ATEEZ‘s San and Wooyoung are incredibly close, and fans have loved seeing the two idols achieve success together.
As a testament to their bond, they got matching tattoos of the Latin phrase “Amicus ad aras,” which literally translates to “friends until death” or “friends until the end.” Each even has it tattooed in the same place!
SAN KNEE TATTOO HAS FINALLY MADE AN APPEARANCE pic.twitter.com/IGb6OzpYIY
— megan ⁎⁺˳✧༚*･ ia for idk awhile (@blooming_young) July 29, 2022
While they are not the only idols to have friendship tattoos, fans recently felt uncomfortable with another star’s reaction.
San and Wooyoung recently appeared on former M.I.B member and TV personality Kangnam‘s My Neighborhood Friend Kangnami to promote the group’s recent comeback.
As the three are putting up a tent, Wooyoung confirms that he and San are very close, mentioning their matching tattoos.
After confirming that they were friendship tattoos, Kangnam says, “weird,” leading San to clarify.
Wooyoung explains that the idea was his first as he likes tattoos. Kangnam then asks San if he has multiple tattoos, and when the ATEEZ member says the friendship one is his only, makes a face.
San then says “isn’t it romantic,” as Kangnam asks more questions about the tattoo. Kangnam then says “it’s like a movie,” after learning the tattoo’s meaning.
After the clip was shared on X, fans gave their thoughts about the interaction. Some felt that it was strange that Kangnam immediately went to making suggestive jokes about their closeness
Calling a friendship tattoo weird when you don’t even know them or the bond they have is crazy…. https://t.co/liQtziYMZf
— sani ♮ ✿ 고마워요 비니 ♡ THE ROSE 0104 (@wonhyukelast) December 8, 2023
errr that’s kinda weird https://t.co/VJZd8RVEAX
— mei-rry christmas 🎄 (@97F4IRY) December 8, 2023
That man is weird bc you can def tell he is implying it to degrade them
Op delete https://t.co/gWIYHVjjcH
— ☀dandy🌼 (@daandyliion) December 8, 2023
What in the toxic masculinity is this?! https://t.co/Ti2oceH7QW
— ʀᴏᴄᴋꜱᴛᴀʀ ꜱᴇᴏɴɢʜᴡᴀ⁷ (@MadameAutrice) December 8, 2023
The implication that the two men would only be so close if they were romantically involved is an idea often found in toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is a concept that emphasizes harmful ideas of what it means to be “manly,” i.e. not showing emotions, violence, misogyny, and homophobia.
Toxic masculinity can affect mental and physical health in many different ways.
Others thought it was outright homophobic, especially with how Kangnam made a “disgusted” face at the thought.
he was being weird and kinda homophobic for insinuating that in a WEIRD WAY bc he thinks men cant be friends https://t.co/1XbUjka8N9
— ☆ (@matzvlogs) December 8, 2023
saw this video on tiktok today and i couldn’t understand how people found it funny, san doesn’t look comfortable at all + why would that guy keep asking those questions and make that face like it’s giving homophobic https://t.co/PJuiuMCHIy
— chiara⁷ (@thvnoiir) December 8, 2023
I don’t go here but that man was clearly making homophobic implications and I don’t enjoy that people are making it into a haha they’re getting clocked moment https://t.co/pz9l9zW7Ax
— alex (@nblwisak) December 8, 2023
You can check out the full episode below.
