Aisling

I don't really think it was a PR relationship, mainly because everyone involved denied they were dating (from what I can remember, even his mom got involved to deny it). There are other non-sexual explanations for the photo, but who knows, maybe they did have a fling. Maybe D and E have had breakups in the past. In fact, they probably would have, if they've been together at all over the past 14 years. There was one time they mentioned having traveled to different places, Donghae referencing it as something like, "Remember, when we agreed to spend time apart to think about it again," before Eunhyuk cut him off and said it was about the album, and basically told Donghae to stop talking. It's not hard to imagine a same-gender couple in Korea breaking up to try making it work with girls. I have no idea if that has happened with them, but I wouldn't be surprised. Still, a one-off like that doesn't change how they've acted before and after, which I just cannot justify as normal platonic behavior or out-of-this-world dedicated fanservice. But who knows? I could be completely wrong. It's just how I see it.

Just imo because we can't know for sure, but for me, the Eunhyuk/IU photo is the same as the Donghae/Sehun photo. I genuinely don't understand how one picture with their heads close together is more convincing of a relationship than two people being consistently glued to each other for 14 years. Like, some think Eunhyuk couldn't have been with Donghae because he took a photograph with IU, but if he had been with IU, why would he have spent basically all his time with Donghae, even outside of work? As for the idea that they couldn't really be a thing because they're so obvious, I think there's two things to remember: 1) neither of them are effeminate in the least, so they don't really have actual gay rumors beyond people shipping them (which isn't really taken seriously in kpop), and 2) this is a country where a good number of people still believe Jo Kwon is straight (remember that top-voted comment: "I don't think he's gay. He's more of a drag queen"), so there really is no limit to how much people can hide in plain sight. Also, separate from this whole situation, I've always thought IU was potentially not-straight. She wrote a romantic song about Sulli (in her words, "from a man's perspective"), and a lot of people find her friendship with Yoo In Na to be sus (for example, IU calling Yoo In Na her muse in an award acceptance speech, spending Valentine's Day together, etc.). Again, who knows, but it's possible the whole thing was organized for both of them. Or maybe they're just friends and thought they could take a picture together without the world exploding.

I'm guessing he was talking about Wonho lol.

Just thought this was relevant to some of the discussions we've had here recently:

I'm not really following the details of his situation specifically, but isn't he appearing on a show with the girl he's supposedly dating? If so, the company producing the show can make requests of the participants. Either way, I was just responding to the idea of certain artists "not being the type" to do PR relationships. In the entertainment industry, it isn't always the artist's call.

I'm not sure how it is in Korea, but in the US and UK, it's often the company that organizes PR relationships. Actors and musicians have talked about how their companies pressured them into it, or at least tried to. I imagine in Korea, since companies feel comfortable outright banning people from dating at all, they probably wouldn't have a problem coercing them into fake dating when it's convenient.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only thing I saw people talking about in regards to Donghae and Sehun was that picture of them at the sauna. Going to a sauna is not really a romantic activity in Korea, so I'm not exactly sure why people made such a big deal out of it. Do correct me if I missed something though. But in general, I don't think Donghae had anything romantic with Sehun. I think he just supported him as a company senior and hyung (and possibly a fellow not-straight person). D and E were attached at the hip during that whole time, which would have been kind of odd if he had been dating another guy. Just my two cents though.

But he didn't say, "I only like girls." He just said, "I like girls," which would not be a lie if he were bi or pan. Also, there's a huge difference between people dismissing public relationships basically to the celebrity's face (with gay rumors based on nothing concrete, from what I've seen with Shawn Mendes) and privately recognizing that this doesn't seem to match up with pretty clear statements he's made in the past. With how common bearding is among regular LGBT people in SK, it's not a wild notion that some celebrities would do it too. Of course, only he knows how he really feels. I just think we should be realistic about the situation for gay people in SK and know that they won't always be able to tell the truth.

Not to belabor the point, but can they stay on message for like 2 seconds lmao: (x)

For me, the thing I keep coming back to is his "Two Truths and a Lie" statement, where he listed two things we know to be true (having bipolar and insomnia) and then "liking girls." If he were bi or pan, why would he have said that? Also, I'm not sure we can say anyone is "not the type" to have a beard in a country like SK. Most gay/bi people in SK don't want to come out to their parents, and with the high societal pressure to get married and have kids, if you don't come out, your parents are going to be constantly telling you to find someone to date and marry (actually, even for those who do come out, sometimes their parents will still be in denial about it). He also has military service to look forward to, and with the witch hunts going on there, I wouldn't be surprised about any gay/bi person trying to protect themselves from that. Beyond that, sadly, there's always the possibility that he's just trying to force himself into heterosexuality. That happens all the time, even still in more LGBT-friendly countries. In a country like SK, where there's so much secrecy around LGBT identities, we really can't take things at face value.

