Rachel's Blog

Week 3: Real love, true love

2 September 2019 – 8 September 2019

Prepare fan support
Attend Segno Concert in Kuala Lumpur

I am finally doing a project update. Apologies for the delay! School work is catching up with me and I was suffering from severe Post Concert Depression (PCD). For this week, my blog post will basically be me reporting on my preparation for NU’EST’s concert in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and a blow-by-blow account of the events on the concert day. It was really a crazy day filled with exciting memories so please be warned that there will be extreme fangirling language ahead.

Before I start my story, I would like to go back to sharing the reason why I decided to attend NU’EST’s Segno concert in KL in the first place. For those who are reading my project updates for the first time, you may not be aware, but I started this blog primarily for a module in school, CS4160 Korean Wave: A Multidisciplinary Perspective so I will be making references to what happened in class occasionally. Back to my point on why I wanted to attend a NU’EST concert in KL, I actually mentioned in class on our very first meeting for my self-introduction that I was in fact a fan of NU’EST and I still remember vividly that my Professor’s first reaction was, “Ooh their concert got cancelled right?”. I am sure my Professor did not mean it but that comment sort of rubbed salt into a still quite sore wound at that time because Segno Singapore was supposed to happen that same weekend.

I am sure I was not the only disappointed fan in Singapore when we all saw this announcement on the concert organiser’s Twitter page:

Upon seeing the announcement, many Singapore ㄴㅇㅅㅌs (NU’EST’s fandom name) made plans to go to a NU’EST concert overseas. Some of them even organised a trip to Kuala Lumpur by bus, the city being the nearest overseas location for Singapore fans, and opened sign-ups for the trip on Twitter. At this point, I was still hesitating whether to go for the concert since I was not a fan of long bus trips (It takes approximately six hours to reach KL from Singapore by bus.). Too many uncomfortable experiences of suffering from travel sickness on such trips during my childhood flashed through my mind.

However, I was eventually convinced to go for the concert and I have my fellow K-pop fan friend, Jun, to thank for that. Prior to deciding that I would go to KL for the concert, I met up with her to catch up after her exchange to Edinburgh, Scotland. She told me how she took a four hour train ride to London just to watch a Monsta X concert (Yes, she is a Monbebe) and that was when I thought, “Ah now a one hour plane ride to KL doesn’t seem so bad now.” (I still refused to take the bus.) I did not know when I would get a chance to hear NU’EST sing their songs live again and I knew I would regret it if I did not go to at least one of their concerts. Also, a fellow ㄴㅇㅅㅌ, Michelle, whom I met at a cafe event for NU’EST member, Minhyun’s birthday, was also looking for someone to go to Segno KL with. Long story short, the next thing we knew was booking our tickets for a flight to KL and our hotel accommodation.

Just a week before flying off to KL for the concert, another friend of mine, also a ㄴㅇㅅㅌ, Vivian, was looking for someone to bring her NU’EST cupholders and photocards to KL for a giveaway and I volunteered to help bring them to Malaysian ㄴㅇㅅㅌs for her. I posted a notice on my Twitter page and it received a warm response:

As mentioned in the tweet, some of the fan support were actually done by me and my friend, Isabelle, a fellow Singapore ㄴㅇㅅㅌ. We had received so much love from the rest of the fandom even though we were relatively new. (We had only started going to cafe events this year.) As such, we decided to do our very own fan support to give back to the fandom but since our design skills were lacking, we used tools like Canva.

It was an eye-opening experience for us because we were both doing this for the first time. We were lost at times trying to find a good supplier on Taobao that would offer cheaper rates as well as grappling with the required dimensions for printing. We went with a supplier based in Singapore in the end and the dimensions for the photocard did not quite turn out the way we had wanted it to but both of us had a lot of fun in the process. Seeing the smiles on our fellow ㄴㅇㅅㅌs’ faces when they received the photocards brought great joy to us too and we felt rewarded for our hard work.

On a side note, while writing this blog post, I was reading a journal article to prepare for the abovementioned class titled, “Transnational Identities and Feeling in Fandom: Place and Embodiment in K-pop Fan Reaction Videos.” The author, Anna Lee Swan, talks about how social networking platforms and their users’ global interaction contribute to a “social mediascape” that encourages the participation of dedicated fans (552). I find that her observation applies closely in this case as fan support posts like mine can be commonly found on Twitter, especially closer to the concert dates or days when there will be a member’s birthday event. By interacting with these tweets via ‘retweeting’ or ‘liking’ such posts, fans create a supportive community to share their love for their idols. Personally, I agree that such a community invites greater participation because I myself was moved to go for cafe events and be more active instead of being a closet fan as a result of the kind fans I saw on Twitter. In fact, some of these online acquaintances have translated to offline friendships so I can truly relate to the author’s point on the importance of social media, especially its role in building and sustaining relationships in a fandom. Furthermore, the idea that fans’ consumption of media is “processed through collective imagination to become an organized practice and the center of individual agency” resonates with me as well because the fact that fans frequently give out fan support shows that this act of love has become an accepted norm in the fandom and it excites a virtuous cycle of initiative in fans who have become recipients of such love and want to give back to the community (552). For those who are interested in reading the journal article, I will include a link below so do check it out!

Enough of the sidetracking, back to the story about my concert preparation. Another thing happened during that one week before the concert. iMe Malaysia, the concert organiser for Segno KL, had offered Singapore fans a sound check and send-off event fan benefit as consolation for our concert being cancelled. Michelle, my friend who I was going to Segno KL with, messaged me one night to let me know that our tickets had won the sound check benefit. I immediately went to check my email and this was what I saw:

Imagine my excitement! This meant that I could see the boys even before the concert starts so I was really looking forward to it. That whole week I was so energised by the thought of going to the concert that I could not wait to finally go to KL. By Friday night, I was all packed and ready to go for my first overseas concert ever.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early to catch a train at 5.30am to Changi Airport where I met Michelle for our flight at 9.10am. Actually, our flight was initially booked for 10.30am but seeing that we might miss the sound check event, we decided to pay an additional $55 each to change our flight timing. It took me about one and a half hours to travel to the airport by train and I reached Terminal 4 around 7am. Once we were at the Terminal, we checked ourselves in via the self check-in counters. Then, we proceeded to have our breakfast at McDonald’s as we anticipated a long day ahead packed with activities which means it may leave us with little time for lunch and dinner (I would say we really had great foresight because this turned out to be true.)

