On June 3, 2024, South Korean popular boy band SEVENTEEN member Dokyeom updated his Instagram in the early hours of the morning, revealing the story of how he met actor Park Bo-gum. Attending the movie screening of “Wonderland,” Dokyeom expressed his gratitude to Park Bo-gum and also shared his thoughts after watching the movie, expressing his longing for his late friend, Wenbin.
Dokyeom publicly shared on his official IG a group photo of SEVENTEEN and Park Bo-gum attending an awards ceremony together, and described the process of how he and Park Bo-gum connected. He mentioned that when SEVENTEEN had just debuted and was still inexperienced, Park Bo-gum approached them warmly on a music program, expressing his fondness for SEVENTEEN’s song “When I Grow Up.”
Dokyeom revealed that Park Bo-gum was the first senior to express his love for their B-side track instead of the title track, which made the members feel proud. Every time they met Park Bo-gum after that, he greeted them with a smile. After SEVENTEEN won a major award at the MAMA Awards, Park Bo-gum congratulated them and suggested taking a photo together.
Speaking of Park Bo-gum’s personality and their connection, Dokyeom said, “Even though it has been about ten years, his sincere smile and words of blessing have not changed. With this kind of fate, being able to participate in the movie screening, I am very grateful to be one of the invited ones. Wanting to quietly watch and leave the movie, I was deeply moved.”
The movie “Wonderland” tells the story of a future where humans develop a virtual world called “Wonderland” using artificial intelligence to recreate the images of the deceased. Park Bo-gum plays the male lead who becomes a vegetable after an accident, and his girlfriend, played by Suzy, uses the video call service of “Wonderland” to reunite with him.
Regarding his thoughts after watching the movie, Dokyeom wrote, “Whether watching a superhero movie or a movie about time travel, I always believe that a movie is just a movie and cannot become reality. So for me, watching a movie is about feeling satisfied and leaving a rating. But when I watched《Wonderland》, for the first time, I thought ‘It would be nice if there really was a world like Wonderland,’ and I had the expectation that ‘Maybe one day a world like Wonderland will really come.'”
Dokyeom continued, “What if we could retain the precious parts but slightly reduce the sadness of separation? Even if it’s just an illusion. Because what is left is limited, memories will gradually be forgotten and fade. If it’s not just me missing, but greeting each other with ‘Have you eaten? How’s the weather?’ and then each going about their day, feeling like having a beer when thinking of each other. Even if there’s no clinking of glasses when toasting, whether it’s artificial intelligence or something else, no matter what form we can feel in, can the sense of despair be slightly reduced? Vaguely imagining these, returning to reality again, regrets hidden in my heart surged.”
At the end of the article, Dokyeom wrote, “I have recently felt more deeply about the warmth and importance of people. Although I can’t be a good person in everyone’s eyes, I must be a good person in the eyes of those who allow me to live in this world. Looking at my senior (Park Bo-gum), I think more and more like this. Not being very close to my senior, and watching a movie by chance, I don’t know why I’m saying so much, but for me, this is a movie with a long-lasting aftertaste.”
Finally, Dokyeom tagged Park Bo-gum’s IG account and wrote, “In my life, I met a warm and wonderful senior and watched a warm and wonderful movie. Thank you, bro!” Park Bo-gum also liked this post.
Although Dokyeom did not directly mention his late friend Wenbin in this article, the last photo he uploaded when posting was a silhouette photo of him and Wenbin taken together at the beach. Previously, Dokyeom had expressed his longing for Wenbin in several writings. Therefore, after this article was posted, fans from various countries not only expressed joy at learning about Dokyeom’s behind-the-scenes interaction with Park Bo-gum but also left comments like “Hope everyone is happy” and “Dokyeom, you are also a warm and wonderful person” in the comment section.