“He is really among us”— Fans react hilariously as BTS Namjoon shares the meme made about him playing Saxophone at Jin’s discharge event

Kim Namjoon of BTS made waves online when he welcomed his bandmate and long-time friend, Kim Seokjin, back from the South Korean military on June 12, 2024. The Right Place, Wrong Person musician arrived at the Yeoncheon military center with a saxophone to greet Jin.

Other BTS members gathered outside the military base on Jin's homecoming. However, Namjoon caught everyone's eyes as he was seen playing the saxophone non-stop.

This further incensed a meme fest online. On June 13—on BTS' 11th anniversary—Namjoon aka RM shared a meme on his Instagram stories in which the famous water-type Pokémon character, Squirtle, was seen playing a saxophone.

RM's love for the popular Japanese series, Pokémon, is well-known within the BTS fandom. Nevertheless, fans were taken aback to see the BTS leader being aware of the meme made about him. One fan wrote,

"He stole the show that day literally and he is really among us."

ARMY flooded social media as soon as RM shared the meme on his personal Instagram stories. They speculated that the musician must have an X account under an alias and is aware of whatever the fandom has to say about him and his members.

"1) this man is ON TWITTER 2) he knows how funny that was now he’s never going to put that sax down" — an X user wrote.

"Goddammit Namjoon get off of Twitter it’s not safe in here" — an X user wrote.

"Me: knows very well Joon is on stan twt. Me: getting shocked knowing another evidence of him being on stan twt" — an X user wrote.

"He's the funniest person alive I'm sorry I dont make the rules. HE'S EVEN WITH THE GLASSES AND THE LIGHT BLUE CLOTHES" — an X user wrote.

"He doesn’t have a serious bone in his body LFNSKDJ" — an X user wrote.

"Joon being part of the ARMY meme central is my fav thing about him showing his authentic self" — an X user wrote.

"Hey Namjoon... We know of your secret Stan account, now, you know it, right!? Bts and Army truly share one Bora- brain cell" — an X user wrote.

"Even the outfit matches. Namjoon’s stan account is somewhere on army twt" — an X user wrote.

"Nothing stays hidden from him. He goes & posts it to tell us, "I know what you're doing" — an X user wrote.

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BTS Namjoon's love for Pokémon: A never-ending hilarious saga

For the uninitiated, originally titled Pocket Monsters in Japanese, Pokémon (now referred to as Pokémon the Series in English) is a Japanese anime television series that debuted on TV Tokyo in April 1997. The original plot of the program revolved around Ash Ketchum embarking on a journey with his companion Pokémon, Pikachu, and taking part in the Pokémon League.

During a BTS Weverse livestream in June 2022, Namjoon shared his quest for Pokémon Bread with his members and fans. He revealed that he had his parents check ten convenience stores in South Korea for the bread.

Additionally, he admitted to sending his friends to chase a bread truck on their bicycles to buy multiple packs. He also shared snapshots of his Pokémon sticker collection album on his Instagram stories.

For the unversed, Pokémon Bread originally became well-known in the 1990s for coming along with Pokémon collectible stickers. SPC Samlip Corporation brought the product back in 2022, and it became a rage in South Korea owing to Namjoon's craze for collecting those stickers for his Pokémon sticker collection album.

Earlier, Namjoon was seen endorsing "Mangnanyong" in a 2018 interview with Vice UK. However, the artist was unaware that the English name of the particular Pokémon is Dragonite. Therefore, on BTS members' official X account (@BTS_twt), Namjoon shared a picture of the Pokemon with supporters in an effort to inform and spread the "PokeGospel."

Later, he drew Dragonite with Chimmy to wish Jimin a happy birthday on October 13, 2018, and to comfort the Like Crazy singer following Jimin's on-air set cancellation due to a minor injury. Chimmy is the BT21 parody that was created by Jimin.

Additionally, other BTS members such as Jin, Jungkook, and Jimin are also known for being huge fans of the Japanese anime series.

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In other news, Kim Namjoon enlisted in the South Korean military on December 11, 2023, and is currently serving in the 15th Division. His bandmates Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jungkook also enlisted during the same time and they will return in June 2025 along with Min Yoongi aka Suga, who enlisted as a social service serviceman.

However, Jin was discharged on June 12, 2024, after completing 18 months of mandatory military service. In October 2024, J-Hope will be discharged from the military and return to civilian life.