MimisKookie

Jikook / OT7

[kanmom51]

When JK risks it all

Because JK does that.

We got quite a few precious moments in the last few days (the two last Tampa concerts). Lots of giggles and touchy and just soft and cute moments.

But today we got JK pushed over the edge.

He has those moments when he just can't hold himself back (as held together as he is when it comes to his interactions with JM in times like this).

He has those moments when the overflow of feelings is so bad that he can't hold himself back.

So he does something impulsive and loud.

And he is willing to risk it all.

Like he did back in May 2019.

Or at the 2019 TMA's.

Or 2022 Las Vegas.

He was on a roll there.

Yeah, JK has those moments where he'll throw it all to the wind. And JM, well he can be loud too, but somehow when JK does these things it overwhelms JM, just like it did this time.

Did I mention how beautiful they are?

cr./@blacknwhite_km

[chikooritajjk]

BTS becomes the first Asian act in history to simultaneously chart 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple and consecutive weeks.

LOUDER NAMJOON

LET THEM FUCKING KNOW

[jmdbjk]

Apartment confusion.

One of the things I do when I watch/observe/learn is reason out what I'm seeing. I like to think I'm a somewhat reasonable person. I try to look at all reasonable possibilities and not jump to conclusions but damn, Jimin's live has me hella confused.

We've all seen the inside of Jimin's Nine One apartment in various lives and other content.

The appearance of the room Jimin was sitting in at the beginning of his birthday live yesterday did NOT make me think he was anywhere else but his Nine One apartment. The color of the walls, the panels, the dark frame in the doorway. And, in that brief movement of the camera, the other parts of the room are actually identical to his Nine One apartment because if you follow that panelled wall, it leads to a hallway. Identical to Nine One. So there's that.

Jimin was sitting on a white sofa. It is not one of the white chairs he had previously, it is a whole ass white sofa. As we know, his old sofa was grey.

He then transitioned to the floor and leaned against it. We got a brief glimpse of the white sofa as he got up to move to where his computer is so he could play music.

In late 2023/early 2024 we learned some of Jimin's furniture went to his dad's cafe in Busan. This is where my intuition kicked in and I thought "he's getting rid of all of his furniture... he's going to move out of Nine One." But it is something I mostly kept to myself because, its just me sitting here observing and assimilating what I'm learning together with what I know and trying not to be too delulu. Someone else might interpret it differently which is fine. I mean, maybe he had the grey sofa reupholstered? All the angles and reasonable possibilities....

Let me also note here that during the live, when Jimin moved to the other room where the computer is, the final uploaded live was edited so we do not see him walking through the apartment anymore. He gets up and then all of a sudden, he's sitting at his computer.

But we see this portion of the room at about 57:43:

After much scrutinizing and comparing and analyzing, could that door be a pocket door? The main bedroom in Nine One does have something under the door knob that looks like it could be a lock. But no, it can't be a pocket door because if you were pull on it, where is it going to meet the other side of the opening? We just saw there is just a blank wall with no door frame. So its not a pocket door.

The black vertical thing is most likely a television on a stand maybe? At first, I thought it was also a door but now I am doubtful of that. The light source coming from that far corner could be a window or light from another room, perhaps toward the kitchen.

If we were to reason out that Jimin was sitting in his Nine One apartment at the beginning of this live, a pocket door was what we saw behind him with the dark door frame. It is an opening into the small room that then leads into the bedroom. So what happened to the white sofa? It magically turned into two orange chairs?

We get another glimpse again of the black leather sofa area at 11:58 but its not enough to see the area where the door and figurine was. That comes later.

And the opening is huge, not like in Jimin's Nine One apartment. One explanation I thought of is he is using the large bedroom area off the living room for another living area but that is odd don't you think? But even so, the small room before you enter the actual bedroom area has a wall and a pocket door. We see none of that in the above pic. Its just an open floor plan. And in the original live, it seemed like he walked a little ways to get where his computer was set up. Like, if he made the big bedroom into another living area, then why didn't he just get up and go into the doorway behind the white sofa?

I'm trying to be reasonable. But there is no other space in any Nine One unit I've seen, even Namjoon's unit, that has a configuration like this. Not even the living room. Other than the main bedroom, all of the bedrooms are very small in Nine One. The room he showed us during his live on Sept. 1, 2023 where he kept his workout equipment is tiny and has a conventional door that opens into it and that's it. It is just a small room.

So I am very confused. It is almost like he teleported to a different apartment. If he was sitting in what looked like his Nine One living room, why was he now in a different area that also looked like a living room?

The curtains behind him and the workout equipment in his live yesterday are very dark, not blue like in the above gif.

Did he remodel the rooms in his Nine One unit to combine two rooms and that's why it looks like a large space? I believe his was the 4 bedroom type. Maybe that's why he moved furniture out, because of the renovation. Just trying to reason things out here...

... and then I looked even closer. There are these 4 little divots/holes/dots whatever you want to call them, in the ceiling above his head. I've never seen those before....what are they? wifi antenna or something?

He even used a shot of this for the thumbnail for this live.

One thing I have to give Samsung, they have a really good camera in their phones.

I've never seen those dots in the ceiling before. We've got plenty of footage showing the ceiling right above his head in his Nine One living room. No little dots. Sprinklers, light fixtures, smoke detectors and all kind of other little single circular features but never anything that looked like that 4-dot configuration.

One object he did seem to retain from his previous stuff is this lamp:

Maybe he thought the Nine One apartment was not useful to him as it was and he decided to modify it. That's a plausible explanation too. I don't know guys...

ANYWAY!

I won't mention EVERYTHING he said because a lot of it is already out there translated on other social media platforms. I will mention things that he said that I have not seen others talking about.

Jimin said he goes to bed around 9 a.m. and sleeps 3 or 4 hours. Jimin-ssi.... what are you (and your cohort/consort/concub...nevermind) doing all night long? jk (just kidding heh heh).

I know, I know, they're working on the album. We've seen the others hint that they work on it at night. What is it about that, that they sleep during the day and work at night? Back to being a bunch of cutie vampires...

Someone asked him to wash his hair on live and he said no, he doesn't want to do that and added, "I don't want to show you my bathroom." I want to see the bathroom, Jimin. I need to know if its like the ones in Nine One... anyway... what else did he say...

He said he does not have any new tattoos (sadness for those like me who were hoping to see some new ink).

He said "you think if we work hard from July to December we'd be done with the album but it never goes as planned." Jimin, Jimin, Jimin WHY put that out in the universe?!!! Take that back immediately!!!

Repeatedly, people commented asking if he was sad, he looked sad, is he happy? yada yada and Jimin said he is happy and he felt really good today (when he did the live) and this is just naturally how he sounds and looks when he's at home. So all you people out there wanting something that isn't the real Jimin can go find the door and leave. More concert tickets for us.

I think Jimin does have a more prominent aura of calm firmness these days. The shy awkwardness seems to have vanished. That's maturity I guess.

The real Jimin is also more lively when he's with others (such as Jungkook) because that's how we all are with our friends. Lowkey at home. A little more hyper when with his chosen few like Jungkook.

The open shirt at the airport and no shirt under the jacket for his trip to Paris were all his idea. He wanted to look cool at the airport but instead he said he looked dopey. Hahahahaha, Jiminie... YOU WERE NOT DOPEY!

He also said his heart was beating so hard from nervousness when he was about to get out of the car at the Dior show that he could actually see his chest going "poh, poh, poh"

His phone kept falling down from the message notification vibrations. Normal people: buy a phone stand. Jimin: buy a whole other phone just to livestream....

Some said they were worried he had gotten too skinny and he firmly but with slight exasperation said into the camera "don't worry about me."

He was asked several times during the live about his eye glasses and he said they weren't real but this cracked me up:

He wore them because he thought his face/eyes looked puffy. Tricking his mind by hiding behind fake eye glasses.

He went to get some water and it seemed he left the black sofa room entirely. In a Nine One apartment, the kitchen is right there just off the living room beyond the dining area. It's all very open. We saw the configuration in Namjoon's apartment when he did "spend a day with RM" for Indigo promotions. His new space that he says he spends a lot of time in has to be a renovation in the extra bedroom area of the apartment.

He closed by thanking everyone for birthday wishes, for waiting for him and if there is anything he can tell us next time about the album he will try. He said they are making progress and they are all giving it all they've got every day.

Translation source: Hybe Boy on youtube

[bulletfrootboyzz]

I thought you were gonna mention that Jimin’s black sofa in front of the orange chairs matches JK’s black sofa. The one he removed in favor of the six chairs in front of his TV. I guess that’s where it ended up.

In a whole other apartment building. E-hem.

[bookscandlesnbts]

It’s Not Clocking To Ya’ll

This is the last time I’m going to speak on this topic, but I have some things I want to say. My thoughts are not up for debate. You can take them or leave them, but I’m standing on the business that I’m about to say. Lots of JB references in the first part of this, but I’ll stop because this is serious now.

Song Daeun is a menace. She always has been and she always will be. Other companies have had to squash dating rumors with her before, but posting this video of Jimin is by far the most sinister thing she’s ever done, and in my opinion, Taekookers are the other half to blame for paying her broke ass and giving her the attention that she so desperately needs. She’s denied dating Jimin in the past by the way when her “fans” have asked her. Claimed she didn’t know him.

She’s also tried to imply that she was with JK telling her dog that “appa’s song (Seven) is playing”. She’s mentally unstable at best, evil at worst and I’m tired of ya’ll trying to act like her and Jimin were ever possibly romantically linked.

