Finally onto the last one ! Butterfly is a personal favorite of mine – the song is close to my heart and the illustrations by Lee Kyutae are nothing short of wonderful.
The description for Butterfly on Amazon misses out on the art style used but here it is:
“Vol. 5 Butterfly is about a boy who sees all of his friends somewhere between dream and reality, and past and future. Finally, the boy starts to walk in one direction, as if he has made up his mind, signaling an end which is also a new beginning.”
The Korean description mentions deliberately using divided pages that mix and match to create the effect of confusion- and to accurately convey the feeling of a boy who journeys between past and present, dream and reality. The story here is from Jin’s point of view- and I think the divided pages reflect all the timelines Jin goes through to achieve his end goal- saving everyone and going on a beach visit again with all 7 of them.
A Brief Introduction: On 12 June Year 19, all 7 of them go to the beach together on a sunny day. The day starts the beginning of Jungkook and Yoongi’s bond , and is a memorable and precious day for all of them. After Jin leaves for L.A. to continue his higher education, he comes back in April 2022 to find all his friends scattered and in horrible conditions- eventually Namjoon ends up in jail, Taehyung kills his Dad, Yoongi and Jungkook die by suicide, and Hoseok and Jimin end up in the hospital due to their mental illnesses. Seokjin drives to the beach again and wonders if he can save them all
After this, his time traveling begins as he tries to save them one by one- failing again and again. He mentions to others that once he is done saving them all – he would like going to that beach again.
In the Book- they do end up going, but a fight breaks out afterwards causing the timeline to fail again. We are yet to see if they Jin achieves his dream fully or not. This graphic lyrics book will deal with this dream of Seokjin.
Most of the scenes used in this book have been taken from HYYH On Stage: Prologue which uses the same song as a background. For this volume, I will not be doing so much of an analysis per se but will instead note down the references to the MV, other MVs, and discuss what is new. This is also mostly because the way you open the pages is your take on it – and this ‘interpretation’ will be my take on it .
Then, let us start. Translations do not belong to me, but Doolset.
How beautiful ! This scenery is of the woods that lead us to the scenery seen in prologue
This shot is of the 5 members- Namjoon, Jimin, Yoongi, Hoseok and Jungkook who are running to meet Taehyung after he calls Namjoon (after killing his father). This shot is there in the MV as well
Next, we arrive at the first divided page: dividing Jin from the rest of the members- creating the effect that he is seeing this separately:
The small recording sign is just like in the MV.
An interesting thing to note here is that Jungkook’s outfit does not match with the MV- everyone else’s matches but Jungkook is instead wearing his yellow jacket seen in Euphoria.
As you flip the pages: the lyrics appear
아무것도 생각하지 마
Don’t think of anything
넌 아무 말도 꺼내지도 마
Don’t bring up any word
그냥 내게 웃어줘
Please just smile at me
난 아직도 믿기지가 않아
I still can’t believe it
이 모든 게 다 꿈인 것 같아
All of this feels like a dream
사라지려 하지마
Don’t try to fade away
This shot of Taehyung’s hand is seen in both Euphoria and Prologue
The last line is separated from the rest- and if you mix up the images a little bit for example like this:
The meaning changes to:
Is it true? Is it true?
You You
너무 아름다워 두려워
You’re so beautiful that I’m scared
사라지려 하지마
Don’t try to fade away
With the shot of Taehyung’s hand and Taejoon having fun in the upper panel, the meaning becomes even more poignant as you think of Taehyung fearing he will lose these precious moments. This is just one possible way you can add your own unique interpretations to the book.
In the next scene we have:
This is the actual order of the pages , and the lyrics in the last line change to:
Untrue Untrue
You You You
In this context the lyrics take on the meaning of Jin wondering if he is just dreaming – is it true what he sees?
The shot of Taejoon is seen in Prologue, and that of Jin in I Need U
Next up is this:
곁에 머물러줄래
Will you stay by my side
내게 약속해줄래
Will you promise me
손 대면 날아갈까 부서질까
If I touch you, that you might fly away, that you might be shattered,
겁나 겁나 겁나
I’m scared scared scared
The rest of the boys play happily as Seokjin is sitting alone on his bed. The lyrics emphasize his desire to be with all of them, but at the same time of losing them all if he makes one wrong move.
In the next scene, Seokjin moves his curtains- an action that has been interpreted as him time-traveling
시간을 멈출래
I would stop the time
이 순간이 지나면
Once this moment passes by,
없었던 일이 될까
that it might become something that didn’t happen,
널 잃을까
that I might lose you,
겁나 겁나 겁나
I’m scared scared scared
In the upwards panel we see Jimin dancing while Hoseok watches fondly. This scene is from Euphoria:
The vending machine with Coke written on it are clues that this scene takes place in the cafetaria of the hospital Jimin is at. However, there has been one change: Jimin was alone then, but now he has Hoseok by his side.
The lyrics again match Jin’s determination to ‘stop the time’ as well his fear that what he ends up doing may become ‘something that did not happen’.
The lyrics go like this ( only put up the ones in pure Korean for understanding)-
넌 마치 Butterfly
You’re just like a butterfly
멀리서 훔쳐봐 손 닿으면 널 잃을까
I steal a glance of you from far away fearing that I might lose you if my hand touches you
이 칠흑 같은 어둠 속 날 밝히는 나비효과
The butterfly effect that shines on me in this pitch-darkness
니 작은 손짓 한 번에 현실을 잊어 난
Just a gentle hand gesture of yours makes me forget the reality
Again in this context, the lyrics talk about Jin’s time-traveling. The Butterfly Effect is : “The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. The concept is imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon.” ( Source) It is the idea that the very smallest of changes creates a whole new alternate reality. As Jin time travels- very often the smallest of his decisions completely alter the timeline .
