The six blond boys walk into the studio. With a brief and broad introduction, they line up and pose in going straight into the photo shoot. With their thick eyeliner strengthening their gazes and their cringing facial expressions to their hip hop outfits messily sprayed with paint, the lyrics to their debut song Warrior in which we quote, “Warrior. Lose yourself under the sun and ignite the fire in my heart,” they still hold their rough and strong image like they would have on stage. However, all of these are just the tasks needed for work. When we whispered into the ears of their manager and stylist that “We’ll go out to eat some meat when the interview ends,” their faces rapidly lit up. Their fierceness dissipated and what’s only left is the innocent boys who become excited over food, leaving B.A.P disarmed.

Although they look like a uniform army on stage, they’re “good kids” if you get rid of all the disguises. Although Bang Yongguk holds the weight of being the “most difficult to approach because he’s scary” as he promoted in the underground scene, he holds the personality that embarrasses himself when he continues to talk slowly in his low voice that when he becomes tongue tied, you’ll wonder, “What is he talking about?” Meanwhile, the reason why he was so overreacting in the first & second episode of MTV’s reality program “Ta-Dah! It’s B.A.P” is because he felt that since the other members didn’t have a set character, he had to do something to save the show since he’s the leader and is accountable to take responsibility. On the other hand, Himchan, who is the same age as him, spoke out about the “picking on Himchan” game where all the members make fun of him as he said, “There’s no set timing for it!” as he is often taken by surprise and smiled when saying, “It’s okay because my personality’s very cheery.” If the youngest member Zelo was drinking banana juice and spilled, the member who would run up and wipe it off with a tissue is also Himchan. While Youngjae says that “If I was given free time, I’d like to practice,” Daehyun counters his answer by saying, “Those who don’t practice only says things like that. As for me, I’d go see the beach,” showcasing how they’re a perfect match. The youngest members share their true sides outside from what we see, with Zelo who nibbles on his snacks with his pale face and stutters when it’s his turn to speak to Jongup who just smiles without a word because his personality’s very reserved.

Because they don’t have big disagreements, they tend to match well with one another and B.A.P looks as if they’re a band of close brothers who share the same blood. When Daehyun, who is from Busan, shares his saturi, the other members all laugh out loud with “Wahahahahaha!!” and all take turns imitating each phrase while they also share that they don’t have any complaints about their designated roles in their dorm which makes us think of how innocent and pliant they are. Instead of an “invasion of the universe,” they still want others to perk their ears at their stories. We don’t need to measure the temperature of their passion to know that by just looking at their faces, a set of charming boys exist. “We don’t want to copy others, but become someone who shows their true selves.” (Zelo). Thankfully, B.A.P already knows this fact.

Labels: B.A.P, KPOP