Two of the biggest K-Pop groups ever, BTS and BLACKPINK, were unexpectedly referenced in a new K-Drama.
BTS | BIGHIT MUSIC BLACKPINK | YG Entertainment
Twinkling Watermelon is an ongoing tvN K-Drama, starring Ryeo Un as Eun Gyeol, Choi Hyun Wook as Ha Lee Chan (also romanized as Ha Yi Chan), Seol In Ah (also romanized as Seol In A) as Choi Se Kyung, and Shin Eun Soo as Yoon Cheong Ah (also romanized as Chung A).
High school student Eun Gyeol (Ryeo Un) has hearing-impaired parents, but he has a gift for music. He is a model student by day and plays the guitar in a band at night. One day, he visits a mysterious musical instruments store and travels to a strange place. There, Eun Gyeol meets Ha Yi-Chan (Choi Hyun-Wook), Choi Se-Kyung (Seol In-A) and Yoon Chung-A (Shin Eun-Soo). They form a band called Watermelon Sugar. Meanwhile, Ha Yi-Chann has a crush on Choi Se-Kyung, who is known as the Cello Goddess of Seowon Arts High School, and tries to win her heart. Yoon Chung-A is hearing-impaired. She is cold and aloof to others.
— AsianWiki
“Twinkling Watermelon” poster
Eun Gyeol and Choi Se Kyung have both time-traveled to the 90s in this science-fiction romance comedy. While brainstorming song ideas for their band Watermelon Sugar, Se Kyung began to make familiar suggestions… She said “Fire,” “Dynamite,” and “Not Today,” much to her unknowing band members’ excitement. All three songs are BTS songs!
Eun Gyeol came in just as she teasingly started to sing “Blood Sweat & Tears.” He panicked, asking her if she didn’t care about copyrights.
The bts reference in the new twinkling watermelon episode pic.twitter.com/NU49eAcytM
— Aliha⁷ (@xTaesTeax) November 8, 2023
Dragging her out for a scolding, she jokingly suggested she would sing a BLACKPINK song next while doing choreography for “DDU-DU DDU-DU.”
not eun-yu using the bts and blackpink ref to threaten eun-gyeol cuz he knows how serious copyright infringement is and he’s hella scared abt it like i can’t w these two #TwinklingWatermelon #TwinklingWatermelonEp14 pic.twitter.com/CyBhNQo8rO
— x i a o | | | (@inxiaomnia) November 8, 2023
This isn’t the first time Twinkling Watermelon has referenced iconic pop culture despite primarily being set in the 90s. Before Eun Gyeol knew Se Kyung was also a time traveler, he heard her mention Squid Game upon seeing his green tracksuit.
Not Eun Yu slipping the drama Squid game lmaooo. #TwinklingWatermelon#TwinklingWatermelomEp11 pic.twitter.com/NmVexSHHUk
— Lee Yun (@LeeYunnes) October 30, 2023
In a previous episode, NewJeans‘ “Ditto” played in a scene to signify that Eun Gyeol was in the present day.
EPISODE 7 ENDING!!!
EUNGYEOL’S BACK IN THE PRESENT TIME IN 2023!!!
ALSO, NEWJEANS’S SONG “DITTO” CAN BE HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND!!! #TwinklingWatermelon #TwinklingWatermelonEp7 #반짝이는워터멜론 #반짝이는워터멜론Ep7 pic.twitter.com/8AEp1TWuuK
— STEM Christian Avenido (@AvenidoStem) October 16, 2023
The writers are so clever in how they use their pop culture references!
Did you notice?