In the next scene- we arrive at a scene we have never seen before:
살며시 쓰다듬는 바람 같아
Like a wind that gently strokes me,
살포시 표류하는 먼지 같아
like a dust that lightly drifts in the air,
넌 거기 있지만 왠지 닿지 않아
you’re there but, for some reason, I can’t reach you
Stop
꿈 같은 넌 내게 butterfly, high
A dream-like you, you’re a butterfly to me, high
Jimin and Hoseok are in their Prologue outfits, but they are in the dance studio with from Highlight Reel- in which strangely we were never shown them dancing together. It was either the girl and Jimin, or the girl and Hoseok. Were the girls a part of a butterfly effect?
The lyrics once again convey the anguish Jin feels as if he cannot quite grasp his dream yet.
Next we have this:
곁에 머물러줄래
Will you stay by my side
내게 약속해줄래
Will you promise me
손 대면 날아갈까 부서질까
If I touch you, that you might fly away, that you might be shattered,
겁나 겁나 겁나
I’m scared scared scared
Jungkook walking is a familiar scene seen in INU, Prologue and Euphoria. Here he is in the Euphoria jacket- and the exact parallel does not exist, but here is the corresponding scene in the Prologue:
Another butterfly effect? Seokjin sits resignedly on the bed- and it seems as if this timeline failed too
Next we come to this:
시간을 멈출래
I would stop the time
이 순간이 지나면
Once this moment passes,
없었던 일이 될까
that it might become something that didn’t happen,
널 잃을까
that I might lose you,
겁나 겁나 겁나
I’m scared scared scared
Here, Jin seems determined to try again and opens his curtains once more: and the scene in the upper panel seems new : we have not yet seen Taehyung and Namjoon laughing together in the container in any MV yet , but we do have a similar scene from the Run Graphic Lyrics:
What it does remind me of is this:
Next we come to this:
The recording sign is back- but is not red- so the recording stopped. Moreover, in the lower panel , Jin disappears – probably meaning that he has finally head out to meet his friends/ that he has stopped traveling in time.
The lyrics for this spread are very important:
심장은 메마른 소리를 내
My heart makes a dry sound
꿈인지 현실인지 알 수 없네
I don’t know if it’s a dream or the reality
나의 해변의 카프카여
My Kafka on the shore,
저기 숲으로 가진 말아줘
please don’t go to the forest over there
내 마음은 아직 너 위에 부서져
My heart still breaks into pieces over you
조각조각 까맣게 녹아 흘러
that melt black and flow down
(난 그냥 이대로 증발하고 싶어)
(I just want to evaporate away like this)
내 사랑은 영원인 걸
My love is eternity
It’s all FREE for you baby
Of these lines , ” My Kafka on the Shore, don’t go to forests over there” are particularly significant. Kafka on the Shore is a novel by Haruki Murakami that too intersects between past and present, dream and reality. The plot of the novel is too complex to be described here, but I’ll talk a little about the forests. In the novel, Kafka is warned to not get lost in the woods- he goes there to go to the past, to meet the love of his life. However, people who go to the woods often lose their way and never come out. In other words it is a metaphor for people who get lost in their pasts and never face reality. These lyrics are juxtaposed with a plain scene of the forest, and an empty bed , suggesting that perhaps like Kafka, Jin too has made the choice of visiting the woods.
곁에 머물러줄래
Will you stay by my side
내게 약속해줄래
Will you promise me
손 대면 날아갈까 부서질까
If I touch you, that you might fly away, that you might be shattered,
겁나 겁나 겁나
I’m scared scared scared
Finally, we have Jin in one frame with the others- reunited in the very end. Perhaps this scene now is the realization of Jin’s dream – all of them together at the beach, smiling happily. This scene is inspired from this:
Next we have this very iconic scene from the Prologue:
시간을 멈출래
I would stop the time
이 순간이 지나면
Once this moment passes,
없었던 일이 될까, 널 잃을까
that it might become something that didn’t happen, that I might lose you,
겁나 겁나 겁나
I’m scared scared scared
From right to left: Namjoon, Taehyung, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, Hoseok and Yoongi.
This is the scene of all of them sitting side by side, except Taehyung who climbs the platform shown in the picture. Versions of this scene vary between the Prologue ending and Euphoria- but the basic essence is the same. In this picture however, it seems all 7 of them are sitting together- perhaps then, will there come a timeline that neither Taehyung nor Jin stand on the platform? Or this perhaps the (yet) unattainable dream Jin dreams.
In the last few pages , the chorus of Butterfly continues:
Jin catches the butterfly in the hands – and because I am a hopeful person, I interpret it as Jin having finally achieved his dream- the butterfly being in his hands is symbolic of him having some control over how the timeline goes . After all the beach visit was his dream and it comes to pass in this book.
That is all for Butterfly! If you are interested in my take on the other series, here are the links:
Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or @ me on Twitter.
Sources for all the images:
- Shue_soo
- @sujup0613
- Graphic lyrics unboxing
- Another unboxing video
- Photos lent to me by the wonderful @mochi_manggae
Map Of The (B)Universe 
