Netizens Suspect Stray Kids’ Bang Chan And BTS’s Jungkook Have Been Close Friends For A While

Resurfaced clips have fans convinced these two didn’t become besties yesterday.

Stray KidsBang Chan is the latest inductee into K-Pop’s most iconic friendship group!

Bang Chan | @Stray_Kids/Twitter
From left: Cha Eunwoo, Jungkook, Mingyu, and Yugyeom | @BTS_twt/Twitter

The ’97-liners is a group of male idol friends that originated with BTS and GOT7‘s maknaes Jungkook and Yugyeom, respectively. The squad has grown to include BTS’s Jungkook, GOT7’s Yugyeom and fellow maknae BamBam, SEVENTEEN‘s Mingyu, ASTRO‘s Cha EunwooNCT‘s Jaehyun, and now apparently Stray Kids’ leader Bang Chan!

From left: Jungkook, Yugyeom, Cha Eunwoo, and Mingyu | @min9yu_k/Instagram

The friend group is known to hang out as often as their schedules permit. Recently, the group, consisting of Jaehyun, Jungkook, Eunwoo, and Bang Chan, went to a nice beef restaurant where they left their autographs behind.

| @0_1000_movie/Instagram
| @0_1000_movie/Instagram

The owner uploaded a photo of the idols’ autographs onto Instagram and thanked him with a sweet caption!

| @0_1000_movie/Instagram

It’s no surprise that Bang Chan would also be a member of this friend group, considering he has a reputation for being one of the friendliest idols in the industry.

But now, knowing that he is officially part of the ’97-liners’ group, K-Pop multi fans are realizing that he has likely been a friend of Jungkook specifically for quite a while…

On numerous occasions, netizens can recall that Bang Chan has played BTS’s music and praised the group during his weekly live broadcast Chan’s Room. 

You have to admit, he’s good at everything. I’ve been listening to this song, even between schedules these days, because the song is just so good.

— Bang Chan talking about Jungkook while listening to “Stay Alive”

Bang Chan has especially been vocal about his admiration for Jungkook. He had the most precious reaction to Jungkook’s solo “Euphoria!”

Yet, this isn’t all that has fans convinced that the two have been friends for a while.

In a 2020 interview with Access, the BTS members were asked what their favorite words in English were. Jungkook answered “breaky” (also spelled “brekky,” “brekkie,” etc.) without hesitation. The fluent English speaker, RM, was so confused that he misheard it as the name “Becky,” like their friend Becky G

The interviewer and Jungkook explained that “breaky” is a slang term for breakfast. It is used specifically by Australians, though.

And where else would Jungkook have learned the term other than from an Australian? Of course, STAYs recognize that Bang Chan is an Aussie and has been heard using this slang before.

So, it seems more than plausible that Bang Chan had taught Jungkook! At least many netizens are convinced of this.

@skzedit08

pretty sure he picked that up from chan😭 #chan #jungkook #straykids #skz #bts #fyp

♬ original sound – h 💫

Previously, Bang Chan had subtly hinted that he was a member of the ’97-liners during an episode of Chan’s Room. 

@skzedit08

this is everything I ever wanted😭 #bangchan #chan #eunwoo #jaehyun #jungkook #straykids #skz #nct #astro #bts #army #stay #aroha #nctzen

♬ Charmer – Stray Kids

Read more about the friendship below.

Stray Kids’ Bang Chan Joins 97-Liner Besties BTS’s Jungkook, NCT’s Jaehyun And ASTRO’s Cha Eunwoo For Fancy Hangout