Park Jimin: The Movement of Emotion

Defiant, delicate—Chapter Two saw the birth of Jimin the solo artist.

Jimin’s Chapter Two arrived not with noise, but with atmosphere. Face was quiet in its confidence, devastating in its honesty. From the very first note, it held a mirror to pain; his, ours, the kind we often dance through. And yet, despite its aching vulnerability, Face soared. Like Crazy reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Jimin the first Korean solo artist in history to top the chart. It wasn’t just a win for BTS, or for K-pop—it was a win for fragility. For elegance. For a man who dared to be soft, and still conquer the world.

Set Me Free Pt. 2 became my anthem, it was defiant yet delicate. The way Jimin embodied emotion through dance stuck with me for weeks and months on end. I soared through the air each time I heard the song and felt the ripple of the dancers’ bodies around him; as if he and I were the same entity.

Jimin didn’t need to scream. He whispered, and we came closer. Face was an album about reflection—on fame, burnout, identity. It rippled with loneliness. With sensuality. With the desire to be held and understood, even if just for a moment. If other members used Chapter Two to rebel against their past personas, Jimin chose to dissolve his completely. He became mist. A feeling. An ache. A memory you can’t quite touch but never forget.

Then, there was Muse. This time, it wasn’t just about emotion, it was about embodiment. Muse felt fuller. Freer. Still delicate, but more daring. It flirted. It floated. It struck. Where Face traced sorrow, Muse explored power—not the explosive kind, but the kind that lives in restraint. In control. In a perfectly placed falsetto, a stare held just a second too long. Jimin didn’t reinvent himself, he refined himself. He chiselled his presence into something sharper, more defined. He began to wield the gaze that once consumed him.

If Face was about survival, Muse was about seduction. And not just of others… of the self. The belief that you are worthy of art, of love, of attention, just as you are. And that, in itself, is revolutionary.

What makes Jimin’s Chapter Two so unforgettable is that he didn’t rush it. He let it unfold. He showed us the slow burn of becoming. The bloom after the bruise. In the space between two albums, he gave us more than music—he gave us a way to feel again. To ache beautifully. To reclaim softness as strength.

Now, with BTS’ return on the horizon, Jimin is more than the ethereal dancer or angelic vocal. He is a full artist. A man who made the world stop and listen not by being loud, but by being true. If Chapter Two was about reclaiming selfhood, Chapter Three might just be about commanding it. It won’t be soft. It will be sovereign.

---

Happy Festa! To celebrate BTS’ 12th anniversary and their soon-to-be return as OT7, I’m writing a short essay for each member in fan chant order. Stay tuned for Kim Taehyung’s essay, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it. Let me know what you think Jimin’s Chapter Three is going to look like in the comments below.