On May 15, a photo that was said to be of V and singer IU dining together at a luxury restaurant in Seoul went viral on online communities and social media.
The person who posted the photo claimed, "I saw V. I'm always calm no matter what celebrity I meet. But V is different, I'm not even a fan of him, but he's really not like a normal person."
"His skin is 100% smooth, and his face is all eyes. I'm still surprised, but at least I took a photo," the person continued to reveal.
Fans speculated that the woman in the same frame as V was IU, as the plaid shirt and bucket hat were very similar to the singer's usual style. Previously, during a live broadcast celebrating her birthday, the singer also wore a similar shirt.
Comments suggesting that IU and V might have gone out to dinner to celebrate the singer's 32nd birthday were also shared. While most fans were delighted by the close friendship that has been revealed over the years, some false speculations also emerged.
These included accusations of a relationship "beyond friendship" between the two idols, or criticisms of IU dining with a male idol instead of celebrating her birthday with her boyfriend, actor Lee Jong Suk.
As more false news began to spread rapidly on social media, a fan stepped forward to clarify the meeting.
This fan said that she accidentally saw V and IU dining at the same restaurant, but it was not a dinner for 2 people. In fact, there're 4 people, including actress Shin Se Kyung (the female lead in Jin's newly released MV) and singer Seulong..
A photo was also revealed to prove the OP's claim. Although the faces of the people sitting at the same table as V are not clearly visible, IU and actress Shin Se Kyung wearing a black dress can be seen sitting on one side. On the other side is V and male singer Seulong, which also explains why in previous photos the BTS idol seems to be looking as there're someone sitting opposite or next to him.
The OP also speculates that the four were discussing a K-drama schedule during dinner that night.
With the latest revelation, the controversy over V and IU's relationship was quickly extinguished. Netizens expressed their outrage at the negative comments that some people had shared earlier:
- Ah, turns out it was with acquaintances lololololol.
- Even in a post like this, people are being creepy…
- I figured there were other people from the start — V kept glancing to the side.
- LOL controversy over.
- Even just eating with acquaintances on a birthday turns into a controversy lol.
- I really don’t get why this became such a big deal. It was probably a shared gathering to celebrate both V finishing his service and IU’s birthday. What are people even doing, trying to stir things up when the female celeb is already openly dating someone else?
- Seriously feels like people are paparazzi… How far are they going to go over someone eating a meal? They’ll never realize they’re the ones who are seriously messed up.
- Fr, she’s publicly dating someone else, but these delusional shippers and forced narratives need to be put in a hospital.
- Exactly. And again, she’s in a public relationship. Seriously, what is wrong with people?
- For real… actual fans were just joking around like ‘Taejun and Ji-hye hanging out lol’… What even is this?
- Gives me chills honestly… Don’t dismiss this kind of thing as just ‘the price of fame.’ The ones who keep pushing it are seriously not well.
- They were trying to stir up fanfiction-level rumors and build tension from the start. Meanwhile, both fandoms are just joking like ‘Ji-hye, Taejun lol.’
- Yeah — when I saw people talking about it being her ‘birthday’ (which it isn’t) and ‘Rose Day’ and stuff… it was seriously creepy lololol.
- Seriously… and she’s literally in a public relationship, so what’s with all this ‘Rose Day’ stuff? People really are doing the most.
