"Tell me it's not a delusion": Speculations for a BTS Jungkook surprise project rise following Jeff Benjamin’s cryptic hints on X

On November 22, 2023, HYBE's announcement of BTS's recruitment and Jungkook's touching letter on Weverse caused a significant upheaval in the Bangtan fandom. As per the announcement, the remaining four members of BTS have already started their enlistment procedure.

Hence, fans from every corner of the world experience emotional turmoil. Amidst all this commotion, award-winning K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin posted a cryptic tweet on X intriguing the BTS ARMY.

A fan and a fellow X user, @stillwjungkook, tweeted, "Okay Jungkook nation clearly we getting something this week and apparently it's BIG." The fan's tweet had screenshots of Jeff Benjamin's post that mentioned how the Hate You singer keeps proving the world by shattering multiple music records.

This led several fans to speculate that the 3D singer might have some surprises in store for them before he leaves for the military in December 2023. Another fan, @bunny_musc53788 commented on the tweet of @stillwjungkook and wrote, "Tell me it's not a delusion."

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"WHAT IS THIS": Fans wonder if Jungkook would release something before he leaves for the military in December 2023

Jeff Benjamin is a New York City-based freelance journalist who travels across borders and writes about music. His writing encompasses a wide range of genres and musicians, including Latin, K-pop, Afrobeat, Arab pop, and music from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and beyond.

Furthermore, his expertise has been requested by CNN, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, USA Today, ABC News, MTV, and other publications. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR, Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed, and other publications. Meanwhile, his article for Forbes, titled "Learn Korean With BTS’ Aims To Break Down Language Barrier & Further Connect Global Fans" went viral in 2020.

Meantime, his tweet on X garnered huge attention from the BTS ARMY. Fans observed that Jeff had hinted about Jungkook's talent and caliber right before the announcement of the GOLDEN's title track Standing Next To You.

GOLDEN is the debut solo album by Jungkook of BTS which was released on November 3, 2023. As a result, a BTS fan, @RosesfrBTS, commented on Jeff's tweet and wrote, "btw whats coming."

As previously explained, the BTS ARMY finds it more than just a coincidence that the award-winning Forbes and Rolling Stones columnist would just randomly tweet about a singer out of the blue without any reason. In a similar vein, another X user, @jolyjjk, expressed their wonder by tweeting, "Jeff Benjamin kept praising and hyping jk and then we got SNTY so I wonder what is this time that he’s hyping like it must something so elite."

Following this, fans from every nook and corner of the world headed to X to express their curiosity which has built an insurmountable unspoken anticipation. This was further heightened when another fan, @standingsnextou, tweeted a screenshot of the tweet from the Billboard host and media personality @tetrishbish, which said, "ALL OF THEM IN THE MILITARY? Okay, so next week HAS to be special now."

Evidently, this raised more than just an eyebrow as the BTS ARMY went down on an online goose chase trying to brainstorm what the SEVEN singer must do next.

On November 22, on Weverse, the Standing Next To You singer posted a poignant letter. The youngest member of the popular band BTS revealed in the letter that he will be enlisting in the military in December 2023. The fact that HYBE revealed all four of the members' military enlistment news at once on the same day was an added hit on the Bangtan fandom.

While the fans were going through emotional carnage, several of the ARMYs reshared clips of the Hate You singer from his 'GOLDEN Live On Stage' show from November 20, 2023. Jungkook had performed on 12 tracks which were predominantly from his solo album GOLDEN. However, the last two tracks were Magic Shop from BTS' Love Yourself: Tear album while the other one was his self-written track Still With You.

This made the fans even more emotional as they rewatched several clips from 'GOLDEN Live On Stage' show, where the BTS' golden maknae could be seen looking at the ARMYs in the arena and taking it all in as Magic Shop played in the background. A fan, @itsbtszone, wrote on X, "he knew it'd be the last time he would get to see us."

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Fans are waiting for all the remaining four members of BTS—Kim Namjoon, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook—to come online on Weverse and meet them once before they leave for the military. However, the members' respective enlistment dates haven't been announced yet.