#youngwon

[bap-ftw]

230124 @youngwon_yoo Instagram update with Youngjae: #happybirthday #myoneandonlybro

[geewhizze]

Cafe Noi in Youngwon-dong

Cafe Mocha and Latte

04.10.2022

[wanderlustdesign]

*∘✧ If you used, reblog or like ✧∘*

[mellometal]

(Sorry I dipped. I’m alive. I’ve had a lot going on in my personal life that I don’t really want to talk about on here in great detail.)

I’ve been wanting to talk about this group for a while.  Can you believe I’m talking about a BOY GROUP from the first generation of K-pop?  Never thought I’d see the day, but here we are.  The only boy group I’ve talked about so far has been LIONESSES, and they’re the first boy group I listened to and actually enjoyed.  This is a group I got hooked on from their discography alone and will be the topic of this post.

Because of their name, it’s difficult to find information about the group itself and about the members themselves.  Well, unless you search for the name of the group/names of the members in hangul, or you get super specific in the search bar. That’s unfortunately the same case for a lot of the more obscure groups that were around in the 90s and early 2000s.  I had to look through some Korean blog posts, a Korean wiki page, and get info from a few fans of the group on the r/kpopnostalgia subreddit for this. I wouldn’t be able to have any of this information if it wasn’t for fans of the group who did so much research into the group and the lovely people on the r/kpopnostalgia subreddit. So I owe it all to them.

The group I’m talking about today is K’Pop (also written as K-Pop).  Yes, that was their actual name.  First gen of K-pop was pretty creative with their names, I know.  Contrary to what you can find when searching for this group, their name was NOT short for “K’POPULATION”.  It is common misinformation that’s been spread around, along with a dating scandal within the group that I’m gonna get into in a bit.  K’POPULATION was the name for the biggest site for international fans of the group K’Pop at the time who didn’t speak Korean. I don’t think that website even exists anymore, from what I read. If there’s anything left of the website, I don’t know if it’s been archived by anyone or not. Hopefully there’s someone out there who has archived some of the contents of the website.

Note: Gossip websites surrounding K-pop in general like Koreaboo and allkpop are NOT very reliable sources to get accurate information about groups, idols, soloists, bands, etc. Especially when it comes to older groups. Please check your sources. Kprofiles is okay for some things (like member names, birthdays, and some stuff like that) and quite a lot of the groups who do have a Kprofiles page are pretty accurate. However, the Kprofiles page for K’Pop looks incomplete (there’s A LOT missing) and it has a lot of misinformation about them (e.g., that their name stands for “K’POPULATION” when it has NEVER been anything except “K’Pop”, and about the dating scandal within the group). K’Pop’s namu.wiki page is more accurate and doesn’t have any misinformation about them. Namu.wiki is a Korean wiki site, so I would recommend using a translator if you want to read it. I would say that magazine articles about K’Pop are pretty accurate too, but I don’t have any magazines, let alone any that feature K’Pop. Magazines from first gen K-pop are very difficult to find outside of Korea and get very expensive. From K’Pop, I’ve only seen a few scanned pages of articles featuring them that other people have uploaded online. The most accurate and reliable sources about the group K’Pop, from my experience, are fans who were around when the group was active. I’m guilty of believing the misinformation about the group at first, but someone who is a fan of them set me and a few other people straight.

Here is a picture of the members from when they were active:

The inspiration for K’Pop’s name stems from their producer Joo Younghoon, who went on a business trip to Japan and was inspired by the term “J-Pop”, which is still a popular genre to this day.  Younghoon came up with “K’Pop” as a counterpart to the J-Pop wave.  (More on the subject of Japan coming up.)

K’Pop was a first gen boy group that was around from 2001 to 2005.  The group had three studio albums in total.  They reunited briefly in 2018 on the Sugar Man 2 show to perform some of their most popular songs and even had a meet and greet with fans that same year.  They were made up of five members named Jumin (or Joomin), Donghwa, Youngwon, Yubin (or Yoobin), and Woohyun, from oldest to youngest respectively.  The official name for their fans was K’Popcorns and their official color was pearl peach.  Back in the first gen, lightsticks weren’t a thing.  Fans back then used balloons that were the official color for their favorite groups, wore matching outfits with that color, or they used glow sticks of the same color.  If you’ve ever watched any performances from first gen, you can see balloons and even some glow sticks…but mostly balloons.  (I’m now curious as to what K’Pop’s lightstick would look like, the members’ assigned colors, and possibly assigned animals.  Might be something I can draw.)

Here is a picture of the members when they reunited in 2018:

Onto the members themselves.  Jumin (birth name Kim Joomin) was the oldest member in the group and the first member of K’Pop to be recruited by Younghoon.  He was the leader, rapper, and vocalist.  He originally trained to be in Shinhwa (one of the only groups from first gen to still be active and have all the original members), but didn’t make the final cut.  While Jumin was working part-time as a guest rapper for Choi Jinyoung (SKY), he caught the eye of Younghoon. There is a picture of Jumin below.