While waiting for our flight, Michelle and I really had a great time talking about our boys and sharing our excitement together. This was when I realised that having a companion on such trips can be one of the best things ever. This is a picture of us right before we boarded our flight:

Our AirAsia flight landed in KL after an hour. After which, we proceeded to clear immigrations and went to the airport pick-up point to get a Grab to our hotel.

I just want to say that everything was a mad rush from here onwards. Once we arrived at the hotel (We decided to stay at Acappella Suite Hotel after some complications due to security concerns and this hotel was rated 4-stars by travellers on TripAdvisor.), it took us just 10 minutes from checking in to putting down our bags in our room to going back down to the hotel lobby again to Grab to the concert venue (kudos to the hotel staff for the maximum efficiency). The reason why we decided to put our bags down first was because apparently the concert organiser would be super strict with the bag checks. We were only allowed to bring one bag that is less than A4 size into the concert hall.

The time was 12.10pm and we had to get to the venue by 12.30pm to collect our sound check passes and join the queue for the sound check event. Luckily, the ride to Stadium Malawati took only 5 minutes but our Grab driver missed the entrance to the Stadium so we had to walk in on our own. However, this turned out to be a nice mistake as we passed by a Malay Bazaar on our way to the Stadium. Unfortunately, we did not have time to look around and had to rush to the concert organiser’s booth to collect our sound check passes.

Remember, I had some fan support that I needed to give out but I decided to pass the cupholders, which were really bulky, to our friend whom we met at the Stadium, who is also a Singapore ㄴㅇㅅㅌ as she would be going for the send-off event instead of the sound check. Once we got that settled and collected our passes, we joined the queue for the sound check event.

The general queuing experience was smooth but once we entered the main holding area, many fans were packed like sardines into a small space so it got quite stuffy and uncomfortable, especially since we had to wait for over an hour in that space.

On hindsight, I think it was purely out of our collective love and anticipation for the boys that the fans managed to endure waiting in that space for such a long time. Yet, while I complain about how the waiting area was hot and stuffy, my waiting time was made much more pleasant by fellow fans who were all very patient and nice towards each other. We would all try our best to make space for each other and fan one another within the limited space.

After the long wait, we finally entered the concert venue but I was not able to take photos of the event as the security was particularly strict. The boys did a medley of three songs for the sound check, “BET BET”, “ONEKIS2” and “A Song For You”. I really liked that for the sound check, the NU’EST members were dressed in their casual clothes. The boys greeted us warmly and the fans screamed loudly in response too. We were all enthusiastically waving our lightsticks and some of the fans screamed the names of their favourite members. The highlight of the event for me was the moment when Baekho stumbled a bit when he was singing “ONEKIS2”. I was not expecting that from him because Baekho, being the main vocal of NU’EST, rarely makes mistakes on stage and honestly I have never heard of him making a mistake on stage too. The fact that he did when warming up during the sound check made the moment even more candid and I can now appreciate how sound check events truly give you a glimpse into less perfect idols with all their slight flaws, compared to the wholesome image that can be seen of them on stage. The other fans also did not mind the mistake and it actually made them cheer even harder for Baekho and the rest of the group. Before long, the sound check event ended.

The sound check event lasted only 20 minutes instead of the 30 minutes that was estimated by the concert organiser and we left the concert hall feeling unsatisfied but all the more pumped up for the evening concert. As we were leaving the concert hall, Michelle and I were a little stressed out over having to search the vast event venue to find fans who were giving out fan support. However, just like godsend angels from Heaven, Malaysian ㄴㅇㅅㅌs from MYNUEST, the administrators (admins) in charge of the concert fan events, stood outside the concert hall after the sound check event to give out free ice-cream and hand banners to the fans who were exiting the hall. I was really touched by their kind gesture and I was once again reminded of the awesome fandom that I was a part of. There are many more instances of us getting help from friendly ㄴㅇㅅㅌs and I would feature those stories later.

Once we had collected fan support from the MYNUEST booth and in the time it took for us to settle down on the grass patch outside the stadium, I had already collected many photocards, slogans as well as a Minhyun poster. I was so thankful and overwhelmed by the love but I had to start giving out my own fan support too.

*The view from our spot on the grass patch outside Stadium Malawati*

Between 2.30pm to 3.45pm, Michelle and I were seated outside the Stadium with other Singapore ㄴㅇㅅㅌs (I still find it amazing how we all managed to congregate together without planning to.) to give out our fan support. As usual, I received much more that I gave because many fans actually gave me the fan support they designed themselves when they collected fan support from me. We ended up exchanging our fan support and wished each other an enjoyable concert. Like we had predicted, we ended up skipping lunch and dinner because things were just so hectic and our schedule was so tight. Therefore, we basically had to run on our adrenaline-induced high for the evening concert.

Just before we went to queue for our VIP Standing Pen, Michelle suggested that we go to the toilet to avoid having to give up our spot in the pen for the washroom. To our dismay, we found out that there was only one washroom within the vicinity of the Stadium (short of the ones inside the concert hall but we could not go into the toilets inside yet). At 3.45pm, we spotted a long queue outside the toilet and it was an especially bad situation because NU’EST being a boy group, most of their fans were ladies and many of us had planned to visit the washroom right before entering the concert hall. Moreover, one cubicle was down as the toilet was choked which leaves only two cubicles serving the entire female fan population of NU’EST at the concert. To make matters worse, we had to make sure that we enter the queuing area for the VIP Standing Pen by 4.20pm. If not, we would not have our queue numbers honoured and have to start queuing from the back.

There was little else we could do so we ended up queuing for about half an hour for the toilet. During that time, we chatted with fellow ㄴㅇㅅㅌs who were also queuing for the toilet and we found out that some of them had come from places like Brunei and other parts of Malaysia for the concert. One of them was having trouble with her lightstick because the sides kept falling apart but another fan offered her own hairband to tie the sides together. At 4.10pm, I was getting a little anxious since it was not yet our turn to use the toilet but the Malaysian ㄴㅇㅅㅌs in front of us kindly let us through first upon knowing that we had to be in the queue for standing by 4.20pm. Thus, even though we were all exasperated over the toilet situation, the fans again turned it into a pleasant bonding time and demonstrated great solidarity. I was never more proud of being a ㄴㅇㅅㅌ.

