It's been a span of maybe two years since I've thought of writing anything new on Jinkook. The reason for my hiatus is not just because they went into enlistment, as Jin returned last year in June, and I've been silently supporting him from afar. (I saw him on my birthday! 🎉)
Rather, I've gone through some major personal shifts that's done three things to stop me from writing - I got into my grad program of my dreams so my free time is now gone, I went through an awakening of sorts that's sent me on a personal growth journey, and I've solidified my stance on Jinkook in that I no longer feel the need to 'flush' any of my thoughts out in public. In fact, for a year, my thoughts have ceased to crowd the mind, and I've been in a happy headspace for most days since. I still have the same space carved out for Jinkook in my heart but I'm no longer feeling the need to share all of my thoughts.
With that said,
Their comeback has definitely enlivened my will to fangirl again 😂 And with the feast that jinkook had been serving to us since the start of their Arirang tour, I feel so happy watching them.
And slowly, those post ideas that have slinked into the dark are slowly starting to emerge again.
And I truly hope that everybody has been giving attention to themselves, and focusing on their own growth and expansion while still pondering about the reality of shipping Jinkook. When you upgrade your brain gadget, your system will process data more smoothly.
So Jinkook. Real or not?
Real.
How do I know?
(Will Smith meme, fucking Look At Them.) But of course, there's ways to Know. And I'm aware that will always be a bold claim as long as they don't explicitly confirm it.
I have some practical advice and some weird advice.
If you want confirmation that resonates deep within your bones, how they're hiding something you probably will not see in this lifetime, first, make peace with never seeing. And then, be ok with others not seeing what you know.
Meditation helps.
Second, watch their content in its entirety. Don't skip the other members' parts. It's fine not to catch every single thing they put out, but if you find clips of new content, it helps to look at their group dynamics. You'd find that Jinkook doesn't stand out as much as you'd want to believe they do, but then again, these days they really stand out.
Pair Run BTS with your meals ;)
Third, spend a day (or week) in other people's shoes. Like, pretend to be a shipper for a rival ship and watch their stuff, with a heart willing the clips to represent something more. And see if you find yourself triggered by moments you thought were exclusive to Jinkook, but are not; or by unexplainable things there that make you go, "ah, ok I get why someone would see that and think there two are shippable." Of course, there's the risk of wanting to smash your head against a wall or giving up on humanity when you go undercover for too long so definitely, step in slowly...
But, it really gives you perspective of how you ship and how jinkook is potentially different from others.
My silly advice is, send good vibes to Jin and Jungkook, and they might reward you by appearing in your dreams.
Ultimately, I guess I'm rooting for my brethren to be the best supporters of these two goofballs. It really helps if you know how to read them as human beings, two famous, beautiful men in a unique relationship.
Btw, was not expecting this because I also enjoy Tae and Jin interactions but taejin shippers are starting to get on my nerves. The sheer disrespect for Jk in their 'evidence'. Ugh.
So this post is strongly speculative and theory-based. Meaning that I'm reaching for the connections. But after spotting some interesting correlations between the events when placed on the same timeline, I'm putting this out there so maybe the you who's reading could take a look and tell whether there's truly a thread here.
One of my favorite YT Jinkookers moonbathingrite had made a great video that opened my eyes to the possibility of 2jin being a thing before Jin and Jungkook. (Note: she never said that they were, but did present interesting parallels between 2jin and Jinkook who came later)
2jin is the ship name for Kim Seokjin and Jin Hyosang.
Jin Hyosang, also known as Kidoh (ex-member of Toppdogg), used to be a BigHit trainee and was in the same underground rap group (DamNamhyup) as RM. He was actually in one of the final lineups for Bangtan (based off a poster) but joined Stardom Ent. some time in late 2012. The likeliest reason for switching agencies probably had to do with creative issues since BTS did go through a major revamp before debut - the original lineup of 'rappers only' eventually turned into a choreography heavy, idol group.
Kidoh was able to start releasing mixtapes with his new members in March and April of 2013, and later debuted officially in October. If you look at Toppdogg's debut album, Kidoh had writing credits on almost every single one of them. He even had a solo track, which was a major indicator of how much the agency was planning on pushing him.
Kidoh's connection to Jin is one of the rarer K-Pop phenomenons I've seen - fans shipping two male idols from different rookie groups right out the gate. This was mainly bolstered by Kidoh's fans all being acutely aware of how extremely infatuated he was with Jin, and Kidoh's encouraging responses. There was even something of a love triangle being touted back in 2013 between Kidoh, Jin and Rap Monster 😐 Ancient times were different 😺
So fan spectacle aside, how credible was 2jin being an actual item?
Truthfully, not very much.
Because the affection was simply too lopsided to call it a relationship. Kidoh seemed enamored by Jin but Jin was generally aloof and cavalier in return. Of course, you could argue that Jin had always been a master of disguising his emotions but taking into account their careers at the time, it would have been impossible to date anyway (even if they wanted to).
For a more comprehensive history on 2jin's social media interactions, you could check out this 2jin blog - here
(look at the number of notes under each post...considering the small fanbases att and this being the international side, it's impressive)
And if interested, here's an overview of predebut BTS - reddit
And if you're wondering why I'm bringing an ex-idol/trainee/friend into the picture, stay with me :)
Jin moved into Bighit's dorm on July 29, 2012 and the very next day, Kidoh tweeted about Jin:
When Jin...or maybe not Jin, tweeted using the group account at the end of 2012:
Kidoh possibly already left BigHit by then
Commenting on a post by BTS_twt with a candid snap of Jin:
Kidoh's tweets about Jin were always harmless but had just that unnecessary hint of... attentiveness?
So with these social media traces, his affection for Jin was known since their trainee days. He had left enough crumbs online for the shippers to gather rapidly in their debut year.
