The Full Story Behind J-Hope and Jo Kwon's Friendship That Goes Back Years

2PM leader Jo Kwon has congratulated his friend, BTS‘s J-Hope, on his successful Hope World mixtape and shared some sweet moments of their friendship together.

They’ve been friends for more than six years and Jo Kwon has always supported J-Hope’s ambitions.

The two met in 2010 when 2PM was connected to BigHit Entertainment through a joint management contract with JYP Entertainment.

In 2012, when J-Hope was still a trainee, he featured as a rapper on Jo Kwon’s solo track “Animal”.

He and other BTS members also reportedly performed as Jo Kwon’s backup dancers and music video actors.

Then, in 2017 when Jo Kwon officially opened his cereal cafe Midnight in Seoul, J-Hope and RM took time out of their busy schedules to support Jo Kwon’s new venture.

Jo Kwon’s congratulatory Instagram post included a picture of J-Hope’s mixtape cover with photos of the two hanging out together at the gym and Jo Kwon’s cereal cafe.

The caption called J-Hope by his real name and read: “Animal feat J-Hope. Ho Seok, who I met for the first time in a long while and am so proud of! Do well with your mixtape too! Ah, it’s already done well.”

Watch the two perform “Animal” live together in 2012: