Who is Jaehyun from BoyNextDoor and why is he on my fyp?

Thumbnail image source and copyright: KOZ Entertainment

If you haven’t heard of Boy Next Door’s Jaehyun yet, your friendly OP at The Kpop Edit is here to make a little introduction.

Jaehyun seems to be the name on everyone’s lips these days, and as clips of him make the rounds on socials, I thought it might be helpful to give you some context.

Here are 3 reasons Boy Next Door’s Jaehyun is popping up on your fyp:

He’s part of the famous MCountdown MC trio

Three members of the hottest 5th Gen boy groups: Hanbin from ZeroBaseOne, Jaehyun from BoyNextDoor and Sohee from Riize, became Mnets most adored MC trio last year.

A bit like Soobin and Arin went viral for their cute chemistry as an MC duo, these three are like peas in a pod, and their shenanigans as MCountdown hosts are winning them a lot of popularity.

@neoriizecity captured their loveable chemistry in this TikTok.

@neoriizecity

even they cant handle #sohee cuteness 😭😭😭 #hanbin #jaehyun

Group interactions have always been popular among international fans. In 3rd Gen Kpop, I remember these kinds of interactions were pretty common, but as 4th Gen took over it became a bit rarer, probably due to the influence of Corona.

Seeing these three 5th Gen idols becoming friends and filming content together is super heart-warming. Their clear closeness with each other is also refreshing to watch after a generation of social distancing and intense fan wars.

Naturally Jaehyun has been getting a lot of exposure to ZB1 and Riize fans who support the trio. The three boys even have a cute unit name together: shinemeongddocat (Tweet explanation here).

He’s a total flirt (he can’t help it)

The first thing I heard about Jaehyun was that “he can’t sit still” and “he’s a massive flirt”. At first I thought that surely most Kpop idols are flirts - that’s almost part of the job description. But, after watching this video by @kpopwithme I’m starting to get it 🙈

There are few idols who would risk flirting with another group’s fanbase directly, and Jaehyun is one of those idols. While his closeness with ZB1 Hanbin makes it a bit less surprising, just watch his reaction when he remembers his own fans are right there and saw the whole thing.

Jaehyun flirtatious manner often catches the other members of BoyNextDoor off guard too, like with Sungho at this fansign or when he decided to take this game with Leehan in a different direction.

All this flirting makes Jaehyun fun to watch, and clips of him making hearts skip a beat often find their way onto everyone’s fyp, fan or no.

He kinda looks like Jungkook (or does he?)

You can’t deny that there is some resemblance between Jaehyun and BTS’s Jungkook. I was an ARMY back in the Run era (around 2018), and even I did a double take when I saw videos of Jaehyun at certain angles, thinking it was baby Jungkook.

Screenshot source and publisher: @MnetM2

It’s also in the details, like the way his mouth crooks down to the left a bit when he talks and smiles, or how he holds himself at certain angles and shifts from side to side. Anyone who biased Jungkook for a while will recognise these quirks well 🥹.

I can’t help but think that the BoyNextDoor stylists, managers and media team are very well aware of the resemblance, and have taken steps to highlight it, styling him in a very specific way.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why. It’s tough out there for rookie groups to make a name for themselves, so it makes sense that they would make use of it. But when he is styled differently (which is kinda rare), you can see his unique look more clearly.

Image source and copyright: WEVERSE COMPANY Inc.

So while he does look like Jungkook in some ways, I hope that the BoysNextDoor team won’t box him into certain styles for too long.

If his currently trajectory is anything to go by, Jaehyun will carve his own path, and as BoyNextDoor continue to make a name for themselves, hopefully Jaehyun will be acknowledged for his own unique looks too~

Of course, there’s much more…

Jaehyun is much more than what you see above. These might be the main reasons clips of him are making waves right now, but as any Onedoor will tell you it’s his all-rounder talents and infectious energy on stage that really makes him worth watching.

He’s also known for being a mood maker, for his high tension personality and for being just a lil bit extra ✨

If you are interested in BoyNextDoor, I definitely recommend checking out their catchy, feel-good MVs. But one of my recent fave performances is this cover they did of Pretty U by Seventeen.

Here’s the short of Jaehyun getting startled by confetti in front of Mingyu from Seventeen and then getting shy about it.