While attending the Met Gala earlier, Stray Kids were treated SUPER disrespectfully by Paparazzi and photographers..

At one point someone even said "I'm getting covid"

I wanted to first choose the word "shocked" in the title, but the Xenophobia and racism towards Asian people by Americans is not shocking what so ever unfortunately.

Genuinely so sorry that the boys had to go through this :(

Article: https://www.asianjunkie.com/2025/03/11/alleged-pic-of-kim-soo-hyun-kissing-kim-sae-ron-emerges-along-with-apparent-text-from-her-begging-him-to-save-her/

Kpop context: Sae Ron was Music Core MC from 2015 to 2017; Soo Hyun starred in Dream High and worked with other Kpop artists (IU, Sulli). Both have OST credits.

Content: Following the disturbing allegations of grooming and mistreatment leveled against actor Kim Soo Hyun — allegedly by Kim Sae Ron‘s family via Garo Sero Institute — a picture of Kim Soo Hyun kissing Kim Sae Ron has emerged, along with an alleged text message from her to the actor, begging him for more time to repay debts.

Garo Sero Institute claims the pic was taken one year after they started dating, when she was 16.

TLDR: i think people need to lock in and understand the severity of suga driving a scooter drunk; it’s not a defendable defense.

i used to be an army a long time ago, but i loved the bts boys dearly. however, i will be defending my morals heavily with this.

driving drunk is driving drunk. REGARDLESS of the type of motor vehicle. it’s reckless and unsafe, especially when ubers and taxis are a phone call away these days. if you feel the slightest bit of impairment, then you shouldn’t drive.

in america, the BAC that’s considered legally intoxicated is 0.08% … meanwhile, it’s come out that suga’s BAC was ALLEGEDLY a 0.227% … that’s almost THREE times over the legal limit, which is just insanity. at no point should yoongi have thought that driving was okay, even if it was a scooter. if this is the case, 0.227% BAC is wild and is essentially in my opinion, being absolutely WASTED.

more over, i’m upset at the carelessness of how army’s are approaching this situation. making jokes and laughing, saying that “oh, well no one was hurt, it’s fine!” … sure, no one was hurt, but they could’ve been. yoongi himself could’ve gotten hurt. this also doesn’t set a good example to such a young and naive fanbase. people look up to bts.

and this is a more controversial statement on my part, but if every other idol has to pay fines and leave their groups, it shouldn’t be different for yoongi. 🤷🏽‍♀️ drunk driving kills people and is serious.

UPDATE: the whole 0.227% thing MAY NOT be true. i put allegedly in there, in the case that it is not true.

Originally posted here: Weverse - LE SSERAFIM Weverse

This is not translated; she wrote this in English.

I feel like we have left behind something important in our childhood.

If you feel the same,
I hope that this message finds you well.

In a time when our reality and digital reality can no longer be mutually exclusive, it's near impossible to live a day without the internet's inference. To keep up offline, we must keep up online. To stay in the loop, we stay on the algorithm. Granted, the internet is a great place to make connections and learn about the world, but it also perpetuates the anxiety of living real life like your timeline.

I feel the pressures of a standard getting stronger upon our generation, especially young girls — a certain body type, a certain look, a certain attitude, a certain vibe. Anything other becomes the Other.

People are so quick to ostracize, calling people "cringe" or weird for simply looking and liking what they do. And it is often done in a passive air of cynical humor, the cruelest way, because, like classic microaggression, if you get hurt, you become the uncool one who just doesn't know how to take a joke.

It’s almost like we are conditioned into it: When receiving love and attention, being yourself is a risk. A liability.
When, in actuality, your uniqueness is what sets you apart.
Your multidimensionality cannot fit into a 1080x1080 square.
But we get so busy comparing ourselves to others, inflating our egos like balloons to fill a void and feel important, that we forget the most fundamental thing.

We are not only born with a desire to receive love but also to love.

If you think about it, we all had something that made our hearts race when we were younger.
As a kid, I loved to create.
I drew every day without the pressure to become an artist; I wrote poetry without a single recitation.
I would chase butterflies that I knew I could never catch in the first place.
Simply because it made me happy.

Please don't lose that spark to pixels on a screen.
The light may dim by circumstance, but please do not let it go out.
Having something you want to do is such a beautiful, powerful thing.
It's not too late.
Whether it's a new beginning or rekindling an old passion
Feel the liberation of doing what you love,
Feel the pain of doing what you love.
Share your art. Tell your story.

That childlike joy exists for a reason.
In this fast, stimulating, hectic, contradictory, and so so painful world, it can ground you and remind you who your most authentic self is. All you need to do is listen for that child's voice through all the white noise.

People will always pick you apart for your shortcomings and outcast you for your differences.
But among those watching, someone is waiting for something to show them it's okay to be themselves.
There is always somebody waiting.
I was that somebody.
So, believe me when I say that your voice matters. You make a difference. We are all important beings with the power to gift each other strength and hope, something no pixelated number can measure.

It's a crazy world.
But to me...
To feel more and to love more
To choose to keep your eyes open and see yourself for who you are in a world where everyone tells you to keep them shut,
That, to me, is what is even crazier.
Ironically, I suppose choosing crazy is the most sane thing we can do.

Sometimes, it may not feel like it, but I promise you you are not alone. You are never alone. I will be fighting alongside you to choose love over likes.
So let us choose to be crazy for a truer life. For a truer love!

💌⚡️

Added later: If you don't know much about Yunjin or Le Sserafim, maybe check out this song: 미치지 못하는 이유 (Crazier) - YouTube ... it's from their new album. Yunjin is the primary writer and producer for the song, and it is connected with what she wrote here. That's also her in the visualizer.

EDIT: This was written before the announcement of Heeseung's departure and makes no reference to that. If there are blank spaces, it is because that is where photos were (proofs and screenshots), but this sub does not allow for photos to be added to the body of text.

Please take this with a grain of salt. My attempt at humor may not be everyone's taste and that is okay. Generalizations may be made, but not meant to be deep. This is based on my lived experience. Obviously when i say c-fans and you have two cousins in China who aren't like that, i am not talking about them.

This is long. You are not obligated to read it, but if you do, I am grateful! Please share your thoughts! Save for later :)

Synopsis

I’ve been a K-pop fan since 2016. Specifically BTS. I was what you would call an International Stan, which is really just a fancy way of saying emotionally invested but geographically blocked. I still am an i-fan, of course, but less so in recent years. This is the story of exactly that.

