BOYFRIEND pimp post!!

[tascioni]

made mainly for chrysa, chiharu, and shiroi_ten bc i have no shame



하, 들, 셋 ... i'm your BOYFRIEND!

BOYFRIEND (보이프렌드) is a six-member South Korean boy band under Starship Entertainment (who also produced SISTAR and K.Will) that debuted in May 2011. The group consists of fearless leadah Kim Donghyun, Shim Hyunseong, Lee Jeongmin, twins Jo Youngmin and Kwangmin, and No Minwoo. The weeks leading up to their debut were filmed as a five-part documentary and aired on MNet's M!Pick. Their concept is that they are ~manry~ men, but also delicate flower boy angels, or at least, I think that's what they were going for judging by their first teaser which was followed up by their debut single, "Boyfriend". Uh. Yeah. no, no, listen, where are you going COME BACK I'M NOT DONE.


Their star potential power lays within their natural aegyo (or maybe it's because they are total dorks) and awesomely synchronized dance choreos. Despite their dubious debut, Starship did a pretty good job of toning down the cuteness for the subsequent singles, which focused more on the group's talents than their looks (and jeongmin was freed from the grasps of dat asian fro).

In June 2012, they released their first mini-album First Love, and followed that up with a Japanese debut in July. I'd say they did pretty well, considering that they broke SNSD's debut record of 25,000 fans by managing to gather 40,000+ fans over the course of four events. In the latter part of the month, BOYFRIEND released their first Japanese single "Be My Shine" which I think hit #1 on the Oricon charts? SOMETHING LIKE THAT. anyway, this is just my opinion, but I think they did really well in Japan because most, if not all, the members are pretty passable in Japanese, as you can see in this cut of W Academy where they aced their Japanese class.

Rumors of their Korean comeback were also confirmed over the summer, and Starship Entertainment revealed to allkpop that fans will be able to “meet a Boyfriend you've never seen before. Boyfriend will show you a charisma that is different from other ordinary manly concepts through their stage." They're manly, ok. Manly.  Look, it's even in the description of their newly released Janus MV: "The boys' dramatic transition into fierce masculine men!" fierce manly masculine men, yes ok.

So. What can you expect from these babies?

• a lot of derp
• cuteness 
• constant hunger
• synchronized dancing
• qt remixes
• qt collabs with labelmates K.Will and SISTAR
• I'm still waiting on evidence for "fierce masculine men." (lol u tried starship)

THE MEMBERS


"General" Kim Donghyun (김동현/金東玄) born February 12, 1989; Leader + Lead Vocalist

Donghyun is the oldest member of BOYFRIEND and is also their fearless leaduh. He was apparently a bit of a bad kid in his teens, but has presumably cleaned up since then (you can watch his transformation on Conduct Zero and judge for yourself) and now spends his days studying at MeongJi University and chasing after his dongsaengs, except not really because the kids are very easy to handle. During the 5+ years he spent as a trainee, K.Will taught him how to sing, and he used to play the piano for other trainees to practice vocals.  When asked, Donghyun said that he thinks his best features are his eyes which are noticeably differently sized. 

• self-proclaimed fashion king
• fluent in Japanese; the most fluent of the group in English
• trademark English catchphrase is "WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ME???"
• wanted to be a pianist when he is a little boy, but his friends made fun of him and he caved into peer pressure and gave it up.
• treats fans to bubble tea
• babies Minwoo like no other
• admires Jay Chou
• played "Secret" on the piano as part of a mission for M!Pick 
• can't remember how/where he met SNSD's Sooyoung
• wants Youngmin to teach him how to be lazy because being hardworking is very tiring
• claims to have the most "manly" charm because he's the oldest
• will occasionally refer to himself as "Captain"
• has a bunk at the dorm, but usually goes home to sleep
• despite having the smallest appetite out of everyone, he says he eats a lot because the maknae line is still growing. oh captain, my captain, you're so self-sacrificing.

Shim Hyunseong (심현성/沈賢星) born June 3, 1993; Main Vocalist

If Donghyun is BOYFRIEND's father, Hyunseong is arguably the mother of the group. Donghyun calls him his righthand man, and his dongsaengs all agree that he takes care of them very well. When Donghyun is preoccupied with the big things like say, how to be a ~world star~, Hyunseong makes sure the kids eat and do their homework. He does not like dieting, but he lost 5kg for the release of Janus. In addition to his BOYFRIEND releases, his vocal talents can also be heard on The King 2 Hearts OST. 