Woohyun (birth name Kim Woohyun, but was later changed to Kim Sihoon in around 2014) was the youngest member in the group and the second member of K’Pop to join.  He was the lead vocalist and maknae (the youngest member).  Woohyun was an up-and-coming fashion model under Yeon Entertainment in the late 90’s prior to joining K’Pop and had a solid fanbase, which contributed to his individual popularity to a degree. There is a picture of Woohyun below:

Donghwa (birth name Kim Beomseok) was the second oldest member in the group and the third member of K’Pop to join.  He was the main rapper and sub vocalist.  Donghwa was found by a waiter at a nightclub.  He auditioned at that same club and joined the group after passing the audition.  Donghwa picked his stage name after a children’s book because he thought it suited him due to his princely appearance. There is a picture of Donghwa below:

They needed a main vocalist, so Jumin reached out to Youngwon (birth name Lee Hyunkoo), the third oldest member (middle) in the group and the fourth member of K’Pop to join.  He was the main vocalist for the group.  Youngwon was the son of Jumin’s mom’s friend. Here’s a picture of Youngwon below:

The fifth and final member to join K’Pop was Yubin.  Yubin (birth name Lee Inho) was the fourth oldest in the group (or second youngest).  At first glance, Yubin looks like he’s the youngest in the group, but he’s not.  That title, as mentioned before, goes to Woohyun.  Their birthdays are very close to each other, so it’s understandable how people could mix them up.  He was a support vocalist, sub rapper, and did some narration as well.  Another role that Yubin had in the group was being a visual, the face of the group, and being part of the maknae line with Woohyun.  He was preparing to debut with Click-B, before joining K’Pop.  He picked out the name “Yubin” because “Bin” reminded people of someone good-looking. There is a picture of Yubin below:

Their first album promos were for “0.5”, “그림자” ("Shadow"), and "Game". All three have live performances. "0.5" and "그림자" ("Shadow") have music videos, but "Game" doesn’t have a music video.

The group debuted on September 11th, 2001 on M.net’s Show King M, but unfortunately, there is no footage of their debut performance available online. Their debut song was “0.5”, which criticizes Japan’s revisionist history. If you know anything about the history between Korea and Japan, it’s, for lack of a better word, fucked up. One of the translations of this track is "Anti-Japan", the other being "Half-one". The music video is linked below. It has a lot of historical footage and the guys being in front of different temples around Japan. They recalled having to sneak around to record this music video so they wouldn’t get in trouble. This was 2001. I’m trying to decipher what the lyrics mean and stuff, but I know in this day and age, NO group today would even have a song like "0.5", let alone DEBUT with one like it.

“그림자” ("Shadow") was their follow-up track and one of their most notable songs. It’s about a guy promising a girl everything and that he’ll be there for her (like her shadow) if she accepts his love.

"Game" was the third and final track they promoted off of their debut album. It doesn’t have a music video, but there are some live performances of that song. It was promoted around the time of the 2002 World Cup Series. Here's one of their live performances.

I’m gonna link a playlist of their first album below.

In the fall of 2002, K’Pop released their second album CU @ K-Pop.  Their second album is the only one available on Spotify and iTunes…which is kind of sad.  Like, their first album and third album should be there too.  They promoted the songs “신기루” (“Mirage”), “젊음” (“Youth”), and “The Color Of Love”.  It’s more laid back than their first album.

The first song they promoted was “신기루” (“Mirage”).  It’s another one of their most well-known songs, if not their most well-known song overall.  “Mirage” is about a guy who’s in denial about a girl leaving him and is struggling to accept the fact that this girl wants nothing to do with him anymore.  The music video for this song has a more somber, mature look than the music video for “Shadow”.  They promoted “Mirage” until the end of 2002. 

A few days after their comeback, in October 2002, it was announced that Mirae Entertainment was acquired by SM Planning and K’Pop’s main producer Joo Younghoon would be working with SM’s producer Yoo Youngjin in the future.  K’Pop’s next album (their second album, in this case) still listed Mirae Entertainment as the company that produced it.  It’s not listed on SM’s master list of CDs produced by SM.  SM didn’t seem to consider K’Pop as being one of their groups.  

(I’m gonna put in my own commentary here.  THAT’S SO RUDE.  THE DISRESPECT IS ATROCIOUS.  K’Pop is so SM-coded.  Their music is SM-coded.  I think they would’ve done great under SM Entertainment.  ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING JUMIN WAS AN SM TRAINEE AND WAS GOING TO DEBUT WITH SHINHWA, IF HE MADE THE FINAL CUT.  FUCKING SHINHWA.  In my opinion, SM should’ve taken K’Pop after Mirae Entertainment went under.  I think things would’ve been different if SM had taken K’Pop.  Would K’Pop still be a group?  I SURE HOPE SO.  There’s probably an alternative universe where that was the end result…ANYWAYS.  Here’s the big scandal you’ve all been waiting for.)

