HUNTR/X and Honorifics
This is a repost of my original post talking about what hochingeo/호칭어 (forms of address) and hogyeok josa/호격 조사 (vocative particles added to the end of names) the girls would use with each other + bobby + celine, because looking back, I feel like I didn't explain myself clearly and thoroughly with enough context because I was feeling particularly lazy, sleep deprived and very drunk then, hence this post (if you reblogged the OG post, please kindly delete it if you can, I really hate that post now)
Glossary
-ya (-야): added to the end of the names that end in vowels, when addressing a person younger than you, informally, usually when you are close with each other [Ex: Minji-ya, Jisoo-ya]
-ah (-아): added to the end of the names ending in consonants, when addressing a person younger than you, informally, usually when you are close with each other [Ex: Soyeon-ah or Hyejin-ah]
-ie (-이): added to the end of the names also ending in consonant but cuter, when addressing a person younger than you, informally, usually when you are close with each other [Ex: Wheein-ie]
-ssi (씨): is the polite but neutral form of address added to the end of the given name who you don't have a close relationship with for familial kinship terms or just for the sake of being polite. [Example: Moonbyul-ssi]
-nim (님): is the more respectful and deferential honorific added to the end of the names of people who are authority figures, clients/customers, etc. Traditionally, this is attached to titles [Example: Daepyo-nim] but when attached to names, it's usually the full name [Example: Kim Yongsun-nim], and only attached to the given name when someone is trying to be polite or friendly [Example: Dr. Han actually did this in the movie when he referred to Rumi as Rumi-nim]
Unnie (언니): used alone or added to the end of the name when addressing a woman older than you that you are intimately familiar with it but still from around the same generation as you, think older sister or a female friend who is 1-2 years older than you, this is only used by female speakers [Ex: Joohyun-unnie]. Male speakers use Noona instead.
Oppa (오빠): used alone or added to the end of the name when addressing a man older than you that you are intimately familiar with it but still from around the same generation as you, think older brother or a male friend who is 1-2 years older than you, this is only used by female speakers [Ex: Baekhyun-oppa]. Male speakers use Hyung instead.
Imo (-이모): used alone or added to the end of the name when addressing an older woman around your parents age like a biological maternal aunt, mother's friend, or friend's mother. Imonim (이모님) is used for extra respect.
Maenijonim (매니저님): used alone or added to the end of the surname when addressing a manager (this word is specifically referring to managers in the entertainment industry).
Timjangnim (팀장님): used alone or added to the end of the surname to refer to a manager of an entire team of employees whereas maenijo specifically only look after the artist or artists they're assigned to
Seonsaengnim (선생님): used alone or added to the end of a surname when addressing a teacher, instructor or really experts in their field. This includes doctors and lawyers.
Daepyonim (대표님): Used alone or added to the end of a surname when addressing the owner or CEO of a corporation. This term is more formal and typically used in corporate settings. (Note: this usage is specific to the entertainment/K-pop industry and may differ in other business contexts.)
1. Rumi
Mira: Despite being at constant odds with Rumi halfway through the movie, Mira ultimately cares about and worries for Rumi, and does respect her as a leader and often obeys her, she only starts to question and fight with Rumi when Rumi starts becoming secretive and unpredictable. So I do think Mira would refer to Rumi as Rumi-unnie or just Unnie since Rumi is, socially (by Korean age), considered a year older than Mira despite only technically being 6 months apart, but may slip on occasion and just call her by her first name alone. When they're at work especially when in front of other people such as hosts and audiences in TV shows, radio shows, concerts, fan events, etc. Mira would refer to Rumi by her stage name – Rumi, when she's being informal, and Rumi-ssi if she's being a little more formal. And for those who think Mira would call Rumi "princess", it would be gongju (공주) or gongjunim (공주님). Though she might slip at times and affectionally call her Rumi-unnie.
Though, if they were not close at the start, like say during the beginning of their training, Mira might've referred to Rumi as Rumi-ssi at first but as they get friendlier for each other, it would switch to Rumi-unnie or just Unnie.
