THREAD: Fake Love Teaser Theories/Analysis
Translation of @loveis5353’s Post
Do you ever wake up in a cold sweat wondering why Jin couldn’t save Jungkook through time leap? Well it goes all the way back to the 2015 Begins Tour. BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS 🤯
#iVoteBTSBBMAs @BTS_twt
All of the theories and analyses are original ideas of @/loveis5353. I’m simply translating them to English to share with more people. Check out her blog for the original post and other analyses through the link below!
m.blog.naver.com/dlsso1925/2212…
Ultimately, it was all fake and all a lie.
In the end, the truth could not be hidden.
I will explore that truth through my theories.
[BTS] - Fake Love Teaser Theories/Analysis
The English quote at the start of the teaser.
“Magic Shop is psychodramatic technique that exchanges fear for a positive attitude.”
This means that the technique replaces an object or memory of fear with an object or memory of happiness and positivity.
In other words, the place the 7 members visit with their own objects is for sure the “magic shop.”
The objects they brought represent their “fears”
And the objects they received are “optimism” and “happiness.”
Let’s analyze each member then.
Hoseok -> Brings a chocolate bar to the magic shop
The “chocolate bar” is an object of fear to Hoseok.
It holds fearful, negative memories.
What does this chocolate bar symbolize?
The chocolate bar Hoseok ate in the WINGS short film MAMA.
In the LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel, there’s a chocolate bar left next to young Hoseok
(presumed to be left there by his mother)
So what did he receive in return for the chocolate bar from the magic shop?
Hoseok receives a cake.
Meaning, the cake is the object that brings him positive memories.
So what does the cake mean here?
It corresponds with the ‘cake’ that he receives from the girl in LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel.
But there’s something we have to pay attention to here. In the Highlight Reel, Hoseok recalls memories of the chocolate bar upon receiving the cake. What does this mean?
To be frank, the memories of the cake from the Highlight Reel are all fake. They’re nothing but fake fabricated memories from the Magic Shop, and the chocolate bar remains the reality he wishes to forget.
His mother’s neglect -> the chocolate bar
The love he never received from his mother -> received through the cake
Let’s observe Namjoon next.
Namjoon -> a broken mirror piece that reads “Must Survive”
What does the mirror piece symbolize?
The message written on glass in WINGS short film ‘REFLECTION’
“Must Survive”
The message Namjoon writes on the mirror in HYYH Epilogue
“Must Survive”
Yoongi holding a broken mirror piece in RUN Japanese MV
In conclusion, Namjoon tried his best to leave behind the message “I must survive” by writing it on a mirror, which breaks into small fragments.
Collectively, this glass fragment is Namjoon’s object of fear, and he trades it at the MAgic Shop in an attempt to forget it.
Then what does he trade it with?
The object Namjoon receives is hair tie.
What does this hair tie symbolize? Why does it look familiar?
It’s the hair tie that Namjoon tried to give the girl in Highlight Reel.
He exchanges the glass fragment from HYYH & Reflection for the hair tie.
Like Hoseok, he receives the memories from the Highlight Reel thru the Magic Shop.
In that case, Namjoon’s memories also become fake.
Let’s observe Jimin next.
JIMIN - turns in a scenery picture labeled ‘Flower Arboretum’
What does the arboretum and the picture mean?
The place Hoseok is staring at in WINGS MAMA
The place Jimin is staring at in WINGS LIE
This ‘place’ refers to Flower Arboretum.
It can be also seen as Jimin’s purity related to Hoseok.
Flower Arboretum is the Garden of Eden to be exact.
The Garden of Eden also = ‘paradise.’
‘Paradise’ is written on Namjoon’s back.
The place the 7 of them have been yearning for, paradise.
‘Paradise’ is also a part of the new tracklist.
However, while Flower Arboretum seems peaceful from the outside,
It is like Hell to Jimin where he gets lost in a maze.
Let’s remind ourselves that Jimin was staring at this Flower Arboretum picture inside a psychiatric hospital. Here, it connects to Euphoria.
In the Euphoria MV, Jimin is running happily w/ the members
But in reality, he was alone…
Like that, Jimin in Euphoria has dreams of playing with his friends & enjoys fake happiness.
But that was all fake.
What is he granted once he barely escapes the Flower Arboretum?
Let’s take a look at the object Jimin trades in
The object he receives from the Magic Shop is an ‘umbrella’.
Meaning Flower Arboretum is a symbol of Jimin’s fear &the umbrella is the medium through which it is converted into positivity. How does the umbrella become this medium?
It links to the umbrella Jimin was using in the LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel.
But one thing to notice is that Jimin’s soaking wet throughout his entire body and head despite being under an umbrella.
What is this trying to say?
This goes back to HYYH.
Jimin always remains wet throughout the HYYH series.
But stating with LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel, he gains the ability to protect himself from water.
