SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - As the countdown begins for the long-awaited comeback of South Korean superstar BTS, every small detail surrounding the seven-member group captures fans’ attention — even the fate of a struggling houseplant.
V, known in Korean as Kim Tae-hyung, has long been open about the quieter attachments in his life. His black-and-tan Pomeranian, Yeontan, first appeared in 2017 via BTS’s official X account and later alongside V during a VLIVE broadcast in December 2018. Over time, Yeontan surfaced regularly in social media posts, livestreams and even photo content for V’s solo album Layover. No explanation was ever needed. His presence simply became part of V’s offstage world.
Lately, that world has included something more fragile: a pot of leaves that refuses to thrive.
In short captions and fleeting posts, V shared the small frustrations of plant care — wilting leaves, uncertain watering, modest hopes. He referred to himself as a “shik-rinni,” a Korean portmanteau combining sikmul (plant) and eorini (child), commonly used to describe a plant-care beginner. Instead of performance updates or studio hints, fans were given imperfect moments of daily effort.
They did not overanalyze. They recognized a shift in rhythm.
On Instagram Stories and Weverse, fans offered gentle encouragement. V replied with equally simple honesty: “I brought it home three days ago,” and later, “I’ll do my best as a beginner.” There was no dramatic conclusion — only a quiet exchange that revealed care without certainty, effort without polish.
This attention to the small and personal is hardly new in K-pop fandoms, where companion animals often achieve celebrity status of their own.
Rosé’s dog Hank, for instance, maintains a social media presence followed by roughly 4.5 million users. Though the account is run independently, a single image is enough for fans to identify whose dog it is. In August 2025, Hank appeared in Vogue’s pet-focused digital special edition DOGUE, introduced as a rescue dog turned global favorite. The recognition did not arrive suddenly; it accumulated over years of casual photos, short videos and consistent visibility.
Other examples are familiar through television. SHINee member Key’s dogs, Comme des and Garçons, became recognizable through repeated appearances on the variety show I Live Alone and YouTube’s Kang Hyung-wook’s Bodeum TV. Scenes of daily life — meals, walks, birthdays — unfolded without fanfare. Over time, the dogs were no longer guests but fixtures.
Jennie’s dog Kuma followed a similar path. Introduced through a Vogue Korea YouTube feature and the 2020 photo spread “Jennie and Kuma,” Kuma now needs no introduction within the fandom. The name alone evokes an image — quietly settled beside Jennie’s own.
What links these cases is not spectacle, but continuity. Being there. Being seen often enough that explanation becomes unnecessary. Pets — and now even plants — do not serve as narrative devices, but as background details that show how a star’s life keeps moving forward.
V’s plant now occupies that same space. It has no name. It does not flourish easily. Its care remains tentative and openly imperfect. Still, the process is shared.
Life continues — and for K-pop stars, it continues in public, one small, ordinary detail at a time.
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