'Ending Fairy' Meaning & Who Started It: BTS Or EXO's Xiumin?

A heated debate among the K-Pop community is ongoing on social media as fandoms argue over who started the iconic "ending fairy" trend on K-music shows. Some say it's BTS, while others believe it was EXO member Xiumin.

Over the past years, music shows in the South Korean entertainment industry started to adopt the so-called "ending fairy" pose, in which the camera pans to a certain member of a K-Pop group or a soloist after every performance. The idols could then be seen making unique poses to highlight their stunning visuals. Others simply enjoy laughing and smiling at the audience at the end of a performance.

But how did the iconic pose come to be? This is what K-Pop fans have been wrangling over online, especially after Twitter user @BAEPlNKER called K-Pop juggernaut BTS liars when the latter mentioned that they started the "ending fairy" trend during an old interview with Spotify. The tweet, however, has now been made unavailable to public viewers.

Per another social media user, the term "ending fairy" allegedly started way back in 2013 with EXO member Xiumin. But it only became a trend three years later when former I.O.I member Jung Chae-yeon captivated the audience with her stunning beauty after a breathtaking performance.

International Business Times couldn't independently verify the accuracy of the reports. But Koreaboo reported that the term was used to describe the 33-year-old "Brand New" singer. It was a nickname given to him after fans noticed his "adorable" expressions at the end of one "Inkigayo" episode, just while the hosts spoke.

Eventually, the meaning behind the trend changed, especially after Chae-yeon went viral when the camera zoomed in on her after the performance of "Into The New World" on Mnet's 2016 survival show, "Produce 101." Though she was heavily breathing at the time, fans still praised her for looking flawless while catching her breath. She has since taken over the nickname and became the "originator" of the pose.

Many other groups started to jump in on the trend afterward. But at that time, the "ending fairy" pose referred to an idol who was breathing heavily. This was highlighted in the Japanese version of "Produce 101," where every pose showed a contestant who appeared out of breath.

Of course, over the years, K-Pop idols started to give a unique twist to the "ending fairy" pose. Some would give their best smile, wink to the audience, make a wacky pose, or even showcase notes just like SHINee's Key.

As for BTS, Twitter user @tksovers explained how the Grammy-nominated group influenced the trend and the member's proclamation that they "kind of started it."

In the viral interview, the boys talked about their favorite "ending fairy" pose when J-Hope said, "Ending fairy didn't exist back then."

Suga agreed, "No, it wasn't really a thing then. I still remember, it's when we did 'Boy with Luv (featuring Halsey)' and 'Dionysus...," before Jungkook chimed in, "We kind of started it first." They also did the famous trend with "ON" in 2020.

Though the concept already existed before BTS did it, the user explained that it became more popular thanks to BTS, especially on the international scale.

"BTS [popularized] it, made it a thing, and that's a fact. K-Pop stans every day downplay BTS and their impact, lying and being vile and proving they should not be called humans. You can deny it all you want, we all know the scene would look much different if it [were] your [favorites] saying that," the user defended the group in the thread.