On a related note, it's amusing how there's essentially no traces of Kidoh and Namjoon's friendship despite these two being in the same underground rap group far longer than either ever knew Seokjin. Joon was there the whole time and yet, there's no signs of the rappers knowing each other. In fact, they barely interacted during their special collab stage for Show Champion in 2014.
And it might have been fine to label his affection for Jin as overly-affectionate-best-friend feels, but Kidoh definitely toed the line at times:
One more picture! Gay goosebumps..
And maybe Seokjin was also aware of the possibility of Hyosang being romantically interested in him because
Fan:
Seokjinnie oppa! Who is Jin Hyosang to oppa?
Jin:
not gay
haha
TBH I had doubted the credibility of the post it at first because I found it on a 2015 tweet:
But I did spot this translation from way back in 2013:
Jin's response is incredibly telling of the whole situation because first of all, he had to be aware of what the fans were thinking when they asked him the question. Secondly, he skipped over several thoughts to arrive at 'I'm not gay' because the question wasn't asking if he was??
(and the response is so deeply closeted iykwim)
Meanwhile Kidoh was on another wavelength:
Q: What is Seokjin-shii for Hyosang?
K: Destiny
Personally... I've heard best friends refer to each other as 'soulmates' before, but never 'destiny'. His answer seemed to imply another layer to their friendship.
Another interesting aspect of 2jin was the way Jin used to tweet about Kidoh, where his habits later carried over when he was tweeting about Jungkook.
For example, Jin would add his name to the end of a sentence:
I am too, fascinated-jin #kimseokjinhyosang
@/BTS_twt My friend is debuting, its fascinating-jin..
Jin's tweet for Jk's birthday in 2013:
Jungkook-ah Hyung will always be on your side I love you-jin Happy Birthday!
It's like his little watermark to say he was the one who tweeted.
And that hashtag #kimseokjinhyosang conjoining the two of their names <3
That's a thing Jin once did during mid-2016 on the day of Jinkook's waterpark date.
Seokkookie
And of course it's cuter when Jin did it for Jk and himself, because it was half and half of their names. He will cram them together even if none of the alphabets are the same ❤️
These little things that Jin would do for his closest person/friend remained constant but of course, the two relationships were probably not of the same nature.
The difference mainly being Jin - his attitude towards Hyosang and Jungkook was like if you compared night and day.
Indifference vs great affection.
Here's another set of 2jin post its famous for the contrast:
Q: What do you like about BTS' Seokjinie oppa??
K: Lips .. (Shy)
The similarity of his answers to our younger protagonist is surreal.
...And here's Jin's answer to the same question posed of Kidoh:
Q: Hyosang said he likes your lips the most. What do you like the most about Hyosang?
J: Money
He's consistent. Still focused on moneys when it comes to other people 🤣😋
Other than these traces of the 2jin friendship, you can explore their lore further on the blog linked above. You'd understand what I meant by how Kidoh 'encouraged' the shippers. Jin lived rent free on his mind.. he got mentioned even when Kidoh was interacting with fans on entirely unrelated topics. It didn't seem like fan service because the moments were so random and neither of them seemed to actually care about the reaction.
There's also some Yt compilations comparing how similar 2jin's personalities were, both a little eccentric, loud and confident about their looks. It is easy to tell why they clicked.
So it's interesting how Kidoh appeared rather infatuated with Jin.. which Jungkook's attitude resembled at times. Everything else aside, his focus on Jin lasted throughout their trainee period together up to the last second of their fallout.
Considering how forward Kidoh was and how they'd still meet each other backstage at music shows, it's certainly possible that members of both teams had observed 2jin's interactions and knew about their close friendship. And for someone who was in close proximity to Jin and paid him a lot of attention, he might know they're close and perhaps had wondered about the nature of the two 92-liners' relationship.
The fallout seemed to happen out of the blue.
On November 8, 2014 Jin and Kidoh still seemed fine and had taken a selfie together
And on Jin's birthday, Kidoh tweeted a polaroid of themselves and a short message:
Isn't it funny how they looked like twins
Then before the year could come to an end, BTS_twt was discovered to have unfollowed Kidoh.
Shippers who were watching 2jin's moves saw that Kidoh also deleted many of his posts related to Jin. Following this, on Christmas Eve he tweeted:
Lamenting how he was single and surrounded by couples.
Whether it's actually related to Jin or not, I can't say. But the timing of the tweet did coincide with his abrupt disconnection from Jin. And sadly these two had never interacted, or at least publicly, ever again after December 2014.
And on a very loosely related note, Jungkook had posted his cover of Crush's Sofa on Dec 16 that year
Which was a melancholic breakup song speaking from the perspective of someone who's clearly been dumped.
As armys we know more than to dismiss the lyrics of Jk's cover songs right... so the timing of this cover seemed pretty interesting in the scheme of things.
So that's something to think about there.
My own loose theory is that there was something more than friends there going on but not enough to call it an official relationship. And for the sudden 'breakup', it could be anything. Maybe it was business - had to do with Kidoh's lawsuit that surfaced half a year later, or personal - a failed confession... the possibilities are whichever you believe in. (My dream is for Seokjin to publish an autobiography at the age of 40 and spill all the tea) As for how Jk fits in... I have no idea how much he knew (did he ever ask or did Jin ever tell), but that lil cover showed he was probably aware of events in this arena.
LOL Didn't I say that I was reaching 😋
And unfortunately, the story for Hyosang kind of kept going downhill for a while. The following year, he filed a lawsuit against his agency for mismanagement of his career, and then in 2016, was convicted for drug use along with ex-Bighit trainee Iron.