K’Pop having a rocky start to 2003 would be an understatement.  In January 2003, they held a going-away party for one of their fashion coordinators.  They all celebrated by going out drinking.  People gradually left and eventually, the only people left were Youngwon and Woohyun.  Youngwon apparently had some bad drinking habits, which all the members and the staff knew about.  (Why the FUCK would you go out drinking, knowing that Youngwon had these bad drinking habits?  That’s just a recipe for disaster. But what do I know?)  He (Youngwon) had been trying to pick fights with Woohyun all night for some reason.  Woohyun wasn’t having it, so he tried to leave.  When Woohyun got outside to catch a cab, Youngwon assaulted him until the staff split them up and they went home separately.  I’m not gonna go into too much detail, but Woohyun’s face was visibly injured and he had to wear a cast on his wrist (probably due to it being sprained or broken…he did fall during Youngwon assaulting him, from what I read).  Get this…they tried to cover it up by saying Woohyun was injured in a car accident, a week after the assault happened and not saying anything about it.  Which is complete bullshit, given the context.  The truth came out about a month later and it was compared to what happened with the group S#arp (more on S#arp later).  There was still tension between Youngwon and Woohyun due to Youngwon’s belated apology being perceived as insincere.  Understandable.  They did make up in February of 2003 during a free concert they set up for fans, which is where Youngwon publicly apologized to Woohyun.  

Literally the whole situation with S#arp was FAR WORSE than the situation with K’Pop by a long shot.  To make a long story short about what happened with S#arp, Seo Jiyoung severely bullied Lee Jihye almost the entire time Jihye was in the group all because Jiyoung was jealous of her.  She (Jiyoung) got her boyfriend at the time and even her own mother at one point to join in on bullying the poor girl.  Jiyoung also tried to make herself out to be the victim and make Jihye look bad.  It was so bad that Jihye ended up leaving S#arp and she couldn’t recall what happened years later after the group disbanded without crying.  Jihye eventually told the truth about what happened and exposed Jiyoung by name.  I stand by Jihye.  She did absolutely nothing wrong.  As far as I know, I don’t think there was any bullying involved within K’Pop.

The second song they promoted was “젊음” (“Youth”), which is a more upbeat song.  There is a sample of someone saying, “Every year, the seasons change in the blink of an eye.” in Chinese.  The song “Youth” is about a guy who’s hopeful about love and happiness.  Because he’s young, he has time to try again, even though he’s aware things can go south.  The music video for this song matches the fun, upbeat energy.  The live performances they had were also fun!  They began promoting “Youth” in early 2003. 

The promotions for “Youth” were halted for a week due to a massive tragedy that occurred on February 18th, 2003 known as the “Daegu Subway Fire”.  Two subway trains caught fire in Daegu, resulting in 148 people being injured and 192 deaths.  Artists around this time switched the songs they’d be performing on music shows in response to the somber mood of the nation.  K’Pop chose the soft ballad “The Color Of Love”, which is about two people who love each other but can’t be together. 

A playlist for the second album:

Even though Youngwon and Woohyun had reconciled, K’Pop’s third album Memories didn’t come out until the fall of 2004, over a year later.  The theme of the third album overall is about parting ways with someone you were in love with and struggling to move on from those memories.  Their third album is their longest at fifteen tracks, two of those tracks being in English (their intro and outro songs).  Their intro “Flying” was their first song that was all in English, but to my knowledge, it wasn’t made to be promoted in the West.  One of the songs on this album is actually a remake of another song from another group.  More on that later.  Their fifteenth and final song was a “goodbye” from the group, since this was their last album.  It wasn’t intentional.  The songs K’Pop promoted for their final album were “추억의 향기” (“The Scent of Memories”), “영화처럼” (“Like A Movie”), and “Lover Boys”.  The only one that has a music video is “추억의 향기” (“The Scent of Memories”), while “영화처럼” (“Like A Movie”), and “Lover Boys” do not.

(A little blurb about this album: Most of the album itself was never uploaded online, aside from a few tracks and a few live performances of the said few tracks.  I uploaded the entire album onto Youtube earlier this year because nobody had done that yet.  As of right now, all three of their albums are available on Youtube.)

The title track for their third album is “추억의 향기” (“The Scent of Memories”).  It’s about a guy reflecting on a past relationship.  The music video for this song had members on a rooftop looking off into the distance and going to different places separately.  The performances for this song show how much the group and their fans have grown.  It was promoted from September through the end of 2004.

Since I can't find the official music video on YouTube in full, here's a live performance!

The second track they promoted was “영화처럼” (“Like A Movie”).  It’s about a guy leaving a girl, and her crying.