I’m ashamed actually that so many damn Jikookers on this app are just throwing up their hands and saying it really happened, they were really together at some point- five years ago mind you when Jikook were screaming at the top of their lungs but yeah OK sure Jan.

What seems to be the sticking point for people is the statement, and I’ll be honest at first, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I posted about as such, so you know I’m telling the truth. And I’m not removing that part of my history because I think it makes the context of what I’m about to explain to even more important.

I didn’t even believe it was real at first until people reminded me that this is how BigHit has handled other dating rumors in the past with Namjoon, Tae, ect. They give statements to the media and the media runs them.

The statement was vague, and I think that was on purpose.

Because the statement wasn’t for us

The statement was for her.

The statement was a warning in huge red letters that said try this again and there will be consequences because we aren’t taking legal action now. Trust us; you leak more videos, and we will.

And I fully believe that Jimin was involved in how the situation would be handled. Legal battles are messy in the US, and I’m sure they aren’t much better in Korea drawn out, expensive and emotionally taxing. Not to mention it’s possible that consultants didn’t feel there was enough grounds to even sue her or didn’t want to risk her retaliating in the process, but trust me this woman is unhinged enough to do that if she kept a five year old video and posted it where SHE looks like the insane one, not Jimin. She has no shame, no self esteem, ugly inside and out.

When Jimin lived in 9-1 they were NEIGHBORS because she was apparently dating a guy who lived there but even if she could afford that place on her own with her 0 won acting salary, they were neighbors. That’s the context. They probably said hi to one another, saw each other from time to time. Maybe they even became enough to be friends, although I doubt it. This woman has a public reputation.

But that elevator video with her screeching and hyperventilating… was anything but friendly. The look on his face was complete shock and not in a happy “nice to see you” way. He didn’t go to hug her, show any affection, regardless of whether he knew she was filming him or not he was NOT happy to see her.

The “JK” video which I maintain to this day wasn’t him plus the whole woman in that video was pregnant 😂 at least showed signs of affection. 0 affection in that Daeun video.

So think about it. A deranged woman who drinks on her TikTok lives has nothing else to do but fuel rumors and get paid to create narratives reads a vague statement that she can’t spin in her favor because that’s the point of the statement.

This situation was different. Other idols could deny dating her because she just associated some clothes and merch to them she didn’t have them on a video that she KEPT for five whole years with ill intent.

They had to tread much lighter in this situation to keep her from retaliating and to take- not just the high road but Jimin’s power back.

It’s worth noting that many k-army have clearly stated that the language used didn’t explicitly hint to a romantic relationship, but English speakers see “relationship” in the second half of the translated statement and all hell breaks loose while the aroace in me is like 🙄 so typical for people to associate that word with romance only, add to the fact that the word isn’t even a good translation of what was actually said in Korean, but I digress.

Think what you want, but until you’ve given it some more thought and space and RESEARCH, keep it to yourself. I’ll be honest, I had to do that. I had to sit with the statement more, look at the facts, read accurate translations from NATIVE speakers without an agenda, and put the delicate context of the situaton of her history into the statement.

Hear me now: Ya’ll are NOT going to rain on my Jikook parade. They didn’t break up so Jimin could date that psycho. Give Jimin more credit like DAMN.

I’m devastated because we finally got Jimin back from MS and back to seeing glimpses of his life of his personality on social media, and that evil witch violated him and took him away from us.

She invaded his privacy by filming him in that elevator. She invaded it again posting that absolutely fucked up video five years later.

I hope he is okay. I hope he knows this isn’t his fault. I hope he comes back when he’s ready and stronger than ever-even if it’s only on Weverse.

And I KNOW we will get wonderful magical Jikook moments at some point because they can’t help it. And I’m sure by then, yall will be acting like you never doubted them. 😒

I’ll remember though, how ya’ll acted about this. I’ll remember because this didn’t make me doubt shit. I’ve always been of the belief that since they got together whatever year that was that they never broke up and dated other people. I personally haven’t seen anything convincing to believe it, and I think they are too codependent (for better or for worse haha) to even handle being in the same band still if they broke up.

But if and I’m talking the biggest if in the universe that did happen in the timeline, neither of them dated Song Daeun that I’m 100% positive on that. Matter of fact, I’ll deposit it at the bank for you. I’ll write you a check.

Take your doom and gloom and doubt of Jikook somewhere else away from my blog. This is why I’ll never turn anons back on too.

If I have to protect my peace because everyone keeps spiraling about her nonsense, I’ll take a hiatus until ya’ll have gotten it together. It took me a couple days to process and get myself together. Try doing the same. And don’t take my word for it, look into her history with her references to Jungkook and Taehyung and other idols outside of BTS. Read the statement from the perspective of ensuring that she is shut down from posting more, and read what the actual words were that were used and what closer translations are. I’ve seen those floated around here. And then touch some grass and trust in Jikook. They’ll come back.

And for the 1% of “doubt” in Jikook that I hold space for to ensure that I’m mentally stable and not living in places of extreme binary thinking, something I’m very much against, it’s going to take a lot more evidence to convince me that Jikook aren’t real. Because there’s enough evidence for me to write a movie and three sequels to say that they are.

[kanmom51]

Loved this post. And agree with 99% of it.

I do want to add a couple of my insights to this, and apologies in advance @bookscandlesnbts for kind of hijacking your post for it, but it's perfect.

I too went through that emotional rollercoaster. I think that whoever loves these two amazing young men did. It's the initial shock to the clip and then to the statement. It's the whole cycle of dread and anger and grief and coming to terms and taking a step back and then being able to see things more clearly.

And to me they are clear.

There is no way under the sun that JM had anything with that woman. Neighbour yes. Acquaintance yes. Part of the same pandemic friend group yes. Actual relationship, romantic or physical, not in a million years, eww.. yuck... NEVER.

And I'm not dissing her looks or character, although her character definitely deserves dissing, but I think the post says most of it quite clearly. This is about who JM is and who he was with at that time.

But before I touch on that, I do want to add a little to the tale of miss attention seeker. Because JM is not the first she tried to sink her teeth into, and one of those on her sights was JK as well. Yes, she tried him too.

Posts with supposed same accessories as JK including wearing JK's brother's brand, wearing CK, doing a live from JK's brother's apartment building...

Culminating in the deranged live when she was dressed in an outfit JK wore in one of his IG posts, listening to Seven while telling her dog "that's appa singing".

Oh, and there is this one too:

Kind of funny when you think about the timeline and the connections...

Funny how she leached herself onto the two queer men in a gay relationship, isn't it. Kind of diabolical if you think about it.

So, let's talk about the timeline for a sec here. Because people seem to mess this one up a little.

Everything she had posted regarding JM is from 2020, probably towards the end of 2020. Funny how we are all agreeing she was JM's neighbour, it's kind of a consensus isn't it? All while JM didn't buy his apartment in 9-1 until March 2021.

So how's that?

Because he was her neighbour. Kind of.

Only the person that was living in that complex in 2020, the one renting an apartment there at the time was the same person that JM told us that waking up to see his face in the morning is what makes him happy "these days". Same person that directed the MV for Life goes on with one of the opening scenes being JM brushing his teeth walking in to their bed room and him waiting there for him - telling us that he tried to emulate real life in this MV. JM, who did not own an apartment in that building at the time had full access because he was living there too. With said person.

My point being that when this whole shit was going down, or more so the 'content' she's been dropping is placed in the timeline when JM and that particular person were practically inseparable. Attached at the hip. Coming and going together to practices, the concerts, events, shoots, interviews. Same time when JM was proudly saying they were together at 4 am when getting news of their #1 billboard achievement. Same time when said person was proudly parading and lovingly caressing a hickey JM gave him. Same time as we have them breaking mosquito nets. This is Black swan Melon performance ere. This is Dynamite holiday mix era. Like seriously, this is "could they even be any louder" era for god's sake. And in the middle of all this we are supposed to believe that JM was dating that woman.

Oh, and did I mention she had a boyfriend at that time too? Yeah, we have that as well. But who cares about her? I don't. I care about JM.

Yeah, JM wasn't involved with that woman while being bridal carried to his content by said buffed person.

So NO.

I will not believe that there was ANYTHING substantive between them.

She was a friend. I wouldn't even think one that is too close either (his reaction in the clip kind of says it all), but maybe someone that was privy to things they shouldn't have been seeing that this was a hard time JM was going through and might have let his guard down around the wrong person, something that indeed has come back to bite him in the butt (which would also perhaps explain his reaction to this, taking the blame on himself for this situation they are in - and by they I mean JM, JK and even BTS - yes, he is taking all of that on his not so wide shoulders).

Now to the statement.

At first I was really struggling with it. Finding it hard to believe the company could actually release what looked to be like a load of drivel, with no consideration of their own artist. I was furious.

But then I calmed down and thought things through.

And as much as I hate the idea of the "statement", in hindsight and looking at what follows (Hybe stocks and perception in public and not our own echo chambers) it appears to maybe have been the lesser of two evils.

We lack public perception. We really do. We don't know what Korean public thinks about this, how they see this. It's a cultural thing but also a "not being inside our echo chambers" thing. We hear voices like ours, frustrated, hurt. We hear voices from haters, ugly, disrespectful, hateful. But those aren't the voices that matter. Not really. Not to the company. Not to the dollar bill bottom line. Not to the success of the BTS comeback. Not to the value of Hybe stocks. Those outsiders see someone owning up to a possible past relationship (yes, their perception even if wrong is that there was one, even if that was never really stated clearly in the statement). Emphasis on past. Years ago past. With an unstable woman who feels the need to continue and associate herself with him online, seeking attention for it years later. They see a man that takes 'accountability' (hate that word in this case, because accountability for what exactly, but it is what it is), being the bigger person in this case. They see this and hear him also say clearly and loudly with no vagueness and no room for doubt that whatever it was, it happened years ago, ended years ago and there has been no contact between them ever since.