After the ordeal, he returned to the industry as a producer for AOMG and almost exclusively produced for Woo (Woo Wonjae). He's under the new monicker Khyo now. That lasted for about 2 years and more recently, he doing DJ gigs at festivals.
So he's up and still doing music 🙌
This ended in a sort of somber note with the lost connection between 2jin....
But the silver lining to it is that both of them are living well, and I'm not a 2jin shipper 👻✨
Back for more Jinkook shenanigans. I will always be back. 😇
And it somehow panned out because now's the perfect timing to talk about that side of Jungkook. Haha 🙂 I started this when Seven's teaser came out and now it's a whole two months later. Hello 3D.
Did a long (and rambling) post that spans across events in 2 and a half years. Like a highlight reel of some content that sit on the same arc. Like any other unconfirmed phenomena in the world, we can only look at what's presented and draw our own inferences.
Side note:
The title of this post progressed from 'Who Confessed First' to 'Hyung Wait For Me' to the dried-up 🦑 I have now because recently I had felt like there's a need to highlight this aspect of Jinkook. The need had always been there actually.. but simply giving lectures and pep talks on why people should stop seeing Jinkook in that particular light only ends up with me becoming an internet rando screeching into the void. I'd rather Jinkook screech at everyone instead (if only they would). So I spend a good chunk of time trying to finding the lens that just showed what I saw, and that's as far as I'm going to go lol
But along the lines of my original heading pertaining to the confessor.. Sure, there could've been no confession, no relationship, no underlying feelings whatsoever... but there could be ;)))
Please note that I will be using their Korean ages here as that's what they went by back then. Koreans are counted as a year old from the moment they are born, and everybody gets this additional year added to their ages at the beginning of the year, no matter when they're born during. SK had only recently (?) abolished this system.
⚠️ Smexy allusions ahead. (Appropriately, of course)
Every country has its own determined legal age and for South Korea, that's 20 years old. (I resist the strong urge here to insert my manifesto here that physical age ≠ mental age and that the lack of standardization where this line should be drawn is precisely why it is an unrelia- look at that just dug myself a shallow grave 🙂)
Fans all knew when Jeon Jungkook turned 20 because a whole shindig was thrown (by the members) about it - started in late 2015 and lasted all the way to the end of 2016.
So he was excited, the members were excited, and the fans were excited. And it's funny how the reason behind everyone's excitement was similar but not the same. Not the same.
These are events that transpired within the period between Danger (2014) and Fire (2016).
For in the years that BTS glowed up, there was an invisible line some were eagerly waiting to leap over, while others were blissfully or perhaps warily unaware(?) of those intentions. Before yall jump my throat and accuse me of shielding my bias, please calmly read on. (I think he bite off more than he could chew.)
For after the clock struck midnight on Dec 31 2015, the light turned green. And it'll become very clear very fast who was watching that second hand like a hawk, and who still perfunctorily giving head pats.
Anyway, hopefully from this account some can stop with the unnecessary berating of Jinkook's age difference as a ship because there was a very strong one-sided motivation to move things along.
In 2014 (not yet, smexy thoughts go to 🚓)
140612 Kkul FM
Jin: "Wait, how is everyone in our group an adult except Jungkook, that doesn't make sense"
Jk: "I-I-I will quickly become an adult too"
Jungkook was only 18 years old here. Still growing in height, had bunny teeth, full of energy and overall, still a kid.
And the point is that he was about 1.5 years away from becoming an 'adult' in SK.
The only real difference that bit of time made was that legally, Jk would be able to do some 'adult' things. For example, drinking, driving, clubbing, signing a legal document without a guardian signature.
But in terms of actual physical and mental growth, a period of 1.5 years does not guarantee nor indicate a measurable amount of change. (BTW Vmin at this time were still 18 years old internationally but already considered legal in SK. I know, it's trippy.)
Now when Jin made that comment "that doesn't make sense", it really stood out fer tow reasons.. 1. Per my logic it's as if to Jin, Jk already seemed like an adult in his eyes or maybe in comparison to the rest, he should be qualified to count as one. (I kinda agree, childish loud and extra, all of them)
2. Also, everyone was yelling commentary on Jk's growth - he's in high school, going through puberty, taller in height... but nobody else was fazed about Jk not being an adult. Members almost seemed to have the exact opposite POVs of Jin's.
Ew bro is growing up vs Compared to you people he's not grown yet??
Right because somehow, there had always been a disconnect between how Jin viewed Jk and how other members viewed Jk.
Few other examples include~
Jin pointed to JK first then Jk followed suit. His face looked like a whole question: "Me?"
Btw, we have an excerpt of Jimin supporting Jin's choice but it's clear Rap Monster was still number one in 🐥's heart👆🏼:
But Jin was alone on this take here:
obsessive, timid, and the worst dresser..glad bts got theses roasts out of their system back then if not you'll be seeing trucks outside hybe if it happened now
And 'obsessive' seemed like a great descriptor for Jk because Jin seemed to have been on the receiving end of a lot of 'obsession'..:
140414 Sukira Kiss the Radio
Jin was the number one victim of Jk's sad boi serenades
"He keeps practicing but he keeps singing in someone's ear..." Suga said, concealing the identity of the affected.
"..my ears will just burst," Jin then bragged complained.
Overall, Jin was perceiving a whole other Jungkook from the rest of the members.
And 2015 rolled around. ( No 🔞 still 🚓)
For the below video.. I had a terrible time looking for it because logically, my brain said it should have happened some time near the end of 2015 and was probably released in early 2016. Because the video is of Jk, in the middle of a hectic warm-up session, asking the members to say a few words to him who is spending the last days of his teens. Ah youth, it flies away so fast-
Nope. When I finally found it I was both surprised and surprised. Filmed ? and released in April. It was barely second quarter... last days? You've got eight months left... JK??