A song that’s a remake from another song is “수요일에는 빨간 장미를” (“Red Roses On Wednesday”).  This song is about a guy wanting to give a girl flowers to comfort her and make her happy.  According to the fans who have done extensive research on this group, this song was originally by a group called the Five Fingers (다섯손가락). Here’s the original song by the Five Fingers and K’Pop’s cover below:

A few days before the beginning of 2005, there was an article that discussed what the members of K’Pop would be doing in 2005.  They’d all be doing solo activities starting around February of that year, from what the article said.  From what was written, Yubin and Woohyun would be going into acting, Donghwa would be working as a radio DJ (I think they said Yubin and Woohyun would be doing that too, but this is from what I could read when it was translated), and Jumin said he’d be enlisting in the army after the activities for their third album were over.  I couldn’t find what Youngwon was going to do, as I don’t think he said anything.

The third and final track K’Pop promoted off their third album was “Lover Boys”, a track about a guy being happily in love and being a lover boy.  It was promoted through the spring of 2005 and was the last song K’Pop promoted together.  (Good LORD, Youngwon’s hair in the linked performance is absolutely atrocious. Who approved that? And WHY?)

The group went quiet after promotions for “Lover Boys” ended.  Their official fan cafe was full of people saying they’d reunite and release a fourth album after they finished serving in the military, but that obviously never happened.  (I would do things to hear what their fourth album would sound like, OH MY GOD.)  The guys left quietly.  There wasn’t an official statement about K’Pop’s disbandment from the company they were under (Mirae Entertainment).  There also isn’t a clear date of when the group ended besides it being sometime in the summer of 2005.

Here's a link to their third and final album.

The guys have all been doing their own thing since then.  They briefly reunited in 2018 on the Sugar Man 2 show to perform some of their most well-known songs, held a fan meeting, had some live performances (that are on Youngwon’s YouTube channel), and they even went on a trip to celebrate twenty years of friendship all in that same year.  Yubin wasn’t able to attend the fan meeting, the live performances that are on Youngwon’s YouTube channel, or the trip due to his work.

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER, IT’S NOT.  Because we’re talking about the rumor I mentioned in the beginning.  Chances are, you’ve heard of this group before this post from a rumor of two members dating in the group.  This has been republished over and over again to the point where people think it’s true…but let me tell you, that is a complete lie.

The earliest account found was from January 22, 2007, two years after the group disbanded.  Someone made a post on a gossip forum saying they heard a rumor about Youngwon and Woohyun falling in love with each other pre-debut, and that the fight in 2003 was because they fell out of love.  That wasn’t taken seriously at all, but it didn’t even stay in the fandom.  It went far beyond the fandom to the point where a reporter wrote an article on it.  The original article itself has never been found, but a fan’s reaction was.  The fan wrote that it was annoying to have the fight be brought up again just to drag all the members of K’Pop.  They said considering the reporter’s supposed bad reputation, they doubted the claim of the fight being because of a relationship turning sour.  That same reporter brought the fight up again.  The article focused on the morals of idols who trained and debuted during their teens.  Even though the relationship theory wasn’t brought up, it included Youngwon as an example of idols who’ve done bad things.

(Here’s some more commentary from me.  First of all, Youngwon and Woohyun were like twenty-two and like nineteen/twenty years old when that fight happened, so them both being teenagers is inaccurate. If anyone was a teenager then, it was Woohyun. As far as their ages during K’Pop’s debut are concerned, the only ones who were teenagers were Yubin and Woohyun, and they were eighteen. Jumin, Donghwa, and Youngwon were in their early twenties when K’Pop debuted. That obviously doesn’t include the time when they were all trainees or when they were doing other things before being recruited by Joo Younghoon.  Second, yes, Youngwon was wrong for assaulting Woohyun in a drunken rage for no reason.  FOR SURE HE WAS.  THAT IS LITERALLY THE ONLY THING YOUNGWON DID THAT I DON’T LIKE FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.  Youngwon owned up to what he did, he apologized to Woohyun [and meant it], they made up, and they are still friends to this day.)

If I remember correctly, I believe someone asked the group directly about the rumors and the guys were confused. I just want to know why someone thought it’d be appropriate to just straight-up ask them about that kind of thing. I mean, I get needing some stuff cleared up, but my GOD. Point blank, none of the members, as far as I know, are LGBT. There was no “couple” in the group. The dating rumors are complete bullshit. If any of the members were actually LGBT, hypothetically speaking, I would support them 100%. I don’t know if I could say the same about the general public back when the group was active or for all of their fans. I would hope at least some of their fans would support them! From doing research on K-Pop idols who are openly LGBT and what happened to a few of them, I can say that if the rumors were true, no members of K’Pop would be able to come out publicly without receiving some sort of backlash from the general public. Many of the possible outcomes aren’t pretty. That alone could be a separate post.

Why did they disband exactly? According to Donghwa when he was asked about the reasoning behind K’Pop’s disbandment, he stated that it was due to problems within the company they were under.

Some more bonus info that I forgot to add: Two of the members are happily married! (To other people, not to each other. Lol. Yubin and Donghwa are the ones who are confirmed to be married. Good for them. /pos)

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for sticking around for this huge post on an older group! I might do another post on an older girl group or two. You never know. /lighthearted

Hope you have a good day.

