Taekook Closet

a taekook discussion blog

[thetaekookcloset]

The Basics

Hello and welcome to The Taekook Closet, a TK discussion blog! Below, please find several posts I’ve written on Taekook and related subjects which seem to come up in TK spaces often. I also have a page addressing frequently asked questions.  My ask box is open for any and all respectful questions and chats! I look forward to hearing from you!

FAQ

Intro

Tags

Why Taekook? Part 1: How did I get here?

Why Taekook? Part 2: What makes them different?

So what about Jikook?

(My) Taekook Timeline

Taekook’s ITS Convo: A Close Reading

“I’m a Jikooker/Non-TK Shipper/Non-Shipper and I Don’t Get Taekook”

[thetaekookcloset]

Checking In ~! (And Signing Off)

Hello, everyone!

I logged in for a few minutes today just to check in on some other blogs, and I knew some people would probably see that I've been online so I wanted to say a quick hello and thank you to everyone who's been looking for me, thinking of me, and sending in sweet comments saying that you've missed the blog -- thanks so much for thinking of me!

I thought I'd give you a few rapid-fire answers to some questions I've seen since logging on and that have been floating around, starting with why I've been gone. The honest answer is that I never intended to run this blog forever, which is why I worked so hard to make sure it was well-organized, so that it could remain as a resource even after I moved on from it. I've had a lot going on in my life for the past couple of years, including buying a house with my partner and making a new best friend (you know who you are lol love youuuu), not to mention keeping up with all the members' solo projects! For the most part, I felt that I said what I had to say, and so I've been putting my fandom energy into other areas.

That said, there have of course been developments since I've been gone, so let me address some of them briefly.

Several people seemed to want to know how I feel about Taennie these days. I feel the same as I did before. I would be pretty damn surprised if anything legitimate were to ever come out about Tae and Jennie being involved. Everything that links them together is flimsy and circumstantial at best, whereas Jennie's links to G-Dragon have remained consistent and compelling, and regardless of Taehyung's relationship with Jungkook, I feel pretty confident that he is, shall we say, not especially interested in women in that way.

As for the developments in Jikook's relationship, and more specifically in the common Jikooker narratives lately, I feel the same as I always have. I think Jungkook and Jimin are clearly good friends who are very comfortable with each other. I'm glad they have each other close by for their military service as forced conscription must be hard on anyone and those two in particular seemed less than enthusiastic about the experience. I do not, however, believe that it would be safe for them to enlist together to potentially stay in close quarters if they were in a romantic relationship, nor do I think they would be put together by the company for content like a whole duo show, complete with photobook and merchandise, if they were in a relationship.

Taekook, on the other hand, proved again and again throughout 2023 that they were seeing each other often, keeping up with one another's lives and work, and remaining as close as they always have been, as there is and always has been ample evidence to prove. A few of my favorite moments: Tae saying that Jungkook would sing him "To Find You" from Sing Street, a song about being destined to find someone despite not believing in fate, and pulling up Jungkook's cover to listen to, while Jungkook was away; Jungkook mentioning Tae unprompted, like sharing his memory of going snowboarding with Tae and his friends when asked to talk about why he chose "Ditto" for his Spotify interview and mentioning that he loves the song "Golden Hour" during a live; Tae playing "For Us" and doing a little boxing move when JK happened to be in California; Jungkook asking Taehyung "Where have you been?" when he showed up late to Inkigayo -- I could go on honestly, probably forever, so I'll make myself stop here.

That's part of the thing with this blog. I could go on and on, and I have so much that I love and want to do and say, so many other directions I want to spread that energy, so I don't plan to stick around. But I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has missed me; I genuinely didn't anticipate that, and it means a lot. I hope you're all doing well, and finding spaces for yourselves in this wild fandom we share.

TL;DR -- I'm sure the question anyone would most want me to answer is just this: Do I still believe in Taekook?

Yeah, I do. More than ever before really. I think their relationship speaks for itself, more than I ever could, for anyone willing to listen.

Borahae!

[thetaekookcloset]

This new episode of Run BTS was actually testament to how close TK are with each other. They are giggly and cute with each other throughout. A couple of observations

1. At one point in the first game Tae asks JK not to object because he has actually got a five and is not bluffing.

2. JK made not a single effort to help Jimin even though he was on that team.

3. JK seemed thoroughly disinterested and zoned out at Jimin's antics, throwing his shoe around and all.

4. Seemed genuinely sad that Tae lost the final round.

Did you get to see the episode yet? What are your observations?

