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Hello, Jimin-ssi. Thank you for coming today. Please have a seat.
Jimin : Hello, [redacted]-ssi. Nice to meet you. [sounds of a chair being pulled out]. Manager-nim told me a bit about this, but can you explain more? This is an interview?
Yes, it’s an oral history project about Kim Taehyung and Kim Seokjin, your BTS bandmates. It’s about their relationship. I’ve been commissioned by [redacted] to get your testimonials. I am very thankful for your cooperation.
Jimin: [makes a sound of realization]. So this is for the [muffled] in a few months right?
Yes, that’s right. Shall we start? I have a few questions here. The recorder is here and the mic is on -
Jimin: [laughing] Yes, this brings me back. We did this a lot for the documentaries. It’s been a while.
That’s right. It’s the same procedure, of course you know it. The final product will be edited, of course, and as usual you can skip some of the questions if you don’t want to answer.
Jimin: Yes, alright. Shall we start now?
Thank you Jimin-ssi. First question, basic introduction, can you tell us about Taehyung and Seokjin’s relationship?
Jimin: [hums] That’s easy, they’re in love, whipped, devoted. Fiercely devoted to each other, and demonstrative of it too, especially Taehyung. Jin-hyung’s just as bad but is better at hiding it. Taetae doesn’t bother.
Can you elaborate?
Jimin: Taehyung is obsessed with Jin-hyung, like really obsessed. Taetae is very intense, right? And when he locks down on something he really gives it everything he has. When he first had a crush on Jin-hyung he followed him everywhere, he was really a puppy. Jin-hyung’s puppy. Even after years and years of being together in BTS Taehyung would still moon over him. I think even the fans realised this quickly - there’s lots of evidence, I saw a lot of “Taejin” clips from our interviews and Run episodes and even in the concerts. It was obvious! Taehyung really got it bad for Jin and he doesn’t really hide it. That’s not Taehyung’s way. He got reprimanded by the company a lot and he’d cool down and keep a distance, but then Jin-hyung would do something and there he’d be with heart eyes, and sometimes he couldn’t even control himself and stalk over to hyung and the heart eyes would become bedroom eyes [laughs]. And we’d be like, “Good luck Jin-hyung. ” [laughs]
Did Seokjin always reciprocate his feelings?
Jimin: Jin-hyung’s a bit hard to read, especially in the beginning when we were all figuring out what we were like on- and off-stage. He gets along with everybody. He’s Mr Polite and Mr Genial, so even though he’s an introvert he is on good terms with everybody and everybody respects him. He can get handsy with everyone too, so skinship isn't that big a deal. Like, he’d be holding hands with Tae, but he also holds hands with Hobi-hyung and Kookie, you see. So in a way he treats us all like his dongsaengs, all brothers. You don’t really think immediately he has a soft spot for Taehyung but then over time and when you look closely it becomes obvious. He’s really protective of Taetae. Like, super protective - he’d make sure Taehyung said something in interviews, that he got a turn, he brought him out to eat and to play games together. I thought at first he was just showing dongsaeng favouritism [laughs]
It wasn’t dongseng favouritism then?
Jimin: Eventually I realised it’s not at all! Like he would be a good hyung and look out for all of us when we were on set, but then cuddle close to Taehyung backstage. He’d treat us all to food but he eats from Taehyung’s plate only. Jin-hyung would cook for us but Taehyung’s the one who prepares his dish - scoops up rice for him, puts the side dishes on Jin-hyung’s plate. It sounds totally domestic and co-dependent, but it’s really sweet actually because they don’t do it in any way like it’s expected of them, it’s just them showing their affections. How should I say it?
Please, take your time.
Jimin : Ah, ahhh! [excited banging on table]. I got it! Jin-hyung babies us all, but Taehyung most of all. But he only wants to be babied by Taehyung. You know? Like JK would play with Jin-hyung’s hair and mess around with him, and I do that a lot too, and he endures it and puts up with it. I think he enjoys it, kind of [laughs]. But when Taetae does it to him, Jin-hyung melts! He just becomes soft and he leans in to Taehyung then just closes his eyes and really -- I don’t know but he would look so content. When they would do this on camera the rest of us always have to kind of diffuse the atmosphere somehow [laughs] they get too lovey-dovey! Taehyung would get that intense look, like he wants to eat Jin-hyung [giggle] and Jin-hyung would try and not look affected, but he smiles in this really soft way like his eyes and face get all scrunchy - ah! I think the fans called it a slush smile. Taejin just forget themselves and just be such sappy boyfriends. It’s sweet. It’s been so wonderful to have them with us showing us what love is like.
That’s a nice sentiment. You mentioned Seokjin is protective. This doesn’t sound like it at all, more like equal dynamics. Like they’re besotted.
