What up besties! I’m here to chat with you K-POP stan who enjoy spending their days with K-pop, feeling joyful and energetic every day! K-pop never gets old right? from stories of idols on the screen to real-life encounters, and even stories with BFFs who live far away in the increasingly global K-POP culture. I mean, my life would be NOTHING without K-POP, and I'm a SUPER-dedicated otaku, so we can talk about K-POP 24/7! How about we start our own K-POP globe called <Bestie to Bestie (BTB)>? It'll be full of K-POP news, stories, and experiences from a K-POP insider like me and K-POP fanatics around the world. Let's start!

MY GOD, early 2020 was such a panic! COVID-19 hit the entire world and of course, K-POP got a huge impact too. All the music shows with live audiences were canceled, and offline schedules like concerts, fan meetings, and fan sign events disappeared. Plus, all the overseas tours got postponed or even canceled. Can you believe all the chances to meet international fans were all GONE just like that? I was already preparing to travel abroad to see my favorite idols' world tour concerts, but everything was canceled right in front my eyes, and I was DEVASTATED. I can’t even imagine how devastated the local fans must had been. I mean, we couldn't just waste the precious time without K-POP until the situation got better, right? That's why the idols started looking for various ways to meet their fans both domestically and internationally.

In March 2020, MCND started doing online fan sign events! Can you believe it? Talking to my bias through video calls! It's like a dream come true! Of course, it's a bit sad that we can't meet them in person and have those face-to-face conversations like we used to do before, but doing it through apps like KakaoTalk, LINE, WeChat, etc. means there are no location restrictions, which makes it easier to meet fans from overseas!

Do you remember any challenges that a lot of idols did during video call events? The first ones that come to mind are ENHYPEN's Polaroid Love challenge, Kawaikute gomen (可愛くてごめん) challenge, and the Yumeiro Patissiere (夢色パティシエール) challenge.

I wondered how these challenges became so popular in the first place! But when my bias did them right in front of my eyes... I just became so happy! So, I also requested my bias to do challenges "Who made you so pretty?" and "My mom did" (NEWJEANS – OMG / oh my oh my god challenge) and they were so cute that I almost just died of happiness to the point where my heart was hurting so much 😭 I'm sure the fans who request challenges and share their recorded videos online feel the same way as me, right?

Plus, you can record a video of you and your bias having a conversation, just the two of you! It's like a treasure because you can keep it forever. For all the international fans who find it hard to communicate freely, having a one-on-one video call with our idols which it’s like chatting one-on-one in a quiet space or even face-to-face fan signings. Plus, some overseas record companies even provide interpretation services, which is so amazing! I recently found out that when you enter a video call event on Yizhiyu, there's an option to choose whether or not you need an interpreter beforehand! How cool is that?! And you know what? I have participated in an overseas record company's video call event too, but let's keep that a secret between us, okay? It’s a pinky promise

Me and my friends got our hair and makeup done at the shop and rented a space with a pretty background and installed some lighting, all for the video call event with our bias, but shh it's a secret! As a fangirl, I want to spend those brief moments with my bias meaningfully and happily, and convey words full of love to them. I hope my besties also got to experience a happy time with their bias, or if they have, they gotta tell me all!

I’m sure you’d know what comes next - I can't leave out my unreleased selfie photocard collection! I managed to collect all of my favorite photocards one by one, and before I knew it, my photocard binder was filled to the brim! Sometimes I even let out a sigh looking at them all. Plus, it's too precious to just hide my ultimate bias's cute selfies and leave them in storage 🥺 So now, whenever I hang out with my friends or do anything fun, I always bring a variety of photocard with me, depending on my mood, to take pictures with and share the moment. Because of COVID, we all have been staying home a lot more and trying to find hobbies to do indoors, and apparently it seems like everyone is are getting into decorating their Polaroids and photocards like polco, topggu.

OMG! Today was so much fun! I spent hours decorating my favorite Polaroid photo like a fancy frame. It's like the basic way to do a "Polggu" My friends who have a collecting obsession, they collect so many stickers just for Polggu. Can you believe that? I had a blast creating my own style with various concepts, colors, confetti, ribbon stickers, and name stickers to decorate my beloved Polaroid. It's such an exciting experien

  WITH HANA STICKER

So, lately, everyone has been stuck at home, and we’ve all been trying to show off our cute little crafting skills. But unfortunately, I'm not very good at it! I bet a lot of my besties feel the same way, right? Well, no need to worry because I found a solution! Apparently, if you commission a topggu, you can get a custom-made photo card holder that matches your desired concept, color, and vibe! How amazing is that? Even though we can finally go out and enjoy different cultural activities, taking photo cards is still my ultimate obsession. I hope my besties and I can make tons of memories with our beloved bias!