I understand what you mean, but the relationship between music group members can't really be compared to co-workers at an office or something. Members have often known each other since they were young if they trained together, and then lived together, practiced together, traveled together, performed together, etc. You can't really keep the relationship strictly professional even if you wanted to. And when there's a culture of expected fanservice, as there is in kpop, some outgoing gay/bi people are going to use that as an excuse to flirt. It doesn't necessarily mean they're intending to date their members or cross lines that would actually out themselves. No offence but it's probably just because they share a room (or did for a long time).

Every gay/bi person is different, so there's really no way to say, "A real gay idol would do X." Some gay/bi people are cautious, some are really outgoing, and some are in-between.

Who knows? It could be intentional, or maybe they're just dumb and dumber, as they always say. *shrug*

Part 2 because image limit-- This also reminded of another moment that happened on a show recently: (x) MCs say this kind of thing all the time, so it's not really surprising that they would react like this, or even be proactive about denying it. I just think it's funny that they choose to imply all those things are inherently romantic when they're things they've actually done quite publicly. Edit to add--the above moment was the same scene as this lol: (x) Also, just my opinion, but I don't think either of them are actually in denial to themselves or each other. They never act panicky with each other, just when they're talking to other people. Which again, doesn't surprise me, since they would have to stay closeted to keep their jobs, and unlike most celebrities in popular ships, they have a lot of people (including interviewers, MCs, etc.) who openly ask or imply that they're a couple.

Every once in a while, they panic over the most random things, and it's so strange. Like the question here, "What do you want from Donghae for your birthday?" was completely innocent. Why did they immediately link that to being a couple? There was another time years ago when they were asked if they had nicknames for each other, and they were like, "Haha we're not a couple. Why would we have nicknames??" Bro, 1) what do nicknames have to do with people a couple? And 2) They DO have nicknames for each other. Also, there was a time they were asked if Eunhyuk ever cooked Donghae a meal, which they panicked about in the same way ("Why would I do that? Haha we're not a couple"), despite the fact that other SJ members have mentioned cooking for each other, and Donghae said this: (I could not for the life of me find the gifset of this again, my apologies) Just like with the birthday present question, they panicked about the idea of getting each other a present despite talking about things like this for years: Actually, while making this post, I realized I had also seen these: (x) They're at Eunhyuk's apartment, so apparently they bought each other fridges?

(Praying the OH servers hold up for me to post this--and apologies in advance if this double posts) Anyway, speaking of Dreamcatcher: (x)

Hi! Would you mean deleting my double posts on this page? https://onehallyu.com/topic/64-which-male-idols-do-you-think-are-gay/page-3919 Basically everything but post #78366. There are double posts from other users on that page as well, which you can see. Thanks so much!

I don't think the colors represent those flags either, but do you think they don't know those labels because they're Korean?

I thought the members said Johnny had a crush on Taeil? God, why is NCT a teen drama.

Closeups of Wonho's fishnets:

Okay, I'll attempt it lol. In the meantime, their Bonnie and Clyde VCR continued here: (X)

I'm trying to find a masterpost or something, but it's tough because there's literally about 14 years of receipts lmao rip. Though, one thing I could point out is that, as far as I can remember, they've only denied it a few times, once before they went into the military, and otherwise when interviewers seriously implied or even directly asked about them being a couple. For example, this one post-military. I can think of about five times interviewers or MCs have done that, or commented about them acting like a married couple, so it's not surprising that they would deny it. Not much else you can do when someone says something like that point blank on camera. Heechul has denied being gay quite a few times too, after all. Edit: I don't think I'm going to find a masterpost that isn't riddled with gross fetishizing, so I can try to put something together here if anyone's interested.

^That reminds me, Tony said the same thing about Jaeduck, that he doesn't need money or anything else as long as he has Jaeduck.

^^ So there really are no straight members of BTS. Glad we cleared that up.

I totally agree. Also, I said this earlier but it must not have posted: for most groups, I could believe that it was a coincidence and not read much into it, but with BTS, everything little detail is so thought-out, and they use symbolism all over the place (like Jungkook wearing that Dionysus bag in that other photoshoot). Using a closet is such specific and unusual imagery for a photobook too; it's hard to imagine that they had no idea what they were doing there.