Ever since the Korean wave hit Singapore’s shores in the early 2000s, K-fans seem to be ever increasing.
With past acts like Big Bang and SHINee performing at the Indoor Stadium, as well as the upcoming Super Junior concert in Singapore, local K-fans are beside themselves with excitement.
Whether you’re a new fan who has just jumped onto the K-pop bandwagon, or someone who has been in the fandom since the beginning, you’ll be able to identify with these 17 experiences that come naturally with being a K-pop fan.
You’re familiar with the groan of annoyance some of your friends let out when you mumble in broken Korean. And proceed to shout out the few English lyrics with much enthusiasm.
They’d ask “Why do you listen to something you don’t understand?” But really, what’s their problem with Korean songs, when they’re fine with Despacito?
All you wanted to do was know was their names, but now it’s 5.00am, and you’ve binge-watched 25 videos, got in on six inside jokes, and downloaded three new variety shows.
This marks the start of your descent into the fandom.
Welcome to the K-hole, we hope you enjoy your stay because you’re not crawling out of here anytime soon.
For those who are unfamiliar:
Bias – Your favorite person in a band (one can have a normal bias and an ultimate bias)
Stan – Undying support for a group or an individual in a band
Year-liners/ Liners – Idols born in the same year. For example, some 94-liners would be J-Hope and RM from BTS, Wendy from Red Velvet as well as Jackson and JB from GOT7.
Fighting/Hwaiting: A word of encouragement. Similar to jiayou / good luck
Ageyo – Acting cute
Heck, you’ll probably need a whole dictionary to be able to understand everything.
You’ll wave banners around and throw towels on stage just to get their attention, and if they make eye contact or happen to pick up your towel, you’ll take 500 photos of that one exact moment to keep forever.
Whether you’re attending a concert or casually sleeping outside the concert hall because you’re too broke to afford tickets (aka me), you can’t miss the amount of fansite merchandise being sold outside the venue.
Because of your FOMO, you might even buy a band T-shirt, or a plastic fan with your bias’ face printed on it, just to prove to your fellow fans you were there too.
Ahhh, the pain of not understanding what your bias is laughing at when watching the latest episode of a Korean drama or reality show.
Unfortunately, it’ll take a while before fansites translate what they’re saying. So you’ll bookmark the video link and check back every day for subtitle updates.
In the meantime, you’re probably going to have to figure out what’s going on via contextual clues and body language. Great.
Almost 80% of your YouTube watch history is filled with ridiculous videos like “BTS Jin yelling for 7 minutes” or “30 minutes of SHINee saying dumb stuff and making weird noises”.
It’s gotten to the point where it’s a little embarrassing to let any of your non-K-pop friends use your Youtube account.
Because you know you would pay attention to everything and ace all the quizzes and exams.
You have your earphones plugged in with a Korean ballad blasting through them. Slowly, you lean against the window. Suddenly everything is in monochrome and you’re brought back to the time you had your first crush.
“This one boy or girl sia?”
“All plastic one la?”
“You cannot read Korean meh? You like K-pop right?”
You have your favorite idols set as phone and desktop wallpapers. And because you can’t decide which of the thirty photos to use, your phone constantly reminds you it’s running out of storage.
Because all biases are your ‘boyfriends’ now. And you don’t pick your biases, your biases pick you. Don’t even get me started on your bias wreckers…
Thank goodness Singapore is only one hour behind Korea. Waiting for the release of most music videos won’t require you to stay up late or wake up at ungodly hours! *silent cheers*
Because you were supposed to watch it for your bias but your eyes just kept following the other members around and now you have to rewatch it again till you know you got them all covered.
God bless all of you who stan SEVENTEEN.
The feeling of satisfaction when your friend finally caves and starts sending you K-pop memes. Boomshakalaka baby~
Most of the time, these lyrics are taken from your current favorite song. But others don’t have to know that.
Let them think they’re deep inspirational words of wisdom which come from your vast knowledge of all things Korean.
“널 한입에 치즈처럼 집어넣을 테다…”
Translation: I will put you in my mouth like cheese…
#muchsense #suchdeep
Through K-pop, you’ve made unconventional friends by bonding over a mutual love for this genre of music. It has entertained you with memes and comforted you on tough days with the silly antics of your idols and relatable song lyrics.
Here’s to more concerts, variety shows and events in Singapore!
Cover image: Source
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