• likes food
• loves manga/manhwa
• is probably the most quiet and camera-shy of the group
• was only a trainee for a year before he debuted with BOYFRIEND
• was a drummer in 6th grade, but decided he wanted to be a singer at some point in junior high
• ACTUALFAX PRINCE
• ok not really but he does  have royalty in his blood!
• his favorite idols are K.Will and B.E.G's Jea
• was supposed to go by the stage name Seon Ho
• surprised everyone when he cried during the surprise birthday party his fellow members threw for him while they read aloud their birthday messages (it's ok bb. ♥ it was very sweet!) 
• wants to compose a song for his girlfriend
• admires Donghyun for his dedication/hardworking principles
• maknae Minwoo has said that his dear hyung can be too innocent sometimes. (shut up minwoo you're like 12!!)

"Mirror Prince" Lee Jin Ki Jeongmin (이정민/李正珉) born January 2, 1994; Main Vocalist

Rounding out the hyung line is Jeongmin. He is always looking at himself in the mirror which is why the members have dubbed him as the "Mirror Prince." Jeongmin has declared himself as the one who's in charge of reactions, meaning he goes "Ah~~ really?" whenever someone says something. Like, Hyunseong, Jeongmin was only a trainee for a year before he debuted, but unlike the rest of the members, his parents didn't support him at first. Before they would give their consent, he had to prove himself so the little prince went and entered himself in a song competition and brought home the award to his parents. He also lent his voice and pretty face to labelmates K.Will and Soyu's (SISTAR) "White Love" where he plays a photographer that...gets stalked by a pretty girl? (idk idk i haven't looked up an explanation for the MV yet.)

• is a stress shopper
• is a better pianist than Donghyun
• at 173 cm, or 5' 9", he is the shortest
• has five favorite colors, including "tiger fur pattern" 
• sucks at soccer
• needs some help from Youngmin to remember his history
• taught Kwangmin how to wink
• in addition to the piano, Jeongmin also knows how to play the guitar and drums
• got his great leaduh Donghyun the autographs of the girls of SNSD
• says his eyebrows are his best features because they are "thicker than most"
• maknae Minwoo continues to gossip about his hyungs and says that Jeongmin is really funny and easy to get along with, but it's hard to know what he's thinking because he rarely talks about serious things

"Prince" Jo Youngmin (조영민/趙榮旻) born April 24, 1995; Lead Dancer + Vocalist

Both Youngmin and Kwangmin were trainees at JYP for two years before they came to Starship. And naturally, as trainees do, they became close with 2PM and the sunbaenim/dongsaeng relationship is still going strong today, as evidenced last year by Taecyeon pulling the twins out the front win 2PM won KBS Music Bank. Youngmin is the more extroverted of the twins, and so, receives more camera time. The members also distinguish the twins by saying that Youngmin has a softer, more feminine face compared to Kwangmin's who's features are sharper. I guess it's a popular opinion because Youngmin was once asked to be someone's girlfriend.  

• older twin by 6 minutes
• gets mad when people say Kwangmin looks older
• cannot wake up. one time, the members were waiting in the car, but Youngmin never came down, so after ten minutes, they went back up to their dorm and found that he'd fallen asleep again after getting dressed.
• admits that he himself usually has no idea if he's awake or asleep 
• a girl once confessed her love to him, but he refused her because she confessed to the wrong twin. oops.
• cites DBSK as his role model 
• cites SNSD's Taeyeon as his favorite female idol
• was a back-up dancer for K.Will
• since Starship decided to dye everyone's hair dark, we now rely on Youngmin's big eyes to tell him apart from Kwangmin.
• hobbies include NOT DRESSING LIKE A GIRL
• hobbies do include looking at pictures of cats on his iPad
• no one will ever forgive him for managing to garner the most views for his UCC on goldfish
• is a favorite among young children
• sleeps on the top bunk over Donghyun; one night, the bunks broke and he crushed Donghyun to death (that is what you get for regularly abandoning your children)
• unanimously voted the laziest member in BOYFRIEND
• despite being the laziest, he is also very hard on himself. 
• he and Kwangmin have starred in over 300 CFs 
• they impress everyone (including themselves) with their twin telepathy
• they are also very naive