Thankfully, because of the great ㄴㅇㅅㅌs we met, we exited the toilet by 4.15pm and managed to sprint the short distance between the toilet and the entrance gate to enter by 4.20pm. Once we were inside, it was another one and a half hours of waiting for the concert to start but Michelle and I entertained ourselves by taking lots of photos and talking to the other ㄴㅇㅅㅌs standing around us.

We met Shan, who also came from Singapore to attend the concert and got her to join us when we saw her *Segno* SG ticket and learned that she was attending the concert on her own.

All in all, the concert was beyond amazing. The boys were so friendly and did so much aegyo (cute displays of affection) that my heart received one attack after another. In fact, being so close to the stage, I could see that the boys were really handsome in real life that I could only stare up in awe and forgot to scream at times.

My only regret was not being able to pull off the fan event, which was to sing a NU’EST song, “Blessing” just before the encore stage. The fans tried very hard but I think the event was not as successful because a lot of the admins were not in the standing pen to lead the event. Fortunately, Taiwanese ㄴㅇㅅㅌs did an exceptional job for our boys as seen in the fancam here from YouTube:

During the ending stage, some fans threw their gifts up on stage and NU’EST had a fun time playing with them. Seeing them so happy and having such fun, I felt very contented as a fan too.

After the concert, Shan, Michelle and I took a photo with a NU’EST standee right outside the concert venue before returning to our hotels. It was another good memory because the ㄴㅇㅅㅌs in front of us in the queue offered to take a group photo for us so we could all be in the picture together.

Once we arrived back at the hotel, I proceeded to take photos of our room for memory’s sake since I did not manage to as I was rushing that afternoon. Here are some photos I took:

A pool view from the room balcony (taken the next morning)

Michelle and I also decided to treat ourselves to room service since we were famished from starving ourselves the whole day so we enjoyed a delicious supper.

That night, although we were super tired, we stayed up late just talking about our experiences that day, especially the many kind fans we met. We also decided to sort out all the fan support we had received and we were amazed to see how the amount of fan support was enough to fill an entire bed. Eventually, we fell asleep after occupying ourselves with organising our fan support and looking at the numerous fan cams that people have started to upload onto Twitter.

The next morning, we woke up early and went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, which is included in our room charges. Here is a photo of the hearty breakfast we had:

While the breakfast was great, the greatest surprise came when we unexpectedly met Olivia, a Korean fan who had travelled to KL to watch NU’EST’s concert. We had been standing beside each other and bonded over screaming for the boys together the night before so we were ecstatic to see each other again. It turns out that we were staying in the same hotel all along. We exchanged our social media accounts and promised that we would host each other if we should ever go to each other’s home countries before inviting Olivia back to our room for more chit chat. We also took a photo together, each of us holding a banner or slogan of our favourite member.

Before long, it was time for us to say goodbye to each other as Michelle and I had to make our way to the airport to fly back to Singapore.

Despite last minute problems with our hotel booking and flight timing, our actual trip to KL was a very smooth experience even though we had to rush at times. Since this week’s post will conclude my project updates on the sub-category of K-pop fandom, I wanted to end by sharing some of my reflections on participatory fandom culture.

Joining a K-pop fandom, especially NU’EST’s, has taught me many things. I have learnt to embrace spontaneity a lot more which is interestingly one of the goals I had set for myself this year. Nothing spells spontaneous even more than making plans to go for an overseas concert just a few weeks before. I also learnt to appreciate the little things a lot more like the toilets near Singapore Indoor Stadium and the fact that everything is always within walking distance back in Singapore.

Most importantly, NU’EST has taught me how to be kind and loving to each other as well as to my fellow fans. This is why I think this week’s title for the project update, “Real love, true love” is so apt. Besides being a catchphrase the members used a lot during their concert to do aegyo, it includes the name of our fandom and basically what our fandom is all about ㄧ love. I think the picture above taken by epopmalay perfectly encapsulates the essence of our fandom. We may be a humble fandom that is still small in numbers but our strength lies in our consideration for each other as well as our combined love for idols who love their fans more than any other idol in the world. I am thankful that this trip to an overseas concert and the people I have met there allowed me to relook into what I stand for as a fan and the fandom identity of our fan community at large.

Reference

Swan, Anna Lee. “Transnational Identities and Feeling in Fandom: Place and Embodiment in K-pop Fan Reaction Videos.” Communication, Culture and Critique, vol. 11, no. 4, 2018, pp. 548–565, doi:10.1093/ccc/tcy026.

Week 2: You got my bet

26 August 2019 – 1 September 2019

BET BET MV analysis
Prepare for Segno Concert in Kuala Lumpur

The title for Week 2’s project update is “You got my bet”. Like I mentioned in my very first project update, I will be attempting to name each of these updates with something that is NU’EST-related. The reason for this week’s title is actually pretty simple. I decided to use a line from NU’EST’s song, BET BET, because for this week’s task, I am doing an analysis on its music video.

I have always wanted to do an analysis for a music video because I was often mesmerised by the use of imagery and symbolism in K-pop music videos (MVs). In recent times, I realised that K-pop MVs are no longer just collages of unrelated images without a coherent narrative. While some MVs still focus on portraying a cool and sophisticated image for their idols using spectacular lighting effects and studio setting, some have evolved to include a carefully considered story to tie all these seemingly irrelevant images together. Since BET BET is one of those MVs, coupled with the fact that I am personally a fan of the group, I have decided to do my very first MV analysis on the song.

While I am used to doing literary analysis, a music video analysis feels like a different ball game altogether. I was therefore understandably feeling a little overwhelmed at this challenge but I was also excited for this task. However, I soon found that I need not have worried because there were other NU’EST fans out there who had already done their own analysis of the MV, be it in the form of blogs, Twitter posts or YouTube videos. I have included the links to their works in the MV analysis so do take a look at them too!

Their works were really great references and the writers provided insightful points that inspired me to expand them with my own ideas. I thought about how I could add new content to the discourse rather than just repeating what has already been said. After reading these materials by other fans, I came up with a content page which first teases a summary of the MV universe that has been established in NU’EST’s past works as well as BET BET. On top of that, I thought of how I have not encountered any formal analysis of the MV title and its significance. Thus, despite having seen comments about it on YouTube, I thought to include a section on the significance of the MV title, named “What’s the BET?”

