hi friends!!
i finally got around to penning down my thoughts down after coming back from seoul, and i know some people were interested to know what the whole experience of seeing jin live was like so here it is! sorry it is pretty lengthy, so please bear with me ~
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 i had an IRL friend who won too we could travel 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 again with my own eyes 😭😭😭 he looked so handsome yet so cute with his choppy bangs and a version of his 'the astronaut' suit. 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??? u/ICMSkipper 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 all the way up to this point, thank you for reading! i hope everyone has had a wonderful festa 💜
by alltherach_
Thank you so much for sharing this thorough account of your day at the Jin event! So happy you had that, and it makes me love Jin even more that he gave you and so many other ARMYs this wonderful experience. 💜
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us! Your photos are beautiful 💜
Thank you for sharing and so glad you had an amazing time!💜
Thank you for this. You write so well. And since I had seen this live it was soo easy to visualise your words. 💜
But could you explain this pls – The Weverse notification mentioned the eligibility criteria for the raffle for hug and that Jin’s performance would be live streamed for army membership, so how did they choose the audience for the 2nd part. Did those who won the raffle for hugs were allowed to stay back or there was some other criteria
What an amazing experience 💜 I’m so happy you got to be there! Thanks for sharing your story and pictures with us!
Need a Jin Ramen commercial where it’s just him staring into the camera while eating for two whole minutes.
So happy for you 😭 you got to witness bora history and it was for your bias. How surreal. I hope your flowers stay beautiful for a long time (love the vase)
I love how you’re embracing the YES in life leading you to this most enchanting precious moment! Thank you for sharing your wonderful adventure and taking us along with you. 🌈💜
What a beautiful Trip, Festa, Jin report. You being selected via the raffle is pure karma. Smiling from ear to ear here.
P.S. Gorgeous flowers! 4,000 bouquets? 💐💜 That’s pure borahae!
Rach this sounds like a dream 💜💜💜💜 I’m happy for you
This is so awesome, thank you for sharing! 💜
Wow… I’m feeling so so so SO happy reading this, I literally shed tears at brunch over my omelette. 😭 Anytime one of us wins, the whole community wins. This sounds like an incredible experience and I’m so happy for you!
What unforgettable experience! I guess you won’t never regret that. I don’t know you but I am happy for you and that have experienced all this and had a blast.
I realized when he looked to ceiling when he was singing moon that he was beyond happy as If he was thinking “how I was missing all this! This is what I want to my life. I am home!”.
I can’t stop thinking about the feeling when he came back to sing The Astronaut and the camera came from behind him, all those lights as a stars… I really feel like he was back from the space.
Big Hit is better be prepared for Hobi. 😉
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like such an amazing experience and I’m so glad you YOLO’d it and went! Definitely an experience you’ll never forget or regret 🎉
What an amazing experience! So glad you enjoyed it. I bet you’ll cherish those memories forever. The flowers are such a sweet and thoughtful gift. Bless him. He’s so kind. Welcome home Jin!! 💜
I am so happy for you (but incredibly jealous too 🥹). Thank you for sharing, this made me tear up a bit.
the fact that you got to do this and for your bias. i am not even envious at all just so incredibly happy and thankful you got this. we are so lucky for the work you put in on the sub and i am just grinning from ear to ear reading your experience. a memory for a lifetime. not sure it can get better then this!
Thank you so much for sharing, Rach! This was beautiful to read and made me feel like I was present there enjoying the moment with y’all! Can’t even imagine how thrilled you must have felt! And the photos are sooo lovely🥹💜
Thank you so much for sharing!! I really enjoyed your story!!
Oh congratulations💜what an amazing experience!!! You’re such a cool ami thank you for sharing apobangpo
Thank-you for taking the time to type this all up for us!! What an incredible experience. I’m so happy you got to be there. I bet the energy was insane! And you got a clock AND flowers! 😁 What a whirlwind of a trip that must have been 💜
I need to start saying “Yes” to more things too! I think it’s great to be open to more possible experiences like that, and I always find myself being more pessimistic than optomistic. But it’s never to late to make a little change, and you never know where it will lead!
thank you for sharing! what an experience to be there for jin’s comeback 🥹
Yesssssss!!! This is what I’ve been waiting for, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
This is everything and more! I’m living vicariously through your words and geeking with joy for you!!
Thank you so much for sharing and let us live vicariously through you, Rach! I’m so happy you got to go to Jin festa this year 😭 May the god of ticketing bless you in the next live concerts!😇
It sounded like an amazing experience! For you and Jin both ☺️ definitely the right choice to go even for 1.5 hrs hahaha! So so happy for you! To be able to witness Jin’s return within 24 hours of his discharge is such a fever dream! I hope the beautiful memories you made follow you forever 💜
I don’t know why I had tears and was laughing along reading your beautiful experience. But I also know its because its Kim Seokjin
What an amazing experience. Thank you for sharing, it made me feel like I was there.
Rach, hope it’s okay and not weird for me to say this all 갑자기 haha—but you’re such a longstanding and wonderful keystone presence in this sub; you do SO MUCH (and I’m sure even more behind the scenes) for all of us for whom this is a safe and loving space… I’m so so glad the Bangtan universe sent that lottery ticket your way! I know it’s not about “deserving,” but truly, I can’t think of anyone who more fits that bill to have this wonderful experience!
Beyond sweet of you to write up your experiences to share with all of us. I’m so glad you got to go and had an amazing time. 80% spoken comprehension is AMAZING. Hwaiting!!!!!!! 💜🫶💜🫶💜🫶💜
I’m so happy to hear that “one of us” won, and you so deserve it, cornerstone of the ARMY reddit experience that you are!!!
I teared up for you. This was a beautiful report. I am so so happy for you that you made it. I am YOLOing my way through my first year of kpop concerts and it’s giving me life. I could feel the love of 4000 ARMYs including one amazing YOLO traveler from this writeup. You will never forget it and you’ll always thank yourself. 💜
Oh Rach, I literally teared up reading this. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and being our f/bts7 rep to pour all our collective love out towards our Moon! This is karma 100% coming back to you for all you do for us and the love you have for our sweet Jinnie. So incredibly happy that you got to experience this firsthand. 💜
Sounds so wonderful. Such a reminder of YOLO — I’m so glad you did this and shared with us.
Thank you for posting!!!!
So wonderful to read, tks for sharing. My one wish is to see them on tour…it will probably be really difficult to get tickets but I live in hope🙂
Thank you for sharing!! I’m so happy you got to see him and experience it all in person 💜 it must’ve been so surreal!! Particularly all the performances and surprises he had for us. So glad you had such a memorable time and yoloed it! 💜💜