People think they understand what it’s like to be a k-fan because they visited Seoul for 10 days and bought 3 albums at Myeongdong. Sweet. Adorable. But living in East Asia as a fangirl? That’s a completely different psychological experiment.

As an international fan (especially an American one), your experience is… controlled. Safe. Curated. You get a concert. Maybe a hi-touch if the gods are smiling. Possibly a video call fansign if your bank account sacrifices itself. And then you go home. You shower. You return to normal society. There is distance. Healthy distance. You are limited to asian twitter stans keeping you updated on the day-to-day, should you even care.

I would argue geography is the only thing preventing many I-fans from becoming sasaengs. I said what I said. We have boundaries because we have oceans. K-pop is a bubble and your direct environment doesn't live in it.

Chapter 1

When I first started stanning, I lived in Europe. Then in 2018 I moved to South America. Then in 2019 I moved to the U.S. Then COVID said “actually no” and I went back to South America after 11 months. Basically, I was doing a world tour. Unlike my faves.

Fast forward to 2023. I move to China. And this! This is where the villain origin story begins.

Now, up until this point, I had a very normal i-fan life. I had seen Blackpink on their Born Pink tour in Abu Dhabi. My only k-pop concert. And it came about simply because I happened to be in the same place at the same time. Coincidence. The rest of my fangirl life was limited to shoddy weverse livestreams and reruns of Run BTS.

BTS goes on group hiatus and I, like many people, miss the chaos of group dynamic. And so i diversify. A hybe stan has been born. TXT, Enhypen, Seventeen, Boy Next Door, &team. After a while, The Boyz, P1Harmony, NCT127 and Zico join the ranks. My multi-stan portfolio.

Now I’m in Beijing. Two. Hours. From. Seoul. Suddenly the forbidden fruit is within reach.

Artist appearances? Possible.

Encore concerts? Possible.

Offline fansigns? Possible.

Comeback shows? Possible.

Airport sightings? Apparently… very possible.

At first it doesn’t even register. This life never existed in my brain before. I was a “wait for the world tour” kind of girl, even though i never actually went to the world tour. But i'm here now and it takes a while before all of this registers in my brain.

Chapter 2

Now let’s talk about China. Because we have the firewall. To access “outside” sites, you need a VPN. Which I am using right now to expose myself. This becomes important.

Six months in, I’m settled. I’m thriving. I’m now tuned in to Weverse notices like it’s the stock market.

Enhypen announces their new tour: Walk The Line. I am a newborn Engene. Fresh. Fragile. Delusional. I buy my first membership ever. I feel official. Legitimate. Recognized by the universe.

Ticketing opens. I study Global Interpark like it’s the LSAT.

And then… They start cracking down on bots.

Which sounds amazing in theory. Except I am not a bot. I am simply a girl. In China. With a VPN. Which the system cannot emotionally differentiate from a criminal.

I fail. The site blocks me. My dreams? Also blocked. I give up because I don’t even know what I’m missing yet. I have never truly experienced much k-pop in real life so emotionally, i am fine.

At this point, I have not yet joined chinese social media like Douyin and Xiaohongsu.

Then summer hits. Enhypen’s Tokyo shows are announced and I hear Japanese ticketing is basically the Hunger Games. I think to myself, chances are low but never zero. I give it a shot. And then somehow (for reasons i do not know but i also don't care about), the Japanese site does NOT clock my VPN.

God intervened. I get tickets. I am going to my first Enhypen concert. In Tokyo.

I am levitating.

I fly in for a 3 day trip. I arrive early because this is Japan and I don’t know the social rules at these concerts and I refuse to accidentally disrespect anyone’s lightstick etiquette. Ajinomoto Stadium. I am here. I sit down. I have a terrible view, but I am on a high!

Start talking to my seatmate. And within 5 minutes of looking around I realize… My entire section is Chinese. Every. Single. Person.

And it makes sense. The Japanese site allowed access. So we all migrated like emotionally unstable birds.

The girl next to me? YingYing. Her bias is Jay. How do I know? Not because of the GIANT fan she carries with his face on it. But because she is the ONLY PERSON in our otherwise polite, composed Japanese stadium screaming his name.

I start a conversation and thankfully she speaks a bit of English because my Mandarin is abysmal. I immediately clock her get-up. My girl has binoculars. She has multiple sources for hydration. She has a decorated lightstick. She has two phones. She has two powerbanks. She hands me a freebie. An experienced k-pop stan. My first encounter in the wild.

Meanwhile, I am there. With nothing. I had planned to buy a lightstick at the venue but apparently you were supposed to buy it on Weverse and pick it up at the venue, which I did not know. My single powerbank has died already so I stop recording the concert because I still need my phone to get home. I don't know many things at this point. My single bottle of water had finished hours earlier so at this point I am withering away in the scorching heat.

YingYing. We exchange info. We bond. It’s beautiful. Concert ends. Life is good.

Now here’s where things shift.

Chapter 3

I have some friends in Seoul from my days at uni. I had been to Seoul 3 times before my big move to Asia to visit them, get plastered on soju and update my face.

I start flying to Seoul monthly. Not for idols. For vibes and to give in to my insecurities and succumb to beauty standards.

There is something about being in this city and just seeing ads all over with your fave's face on it, hearing your favorite music outside, seeing people with photocards on their bag, that just hits different. The bubble i mentioned earlier. I am in it. The bubble has burst. There is no such thing as a bubble here.

At the Beijing airport, I start to notice something strange.

The check-in line always full of girls. No luggage. Just massive professional cameras.

I land in Seoul. Arrivals is packed. Clearly someone is coming. And I stay. Because curiosity is my fatal flaw.

And out walks Seventeen’s The8. Looking fine, might I add.

He walks. The girls run. It’s chaos. He leaves.

And then I witness something that changes my brain chemistry forever: The girls… go back to departures. They fly back.

They flew to Seoul. To see him walk through an airport. And then flew home.

I am standing there holding my carry-on, questioning my entire understanding of devotion.

I have flown Beijing–Seoul 16 times and they are always there. Always. Locked in. Cameras ready. No luggage.

Just commitment. My mind is blown.

Meanwhile, I’m living peacefully as an Engene. Nothing has really changed for me yet since my first experience. It's still not clicking in my brain. I'm still a normal i-fan. And then I see Enhypen will be in China.

For a fansign.

And I think to myself: “Oh how nice. I’ve never been to one. That would be cute.”

