Here's Why Red Velvet's Irene Is Going Viral For… Sneezing?

As one of the most popular stars in K-Pop, Red Velvet‘s Irene has gone viral online for numerous reasons—from her “Amor Fati” dance to simple selfies. This time, however, she’s gone viral for what may be the craziest reason yet—sneezing.

Last year, Red Velvet appeared on MBC‘s Idol Radio to promote their first hit of 2019, “Zimzalabim”. At the time, everyone went crazy for Irene’s visuals in a simple outfit with her hair tied back, as well as her impressive dancing skills. But recently, ReVeluvs noticed a new point of interest in one of the fancams from that day.

During the show’s recording, Irene was seen sneezing—or at least, trying to.

When the sneeze didn’t quite come to the surface, Irene suddenly looked up at the ceiling for several seconds, as if in a trance.

And not long after, she managed to successfully get the sneeze out.

When @baeju_bunny on Twitter posted the clip on August 27, many fans were confused about what went on. Why did Irene look at the ceiling, and how did that help her sneeze? Thankfully, another Thai ReVeluv by the name of @jandumawi stepped in to explain.

จะจามให้มองฟ้า pic.twitter.com/O2IiUbNC03

— 🐰 끼윱 🍉 – คิ้ยุ่บ – III (@baeju_bunny) August 27, 2020

The clip of Irene depicts a strange phenomenon known as the photic sneeze reflex. This genetic condition causes people to sneeze when they see bight stimuli, such as the sun. In Irene’s case, it seems like her sneeze was triggered by looking at one of the ceiling lights. While many people with the condition find it a nuisance, Irene managed to use it to her advantage.

According to research, around 1/5 of the population is affected by photic sneeze reflex. Not only is Irene a rare beauty, she also has a rare sneezing ability too.

Photic sneeze reflex is certainly interesting, but only Irene could get this much attention for it. One tweet about Irene’s sneeze has a staggering 55,000 retweets and counting since it was posted on Twitter just two days ago. The original tweet has over 12,000 retweets too, while the video clip itself already has almost half a million views.

พฤติกรรมนี้มีจริงๆน้า แต่เจอในบางคนเรียกว่า photic sneeze reflex เชื่อว่าเกิดจาก response ที่ผิดไปของ trigeminal nerve พอเห็นแสงที่เข้มข้นขึ้นอย่างแดดจ้า/หลอดไฟ ร่างกายเลยreactionด้วยการจามออกมา คนกลุ่มนี้เวลารู้สึกฟุดฟิดเหมือนอยากจามแต่จามไม่ออก พอมองแสงจ้าๆก็เลยจะจามออกมาได้ค่า https://t.co/sPoP6ydHFj

— i'm building abs 💪🏻 (@jandumawi) August 28, 2020

If you ever doubted Irene’s popularity, there’s certainly no reason to anymore!