"Pikachu" Jo Kwangmin (조광민/趙光旻) born April 24, 1995; Lead Dancer + Main Rapper + Vocalist

The younger of the Jo twins is noted as being very spacey. It's a generally accepted truth that even though he's sensitive to other people's emotions, he can't read the atmosphere of a room well at all. He and Youngmin are very close, even if they don't talk much. Seriously, I don't understand where the "they're awkward around each other" came from since they're always together and want the same things. Unfortunately, no matter how close they are, Kwangmin's spaciness knows no bounds because he's been known to say that he doesn't get to see his family as much as he'd like while apparently forgetting that Youngmin counts as family too, but it's okay because Youngmin doesn't always remember either. Our favorite 4D alien Kwangmin actually originally wanted to be a novelist, but his father's love of music rubbed off on him, so here we are now.

• replaced Youngmin in a photoshoot once when they were younger after Youngmin fell off the swing set 
• introverted, but please don't stop the music
• actually music is not even required
• forgetful
• klutz
• pikachu
• favorite rappers are Dynamic Duo
• most likely to forget the dance
• listens well to his leader hyung
• is a champ at hide & seek
• b'awwwwwww
• pikachu tho
• moonlights as a hairdresser
• pls never stop
• pikachu is the best
• everyone is forever fascinated by twin telepathy
• will they ever stop getting dance duets

"Sweat" No Minwoo (노민우/盧珉玗) born July 31, 1995; Maknae + Lead Rapper + Main Dancer

Maknae and fan favorite, Minwoo, is a perfectionist, especially when it comes to the dances, and is the one who's most likely to make them practice one more time. It's a good thing everyone is so fond of him, because he's got the worst temper out of everyone. He looks up to SHINee's Taemin because he admires Taemin's ability to dance well while singing. He was a child actor and while his repertoire isn't as vast as the Jo twins, he was in a handful of dramas and movies. 

• aka Wet aka Moist aka Sweat
• aka Jeremy
• forever Donghyun's favorite dongsaeng 
• attends Seoul School of Performing Arts with the Jo Twins
• never took dancing lessons
• hmm
• sucks at games of chance
• suffers at the hands of Donghyun's fashion choices
• cried on cue during W Academy. his Best Actor award for his work in a short film wasn't unwarranted.
• wants to be a manry boyfriend
• is afraid of the dark
• sleeptalks
• can't cook Ramyun. Kwangmin attests to this.
• apparently never realized that teddy bears have mouths
• his abs have caused controversies all over akp. sweetie you are 12 so just pull down your goddamn shirt down already, JEONGMIN IS NOT IMPRESSED AND NEITHER AM I

Misc.

• they've endorsed dearberry
• they are all secretly cats
• no matter what's happening, there is always time to dance
• watch them fail their way through 6 languages (especially francais) 
• hyung line has put their vocals to good use and covered SHINee's "Love Like Oxygen"
• meanwhile, maknae line used their dance powers to draw in fans
• watch them fail through their M!Pick UCC missions
• one day, there will be no more bat girls
• plz bring back the pastel floral prints. except for you donghyun. burn that. 
• some fans compiled all the W Academy UCCs into a youtube playlist here
• like any self-respecting boy band, they have a Coffee Prince parody
• they picked up "ppyong!" (kisses) because their SISTAR mission faeries would say it at the end of their mission videos on M!Pick
• doing whatever it takes to drag chrysa into this
• I have an irrational amount of fondness for their Japanese singles, so here are "Be my shine ～君を離さない～" and the newly released "キミと Dance Dance Dance" (which has a really qt tieback to "Boyfriend") and "MY LADY～冬の恋人～" 

future ideas for BOYFRIEND-related posts include "How to Be a Creeper Boyfriend Starring Donghyun / How to Be Unsubtle in Your Affections for Your Maknae," "Fuck You Starship Now How Am I supposed to Tell the Jo Twins Apart?" "Man? Maaaan? Mam? A Compilation of Language Fails," "Why Oppa Why: A Compilation of Donghyun's Fashion Failures," "Why Are We More Famous in Japan?" and of course "What Are These MVs Even About."

a/n: jesus christ, I spend way too much time on youtube.