Oh. Sweet. Naïve. Me.

Chapter 4

The updates for this fansign are posted on Weibo. And thus begins my descent into Chinese social media.

I download the apps. I make the accounts. I step through the digital gates like: “I’m just here to look.”

Famous last words.

The eligibility is simple. Classic K-pop capitalism: The more albums you buy, the higher your chances. I don’t even attempt it. I am not an album hoarder. I am not building a shrine. What am I supposed to do with 50 identical albums? Tile my bathroom?

No.

But then I see something. The Polaroid fansign.

One-on-one. You and your favorite member. A photo. Intimate. Exclusive. Tangible delusion.

Apparently, you can just… pay.

Oh. I am an adult. I have adult money. I can absolutely pay to take a Polaroid with the cutie that is Jungwon. I begin justifying it immediately.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“This is cultural research.”

“I live in Asia now.”

Then reality slaps me across the face. Jungwon: $15,000.

Fifteen. Thousand. Green. American. Dollars.

I close the page so fast I nearly sprain my thumb. Listen. I might be crazy. But I am not fifteen-thousand-dollars-for-a-polaroid crazy. However. If this had been Jungkook? That is a different internal conversation. But I am saving for the BTS World Tour that will one day resurrect me spiritually.

More power to you, Chinese Engenes.

But now? Now I’m on Chinese socials. I’m tuned in. LOCKED in.

And here’s the plot twist: I can access ticketing sites for Hong Kong. Macau. Taiwan.

No VPN drama. No Interpark trauma. Just vibes.

And so my real journey begins.

I go. See. Everyone.

Casual fan? I’m there.

Die-hard stan? I’m there.

Group I barely know three songs from? I’m seated respectfully.

During 2025 I see:

BoyNextDoor, TWS, IVE, Aespa, Stray Kids, Close Your Eyes, AHOF, MEOVV

NMIXX, NCT Wish, NEXZ, Hearts2Hearts, KiiiKiii, ZEROBASEONE, The Boyz, Ha Sungwoon, Cravity

At this point I am not a fan. I am infrastructure. I am frequent flyer platinum. I am scanning schedules before managers. I am HER.

Now. Let’s talk about Chinese fan culture at concerts. There are no rules. No etiquette. No mercy. If you collapse in the front row, you will be stepped over like a minor inconvenience. Do not get between a girl and her fancam. We do not scream. We do not dance. We DEFINITELY do not wave lightsticks wildly. You may bring your lightstick. But it is decorative. It is not to obstruct the 4K zoom lens. We live for the fancam.

And because most of the shows I attended were seated? I survived. Untouched. Unproblematic. For now.

Chapter 5

Then. Enhypen announces encore concerts in Seoul.

Remember how I was blocked from Korean ticketing because of VPN discrimination? Exactly. So I don’t even try that hard. But I am now spiritually bonded to Weverse. No notice escapes my household.

And then. The raffle notice drops. Raffle? I’ve never entered one.

I’m about to ignore it because again, I will not be bulk buying albums like I’m restocking a warehouse.

Then I read carefully. Membership holders. Only.

Months ago, in a moment of delusion, I bought the Engene membership. It has been sitting there. Unused. Judged. Forgotten. This is my redemption arc.

I enter. I win. I WIN. No Interpark. No VPN warfare.

God said: “Fine. You’ve suffered enough.” Not only do I win. I win soundcheck. My first ever soundcheck.

This. This is the concert that awakens my inner bitch. Because up until now? I am nice. I mind my business. I am an extroverted introvert. The girls who get it, get it.

The concert is standing. I hate standing concerts. I despise them. But for Enhypen? We endure.

The ticket has a zone number and an entry number. I do not know what this means.

I show up early at KSPO Dome because this is my first Korean concert and I am determined to be culturally respectful. Immediately I notice: Everyone is Chinese. A few scattered foreigners. The rare Korean. But mostly? My people. I feel a strange kinship with c-fans. I too, am now 'from China'.

Then I start observing. The platform shoes. Six inches minimum. Structural engineering marvels. And the phone rental lady. With literal suitcases of phones. I am staring at her like she’s a mythical creature.

Time to line up. My number is 101. Here is what I did not understand: 101 means I must be the 101st person in line. It is self-regulated. Self. Regulated.

I accidentally stand too far forward and the girl with a lower number looks at me like I just committed a felony. The shame. I quietly reposition myself to my legally assigned spot.

Everyone in my line is Chinese. At this point I feel adopted. We enter.

And somehow I secure third row from barricade. I have never been this close to a stage in my life. The C-engenes around me seem nice. For now.

Then she arrives. The girl behind me. Within seconds I know this is going to be war. Nothing is happening yet. We are just standing. Why are you pushing me?

Soundcheck starts. And this girl is attempting to merge her body through mine to reach Jungwon. While yelling his name in the most unhinged baby voice you can imagine.

“Jungwonnnnnieeeee~”

I feel my soul leaving my body. I politely ask her to stop pushing me. Twice. She does not. I cannot move. I am compressed. I am experiencing crowd-based suffocation. The girls around me do not move. Jake says: “PUT YOUR HANDS UP!” Absolutely not. Hands stay DOWN. Arms glued to sides. We are statues. We are filming. Dancing is illegal. Breathing is optional. I survive almost the entire concert before I surrender. I politely ask if I can pass through to leave. And for the first time all night? They smile at me.

Great concert. Terrible concert experience.

Chapter 6

I return to China. Deflated. Emotionally bruised. Spiritually aged.

I look in the mirror and whisper: “I am too old for this.” Like I just came back from war.

But then. A thought.

If Chinese fans can’t access ticketing sites from China… Why was the venue in 87% Chinese? Not everyone won a raffle. Not everyone is God’s favorite. So what is happening.

Who would know?

YingYing.

I had completely forgotten about YingYing, Jay’s personal hype machine, but I message her like: “Hey bestie. Hypothetically… how are y’all everywhere?”

She replies immediately. Turns out she went to the Seoul concerts too. Of course she did. So I unload. I air out my grievances like I’m filing a formal complaint with the universe.

How do C-fans get tickets?

How are they at every fansign?

How do they always know schedules before Weverse even blinks?

Why are they omnipresent?

Are they government funded?

Reminder: I am now on Chinese social media. I have seen the sasaeng accounts. I have seen the flight screenshots. I have seen the hotel lobby livestreams. My algorithm is concerning.

YingYing says: “Girl I got you.”

Those four words altered my brain chemistry.