150430 Jungkook who's in his 10s ask his hyungs (0:27 for Jin)
What Jin said to him: "Well, for 10s... firstly you can't drive. After you reach the 20s you can drive. Hyung can drive now, envious right? (JK: yes, I'm envious 😂) You've worked hard."
Now there's nothing very special about this.. Jin's answer was short and sweet, about driving.... and he really just "said a few words" to Jk like he was asked. Very casual. Quite cavalier. Regardlessly, his cool attitude and dry 'blessing' still elicited giggles from Jk.
So returning to my issue with the date of filming, Jk made a selfcam in the MIDDLE OF 2015 asking everyone to say a few words to him who was leaving his teen years. The timing was so incredibly random. Later on I figured.. that it's possibly the staff's idea for the selfcam. 'Last days of his 10s' would be on theme for their HYYH series and there was also the giant album logo on the bottom...
Either way, it doesn't matter who came up with the idea for this content. Because it served as our official entrance into the saga and promptly highlighted Jk's coming of age. A reallllllly long one that should've only been a day's celebration and a couple of after mentions (like for Vmin), but wasn't.
150611 Kkul FM
In June, BTS had moved into a new dorm, released HYYH Pt.1 and were finally tasting a bit of success. No longer squished into a single bedroom, they now had roommates 🦑🎊
So it appeared that most were happy with the new arrangements and Jin was definitely one of them😚as he voluntarily started sharing what activities he did with Suga:
Jin started off talking about the logistics of the activity regarding the beds
To which Jk's question leaped out by reflex:
"You sleep (together)?" Not a second of thought.
And his tone, teehee wow... and too, watch his hands even after Jin reassured him that sleeping was not involved.
Also, the group of satisfied roomies didn't seem to include Jk because:
Jk and Tae were the only two who innocently raised their hands. (btw I have reason to suspect Tae wanted to share a room with Sin too.)
I love how Officer Min was interrogating the suspect, "What is it he(you) likes so much then?"
It's pretty clear there's a specific room Jk was gunning for and how all his teasing hyungs knew which one and why.
Game consoles was a big clue, and the eldest hyung in the corner thinking, nodding and going "Ah" softly when he heard Jk say "It's game consoles"... I could write a short fic on how 2015 Jin had rising suspicions but didn't dare to go there, and was momentarily relieved when he heard the maknae give a convincing answer for his frequent visits to his bedroom. But I won't.
150702 Sukira Kiss the Radio
Jk's coming of age was also brought up on a radio show in July. The host Ryeowookie had asked,
"Getting my license" JK answered. Something Jin did mention before in that practice room interview, but it's such a normal answer we can't say he was influenced by Jin.
Then Ryeowook went on to ask Jk if he wanted to become an adult or stay in his 10s...
When Ryeowook asked if he still wanted to enjoy his teens Jk went oh no immediately, he wanted to become adult
..but (oh?).. he watched a movie recently (ok..) and there were a lot of driving scenes. (????)
? OK.
I can relate to Jk's terrible use of conjunctions when attempting to lie on the spot.
Jk used to be a greenhorn at lying (he's all grown now) and couldn't commit fully to the lie, so he'd take really long to answer and what came out would sound like nonsense.
In this situation, it actually seemed like an alright answer because Ryeowook had no idea just how eager Jk was. Sure, a movie with a lot of driving scenes could in theory make a person eager to be legal and start tokyo drifting. However, it won't be long before Jk reveals his true intentions to the world. 👇
Also truly, I don't think Mad Max would have inspired someone to want to start driving. If you check dates, this banger came out at just about this time.
151224 Simply K-Pop - Some Questions About BTS
It's really, really close to the end of 2015 now.. and the start of 2016 when Jk could be officially counted as an adult on Jan 1.
And I was a bit taken aback at that time when I first saw the video because there were no warning signs for what he did when he did.
Jimin was the one who read the fan question, "Isn't Jungkook turning 20 years old soon? Please express your feelings with your entire body."
Jungkook: it's my f*cking time to shine 😃😏🥴🚓🈲🔞
That expression!! arm movements,!? and swagger?!! Goodness gracious👵🏻 He nailed the -thuggy old perv entering a strip joint ready to tear it up-
Just to make it clear why he was excited about becoming an adult:
Innocent little ol' me was going "is that allowed on TV??"
And amidst all the laughing men, one stiff alpaca seemed a little uncomfortable with Jk's boldness:
(small smile, fidgeting, shaking pupils)
I mean. Who was that sleazeball that took over Jk's body?? This act was just a tad too transparent...
It's a howling declaration of what he thought of when he thinks 'adult'.
151223 KBS Gayo Daechuje X BTS Vlive
The year was really drawing to a close and on a live broadcast for KBS' year-end show, again, Jk decided to remind us of his questionable intentions after becoming legal.
The hot topic of the year was again cued:
He mentioned his desire for driving and also...
Jungkook: "I believe everybody already knows what"
No, we don't know SAY IT
If Jin had seemed cavalier in April, he definitely was paying attention to Jk's coming of age on the last day of 2015.
To think that this friend will soon become an adultㅠㅠ Our makdoongie will become an adult soon too. Please stay as a makdoongie to hyung for a long long time, you muscle man
(cr. Sihyun @ bts_trans)
A side note: Jin posted this message 16 minutes after midnight on Dec 31.
Oh the times back then. I wasn't a Jinkooker but I was always weirdly extra fond of their posts together. And was always somehow expecting them to do these posts showing how close they were, because I knew they were, yet astonished when they did. Shipper me today is like, yeah, dumbass. You a shipper you just didn't know it yet.