[kpopna]

فرقة mirror (ميرور) التقرير الكامل

MIRROR هي فرقة فتيان تحت VT Entertainment. الأعضاء هم Sunho و Zeo و Youngwon و Dojun و Sol. ظهرت الفرقة لأول مرة في 12 مايو 2023 بألبوم واحد هو “백월”. MIRROR – 백월(白月): اسم نادي المعجبين الخاص بفرقة MIRROR: _ الألوان الرسمية لمعجبي فرقة MIRROR: _ الحسابات الرسمية لفرقة MIRROR: Instagram: @mirror_officialgram Twitter: @_officialMIRROR Website (شركة): vt-ent.com أعضاء الفرقة: 1- Sunho…

[delidonghwa]

Sorry for being 2 days late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOUNGWON‼️

here are 2 pics of him i really like

[myrunwayarchive]

Parsons BFA Fall 2023 RTW by Youngwon Jo

[pink-heart-jam]

Enemies to lovers, anyone? 👀

Enemies to lovers is always peak mlm material! This has always been one of my favourite tropes in fic and it couldn’t be any different when it comes to BL. School/office rivalry, fuck buddies, revenge, toxic obsession, unhinged mythological wars… this list has a little bit of everything and I’m sure you’ll find something especially crafted for your tastes. Get ready for that delicious angst + hate intense sex combo and enjoy!

Checkmate by Tan (E)

Soohyun doesn’t have a “first love,” but he definitely has a “first hate” - his high school classmate Eunsung. A smooth-mannered all-star, Eunsung snaps up first place in everything, leaving Soohyun always trailing behind in second place.

Ennead by Mojito (E)

The once peaceful land of Egypt has been stained with blood under the tyrannical rule of Seth, the god of war. Horus, son of the god Isis but not yet one himself, rises to challenge the throne and put an end to the chaos and destruction.

Glasses Cloth and Playlist by Gwak jongpil (E)

Two people in the catalogue department fall in love, get quickly married, and emigrate to another country, leaving their positions to be filled by new recruits Bada Lee and Seomin Hyun.

Out of Control by Bboong (M)

The story depicts the school life of 2 different guys: Yuri, considered as the school's most handsome guy who hates ugly people, always followed by crowds of girls but always extremely cold and distant towards them, and Jaerim, the school's ugliest guy.

Park Hanhoo's Manager by Kim Tac (M)

Chansol never experienced friendship before he met Park Hanhoo, a troubled boy who terrifies school gangs and hides his face with an unruly haircut. But when a horrific event turns Chansol's world upside down, he is forced into hiding and reneges on his promise to stay by Hanhoo's side.

Part-time Partner by Cherrymanju, Ilyoil (E)

Kyuho has become smitten with the new club member, Yoongun. Not only is his face gorgeous but there’s something about the way he stands his ground confidently. When, out of the blue, Yoongun says “you’re not my type”, the two start a love-hate relationship for the ages.

Semantic Error by J. soori, Angy (E)

Sangwoo Choo is a stickler for rules. So when his classmates free-ride on a group project, he doesn't credit them. But this prevents one senior, Jaeyoung Jang, from graduating. And like oil and water, Sangwoo and Jaeyoung don't mix. Can Sangwoo debug Jaeyoung – a semantic error in his perfect life?

Steel Under Silk by Snob (E)

Yeonjo used to have it all: a highly respected family, a kind brother, and a comfortable life. Now, with his father executed for high treason, his last kin dead, and damned to a lifetime of slavery, Yeonjo has nothing to lose. All that is left is vengeance, and his chance comes when the new governor assigned to the region is none other than Kwon Hee-ryang, the man who destroyed everything Yeonjo loved.

The Foul by Chepali, Joo (E)

Ever since inheriting his father’s debt as a teenager, Joo Hawon has been doing whatever it takes to buy his freedom back, whether that means working as a VIP dealer in the casinos of Macau, or taking other riskier jobs. But when a mysterious casino guest offers to pay off his debt if he successfully finishes a job on a cruise ship, it’s too good an offer to turn down–despite his instincts warning him of obvious danger.

You Get Me Going by Moscateto, Oh doyeon (E)

Not even if he were the last man left on Earth! Youngwon yearns for true love, but his overbearing nature always leads to failed relationships. Lately, he finds himself clashing with his polar opposite, Hyunwoo, at work. However, things heat up when they go on a business trip together. Will these sparks of enmity turn to love?

[kpopsunbaes]

I'm seeing K'Pop coming up with both the dating rumor and the term "K'Population" making the rounds again. For those who are unaware, both are inaccurate.

A few years back, Serin and I were the team that researched the group and investigated where the rumor/name came from. The episode I've linked explains it and provides sources, but here's the TLDR on these two matters.

K'Pop

K'Pop wasn't an abbreviation for K'Population. They debuted as K'Pop and went by that name until disbandment.