She adds me to a WeChat group.Three hundred members. It’s an Engene group.

I. Am. Floored.

And slightly disgusted. But also deeply intrigued.

Like when you know you shouldn’t open the comments section but you absolutely will.

I do not announce myself. I do not speak. My Chinese is still mid and my morals are in observation mode. I am a spy. A National Geographic correspondent embedded in the wild.

I scroll. The group has leaders. Hierarchy. Structure. This is not chaotic fangirling. This is a corporation.

About 4–5 core Engenes running operations. This is Jay’s c-bar. Thank you, YingYing. Of course it’s Jay’s.

And then I see it. Fundraising posts. But not for birthday billboards. Not for subway ads.

For scheduling information. Flight details. Hotel information. Car routes. They pool money to buy intel. Buy. Intel.

There are payment screenshots. Contribution lists. Spreadsheets. If you donate, you get access. Premium subscription: Stalker Edition.

They are also collecting funds to send one of the leaders to Seoul to “camp.” Camp. Which sounds cute. It is not cute. Camping means positioning yourself near dorms, hotels, airports. Stalking, if you will.

Everyone who donates gets access to whatever she gathers. Photos. Movements. Confirmations. It is crowdsourced surveillance. Or, again, stalking.

And I’m just sitting there. Scrolling. Silent. Horrified.

But not leaving. Because I need to understand.

Because I moved two hours from Seoul and accidentally unlocked a level of fandom I was never meant to see.

And suddenly I realize: The girls at the airport with no luggage? They are not random. They are coordinated.

And I am in the group chat.

Chapter 7

I am a fly on the wall. Emphasis on fly. Because yes, I am in the groupchat. But I am not in the inner circle. I am not trusted. I am not initiated. I am observing.

This is Jay’s c-bar. But here’s the thing. It’s just one of many. Every major city has its own groupchat. I’m in the Beijing one. There’s Shanghai. Guangzhou. Shenzhen. Probably cities I’ve never even heard of. It’s like regional government branches, but make it fandom.

Each city has leaders. And then, above them, there is a separate leader chat. The High Council, if you will. Information flows down. Funds flow up.

My group leader is Xiangying. Do I know what Xiangying looks like? No.

How old she is? No. What she does for a living? No. Is she 19? Is she 32? Is she a finance executive? A law student? A secret agent? I know nothing.

All I know is that she runs this chat like the navy. This is not a hobby group. This is a command center. There are unspoken rules. You feel them before you read them.

Rule number one: Jay. Priority. Focus. Oxygen.

We do not actively hate the other members. We simply… do not care. Do not discuss them. Do not compare. Absolutely no ships. This is not Wattpad. This is Jay’s bar.

Luckily for morale, Jay is a main vocal. He gets lines. He gets screentime. He gets visibility. Which means the groupchat is usually in good spirits. If he had zero lines? I fear we would witness civil unrest.

Then. It’s comeback season. Enhypen announces a January comeback. The chat transforms.

People lock in like it’s tax season.

Now remember: accessing outside sites from China is difficult. But the bar has… people. There is always someone in Korea. Or one of the leaders will physically go to Korea. You send them your Weverse login and they will purchase albums on your behalf. For a steep fee, of course. This is concierge capitalism.

The chat has goals. Not vibes. Goals. The main Jay bar leadership sets a target. This comeback? 50,000 albums. Fifty. Thousand.

And that’s just for Jay’s c-bar. Each city leader is responsible for hitting their quota through their network. I don’t even know if different member bars coordinate with each other beyond logistics. But I do know this: This is industrial. There’s hierarchy. Of course there is. The more albums you buy, the more valuable you are.

Fansign season is where things get intense. And here’s the twist: It’s not just entering through Weverse like a civilian. If you’ve purchased enough albums through the bar, the leaders will use your Weverse account to funnel massive group order purchases under your name. Thousands. Yes. Thousands. Your account becomes the vessel. Your odds skyrocket. You are now a strategic asset. This is no longer luck. This is engineered probability.

Ticketing? Oh, that’s another ecosystem. There are c-bars. And there are scalpers. The difference? Branding. Both purchase tickets in bulk. C-bars claim it’s for internal distribution. Scalpers sell to the highest bidder.

“But you can’t transfer tickets on NOL.” Yes. You can. It’s complicated. It involves automated systems I will not pretend to understand. Possibly software that exists in moral gray zones. But it is absolutely possible. Nothing is truly impossible when money and obsession combine.

Now that we understand how the machine functions… We need to understand the mindset. Because that’s the part people get wrong. From the outside, it looks insane. From the inside? It feels logical. Strategic. Collective. Efficient. You are not “a crazy fan.” You are part of a mission. A data-driven, goal-oriented, performance-based operation.

And I am in the groupchat. Silent. Watching. Realizing that I moved two hours from Seoul and accidentally embedded myself inside one of the most organized fandom infrastructures on earth.

Chapter 8

Here’s the thing you have to understand: in this world, Jay isn’t a person. I don’t mean “I don’t care about his feelings.” I mean he literally stops being human.

You know how in normal life, you think about someone’s mood, their lunch, whether they got enough sleep, whether they’re stressed? C-bar logic doesn’t work that way. Because if you see him as a person, you have limits. You empathize. You hesitate. You slow down. You question.

So instead, you convert him into a system. A node. A resource. A scoreboard. A chart. Like a character in a game your playing and real life just happens to be the game.

I decide I want to understand this. I want to understand the thinking behind this. Usually in the west, if someone even starts to think anything invasive, you get clocked by your fandom. And rightfully so. But here, it is sport. So I look over the members in this group and there is one person that has english in her status. So I add her.

Her name is Xiaofei. I do not know anything else about her, but she speaks English and so I gradually start to get to know her. The reason for this and not my dear YingYing is because, YingYing, though she is in the chat, she isn't active. She mainly stays in there to stay up-to-date on the comings and goings but YingYing is no stalker. Thankfully.

After a few days of back and forth fangirling over Jay, normal fangirling: things like his best song, his best look, his best dance etc, I move on to the important stuff. Mind you, I am a Jungwon stan but now, out of the sheer information about Jay I possess, also a Jay stan.

So I ask her subtly. Jay himself, the person, probably doesn't appreciate being followed and called on his phone all day. If you love Jay, wouldn't you want him to be happy and healthy?

She explains to me that Jay will be happiest when he is most successful. It is the job of the agency to keep him healthy. Wouldn't he be sad if he came to the airport and nobody was there because nobody cares?

