Who is Jonathan?
BTS‘s RM celebrated his 28th birthday on September 12.
BIGHIT MUSIC shared a post featuring 20 photos of RM from throughout the past year in honor of his special day. The caption included many references and inside jokes that only ARMYs would understand, such as the Namjooning-themed emojis.
Yet, the text contained more than one reference, which could confuse some. The captions referred to someone named Jonathan.
[#RMHBD]
Jonathan makes his appearance in the world of goldens…#RM #KimNamJoon #SEXYNAMJOON #Joontriever #OurNamJoonIsABigDogIndeed— @bts_bighit/Twitter
“Jonathan makes his appearance in the world of goldens” actually references an iconic scene from K-Drama The Heirs. They just switched the name Lucifer for Jonathan, and “school of Satans” to “world of goldens.”
But who is this Jonathan?
It’s RM!
Jonathan is an inside joke within the fandom that originated during The 2020 GRAMMY Awards (also known as The 62nd GRAMMY Awards). That year, BTS joined Lil Nas X for his performance of “Old Town Road.”
When locals (non-fans) saw RM and were curious about his identity, ARMYs had responded “Jonathan” in an attempt to gatekeep, afraid of having more people to go up against when purchasing concert tickets.
This wouldn’t be the first year BIGHIT MUSIC referenced this joke for RM’s birthday. Last year, #SexyGuyKimJonathan was one of the hashtags included.
We can definitely understand why everyone was curious about who BTS’s leader was during The 2022 GRAMMYs. Even his fellow members agreed he was a “hot guy then.”
RM, Kim Namjoon, Jonathan… He has many personas, and all are hot AF.