Jimin holding an umbrella in LOVE YOURSELF Poster
Jimin holding an umbrella in LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel
However, to emphasize again, Jimin is getting wet. Just like in HYYH, his body is getting wet.This means that his reality remains exactly the same, even with an umbrella.
In conclusion, the fact that he gets wet despite using an umbrella after seeing Hoseok leave is kind of an illusion he creates to trick people into thinking he’s not wet since he’s wearing an umbrella. The proof of this is Jimin’s song ‘Lie.’
Like how he believed he was playing with the other 6 members in Euphoria MV but turned out to be alone, he believes he is not wet but he is wet. Or, he’s still getting wet. Flower Arboretum is no longer a paradise to Jimin.
Ultimately, Jimin’s Highlight Reel is all fake, a lie.
Next is Yoongi’s turn, but it isn’t revealed yet what Yoongi turned into the Magic Shop.
What Yoongi receives from the Magic Shop is a ‘lollipop.’
What does this lollipop symbolize?
This is the lollipop that the girl gives Yoongi instead when he tries to grab a cigarette in LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel.
Yoongi is eating this lollipop even after, and when he’s about to take out a cigarette, he remembers the lollipop and puts the cigarette back down. This means that the girl has changed Yoongi’s habit. And Yoongi tried to receive this memory.
The fact that Yoongi turned in a symbol of his fear and received a positive object, a lollipop, in return means that Yoongi’s highlight Reel is also all fake and made up.
Next is Taehyung, whose object is also not revealed.
In return for the object of his fear, Taehyung receives a ‘bag.’
If you look closely, there’s a red scarf tied to it.
This is the bag (w/ the red scarf) of the girl who was trying to steal from a convenience store in Highlight Reel.
Taehyung as well turned in an object of fear and received an object from the Magic Shop that appeared in Highlight Reel, meaning his Highlight Reel is also fake
Next is Seokjin.
Seokjin brings the object of his fear ‘inear’ to the Magic Shop.
While the object Seokjin turns in is revealed, the object he receives from the Magic Shop remains unknown. While the other 6 members received an object, only Seokjin didn’t receive anything. Why?
If you look closely at Seokjin’s pants, there’s a written quote.
“There’s unlimited supply, and there is no reason why. I tell you it was all a frame(deceiving scheme). They only did it ‘cause of fame. Who?”
A frame? What frame are they talking about?
Are they talking about the secret Seokjin’s been hiding all this time?
He said he only did it for the fame, but for whom did Seokjin do this?
First, to observe Seokjin’s inears, we have to go back to the HYYH series.
Begins Poster - Seokjin is the only one wearing inears
WINGS Short Film Awake - Seokjin is the only one wearing inears
Therefore, the ‘inears’ Seokjin turned in at the Magic Shop is connected to the inears from HYYH and there’s definitely a hidden secret here.
Do you remember my previous theories?
If you look closely at the Begins Tour posters, there’s an English code written on each members’ arms.
Jimin - B0612 JMS
Jungkook B0612 JKS
Taehyung B0612 VS
Hoseok B0612 JHS
Namjoon B0612 RMS
Yoongi B0612 SGS
However, the code is not found in only Seokjin in any posters or videos. And he is the only one wearing inears. That means that the “S” written behind each members’ initials stand for Student or Subject, showing that Seokjin is being controlled by someone through the inears.
Then who’s the one controlling Seokjin?
The place shown at the end of the music video.
6 coat hangers, and a shadow standing in front of it.
The shadow is a mysterious man wearing a mask, seeming to be the owner of the Magic Shop
He is also the mysterious man who appeared at the beginning of FIRE MV.
What’s the identity of this man?
Are we finally unveiling his identity?
But this place just seems too familiar…
That’s right. It’s the scene from Taehyung’s Singularity.
If you take the clothes off, it looks identical to the scene from the teaser.
And Taehyung dances with these.
The mask that was covering Taehyung.
But by wearing a mask, he hid himself.
The mask was used to conceal his true self.
What does this mean?
In short, Taehyung is the owner of the Magic Shop.
He’s also the one controlling Seokjin through the inears.
Taehyung is at the center of all these hollow lies.
He knows all the members are suffering in pain, but what if he has no choice but to put them in pain?
The lyrics of Singularity prove this.
That he’s only making up fake things.
He knows that he was lying,
He knows that the members are in pain,
Which is why he was mourning alone like the lyrics above.
If this is true, we know the reason why BigHit released “The Note” before uploading the teaser.
Somebody approached Jungkook.
“Living will be even more painful than dying, do you still want to live?”
We can say that Taehyung said this line.
Let’s go back to HYYH.
Begins - Taehyung is holding a game controller
FIRE MV - Taehyung makes an explosion w/ the game controller
We had a critical hint all along.
Taehyung is the owner of the Magic Shop, the one who knows all the members’ secrets. He’s the one who controls them all.