*A comment on the significance of the MV title garnered over 2000 likes, showing the huge amount of interest fans have for this topic.*

Next, I wanted to explore the parallels between the characters of the knights in the BET BET MV and the real-life personalities of the NU’EST members themselves. I have read some writing by fans who studied the characters of the knights in NU’EST’s past works like Overcome and NU’EST W’s Dejavu but none have actually stated the links to the traits of the NU’EST members in reality. Furthermore, to my knowledge, there was also no attempt made to show how such links are sustained throughout the narrative universe. By doing so, I can contribute something new to the fandom discussion and I was extremely happy when I managed to achieve that. I also included a reference to NU’EST’s earlier MV, Good Bye Bye which was before the whole narrative universe in BET BET started when trying to explain the significance of the colour purple, something that has not been done in current analyses of BET BET. Finally, I offered an alternative view to the concept of a happy ending or Utopia, as used in the BET BET MV and concluded with the importance or position of BET BET as a K-pop MV in the industry.

Once the scaffolding is completed, I had to fill in the gaps. To me, this was the most difficult thing to do because while the picture references can easily be found, they were not organised in the way I had planned to present my MV analysis. As such, I had to pick my references selectively and in cases when the most representative shot in the MV for the point I would like to bring across is not available, I had to take my own screenshots or make my own GIFs. Although this can be troublesome at times, it provided another interesting learning experience. In the end, I think my hard work paid off because within an hour of posting the MV analysis, it has received a ‘like’ from a WordPress user, for which I am very grateful.

All in all, doing the MV analysis was a refreshing and fulfilling experience. I got to fulfill a wish I had before embarking on the task and managed to satisfy my fangirling heart. In fact, throughout the process of writing the MV analysis, I had increased appreciation for NU’EST past MVs and songs as well as the BET BET MV since I had to rewatch all of those numerous times for the purpose of giving an accurate description of the scenes. I was made a bigger fan and on hindsight, the lyrics, “You got my bet” is truly the best title for this blog update as it perfectly encapsulates this personal development of mine. Once again, NU’EST has snatched my hat and got me to love them even more. They got my bet and this is reciprocated by NU’EST for their fans too. I am sure they love their fans and trust them enough to bet the future of their career on the love of these fans.

On a side note, while penning this update, I got to know that the director of the BET BET MV added it to his portfolio on Instagram as vishoplee after seeing a comment by a Twitter user. Now that I am aware that he was the brain behind such a meticulous and an intricate MV like BET BET, I will be sure to take note of his subsequent works from now on.

*The kind Twitter user who shared the Instagram account of the BET BET MV director*

*BET BET, as seen on the director’s Instagram account*

To end off this update, I would like to include just a little preview for next week’s update. As stated in my very first project update, I will be attending NU’EST’s Segno concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next weekend. I am super excited, especially since I was doing this music video analysis while preparing for the concert. Currently, I am anticipating the live performance of BET BET even more and I cannot wait to listen to their other songs in person as well. Do stay tuned to my update next week to see how everything went!

NU’EST’s BET BET MV Analysis

What has happened thus far?
What’s the BET?
A Knights & Queen narrative continued
Happily Ever After…is it really?

BET BET is the title track from NU’EST’s sixth mini album, Happily Ever After. As the song is supposedly the final instalment in a trilogy centering on a narrative of five knights and a queen, based on a Korean Manhwa, The Queen’s Knight, I thought it would be good to give a brief recap of NU’EST’s past music videos that are related to the main narrative.

Prior to the release of the album, NU’EST created a website and uploaded mini-chapters of the story as teasers for their upcoming comeback. These teasers offer a great overview of the entire narrative and I will be referencing them quite closely. Takishima Kei, another NU’EST fan, has already provided a succinct summary of the story but I will be building on his analysis (I will put a link to his blog below.).

What has happened thus far?

The story of the queen and her knights started with Overcome, the title track of NU’EST’s fourth mini album, Q is. The highlight of the Overcome music video can be represented by “Chapter 4 Dawn merged into day”.

The parallels between the chapter teaser and the music video can be observed from how the broken mirror in the illustration is reminiscent of the broken window in the MV. In the MV, the land of the queen and her knights is seen to have plunged into eternal winter and darkness. To understand the reason for this, we can look to chapter 1 to 3 of the teasers for answers. Based on the illustrations, we can infer that once upon a time, there was a queen who lived happily with her five knights in their kingdom. The queen then met a king and they fell in love with each other. However, something happened to the king and we can speculate that because of her immense pain and grief, the queen was consumed by darkness, as evident from the eerie forest setting and sense of foreboding we get from the third illustration.

Two prevailing fan theories have emerged that try to explain the never-ending winter and darkness we see in the Overcome MV:

Winter and darkness will continue to spread throughout the kingdom so the queen has trapped herself in a separate dimension to prevent this, before the cold and darkness become too great for even her to overcome.
The queen’s heart has to be filled with love for the winter to end but since the queen’s heart is filled with sadness, the people of the kingdom continue to sleep in darkness, represented by the dream world that we see. This ties in with the original plot in the Manhwa, The Queen’s Knight.

Love Paint, the title track of NU’EST’s fifth mini album, Canvas, continues this trajectory in which the knights are still trapped in their eternal slumber. This is represented by the fantastical elements in the music video and highlighted especially with the use of bright colours.

As I had mentioned previously, the narrative of the queen and her knights was supposedly a trilogy but I would say that there are a few side plots along the way in the form of NU’EST W’s works and Minhyun’s solo, Universe, which marked his return to NU’EST.

NU’EST W’s Where You At, Dejavu and Help Me continues the story of how the knights (minus Minhyun) are still trapped in alternate dimensions and resuming their search for their queen. Minhyun’s Universe adds on to this narrative as Minhyun was able to meet the queen in a different world but soon realises that he is separated from the rest of the knights and embarks on a quest to find them.

Meanwhile in another part of the universe, the rest of the knights are waiting for Minhyun, as seen from this ending scene of NU’EST W’s Help Me:

Finally, the story picks up again in BET BET, which depicts the other knights’ struggles before Minhyun’s return.

What’s the Bet?

