hey everyone!
so, it's been about 2 days since seeing jin live and even though i'm back home now, i'm still reeling from it all and wanted to share my experience.
before i turned 30 last year, one goal i had was to regret less and to say "yes" to more things, within reason and means, of course. i had always been the type to err on the side of caution because it was the "sensible" and "practical" thing to do, but you know what, life's too short for regrets. when i entered the raffle i didn't think i was going to win since i entered only having bought 2 copies of 'the astronaut' and 1 copy of 'proof', so when i saw that i won i really couldn't believe it. going to seoul for 1.5 days to essentially just see jin for an hour is one of the most YOLO things i've done but i knew i would've regretted it if i decided not to – i'm thankful u/feelingsewgood won too and i had a friend to go with together, 'cause it was one of the best hours of my life 😭
i didn't manage to take part in the festa celebrations around the stadium because i had some work to do, plus ARMYs on twitter were saying that it was really hot and crazy crowded even before the official opening time of 11am (i think i saw that some people started queuing at 3am? i applaud the dedication but i could never 🥲). i'm not sure if it was because the festa planning team weren't expecting that many ARMYs to show up this year, but my friend mentioned that compared to last year's festa event, there weren't any clear signages to show where the queues for the different zones were, so it was pretty disorganised and hard to navigate.
for the raffle, the winners were split into different batches and timings for check in. i was part of the last batch so i arrived at jamsil indoor stadium about 1.5 hours before the show started, then we had to show our ARMY membership card and the event ticket on the weverse app to get our seat ticket, wristband and free gift (we got a clock!). by then, it was a lot less crowded than it was in the day, but i don't think i'll ever get over the sight of so many ARMYs from all over the world gathered in one place for our 7 – everyone was dressed up in merch, whether it was of BTS or the members' names, faces, naked torsos (lol), or every form of BT21 one can imagine! it's hard to comprehend just how many we actually are till you witness a sight like that.
after check in, i headed right into the stadium and to our seats. facing the stage, i was seated on the far left of the stage, on the second level!
while we were waiting for jin to appear, i think our combined nervousness and excitement made the air feel electric. a few mins before 8pm, we all started chanting "KIM SEOKJIN! KIM SEOKJIN! KIM SEOKJIN!" together and i had never felt more at home in a room full of strangers.
when the lights went down and jin appeared on his bike to the opening notes of 'the astronaut', i absolutely lost it. my hands were literally shaking with excitement seeing our astronaut with my own eyes 😭😭😭 i know he was worried he wouldn't be able to sing well after 18 months, and i'm not sure how he sounded over the livestream but guys he sounded INCREDIBLE and so stable. that's our silver voice!!! at some points during his performance, jin would look up to the ceiling and shout, like he couldn't believe this was real, and neither could i. i will forever remember and cherish the look of pure unbridled joy on his face getting to perform again and being reunited with ARMYs.
getting to hear jin say "AMIIIIIII~" again and that he's returned home felt like an adrenaline shot straight into my veins. at this point i was so overwhelmed and just trying to keep it together so i wouldn't break down and miss out on what he was saying… how is it possible to love someone you don't personally know this much?? T_T also can i brag a little? i haven't been the most consistent at studying korean in the past few months but i was pleasantly surprised at myself for understanding about 80% of what jin said without subs hehe.
even though he had only been discharged the day before and just had an hour with us, i can't believe he still prepared so much. i melted into my chair at all the challenges – the audio and visual of him saying "hey you, have me" will live rent-free in my mind for the rest of my life, as will his aegyo for the "cat walking on the frozen han river", and then him dancing to 'seven' ??? kim seokjin??? a friend sent me this tweet that said "if Jungkook's vers is like college heartthrob trying to swing your heart in a crush manner, then Seokjin's vers is like a mature and established man who makes a surprise for his spouse on their 1st wedding anniversary" and i have not been ok since.
when the opening notes to 'super tuna' started, i swear the whole stadium shook from the screams. jin performing it live together with 4000 ARMYs doing the "eottohari" part and shouting "CHAMCHI" at the top of our lungs was an experience, and then he went into the surprise second verse and idk how it's possible but we screamed even louder??
and then we finally, after 4!!! years!!!, got the return of eatjin!!! it was so funny just watching him eat or drink and then there's us losing our minds at every little move (the cameraman who zoomed into his face and his hands, you knew what you were doing. thank you.), and ARMYs would shout asking if what he was eating tasted good. ngl the parts where he stared right into the camera before drinking the zero beverages gave me ~feelings~. i'm not sure if he's still the face of jin ramen, but i would be surprised if he does not already have food and beverage companies lining up to woo him to be their ambassador.
watching him perform 'moon' live for the first time in front of an audience was the icing on the cake. he looked like he was getting emotional while performing it, getting to finally sing this song to his earth 🥺
thank you jin, for always orbiting around us, for being by our side, and for being our light. i hope you know that you're not just a moon to us – you are our moon, and we will be by your side forever too. getting to celebrate your discharge and bangtan's 11th anniversary in person with you and the 3999 ARMYs, as well as countless other ARMYs that were around the stadium and in seoul, will be a memory that i'll never forget.
jin prepared flowers for us too, so while we were exiting the stadium, everyone got a bouquet!!
and mine now lives in joon's indigo vase 🥹💜
if you've read up all the way up to this point, thank you for reading! i hope everyone has had a wonderful festa 💜
by alltherach_
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