In less than fifteen words, Big Hit sums up the contents of their trailer right at the beginning of the video for once, making it super easy for us to leap directly in. This trailer is all about the transition from HYYH to LY. 'FAKE LOVE', therefore, takes place after 'Euphoria' in the timeline, being the bridge between the two eras. We can see this by the items they trade and receive. The video starts with them walking on an intricate floor (rather reminiscent of 'Blood Sweat & Tears,' no?) towards the ‘Magic Shop,’ which looks an awful lot like a ticket booth. The first person we see is Seokjin, carrying the earpiece from 'Awake.' Out of all the things Seokjin could've traded in, why the earpiece? What significance does this earpiece have? I'll dig further into that at the end, as there is much to cover already. After that is Hoseok, carrying a Snickers bar. Then Jimin with the photograph of the painting. The others, we can’t see what they’re carrying straight away. (Please note that Jungkook is the only one missing. This is important.) Then, they begin to trade. Namjoon goes first, trading in a shard of glass from a mirror with what appears to be writing on it. I don’t read Hangul, but I suspect there’s a good chance the writing reads ‘I must survive.’ He receives a hair tie, the one he gives to the girl. Jimin hands in the photograph of the mountains from ‘Lie.’ He receives an umbrella, much like the one in the highlight reel when he watches Hoseok run off with the girl in the rain. Hoseok gives the Snickers bar from his mother. He receives a cake. This is the same cake that the girl gives him in the highlight reel. Taehyung hands in...something. We don’t get to see what it is. All we know is he receives the girl’s backpack. Could he be turning in a shard of a glass bottle? What about a phone? Or perhaps something completely different? We don’t get to know. We also don’t see what Yoongi turns in. I’m guessing there’s a good chance it’s the lighter, considering that is the item his girl interacts with in the highlight reel, but we don’t know for sure. He receives a lollipop/sucker, very similar to the one often associated with Namjoon in HYYH. Please note: we do not see Seokjin trade. All we know is that he walked in the building with the earpiece in hand. Note: When they hand over the items, we are seeing the boys’ fears. Jimin and the photograph -- the arboretum. Hoseok and the Snickers -- his mother abandoning him. Namjoon and the glass -- I’m not sure exactly what the direct correlation is here. But this is why I was able to guess at what Yoongi and Taehyung turned in. It’s a pattern -- what did the boys relate to in HYYH? When the masked man gives them an item, we are seeing their ‘fake love.’ (Get the title?) They traded in their fears for peace, which came to them in the form of the six girls. Unfortunately, none of these girls lasted for very long, thereby becoming 'fake love.' Was it ever really real? I don't think so. The girls were just there to distract them from their worries for a little bit. But nothing gold can ever stay... After this, the boys all walk out separately, ending with Taehyung. A couple of seconds later, Jungkook stumbles in. I have a lot of questions about these ten or so seconds. The other six were so calm, so why does Jungkook seem so frazzled? It seems like one of two things. One: He was late to the Magic Shop. (A little self-explanatory.) Two: Could someone have pushed him inside? He stumbles like he wasn’t quite ready to enter. Perhaps Taehyung? Or Seokjin? ….Anyway, after that, he heads to the booth. He doesn’t appear to have anything to trade, and the masked man inside the booth doesn’t seem to expect anything from him, either. Instead, the man just pushes a glass box to the front of the ticket boo--I mean, magic shop. Jungkook opens the box and finds a key. It looks relatively old and rusty from use, from what I can see. He stares at it for a second before the lights flick on behind him, lighting up the rest of the magic shop. (Note: Look familiar? This is one of the scenes that they dance in front of in the actual video.) He sort of jumps in surprise, looking at the lights, before noticing the gate and walking towards it. Here, the pretty piano music stops and it cuts to scenes that were taken from the music video. Jungkook walks up to a keyhole, puts the key in, turns it, and opens the door. This door opens into a room with six clothes hangers, and one with a costume still on it. After that, the trailer ends. I want you to take those last few seconds when Jungkook turns the key in the hole...and forget they were a part of this trailer. This isn’t necessary at this moment. This comes into play when we get into the video itself-- --which is a discussion for another time. EARPIECE: I didn't forget. The only correlation I can see with the earpiece here gets a little more philosophical, so hold onto your seats. DISCLAIMER: I don't generally dabble in the more philosophical side of the theories. I don't know much about Jung or Abraxas, I haven't read Demian or Omelas, and I'm not claiming to know anything. This is just how I interpreted the earpiece. [By the way, most of this section was HEAVILY heavily inspired by Michelle (@serendipitae on Twitter), so thanks to her for that!] Here we go. In 'Awake,' we see Seokjin sitting at a lovely dinner table with an apple. It took me more than one viewing to notice it, but what seems like him sitting normally is actually a little odd. He's wearing this earpiece. Seokjin messes with the earpiece, as if there's noise in it -- which we can indeed hear a horrible static in the video -- before taking it out completely. After he gets up from the table, the earpiece magically disappears, and doesn't reappear for the rest of the video, leading me to believe he just left it on the table. Now, WINGS era (which is when 'Awake' is from) is heavily connected to the book 'Demian' by Hermann Hesse. (If you haven't read it, I'd highly suggest you do -- I think it will explain a lot about WINGS. All of the videos from the WINGS era have many references to this book: Eva, Abraxas, all of Blood Sweat & Tears -- just to name a few.) In this book, the Gnostic deity Abraxas is heavily referred to, for use as symbolism, mainly from one of the main characters, the titular Demian. Abraxas is referenced in the book as having a messenger, a raven. (Possibly. Do not quote me on that one, I'm not sure.) This raven appears on the painting at the end of the hallway, surrounded by wallpaper...with the image of Abraxas on it. Now, I'm not theorizing as to who the messenger might be -- I don't feel qualified to do that, considering I haven't read the book! But I do think that the earpiece may be connected to Abraxas' messenger. FAKE LOVE music video is covered in Part 2! - Ilona O'Connor
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