As stated during the group's Sugarman2 appearance, the name "K’Pop" was created by Joo Younghoon who produced the group. While on a business trip in Japan, he was inspired by the term “J-Pop” and came up with “K-Pop” as the Korean counterpart to the J-Pop wave. This was the first example of the term being officially used in Korean music, as previously the term for the genre we know today as K-Pop was referred to as Hallyu (한류) and/or Gayo (가요). This is why the music show Inkigayo is named as such, as the name literally means popular music.

Note: K'Pop is styled as such in English, but during promotions, they were also sometimes referred to as "K-Pop". Due to the genre using a hyphen, when referring to the group, an apostrophe is preferred to reduce confusion.

The first reference to K'Population that I found came from the long-defunct website http://kpophwaiting.net. It was an English fansite in the 2000s for the group, as K'Pop had international fans. I found Japanese fansites from 2002, and references to fans in the US.

On the front page of the kpophwaiting site was a notice that read the following: “K-Population is here for those K-Pop fans who do not speak Korean and may have a hard time finding things on the band.” From this, we see that "K-Population" wasn't used as the group's name at all, it was for a fansite.

Sidenote, in case you're wondering what K'Pop's fans were called, it was K’Popcorn (케이팝콘), which also went by the nickname Popcorn (팝콘).

I have no idea how K'Population got misconstrued as being the group's name on various English wikis years later. I assume it was due to general misinformation that was parroted over the years.

The Dating Rumor

From what I could gather, the original Korean and international K’Pop fans didn’t seem to be the source of the dating rumors.

The first mention of it I could find was from 2007, after the group had gone inactive (and technically disbanded) a few years prior in 2005. On January 22nd, someone made a Daum Cafe post saying they heard a rumor from their new friend that Woohyun and Youngwon had dated and broken up pre-debut. However, the poster themselves doubted it and seemed to want to share it because they thought it was funny. The commenters from that time also didn't seem to take it seriously either.

The fight between the two members from 2003 was brought up during this. The context for it being brought up was that the poster was musing about the idea of them fighting and they vaguely remembered Woohyun had bandages on his hands from an actual fight with Youngwon. They didn't claim the dating rumor and the fight were connected events.

For those of you who are unaware of the circumstances of that incident, here's a brief explanation. The group's coordinator was leaving, so the company had a farewell party for them. Prior to that, Youngwon's drinking habit of being rowdy was known to the group. He got drunk during the party, and around 3am Woohyun was fed up with Youngwon picking fights with him. While he was waiting for his ride, Youngwon came up behind him and punched him a few times before staff separated them. Woohyun had an injury to his face and his wrist, as he fell during the incident. (S) After multiple insincere apologies, Youngwon finally got it that he hurt his friend, so he publicly apologized to Woohyun for his actions and they both moved on. There were no further incidents publicly between them, and the group went on to release another album. Despite what people have spread around, the fight wasn't even close to being the reason why K'Pop disbanded -- it also didn't cause long-lasting discord between the members either, as we know from their later reunion.

However, it appears that didn't matter to the next person who spread this rumor. Also in 2007, a reporter wrote an article that acted as if the January post was a true summary of events. Although the article itself is lost to time, a fan's reaction to it was preserved. The fan was annoyed that the fight was brought up to drag the members. They also claimed that due to the reporter's reputation, they doubted the dating rumor was true. The fan's speculation about the article being written to bash the members wasn't unwarranted. For context, around that time, an article came out that discussed the morals of idols who trained/debuted while underage. Youngwon was mentioned in that article, as that reporter brought up the fight with Woohyun in it.

In 2011, the dating rumor article was brought up in conversation among netizens. They remembered the article, but forgot that they didn't take it seriously. So, the story got spread around again as if it was fact. This is why retractions are so important.

After K'Pop's appearance on SugarMan2, the dating rumor was spread to international fans through articles on sites like Koreaboo and Allkpop. To this day, you'll see people associating K'Pop with this rumor after a giant game of telephone.

Final Notes

When it comes to K'Pop, people know them more for two inaccurate pieces of info than anything else they actually did. If you read this whole post and are interested in knowing what the group actually did, I recommend listening to the podcast audio included at the top of this post. I hope I explained this well enough for people to get why 1st Gen fans have been cracking down on those who repost about K'Population and the dating rumor.

Please be cautious when looking at English language wikis for 1st Gen groups in general, as they tend to include wrong info (and generally don't list sources). For example, Baby V.O.X's entry on Kprofiles includes the wrong picture of the original leader (it shows a different member from an MV a few years after her departure) and doesn't list that she was the leader. Additionally, H.O.T's Wikipedia page is a DISASTER. So, be cautious, folks.

[liangxinn]

a little MW x mignon AU

Found this year-old AU collecting dust at the bottom of my drafts and decided to send it out into the world! I must have started it immediately after I finished Mignon. I just can't resist the pull of eager puppy x aloof cat combo ¯\_(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)_/¯ I remember falling in love with the atmosphere, that gritty city bathed in red light, and wanting to explore the dynamic of Youngwon and Mignon's early relationship. You can find 1.3k of an opening scene below ^^

Mingyu's teeth are sharper than Wonwoo's own.