I did see it and I thought it was so much fun!  I laughed so much, it was great.  I think this was actually my favorite episode of all the new ones.

I had a lot of the same observations, especially about Taehyung really trying to get Jungkook not to object to his five.  Like, he really did not want to screw Jungkook over and it was so sweet.

I also thought it was really cute when Jungkook went to him at the start of the final game and Taehyung spoke in such a soft voice when he said that he didn’t believe Jungkook was on his team -- he said something like, “You’re not here,” but the different tone he used with him versus the others was so obvious.

Also yeah, just the way that Jungkook really didn’t seem to ever lie to him, and Taehyung was kicking ass the whole time that Jungkook was pretending to be on his team lol, it was just all very cute.

I felt sort of bad for Jimin because most of his team, for one reason or another, really was not helping him very much lol, but he won in the end and I was dying over his acceptance speech.  He’s so funny.

Overall, I just thought this episode was so good and fun and sweet.  Jungkook was being a little chaos gremlin and Taehyung was excelling at the mind games as usual, and it just seemed like you could really feel that they were all happy to be goofing off together.  It was just so nice.  And yeah, I agree, it really had a lot of examples of how much Tae and Jungkook consider each other, how aware of each other they are, and how they tend to align themselves with one another very often.

[thetaekookcloset]

Hi!

Quick question, does Taehyung touch anyone else’s ears like he does Jungkook’s?

I don’t think he does really, no.  I believe he does occasionally touch Jin’s ears, and maybe this is me seeing through my TK goggles, but to me that reads more as annoying-touching, rather than affection-touching, if that makes sense?

When he touches Jungkook’s ears, it seems like he’s doing it out of a desire to touch him.  It’s usually random or done without any clear intent, whereas any ear-touching with Jin seems to be in keeping with most of the rest of the way Tae touches Jin, like he’s trying to get a reaction out of him.

Interestingly, I was recently talking about this with a friend, because we were trying to think of whether other members touch each other’s ears too.  Jungkook occasionally touches Tae’s ears (not as often) and we realized that Jin actually touches Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s ears sometimes too, but specifically theirs and no one else’s, that we could think of.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Tae touches Hobi’s ears sometimes too, but I can’t really think of any instances where he does.  It strikes me as sort of a “babying” thing to do, if that makes sense?  If that reading is right, it might explain why Tae and JK do it to each other, and why Jin does it to both of them, and why it might be a way Tae tries to get a rise out of Jin.

These are, of course, just theories.  Thank you for your question!  Whatever the reasons behind it, I think this habit is really cute.

[thetaekookcloset]

hey! I'm relatively new to actually interacting with the BTS fandom, though I have been a fan of BTS for a while. I pretty quickly felt there was likely something romantic going in between taekook when I first became a fan, so when I started interacting with the fandom I guess I was pretty surprised how 'hated' taekook seems to be? I know it's a pretty popular ship, but I've just seen a lot of very vile comments regarding the ship and people who ship it, and I'm sort of wondering where that comes from? if you have any insight I'd really appreciate it!

I’m still relatively new myself (I fell down the BTS rabbit hole just over a year ago now!) but I think the vitriol for Taekookers (and Taekook by extension) comes from a few things.

One is that it is a really popular ship, so I think just by numbers alone, it sort of becomes a scapegoat.

One reason is that there are some really loud Taekookers who go off the rails with their theories, and some who are awful to and about certain other members, and they basically become the “face” of Taekook for a lot of other fans.

And finally, I think it just really pisses a lot of people off that we believe in something that they feel there’s no evidence for. 

A lot of people really feel like there’s no basis for Taekook whatsoever -- which comes largely from the fact that in official content, Taekook weren’t shown interacting much for a few years (arguably as early as 2015, but certainly at least from 2016, up through the end of 2019 or so).

Obviously, there’s still plenty of indication from that time period that Taekook were close -- more and more evidence comes out all the time, from Big Hit themselves, for example in the recent SYS The Final DVD which was filmed in 2019.  And that’s to say nothing of all the plentiful basis from 2020 and beyond.

But people come up with their narratives and really don’t like to be swayed from them, and I think it makes some of those people really angry that there’s a subset of the fandom that sees what we see and is equally unable to be swayed.

Between all of those elements, you just get a pretty nasty cocktail, and unfortunately in a lot of cases, it affects not just how some fans feel about Taekookers, but about Taekook themselves -- suddenly they’re blamed just for interacting because of how some of us might interpret it.

It’s a mess, but with a fandom this large, mess is inevitable, I’m afraid.