That is what they see.

And this perception is important. The effect it will have on JM's name, his reputation. The effect that may have on the company is important. The effect it could have on Hybe's stock prices, which at the end of the day are what they are trying to protect. This is also the reason the statement was released on the Sunday. Took me a second to understand that weird timing. But this was done on purpose. To give people a second to digest this before trade opens on the market. And it kind of worked. The statement and the timing of it. Disclaimer before moving on: I'm not an expert in financial markets but do understand some basics.

Hybe stock prices did fluctuate, but nothing dramatic. Nothing that can be directly attributed to the "scandal" (ugh, another word I hate using). There was a dip in the stocks, but same time dip in the other entertainment companies stocks and Samsung stocks as well, We are talking about same percentages of these stocks dropping, indicating this most likely had nothing to do with JM or the statement and more with the natural market fluctuations or other elements that would influence it on a broader spectrum.

But enough economics. B O R I N G...

I want to talk about the language used in the statement. The clear difference between the first part about the past and the second part about the present.

The wording of the past is purposefully left vague. I hated that at first. I felt it did JM a disservice, allowing for those to assume this was basically a confirmation of their past involvement, of an actual relationship. But you see, this is not what it was. Not in my opinion.

This was the company not admitting to a relationship but at the same time not denying it. How does that help him exactly, you ask? How is that not a disservice to him if nothing happened between them? Because as we see, there are clearly those that say, "well that's what all companies do when admitting to a dating rumor", or those that say, "well leaving it vague is just them copping out and they really are admitting to it".

See, I think that's the point. Because they are admitting that he knew her personally and whatever went on between them can be anywhere on the spectrum between acquaintance to romantic connection.

Why would they do that though? Why put this on JM if there was nothing going on?

We know she's unstable. We know she is unpredictable. And that is a dangerous combination. We don't know if she has any more surprises up her sleeve.

A denial by JM followed by a surprise release by her of even the most innocent interaction between them caught on video will re-ignite the rumors and spread doubt, undermining his denial. The talk won't end, it will continue. He will now be perceived and she as the victim. And she, well she will get the attention she is so clearly seeking.

Denial, the truth, in a sense, could be a trap.

But leaving it vague, allowing for people to assume there was a past relationship, even if that is not true, basically neutralizes her. If she releases anything from now on, so what? He already admitted to it all. Old news, move on, no attention and JM's reputation in tact. Truth telling, owning up to whatever she is hinting to, so what does she want from him? She's the unstable and criticized one in this type of future equation.

Top that with their clear cut denial of present relationship and a clear years long disconnect from her. Second part being now more reliable, more believable. Because he did own up to being 'involved' with her to start with.

Could she possibly also have something on Jikook, holding that over their heads? Possibly. But giving her this, the acknowledgement she wanted so much should suffice, because she has nothing to gain atp from outing them. Before it could be used as leverage. Now that JM has admitted to whatever he did, she has nothing more to gain from it, only lose.

As for this part:

"We sincerely ask that people refrain from making groundless speculations about the artist’s private life. We also earnestly request that everyone avoid actions that could cause harm to the individual being mentioned alongside him."

She's mentally unstable and is at the end of her rope - untouchable in the industry and left penniless. Fear is she might do something drastic, like harm herself and then the scandal that could ensue could literally ruin JM's career and BTS. Coming forward now is him being the brave one, clearing it all up, at the same time being the gallant one calling to protect her. She's the one that comes out bad from this. The unstable/ unhinged and from now on anything she might do should not be connected to him anymore.

So, we have reached the point where my opinions differ from the original post. I don't think they are preparing to sue her. I don't think they are threatening her. I think that if they wanted they could sue her as is for breach of privacy. But they don't want to. Because that would be counterintuitive. Both denial and suing gives her the power in this equation, which would be a mistake. Denial by allowing for her to continue with her games of little hint throwing and maybe releasing more content, each time bringing this back into the limelight, every time making JM look even worse. While suing is willingly putting her in that limelight and keeping her there for as long as this law suit continues, the one thing she wants so much. And while putting her in the limelight that will also put JM in that same limelight for all the wrong reasons. Perpetuating the "scandal" instead of snuffing it out.

With the statement as is they have written the narrative not allowing for wiggle room that can cause JM any more damage and put a full stop at the end of the sentence ending it and moving forward leaving it all behind.

It's a little hard when we are in the thick of this all to see that this here was the right thing to do. that denial and confrontation might have been the just way to go but not the smart way to.

It's also hard to come to terms with this when we see how powerless JM is in all of this, when we know he's suffering, when we know JK is too. We haven't seen JM, he's basically gone into hiding, but we have seen JK, and he is clearly affected by it. It was very noticeable during his lives. Even Hybe Boy noticed it and was wondering what was going on.

I cannot imagine the pain they are both feeling. Only a couple of months ago they finally finished their military service, the happiest we have seen them in years. Happy, free, literally a weight lifted from their shoulders and then this.

And JM? Kind beautiful humble JM. I can only imagine the guilt he carries on his shoulders. For what? Trusting the wrong person? Letting them close enough to leave them this vulnerable to their manipulation. It's not on him, it's on her. But we know that's not how it works, especially with JM. He would take this on himself.

Heartbreaking. Gut wrenching.

But he is not alone.

He has JK first of all. He has his bandmates. He has his family and real, caring, trustworthy friends.

He has a support system.

And he has us.

So let's show him we are here supporting him.

Let's show him that support on Weverse where he can see it immediately.

Let's show him support on social media by posting positive drowning out the hate, by reporting the hate and not engaging with it.

Let's vote for him for the VMA's full blast, we still have a few days.

Let's continue streaming his songs.

And let's show our support for Jikook as well.

They need us.

This is crunch time.

This is what our support is all about.

[chikooritajjk]

Rest in peace, beautiful Kim Yeontan

I remember the first time he was introduced to us

The audible gasp in the theater when he popped out of Tae’s bag

Tae has always shared Yeontan with us, from the good times to the times he told us he had multiple surgeries

The way he is/was/will always be loved is precious

Tannie & Tae, may you meet again over the rainbow bridge

Tannie, rest now, I love you

Taehyung my heart and soul is with you during this difficult time.

[andy-wm]

Back to WHO : the MV

This is a continuation of the earlier post that discusses the song WHO, by Jimin. That post was a first impression focused on the lyrics - while this one looks more closely at the MV.

(Remember this is my interpretation, not an official statement by Hybe)

The more times I watched the music video, the more I wanted to yell, because look...

IT'S REALLY STARING US IN THE FACE.

And again, kudos to Jimin's team because it's the most obvious thing in the world ever but only if you ALREADY KNOW what's going on.

Here's a summary:

The music video loosely represents Jimin's attraction/sexuality/love life as a timeline.

New colours - a new spectrum shall we say - filter into his life even though he's trying so hard to 'keep to the program'.

He searches high and low for a girl to love, but alas, nobody makes the fireworks happen for him. Then Billboard Boy crashes into his life, threatening to destroy everything. Jimin has to weather the storm and figure out where his place is because Billboard Boy is a major disruptor - a tornado in fact. In the end, the fireworks are popping and the chaos is happening, and Jimin has to just go with it and finds his place again. His colours have been getting brighter and louder as he goes along and in the end he's prepared to walk away from everything in order to be the spectrum he is.

<<I'm not saying it's literally a count of how many girls or boys or enbys he's kissed. I hope his kissed all of them and then some, frankly, but that's none of my business.>>

A few things to pay special attention to:

Burning cars > cars = masculinity. fire = hot. 1+1=2.

Dancers > people he's interacting with

Rough weather, as represented by the wind-whipped papers and eventually even cars being tossed about the set > His attraction to men (and dare I say it, culminating in a focus on one man in particular)

Colour flares, machine text, and marks on the tape (horizontal lines etc)

Are you ready? Let's go...

Jimin enters the scene looking like sex on legs (no surprises) and strolls casually onto the road. Immediately our view of hm is blocked by a pop-art style poster blowing across the screen. It's immediately followed by a car coming around the corner onto the road. The car is on fire. Jimin watches it pass by and follows it.

He follows the burning car.... and so it begins.

The narrative starts from before BTS even exists. Jimin encounters several female dancers who he has brief and sexy interludes with. In fact i don't think there's a single woman in this MV who he doesn't at least look at. He really does try everything (and everyone) in his efforts to find HER.

BUT WAIT.... rewind...

Let's go back to the poster... it depicts a street scene much like the one we see here, with the words:

WHO IS!! TORNADO OF LOVE

Note: those are exclamation points not question marks.

It's not a question. This is telling us UP FRONT IN BIG LETTERS that 'WHO' is tornado of love.

I could probably stop here and just say 'ok go watch it again' but it's too much fun to go through all the details.

So let's continue...

Jimin has a little more steamy choreo with the female dancers before the lyrics tell us he has so many people to see and places to go, and he leaves them and joins 6 other men in what looks like a work environment....

Hello we are BTS!

Yes you guessed it... like Yoongi did in Haegum, Jimin has his members represented here. (Fan chant going off in my head...) and more delicious choreography follows.

Notice that while Jimin was dancing with the girls, the only signs of rough weather were a few glittery specs floating through the air, barely noticable. Those bits of glitter multiply when he joins the 6 men, and instead of a sprinkling of glitter, it starts looking like a light snowfall.

