soljae | bts [editing]

puberty

it is well known that soljae is the youngest member of bts and is a part of gen z. it was expected that he would be short, if not the shortest, in the group because of this—and this was true for some time after their debut. however, he is currently the tallest member, which led to fans and even the general public repeating the question "what are they feeding these kids?"

soljae, who was just under the average male height at 170 cm (5'6) is now 187 cm (6'2). these are fans' reactions over the years:

bts_twt: i remember when he was smaller than me... where did the time go? :( #jimin #soljae

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jiminesque1 replying to bts_twt: okay so it wasn't just me? i swear somebody fed him miracle grow!

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soopyoongi: the height difference between soljae and yoongi always throws me off 😭

80k likes

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unrealisticallyreal: wait a minute—

lalalalalawho: wasn't he just like 3 ft tall???

jungkookamole replying to lalalalalawho: 😭

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bts_twt: this food won't make him grow another 12 feet, will it? 😰 #namjoon #soljae

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cryingchrysanthemum: bruh i hope not 😭

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when the members finally noticed (2016):

jungkook smiled at the camera he was holding, giving a slight wave. "hello guys," he spoke quietly, "we are on the way to an amusement park for today's bangtan bomb. almost everyone is asleep because it's still early morning, but i'm too excited, so i can't sleep." he moved the camera to show soljae, who was asleep on his shoulder. "soljae fell asleep as soon as we got in the van," he snickered, waving the camera around in soljae's face.

namjoon turned around in his seat to face the two, "he's been asleep the whole time?" they had been in the car for a good hour already. jungkook nodded, placing soljae's head back on his shoulder when they had gone over a bump in the road.

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Once they had reached the amusement park, the leader woke up those who were sleeping. yoongi was a bit tougher to wake up, but they'd managed.

namjoon had woken everyone up when they finally got to the amusement park another hour later. once they had filed out of the van, soljae found his new source of comfort for his tired body as they walked toward the entrance gates: taehyung.

"hyung, i'm tired," he groaned, wrapping his arms around taehyung from behind as they walked forward. taehyung smiled, waving at the camera as jungkook focused on them, walking backward. taehyung stopped, patting soljae's thigh and signaling him to hop onto his back.

"onward!" soljae pointed.

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the wristbands had been distributed and they had picked their first ride. as they lined up and waited for each of their bands to be tagged, jungkook faced the duo again. "is soljae tall enough to get on the ride? it says you have to be at least 140 cm (4'5)" jungkook laughed, filming the height measurement sign on the gate of the ride.

soljae gasped, "i am taller than you." taehyung nodded in agreement, watching jungkook's face.

"nuh-uh," jungkook said matter-of-factly, "you're still shorter than jimin hyung."

"i'm literally taller than namjoon hyung," he whined.

"guys, come on. stop messing around so we can get on the ride." hoseok interrupted to calm the younger boys down.

jungkook turned to the ride operator, "excuse me, ma'am? do you mind if we check our heights?"

"oh my gosh," hoseok sighed.

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"well would you look at that! 185 centimeters—in your face!"

everyone's eyes bulged as they heard the number. "185? You're 185 centimeters?" jimin yelled out, baffled. soljae laughed and nodded, walking up to him.

"honestly, it's a little worrying how long it took you guys to notice his growth spurt..."

"shut up, v."

yoongi walked up to the youngest, looking up. "damn."

"it's okay, guys. i'm still the same soljae as before!" he teased.

"but taller."

"and you're not 14 anymore."

"your voice is deeper, too."

"you're a man, now."

...

"your balls dropped-"

"yoongi-ah!"

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hello.

goodbye.

you're welcome.

word count: 712

published: cerca 2019

edited & revised: april 2023