151231 MBS Gayo Daechukje
Finally, they crossed over to 2016 on stage at the end of the year and the MC had cued Jungkook to say a few words after becoming an adult. I would think there's at least one or two other idols on stage who were turning twenty in 2016 but he was the only one asked. Like I said, the shindig had been thrown all year long and everyone knew.
And it's funny that it's Jin's zodiac year too, along with Ken and Sandeul's.
After getting off stage, Jk tweeted too about becoming legal
I’m twenty
To think that I’m twenty
To be honest, it doesn’t feel like it but.. I feel good anyways
ARMYs wouldn’t like it right heheheuhahahe e hahe
ARMY, I love you and I hope you treat us well this year as well
(cr. Sihyun @ bts_trans)
"Armys wouldn't like it right"...... As a fan on the outside, no bb.. most were 😒creepily looking forward to it. But yeah, a few people might have preferred you stay small for longer.. one of them voiced that very sentiment the day before.
And then it finally arrived for real.
🌟2016🌟
(Actually nothing here really prompts smexy thoughts. I lied.)
Dumdum dunnnnnn.
If you thought they were lowkey and subtle this year, you're wrong. And I'm only referencing bits that are relevant to this arc. A Lot Was Going On All Year Round. anyways.
~January~
Hanako vol. 1101 Jin and Jungkook's interviews (cr. kimmyyang)
Q: Use a simple sentence to describe the member is a _______ man.
Jin about Jk: An old-looking maknae
Jk about Jin: A big brother from the church
Alright, I don't know about you but those statements just sounded mysterious and wrong (?).
Jungkook looking old? Jin from church? People are still calling Jk baby star candy today, Jk from 2016 DID NOT look old. Objectively speaking.
Jin, from the church? He's elegant and well-mannered sure but when you say someone looks like they're from church, it usually points to their conservatism.
And as far as my BTS lore goes, Jin's family is buddhist. (fact check me :))
So Jk could have let us in a little bit on their um.. progress. And the interview was likely done during end of 2015. I'll boldly presume someone drew a clear line that even if it be days remaining, it's still a matter of law and order. Wait it out buddy.
160124 2nd Muster
If you still recall that there's a plot, it looked like one person was facing difficulty in making progress even after the clock struck midnight.
Thanks to Jin secretly showing off publicly complaining, we learned about a tenacious youth's struggle:
to take over Jin hyung's bed.
Allow me to swoon for a moment 🤗 I'm deeply consoled by Jk's heart on his sleeves nature. Look at him, going from just learning about Sin's nighttime movie dates to proactively taking Jin's bed before he arrives home.
From Jin's complaint, It was clear that Jungkook was taking the initiative and Jin was more passive in seeking the other out after hours.
When questioned from all sides, Jk created a smoke screen:
The carpet...hm mentioning the carpet. And how many of you were like me, immediately giving him the benefit of the doubt that he only slept on the carpet, not the bed? :/
Note how he brought up the carpet but couldn't go through with the whole lie and never once said he 'slept' on the carpet. The carpet was, just there in the room. It's really not relevant at all.
And Jin's response cleverly made it seem like the carpet was indeed a real factor in Jk's nightly visits. I'm intrigued because he knew (everyone knew) Jk was lying, but he feigned ignorance and played along with Jk's terrible excuse...which leads one to think Jin isn't as passive as he tried to appear.
160612 Kkul FM
The topic of Jk being an adult came up again during this festa, reasonably so because it is the year that it finally happened. This time around, the topic was also part of the script.
There's nothing substantial from this conversation that contributes to the arc, but their responses were so candid and hilarious:
SG: "Jungkook was 15 years old when we met but now he's a full grown man."
RM: "That's gross"
JK: "My chin split"
RM: "Your chin split?"
JK: "It's split here."
J: "Euhheuheuhahaheuhaheuhaha"
Idk about chins splitting once the state recognizes you as an adult, but brownie points to Jk for thinking that's correlated.
Sometimes I think his dude logic is part of his cutie star charm 🧚🏼♂️
Bon Voyage season 1 ep. 1
Can't miss this episode where their first dinner in Bergen was all about Jungkook's adult ceremony party:
All the hyungs had it in mind and were going to throw a surprise party for Jk after cooking dinner. Everyone was pretty excited:
RM led the song, Jimin gave JK birthday slaps and Jhope was the one who reminded Namjin about getting supplies.
Traditionally, the person gets three gifts for their ceremony: flowers, perfume and a kiss. As a group of dudes on an impromptu trip/variety show in a foreign country, they couldn't afford the first two.. and Jk resisted getting the third. (Honestly I could cry a little about how cute they were about preparing the candles, food and cake for Jk. It was different vibes back then)
Isn't it cute how Jin suggested cheesecake because of Jk's love for cheese 🥰
p.s. I'm spreading rumors that Jin was recreating the adult ceremony cake for Jk's birthday last year:
160517 BTS Live
This live was a bit like a debriefing and commentary on the coming of age party they celebrated the day before.
Enjoy every moment with artists on global fandom life platform Weverse.
All hyungs were teasing Jk about it, saying he's paying for the whole trip, the trip was to celebrate him, he's gonna shell the airplane tix..
And then Jin cut in while Jhope was very kindly telling Jk who bought the cake
The translators didn't sub it but Jin suggested a game to pick a member to kiss Jk
You can't take Jin seriously here 🤣 from head to toe, you could tell he was just teasing the maknae.
However. This question. Made Jk fall into a momentary daze.
He froze for about 3 seconds. Just based off this reaction I'd say they haven't kissed yet
And then gave his big 'I'm not gay hmph' lil protest ("A kiss from a guy...I would like a kiss from our fans") but that pregnant pause haha 😊 It's laden with panic. A big, straight boy would go directly into a 'no thanks bro' without a second thought.