It's been such a bummer for the K-Pop industry because of Covid. No concerts or tours, which is a total heartbreak for all of us K-Pop lovers around the world who were so looking forward to seeing our faves in person. But, thankfully, the entertainment industry came up with a new way to satisfy our cravings for live performances - online concerts! Even though we couldn't see our idols face-to-face, we could still watch them perform through our screens. SM Entertainment, in particular, came up with an amazing idea called "Beyond Live." SuperM and other artists put on incredible shows that allowed us to communicate with them in real-time through comments and virtual cheering. They even used augmented reality to create special effects on the stage and make us feel like we were there in the empty seats. And can we talk about SMTOWN LIVE?! Every January 1st, they streamed it on Beyond Live and it was such a great way to start the new year. It gave us Pink Bloods the strength we needed to keep going and support our beloved idols!

Do you know what the best thing about online concerts is? It's that you're not restricted by location, right? You don't need to prepare anything and can just relax at home and watch the concert on your tablet or laptop when the time comes. But you know what's also super fun? Renting a party room with your fellow fans and watching the concert on a big projector! It's a totally different experience unique to online concerts. Even though it's not a real concert venue, it's still so enjoyable to cheer with your friends, wave light sticks, and enjoy some yummy snacks while chatting away. Of course, the rules for social distancing are a bit different in each country, and here in Korea, we had to be extra careful when meeting our friends. But as long as we followed the guidelines, we still had a blast spending time together!

You must have been struggling with going out a lot because of COVID haven’t you? I mean, it's great that we don't have to make unnecessary plans and can just use the excuse of wanting to chill at home, but let's be real, being a homebody for too long is TOUGH. So, I've pretty much watched everything on YouTube that I could possibly find related to K-pop idols, but thanks to the YouTube algorithm, I've been able to discover a bunch of their self-produced content too! Since there haven't been as many opportunities to perform during this pandemic, entertainment companies have been constantly releasing their own content to keep us global fans satisfied. And the great thing about these self-produced shows is that unlike other variety programs, we get to see the idols in their natural element, which makes it all the more fun and interesting to watch. One of my all-time favorites has to be Seventeen's Going Seventeen series, which was like the K-pop version of 'Infinite Challenge' and was super popular on Twitter. I recommend the one where they're all laughing like crazy - it's such a fun watch!"

Everyone already knows about this awesome content hotspot! Cravity's Cravity Park and Treasure's Treasure Map are absolute MUST-WATCHES! One of the episodes of Cravity Park was all about the members' courage training, and it made me understand them so much better. It's seriously the best way to get to know the members and become a fan! every episode is so much fun and addictive! The recent special production with Sungmin was so cute and charming, it's now one of my top recommendations. And let's not forget about Treasure Map, they always guarantee a fun time! Everyone is raving about the Kanghwa Island episode of Treasure Map - it's already a legend among global fans who are eagerly awaiting the next season!

Have you seen those behind-the-scenes videos of idols preparing for their albums? I love those kinds of contents, along with variety shows and stuff. Especially those recording studio behind-the-scenes videos that show the process of creating the song and the passion that my favorite artists put into their music, they're just so awesome, aren't they? I mean, the finished songs are great too, but when they show the backing vocals, doubles, and all those details, it really showcases their skills and makes me so proud of my bias!

It's been like 3 years since COVID took over. But even in these tough times where we can't meet up in person, us BFFs who love K-pop are still jamming out and living for our biases! I swear this love can last forever!

There are so many idols resuming their world tours and more opportunities to meet fans these days. But the new cultures that emerged during the pandemic are still going strong. It's such great news not only for global fans but also for those who find it difficult to meet their bias often. Despite being super busy with overseas tours and face-to-face fan sign events, I'm having a blast! K-pop has overcome difficult times and is now taking a bigger place in the world of culture. Won't there be even more fun things in store for us in the future?