[thetaekookcloset]

Hello! I love your blog and probably agree with your thoughts compared to any other tk theories or timeline. Question! Do you have any thoughts about taejin? Interested in your opinion on that ship since it was super popular before, especially during the time when jikook was popular! Also, any thoughts about yoonmin?

“The time when Jikook was popular” lol, you make it sound like an ancient era like I don’t get Jikook tweets recommended to me every day hahaha

Anyway thank you for your kind words!  I’m glad you like the blog.  Sorry for taking forever to respond, I haven’t been on here much lately.

My thoughts on all the other ships are pretty similar to be honest.  I think the members are all close in their own ways.  Every pair has a unique bond, a unique way of relating to each other, and all of them are fun to watch.  As they get different things from each other, I get different things from them too, and it’s one of the most delightful things about BTS.

But I don’t think there’s any indication of any kind of potential romantic relationship between anyone other than Taekook.

My specific thoughts about Taejin are that I think Tae kind of likes to push Jin’s buttons, and sometimes Jin genuinely loses his patience with it but for the most part, he’s really indulgent about it.  They have a really sweet relationship, I think -- one where it’s clear that Tae is like a kid to Jin in a lot of ways, but also one where Taehyung really takes care to show his appreciation for Jin, which is lovely.

Yoonmin I definitely think are interesting, because Yoongi lets Jimin get away with a lot, but also they bicker really often.  At the same time, they don’t really seem to me like two of the “closer” members, for lack of a better word.  I don’t like comparing degrees of closeness between the members, because I don’t think that’s a metric that really makes sense in this context, but hopefully you know what I mean.  While it certainly seems like Yoongi has a soft spot for Jimin, they don’t seem to spend much time together in particular.

Those are my reads on those particular relationships, but like I said, I really don’t see any indications of potential romantic bonds between any of the members except Taehyung and Jungkook.

I hope this satisfies your curiosity if you’re still hanging around!  Thank you again!

[thetaekookcloset]

Do you really think Taehyung went with Jk to get his tattoo? According to the tattoo artist he did it on 18th June alongside Jk.. also the blurry tattoo-like thing on his thigh in vogue photoshoot, I don't think that's the actual tattoo coz that looks way higher than his actual 7 tattoo..

I think at this point, evidence points to yes, anon.  This is the clear image that PolyC shared today/yesterday:

This is my screenshot of his story explaining the situation with Tae’s autograph (or lack thereof):

It’s not 100% definite, but the implication of his explanation is definitely that Taehyung was there when he uploaded the Jungkook photos.  Between that and the fact that, on June 13th, Taehyung said live that he didn’t have his tattoo yet and would go with Jungkook, it seems likely that that’s exactly what happened.

There’s also the fact that someone pointed out that if you squint, you can sort of see the 7 on his leg from before he left for Paris Fashion Week, a few days after June 18th:

So while I know the photo you mean from the Vogue shoot, which I think took place in August, and I agree that it does seem like slightly different placement in that one photo, I think that was the real tattoo.  I think that photo just throws off the perspective a bit, especially since he’s sort of lying on the couch and you can’t see his knee.

This is a zoomed in section of another photo from the shoot, the one where he’s standing up, and with the contrast boosted a bit, you can pretty clearly see that it’s the 7, in the same spot as these other photos:

So yeah, at this point I think it’s pretty clear that Tae had the tattoo before the end of June but got it after June 13th -- within the same timeframe as Jungkook, in other words.  We now have proof after proof that the tattoo was done by PolyC, the implication from PolyC himself that Taehyung was in his studio when he posted about Jungkook (and presumably only then, or he could have asked for the autograph sometime later), and Taehyung’s own statement that he planned to get the tattoo with Jungkook.

I guess it’s technically not definite, but at this point signs point to yes: they very likely got their tattoos together.

Thank you to my friend for helping me parse out the timeline and providing me with images lol you’re the best!!

[thetaekookcloset]

in light of the holiday season, what do you think are the chances of a holiday remix of Run BTS

Lmaooooooo as much as I would love to see this, I think the chances are unfortunately slim, anon.

[thetaekookcloset]

there are so many parallels between jungkook and taehyung’s portfolio. It almost feels like they planned it together

If by “so many parallels” you mean that they both feel like they were designed for me personally, then yes.

Lol in all seriousness, yeah they both have quite a bit of that 19th Century European aesthetic going on, which makes both concepts feel like they could be related to each other.