Besides the title, BET BET uses a lot of betting imagery to invoke multiple levels of meaning. Here are the ones many fans have picked up:

The Game of Chess

Baekho is seen to be engaged in a game of chess with the Dark Queen. However, it can be noted that they are not playing with each other face-to-face, but across the different dimensions as seen from the alternating shots of two kinds of chessboard. Baekho uses a metal one while the Dark Queen’s is made of glass. In line with the ongoing narrative, the chess game is a bet the knights are making with the Dark Queen. If the knights win, the Dark Queen has to let them escape from the dream world that they have been trapped in. If they lose, they have to stay in this dream forever.

However, the significance of the game of chess goes deeper than that. The chess game is actually a metaphor for NU’EST’s own story in real life. Them going on Produce 101 is in fact their way of sacrificing themselves as pawns on the chessboard of fate. This is implied in the scene where Ren is in a room full of sculptures and the horse which is rearing its legs, a symbol of sacrifice in battle, occupies the position of the centrepiece.

NU’EST’s bid to earn the love of fans is the central bet in the music video and nothing says it clearer that the lyrics themselves:

This might be my only chance. You might regret it if you lose me.

NU’EST going on Produce 101 was thus their last chance to save themselves as well as their fans regrets and they succeeded. This MV shows the very happy ending they and their fans had been earnestly wishing for. Just like how Baekho won the game of chess with the Queen, NU’EST won their bet with themselves and their fans. This leads us to the next imagery:

The Spinning Coin

Notably, there is a classic Inception moment here. In Inception, a spinning totem means that the dreamer is still stuck in his or her dream so a coin that has stopped spinning in the MV means that the knights have indeed won the game and will get to escape from their dream.

A Dice, A Roulette and Betting Chips

Notice that the numbers ‘1’, ‘4’ and ‘5’ are emphasised. These numbers signify another win for NU’EST─They are now together again. They were missing one member (Minhyun) who took a hiatus to promote with Wanna One, so they were left with four (NUEST W) and now they are five again following Minhyun’s return.

A Knights & Queen narrative continued

With Minhyun’s return, all five knights are now inhabiting the same dimension as seen from this scene, which also establishes a continuity with Universe, as evident from Minhyun’s costume. Hence, this sets up Chapter 5 of the illustrated story mentioned above.

I will get back to Chapter 6 later and skip straight to Chapter 7. Basically, Universe details Minhyun’s long journey back ‘home’ to his brothers and Chapter 7 portrays the scene where the queen appeared in his dreams, allowing him to remember his past identity as a knight.

Building on Overcome, BET BET has lots of subtle clues into the characteristics of the knights that seem to mirror the members’ personalities in reality. Since the knights are all together again, it is easier to look into the distinct roles that each of them play in the overarching narrative. Therefore, I have included this section.

The Intelligent Knight: Aron

In Overcome, other than Minhyun, Aron is the only knight that was shown to have entered the dream world. He knows the truth about the knights being stuck in this dream dimension as a result of the queen’s curse. He is well trusted by the good queen (in white) as seen from her bestowing the gold locket to him, presumably to find her when she confines herself to the dream world and save the kingdom.

There is also a popular fan theory circulating around that Aron is actually the old man who was seen helping Minhyun to relive his dreams in Universe. If Aron was indeed the old man that we saw in that MV, how did he come to arrive at that particular dimension before Minhyun did (and as a result grew old)? The answer is in space travel.

Aron has always been closely associated with doors and moving from one dimension to another. This was evident in the Dejavu MV and also in Bet Bet. Here, Aron is surrounded by doors and in a blink-and-you-will-miss-it moment you see a reflection of the Utopia. Aron’s knowledge of the separate worlds is therefore illustrated.

In BET BET, Aron has his mouth tightly covered with lace. This once again reinforces the fact that he possesses the power of knowledge but is prevented from telling the truth. He cannot take action and has to get the help of others i.e. Minhyun.

The idea that Minhyun is his proxy was reflected in Overcome. As mentioned, the locket was given to Aron, but Minhyun was also seen holding on to the locket in his search for the queen.

It is interesting that the narrative should portray Aron as the intelligent knight. In real life, Aron is known among the fandom to be very smart. In fact, it was said that Aron was within the top 0.5% for the SAT in all of the United States. While this might not be relevant to the MV itself, it is intriguing to see how there is also a fine line between reality and fantasy beyond the MV.

The Conflicted Knight: JR

In the trailer for BET BET, JR was offered a choice between the red pill and blue pill by the Dark Queen. I will explain more in depth on what each of them means later but the thing to note here is that JR hesitates. The images of the calm sky, lightning and thunder, blazing fire and crashing waves represent the various emotions in JR’s internal struggle.

The colours red and blue symbolise his choices一the red pill (harsh reality) or the blue pill (fantasy). At one point, the sky shift into a purplish red, denoting that the lines between the two choices are already blurred in his head (red and blue makes purple) and his struggle is so intense that he cannot tell which one he should choose.

Compared to Aron, JR’s mouth is loosely covered which means that he is not as impeded by his inability to take action but rather, he is still deliberating over his choice.

The fact that JR is the conflicted knight comes as no surprise. Fans of the group are well aware that JR, who was appointed the leader of NU’EST at a young age, had to contend with burdens that even the other members can never fully comprehend, especially when the group was not doing well initially after their successful debut. As the leader, he is also tasked with making important decisions for the group, thus explaining why he was the one given a choice by the Dark Queen.

We have already established that BET BET details NU’EST’s struggles for a happy ending and the later part of the song foreshadows that happy ending.

In this scene, JR rests his back against a pool of water and the background that is reflected is filled with a calm blue scenery and blooming flowers. This foreshadows his eventual choice 一an idyllic and carefree fantasy. His choice was also foreshadowed with the crashing waves imagery. The crashing waves can also refer to Atlantis, mentioned in:

“Oh in the swaying, rough waves. I keep looking for the hidden Atlantis.”

According to some fan theories, Atlantis is the utopia that the knights have been searching so hard for. The fact that the crashing waves appear during JR’s inner turmoil sets up the audience’s expectations for his ultimate choice.

The Strong Knight: Baekho

During the game of chess with the Dark Queen, Baekho exudes a self-assured confidence that is very much representative of his character as a knight and his image in real life. He is always the one wielding a weapon. First, the sword as seen in Dejavu:

Then in BET BET, he is seen to be carrying a cane:

Compared to JR and Aron who both have lace coverings, Baekho’s face is not covered and he is the one with the strength to fight back against the Dark Queen (in a game of chess). The Dark Queen sees him as a threat and devises plans to stop him. Baekho is thus hindered by another factor which I will explain at length later. Again, it is not surprising that strength is the defining trait of Baekho’s knight character due to the similarities with his image in real life.