That's all about to change....

The first moment of reckonning:

At the end of this section of choreo, as Jimin sings 'who is my heart waiting for' and moves into the next phase we have a barely visible flash of light across the screen and rainbow colours bleed into the footage (at 1.14).

This is also the moment the significant rough weather starts. I'd say this is where Jimin starts noticing how he feels, and the turmoil begins, because this is also where he makes eye contact with the camera (1.23).

He sees us watching.

Fuck. I had a moment here. There's a look on his face as he walks past the camera and stares right into it.

AUTO CALLIBRATION...

As another millisecond flash of light and rainbow colours seep into the footage, The machine text 'AUTO CALLIBRATION' appear on the screen and flash there for a couple of seconds.

CALLIBRATE: To standardise... by determinning the deviation from a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors (Meriam-Webster definition).

"Get a hold of yourself, Jimin. Reset (your behaviour and desires) to correspond with expectations"

Jimin makes a very determined bee-line for the nearest girl and dances with her, ignoring the burning car in the foreground.

This brings us to the next phase of the narrative, and the next location - the performance space in front of the OASIS cinema.

(Do you see the doors of the cinema - BTS referenced again).

As he dances with this girl, the camera zooms out and we see that a crowd has gathered outside the cinema, watching them, but the crowd does not seem friendly and the dance seems performative - the movements are exagerated and obvious. The girl has Jimin in a headlock at one point and then she pushes him away and leaves. All in all it's an unpleasant event.

At this point the BTS members return (Although now there's one missing) and they dance with and around a number of female dancers. flashes go off in the crowd as the choreo is performed.

As they dance the wind picks up quickly and papers and cans are blown about. Even when Jimin is obviously interacting with female dancers the weather continues to pick up. Dancing with the girls isn't helping.

The camera pulls back and we see the same car as before, still on fire.

This is the moment when the penny (or billboard) drops.

All the other dancers scatter, dissapearing in a matter of seconds as the billboard comes crashing down. The billboard blocks his path. Wherever he had been planning to go - or whatever course of action he had planned to take - this man on the billboard forces a new decision. Jimin has to rethink his plans.

Jimin turns and goes in the opposite direction to everyone else. (A similar scene occured in Like Crazy, Jimin going the other way, rejecting the norm, going against the tide).

The machine text flashes "REWIND ... REWIND" on the screen and we see Jimin heading back to where all this started... where the original car on fire was seen.

He's travelling his own path now, but as he walks, alone in what seems to be the wrong direction, we see the store lights brighter, reflecting off cars and filling the space around him.

He's going through the motions with the girls he passes but the interactions are brief and in one case he actually dodges the girl completetly.

He retraces his steps amidst the chaos, and the weather really goes nuts. Now there are cars being thrown through the air, streetlamps exploding. The storm is almost upon him.

As Jimin steps into that original street again, the one with the neon letters spelling BLISS, the machine text reads PLAY. It's almost ike he's having a redo, where he accepts who he is from the start and allows the chaos to happen. And the chaos DOES happen, because the tornado has arrived.

THE TORNADO OF LOVE.

There's a flash and the whole screen is flooded with colours, blanking out the footage.

Jimin can no longer dance in step with everyone else at this point. He's doubled over, belting those high notes at the climax of the song while the chaos rages in the background. Without the music to give his actions context, it almost looks like hes in agony.

Sparks fly, lights flash, even the film itself is affected...

He eventually gets it together and rejoins the choreography, picking up his life so to speak. But his callibration is forever changed. the colours that bled into his life are there for good now, and and as he walks away after the music stops, we see that those colours are not just for the performance, they exist outside of that.

A note about the light flares we see throughout the MV:

It was really hard to catch these, some of them were literal milliseconds. I had to slow the MV down to play at .25 original speed and even then they were fleeting - well hidden.

Only the one at the very end was really visible.

In this one, the word PAUSE appears, as the MV ends. I wonder if that relates to their military service?

The flares of light and colour, those rainbow flashes, aren't always easy to find. Youvhave to be prepared to seek them out.

We will find them if we look for them, but i think Jimin won't show his true colours until after the lights go down and the performance is over.

I respect his decision (if that's what that is) and i will continue to meet him here his stands. I'll support everything he does knowing what I know and I'll continue to search for and uncover the hidden messages he sends us.

[andy-wm]

I have thoughts on Jimin's SGMB

It's the gayest thing I've ever seen.

And by that I mean it's joyous, light-hearted, bright, and fun.

We can all agree, I think, that this is a happy and totally harmless song. Who could criticise Jimin for declaring his love in such a sweet and innocent way?

Of course not everyone will like it, and that's fine. You don't have to like everything he does - or everything BTS does - you are an individual with thoughts and feelings of your own - I hope. But putting that aside you'd have to be a troubled person indeed to take offence at anything here.

So, it is definitely a fan song, right? Jimin is singing to his fans... isn't he?

Maybe.

But if it is (I and I'm not convinced) it's not just a fan song.

It's sweet, so sweet, but....

Maybe it's a little too sweet?

We know Jimin is CUTIE SEXY LOVELY and LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY, but let's be honest, he's also a grown man. And Army are not children (mostly). In fact we have had many many conversations about how ARMY are not children.

But this whole production is pushing the sweet and innocent barrow so hard that I can't help wanting to look underneath and behind and inside to see what's really going on because it's so sweet it's hurting my teeth.

Compare the sophistication and self awareness of FACE to the bouncy, bright and child-like song-and-dance in the SGMB music video. They are WORLDS apart and we were told very specifically that the albums were linked.

"Following his first solo album, “FACE,” where he sought to explore his true identity, “MUSE” documents his journey in search of the source of his inspiration." said the Weverse notification.

So what's really going on here?

What are you doing Jiminie?

And more importantly, why are you doing it?

You could call it a pageant, or a carnival, or a circus - with Jimin as the ringmaster.

But my view is:

This a pantomime. And it's very clever.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a pantomime is "A dramatic entertainment,  originating in Roman mime, in which  performers express meaning through  gestures  accompanied by music." Yes, that describes it.

Merriam-Webster tells us "[A pantomime] is an ancient Roman dramatic performance featuring a solo dancer and a narrative chorus" That also makes sense.

Oxford also specified that it's a modern BRITISH tradition. "a theatrical entertainment, mainly for children, which involves music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy." It's a perfect fit.

The British link is already there - Jimin clearly told us he's influenced by The Beatles' Sergeant Peppers Album. There's also the styling of his suit. The stovepipe pants, narrow tie, and fitted jacket are very 1960s (and 1980s) British pop.

There's something old-school about a pantomime. It harks back to childhood, and to the nostalgia of holidays. And the styling of the MV is in keeping with that nostalgic feel too - from the Mountain scene with the vintage film title, to the intertitles - or title cards , to the circular frame of the opening scene.

But back to the Pantomime itself...

A quick google search told me the following are important elements of pantomime. And we have most, if not all of them in this production.

Gender role reversal - TICK

Slapstick comedy - TICK

Colourful costumes - TICK

Audience participation - TICK (the children ARE the audience)

Exaggerated facial expressions - TICK

Take another look at the music video - it's all there.

Wikipedia tells us that pantomimes traditional told fairy tales or folk tales - often love stories - and that the primary role in a Pantomime was:

The 'Principal boy', a hero or charismatic rogue, traditionally played by a young woman in men's clothing.

Smart, very smart. With all the other conversations we've been having a round gender this is totally on the money.

Wikipedia goes on to say "Another pantomime tradition is to engage celebrity guest stars... Contemporary pantomime productions are often adapted to allow the star to showcase their well-known act.... If the star enters into the spirit of the entertainment, he or she likely adds to its overall effect"

Welcome, Loco.

(yes, I know collabs are de rigueur, but that doesn't change the fact that it fits - celeb guests are an established practice in Panto.)

So if this IS a Pantomime (and I'm not saying it definitely is but it looks like one to me), then it's intended to be a sung-story, told as much through dance and gestures as through words.

If it's a pantomime, what is it about?

I'm glad you asked! This little charade is the story of a young person called Jimin who is looking for love. He finds romance easily enough...

but real love takes a little longer.

Fortunately for our hero, he's brave (he will confess to his lover) and he is patient (he encourages them to do so too).

In between, there are shenanigans and goofing...

But our Charismatic Rogue is charming (if devilish) and wins the hearts of the audience - and his lover.

Let's take a closer look at how the story unfolds...

At the start of the MV, as the initial credits appear, Jimin is on stage vibing with his band. Loco is chilling on a rock like a lizard in the sun.

We get the ye olde intertitles, welcoming the audience and introducing.... SMERALDO Garden Marching Band

It's not Smeraldo Garden - Marching Band. It's Smeraldo *pause* Garden Marching Band. Smeraldo (secrets) has the emphasis.

After the intertitles, the scene opens on a group of children - they are ostensibly the audience of the band. They're playing paper-scissors-rock to see who will call for Jimin's attention.

The children run over to him and the tale begins.

Jimin, the main character of this story, immediately launches into song.

He starts off singing about Bangtan - mentioning their harmony (song and personal I think), he shows the Bangtan hand gesture we all know so well, and he sings "we gift happiness every day".

But he mentions June 12th.

Why June 12th?

Why not 13th, their debut day?

BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A SONG for ARMY. He's making it clear that at this point he's referring to Bangtan specifically, not the whole juggernaut of the fandom and fame. June 12th precedes ARMY.

He's made it clear from the start - this is NOT ABOUT ARMY.

Then he leans in and whispers to the children - and the camera -"lets talk about us".

