Fans Theorize That NCT 127’s Jaehyun Could Be The Hacker From Aespa’s SMCU Episode

Ever since SM Entertainment first announced the SM Culture Universe, fans have been connecting the dots between all of the company’s different groups. The latest: NCT 127‘s Jaehyun may be the hacker seen working with aespa‘s Ningning!

In the first episode for the SMCU, titled “Black Mamba,” the four members of aespa interact with their AI-counterparts before the AE system is hacked. Ningning plays an artist who hacks into public events to showcase her artwork — sort of like the SMCU’s Banksy.

To do so, she’s assisted by a hooded man only seen through the computer screen.

In NCT 127’s latest teaser video, Jaehyun wore a sweatshirt similar to the one in the SMCU episode!

While the other members transformed into a different version of themselves, donning dramatically different outfits, Jaehyun remained in his hoodie. Fans believe this could be to fit his character!

Fans also noticed that in the music videos for “Next Level” and “Punch,” the members could be seen in front of similar backgrounds, hinting at a connection between them.

Furthermore, the NCT 127 official Instagram account posted photos of Jaehyun sitting at his computer desk with the text, “Successfully Accessed,” highlighting his role as a hacker.

There’s no doubt that NCT and aespa are connected through the SMCU — the only question is how? While fans are churning out theories with every new detail released, perhaps we’ll have to wait until episode 2 or NCT 127’s comeback to find out!