The idol-as-human is messy. The idol-as-resource is perfectly efficient.

C-bar members joke about flights like stock traders talk about futures. Hotel numbers are traded like commodities. Album purchases are analyzed like microeconomic policy. It is obsession turned scientific.

The girls know everything. But they are emotionally insulated. They do not stop to think: “Maybe I shouldn’t know this. Maybe it’s invasive.” Because knowing is power, and in this system, power is survival.

I realize I am observing something that can’t exist in the normal world. If you treated any other human this way… it would be monstrous. But here, in this context? It’s normalized. Necessary. Rational.

Xiaofeisays:

“The idol is not a person. He is Jay. That’s all that matters.”

And suddenly I see the clarity. The horror. The thrill.

Because once you remove the humanity, all boundaries disappear. Nothing is off-limits. Every detail is fair game. Every move is a metric. Every tiny advantage counts. And you begin to understand: this is why they can buy thousands of albums, chase flights, and organize themselves with surgical precision.

They aren’t cruel. They’re just… optimized.

And I, sitting quietly in the chat, begin to wonder…

Am I watching obsessive fandom?

Or am I watching human efficiency applied to emotional obsession?

And maybe, just maybe, I am starting to understand the pull.

Chapter 9

I got kicked out of the group for never speaking. My time is coming to an end soon. BTS is coming back so I will put on my army hat again.

Living in China can be a lonely experience. This sentiment is echoed by the few chinese friends (non kpop) i made here. To find community, purpose or meaning is difficult in this huge fast paced place and people find it in all sorts of hobbies. I empathize with these people, but i also feel guilty about doing so. I recognize the damage they cause to the real people behind the idol personas. There's probably even more similar groups for BTS and I don't want to be in them. I am a fan of RM, the artist. I do not know Kim Namjoon, the person. I wish this distinction could be made amongst these people i've come to know.

They play a real-life game where the more you do, the more involved you are in these activities, the higher up the food chain you can climb. Something they probably can't achieve in other real world fields.

I am leaving. I have exited. I am now limited to reddit update posts and tiktok videos. And for the first time in a while, I do not know what time Jay went home today.

I’ve been an army for some time now but with what has been happening this week with BTS, I dont feel anything but disappointment. From their constant support of Drake (which I guess is normal as he is still a really big artist…but he’s still a huge weirdo with a weird past), to the Gemini AI thing, and now, them (Jhope and Rm) posting themselves at a concert singing a Chris Brown song??

It’s just plain weird and I understand that they’re from Skorea/not fluent in English so they may not know the history of Chris Brown but lord—how many times do we have to bring up the fact that “they probably don’t know” to “defend them” when they interact with someone controversial?

They’re grown ass men—30 year old men. I honestly just dont believe the bs anymore.

Edit: +CB posted a picture of him with Jhope and Rm backstage.

His past comments and posts are being resurfaced and going viral almost by the hour. Under a post comparing Daniela and Lisa from BP that asked, “Who’s your favorite dancer?”, he responded,

If you have to ask, DANIELA! Much better trained. Plus she’s Latina, major advantage against Asian dancers. Her hips r untouchable.

He also reposted some truly disgusting content, including an image of Daniela with the caption:

congratufuckinglations to whoever’s getting it every night.

In regards to Manon's hiatus, he also wrote another set of comments:

We need girls who can grind. KATSEYE is power house. the show must go on.

And then when a fan said KATSEYE is a set six piece, telling HxG to "not fuck this up", he replied back:

5 is ok too

And these are only a few examples of what he has posted online. For someone his age to behave this way online is beyond embarrassing. This guy's peak cringe, racist, and a certified weirdo, and that's putting it lightly. From throwing shade at Manon to publicly sexualizing his own daughter, he's only intensifying the backlash and making an already difficult situation for Katseye even worse. Imagine having a father like that.

Yunjin of Le Sserafim just posted a weverse post talking about some very deep things and her thoughts from last year. I knew it was hard for them, how could it not be? Going through a big hate train and being seen as the villain when you have done absolutely nothing.

Yunjin is, unfortunately, not the only idol that goes through this and neither is Le sserafim the only group that goed through this.

I know criticism exists and when it is done in a good way, it is really helpful. The thing is, kpop fans aren’t people that give good criticism. No, some of you are just straight up bullies.

There are a lot of things I want to but cant articulate, so here is Yunjin’s post from weverse.

Yunjin’s post:

"I am not who I was a year ago.

I have a new favorite artist. I drink a different coffee. I do more or less the same things, but I think in a way that the person from a year ago did not know how.

For better or for worse, this trilogy has been a memorable experience. I write this in remembrance of the past year — all the unfathomable joy and unfathomable pain, and of the questions life begged of me — because I want you to understand why it means so much to be here with you today.

All of last year, I had asked myself, “How do we survive this?”

‘To survive’ by definition means to continue to exist, in spite of an ordeal or hardship. While I wish just simply existing had come easy, despite my best efforts, I do not remember feeling all that existent.

What I do remember, rather, are waves of debilitating shame, doubt, envy and emptiness. I remember nights of doomscrolling through comments, knowing I shouldn’t, when even my morality failed to suppress the longing for someone’s kindness. I remember loneliness. I remember fear of the end. That what started as the small fire of my dreams had gotten so uncontrollably big that I was losing everything I knew. How is this surviving, when I feel like I am dying?

But what surviving really is, the past year has taught me, is an experience contingent on accepting a kind of death. Just as building muscle is feeling weak and building knowledge is feeling dumb, fighting to exist is allowing yourself to fall apart.

I suppose Rilke was right when he wrote that clarity cannot be given to you unless you first live your question. Because the more I got up and asked, “is this the right way to go on?” I found myself gradually experiencing my answer.

The answer was in my refusal of apathy. It was in the dinners I had with my members. In the calls with my family. In the small talk, which was never truly small, with our staff. In the letters from those who love me, their pensive pen and colored paper. It was at TeamLab, it was at Weverse Con. It was the sweat on the dance studio floor. It lived in the music I saved. Even the tear-stained pages of my diary, they all had the claw marks of my love persevering.

Love persevering — it is the embodiment of this album.

I am thankful for the experience EASY, CRAZY, HOT has been. I am thankful for the many versions of myself it took to meet the person I’ve come to know today. She is not perfect, but she knows how to stay grounded. She is stronger, wiser, and closer with the people she loves.