Out of all five boys in NU’EST, Baekho possesses the most muscular physique, perhaps almost unrivalled by the rest of the K-pop industry. Furthermore, Baekho’s last name ‘강’ or ‘Kang’, means strong in Korean.

The Lost Knight: Minhyun

Next, we have Minhyun, the lost knight. In BET BET, he weaves through the maze of blue and white curtains, trying to reach the Dark Queen. He eventually finds her in the throne room.

Remember, in Overcome, Minhyun was the only one who was shown to be journeying across the white snow to come face-to-face with the queen. He is thus the wanderer and explorer among the knights. However, with any kind of travel, there is always a chance of getting lost.

I am sure it is pure coincidence but on hindsight, I thought about how it seems predestined that Minhyun was going to be the one chosen to promote in Wanna One. In Overcome, which was released in 2016, a year before the second season of Produce 101, he was the sole wanderer. Then in 2019, this wanderer has returned ‘home’, a place with his members. Hence, the time Minhyun had spent away from NU’EST can be thought of as him having gotten lost on his search for the queen.

While Minhyun, the knight, is prone to getting lost, he is not without support. Just like how Aron gave Minhyun the locket in Overcome, Aron channels resources and the power of knowledge to aid Minhyun in his search for the Queen as well as to find his way back to the rest of the knights (the old man), as seen in this scene:

The Turbulent Knight: Ren

This brings us to the last knight, Ren, who has his eyes covered by lace. One theory is that this is to signify how he is blinded by fantasy and is unaware of the truth, that the knights are all stuck in a dream world. If we refer back to the Manhwa, The Queen’s Knight, Ren represents Rieno in his weakest state. In this state, Ren is extremely susceptible to exploitation and manipulation by the Dark Queen and she does use his weakness to influence the strongest knight一Baekho. This is evident from the way Ren tries to cover Baekho’s eyes with his laced hands in this scene:

The reason why Ren is portrayed as the confused knight is not difficult to guess. In the fandom, Ren is known to be an angel with the kindest soul. There are many reports of him sympathising with good causes and he even takes time to participate in them. Like we all know, people with good hearts are always the ones most vulnerable to evil because they are just too kind to understand people’s bad intentions. Ren is thus a knight who has to be protected at all costs and the fact that he is also the ‘maknae’ or youngest of the group further reinforces this.

Power of the Dark Queen

In contrast to the knights, we have the Dark Queen who is the antagonist of the MV. In this section I would like to explore how the Dark Queen derives the power to keep our knights in the dream world. For this, I would like to look at the unique colour of her drink 一 purple.

Throughout the MV, there is only one other moment when we saw this colour. Remember the purple background behind JR mentioned earlier? Therefore, the power of the Dark Queen can be said to be fuelled by JR’s conflicting thoughts. In urban legend, purple is also closely associated with poison. If that is not enough to convince you of the ominous meaning behind the colour purple, I would like to bring back this iconic picture of Ren in NU’EST’s Good Bye Bye.

For this MV, Ren is seen to have vomited a purplish pink flower. This is a reference to a fanlore of the Hanahaki Disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. It is thus clear that purple has often been accorded a negative connotation in NU’EST MVs.

In the context of BET BET, this past reference provides another interpretation for the Dark Queen’s purple drink. As purple can mean a one-sided love, the Dark Queen deriving power from the drink can also mean that the Dark Queen is feeding from one-sided love. Whose one-sided love? If you have knowledge of NU’EST’s tumultuous career, the answer will come to you rather instantly. The one-sided love belongs to NU’EST. In other words, the Dark Queen is not capable of reciprocating love from NU’EST. Just what is the significance of the queen in the narrative? I will elaborate further in the next segment.

Happily Ever After…is it really?

As Minhyun approached the Dark Queen, the roulette spins into a portal that looks uncannily like the universe.

After which, he enters this room where he has to take a gamble and make a choice. The layout of the scene is neatly divided symmetrically into two halves and this is reminiscent of Chapter 9 of the illustration.

So what is up with all these choices that JR and Minhyun have to make? If we go back to Baekho’s chess game with the Dark Queen, since Baekho won the game, they should have been able to escape the world of fantasy.

Yet, the Dark Queen has one last trick up her sleeve. Instead of allowing the knights to leave the dream world immediately, she offers them a choice between the blue pill and the red pill.

To explain the significance of these two pills, many fans have used a quote by Morpheus from The Matrix. I find it a very apt reference that can be used to understand the situation in the MV and so I will attempt to use it for my interpretation as well.

Morpheus says:

“You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

Basically, if one were to take the blue pill, he chooses to remain in his fantasies. Conversely, if he takes the red pill, he will be shown the harsh reality. As we can see from the scene where Minhyun enters the blue door, NU’EST chooses the blue pill.

As a result, the end of the song brings us into a fantastical world, also known as Utopia.

In this Utopia, JR is reading a blue storybook and Baekho is drinking blue juice.

The MV also lingers on the ending of the blue book, which is as follows:

“In the utopia, green plants and insects welcomed the five knights.

And they lived happily ever after…”

The rehashing of the bright colours and vibrant greenery in this world reminds us of the fantastical world of Love Paint. Thus, the knights are still stuck in a world of their dreams but this time, it was by choice.

Though it is a dream, it is still significant. If we interpret the knights’ choice on a more meta level, this dream can be compared to the boys’ dreams of becoming popular idol singers. As we know, NU’EST did not achieve this dream in the early stages of their career (hence the need to make the bet). Them choosing the blue pill and remaining in a dream, can then be read as them choosing not to give up their dreams of being idols.

In the MV, this choice turns out to be a good one because it led the knights to a happy ending, one where Minhyun returns to the group and “insects welcomed the five knights”.

If we do a side-by-side comparison of these two scenes in the MV:

We learn the identity of the Black Queen. The Black Queen represents the people whom NU’EST had tried so hard to appeal to during their years of struggle, including when they were making the bet (on Produce 101). Remember, it was only a one-sided love on NU’EST’s part. While the Black Queen i.e. the people whom NU’EST appealed to, received love from NU’EST, she was unable to love them back. However, in the photo of the Utopia, the throne is still present but the Black Queen is not. In her place, we see fireflies around the members.