Look at the kids' faces - they're miming shock. Ooooohhh! This is a big secret he's about to tell them - and us.

Look at Jimin's expression - he's just a tad smug. This is not a shocking secret to him, this is a fun secret.

Yes, he is indeed the charismatic rogue of this story.

He sings:

"All the things we couldn't say before

And your hidden feelings too (just for you)

Don't you worry anymore

Since we're together now**

Let's be a little more honest."

So it seems our main character has a LOVER. Someone who couldn't be revealed and who hid their feelings.

<Wow, I have no idea who this could be...>

Hang on, what's happening in the MV??

On his journey, it seems our young hero has a few short-lived romances. And if you look carefully, they are all with men.

He accepts the rose from a man, and plants himself on the bench right up close to .... a man. He jumps up unperturbed, and gifts the rose to (you guessed it) another man.

Jimin manages to sidestep (or completely ignore) all the women except one, who he sends graciously into the arms of a random man before continuing on his journey.

Wait one moment... his romantic partners were ALL MEN??

ALL MEN??

ALL MEN?!!!!!

Yes darling, all men. Let's continue.

So, it seems none of Jimin's previous romances grew into anything more, but he takes his own advice with his mysterious lover and confesses first.

He smirks. He flicks his jacket with pizzazz. He's ready.

He sings:

"Ooooh I love you babe,

I'll come closer to you

I want to hold your hand,

I want you babe (yessir)

Please note the hand gesture in this choreo - it's another one we've seen many times.

The dance ends and Jimin scans the surroundings and spots his old friend...

[Enter stage left: Loco]

Oh look, the friend is a rapper a few years older than Jimin. They seem to have a lot of fun together, Jimin and his rapper friend. There are ZERO romantic overtones here. This guy happily goes along with all the goofing and silliness even though he looks a tiny bit mortified. Either they are both very good actors, or a lot of the time, Loco was holding in his laughter. And Jimin seems incredibly amused by that.

They hang out together until.... something in the atmosphere changes:

The colours become richer, light become warmer, and oh look....

It's *The Golden Hour*

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP, PEOPLE. HE REALLY DID THIS.

Jimin leaves Loco, chasing the golden light as he sings about "the dazzling sky." Golden confetti (champagne, anyone?) falls all around him and then ...

fucking sunflowers bloom.

SUN FLOWERS.

BLOOM.

FOR HIM.

<I need to lie down and process this>

SUNflowers...

Remind me again what sunflowers are known for? Oh yes, they are symbolic of the sun. Guess what else? They turn to face the sun.

Yup, the sunflowers all turn their faces toward the camera. I'm not crazy, okay?! I'm not.

SMH... let's move on.

Jimin re-joins his band, and the sunflowers do their sunflower thing, and Jimin sings:

"So tell me how you feel,

let whatever you feel

wash over you"

Then he sings

"I love you babe, (yessir)

I'll come closer to you

I want to hold your hand,

I want you babe (yessir)

Please note the hand gesture again

👉 👈

The bridge is next, and Jimin takes us back to Bangtan. As all the stars appear (that ocean of purple light that surrounds them at concerts) and everyone takes their place on stage, they turn up the music. <Are my eyes watering? Perhaps>

"I think we're ready now

<NGL I may have shed a tear here>

Lets begin 1, 2

<Ok fuck, I bawled at this point. Goddammit Jimin!>

Put your hands up"

*cute wiggle-dance commences* and Jimin spots his good friend the rapper again, hiding on the sidelines. He pulls him into the chorus line and they do more silliness and everyone is having a great time.

Confetti- flower petals fall, there's laughter and happiness all around, and they bow and bid us good bye.

The show is over.

*THE END*

But wait, I am not done.

A few more things bear mentioning here:

I saw quite a few comments saying this song is for ARMY.

It is categorically NOT for ARMY. Besides the fact that we already have Closer Than This - a fan song - on this album, Jimin specifically chose a date before debut - before ARMY existed - to place in this song. No mention of ARMY at all. Accept it graciously, this is not for you.

I wanna hold your hand

This lyric is a reference not only to the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand", It's also a common theme with Jimin and Jungkook. We see them finding any feeble excuse to hold hands, shake hands, touch hands. Yes, we see you two...

I am you, You are me

The gesture used in the choreo when Jimin is singing his confession - I failed miserably to catch it in my screengrab but there's no doubt it's their "I am you, You are me" gesture. Take a look for yourself.

All Jimin's romantic moments happened with men.

I'm not saying in his life, I am saying in this MV. All of them. The only interaction he has with a woman is one brief moment where he grabs her wrist as she passes by and he swings her into the path of a guy behind him. He even scoots around the women and sidesteps them. That can't be accidental. He's making a point.

The addition of 'yessir' in the lyrics makes it clear that he's confessing to a man.

I cannot see any reasonable way to refute this. The BH subtitles include it even though you have to listen carefully to catch it. THAT IS A CHOICE, NOT AN ACCIDENT.

"Even though we're together now"

These lyrics could mean theyre an established, committed couple. But if we think a little broader than that, and a little more literally, who is he together with right now?

It's strategically brilliant.

This is his 'tell all expose' but he has built in a rock solid escape clause by using the panto format. Staging the whole love story - including the prior boyfriends and the man he's now in love with - as an over the top comedy show makes it easily dismissible as pure fiction. By including the fantasy/magical elements he just makes it more so. Deniers will be able to come up with a dozen reasons to reject this... 'It's a fantasy story', 'not all songs are autobiographical', 'he's making a point', 'he's raising LGBTQIA+ awareness'... all true maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that this is HIS song, about HIS muse. If you've been paying attention (and even if you haven't) you will know this is certainly not pure fiction.

AND FINALLY....

The most important one, I left till last. I actually want to scream this, in all caps, in the biggest font possible. But I will restrain myself.

The song is bookended by references to BTS.

That is hugely important. For those who may not be aware, this is a literary device. Bookending a story provides a start and end reference point. Here, the Bangtan bookends provide context for the rest of the lyrics - they frame the lyrics within them. That means the events happening in the song, happen within the context of Bangtan. Reading between the lines, the person he is singing to/about is within Bangtan.

This is not reaching. This is like mixing blue paint and yellow paint together. You will get green paint.

💛+💙=💚

So yes, this song is the gayest thing I've ever seen.

And I DO mean it's joyous, light-hearted, bright, and fun.

But yes, it's also absolutely and totally really really GAY

🏳️‍🌈🐥🦄🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌻🐰☀️🏳️‍🌈

Thank you Jiminie

[kanmom51]

Jin is home!!!

Finally.

The day has come.

And good play Hybe.

Leaking to Dispatch that the boys will be taking time off to greet Jin home, but not at the base, cause that's not possible, lol.

They all showed up, apart from Yoongi. Kind of had a hunch they would be seeing the amount of blue/black suits that were waiting outside. And when that green cap peeped just over the black car waiting...

So, let's talk a bit about it, shall we?

First of all RM. Cause he most definitley deserves to be mentioned first. 🤣🤣

He's a legend. A hysterical hilarious legend!!!

So, Hobi, RM and Tae on leave, showing up in civies.

And JK and JM, together, of course, coming in uniform. So, most likely they were allowed out only for the day, having to return to base later on.

Same uniform. Same tags. Together.

FOREVER!!!

(I'm not the only one that noticed, right?☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼)

And are those oven burns?

For those with a keen eye you can also notice a couple of other things. Lots of hugs going on. Different types of hugs.

And Jin... our lovely Jin... such a sweetheart.

Got our BTS fix for the day.

Me sitting here writing this hoping that we will still be getting just a little more too... like an official pic from the boys, for instance (not setting my dreams too high).

And tomorrow we get Jin live.

Yeah, still hasn't fully set in.

Jin is home!!!!

[andy-wm]

What we know now, after they have started MS

This is a short post, because life is a lot right now and i have very little emotional energy. But this felt important, so here I am.

Tonight I revisited an older post and realised I'd never completed the thought process i began there...

When Jimin released his solo album, FACE, I wrote this analysis post.

Part of that analysis talked about my impression of JK's backing vocals on Letter.

We had seen Jimin's Production Diary, and based on the clip of JK in the recording studio I thought he didn't know he would be asked to sing backing vocals.

Here's a screen grab of that post:

After watching the docuseries, BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star, we know that was correct...

It was a surprise to him when Jimin asked him.

In fact both aspects of that prediction were right, he didn't know about the song at all.

I have two questions:

Why would Jimin have kept the song a secret from JK?

And

Why wouldn't Jimin himself ask Jungkook to sing it? Why get PDogg to ask him? Jimin was RIGHT THERE.

Actually, make that three questions.

Why did Jimin scurry away as soon as JK asked to listen to the song?

Jimin earnestly said, "I made a fan song", while holding Jungkook's face in his hands.

That's such an intimate gesture, by the way. If my Best Friend held my face that way while they told me they'd done something, I'd take it to mean that the something was significant for/about me.

Jungkook asked to listen to the song, and Jimin... vanished. He retreated to the sofa to sit out of Jungkook's line of sight.

He's suddenly shy? Shy of Jungkook's reaction?? Wierd, but ok...

Unless the song is REALLY significant to JK....

In short, yes, it is REALLY significant. We already kinda guessed that right? But now, in light of their situation, it's more significant...

So, Jungkook recorded his part of the song.

Lets think about the lyrics...

Bear in mind this was written and recorded long before they had confirmation that their application for companion enlistment was successful...

These lyrics are even more significant in that context.