I like her. In fact, I might even love who I am right now. And she’s rocking the ginger hair, if I do say so myself.

Anyone who dares to love cannot make it through intact. I know that now. If there is any wisdom you can take from this letter, it is most of all that.

Pain means I am changing. What a beautiful, exciting thing. And whoever I’m becoming, I’m sure I’ll learn to love her too."

Where do I even begin? Let's start with the lyrics, they're atrocious from start to finish. Here's a few highlights that made me question reality:

Tesla, Gnarly...
Oh my god, this song is so lit
Now you be like Gang, gang, gang, gang, gang
I'm the shit, I'm the shit
Making beats for a boring, dumb bitch
Je-je-jealous of my mansion?

I can't believe they paid someone to write this.

As for the production, I guess they went for some type of hyperpop vibe but all we got was some relentless, static-heavy noise that loops all throughout the song. It's so tiring and annoying to listen to. For once, I was glad that the song was so short (barely over 2 minutes). This track offers zero musical depth, bad beat, terrible hook. Great job, Slow Rabbit.

And the MV? It's just a jumble of random, wtf scenes: Lara throwing Yoonchae off a mansion balcony, all of them twerking while holding sandwiches, a close-up of flies mating. There's zero continuity whatsoever, and the entire choreography is just a compilation of dumb tiktok dance moves that I've seen in the past 5 years. The only bright side from all this was that HYBE clearly put more budget into this one compared to Touch's MV, but I think it's safe to say money has been completely wasted.

We've seen some really bizarre and bad songs in the long history of Kpop. This might claim the crown for the worst track ever for me. Maybe it's recency bias, but I haven't been this flabbergasted, in the worst way possible, by a song in ages. If HYBE's goal was to etch this into my mind forever, they’ve succeeded. I certainly won’t forget this one.

I want to start by saying I'm not a MY. I don’t stan any group in particular but I do love going to concerts for artists I regularly listen to. Aespa caught my attention last year with some seriously catchy title tracks. When I heard they’d be coming to Seattle, I couldn’t pass up the chance to see and hear them live.

I went by myself so I managed to snag an excellent seat which meant I got to enjoy the show from one of the best spots in the house. Visually speaking, the concert was a treat. The girls looked even better in person than on camera. I'm looking at you Giselle and Karina. LOVED their opening outfits.

Here’s where the performance went off track. They lipsynced through a large portion of their setlist, including all of their solo numbers. Even when they did perform live, the prerecorded tracks were so dominant on some songs and members were just miming along throughout most of the songs and tossing in just a few adlibs here and there. The true gems came through on some of their lesser known tracks like “Hold on Tight,” where the minimal backing track allowed their live vocals to shine (I loved Ningning's voice). Although I never listened to the song before, I really enjoyed it and that was a highlight for me.

Now, I know some might say, “You knew what you were getting into, what’s the big deal?” or even, “If you value live singing so much, don’t listen to K-pop.” And I get it. Lipsyncing isn’t exactly a shocker in the industry nowadays. But here’s the thing. When you’re paying good, hard-earned money (and believe me, these tickets are expensive) for a live concert, you expect an authentic performance. Even if this is par for the course in some circles, it still feels disingenuous to serve up only half the experience. I’m all for the spectacle that a Kpop concert can be, but when the live element is compromised to this degree, it takes away from the authenticity that makes a concert truly special. I'm sure many people enjoyed the experience and I may be in the minority. But for someone like me who loves going to concerts for live vocals, Aespa’s concert just didn’t justify the steep price tag.

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/ador-announces-contract-termination-njzs-danielle/

They revealed that Hanni visited Korea with her family and had an in-depth conversation with ADOR. After the conversation, Hanni respected the court’s ruling and decided to remain with ADOR. Minji is also currently in discussion with the agency.

Below is the complete statement released by ADOR.

“Since the final ruling confirming the validity of the exclusive contract, ADOR has been in extensive conversation with Minji, Hanni, Danielle, and their families.

Hanni visited Korea with her family and had a lengthy discussion with ADOR. During this time, they reflected on past events and objectively assessed the situation. After the conversation, Hanni has decided to respect the court’s ruling and stay with ADOR.

Minji is also in talks with ADOR, and discussions are ongoing to foster mutual understanding.

However, in Danielle’s case, we have determined that it will be difficult for her to continue working with us. Therefore, we have notified her of the termination of her exclusive contract. Furthermore, we plan to hold one family member of Danielle and former CEO Min Hee Jin, who are significantly responsible for causing this dispute and the delayed return of NJZ, legally accountable.

During the conversation, ADOR learned that the members had been receiving distorted and biased information for a long time, leading to various misunderstandings about the company. The company and the artist agreed that, to restore the love of the fans and the public, it would take time to resolve the misunderstandings completely. Furthermore, we have decided to take the opportunity to address the various controversies that arose during the dispute, and we are currently discussing the timing and method.

ADOR will do its best to resolve the matter amicably and make sure that NJZ can return to their fans as soon as possible.”

— ADOR

When will the kpop industry move on from the idols having to pretend they're in a romantic relationship with their fans?

Why does a 17 yr old girl have to pretend a 35 yr old man is the one for her?

Why does a 16 yr old boy have to pretend an auntie is his one true love?

It's gross as fuck and I wish the industry would move on from this tired old trick!

Okay so today lesserafim got a win on mcoutdown for easy and I just have to say that they need vocal work I’m a fearnot and I can admit that the girls are not the best with vocals and the one carrying them is yunjin and even her vocals were weak today. Like Sakura is my bias and it was really hard to listen to her. Here is the stage

Hybe is the biggest company out there and the way they are moving with other parts of the company I would like to think that they have the money to get good vocal coaches to train their idols and just because they have debuted does not mean that they should stop vocal lessons as idols should improve as they go along as well.

I just really hope that they improve in their vocals as I would love to see them do live stages but even recently with what they have been putting out you can see that they have found a way to make it seem that they are singing live when actually they aren’t.

This is no hate to the girls at all as I stan them myself but I know when to admit when the group is lacking in a department and know when they should improve.

EDIT: changed link to youtube as I didn’t know about that twitter user at all. Also I don’t know why so many of you are saying I’m a hater as if I can’t give criticism to a group that I like and would want to see them do better in an area in which they lack in.

LIKE WHAT!?!?