These fireflies represent L.O.Λ.Es, NU’EST fans, those who are able to reciprocate their love. As a side note, NU’EST fans are also known as pink fireflies because of the impression they made on Ren, who said they look like pink fireflies as they wave their lightsticks during NU’EST concerts. NU’EST thus made a good choice as they are now surrounded by people who love them. Moreover, because of the fans’ love for NU’EST, they can also be read as the good queen whom NU’EST has been searching for since the Overcome era.

However, is this happy ending real or just too good to be true? There is evidence to suggest the latter. This is where I will talk about Chapter 6’s illustration and its parallel to this scene in BET BET.

The mirror (and glass) is associated with the Dark Queen and her power. This could mean that her power can be a catalyst for some trouble or catastrophe that is brewing, as depicted in Chapter 6 of the illustrations.

Also, we have not seen what will happen if the knights choose the red pill instead and this unseen ending may lead to the scenario depicted in Chapter 8 of the illustrations. In fact, we know of the existence of this alternate ending because there is a scene in BET BET where Baekho holds the red book in his very hands.

YouTube user, 폴리 Ch.polly, provided another reading that offers a more meta interpretation of this alternative ending. She said:

“To fans, or even singers, while pledging eternity, the relationship between fans and stars is neither guaranteed nor enforceable.”

While NU’EST has chosen to be with their fans in Utopia forever. The very nature of Utopia itself, based on Thomas More’s definition, is that it is both a ‘good place’ as well as a ‘no place’. It is a good place that cannot exist. Therefore, while NU’EST swears unconditional love for their fans, the very nature of the relationship between fans and their idols is that of a fragile bubble that may one day burst.

Yet, fans of the group will know that the group has always traversed the paths less travelled. The continued existence of the group till today can even be said to be a miracle in itself, so who is to say NU’EST and their fans cannot be together for a very long time? Perhaps, that is truly their goal, to turn this fantasy into a reality.

With NU’EST still active as a group, there are many stories still waiting to be told. In fact, NU’EST recently announced another comeback later this year, so we might see an alternative version of this story, one which might not have a happy ending. Yet, I will not be surprised either if they decide to leave this story as it is and fans will never find out what happens in the red book. One reason is BET BET is supposed to be the end of the trilogy and it will be weird if they do build on this material again. Another reason is, just like we never know what happens to the prince and princess after ‘happily ever after’, NU’EST story is meant to be left in Utopia till the end of time.

To conclude, Bet Bet is a powerful song made all the more meaningful by the numerous easter eggs for fans who are already familiar with the whole queen and her knights narrative as well as NU’EST’s real life story. Most importantly, the BET BET MV is notable against the backdrop of K-Pop music videos, as it defies expectations that K-Pop MVs are without a sustained narrative⁶.

REFERENCES:

MV Analysis by Takishima Kei:
MV Analysis by Twitter user @nu’venteen:
Bet Bet Review by KPOPREVIEWED:
MV Analysis by YouTube User 폴리 Ch.polly:
Fan Explanation of the Hanahaki Disease:
Kim, Suk-Young. “The Many Faces of K-Pop Music Videos: Revues, Motown, and Broadway in ‘Twinkle.’” Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 49, no. 1, 2016, pp. 136–154. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12382.

https://lovetheory.home.blog/

NU'EST BET BET Theory and MV interpretation – A Thread

Based on :
– Inception
– Alice Through the Looking-Glass
– Matrix#NUEST #뉴이스트 #Happily_Ever_After #BET_BET pic.twitter.com/5xLNaYyNVw
— nuventeen (@nuesvtgemini) April 29, 2019

https://kpopreviewed.wordpress.com/2019/04/29/bet-bet-nuest/

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Hanahaki_Disease

Week 1: I’m turning back to you

19 August 2019 – 25 August 2019

Personal Hallyu Memories Timeline
Schedule for Assignment 2

Inspired by Dr. Liew Kai Khiun’s “Recent Memories: Reminiscing the Korean Wave in Singapore”, I decided that before I embark on the second individual assignment I would like to plot my own Personal Hallyu Memories Timeline.

Prior to the first class for CS4160 Korean Wave: A Multidisciplinary Perspective, I have never really sat down and thought about my history with Hallyu. As I was plotting the timeline (which I have included below), I was reminded of many fond memories: the times when I watched Korean dramas till late at night with my mother even though we both had to wake up early the next day (She had work and I had school), the times when I went crazy over 5 silly guys trying to take care of a baby after my brother introduced me to SHINee’s Hello Baby and the time when I was so excited to watch my first ever K-pop concert.

My family brought me into the world of Korean dramas and Korean variety shows which gave me a first glimpse into K-pop idols. The rest I would say is history as I started delving and navigating my way into the labyrinth of fancy K-pop music videos, breathtaking live performances as well as variety shows that are rolling-on-the-floor level of funny, all because I wanted to know more about the personalities of my favourite idols, beyond the persona I see when they are on stage.

By 2012, K-pop as a genre of music had gradually gained so much momentum due to the phenomenal success of second generation idols groups like TVXQ, Super Junior, Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, Wonder Girls, 2NE1, SHINee, B2ST, 2pm, 2am, CNBlue, MBlaq and the list goes on, that more and more new groups started to emerge to share a slice of the pie. It was a time when I started to lose interest in K-pop because I could no longer keep up with the groups that had seemed to be debuting left, right and centre every other day (though I believe this observation still holds true today.). The loss of interest was also partly because the groups that I have followed were beginning to focus their energies on the Japanese and mainland China markets where access to information was not readily available. However, on hindsight, I deeply regret this decision (more on this later).

Although I was no longer as active in the K-pop fandom as I was before, I was still diligently catching up on the latest hit Korean dramas such as The Moon that Embraces the Sun and My Love from the Star which both starred Kim Soo Hyun as the male lead. I was also still an avid fan of Infinite Challenge and Running Man.

Then came numerous turning points for me in the year 2017. First, B2ST changed their name to HIGHLIGHT and the saddest news of 2017 came in December when SHINee’s Jonghyun committed suicide as a result of depression. These changes to the K-pop world I had known marked a before and after in my journey as a K-Pop fan. Nonetheless, 2017 also brought a great blessing in the form of my discovery of NU’EST.