It's hard to ignore them when he's always flashing that huge grin of his as he pokes his head through the infirmary door. As if there's anything to smile about in this hellhole. But here he is again, smiling like a fool while Wonwoo patches up a cut on his forehead. It's not an injury from a fight, but the result of his clumsy nature. Smacked his head on the garage door at the mechanic's, supposedly, and he was a bit careless and reopened the wound.

The points of Mingyu's canines dig into his plush lower lip ever so slightly. Wonwoo's eyes flicker downwards, and he forces them back up. Mingyu's grin grows just a touch wider.

Try as he might, Wonwoo can't bring himself to hate the sight. It's what a kid like Mingyu should be doing, going to university and charming countless new friends into his pocket with his good looks. He shouldn't be stuck here getting roughed up on the regular just for some cash that'll be burned up by the weekend. Especially not when the majority of his modest earnings goes straight into the wallet of that piss-poor excuse for a man Mingyu calls his coach.

There's an earnestness in his deep brown eyes that the ring hasn't beaten out of him yet. Truth be told, Wonwoo doesn't want to see the day when Mingyu's toothy grin vanishes for good, which is why he tells Mingyu the same thing night after night:

"When are you going to find yourself a proper job and get the hell out of here?"

And flippant as ever, Mingyu will shoot back his usual response, "This is all I'm good for, ssaem."

The worst part is that he says it like he believes it. Heavens, would Wonwoo love to track down the bastard who taught him such complete bullshit.

Mingyu's a smart boy. Probably had a promising future before he got tangled up in all of this, though he's somewhat notorious for being tight-lipped about his past. He'd dropped by the infirmary one night just to quietly pore over a book in the corner. When Wonwoo succumbed to his curiosity and asked what he was reading, Mingyu showed him the cover of a second-hand anatomy textbook.

"I have a lot to catch up on," he'd said with a shy smile, "y'know, since I never finished high school and all. I was thinking it would be nice to go to university someday... ah, but that'll probably never happen."

If Wonwoo actually had some semblance of a spine, he would have agreed and told Mingyu to abandon that fruitless dream. But he couldn't bear to be so cruel as to rub salt into the wound when Mingyu already thought so lowly of his future, nor could he lie and offer up some nice words of empty optimism. In the end, all he did was ruffle Mingyu's hair in a rare gesture of affection.

The sound of Mingyu's voice calling for him drags Wonwoo away from his musings and back into the moment.

"Ssaem," Mingyu says lowly, breathlessly. His canines are still out on proud display, and Wonwoo can see the mole on the tip of his nose. How did Wonwoo fail to notice him getting this close? "Your eyes are so pretty. Have I ever told you that?"

Damn it all, Wonwoo thinks as he feels his ears growing warm.

"You must have hit your head too hard," he dismisses with a scoff, rolling his chair backwards and standing up to go to the sink. "You're all done. Now get out already."

Mingyu makes a noise of protest, most likely pouting, but there's a yell of his name from outside. It's that loud-mouthed coach of his, screaming at him to hurry up and get ready. Wonwoo really wishes the man would shut the fuck up for just one night.

Left with no choice, Mingyu bids Wonwoo goodbye in a rather dejected tone and slips out of the infirmary. He's one of the few people at the club who have the courtesy to close the door gently on his way out. He didn't get a chance to wish him good luck, Wonwoo realises with a sigh. Not that Mingyu will need it with the state of his current performance.

As Wonwoo reaches to turn the tap on, he catches sight of Mingyu's blood streaked against the side of his index finger. It's already tacky, half-dried and flaking on his skin. He inspects it idly while the water runs on and on, splattering against the basin.

Against his better judgement, Wonwoo brings his hand to his mouth and licks it clean. The rich taste of metal coats his tongue.

Mingyu loses the fight.

Wonwoo knows this not because he saw the match, nor did he hear the gossip circulating amongst the club's patrons. No, he knows because Mingyu flinches hard when Wonwoo places a light hand on his shoulder the next day.

Mingyu tries to put on a brave face, but he falters almost immediately beneath Wonwoo's gaze. Without a single word, he grabs the back of his collar and pulls his shirt over his head, then turns around. Even though Wonwoo knows what's coming, the sight still fills him with silent rage.

Bruises lash across Mingyu's back in long, red-purple stripes. It's a miracle the blows hadn't broken through skin. Wonwoo brushes his fingertips ever so slightly against one of the mottled bruises, and even that barely-there touch makes Mingyu's muscles tense up. It can't possibly be that he can no longer distinguish between a hand that holds no ill intent and one that means to hurt him.

"Why do you stay?" Wonwoo asks, no louder than a whisper.

"Coach didn't really hit me that hard. It looks worse than it is," Mingyu jumps to the defensive far too quickly for Wonwoo's liking. "I mean, he still gives me a roof over my head and he feeds me plenty, so... it's fine. It's 'cause I lost, anyway."