Where did this even come from? This is so out of the blue... Heeseung was the pillar voice of the group as the main vocalist, one of the most popular members of the group. They still had 2 years left in the contract... like what prompted this decision? Does anyone know why he's leaving the group all of a sudden?

edit: Okay from BELIFT's official statement and Heeseung's letter, it sounds like he wasn't happy with the musical direction of the group and is going to be pursuing a career as a soloist while still remaining in the company...

Haven't seen a post to this yet so I might as well make one before my shift. Hyuna and Dawn broke up like a year ago and a few hours ago Hyuna shared a photo holding hands with Yong Jun-hyung including a very suggestive we're in love caption.

Yong Jun-hyung was directly involved in the Burning Sun Scandal, watching and sharing videos recorded.

I'm just more shocked than disappointed?

Like... What?

Any women ending up dating him would've gotten backlash, but HYUNA of all people?

It's honestly unbelievable..

If you told anyone mid-2021 that aespa, STAYC and Itzy would be considered "flops" just a year later, noone would've believed you. They seemed "too big to fail" - but they weren't, they were the new shiny thing.

Fast foward to today, with Sneakers, Girls and Beautiful monster. Three comebacks that did okay (Edit: Except for sneakers, ik it did great), except for album sales (as in that they were great). So what has changed? Those three aren't the new shiny things anymore - IVE, Le Sserafim and New Jeans are, with their last comebacks doing fantastically. And I tend to notice the same comments under posts about their achievements. That they are "too big to fail", "monster rookies" or a clearly "overtaking the previous 4th gen girl groups".

This puts such an immense pressure on their fans, because every song that isn't going to chart in the top10, sell 1 million copies or get the group multiple awards, is gonna be considered a flop. Not only by the kpop community, but, deep down, by the fans as well.

But why would this happen? The groups mentioned above are "too big to fail", aren't they? Sorry to break it to you, but eventually, new shiny groups are gonna debut and the gp will care about those more than your favs, no matter how big they were two years ago.

And that's okay. Your fav didn't flop or is nugu now, they just aren't rookies anymore. Success in kpop is not defined by how successful you were during those two years as a rookie, it's how big you get afterwards and how well you're able to establish yourself as a strong and lasting group after your years as the new kid on the block with the gp holding your back.

Who is the most successfull 4th gen group? We'll only know after these groups have been in the industry for years. Until that day comes, relax a bit and remember that your favs aren't flops, no matter what reddit comments or the charts tell you <3

Basically, Bambam said that he was really into Winter from Aespa and Haerin from NewJeans as a fan. Innocent, but then he says that he’s into girls with bobs lately and seeing him mention that after speaking of Haerin makes me think that he meant that he’s into Haerin in a different way. But, that’s not the worst part imo.

Then he’s asked Nayeon vs Haerin this is an ideal type battle, basically who do you think is more attractive or who you rather choose to date. He then chooses Haerin, the 16 year old, then says but she’s too young RIGHT NOW(to which he makes a clear disappointed face) then calls (?) the conversation dangerous?? Are you being serious? I’m sorry, this is truly disgusting behavior. Odd behavior from both the interviewee and him, but especially him. I’m sorry, I don’t think you can justify it…

What was also weird to me was him saying “But wait…” after saying she was too young and thinks to himself, and I’m curious as to what he meant by that…

OG video if you’re curious.

*Edited for mistakes

Edit: Different posts used for proof, but still the same video since the originals got deleted.

And that in the worst way possible.

Like look at this:

TWICE - Likey (!?!?!?!)

Red Velvet - Russian Roulette

(G)I-DLE - Uh-Oh

aespa - Spicy

ITZY - LOCO

MAMAMOO - 1 cm (NAAAAAAAAAAH BRO WHAT THE HELL)

Dreamcatcher - Over The Sky (BRUH)

GFRIEND - Summer Rain (😭😭😭)

Like this is actually surreal if you put it like that.

Obviously its hard to properly compare and everything but looking at other groups comebacks over the years and apply the same hiatus times and you see THIS... We BLINKs really suffered so much lmao.

I'm an avid concertgoer, mainly for GGs. I try to attend as many GG concerts as my schedule allows. The most recent ones I’ve gone to were ITZY, fromis9, and IVE, which I actually left a review for here last month. I’m writing this post to give an honest perspective on the concert I just attended, and I plan on making more review posts for the ones I go to in the future.

The venue was Ticketlink Live Arena, formerly known as the SK Olympic Handball Stadium. It’s not a huge venue, but I personally like places like this because they feel more intimate. From what I could see, the crowd looked full.

The overall vibe of the concert felt very delicate(?), I can't quite find the word that I'm looking for as I'm writing. It was definitely different from most K-pop concerts I’ve been to. The energy was a lot more subdued, which I think mainly comes down to the nature of illit’s music and discography. Their songs aren’t exactly chant heavy or the kind where everyone is screaming along, and bang your head to.

On a side note, the VCR segment was actually pretty hype. The background music had this cool beat that had me nodding my head throughout. One thing that surprised me though was the lack of fan chants. I’m not sure if there were a lot of newer fans at the concert or glitts are just shy, but compared to most Korean concerts I’ve been to, the fan chants were noticeably absent a lot of the time.

Anyway, I digress. Let me get to the main point of this post. From an entirely performance standpoint, the concert left a lot to be desired. I’ve attended enough concerts in my lifetime to tell the difference between live singing and lip syncing, and for most of the concert it really didn’t sound like the girls were singing live. Maybe they were at times, but if they were, you genuinely couldn’t hear them over the backtrack. The backtrack was extremely loud and basically dominated the entire mix.

Even during moments where they were doing quick footwork and changing levels in the choreography, the volume and the audio coming out sounded completely identical the entire time. No volume/tone changes, no pitch differences, no mic pops, nothing that suggested the vocals were actually live. It didn't matter whether they were wearing a headset mic, or a handheld.

They came right off the bat with a remix version of Magnetic which sounded lipsynced. Even for performances like Pimple, IYKYK, I still couldn’t really hear their actual voices. Not Me, Cherish, Lucky Girl Syndrome, jellyous, NOT CUTE ANYMORE, and even their cover stages all sounded like lipsynced performances to me.

The only moments where I remember hearing even a snippet of their real voices were during the encore with oops! (only during intro) and the intro of the Korean version of Almond Chocolate (even then, their voices were drowned by backtrack as soon as they started dancing). Outside of that, the loudest you’d hear from them throughout the entire concert was the occasional “소리 질러!” (Make some noise!). Even a lot of the adlibs were either skipped entirely or just covered up by the backtrack.