Or for those who imagined them having some rivalry at first, Mira could have referred to her by her full name, "Kang Rumi", with no honorific (assuming Kang is Rumi's surname), which would come across as a bit rude if they're not close yet, since it would mean Mira saw herself as an equal to Rumi instead of recognizing that Rumi is above her as her elder, enough to forgo honorifics completely.
[In the traditional Korean age system (before the law got changed in 2023), everyone is already 1 year old on the day they are born, and everyone turns a year older when new year hits which means since Rumi is born on October 23, she's 2 years old by the time April of next year comes around and Mira is born at 1 year old despite Rumi actually only being 6 months old. This also means Rumi was 3 years old while Mira was 2 years old when Zoey was born somewhere between April and October of the next year]
Zoey: Zoey would definitely call Rumi Unnie or Rumi-unnie if she has to specify between Rumi and Mira, since Rumi is a year or two older than her. When they're at work especially when in front of other people such as hosts and audiences in TV shows, radio shows, concerts, fan events, etc. Zoey would refer to Rumi by her stage name – Rumi, when she's being informal, and Rumi-ssi if she's being a little more formal. Though she might slip at times and affectionally call her Rumi-unnie.
I debated with myself on whether or not Zoey would have addressed Rumi as Rumi-ssi or Rumi-unnie or possibly even Rumi-sunbaenim, if Rumi trained for way longer before either Mira or Zoey came into the picture, when they first started training together, but I ultimately decided on Zoey jumping to using Unnie immediately since I imagine Zoey would do so with both Rumi and Mira to make herself sound as non-threatening to them as possible so they won't pick on her, still being insecure after her experience with bullying, and sound more like a maknae who really admires them and wishes to be close with them so can they be friends, please? (please don't hurt me) Maybe even more so with Rumi since Rumi is Celine's ward, and if she gets on Rumi's bad side, Rumi might tell Celine to kick her out and then she'll have no place to go, no place to belong. So she has to win Rumi over, but over time when Zoey gets assured she won't be ostracized again, Zoey calling Rumi unnie would become more natural.
Bobby: She's one of his kids (managers often refer to the idols under their care as kids when said idols are significantly younger than them) so Rumi-ya it is, and in professional settings where they have to act on formalities, Rumi-ssi. I mentioned before that he would use -nim for them, but in my sleepiness (and drunkenness), I forgot that idols are technically lower on the company hierarchy compared to their managers, and aren't clients of their managers since they tend to exude a lot of confidence and power. So that's my bad.
Celine: Rumi is Celine's child in all but blood so to her, even when distance grows in age, Rumi will always be "Rumi-ya" to Celine. And if writers want her to be particularly affectionate with Rumi, she can also call her Aegiya (애기야) which means "Baby" and for those who have Celine calling Rumi "Tiger", "Little Tiger" or "Tiger cub", etc., it would be Aegi Horangi [Aegi (애기) = Baby, Horangi (호랑이) = Tiger] or even Uri Horangi [Uri (우리) = Our/My, Horangi (호랑이) = Tiger]
2. Mira
Rumi: Since Mira is younger than her, Rumi would've addressed Mira as Mira-ya or just Mira and when they're at work especially when in front of other people such as hosts and audiences in TV shows, radio shows, Rumi would refer to Mira by her stage name – Mira, when she's being informal, and Mira-ssi if she's being a little more formal. Though she might slip at times and affectionally call her Mira-ya.
If they weren't particularly close back then when they first started, Rumi would've addressed Mira as Mira-ssi or if they're rivals and she wants to be particularly cold, Rumi could just call her Mira, to flaunt that she, as the older of the two, doesn't have to add anything to the end of Mira's name when addressing her because older people calling younger people by their name alone is socially acceptable, whereas Mira, as the younger girl, doesn't have that same privilege and has to call Rumi, unnie or Rumi-ssi, maybe Rumi even calls Mira "Mira-ya" to reinforce that she is older, Mira is younger therefore she's above Mira and not her equal. If the rivalry is one sided on Mira's end, Rumi might've used Mira-ssi until Mira feels comfortable enough to let her guard down and let Mira in. Or alternatively, just call her Mira as an in between of being polite (Mira-ssi) and affectionate (Mira-ya).