Do you remember this?
When Seokjin is looking down at the members in Euphoria, all the members are happily cheering, but only Taehyung has a mysterious expression.
This is also why the two got in a fight in the BS&T Japanese MV.
All the clues seem to tie together now.
Now, to understand all this situation, let’s look at Jungkook lastly.
Jungkook, unlike the other members, is the only one to stumble into the Magic Shop as if driven by someone chasing after him. Here, Jungkook doesn’t turn in anything to the Magic Shop.
However, he receives an object from the Magic Shop. Jungkook doesn’t give anything, but he receives. The object he receives is a ‘key’.
Then Jungkook puts the key into a door keyhole. After opening the door, he enters a mysterious room.
When he receives the key, he’s wearing a flashy-patterned shirt reminiscent of DNA, but when he’s actually opening the door, he enters wearing dirty, ragged clothes. This happens at the moment when he discovers the hidden inner side. However, inside the room is even worse.
Old, broken, and dirty objects.
Like his clothes, they’re messily scattered throughout the room.
Then there are 6 coat hangers.
Looking at his clothes, the extravagant outer appearance is gone, and his inner self suffering through pain is revealed.
Like after his car accident.
As shown in Taehyung’s comeback trailer, unlike back then when he used to dress himself up to hide his true self, now he has nothing left. This symbolizes the inner darkness that exists beyond the glamour used to conceal oneself, or ‘Tears.’
This is also the reason why there are only 6 coat hangers remaining for the members excluding Jungkook. He tried to find hyungs. Tried to protect them. But they were nowhere to be found, and only an unknown, masked man was standing. And he asks Jungkook.
“Living will be even more painful than dying, do you still want to live?”
This story goes back to the story of Omelas.
(You should read my previous theories to understand)
“The town’s happiness depends on a boy’s sufferings and sacrifice”
The story is about a boy who is locked up in a basement and sacrificed for the happiness of the remaining people of the town of Omelas.
WINGS Jungkook Solo ‘Begin’ lyrics
“I feel like dying when hyungs are sad. When hyung is in pain, I feel more pain than if I was in pain myself.”
In conclusion, the 6 members could exchange their misfortune for happiness at the Magic Shop thanks to Jungkook’s sacrifice.
But Jungkook had to remain locked up in the basement for the sake of the members’ happiness.
Like that, he tried to create a utopia.
He tried to rebuild HYYH.
Euphoria Lyrics - ‘utopia’
Utopia = Paradise = idealistic world = Paradise
The members have been dreaming of paradise ever since HYYH.
It’s also a track on the new album, ‘Paradise.’
They tried to find it through endless time leaps, but ultimately could not reach it in the end.
The eldest hyung’s ultimate wish was the members’ happiness & building a utopia, so he had no choice but to hit Jungkook with a car. Like that, Jungkook was left alone in the basement like the child in Omelas.Hence the song ‘Spring Day’ was born where he yearns for the hyungs.
The reason why only Jungkook received the key was because
he didn’t pursue fake happiness like other members, and he didn’t come to the Magic Shop to trade in something. There was only one thing Jungkook wanted, his hyungs.
He gained the power to discover the truth through the key, but the truth itself was burned and disappeared. And on the inside is Taehyung and Seokjin.
“Hyung, is that all? Aren’t there more things you’re hiding from us?”
Has the time come to answer this question?
Now I’ll organize the final conclusion.
Members in their tragic, dangerous youth (HYYH) > Jungkook’s sacrifice like the boy in Omelas> Everything changes through the Magic Shop, they meet girls and seemingly fall in love (LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel) >
Highlight Reel was all fake, exchanged lies, therefore their love and fate starts falling apart> all of it was a lie, ‘Fake Love’
Here, the reason why Seokjin keeps on attempting time leap is because he can continue exchanging objects to change their past.
It becomes clear why Jungkook’s car accident couldn’t be prevented by Seokjin’s time leap. It’s because Jungkook didn’t exchange any objects. He just wanted to remain as the boy of Omelas. You can fully grasp his thoughts through the lyrics of ‘Spring Day’ and ‘Begin’
Magic Shop is but a psychotherapy technique, nothing more. The Magic Shop, Highlight Reel, all are empty lies. It’s a hallucination that you changed the past, bringing temporary peace, only to crack eventually.
Let’s think about why the album’s theme is ‘LOVE YOURSELF.’ The only TRUE THERAPY is accepting your past faults and mistakes and genuinely loving yourself.
P.S.) the music used in the intro of the teaser is Chopin Waltz No. 9 Op. 69 No. 1 (Waltz of Farewell)
-THE END-
Please respect the author’s ideas/analyses and don’t comment things like “this is wrong” “you missed this” or “I already knew this”. The whole fun comes from everyone creating their own interpretations! Hope you all enjoyed the read and didn’t cry too much💜
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