I might come off as pretty blunt saying this, but this concert might honestly be my least favorite one I’ve ever attended. The ticket price definitely wasn’t cheap either. Matter of fact, it was the most expensive out of all the groups I’ve seen, and other groups had way higher production value both visually and sonically.

People often say you don’t need live vocals or strong singing skills to succeed in K-pop, but the lack of those things becomes really obvious and hard to ignore in a concert setting. This concert was the prime example of that. It honestly felt like I was just watching a long medley of music show stages. And I REALLY don’t think that should be the norm.

I'd love for people in the comments to share their experience from the concert as well because I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way. Or maybe I'm in the minority and this is what people expect out of K-pop nowadays.

In an interview Shuhua was asked "What is cube to you" and she typed out "2Years left". Yuqi straight up cackle and Soyeon has "Everything is fine" smile while spamming the backspace button.

There are various instances where they just "dissed" their company like Yuqi held up a pen with cube logo "So this is Cube" proceeds to throw it.

Miyeon was asked to blink if she was mistreated and she blinked a lot she just has eye spasms at that point.

So we all agree they're not renewing their contract right?

EDIT: IT IS ANTI CUBE. CUBE THAT BOX CUBOID FROM THE PITS OF HELL NOT CUBA THE COUNTRY I'M SORRY FORGIVE MY FAT THUMB

Edit2: Stop shaming me 😭

Edit 3: Petition for reddit let us edit the fcking title

Edit4: YOU GUYS CAN STOP CLOWNING ME NOW IM THIS 🤏 CLOSE TO DELETING IT

Edit 5: well at least I'm glad this has caused you a giggle or two 🥹

Edit 6: STOP GIVING ME HELPFUL AWARD HOW IS MY SHAME HELPFUL TO YOU?!

Edit 7: BETRAYAL?! WHY WOULD YOU AIR MY DIRTY LAUNDRY IN ANOTHER REDDIT. WHAT HAPPENS HERE STAYS HERE.

So, I just tried to watch the original video from which the controversial statement originated and couldn't find that part.

In the comments the channel pinned this message a few hours ago:

영상의 내용 중 문화권에 따라서 오해의 소지가 있을 수 있는 부분을 재편집 하였습니다. Some parts of this episode have been re-edited to avoid potential misunderstandings that may arise due to cultural differences.

I am honestly even more disappointed by her and her team because this shows they are aware of the public backlash but decided to sweep the situation under a rug instead of addressing it with a proper statement.

The fan reception after Cortis' first concert has been absolutely brutal for multiple reasons.

I haven't seen a single fan account that came away with a positive impression. Considering tickets cost ₩143,000, everyone felt like they didn't get their money's worth.

The first complaint was the length. The concert only lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes, which is incredibly short for a kpop concert.

Another thing fans weren't happy about was the final ment where the members share their final thoughts. The members just said a sentence or two before quickly passing the mic to the next member. One Coer who attended even said they thought it was some kind of joke because of how quickly they were trying to wrap up the ending. They wanted more sincerity from the group.

The lighting was another issue. Multiple people said the lights and laser beams were way too intense. One fan even described them as epilepsy-inducing and others said the lights were so bright that they could barely see the members on stage. Fans were also disappointed that there weren't any outfit changes throughout the entire concert.

But the biggest complaint by far has been the setlist. Cortis is still a rookie group with only 12 songs in their discography, so everyone knew they didn't have enough songs to fill an entire concert. Normally, groups make up for that with cover stages, unreleased songs, unit stages, special performances, or new arrangements.

Apparently, they did none of that... Instead, they just kept repeating the same songs over and over again to fill the concert, to the point where even their own fans got tired of hearing them.

Here are the songs they repeated:

• GO — 2 times

• What You Want — 2 times

• TNT — 2 times

• Fashion — 2 times

• ACAI — 2 times

• REDRED — 4 times

• YOUNGCREATORCREW — 5 times

The entire second half of the concert was basically just YCC and REDRED on repeat. Literally nearly half of the concert was just them performing REDRED and YCC lol

Because of that, many Korean fans have been calling it a 날먹콘서트. "날먹" is Korean slang for shamelessly coasting, doing as little work as possible while still cashing in. They're basically accusing them of padding the concert with repeated songs instead of preparing enough content to justify the ticket price.

A lot of their own fans are calling it the worst kpop concert they've ever been to. I literally haven't seen one positive comment about it. As someone who is planning on attending their tour, I'm not too raved about it after these reviews...

edit: I forgot to mention this but the fans also chanted for an encore for 10 minutes after Cortis left the stage until a staff member came out and told everyone to leave lol...

Recently, the music video director of IVE's I Am went on Radio MBC and revealed that Wonyoung was severely injured while filming I Am.

Her words: "This is the first time I'm sharing this publicly. Wonyoung got injured during the filming of the MV which required her to get around 7 stitches. I have never been so shocked during filming. We still had a couple scenes to film, I thought we wouldn't be able to film as planned because she got injured. However, Wonyoung still showed up on set to finish filming despite being brought to ER two days in a row and getting stitches. I think she was very amazing because she never showed she was hurt during filming."

Starship took down this video and has been trying to get rid of all articles mentioning it, which is crazy because they hadn't done anything about Wonyoung's excessive hate but are so proactive now.

Edit: Wow, I knew this subreddit hated IVE/Wonyoung but I didn't know it was this bad. My initial purpose of this post was to bring awareness to this since Starship was trying to hide it so atleast that was achieved.

So last night, Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, and Eunhyuk of Super Junior appeared on Radio Star. As idols who debuted in 2005, they have literally seen how the K-pop scene has changed over the years. One of the most recent change in the last 5 years is the emergence of Tiktok dance challenges, which started when Zico randomly danced to his song Any Song with Hwasa. What started as a random fun thing between friends has become into a K-pop promotional necessity.

In THIS clip from the show, Leeteuk talked about how crazy it has gotten. To film in the famous Music Bank spot by the stairs, idols must apparently 1) use the speakers placed in that area, 2) only use a cellphone and not professional cameras, and 3) make a reservation for a time slot with ticketing numbers. WILD. He also mentioned that something similar also happens for Music Core, wherein an idol who is slated to perform on the show in the afternoon had to arrive at 8am and wait for their turn to film their dance challenge by the famous fuchsia/magenta(?) wall.

No wonder you have some of the veteran idols hiding in their waiting rooms so they won't be asked by hoobaes to film dance challenges with them.