
- Caitlin
☆Jisung - Straight/Curious/Questioning
I don’t really think Jisung is going to end up being anything other than straight. He’s 18, and that age, people usually have a pretty good idea of what they’re into. With Jisung, I feel like he’s figured out that he doesn’t like men in that way, but he doesn’t mind being affectionate sometimes, either. He is the maknae, after all.
He’s super disinterested when the other members are doing fanservice, and it’s definitely in the ‘I’m so done’ type of way. It’s pretty obvious that he’s not a fan of touching/being unnecessarily affectionate with other guys, and because of that, I kind of got the hint that he’s not into guys.
Although the point of these analyses are to settle on a possible sexuality for a member, another part of them is to explore what other possibilities there might be. Something I’d like to bring up again is his age, and the possibility that his reactions to his members engaging in skinship could just be due to the fact that he may be going through a ‘no homo’ phase, like most teenage boys do. So, logically, Jisung could be reacting strongly to his members kissing and hugging because he might want to do the same, but feels uncomfortable wanting/doing it because he might be afraid of what people say or think of him. While I may not personally agree that this might be the case for Jisung, there’s always a possibility that it is, and that someone else might agree with it and want to share their own opinions about it.
Honestly, I’d go as far as to say that Jisung is one of the straightest members of the group because I’ve never had/seen any reason to think otherwise. -Helen
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Jisung for me is honestly someone I’ve kind of related to within the group, he moved away from home at a young age and was kind of forced to grow up/ mature quicker than those his age and I’ve also been through something where I’ve had to mature a lot quicker than most people my age and we are a year apart in age too. So I’ve definitely paid a lot more attention to Jisung than any other member and I really struggle to think he’s completely straight.
I honestly think he’s more questioning or maybe curious, it’s obvious he’s into girls I have no doubt about that but for me I feel like his friendship with Chenle has a deeper layer to it. I don’t want to “ship” them and fetishise it as their friendship is amazing especially with how Chenle dropped the formalities so they could be friends, I do not think anything has happened or will happen either. It’s more how his attention or focus is always on Chenle, he looks at him in a way that I’ve not seen him look at anyone else, his stare kind of lingers on him. He puts Chenle before anybody else, he protects and cares about Chenle so much and he never looks happier than when he’s with him, and I understand that Chenle is one of his only close friends so naturally their bond would be extremely strong but even still I don’t think anybody looks at their friend that way.
Jisung is also at an age where questioning and self discovery really begins, most of my friends and people I know my age are only just starting to figure out their sexualities or are beginning to experiment and we are living in a much more progressive country than South Korea so I can imagine the process being slower for teens over there, however I do think maybe Jisung may have some form of feelings for Chenle that are hard to distinguish. When you’re going through puberty and self discovery and you have someone who’s constantly by your side, someone you’ve never had that sort of connection with there its easy for it to stir some foreign and confusing emotions, especially when they treat you with more attention than they give to anybody else and it’s bound to be slightly confusing; it’s likely that you begin to question things about yourself and become curious.
There are many cases where someone can be 99% heterosexual, never had any interest in anybody but the opposite gender, but then they form a bond with someone of the same gender that is unlike any other that they have, that person is always there constantly as a shoulder to cry on, they make them laugh like nobody else and it’s possible that they can slowly develop some sort of feelings for that person and although they aren’t usually physically attracted to the same sex or that person, that attraction can slowly develop as their feelings become deeper. That’s kind of how I see it with Jisung and Chenle but I don’t think it’s as deep, I just think Jisung genuinely would pick Chenle over anybody and maybe he is slightly questioning or confused, he only likes girls but I do think Chenle could be the exception. I know that’s a really similar case to one of my friends and Jisung kind of reminds me of him, his mannerisms and the way he acts around Chenle really does remind me of my friend who now identifies as “heteroflexible” and is in a relationship with a boy although his whole life he’s only been attracted to and interested in girls, and he still is, his partner is just an exception. Anyway that’s all I wanted to add, I do believe Jisung would only ever pursue a relationship with a girl and he and Chenle are purely just friends with an amazing connection but i wouldn’t be shocked if there’s some feelings there.
- Caitlin
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(Still don’t have a fully formed opinion on Jisung and Chenle, sorry guys :x
- Dan)
Yeah this seems pretty iffy. I highly doubt Mark would have a problem with anyone’s sexuality. Mark is just so sus. He’s always the most excited when he sees guys do skinship but is the most wary when it’s done to him like he’s trying to hide something. Very sus. Imo the people that do more skinship are confident in their sexuality and don’t really care if they’re seen as gay while the ones that do .. well.. why are they so nervous???