2016 5.31-6.2 (?) BTS 3rd Birthday Party practice
Official party was over but the saga was not. It's probably because the members had started prepping for their Festa stages in late May pouring into early June, and the theme of Jk's adulthood hadn't exactly dissipated yet.
From the song choice to the style of execution, adult Jk spoke volumes:
Everyone who'd seen this practice video would agree upon noting the difference between Jk and Jm when they were dropping like it's hot.
Because Jimin exhibited what is called modesty and Jk showed lack thereof.
Both were smiling but one was embarrassed and the other was reveling in it.
That haughty side look and the casual walk off
We already know Jk was the one who picked the song and that the original was banned on music shows for its explicitness.
In the lyrics, the speaker was bluntly and figuratively saying to a person older than them - it was finally legal for them to 🌹🔞, the wait was over.
So there's debate over Jimin's participation in this dance number that Jk had chosen it with Jimin in mind, but think about it from this angle, 'target' audience has to be in the audience. Whoever he's thinking of, if he's thinking of someone at all, they've got to be watching from the seats.
Anyways, later on during the rehearsal, members all got to take turns watching each other perform.
And notably, Jin's comment asking "Was this originally supposed to be such a powerful performance" really revealed which member he was focused on during the show.
Additionally, the only time Jk showed a hint of modesty was when he was air thrusting and couldn't help breaking into a smile in the middle of the performance.
Kookie, you clearly thought of something while doing that motion.
Hip thrusting wasn't merely a dance move to him. And it's not a reach because he's precisely shown how aware he was of this aspect of life from [see above]
Osaka
After their festa, the celebration tapered off and there weren't any more direct mentions of how adult Jk was.
But of course, soon the banger Blood, Sweat and Tears dropped, boosted our numbers and drove everyone feral.
The creative team had seized the opportunity to switch up BTS' image from innocent, angsty youth in HYYH to the sensual, matured one in Wings. The team was able to move onto new pastures since Jungkook turned legal. This sudden change in concept and leap in their growth was very obvious in real-time.
And if the story seems rather skewed because Jin wasn't an active participant... it's cause Jk was the only one constantly reminding everyone he's almost legal, half a year more to go, few more days, LEGAL WOOOOOO, so legal, legal af, going to burn this fact into your mind.
As a Jin stan, I have to say his side of the story is a little bit more flat. There wasn't much progression in how he viewed Jk because as it appeared, Jk was already a manly man in his eyes since early 2014. Not in the adult sense, just personality-wise. Like mentioned before in some other post, Jin's a lot more consistent in the way he shows affection for Jk. If he was teasing and doting before 2016, he still was after.
For clues on how Jin's perception of Jk shifted, it may be better to look at how differently he began treating other members compared to Jk, pre and post-2016. Yes, our don't-touch-me Jinnie is only a saint that appeared after 2016.
And on a final note, I know I went on several mini rampages there on the isolated events so the saga may only seem remotely related based on Jk's coming of age....but you'll notice, it's the little things, their reactions, the slow progression and the hint of awareness... everything just tells us there's more happening beneath it all.
I haven't done a real post in so long TT I miss writing!! I vowed to do some properly this week but forces of the universe are at work to stop me (fever...forgot my hard disk...broke my laptop :')) But I finally got a few days of vacation! YAY! What better to do when sick and free, than to write about Jinkook eh?
So I'm doing a shorter (?) post on something I don't think I've seen many people commenting on. Of course, I could be chronically overthinking if I'm the only one that picked it up? haha. 🙂
JinJunMin~ Making Salad (3.13.2021)
Enjoy every moment with artists on global fandom life platform Weverse.
Anyways, this instance is rather loosely connected to Jungkook 🧚🏼♀️
For context and relevancy:
BTS were frequently doing unit Vlives after they were grounded since the start of 2020. They had less public activities so 'prescheduled' Vlives were an avenue for them to see fans, and for fans to see them. Sometimes the Vlives were fun because the members were absorbed into doing the activity of the day, other times it's fun when they find camaraderie in their shared reluctance to be there.
This salad making session demonstrated the latter - Jin already ate before the live, Minimoni were not salad fans so this trio by all means were just attending as part of their jobs. Happy to be there? That's asking too much lol.
For more specific context, the trio had been on the verge of an argument fallen into silence several times and were giving each other a hard time randomly jumping from topic to topic throughout the live.
When Jin was sarcastically hyping up the plate of chicken breast to the camera, RM abruptly decided to ask him how he had been doing.
The question seemed to stump Jin for a few moments,
Jin was stuttering, stalling, and racking his brain for something to say, then eventually landed on a work schedule as his answer. Then Jimin and Namjoon both chimed in about how they've been practicing for Grammys and actually saw each other the day before.
An assumption on my part, but Jin likely first thought about the section of his life that Namjoon didn't know about - off-work hours - and was filtering through for what he could talk about. I think gaming could have been a great answer. But Jin was caught off-guard, so I don't know if that affected his fibbing skills.
It could be something or could be nothing.
But the following in the middle of the live was quite the interesting convo:
The conversation had stopped and started a few times by now and Jin was filling in by talking about something salad related.
He brought up how some of the other members had salad recently.
Namjoon was paying close attention to what Jin was saying because he parroted him when he listed "Yoongi" and "Jungkookie"
RM: (nodding and repeating) "...Jungkookie."
And after a brief second of contemplation, Namjoon went ahead and asked, "Hyung, don't you have any concerns lately?"
Jin seemed to immediately know what he was referring to and answered, "For concerns, there's just the one thing."
Jimin seemed in the know about this as well.
Humming in agreement, nodding and suppressing a grin.
By now Jin had laid down his chopsticks. I think he knew what Joon was referring to. It was a pretty vague question, but it seemed like it had a pointed answer.
However since Jin didn't elaborate, Namjoon probed further.