Jimin: Maybe protective isn't the right word, maybe - Proud? Like um [hmms a few times]. Okay, they’re both very handsome right? Incredibly. Jin-hyung’s world wide handsome, and he loves to riff on being self-confident and everything. So when Taehyung became more and more handsome and people noticed his looks, Jin-hyung wasn’t bothered by being eclipsed. He was so proud, he brought it up in fanmeets and concerts. He’d brag to us, “Only worldwide handsome gets to date the world's most handsome man” and Taehyung would act like he’s so shy but really he loves it. Besotted is correct. You’re good at this!
Thank you.
Jimin: But you asked about protectiveness. Because he’s our oldest hyung, as soon as he realised we were all valuable to the company so we have the power to speak up and assert our rights, Jin-hyung became our champion. He and Yoongi-hyung were our leaders in that respect. When Taetae was younger, he was so mischievous, so naughty. But that’s part of his charm, right? Some managers and bosses didn’t like that, so he got scolded a few times. When his antics affected us too, we scolded him. Out of all of us, though, Jin-hyung scolded him the most, and he’s the only one Taehyung would listen to. He would even moon over Jin-hyung mid-scolding [giggles] which leads to Jin-hyung shouting a lot for him to pay attention. But anyway, when I say protective, Jin-hyung would talk to Taehyung and tell him to tone it down, but he would get so angry if anyone else did it. Especially if it made Taehyung sad. Then it’d be like, scary Jin-hyung would go to the person and just coldly say, “I understand what you were trying to say, but the way you said it upset him and that’s not right.”
Ah, I see. Very protective.
Jimin: Jin-hyung’s frightening in protective mode. He’s never anything but polite but there would be knives behind the manners. We all figured out quickly that we can play with Tae and maybe scold him, but not too much, but if management does it Jin-hyung would be on their case like a demon, so eventually they just ask him to talk to Tae whenever there’s a problem. Taetae only listens to Jin-hyung anyway.
They sound like they have a solid partnership.
Jimin: Oh yes, from the start. Maybe the dynamics were on full blast sometimes, and other times not so much, but that’s always how they are together, with each other. Even until now.
How do you know?
Know what?
That they’re still obsessed and protective until now.
Jimin:
Ah. [rustling noise] I texted Taetae earlier about being on the way here, and asked him what he’s doing. He said he is sorting his pictures of Jin-hyung and finishing the painting of him he started a few weeks ago. He has a massive Seokjin media archive. It’s HUGE. You won’t believe it. He collects everything. [humming]. Jin-hyung’s just as bad - his apartment in [redacted] is full of Tae’s portraits from our performances. I mean, I get it, Taetae is so ethereal on stage. So every few months Jin would get some fansite or official photos that he really liked and got them printed and framed.
They have shrines to each other?
Jimin: [bark of laughter] What? Oh, that sounds so right! They do.
Jimin-ssi, if I can backtrack a bit, you said Taehyung kept following Seokjin around when he first developed a crush. When was this?
Jimin: When he first met hyung! [laughs] It’s almost really corny and cliche, but it’s true. He’s referred to it a few times in interviews, but basically when he first joined BH, and he met the other trainees, he walked into a practice room and Jin-hyung greeted him and all he saw was - shoulders! [giggling]. I wasn’t there yet but I heard from the other trainees Taehyung was just dumbstruck - mouth open, eyes so wide and kind of desperate. [gasping laugh] Ah, I wish I could’ve seen it. Then he was asked to do a dance and Jin-hyung was standing around and Taehyung thought he could show off his moves and make a move [laughing, a snort] so he danced at Jin-hyung. [full blown laughter]
Did he tell you about the crush?
Jimin: [affirmative noise]. After I joined BH we got close because we were the same age and went to the same school and classes. I think a few months into our friendship, we started talking about girls [laughs]. People called us really popular, but we really just enjoyed hanging out with friends. And these friends included girls in our class and their friends so there were a lot of girls around us, and there was a lot of flirting. Taetae’s really popular with the girls, of course, he was too cute. To be honest, the boys liked him too [laughs]. Universally desirable, our Taetae. Anyway, we were talking about people we know and he asked me who I liked, and I asked him back. And he said, “You mean the girls?” so I said, “Ya, of course?” because it was that kind of conversation. He said there were no girls he was really interested in but he said it like he wanted to say something else, so I pressed him. “There’s someone, right?” [clears throat]. He didn’t say anything at first, just made some faces at me like he had a secret and he wasn’t going to tell me. It was really annoying so I put him in a headlock [huffs].
You were really close.
Jimin: We were! We still are. I think that’s why he told me. I held him in the headlock and kept asking, “Who is it? Who is it?” and he just laughed. But when I let him go he looked at me and was like, “You know Jin-hyung?” Like he was saying this as if we weren’t all living together and seeing each other all the time so I threatened to hit him. He ran away but after that he came back and just casually said, “So yeah… Jin-hyung.” That was how he told me.
How about Seok- [sound of door opening] [muffled conversation] Ah, Jimin-ssi, excuse me, I have to attend to this. I am so sorry. Can we continue in a half hour?
Jimin:
Yes, of course. Take your time.
Thank you. I apologize for this, I'll have some coffee brought in.