Zoey: Zoey would also call Mira Unnie or Mira-unnie if she has to specify between Rumi and Mira, and when they're at work especially when in front of other people such as hosts and audiences in TV shows, radio shows, Rumi would refer to Mira by her stage name – Mira, when she's being informal, and Mira-ssi if she's being a little more formal. Though she might slip at times and affectionally call her Mira-unnie.
I think Zoey would have also called Mira "unnie" from the start since she might've felt intimidated at first when meeting Rumi and Mira for the 1st time and by calling them "unnie" from the start, so she could make herself look more harmless and therefore more likeable, very much presenting an innocent image so that they won't find something to pick on. Though, I feel like if Mira doesn't tell Zoey that she's fine with being called unnie, Zoey might hesitate in the face of Mira's resting face. Again, once Zoey is assured that she's not going to be made fun of or alienated, she'll call Mira Unnie more naturally.
Bobby: She is one of his kids so he would call her Mira-ya, and in professional settings where they have to act on formalities, Mira-ssi.
Celine: Although they don't have the closest relationship as Celine does with Rumi, Celine would still refer to Mira as Mira-ya since that's just how kids are addressed by adults including students who are close to their teachers. In the beginning of Huntr/x's training, Celine might've refered to Mira with a more formal and polite "Mira-ssi" or her full name [Lee Mira is my headcanon] since they weren't close with each other just yet.
3. Zoey
Rumi: Zoey is their beloved maknae so of course she's their Zoey-ya (or if we're going with Korean pronounciation, their Joi-ya) or simply Zoey/Joi or if Zoey's comfortable with it, her Korean name [in my headcanon, it's Sohee] but when they're at work especially when in front of other people such as hosts and audiences in TV shows, radio shows, Rumi would refer to Zoey by her stage name – Zoey, when she's being informal, and Zoey-ssi if she's being a little more formal. Though she might slip at times and affectionally call her Zoey-ya.
I think Rumi would resort to calling her Zoey-ya not long after Zoey starts calling her unnie some time after they met, because not only does she want some closeness, but them being united is crucial for them to be hunters so if Zoey wants and feels most comfortable calling her unnie then she'll be her unnie (I also just don't subscribe to the "socially anxious awkward mess" fanon makes Rumi out to be, she is very much not that in canon. She's the one who would say "They asked for no pickles" out of the three of them). And if she has a rivalry with Mira that hasn't been resolved yet, might make herself warmer to Zoey as to not scare off at least one of her supposed soulmates and have Zoey on her side.
Mira: Zoey is their beloved maknae so of course she's their Zoey-ya (or if we're going with Korean pronounciation, their Joi-ya) or simply Zoey/Joi or if Zoey's comfortable with it, her Korean name, but when they're at work especially when in front of other people such as hosts and audiences in TV shows, radio shows, Mira would refer to Zoey by her stage name – Zoey, when she's being informal, and Zoey-ssi if she's being a little more formal. Though she might also slip at times and affectionally call her Zoey-ya.
I was debating with myself on how Mira would address Zoey at first when they aren't close and I think Mira would just call Zoey, Zoey, to signal that Mira isn't rejecting Zoey's bid for friendship (plus Zoey is younger than her), but they aren't familiar with each other yet to be affectionate.
Bobby: She is one of his kids so he would call her Zoey-ya, and in professional settings where they have to act on formalities, Zoey-ssi.
Celine: Like Mira, although they don't have the familial kinship Celine has with Rumi, she would still call Zoey, Zoey-ya, but might've addressed her as "Zoey-ssi" or her full name [Moon Sohee is my headcanon], in the beginning of their relationship since they aren't close yet.
