c the moonchild

▷ they/them | 29 (🔞) | multi | #RM 🌚 #TAEYONG 🌹

[sab⁷ @btswantsbts]

happy 13th anniversary to this banger

[ren @hyutaesft]

FROM MARK LEE 💌
#MARK #마크

“hello, this is mark. hi, czennies…

i debuted with nct u on april 9, 2016, and now that it’s april 2026, ten whole years have already passed. during those ten years, so many things happened, we performed on so many stages, and most of all, i think we made countless memories together. i know there are czennies who have supported me since the sm rookies days, so if i include that time, it’s actually been over ten years.

how have the past 10+ years been for you, czennies…? for me, i think i’ve truly, truly been nothing but happy.

now that ten years have passed, and since you’ve made me happy every single day without fail throughout that long time, i wanted to personally write and share with you my new decision and the beginning of a new chapter.
i know this may feel very sudden to everyone… but actually, since my trainee days maybe even before that i’ve always had a dream in my heart.

i wanted to walk around busking on the streets with just an acoustic guitar, and I loved writing in english so much that I even dreamed of becoming a writer. i was too young to fully understand and clearly picture that dream back then, but because i loved music and performing, i auditioned in canada 14 years ago, and started my musical path at sm, beginning with nct.

because my beginning was with sm and nct, i was able to get to know myself more and find the best version of myself. i’m truly just filled with gratitude.

through nct, it feels like i’ve experienced the sky, the land, the sea, and the mountains at their fullest. after spending ten years seeing and experiencing the world in the best way, and going on such an incredible journey, i naturally began to think about what the greatest dream i could have is what the greatest purpose and calling i could have as a person named mark.

as my 10-year contract comes to an end, i awakened all the senses i had kept inside me and thought deeply for a long time. eventually, i became curious about what the complete and true form of that dream really looks like, and i felt a strong desire to fully dive into it.

what will my music be? what kind of fruit will i bear? and how can i bring that into the world… i truly want to find those answers and achieve them.

i talked a lot with each of the members, and it honestly brings me to tears just thinking about it every single one of them told me they support me.

i feel endlessly sorry, but more than anything, deeply grateful.

to the older members who see me as their cute younger brother, and to the younger ones who see me as a leader, i want to say thank you again, so, so much.

to all the members who listened closely to my concerns, understood my heart, thought about me, shared their opinions, and had such meaningful conversations with me, i’m truly thankful and i love you all.

we’ve been on the same ship for over ten years and had an incredible journey together. i’ve always loved going underwater, and now that i’m saying i want to swim on my own, the members are supporting even my deep dive with love. i will continue to support and love them as well.

since i was selected through a global audition in 2012, i want to sincerely thank all the teachers from the training team, the company staff, managers, directors, executives, and every department, everyone who has raised me to who I am today.

my beginning was sm, nct, and czennies. no matter what kind of music i create moving forward, i will never forget where i started.

but… no matter how big of a decision i’ve made, i fully understand that it doesn’t ease everyone’s worries, concerns, or pain just because i see this as a personal challenge.

by announcing this big decision for a new chapter in my life, i know that for czennies who have loved me as “NCT’s Mark,” for markfs, and for the public, this change can feel like a huge shock and even a source of hurt. i also know that this handwritten letter alone cannot soften all of that.”

[afifasaurus @jaems_ng]

i didnt even think nct without mark was an option bruh

[Sara 2.0 @SaraBangtan07]

“I listened to the entire song, and it feels like what BTS want to say is this: they have moved past the stage of simply feeling dazed and bewildered by their position at the center of fame and controversy, and now they seem to be trying to accept it as something inevitable. And along with that, they must also have felt the pressure of having to deliver performances worthy of that position. After COVID and the military period, BTS’s stature, both in Korea and abroad, suddenly became enormous. At the same time, they were repeatedly in the news because of various incidents that had never happened before.
The issue is whether they ever really had a chance to speak about what it felt like to become global stars, the confusion, the bewilderment, the gratitude. After all, singers are supposed to speak through their songs.
If they filled the lyrics only with wandering and confusion, people would probably call that arrogance. But if they simply kept doing exactly what they had always done, they are no longer in that place. They have already become almost alien-like beings.
And for this to be just another comeback, just a return with some new image, there is already far too much resting on their shoulders.
Now they themselves have to break the shell that the world, under the name BTS, has built around them. But when they actually try to break it, it turns out to be an intangible illusion. And if they go on without breaking it, it seems they cannot say anything at all.
So what comes out are Swim, about a life that can do nothing but keep moving forward, and Merry Go Round, about the difficult emotions that arise while living that life.
And then there are the hip-hop elements and the lyrical elements the fans want…or rather, not exactly what the fans want, but everything they themselves have done well. It feels like they wanted to gather all of that together and present the music they prepared as a kind of all-in-one gift set.
Maybe, because even they have no precise way to explain their current position and circumstances, they returned to reflect on the identity of their beginnings.
What I hear in it is not a confession about a linear world, a future, or a universe with a fixed destination ahead, but a confession that in this ongoing voyage of endlessly crossing waves, the only thing they have with them is you, the compass.
What seems clear to them now is only this: you, who were there with them at the beginning. As for what lies ahead, perhaps their path forward will simply become whatever path they continue walking, like the heart of a navigator. On the open sea, a map has no meaning.
The only thing that helps is the compass.”

[mon⁷ @knjgIoss]

namjoon had something to prove on this album i’m actually crying

[jess⁷ @butjesswhy]

at the end of the day the funniest part of this comeback is the fact that no. 29 is genuinely charting

[nana 𖤐 ia @dagotyun]

namjoon’s first schedule being at an art event & him criticizing ai because it lacks dimension, oh how i’ve missed you 🫂

[nori✩ @jiwoongiez]

zb1 bringing old kpop chaoticness back to isac 😭

[1🤍+🤍1 @liyongqinqin]

Tennie and his ducklings

[zoe⁷🍓🥤 @barbiejunkoo]

the difference between namjoon and jimin always gets me

[방탄소년단 @BTS_twt]

다녀왔습니다!

[moni⁷ 𖠌 @sevenrchive]

THIS HAS TO BE THE MOST RANDOM BTS PICTURE EVER 😭😭😭

[안달.mp4 @v1230mp4]

풀샷 보는데 저 멀리서 색소폰 불면서 오는 김남준ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ개웃기다고ㅠ

[mon⁷ @knjgIoss]

of course joon is trying to serenade jin as soon as he’s out. put the saxophone down

[c the moonchild @NEOJOONTECH]

gender is so confusing i wish i had no pronouns and looked like ten

[☆ ͏ @bffs4gyu]

gender is so confusing i wish i had no pronouns and looked like beomgyu