Plus

This is the part of the song that's in banmal. The switch from polite to familiar signals a change in the relationship, (I wrote about that in a previous post) and since Jimin always talks to ARMY politely, we can asume this part of the the song (at least) is directed at... someone else 👀

"We dont know what the future holds, don't worry I'll stay by your side."

Now consider that Jimin has written these words for not only himself to sing. He's asking Jungkook to sing them with him.

He's asking Jungkook so sing this love song with him.

With no hesitation, Jungkook says yes. He does the recording there and then.

And when JK is finished recording...

He tells Jimin that the song is really nice. Immediately, Jimin is a limpet. He's all over Junkgook like he's made of Velcro. A stark contrast to his earier behaviour when his vulnerability made him scurry away.

Jimin jokes that Junkgook should record a message for ARMY and Pdogg calls him out on that lie. Of course JK refuses. "It's your song." he tells Jimin.

Jimin is pushing his luck here, first asking JK to record a message, and then asking him to claim ownership (or share responsibility) for the song.

Jk has no trouble saying no to that.

It seems like more than a meaningless joke to me. One of those suggestions alone might be, but both? It left me wondering if Jimin suddenly felt scared that he was revealing too much with the song?

I'm kinda impressed that JK, for all his love and support, wasn't prepared to rescue Jimin from his choices He simply, but gently, said no. It tells me a lot about their relationship.

It also tells me a lot about both JK's honestly and his belief in Jimin.

eta, I was tired and once my thought bubble popped i just hit 'post' and fell asleep. But it's exactly a year since Jimin released FACE and i think it's a pretty cool coincidence that i came back to this randomly on this day.

Happy FACE day, ARMYs. 💛💜

[jikookuntold]

The Untold Truth of "Letter"

Back in 2021, 2022, or even early 2023, if someone had told me about the possibility of JK having vocal credits in Jimin's solo album, I would have called it wishful thinking at best. But it happened, and we got the song "Letter" (AKA Dear Army) as a hidden track in Jimin's first solo album, FACE, with back vocals by JK, and his name written invisibly in the album book.

The perfectly matching vocals of Jikook, with the heartfelt lyrics and soft instruments, undoubtedly made one of the most beautiful songs of the year, which could break many records for Jimin and his album if it was released in the streaming and buying services. The release of Letter as a hidden track in Jimin's solo album raised many questions and debates among Jikookers, and as someone who barely scrolls in the Tumblr app, I know I'm a bit late for the party, but I may or may not have some notes to add to the already made discussions. FYI, these are my analytic views and speculations, I am fully aware that this song has been named "Dear Army", and Jimin called it a "Fan song" on different occasions. So, I do not intend to ignore that and diminish Jimin's expression of love for his fans.

What's a Hidden Track?

Before getting into "Letter", we need to understand what a hidden track is. Well, the definition is pretty clear; When a song is not listed in the official track-list of a music album, but it exists in (some versions of) the physical printed CD, cassette, or LP, it's called a "hidden track". 

Hidden Tracks of BTS

There are several techniques and reasons to "hide" a track in an album, but in the case of BTS discography, the hidden tracks exist for a specific reason, and I'm going to explain it with the only examples we have. The debut album (2013) and Love Yourself: Her (2017), are the only BTS albums including hidden tracks, and if we ignore the skits in each album, "Path" and "Sea" are the only hidden songs BTS ever released. So, these two songs must have something(s) in common and different from the other BTS tracks that caused them to end up as a hidden track. To find that common factor, we need to check their lyrics first:

Path

[Intro: RM] Yeah, wassup? You know, time flows like stars (Check it, check, check, check, check it out) [Verse 1: RM] I started from imitating Eminem, Garion, Epik High To writing my own raps Now I see that I’m already at Hongdae My lyrics back then were all (****) Bossy But we dunno, we dunno When I dreamed without anyone to stop me Reality tied me down and trapped me inside Oh, my youth trapped me My hot heart lost to my cold mind (Damn) As I blindly told myself my decision was right I don’t know whether it’s an angel or a devil, but it says to me "Do you really have any plans to rap properly?" (Yes or no?) I didn’t have more time to hesitate and didn’t want to be stupid So I came here and three years passed by Some say art is long, life is short But for now, art is life Life is sports, just do it, uh [Chorus] If I had chosen a different path, would have I been any different? If I stopped and looked back (Oh hey ya, hey ya) What will I see at the end of this road? Where you should’ve been standing? (Oh hey ya, hey ya) [Verse 2: Suga, Suga & Jungkook] A long time passed and by 2013, I was a trainee for three years I was a high school student who grew overnight (I became a child) White hair grew from my desires and one by one my many friends (Parted ways with me) I spent my time in Seoul alone without a family (That was my third spring) I thought my worries would disappear with my debut ahead of me I closed my eyes to the present that had nothing to change But the reality was different, even as my family and friends tried to stop me I walked into the tunnels that shed no light on my own I thought I would be alone (Why?) As it turns out, there weren’t seven bare feet but we were wearing the shoe named Bangtan We’ll have to go forward, take one more step, become newer And that’s how I spent my fourth spring in Seoul (Whoa) [Chorus] If I had chosen a different path, would have I been any different? (Hey) If I stopped and looked back (Hey) Oh hey ya, hey ya What will I see at the end of this road? Where you should’ve been standing? (Oh hey ya, hey ya) [Verse 3: J-Hope] 2010, the year I walked towards Seoul! I just loved to dance, and now I’m standing on top of the stage Until then, I overcame many pains and scars to prepare myself I survived with my belief to bend, not break, and ran for three years Let the stars inside my heart shine! Now shine on me differently Write “Bangtan” on the paper world I walk my future with more lights on Give a smile to that far future (Ha, ha)

Genius English Translations – BTS - (Hidden Track) 길 (Road/Path) (English Translation)

“길 (Road/Path)” follows the member’s decisions to become idols in the Korean music industry. They recall their different upbringings from li

As you can see, the lyrics are simple and self-explanatory, so I guess we don't need any lyrics analysis, and the description section of the Genius translation I used here, says it all:

“길 (Road/Path) follows the member’s decisions to become idols in the Korean music industry. They recall their different upbringings from listening to hip hop in school to the hard years of being trainees under BigHit Entertainment. BTS pose the questions of how their lives would be different if they made a different decision, and they ask themselves what the future entails. A very introspective track about their career for a debut album, BTS display their thought processes as they enter the music scene.”

Sea

[Intro: Jungkook] Oh, ah, yeah [Verse 1: Rap Monster] I just started walking and ended up at the sea I'm looking at the coast from here There's endless sand and the rough wind I'm still looking at a desert I wanted to have the sea so I swallowed you up But I'm even thirstier than before Is what I know really the ocean? Or a blue desert? [Refrain: J-Hope] I don't know, I don't know If I'm feeling the waves right now, yeah I don't know, I don't know If I'm being chased by the sand wind, yeah I don't know, I don't know Is this the sea or the desert? Is this hope or despair? Is this real or fake? Shit [Pre-Chorus: J-Hope] I know, I know, my hardship right now I know, I know, I'll overcome I know, I know, open me up It's the place I can rely on Think positive, I'm swallowing my dry spit Even if I'm nervous, even if I'm in a desert I'm in the beautiful Namib Desert [Chorus: Jimin, Jin] Where there is hope, there is always trial (4) [Hook: V, Jungkook] Where there is hope You know, you know You know, yeah yeah (2) [Verse 2: Suga] I thought this was the ocean but it's a desert A medium-sized, ordinary idol was my second name Countless people get cut from broadcast But someone's empty spot is our dream They say some of these kids can't make it cuz their agency is too small I know, I know, I know too Times when the seven of us had to sleep in one room With foolish hope that tomorrow will be different before we fell asleep We saw the mirage in the desert but we couldn't grasp it Praying that we'll remain in this desert till the end Praying that this isn't truly our reality [Verse 3: Suga] In the end, we reached the mirage and it became our reality The scary desert became the ocean with our blood, sweat and tears But why is there this fear in between the happiness? Because we know too well that this place is really a desert [Refrain 2: Suga] I don't wanna cry I don't wanna rest No, who cares if we rest a little? No no no I don't wanna lose It's always a desert I told you everything Then I'll just be more depressed [Chorus: Jungkook, V] Where there is hope, there is always trial (2) [Hook: Jimin, Jin] Where there is hope You know, you know You know, yeah yeah (2) [Bridge: Rap Monster] Ocean, desert, the world Everything, the same thing Different name I see ocean, l see desert I see the world Everything's, the same thing With a different name It's life again [Hook: V, Jungkook] Where there is hope You know you know you know yeah (2) [Chorus] Where there is hope, there is always trial

Genius English Translations – BTS - 바다 (Sea) (English Translation)

[Intro: Jungkook] / Oh, ah, yeah / [Verse 1: Rap Monster] / I just started walking and ended up at the sea / I'm looking at the coast from h

Compared to “Path”, we have more innuendos and metaphors in “Sea” because of Namjoon’s lyricism (it was supposed to be in his mixtape at first), but as the description says:

"It discusses the hardships BTS has experienced since debut, particularly struggling to compete with groups from other, larger agencies. In this song, BTS reflects on these hardships, fearing that their global fame and success could leave as suddenly as it arrived."

Common Denominator

These two lyrics have one big thing in common, and it's the topic they are discussing. They talk about the members' struggles, fears, hopes, and dreams career-wise. I was thinking maybe these issues are something they can only share with their longtime fans, not the general public, therefore, they decided to release them as hidden tracks in the physical album for their real fans who buy them, something like the difference between Weverse and Instagram, I guess? Then I realized that’s something Namjoon has mentioned himself to Billboard Magazine, in LYS: Her interview:

BTS Explain Concepts Behind ‘Love Yourself: Her’ Album: ‘This Is the Beginning of Our Chapter Two’

Mere hours before the release of ‘BTS’ Love Yourself: Her,’ the album’s significance isn’t lost on the group’s leader Rap Monster who analyz

And if fans are so lucky to own the physical album, they’ll hear two hidden tracks at the very. Why keep them secretive?

