HYBE’s Best-Kept Secret: The Mysterious Mind Behind BTS’s “WINGS” Story

Who are they?

BTS‘s WINGS era is full of mysteries, but one remains unsolved to this day.

| HYBE Labels/YouTube

The WINGS album was released on October 10, 2016, but its era began a month earlier with a series of solo short films: “Begin” (Jungkook), “Lie” (Jimin), “Stigma” (V), “First Love” (Suga), “Reflection” (RM), “Mama” (J-Hope), and “Awake” (Jin).

Jimin | HYBE Labels/YouTube

The WINGS story picks up where The Most Beautiful Moment in Life era left off, continuing the complex tale from “I Need U” MV that fans, at the time, called the HYYH era. Over the years, HYYH expanded to become the BTS Universe, which now includes music videos, books, a mobile game, a webtoon, and an upcoming K-Drama.

V | HYBE Labels/YouTube 

Each film WINGS film is directed by YongSeok Choi (Lumpens), who has directed many of BTS’s most famous videos. There is, however, a much less familiar name in the credits: Linn Choi.

| HYBE Labels/YouTube 

Who is Linn Choi? The mind behind all seven of the short films’ stories. It’s been five years, but despite their best efforts, even the most seasoned fan-detectives have yet to learn more about Choi or Choi’s other works.

Some suspect that “Linn Choi” could be a pseudonym for a HYBE employee, a member of Lumpens’ team…

…or a BTS member?

Was Linn Choi involved in writing the SAVE ME webtoon? What about The Notes novels? Both HYYH era works credit Big Hit Entertainment (the former name of Big Hit Music) as the author, but just who was it who put their pen to the page?

We need answers, but sadly, we might never get them! What are your theories?

SAVE ME, written by Big Hit Entertain. Art by LICO. | Webtoon

K-Pop Mysteries