2016 was one of the biggest years for Hallyu, especially for K-pop and K-dramas. For the former, we possibly experienced a “Second Kpopcalypse” in which numerous veteran K-pop groups suffered from members leaving or disbandment. On the other hand, K-pop has seen one of the best years pertaining to K-pop debuts, especially Black Pink. For the latter, we have seen more K-dramas earn double-digit viewership ratings in Korea with some of them making an impact internationally such as Descendants of the Sun .
Of course such emphasis on entertainment meant an interest in celebrity news which includes relationships. 2016 had its fair share of new relationships confirmed and breakups. Min of Miss A and G.Soul , Kai of EXO and Krystal of f(x) , and Yenny of Wonder Girls and Jinwoon of 2AM were confirmed to be in relationships. As for breakups, Junsu of JYJ and Hani of EXID along with Han Ye Seul and Teddy Park are no longer in relationships. Finally, Moon Hee Jun formerly of H.O.T. and Soyul of Crayon Pop announced their engagement to be married.
Despite all the officially confirmed relationship news, netizens often stick with their shipped couples depending on the most minute reasons, such as matching hair colors, on why said shipped couples are dating. Case in point: Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation and G-Dragon of Big Bang. Back in 2015, rumors ran rampant justifying that the K-pop idols are dating causing both SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment to step in on the matter . Still, netizens will believe what they want to believe as one year later the Taeyeon dating G-Dragon rumors circulated the internet again .
Now netizens believe Joy of Red Velvet and V of BTS are dating. Their reasoning has to do with the intense interaction they supposedly both had during the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation end-of-the-year music special, the 2016 MBC Music Festival.
From what is going around among K-pop communities and chat circles, the belief that Joy of Red Velvet and V of BTS dating stems back to one particular moment during the 2016 MBC Music Festival. According to AllKpop , V is seen “ staring intensely ” numerous times at Joy. Netizens claimed the photos from the end-of-the-year event show that V is unable to take his eyes off his “girlfriend.”
Many K-pop fans, especially those who are A.R.M.Y. (official fan club of BTS) and Red Velvet fans (they do not have an official fan club name yet) dismissed the netizens’ claims in which they say V was staring at the master of ceremonies. Also, they cited the Korean tabloids fabricating such relationship rumors between the two in the past and they were not true.
Ultimately, we do not know if Joy and V are dating or not. Korean celebrities are often times private with their relationships so it is possible they are dating and keeping it on the down-low, but until it is confirmed, we can only take it as is. Outside of that, both Joy and V had a fantastic year through their respective K-pop groups.
Joy had two comebacks back in 2016 as a member of Red Velvet. The first was with the second mini-album The Velvet featuring the title track song “One of These Nights.” The second was their third mini-album Russian Roulette with a title track song of the same name. Neither song were as popular as “Dumb Dumb,” but they still did very well in music charts as well as sales. As for her solo endeavors, she concluded her run on We Got Married opposite Sungjae of BtoB and performed a number of songs for SM Station.
As for V, he had three comebacks as a member of BTS. The first was the compilation album The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever featuring the title track song “Fire.” The second was their second Japanese studio album Youth featuring Japanese versions of their hits. Finally, their second Korean studio album Wings featuring title track song “Blood, Sweat & Tears.” Also through BTS, V was both on tour and at numerous concerts this year too.
For 2017, we can expect to see more of Joy and V in their respective K-pop groups. For the former, nothing has been announced for 2017 but we are just a week into the new year. For the latter, BTS just released their latest compilation album, The Best of Bangtan Sonyeondan . It comes in both a Korean and Japanese edition.
[Featured Image by SM Entertainment and Big Hit Entertainment]