"How you know it's comeback time" - Fans react as RUN JIN announces a hiatus ahead of BTS' Jin's upcoming solo debut album, HAPPY's release

On October 22, 2024, episode 11 of BTS' Jin's variety web series, Run Jin, entertained viewers with a fun horror episode. Customarily, the Run Jin episodes offer a sneak peek into the next episode. However, this time it was revealed that the show will go on a brief hiatus before the next episode drops.

This time the preview showed the idol set to hit the road for a trip on a sleek and formidable-looking car, the new MINI JCW Countryman. The preview ended with Jin driving the vehicle away, fascinated by the stylish ride and ready to take on the new episode. The subtitles then read:

"Run Jin will be back after a short break! Stay tuned"

This break was unexpected for some fans. At the same time, many fans speculated that the break was because Kim Seok-jin aka BTS' Jin would be busy with the promotions of his upcoming debut solo album HAPPY, slated to release on November 15 at 2 pm KST. One fan anticipating the BTS member's return to the music scene wrote:

"How you know it's comeback time"

Jin has been on the go ever since his conscription ended in June this year. Holding a fan meeting, being a torchbearer at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, filming content relentlessly for ARMYs, and working on his first solo album, have kept him busy among other things.

Fans awaiting the album's release after Run Jin's hiatus, took to X hoping for more updates on HAPPY. Some agreed that the Moon singer deserves a break.

"We'll have tons of content with his album promotion so it's fine," a netizen wrote.

"The short break from run seokjin will probably be to give way to his album and promotions which means we will see seokjin a lot anyways," said another fan.

"ITS OK HE SHOULD HAVE A BREAK NOW," stated an ARMY.

Others were optimistic, thinking the comeback of Run Jin may feature BTS' J-Hope who got back from the military on October 17.

"Run jin goes on a break because it will be run 2seok from now on with hobi being out of military," hoped a fan.

"We’ll be right here waiting when it returns and I have a feeling one of the next episodes will be featuring Hobi," another comment read.

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Funny highlights from Run Jin's horror episode

Episode 11 of Run Jin titled 'I Met a Ghost for Real' takes BTS' eldest member through a "haunted house". The episode was filmed at Korean Folk Village's "The Haunted Den" with enhanced effects.

In this episode, the BTS member time-traveled back to a famine-stricken Joseon Dynasty, dressed in the traditional attire of the era. His mission was to collect five voodoo dolls so that he could return to 2024. The episode was packed with peak moments of laughter and entertainment.

Undertaking the challenge, Jin was flanked by a bodyguard and the two reached the entrance where they met their first ghost - a weeping woman. As she wiped her tears with tissues, Jin joked about how tissue boxes could exist in the Joseon Dynasty. His first challenge was to keep the tissue up in the air the longest, without using his hands or feet. Jin won the challenge and met the second ghost.

Tasked with drawing her portrait and laughing nervously through the process, he succeeded in pleasing the ghost with his good looks. He came across the final ghost before entering the house. With the third ghost, he played a game of Twister, again wondering how a modern game could be found in the Joseon era. He won the third challenge as well.

While he screamed and sweated through unsettling encounters with the ghosts, his bodyguard kept disappearing with the 31-year-old idol hilariously asking:

"What on earth is my bodyguard doing?"

At the haunted house, the dim lights, fake blood-splattered settings, and actors in ghoulish get-ups continued to jump-scare the idol but Jin was set on finding all five straw dolls spread across different areas.

The Tonight singer kept switching from being scared to a joking mood, time and again. When he felt cold upon entering the house, he comically reasoned that the A/C was on and upon hearing scary noises he wondered if someone was discreetly following him with speakers.

At one point when confronted by an eerie woman, he cursed out loud and his mouth was blurred, which amused fans greatly when the preview dropped last week. When a starving ghost approached him, asking if he could eat his leg, Jin hilariously cried out:

"If you're hungry, eat some food! Not my leg, eat food."

The BTS member managed to collect all the dolls. Despite his fear, he also displayed perfect manners toward the ghosts and amusingly called them "Miss Ghost", "Ma'am", etc.

A final scare awaited him by the exit, but he escaped the haunted house. The mission ended with Jin being allowed to return in 2024. One subtitle during the episode revealed that the "ghosts" were impressed with Jin's beauty.

"Also, it is said that Jin's handsome features became a legendary tale among ghosts."

Ghost actors praising BTS' Jin's looks behind the scenes. (Image via YouTube/@BTS)

Before concluding, BTS' Jin turned back to his goofy self and revealed that he did the challenge because ARMYs wanted it. Crying out his signature, "Run Jin!" he ended the episode.