It’s totally possible that they could have chatted about their concepts, but honestly I feel like they ultimately had very different ideas that just happened to overlap a little bit in, I don’t know, historical context, I guess?  But if nothing else, it shows that they have some overlap in the aesthetics and ideas they find interesting.

Plus they’re both just so beautiful!  I seriously can’t get over Taehyung’s entire concept, I’m obsessed with it.

[thetaekookcloset]

You not doing any updates nowadays ? You well?

Thanks for asking, anon, I appreciate it.  I am doing well, just super busy with other things and there’s not really a lot going on with Taekook at the moment so there’s not much to talk about on here, especially when I have other priorities -- lots of stuff to get done for the end of the year, lots of family/friend plans, that sort of thing.

I also feel like lately we’ve been talking about a lot of the same things.  I get a lot of asks on similar topics that we -- myself and also a lot of the other people around here -- have talked a lot about, and it just doesn’t feel worth rehashing all of those thoughts every time.  I try to make this blog accessible and easy to navigate so people can see all of those topics from the past.

Between that, being busy, and just generally getting asks that I’m not sure exactly how to respond to sometimes, I am being a bit more circumspect with what I choose to answer.  I hope everyone can understand that -- I’m just one person, after all!

Things will likely be slow and quiet here for a while, but I’m not going anywhere and the ask box is open if anyone has something they’d like to reach out about!  And you never know when I might drop a random post too, because I’m definitely still around.

Thanks again for checking in, and I hope everyone is winding their year down pleasantly!

[thetaekookcloset]

This is random...but I still wonder how JK deals with Tae's smoking. Jk made it pretty clear he hated his dad smoking and that he's sensitive to smell. I wonder if it's a big issue in their relationship.

I don’t know if you’re still around and interested in my answer to this, anon -- I’m sorry I’ve been so absent and that it’s taken me a while to get to this.

Honestly I feel like this idea comes up pretty frequently and to be frank, I don’t really get it.  For one thing, Jungkook was a kid when he said that he hated his dad smoking, and all kids pretty much hate it when people smoke.

In addition to that, we’ve seen Tae smoking literally once?  And from what I understand, we’ve seen him vape?  Which is pretty different.  For one thing, it smells completely different.  It’s also easier to do indoors (in a big-city apartment, for example).  But really, we have no way of knowing how often he does either of those things.

I think that since smoking is a pretty common thing in SK, and vaping is so accessible and comparatively pleasant, it’s likely that Tae does vape, probably because he likes it and also possibly for things he might see as benefits to it (like appetite control and stress relief), and possibly he smokes from time to time, especially if vaping isn’t as convenient an option or if he’s nervous about something -- like, for instance, the Grammy performance.

It just doesn’t seem that it’s likely to be a big deal, to me, and trying to build a whole problem in TK’s hypothetical relationship out of it seems unnecessary.

[thetaekookcloset]

Just checking in to say hello~☆

Hello!!  Thank you for stopping by!  I’m sorry I’ve been so absent lately, I’ve just been super busy with end-of-year stuff in my personal life, and I haven’t really gotten too many asks lately either.

I do have a handful that have stacked up, and I apologize to everyone who has sent something in and is waiting for a response.  I’m hoping to be able to catch up on the blog this weekend.

Thank you again, I do appreciate you for checking in on me!

[thetaekookcloset]

If you think I'm not screaming, crying, throwing up over Taekook's Run BTS challenge video, you are very much mistaken

달방 챌린지가 그렇게 재밌다며🙃?! #연출뷔편집꾹감독 #Directed_by_V #Edited_by_JK #RunBTS #달려라방탄 #뷔 #V #정국 #JungKook

[thetaekookcloset]

I think the talking to jungkook isn't that deep. I say that even when it was a phone conversation. Like Have you talked to so and so, etc. Maybe I'm missing something?

I don’t think you’re missing anything, anon.  I think you’re right.  Taehyung and Jungkook know each other and are close, so they spend time talking to each other and Taehyung mentions it sometimes.  I agree: it’s really probably not that deep.

I think it becomes a bigger deal in fandom than it is likely to be in life for the two of them for a couple of reasons.  One is just that people love BTS and their bonds with each other, and so a lot people get excited any time we hear about the members spending time with one another or talking and hanging out in their free time.

And then the other reason in regards to Taekook specifically is just that for so long, so many people have tried to claim -- and still try to claim -- that Taehyung and Jungkook don’t get along well/don’t spend time together outside of work/feel awkward with each other/grew distant from each other/etc.  So to have Taehyung consistently provide proof that he and Jungkook are actually close and do actually spend time talking to each other is kind of a big deal for that reason too.