Basically long story short, I was reminiscing old K-pop songs on YouTube when I came across NU’EST’s cover of After School’s hit song, Because of You. NU’EST was performing the song as part of their first evaluation on the second season of a survival show for idol trainees, Produce 101. NU’EST did such a great job for their performance but it was what I read in the comments on their video that made me feel for them. Apparently, at the point of their first appearance on the show, the group had already been active for five years and in the world of K-pop, five years is a really long time. The group had decided to make a last ditch attempt to save their career and avoid disbandment by swallowing their pride as senior idols to appear on the show as trainees once again. Their failure to become big was something I could not understand then because here I was, sitting in front of my laptop screen, staring at four boys with the most distinct visuals (NU’EST has five members but one member Aron, did not participate in the show due to an injury.) among the newer groups and they had definitely proved their talent and skill in that performance I had just watched. After watching that video, I decided to do some research of my own and discovered just how much these boys have gone throughout the course of their career. I shall not go into the details regarding all the ups and downs they have experienced here but for those who are interested to know more about this amazing group, I found a fan-made documentary done by YouTube user, Lay Naran, who can tell you their story much better than I can. By the way, the video is thirty minutes long.

NU’EST’s visuals drew me in but it was their story that made me stay. Remember, I mentioned how I regretted leaving the world of K-pop fandom in 2012. The reason was because that was the year NU’EST debuted. I cannot help but think that had I persisted in K-pop, I would have come to know about this amazing group much earlier. Yet, I was never one to dwell on “what ifs” and I believe it was fated that I had come to know about NU’EST at a time when I was still grieving over the death of SHINee’s Jonghyun. Interestingly, there are numerous parallels between the two groups and I shall name a few:

1. Both groups have a member named Kim Jonghyun.

*A still from a preview of the final episode of Night Goblin*

In fact, the two Jonghyuns had met in the final episode of a variety show called Night Goblin which was never aired due to SHINee’s Jonghyun’s passing.

2. Both groups have five members who are like brothers.

Up till SHINee’s Jonghyun’s death, SHINee was the only second generation group from SM entertainment to have experienced no line-up changes. Despite Jonghyun’s passing, many SHINee fans still consider him a member and I do too. Like SHINee, NU’EST has not experienced any changes in line-up and the members themselves have also openly declared that they wish to be like their Shinhwa seniors who were able to go on singing together for a very long time. It is rare for K-pop groups to enjoy such a close bond with among members just like the ones SHINee and NU’EST have which is one of the many reasons why their fans like them so much.

3. Both groups are amazingly talented.

Both groups had one of the most successful debuts of their time. SHINee with their debut single Replay in 2008 and NU’EST with Face in 2012. While SHINee’s dance choreographies are known in the industry to be among the hardest, NU’EST is on the rise for having outstanding vocal abilities and being well-rounded idols in general.

NU’EST’s story is definitely one for the books and being a huge fan of NU’EST, I would like to dedicate my project to them. As such, I will attempt to name my blog updates using taglines or headers that are related to the group somehow. For this week’s update, the title, “I’m turning back to you”, is actually from the lyrics of NU’EST’s song, Segno, meaning to go back to the beginning. Since NU’EST rekindled my love for Kpop, I thought this title would be apt for an update that focuses on my journey as a Hallyu fan.

In this next part of my update, I would like to detail my plans for Assignment 2 and explain my rationale for the activities I have chosen. Here is a rough outline of what the upcoming weeks will look like for me:

Week 1 (19/8-25/8) [Hallyu]:
– Personal Hallyu Memories Timeline
– Schedule for Assignment 2

Week 2 (26/8-1/9) [K-pop fandom]:
– BET BET MV analysis
– Prepare for trip to Segno KL

Week 3 (2/9-8/9) [K-pop fandom]:
– Attend concert & give fan support

Week 4 (9/9-15/9) [K-pop dance]:
– Dance class

Week 5 (16/9-22/9) [K-pop dance]:
– Dance class

Week 6 (23/9-29/9) [K-pop dance]:
– Dance class

Week 7 (30/9-6/10) [K-pop dance]:
– Dance class

Week 8 (7/10-13/10) [Korean Language]
– Make learning cards for Korean words and phrases

Week 9 (14/10-20/10) [Korean drama]
– Literary Analysis of Goblin & Hotel Del Luna (treatment of death on K-dramas, Grim Reaper)

Week 10 (21/10-27/10) [Hallyu]
– Prepare for presentation

Note that my scheduled activities fall into different sub-categories of Hallyu, K-pop fandom, K-pop dance, Korean language as well as Korean drama. The wide range of activities I have planned is because I would like my project to reflect my extensive experience of the many aspects of the Korean Wave thus far. Out of all these activities, I am looking forward to doing an analysis of a NU’EST music video and some of the more recent Korean dramas I have watched the most. On the other hand, I think the dance classes will be the most challenging because I will be stepping out of my comfort zone. While I do have some experience in dancing, K-pop dance will be a whole new genre that I will be trying out for the first time. Even though I am a little scared, I am also excited to see how all my activities will turn out. I will be updating my progress on this blog weekly (this first post is a little late as I was still figuring out the mechanics of WordPress but the subsequent updates should be posted on time) so do stay tuned to find out how everything goes!

In conclusion, through the exercise of plotting a Personal Hallyu Memories Timeline, I realised that my memories of hallyu are very much tied to precious memories of valuable time spent with my family. Most importantly, I now have a clearer idea of all the unique experiences that have led me to where I am right now 一 a Hallyu fan, and my individual project will aim to showcase my specific interests among everything that the Korean Wave has to offer. With the mini tasks that I have set out to complete, I hope to contribute some of my interpretations of Hallyu products, be it K-pop, Korean dramas or the Korean language itself to boost fan morale, celebrate the work of K-pop artists and drama producers and lastly, to motivate more people to learn about the Korean language and her culture.

Reference

Liew, Kai Khiun. “Recent Memories: Reminiscing the Korean Wave in Singapore.” Transnational Memory and Popular Culture in East and Southeast Asia: Amnesia, Nostalgia and Heritage, pp. 71-94. London: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2016.

Table of Contents

1. Both groups have a member named Kim Jonghyun.

2. Both groups have five members who are like brothers.

3. Both groups are amazingly talented.

Reference