I Really Need to Know

I can’t imagine that there is even one of us who hasn’t come across something they wanted to know the answer to. Something that wiggles its way into your brain and digs in until you find the answer expelling it from your mind. It could be what show you remember that actor from, what’s the name of the thing that’s on the end of a shoelace, or what is that guy holding in that picture? Let me tell you a story…. (I’m sorry it is BTS related but it’s not the point of the story)

I can’t remember the first time it caught my attention.

It was a silver keychain-looking thing clipped to the belt loop of Suga’s pants he was wearing at the airport. I thought, “that’s interesting.” The next time I saw it, same thing, airport, belt loop, Suga. I became a little curious. Was it a keychain? It looked sort of like large hoop earrings. I wondered what is that?

On Christmas Eve eve, Suga arrived back at Incheon Airport having stayed in California for an extended time after their concerts.

There it was again.

This time the curiosity crept slowly into my soul. Was it a keychain? There were no keys on it. Maybe it was something a significant other had given him and he wanted to make sure they saw it while not cluing fans into the fact he was seeing someone. (Don’t roll your eyes, it happens.)

What the heck is it?!

I began asking family members if they knew what it was. Nope. The next day, Christmas Eve, I was in full sleuth mode. I did a reverse google search. It couldn’t find anything like it. To be honest my zoomed-in picture was slightly blurry so that may have been an issue. I decided to post it on social media. I had shied away from doing this at first because I was sure everyone would know what it was and think I was a doofus. At this point, I didn’t care.

I posted it in my private BTS-related groups. Normally, someone in ARMY will come up with the answer very quickly. This time they replied, “Interesting”, “Maybe it’s a keychain”, “I think it’s a luggage tag”, and “following”. Now I had piqued others’ curiosities as well.

I finally posted it at the ultimate place, Weverse. For those not familiar, Weverse is a sort of social media for fan-artist communication. BTS members reply to fans’ messages there, some are more active than others but right now, while they are on a break from work, some of them are there at once a day. Let me just add a disclaimer: They do not reply to every comment. Usually between 3 and 10 for each interaction. Which is minuscule in the number of fans that post. But I was willing to take the chance that Suga or one of the other guys would take pity on me and tell me what it was!

After finishing Christmas present wrapping, I went back to my daily writing and researching activities until late Christmas Eve. Before closing the laptop for the night, I checked Facebook. Someone had replied that it was a Louis Vuitton keychain. She had seen it in a breakdown of BTS airport fashion. (It’s a thing) Ahh! I thanked her profusely. Even though I still didn’t know for sure, it gave me a place to start. I started searching past articles on BTS airport fashion. Eventually, I came across one that mentioned a link to a Twitter account that focuses solely on identifying BTS’ clothes and accessories. They had pictures! Lots of pictures. I scrolled endlessly until finally…I FOUND IT!!!! It was an accessory that is part of the Wooyoungmi trousers.

I felt a rush of relief. But I still wanted to find it on an official website so I could have proof for my ARMY friends. It wasn’t a keychain! It wasn’t a luggage tag! It was an accessory. I finally found the trousers for sale at Modesens.

I posted it to the threads I had started earlier to satiate the curiosity of the others. Then I went back to Weverse to post it there. I had three answers from other ARMY, “I think it’s an accessory from his pants.”, “it’s a cool accessory”, and “please like my last two posts and follow me”. I confirmed it was in fact a cool pants accessory while ignoring the request of the needy ARMY.

I guess the point of this story is I think it’s a natural curiosity to want to know things you don’t know. I wonder what turns it into an “I must know!” situation. How many scientific discoveries have been made because of that drive? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie-Roll pop? Did curiosity really kill a cat? Is there a word to define the obsessive need to know something?

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but they are not part of my quest for explanation. At least for now, I have found the answer I have been searching for.

It has been a Merry Christmas indeed.

I hope yours was just as memorable.