But yes, I agree.  Taehyung mentions this very casually, which suggests that talking to Jungkook or hanging around with Jungkook is something that is, for him, casual.  It’s just a normal part of his normal life, and so he mentions it pretty often.

[thetaekookcloset]

I sometimes wonder why there's more acknowledgement from Tae about their relationship than Jungkook. Tae has mentioned JK multiple times recently and yet JK never mentions Tae.

Okay lol, I have officially added this topic to my FAQ.  I would definitely suggest taking a look at it there, anon, because my answer in the post will link to several other asks and posts where this topic has been addressed -- not just by me, but by other people who have chimed in with their thoughts as well.

I’ll give you the TL;DR version of my thoughts though, which can basically be boiled down to a few things.  One is that Taehyung and Jungkook simply have different love languages and different reservations when it comes to sharing things about themselves.

Taehyung is a very private person, but he’s open with us, and in general, about things he feels.  Jungkook keeps that sort of information very close, and unless something is directly relevant, he tends not to talk about it, and even when he does, he keeps it vague.  So I don’t think it’s very surprising that Jungkook doesn’t mention Taehyung (or the other members) as much as Taehyung mentions him.

That said, I really don’t think it’s at all accurate to say that JK never mentions Tae.  In fact, I would say that the way he mentions Taehyung, when he does, is in keeping with the larger patterns they show with their affection for each other: Taehyung brings it up casually and frequently, whereas for Jungkook, it’s less frequent but more intense.

Taehyung mentions that he chatted with Jungkook when he goes live, but Jungkook calls Taehyung the most handsome person he’s ever seen.  Taehyung tells us that he’d wanted to play games with Jungkook, but Jungkook tells us that Taehyung is his.

You see what I mean?  It’s a difference in style.  Taehyung is consistent and mentions Jungkook a lot, but very casually, whereas Jungkook might mention Taehyung less often, but when he does, it’s to sing his songs on live or gush about how good-looking he is -- less frequent, but bigger gestures.

[thetaekookcloset]

Have you discussed your thoughts on their living situation? I've heard some people say they think taekook don't live together or don't spend much time together and I find that strange. They don't act like people who don't spend a lot of time together.

With having a romantic relationship, I'd assuming spending evenings and nights together is... essential if you know what I mean.

I do have a section in my FAQ that addresses my thoughts on what their living arrangements are likely to be, in my opinion (if we assume that they’re in a relationship).  That section links to a couple of posts where I’ve talked about it before too.

The long and short of it is basically that if they’re in a relationship, I think it’s very likely that they don’t live together full-time (we do know that they have their own apartments) but that they probably do spend most of their off-time together in the same space, most likely at Taehyung’s apartment.

I think that both because, as you’ve implied, it would make sense for two people in a long-term, committed relationship to want to live together, and also because I do feel like they show signs of sharing space really closely even more recently (since they’ve all moved out of the dorms).  Things like knowing little details about each other’s daily habits, and most recently, Taehyung mentioning in the middle of the night that he’d recently been talking to Jungkook, in a way that seems to imply he was physically there.

And the reasons I think it’s likely that they spend most of their time at Taehyung’s apartment are that Jungkook’s last place was shared with his brother, apparently it was full of mattresses and the dining table was covered with laundry, and his new place that we’ve seen a couple of times didn’t look particularly lived-in -- especially compared to Taehyung’s apartment and what we could see of it in that same live where he mentioned having recently spoken to Jungkook.

[thetaekookcloset]

What do you think of Taehyung’s mysterious trip to Paris? Not one sighting, one picture… if he was there for a fashion or promo event, wouldn’t make sense for the promoters to have pics of Taehyung attending?

Do you think it could be music related?

Just find so weird that it’s a complete dark visit with zero sighting of him.

Given the fact that he was talking about dieting beforehand, and that there didn’t seem to be any sightings of him, my guess is that he was doing a photoshoot, probably for a brand, my guess would be Celine.

Believe me, as much as I would LOVE to see him do a brand deal or have a big photo spread come out, I want it to be music-related so badly lol -- but to be honest, I kind of doubt it.  Every day I hope that Tae was joking when he said he scrapped his whole album and started over, but I fear he was probably not.  My guess is that his album will be one of the last to be released, and so he’s probably not at the stage where he would be traveling for it.

I will be more than happy if I’m proven wrong on that, but yeah, my best guess with what (very little) we know is that he was probably doing a photoshoot.