"Mingyu."

At the sound of his name, Mingyu peers over his shoulder. The corner of his mouth twitches up into a grin. He says, teasing, "Aw, you worried about me, ssaem?"

Yes. I am. I'm worried that living like this is going to tear you apart limb from limb. I'm worried that no matter how much I tend to your wounds, I won't be able to mend your broken spirit. I'm worried that someday, they'll push you beyond your limits and you'll just burn yourself and everything around you up like a supernova.

Wonwoo doesn't say any of these things. He stares at the tiles and forces himself to take a deep breath through his nose. Exhale. Once more.

"I'm going to have a word with your coach. How does he expect you to perform when he's already beaten you half to death?"

Mingyu snorts as he tugs his shirt back on, "I don't think Coach was worried about that at the time. Don't trouble yourself, ssaem. I can handle it."

Then, in a move so bold it shocks Wonwoo into total silence, Mingyu reaches out to trace a knuckle down Wonwoo's cheek and tips his chin up so their gazes catch and hold. Mingyu's eyes are gentle, and his smile has lost its sly edge. He looks so heartachingly young.

"Thanks for caring about me," he says softly before stepping back and leaving the infirmary just like that.

Late into the night, Mingyu's touch lingers like a phantom. The mere thought brings warmth to Wonwoo's cheeks as he prepares to lock up before sunrise, stopping at the spot where Mingyu had stood in front of him hours earlier. Not even a chilled bag of blood can quell the heat.

Wonwoo can feel his affection for Mingyu growing teeth and eyes and limbs, morphing into a creature of his own making and feeding upon the tender parts of his heart.

He would do well to kill it now before it has a chance to fester within him.

[geewhizze]

Cupnut in Youngwon-dong

Lotus Donut, Peanut Creme Latte, Injeolmi Donut, and Iced Vanilla Latte

28.09.2022

[wonswondrland]

TRBL

warning! vulgar language

TRBL

rookie kpop gg

6 members (kl, gaeul, yujin, rei, wonyoung, + leeseo)

@/TRBL - group official twt page

@/TRBL_members - members official twt page

KIM KARENLYNN

leader of TRBL

'05 liner + aries

sister of ENHYPEN's Sunoo

@/whoiskl - private twt for friends + family

@/yjwlvr - exclusive private twt for close friends

KIM GAEUL

oldest in TRBL

'02 liner + libra

self proclaimed "baddie" of TRBL

@/imgaeul - private twt for friends + family

AN YUJIN

member of TRBL

'03 liner + virgo

former IZ*ONE member/mom of TRBL

@/an.yujin - private twt for friends + family

NAOI REI

member of TRBL

'04 liner + aquarius

enabler of TRBL

@/idoberei - private twt for friends + family

JANG WONYOUNG

member of TRBL

'04 liner + virgo

former IZ*ONE maknae/TRBL's visual

@/youngwon - private twt for friends + family

LEE HYUNSEO

maknae of TRBL

'07 liner + pisces

most mature member of TRBL

@/babyseo - private twt for friends + family

Eyes Off You

prev - masterlist - next

taglist! open :) (purple means i can't tag you)

@sthinqsz @hwalllllllelujah @lovelymura @ja4hyvn @wonamour @tomorrowbymoa-together @luviehyck

[lgcmedia]

@CRYST8LLIS JUST POSTED A PHOTO!

[#YOUNGWON 👑 ] thank you alize for spending another birthday with me ❤️

#crystallis #lgcent #gonghyejoo

[lgcent]

LGCENT Official @LGCENT

CRYSTALLIS (크리스털리스) 'Brand New Me' The First Album

YOUNGWON

▶️ 네이버TV : tv.naver.com/LGCent ▶️ YouTube : youtube.com/channel/LGCENT ▶️ LEGACY Instagram : instagram.com/LGCENT ▶️ CRYSTALLIS Instagram : instagram.com/cryst8llis

#CRYSTALLIS #크리스털리스 #BRAND_NEW_ME #MENOW Copyright © 2024 LEGACY Entertainment. All rights reserved.

(A/N: This was originally posted on July 15, 2024.)

[kpopna]

Be on new فرقة جديدة من 5 فتيان! هل تعرفهم؟؟

Be on new فرقة جديدة من 5 فتيان! هل تعرفهم؟؟

Be on new هي فرقة فتيان قادمة تحت Be the max Entertainment تتكون من خمسة أعضاء: Sol و Sunho و Dojun و Siwoo و Youngwon. من المقرر ترسيمهم في عام 2022. اسم نادي المعجبين الخاص بفرقة Be on new: _ الألوان الرسمية لفرقة Be on new: _ حسابات Be on new الشخصية: Twitter: beonnewOfficial Instagram: be_on_new_official أعضاء Be on new: 1- Sol 1- المعلومات الشخصية: الإسم الفني: Sol (سول) الإسم الحقيقي:…