November 3, 2019
Within a few minutes, the screen came to life. Jin sat in front of a table with the spicy stew that he was cooking from earlier, now on display.
Jin started speaking in Hangul.
"Jin-hyung is greeting everyone already watching and said that he'll wait for a few more minutes for more people to get online." Jake interpreted.
Bella nodded. "Okay, and the finger hearts?"
Jake pointed to a button on the lower right side of the screen. "Let's press that later."
They both sat there, watching Jin waiting for more people to get online.
"Do you do VLives too?"
"Yes, it's part of our contract."
"What do you normally do?"
"I sing and dance for the viewers. They type in their requests in the comments and then I'll sing them. Other times I just sit there and keep talking."
"Is it hard to do?"
"In a way, it can be. We don't want to mess up and say the wrong thing. Like spoilers and stuff like that."
"Do you speak English on your VLives?"
"I do, sometimes. But I have to remember to tone it down. Namjoon-hyung casually mentions in interviews, though, that we're learning."
"It's a shame that the world can't hear how you all speak like Native English speakers."
"It's the brand. We represent Seoul and South Korea, I guess. It's patriotic."
"Did you guys learn together?"
"No, not really. Jin-hyung was an exchange student for several weeks in Australia. That's how he learned English. Namjoon-hyung learned it by himself even if he studied for about four months in New Zealand when he was twelve. It is more self-study than anything. You know, that genius brain. I learned by living in the US for a few months while being taught different dance genres. Suga-hyung learned from collabs. He produces music for American artists. The rest took lessons early on when we were trainees. We always knew we wanted to go global and so we made it a point to be able to understand what our fans and critics were saying. To improve and get better as well as continue doing the things we were doing right."
"Wait. Who is Suga?"
"Oh, right the stage names. We're so used to them by now, we use them interchangeably. So, Jin-hyung is just Jin. His real name is Kim Seokjin. And like I mentioned earlier, he's the eldest. Suga-hyung's real name is Min Yoongi. He's the second eldest. He loves basketball and plays the shooting guard position. SU-GA. Namjoon-hyung's stage name is RM or Rap Monster. His real name is Kim Namjoon. He's our leader and is the reason why I joined the company back then. I heard him rap and was so enamored of him. You already know Hobi-hyung's three names. Then there's Park Jimin. He just uses Jimin. Next to him is V-hyung. His real name is Kim Taehyung, and his stage name is V. Then there's me."
"Jeon Jeongguk, stage name Jungkook, nickname JK."
Jake pulled her close to him.
"I noticed you keep saying hyung but I have to say oppa."
"Yes, its Hyung if a younger male is speaking to an older male. Its Oppa if a younger female is speaking to an older male. If a younger male was speaking to an older female, it would be Noona. And if a younger female was speaking to an older female, she would say Unnie."
"My head is starting to spin. In the Philippines, we just say Ate to females and Kuya to males. Sometimes, we use it as a general term if we're not entirely sure about their age or just to convey respect. Almost like a maam and sir situation. All dialects use them. It's so much easier to remember."
