Bop's List of the Most Insane GTOP Moments (Part 4)
wow finally lol
thanks so much for waiting! ok we're at the final rung - these are things that required crazy amounts of sleuthing and deducing from fans, and I suppose by proxy are a bit more up for interpretation 🤷 they also all take place between 2020 onwards, where they both got super private and were going through hiatus. enjoy!
Parents' Day
So things were pretty up and down with GTOP after they were both discharged from the military in 2019 - we had epic highs like the flower shoes, and epic lows like both of them posting worrying things online about being lonely and looking like they weren't taking care of themselves (back end of 2019/start of 2020 was a rough time, between three of their friends committing suicide within weeks of each other, the ongoing Burning Sun case and Seungri's clear involvement coming to light, the trauma that the military had clearly caused them, the pressure over where to go next with the group, COVID ruining their Coachella plans etc). Some people assumed that they'd broken up at this point, although they did spend time with each other in December 2019 (in fact that was when they posted their last selfie together) - in my opinion, jury is still out over whether they fully split or just struggled through a rough patch, but regardless it appears that things were ok again by 2020:
this was posted by Jiyong's sister Dami on parents' day (May 2020), which they celebrated at Ji's house. However, what's interesting to note is that there are only five adult members of the Kwon family - Jiyong, Dami, their parents, and Dami's husband. So who does the sixth glass belong to...? Also, that bottle of wine is incredibly familiar:
Both Seunghyun and Jiyong have posted about this wine a few times (and in fact, it appears in the lyrics to We Like 2 Party), and you can see the label matches the one on the table in Dami's photo. Maybe it's all innocent, maybe Seunghyun simply influenced Jiyong's tastes in wine just like he has done in art, but I dunno, that sixth glass is miiiiiiiiighty suspicious...
Russian Water Bottle
ok buckle up besties because this one is wild
so in October 2021, Seunghyun uploaded this video, which fans quickly deduced was taken in a restaurant in Russia - we don't know who he was with, but it looks like the restaurant is very fancy and pretty empty
Then, not long later, Jiyong was with his family enjoying a birthday dinner for his mum, when fans noticed some interesting things on the table once again
Firstly, there's enough cutlery there for six people (one on the side of the plate and five in the bowl). Then, a fan from Russia went even further and noticed the water bottle sitting towards the end of the table
so either Jiyong was with Seunghyun in Russia and potentially took that video of him (which is something he's done before, taken photos and videos of him which Seunghyun then uploaded to his instagram, without fans knowing it was Jiyong who took them until later), or Seunghyun came back from Russia and was at the family birthday party and accidentally left his water bottle on the table in the picture lol. Obviously we're adding some flair and spin on this, but either way, very very cute and very very insane for fans to have spotted hahahaha
Delivery Driver
You'll have to take this one with a grain of salt because it's based on hearsay, but I thought I'd include it anyway
so in July 2021, Seunghyun was in the US meeting with art friends, when somebody on twitter posted this:
The following has been translated from a Chinese fan account:
'The delivery guy was delivering food from a café/restaurant in Seongsu. When he arrived at the destination, he stood in front of the building’s large glass front door. Because of COVID regulations, he couldn’t make direct contact, so he placed the food at the door. He didn’t want to just drop it off and leave without making sure, so he waited a bit, hoping someone would come to pick it up.
Soon, someone wearing white came to the glass door from the inside. Through the glass, he could vaguely make out the silhouette: slim build, longish hair, and a slightly scruffy beard. The delivery was large and heavy, and when the person opened the door to pick it up, he accidentally dropped one of the bags. While bending down to pick up the fallen food, his left arm extended outward, and in that moment, the delivery guy clearly saw a crown tattoo.'