"I think they’re hidden because you have to be a real fan of BTS to understand them. Otherwise, you won’t. Otherwise, you’d like to be, “Why are they feeling so confused about things? They’re good?!? They’re No. 1 somewhere, they have so much stuff, why are they worried?” People always talk about that. But if you are a true fan of BTS and you buy the album and you listen to the hidden track — if you are an Army and we spent time together from 2013, 2014 — they could understand. It’s kind of more special, more closer, to our true hearts"

What about "Letter"?

In conclusion, hidden tracks for BTS, are something between them and their real fans who know about the path they have wended, therefore they can open up to them through lyrics and talk about their fears and struggles and ambitions without being judged or misunderstood. Also, we have to debunk some of the misconceptions going around (especially after the release of FACE) about hidden tracks. For example, some claimed that Letter is made for fans because hidden tracks are always supposed to be “gifts” for fans. This claim obviously can’t be true when you are able to listen to a hidden track legally, only by purchasing the physical album. Gifts are supposed to be free of charge, like Promise, Still with You, Christmas Love, My You, and so on. 

Then what about “Letter”? Why this song is a hidden track in Jimin’s first solo album? Did Jimin want to say something by hiding this track in FACE? To answer this questions, we need to pay attention to the lyrics and how the song was made:

 [Verse 1] What should I say? And how should I convey it? I'm really not getting my words right I know it sounds so clichéd So that it's not taken lightly Let me say it to you properly [Chorus] I say oh-oh, I hope you can be happier You, who stretched your hand out to me whenever I fell I say oh-oh, I'll hold it now (I'll hold it) So when you feel like crying, you won’t fall [Verse 2] After all this time has passed Will we still be the same? Just like we were when we first met, hmm-mmm If we are together, even the desert could turn to a sеa Just like how we were then, oh-hoo-ooh [Chorus] I say oh-oh, I really hope that it’ll last forever You, who felt like a warm spring to me in a cold winter I say oh-oh, I'll always cherish it All those moments between you and I [Refrain] Baby, don't leave Just stay by my side, yeah To you, who see me bigger than what my little self is (to you) So that I can give as much as I’ve received (oh-oh) So that I can keep my word (oh-oh) Don't worry, just stay by my side, yeah (Yeah) We don’t know what the future holds (holds, yeah) And that’s scary and makes us afraid (oh-oh) But don’t forget that we’re always together (don't forget) [Outro] I know it sounds so clichéd So that it's not taken lightly Let me say it to you properly

The Feelings

If you compare these lyrics to "Path" and "Sea" you can clearly see the differences, and except a mention of "sea and desert" there's nothing in common between them. Letter is not a monologue about career issues, it's a romantic song. These lyrics are expressing the feelings and addresses them to an audience and appreciates them. But how was this song made?

According to Jimin, at first, SMF Pt2 was supposed to be the last track of his solo album, but in their YTC promotion and recording era when they announced that they have planned to put their group activities on rest, Jimin decided to express his feelings of the moment through a letter, and turned that letter to song lyrics. Producers liked the song so much and decided to add it in his album and that’s how “Letter” was born. Although Jimin didn’t explain much about those “feelings” and left the conclusion to us like a true artist, we all know that this song is totally different from the other tracks in his album.

All the tracks of FACE are dark and sad. Jimin’s first album is all about himself, and he talks about the painful emotions he had as an artist and a person in the past few year, but with “Letter” there is a different story. Recording Academy admitted this and wrote:

“Though the EP is technically only six songs, the physical version has an additional “hidden” track called “Letter”. The song provides an intimacy that stands out from the other FACE tracks, capturing Jimin in his best form. The lyrics are poignant and vulnerable as Jimin pleads for someone to stay (“Baby, don't leave Just stay by my side, yeah”) The biggest surprise though? Fellow BTS member Jungkook contributes vocals to harmonize with Jimin.”  

A Fan Song?

“Letter” being a “Fan Song” is a stated fact by Park Jimin himself, and there can’t be any arguments about it, but that fact doesn’t mean Jimin made this song with the thought of fans in his head and all about them. In one of my old posts, I said that a faceless crowd can’t be the muse for a romantic song, especially when that song has a "standing-out intimacy".

Another reason for calling "Letter" a fan song, is the fact that it starts at 6:13 of the album, the numbers that remind us of the debut date of BTS. We can't call this a coincidence because we know how thoughtful and punctual Jimin is. But don’t forget that 6.13 is more of BTS time than ARMY time. So, as much as you call this track a song for fans, it can be called a song for his fellow BTS members.

Why JK?

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room. Why JK was a part of this song? Did it mean something for Jimin, or did he have no other options? Jimin said that FACE is an album about himself, and he didn’t feel right about featuring other artists in it, that’s why he decided to record SMF Pt2 all alone and do all the rap parts by himself instead of featuring Yoongi in it. He collaborated with several producers and songwriters (including Namjoon), but there was no featured artist in the whole album.

About the background vocals of the album, he did most parts by himself, and for the other parts, he worked with artists who already had credits in his album, such as BLVSH, Sumin, and James Keys. But JK didn’t have anything to do with Jimin’s album. Jimin was fully capable of doing the background vocals of Letter by himself, as he did for the first parts of the song. Jimin never really explained why he decided to have JK in the song, other than saying their voices match. This known fact doesn’t give us much information, but we can have our speculations. 

Closer Than This?

Another thing that questions the idea of “Letter" being inspired by fans, is the existence of “Closer Than This”. The newest release of Jimin is the exact definition of a fan song, the lyrics are straightforward and directly address the fans and leave no place for speculation. If CTT is the result of Jimin getting inspired by his fans, then “Letter” must be inspired by something different because these two songs are not comparable. 

The difference becomes more obvious when we look at the initial version of the Letter lyrics in Jimin’s drafts. I wonder what the Grammy journalist who called the final lyrics of “Letter” intimate would have said if they read this: 

You hugged me tightly Only you who protected me Hold my hand, hold my hand tightly You who reached out my hand You held out your hand to me

We don’t know what was going on in Jimin’s mind when he wrote these, but we can see that the initial lyrics have been moderated, and the intimate parts, which clearly refer to a person, didn’t end up in the final lyrics. FYI, I’m doing a lyric analysis here, and this is not a complaint or conspiracy theory because Jimin said that he liked the way the final version came out, and it's all that matters.

For Fans, Not About Fans

So far we made it clear that "hidden tracks" are not about fans, they are for fans like any other BTS song, but the hidden tracks are a secret between the artist and the fan, something that only the true and dedicated fan can understand, and this applies to Jimin's "Letter".

Jimin gave up on many records for streaming and buying by releasing this song as a hidden track in his album. So, there must be an important message in this song that he wanted to convey to the true fans. He did his share of being thankful to fans by CTT, and I don't think he needed to do it twice in a year.

Maybe you prefer to think Jimin just made this song for ARMY and hid it in the album as a surprise or because it didn’t match with the whole concept of FACE, and you might not be wrong about any of that. But, don’t forget that he didn’t explain anything about this, and we both are just making assumtions.

Yes, maybe Jimin didn't acknowledge JK being a part of Letter in his promotion era, but JK did everything he could for his share. A few hours before the release of FACE, he started a live and played a part of it with his guitar, and months later, he watched Jimin's live performance for Festa while harmonizing with it and reminding us that he knows the lyrics very well. In Jimin's documentary he was very supportive and even teased for a live performance with him in future.

Why Just Jikook?

Jimin and Jungkook are not the only members of BTS. But I don't know why everytime Jimin or JK do something with romantic undertones, the fans (OT7 ARMYs, to be more specific) immediately try to label it as "About ARMY". I usually don't see this energy with the other five members. I'm perfectly sure they are also very grateful for ARMY, they have released several songs about them, and they would have loved to collaborate in a fan song with Jimin, too.

Then why Jimin only included JK in Letter? Why he wanted to sing for "ARMY" with him? Unless we assume Jimin's gratitude towards ARMY has connections with JK, and I don’t even want to bring up 2019 "I am army" jokes. But "Letter" is the song the most optimistic Jikookers didn't expect to exist. You may try to ignore and normalize it, but you can't deny the fact that Letter proved Jikook's unbreakable connection as two harmonic colleages, long time friends, and inseparable souls.

[kkhluvsbts]

There was a lot to digest in Episode 7. I watched several times to make sure I was really seeing everything properly. And I’m still doubting myself.

Anyway, these are my thoughts.

Tae is the sassiest when he’s at the fountains and says, this is beige! 😂 I laughed more each time

Hobi is a complete rock star with this look

JKs sprout while boxing is the cutest (sorry JK, you’ll always be cute) and his sweat really is like holy water

But let’s get serious. This episode was Jikook centric. They stood out the most, imo.

Beginning with the phone call, OH BRO!!! 😶‍🌫️

Yay for fried chicken!

Jimin made it a point to let us know he lived there alone. He eats there and is on the computer. He folds wash on the floor. Strange that there are literally no personal belongings anywhere. And then BAM there’s JK using the key code 🤭 I’m assuming staff was filming behind him or maybe a friend. Who knows.

Side note: Tae’s house is gorgeous! I could move in right now. He also makes it a point that he lives alone, but is sometimes bored, but the quiet is nice. His house looks lived in and cozy.