4. Bobby
The girls: He is their oppa! Or Bobby-oppa if they have to specify. In professional settings, they might just call him maenijonim since he probably did start out as their maenijo who looked after them when they were rookies but as HUNTR/X grew, at some point he got promoted to timjang status since by the time of the movie, he seems to be in charge of HUNTR/X's style crew and handles logistics for them such as booking them a staycation, canceling Golden's live show, getting back up dancers for Takedown (before the girls discarded it), etc. but he does things a maenijo does such as bring the girls snacks so the girls would call him maenijonim because that's what they first knew him as, and it's more intimate. Though in important meetings or formal situations, they might call him timjangnim since that's his highest ranking title.
Celine: Would definitely be more formal with him but it depends on the situation. At the most formal, say like in business meetings, she would call him by his highest ranking title, timjangnim or at least Shin-timjangnim if she has to specify [I headcanon Bobby's Korean name as Shin Byeongmin] or Bobby-timjangnim if she's being a little more informal, or at least by the time he got promoted from maenijo to timjang, before that, it would be maenijonim. In a casual situation, I don't think they would be close enough for kinship terms since they are (probably) boss and employee, so at most she might call him Bobby or Bobby-ssi since she is stll his superior.
5. Celine
This woman is the whole reason I made this post in the first place. I was very shocked when they just had the girls call Celine by her first name alone. US dub? Sure, different culture, different customs. But it was also in the Korean dub so here we are
Rumi: I was debating with myself on whether or not Celine would have Rumi call her imo or eomma (엄마) but I have a feeling Celine does not want to replace Miyeong as Rumi's eomma in Rum's heart even though Rumi never knew Miyeong, so imo it is. Though in professional settings, it depends on the situation. If Rumi's talking about Celine as family, then it would be imo in casual public settings like variety shows or imonim if it's a little more serious. If Rumi is discussing Celine as a senior kpop idol, probably occasionally call her Celine-sunbaenim (선배님) though probably uses this a lot less than imonim because they're family.
And IF Celine is HUNTR/X's agency's CEO and or founder, Rumi would call her daepyonim, or Kang-daepyonim if she has to specify, or Kang Celine-daepyonim if she has to really really specify like say there's another Kang-daepyonim, if she's talking about Celine as CEO of the company (assuming Kang is Celine's surname)
Mira & Zoey: We don't know what their relationship is like with Celine and how close they are, but I think they would probably call her seonsaengnim or Kang-seonsaengnim if they have to specify (or Celine-seonsaengnim if they're being informal with it, or Celine-seonsaeng if they're being casual with it but they would probably never call her this to her face (too casual) and only call her to this each other and Rumi), since what we do know about their relationship with her is much more mentor-mentee than mother-daughter/aunt-niece like Rumi's. In professional settings, it also depends on the situation. They would probably call her Celine-sunbaenim, regardless of whether she's still active as an artist or that she's their mentor, since Celine debuted before them decades ago so they have to respect her as a senior idol in the industry.
And IF Celine is HUNTR/X's agency's CEO and or founder, Mira andd Zoey would call her daepyonim, or Kang-daepyonim if they have to specify, or Kang Celine-daepyonim if they have to really really specify, if they're talking about Celine as CEO of the company.
[And for the writers out there who have Celine as not CEO or HUNTR/X's mentors, or have the girls dating (Rumira, Zoerumi, Polytrix) or just have Mira and Zoey friends with Rumi, they'd call Celine Imonim if Rumi only sees Celine as her aunt and calls Celine Imo, Eomonim if Rumi sees Celine as her mom and calls her eomma]
Bobby: Really, really depends on what her role in the company is or if she has any role at all. IF Celine is HUNTR/X's agency's CEO and or founder, Bobby would call her daepyonim, or Kang-daepyonim if he has to specify, or Kang Celine-daepyonim if he has to really really specify. I don't think they're close enough for him to call her Noona, at least in canon, so at the most casual, maybe Celine-nim (because she's still his superior).
I can sleep easier now since I fixed past drunken me's mistakes.
(Just to be clear, I don't drink regularly even though I'm very tempted to. I just have extroverted family and friends who will use any holiday as an excuse to party and therefore drink. I just drink to get myself through the exhaustion from socializing for too long which usually ends up being a lot because parties can go to like 3 hours or more and then I get bored and pull out my phone)
