Apparently, the delivery driver confirmed the address he went to was TOP's residence, not GD's, and he provided his employee number to verify his story. Fans at the time were confused, because Seunghyun was supposed to be in the US still, and wondered whether Jiyong was there just looking after his apartment for him, until Seunghyun posted the following on the next day:
This is from his apartment, meaning he was probably home on the 26th, and in my little headcanon I like to imagine Jiyong was waiting for him when he got home with a massive take-out order and plenty of cuddles while he slept off the jet lag ✨
Rainbow Painting
I just think this is cute, man, and it pairs nicely with the previous moment
so we all know this painting that Jiyong has in his apartment - we've seen it as recently as this month, in the background of his video that he posted for Zoa's birthday, so we know it's in a prime location in his home:
this is a painting by Jennifer Guidi, an American artist who Seunghyun is good friends with (as seen in her Instagram story). However, if you look closely at the painting on her website, which was created in 2017, and the painting hanging up in Jiyong's house, they're different - the rainbow arcs in the opposite direction and the rainbow doesn't go over the centre of the circle in the top one whereas it does in the bottom one. Ergo, I believe they're two different paintings:
we first saw this painting posted by Jiyong on 23rd August 2021, so not long after his birthday - he first uploaded his photodump that included the painting with the caption 'somewhere over the 🌈✨' and then changed it to the leo symbol, implying it all had stuff to do with his birthday:
so, putting everything together, I conclude that Seunghyun was in the States in July 2021 meeting up with artist friends, commissioned his pal Jennifer to create another rainbow painting for his beloved's birthday that was coming up, and Jiyong was so happy with it that he had to post about it using the classic gay anthem 'somewhere over the rainbow' teeheeheeeee
Secret Trips to America Together
Again, all this is kind of... based on small breadcrumbs and Jiyong's running insistence on dropping hints and clues in his instagram stories lol
so in 2022 and potentially the start of 2023, Jiyong was in the US a lot at the same time as Seunghyun, and was proven to be with Seunghyun at times. Take this example, where they both featured in their artist friend Alex Israel's Instagram story when they were visiting him in LA (and we know they were there together because they were both tagged by him, and Jiyong then reshared the video)
Jiyong also posted this around the same time, which is clearly in LA - peep the hashtag in the caption, like idk if that's a reference to tttop but if it is, it ain't subtle! Also, adorably, it's been liked by Seunghyun's mum:
Then you have moments like this, in March 2023, when Seunghyun was in LA for the Versace Fall/Winter show, and Jiyong just happens to post a story with the No Signal image (it first appeared in TOP's solo segment of BigBang shows and then appeared on the peaceminusone website) and something about daylight savings time, which happened a few days after the Versace show... like.... KOREA DOESN'T HAVE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS?? IS HE INSANE??
and they both posted SO MANY THINGS related to the moon around here omg, because obviously Seunghyun was in the US a lot preparing for the DearMoon trip
so yeah like I say, all the stuff here is way more subtle and you have to be way more open to the idea of GTOP to agree with it lol, but also in a way I find it SO sweet and it proves to me that this isn't just fanservice or whatever the fuck, this is deep and legitttttt
Hi, random question lmao. What is the moment that completely solidified gtop for you? Like the one that made you completely certain that this isn’t just a ship, it’s actually for real
If you’ve answered this before my apologies!
Hello!
This is a great question, and one that is extremely hard to answer because there is just so much. I'll try my best to answer coherently below.
When @boptothetttop first brought me into the insanity that is GTOP, she had everything laid out for me on a silver platter, so I really had all the receipts from the outset. That being said, I was still skeptical at first. I wasn't new to the K-Pop scene or the fanservice involved in ship culture, so when she told me about GTOP, I was wary. I'd seen too much queerbaiting fanservice behavior between male idols to put much stock in it.
But then, as Bop says, my third eye opened 😂
It's difficult to pinpoint one single moment, primarily because our Lord and Savior Jiyong H. Christ really is the most insane loverboy of all time and the man doth constantly provide--but when I look back on it, it's truly the entirety of 2017 and 2018 that solidified them in my mind as a real, bona fide couple.
There is no misconstruing their interactions and support for each other during that time as fanservice. They weren't on stage, they weren't hamming anything up for the public. It was just two people who loved loyally and stayed side by side despite all the hardships they faced.
Here are a few specific moments that are always top of mind:
The Window Picture: All gtoppers know the window picture. The tenderness of them sitting together watching the first snow and the intimacy of the embrace? The way Jiyong is protecting Seunghyun--quite literally shielding him from the world? I took one look and was like "Oh. They really are in love."
2. Untitled, 2014: Up until Stendhal Syndrome, this was the GTOP song to end all GTOP songs in my book. If you haven't yet, go read Bop's analysis of it here and it'll tell you all you need to know. When I read the lyrics and really let myself digest them in context, it was a lightbulb moment. Jiyong said himself that the Kwon Jiyong album was his diary--the body of work that truly represented who he was as a person up to that point. There's a reason the song made it onto that album.
3. Jiyong's Enlistment Day: You're telling me that Seunghyun used his only official days off from public service in 2018 to see Jiyong off to the military? And then you're telling me that he was the only one who went with him apart from his parents and sister? And THEN you're telling me I'm supposed to think that isn't the most boyfriend-coded behavior of all time?????? Gimme a break, besties. I actually laughed at how obvious this was to me. I was so fucking locked in.
And last, but certainly not least...
BONUS: The Flower Shoes: After Jiyong discharged from the military in 2019, he did a collaboration with Nike in which he designed four pairs of shoes. They were: 1) the global release design, 2) the Korean exclusive design, 3) The 88 design (only 88 pairs manufactured for his family and friends), and 4) The Kwon Jiyong design, in which only one pair was manufactured exclusively for Jiyong.
Well, only one pair plus the second pair he had made for his lover--I mean bro. His boyfriend--I mean homie who wouldn't shut the fuck up about it and posted them various times to social media.
And wouldn't you know it--flower shoes just so happen to have a special meaning in South Korea. smh.
Anyway--Viva La GTOP, people. May we never know peace as long as they reign lol