If you've watched enough BTS interviews, you'd know the signs instantly whenever they all simultaneously think of something they can't say on camera and start smiling like weirdos.
Jin was still chewing but he was gearing up. He's about to say it.
As he went, "Of course," ...
that was met with instant censorship from Jimin ("Let's just stop, hyung").
I also noticed Namjoon's knowing expressions while he was waiting and listening:
Annnnnd of course, we don't get the real answer from Jin who said,
"I don't have Army in front of me during concerts."
Joon was laughing after hearing the line. Jimin also hadn't looked at the camera once since this conversation started.
And we know Jin just lied improvised a new answer because he retorted back at Joon,
There is another answer. There is another 'concern'.
He almost said it 🤌🏼 Just let it all go and say it Seokjin.. what's there to hide 😩
After Jin gave his answer, RM decided not to probe further since he knew the nature of that other answer. It can't be said anyway. So they agreed on 'armys not being there in person as a very important concern'.
And Jin of course turned the tables on Joon when he could
Ok, whatever this 'concern' was, it's very specific and I guess RM also had a similar ongoing issue that Jin knew about?
So to recap:
Jin mentioned Yoongi and Jungkook's names, Namjoon heard, repeated Jungkook's name and suddenly posed the question 'any recent concerns'.
Jin did have a major one which apparently everyone (but us) knew about. And it can't be said on camera. And the thought of it makes them giggle.
Lastly, RM seemed to have a similar concern.
So 🙂 I don't have an answer for what the mystery concern is, but I do have ideas. They are probably similar to your ideas right now. Or maybe we all have no idea.
But wouldn't it be funny if one of us was right ;)
Ultimately, if you want any take aways from this cryptic conversation, is that they tend to giggle a lot whenever they touch on topics related to ermhmm, taboo topics. It's not sad, dark or serious, but taboo. What else could it be.
So recently my real life took over for a while and I didn't have enough time to write on tumblr...whilst my thoughts and feelings on Jinkook had switched up a few gears in this short period of time.
I was rereading through my drafts and kept thinking to myself, ok this one is outdated, this one is too safe... and realized oh dear, I've gotten a lot more sure of myself on this shipping business. I guess this is what happens when you sit and stew in one certain place for too long. Not that it's bad :) I just am so insanely ok with seeing Jinkook the way they are now I feel completely sane again.
I went full circle. 🧚 (or have just lost all perspective, it doesn't matter anymore :))
This is another marker post to say my posts going forth will probably have a lot more possible but unfounded claims, and probably less filtering and self-awareness. I'm letting the reins go on my ol' brain.
Its all fun and games✨️ No potentially dangerous info you'll find up here ✨️
I found it fascinating that it belongs so much to a kdrama yet happened in real life, was captured on camera, and how we were granted a rare glimpse of a pro-idol switching up his persona for someone. And that someone isn't you or me, it's an act solely for his Jin hyung.
The Jeon Kookie has edge.
160513 Sinchon fan sign
The whole fancam is worth a gander. There's quite a few Jinkook crumbs in there.
Zooming in on the moment that blows my mind every time I think about it... the full sequence starts at around 4:45 when the members prompted Jhope to do the ShyShyShy aegyo (dance move from Twice's Cheer Up).
While Hobi was being cute, Tae mischievously nudged him from behind and he fell, caught off guard. Jin instinctively grabbed Hobi trying to keep him upright but gravity was too strong for them both..
About a minute before any of this happened, Jk had just expertly maneuvered himself from Point A (between RM and Jimin) ➡️ next to Jin
His steps may say 'I'm casual' but his hands say 'It's premeditated and I'm restless'.
After 2seok dived off stage, Tae trudged over to take up the spot where Jin had been standing.
When Tae moved up, Jk stared silently at him. In response, Tae glared back at the younger one with a challenging "WHUT?". Then Jk proceeded to 'attack' Tae:
It was playful with a bit of tension that dispersed quickly. (it looked like Jk was ready to wrestle throw Tae over his leg with the final move)
Namgi on the other end cued the whole team to perform ShyShyShy at that moment so Jk dropped the fight and followed suit.
Hobi and Jin had both returned onstage by then and were also doing the aegyo.
Jhope and Jin were standing to the right of Tae now. From the above screenshots, Tae had thought of something related to the aegyo, grabbed Jin's mic to tell the fans about the small correction, and performed aegyo again on his own.
A teeny tiny glimpse of edgy Kookie first showed up here. Just focus on Jk's expression that went from unamused (when Tae took Jin's mic and started talking) to allowing a grin to spread across his face (after Jin turned to face Tae and him)
It might have looked like Jk was laughing at Tae's aegyo because both Jinkook were focused on him right?
Don't be naive 😈
The split second Jin turned his head away, Jk's laughing expression dropped,
Look at Jk's face closely and try to keep an eye on Jin's actions at the same time lol. It's so quick but it's true: Jk's smile dropped after Jin turned away.
Who was the smile for? >>>> 🐹 Duh.
But other shippers might argue, Jk's eyes were on Tae??!!?, he was smiling for Tae's aegyo!!?!
But I say, just keep watching.
BTW the first gif at the top is from the following moment - 2seok were offcam giggling together and Jk was watching them with a series of interesting expressions:
Read it how you will. There's no right answer.
(I'm waiting for Jinkook to one day do a zoom q&a where we send them clips and ask what was happening here and they tell us exactly what they were thinking. [maybe in a parallel universe.])
Then here's Jk breaking back into a smile the second Jin turned to face him and Tae again:
Look at how slick he was, making sure to turn and fix his gaze on Tae (this kiddo was just vibing out) first, then shifting slightly to meet Jin's eyes before smiling.
Pretended like he hadn't been watching Jin hyung.