NJs as well. Even though he has million dollar art pieces everywhere, his home looks very inviting and lived in. He mentions it’s his personality and taste. His fridge has food. Unlike JKs in that last Live.

So, back to Jikook. Now we’re back to JK cooking. This is after the fried chicken. He looks veryyyyyy comfortable in Jimin’s kitchen. He wearing PJ bottoms. What happened after the chicken and soju??? Are they alone now? I think so. They look very natural sitting there eating together

He really watches him and looks at him so fondly 🥰 This was after Jimin’s surgery and JK seems to be looking after him very well ♥️

How do we know exactly when?

Thank you, Jimin 😏

And thank you eagle-eyed Army. That whole time frame was full of Jikook 💜💛

Jimin tells a story about how he had to help a friend move and said friend told him Jimin seemed severely depressed

JK is watching him the whole time with very little emotion. Which is very odd for JK. Imo, he’s either heard the story already or (delulu alert) is the “friend”. I’ve been contemplating this since I first watched. Ran it by a few friends. Then I made my non Army friend watch to find out what he thought. He said,

Why is the older one (he thought JK was older) pretending he hasn’t heard this before?

He also said, I bet you HE is that friend 😏

Moving on…

All of these things were making my brain hurt, but the thing that stood out even more so was the Truth Untold clip and when Jimin was enveloping JK after a performance where he thought he did poorly while they were talking about happiness

Note that there were no flashbacks for NJ, Yoongi, or Tae. And they were all talking about the same thing.

“I want to grow old like this”-JM

And it’s Jikook laughing

“I want to be happy” -JM

“That’s right!”-JK

“Let’s be happy”-JK

I was a sobbing mess each time.

Idk if anything I said made sense.

I’ll prob watch again.

[andy-wm]

Everything you need to know, revealed in a single minute.

1. Jimin and Jungkook are fucking.

2. Jimin thinks it's a secret. Or he thinks it should be a secret, because decorum.

3. Joonie and Tae don't care that it's a secret, or forgot it's a secret, or forgot they're all supposed to pretend its a secret.

4. Jungkook knows damn well it's not a secret... because he's literally told everyone he meets. He LOVES that it's not a secret. He wants to hold up a big ass banner. But he pretends it's a secret because Jimin, and because it's funny as shit to pretend it's a secret.

Also...

1. Joonie is adorably good natured but doesn't quite grasp the social intricacies of 'a secret'.

2. Tae is the most literal and direct person in existence.

3. Jimin drops hints the size of bombs and thinks he's being subtle.

4. Jungkook is just here to have fun.

Find the clip here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0i_IIqN2Dj/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[kkhluvsbts]

I am definitely not a Jikooker who doesn’t see Jimin and Jungkook as individuals and I do not think absolutely everything they do revolves around each other,

BUT

If you listened to Standing Next to You and watched the MV and didn’t see Jikook references…I feel sorry for you.

What was that? ☀️🌙

BuT hE dIdN’t WrItE tHe LyRiCs 🙄

YOU ALREADY KNOW!?!? WHO already knows? I think I know 🤭

But why is there a wavy red line in the middle of the road? I think I know that too 😏

[bisexualnamjoonie]

it's missing kim seokjin's shenanigans and general tomfoolery hour (jk's birthday live edition)

+ bonus: the aftermath

[mimiskookie]

The moment I saw this, I laughed so hard. It is not even about only Jin. IYKYK.

[jung-koook]

the way they reassured comfortingly jungkook trying to calm him down ♡🥹 (cr. soowoozoooo)

[andy-wm]

3D by JK (feat. JH) - my take.

Ok, unpopular opinion maybe, and I might get my ass beaten for this (not in a good way 🤣)

Feel free to disagree RESPECTFULLY.

Disclaimer: If anyone comes at me with that cancel bullshit I will block you, because we all get to have an opinion.

If my post enrages you, scroll past until you can be civil, then come back and talk. Or block me. I dont mind.

And don't tell me that because I don't love this song I have to hand in my ARMY card... I'm not going to.

🙂💜🙂

I'll start by saying I love JK so, so much. Adore him. Will always support him.

But for me, 3D is a misstep.

My feeling is Hybe should have reconsidered releasing it as it is.

JK's lyrics are fun and sexy. The innuendo is on point. The melody is great and the chorus has excellent sing-along value. Even though I'm not a huge pop music fan, I like the vibe.

The MV dancers are awesome, and I got a kick out of the fire hydrant metaphor.

And in that jacket with nothing under it, JK looks hot enough to melt asphalt.

However....

Including Jack Harlow's rap IMO is a mistake. It sucks, frankly. Not in a good way.

It not only misses the mark on the tone of the rest of the song but his lyrics are really just offensive. Misogynistic. And racial refrences are just... not cricket. It's 2023 not 1995, regardless of what his hairstyle tells you.

His lyrics sound like an incel bragging about their sex life when all they've ever done is watch porn. From his words, I doubt he knows how to please any person but himself.

His message is gross, but its still just... generic. Like he went to urban dictionary for spicy language and then googled how to treat women like shit. There's nothing original about what he's saying. He's not even being gross in an intersting way. It's gross AND boring.

(Jack, if you're reading this, sorry my guy you gotta do better.)

I've been army since 2018 and this is the first BTS song I have tried to find merit in and given up.

I honestly tried to be into it and i just... can't. It doesn't sit well with me.

This is a new experience for me because even when BTS release something i don't immediately love, i still stream and watch and let it sink in, or I work on figuring out what I am missing and why it's ACTUALLY good even if i can't grasp it.

This... it's just... not good, in my opinion.

I have to clarify here...

It isn't about explicit content, i am totally down for that. If anyone read my post on Seven, they will know my response to that song. In a nutshell, I believe all adults who want to, should happily and shamelessly be doing ALL the horizontal tango. Every type, every day, in every way. With anyone and everyone they fancy as long as all parties are informed and consenting adults who are equally enjoying the experience.

Yes. I am all about getting down.

That doesn't mean treating your partners like a body count or using and abusing them with no consideration. That's not cool.

**PSA: please be safe and use protection. Get tested regularly if you have multiple partners. Don't do anything you don't feel good about and dont stay with partners who harm or manipulate you 💜**

Now, back to the smut.

Some criticisms i saw of Seven were about how dirty it was. A few people were upset because JK said fuck, and because he sang about how and when he liked to fuck. But more criticism was levelled at Letto. Why?

It seemed like it was because she's a woman, singing about sex.

Letto totally owns her sexuality and she knows what she wants. I snorted with delight at how deliciously filthy her lyrics were. Some very clever wordplay made her verse so visceral, and pretty shocking to the pearl-clutchers, without her ever saying anything directly. I really enjoyed it.

She was telling us straight up how good she is in bed. Good for her. She totally rocks. And she wasn't disrespecting anyone. She didn't need to do that to make herself cool AF.

The difference between Letto's rap and jack harlow's is that jack sounds like he's just looking at the women he's singing about as a hole to stick his dick in. Women have fought for long enough for equality and respect. They don't need this bullshit. You can sing about getting down, and you can be absolutely filthy and nasty and wild, and you can do it without degrading your partners.

I did read a theory about this song being social commentary on toxic masculinity. You can find it here and you can read it below:

Its not bad as a theory. At least it wouldn't be if Namjoon or Yoongi or Hobi - or Jungkook himself - had written the song. If that were the situation we'd see some inkling of self awareness in the rap, and maybe a hint of character development. But there's none.

Sorry ARMY, this is not the class of lyricism we have come to expect.

If jack is trying to make a social statement^*, or play a character, he is not succeeding in showing any growth or humanity at all. He's really just that stereotype.

In the last few lines, after he offers to fly his victim from Korea to Kentucky, he says "and you ain’t gotta guarantee me nothing I just wanna see if I get lucky."

How considerate...

All I see is zero care factor about the actual person he's trying to get with. Which is quite different from JK's lyrics, which show awareness that he's interacting with a conscious, living human being, not a piece of furniture.

jack follows with "I just wanna meet you in the physical and see if you would touch me"

Ugh. Not with a ten foot pole, douchebag.

And how about, in his first verse "All my ABGs get cute for me"

Good god, really? Is he seriously saying this?

So its a no for me.

The ONLY saving grace is that there's an alternative version which is pretty fun. It's almost as if Hybe knew we would hate the version with jack harlow. Wow, such insight!

Now, i know that's not the only reason they made an alternative. They needed a clean version for US radio play (let's be real, what possible other purpose can this song serve? *°)

But they could have censored jack's... actually they couldn't. The rap verses can't be salvaged. They genuinely have no merit, the only hope for the song is totally removing them.

What does that tell you?

ARMY will no doubt still chart the main track but personally, I would feel morally compromised if i supported that version. So I'll stick to the alternative and hope for better things to come.

------------

^* Stylecaster doesnt think so either. I visited their website to check thr lyrics. They said, of D3, "Meanwhile, Jack Harlow brings the cool with his two verses as he raps about all the women he could pull"

Uh, really? I hope that's intended to be ironic.

*° The MV had only 4.5million views after 12 hours. And we know what brilliant strategists Hybe employs. I am travelling in Korea right now. There was no promo visible here. And it was no accident that it was released at lunchtime on Chuseok - the biggest famiily holiday of the year - when relatively few people in Korea would be available to engage with it. THEY KNEW IT WAS A STINKER.

[mimiskookie]

This was beautifully summarized. It feels good to know that not all hope is lost as far as Army is concerned.

[jung-koook]

JUNGKOOK X VOGUE KOREA — '1970s Punk'