So if we go by what Jin saw:
And when Jin wasn't looking:
Indeed, beware the double 🐰.
I doubt Jin watches fancams of their fansigns and mayhaps never seen this whole act by Jk before. If someone did force him to watch, he'll probably say something like "nah, he's been smiling, what are you talking about ☺️" like a Kookie solo
It is that serious though. Jungkook's only a cheerful sunny good boy for his Jin. Anybody else, he don't give a damn. Not even the fans. There's a whole bunch looking right at him. (and also us thanks to the fancam owner 🫶🏼)
Assuringly, Jk knows himself well. When concentrating on a certain one in the moment, he knows he can forget about the countless other presences watching him
You know how being too fond of something or someone can slow you way down when you're doing research on them?
I'm looking up sources, checking notes and for every minute I'm on track, I spend three more shrieking with joy and sometimes a couple of days more if I get sidetracked and want to watch the entire Run BTS series again.
Thanks for the quick take on their living situation. Love the fact that you have multiple drafts that you can prolong until 2025 ( but please don't, lol. Dying to read more about them, so don't make us suffer to wait that long. 😃)
Speaking of their living situation a bit more, I agree that there are far more risks for them, so I am kind of curious how they approach that if they are together, together in the future after military.
Hope you get the chance to discuss about the infamous vlives for JK, one where Jin hinted at sleeping and resulting JK to end recording right after, and the recent one, where drunk, chaotic Jin appeared before his enlistment. Question, did Jin stay? ( I want to say yes, but there was an indication by JK that staff was waiting for Jin).
On the note with Jin's bday live, I know some jinkookers assume that JK was there. However, I disagree. Jin wouldn't lie, and there's no reason to lie about something like that. Some also assumed that Yoongi was there because of the cat noise, but I wanted to note that Jin's friend Hyunbin has a cat, too. (So, if you want to write about Jin's bday live, please look into his gaming friend circle, who he was close with who could have also been there, cos not everyone talked about it)
Hello again! Replied a lot slower because I was struggling to push out that really long post... I told myself I'm not allowed to post anything until I get that one done. And it worked!
Not making excuses🫣 when I say I'm not prolonging anything but just have a lot of ideas for posts. I also would like to tackle the housing topic when I've got some dots connected and some substance to my opinions ;) So I have some earlier ideas I would be working on first, hope you'll stick around and have fun reading those.
The infamous vlives you're referring to are Jk's birthday vlive in 2021 and 2022 I believe.
Jk's birthday vlive 2022 with drunk Jin: I did a bit of a rambling analysis on Jin being there, here's the post if you're interested in checking it out :) Feel free to dm if you want to discuss more.
Jk's birthday vlive 2021 when Jin posted right before Jk signed off: I found it to be semi-sweet and semi-funny. Jin really told everyone he was waiting for Jk to come back to bed but since he was taking so long, Jin's sleeping first. Hmph. Meanwhile Jk had already stated 5 minutes earlier that it's going to be his 'last last last song', although he said that a couple songs ago too. Eventually their timing matched in a weird way, Jin posted the birthday message thinking Jk was going to keep going, and Jk signed off just as Jin posted 😂
What happens after the live ended is up to you to decide. Not baiting you to go delulu but really, we don't know 🤷🏻♀️
Regarding Jin's birthday vlives, I have no idea whether for the duration of the lives if Jk was there or not, because there aren't any clear indicators saying that he was. He could have been, he also could have not been. But since his presence was not felt and Jin jokingly complained about Jk being 'ungrateful' for not going over, it's fine to take Jin's word as it is. Not a big deal. The lives were like less than 25 minutes in total and Jin didn't seem super interested in staying on camera anyway. If Jk wasn't at Jin's place for those 25 minutes, I think it's fine. I wonder why some fans need Jk and Jin to be stuck together 24/7 every waking moment for the ship to be valid. Take a breather, if needed, just imagine that Jin kicked Jk out before starting the live and only let him back inside once he was done. There. Jinkook were together on Jin's birthday aside for 25 minutes that day.
Instead of the negatives or the unseen, I like to focus on the subtle and sweet. Like that heart-shaped chocolate cake front and center, which Jin 'disregarded' entirely. btw chocolate is their thing.
Besides it's not like he wasn't aware of it...he had to pull the hamster cake closer to him to light the candles then push it back to the side to show to the camera, all the while refusing to move the chocolate heart in the way. Wouldn't it be easier to light and cut the hamster cake Jinnie, if it was right in front of you the entire time? Why leave that chocolate obstacle in your way YOU CAN CLEARLY MOVE IT OR NOT EVEN SHOW IT SINCE YOU PRETENDED IT DIDN"T EXIST ANYWAY. (I actually do get worked up at times when I think about the games they're playing right in front of us. I'm lucky I actually support them. Those rascals.)
The intent to disregard the chocolate heart is further highlighted by his mention of another cake that didn't even make it to the big screen. Jin lit and hand-sliced the hamster cake prepped by the company, then verbally brought up a princess cake his neighborhood friends had brought over (no visuals), however the sizable Maraschino cherry topped, dripped with chocolate, bouncy and moist special heart-shaped bundt cake didn't even get an honorable mention. That's what makes this one special special.
And why would this cake without a name be from Jk? Watch their MAMA 2020 Bangtan Bombs✨ As always, the answers are already given.
As for the mystery cat, maybe it's a cute lil phantom haunting the members' houses. Idk if it's even real. Or maybe it's one of the staff's. I'm not that interested in following the trail of the cat noises. And if Yoongi was there, he would be on camera. Jin will make him.
Idk, not every trail is worth following if you dig. I've learnt that it's best to recognize the ship's main gives and hone in on those. Can't go after every will-o-the-wisp we see. 😉
