M is for MYNAME

I never actually reviewed Baby I’m Sorry by MYNAME, which was released two years ago, but I got a request recently to write a review for it. Since it is so old, I won’t write a full review. Instead, here is my analysis of the story. I mentioned before that this is one of the best music video stories I have ever seen, with subplots upon subplots and really good character development for a seven-minute video.

Today’s post will be rather long because I plan on breaking down every single part of this story (to the best of my understanding). Here we go~

*Note: If you don’t like blood, avert your eyes. This is a pretty bloody and violent music video.

Bad Guy Sunghoon (right) and Bad Guy Oh Sung (left) talk about how people change, implying that the two of them have changed. They used to be friends but after too many wrong moves, they are now bitter enemies, possibly foreshadowing what is about to happen in the following story.

We are then introduced to the main characters, the members of MYNAME. Four of the members are chilling on a beach, having fun.

Maknae Chaejin comes in with the beer, but looking pitiful. Seyong is excitedly grabs the bag, but then…

He noticed Chaejin is all beaten up and asks him what happened. Chaejin doesn’t answer but looks down pitifully.

Leader Gunwoo inspects the injuries and then jumps into action.

Seyong is surprised at how rashly Gunwoo ran off while poor Chaejin is still just shaken up.

The bad guys enjoy the beers they apparently stole from Chaejin, but in comes Gunwoo!

He is doing pretty well, but is clearly outnumbered and he ends up on the ground, completely vulnerable.

But luckily, in comes the three older members, Insoo, JunQ, and Seyong here to back him up! They are all ready to take on the bad guys, except for Chaejin who cowers behind Seyong in fear.

Even though he is in pain, his friends are all there, which means they are for sure going to win. Once everyone starts fighting, it is clear that the bad guys are no match for the MYNAME crew.

Meanwhile Chaejin lingers around his friends, but he is clearly not a fighter and tries to avoid the bad guys at all costs. He eventually has had enough and just wants to go home, so he cries out to Gunwoo…

…who immediately stops fighting to check on his little bro. In the end, they’re a little beaten and bloody, but for the most part okay.

And that was only the intro. So, what we have so far: five friends who are generally nice and innocent, but when threatened, are all pretty skilled at street fighting. All, save Chaejin, who is the youngest and weakest of them all. While he manages to get by without getting too badly hurt, he relies on the other members, particularly Gunwoo, the leader. Gunwoo is pretty impulsive in protecting his friends, while Seyong is more happy-go-lucky, though when push comes to shove he too won’t hesitate in fighting for his friends.

Now time for the actual story to start.

We are taken to Gunwoo, who apparently does some “professional” fighting on the side, working as a minion of some gang, the leader of which is Bad Guy Sunghoon, from the opening scene.

He accepts the money for a job well done but judging by the expression on his face, he clearly doesn’t like making money this way. However, being a young kid, presumably not in school, this is the best job he can find.

Bad Guy Sunghoon nods and drives away and Gunwoo curiously watches him go, implying that he probably doesn’t know all that much about his rich boss.

Later, all five friends are eating dinner together. Chaejin accidentally bumps into a mean-looking guy who jumps up and starts shouting in Chaejin’s face.

The guy is about to hit Chaejin when Gunwoo stops him.

Chaejin breathes a sigh of relief. Gunwoo had his back again.

The leader of these mean restaurant guys turns out to be Bad Guy Oh Sung, the other guy from the opening scene. Oh Sung calls the fight off, eyeing Gunwoo.

The two stare each other down, and Gunwoo looks at him curiously, as if trying to figure out if he has seen Oh Sung before. Bad Guy Oh Sung gives Gunwoo one last intimidating look before leaving with his crew.

Seyong also eyes the men as they leave, a mixture of fear and interest in his eye.

Once they are gone, Seyong shows off his fighting skills, bragging that he could have taken them on. Meanwhile Insoo and JunQ roll their eyes at Seyong, who is just all talk.

Gunwoo comforts Chaejin, assuring him that the bad guys are gone. Something in Chaejin’s eye suggests like he might be a little ashamed that he can never handle the bad guys on his own.

In another scene, Seyong and Gunwoo are chilling with a little kid, Seyong apparently going on again about how good of a fighter he is. Out of nowhere, a car beeps behind them.

It is Gunwoo’s boss, Bay Guy Sunghoon, telling Gunwoo to gear up for another assignment, causing Gunwoo’s dark work to interfere with his happy life.

At his cleaning job, Insoo sees Gunwoo get out of Bad Guy Sunghoon’s car and join the other gang members. Insoo watches them with clear disapproval at the way Gunwoo is earning money. While Insoo is working hard at an actual job, Gunwoo makes more money doing illegal work. No one is saying anything to Gunwoo, but it seems like his friends do not totally approve of his lifestyle.

Bad Guy Sunghoon is at some ceremony in which Bad Guy Oh Sung is receiving some business deal or honor, and it makes Sunghoon’s blood boil. Sunghoon brings in Gunwoo and his other minions and orders them to attack Oh Sung (if I heard correctly, I think he tells Gunwoo to go “greet” Oh Sung?).

Gunwoo goes and easily fights off all of Bad Guy Oh Sung’s minions and Oh Sung simply watches him. Before leaving, Gunwoo gives Oh Sung a warning look.

When Oh Sung’s reinforcements come, he stops them from going after Gunwoo. He is fixated by Gunwoo. Rather than simply get rid of him, he wants to learn more about Bad Guy Sunghoon’s newest minion.

Back at Bad Guy Oh Sung’s office, he is looking over his new recruits, who all appear pretty weak and scared.

Then at the very end of the line, we see our friend Seyong, looking meek compared to the other roughed up recruits, and frankly a bit unsure of himself.

Bad Guy Oh Sung makes the comment that he hasn’t seen Seyong before, implying that Seyong is never around these types of people.

However before Oh Sung can say more, Seyong eagerly assures him that he is committed to serving him and will be an obedient minion.

Once Oh Sung leaves, Seyong breathes a sigh of relief. He did it. He got in. But does he really know what he just signed up for?

We are then brought to a sauna in which Bad Guy Sunghoon and Bad Guy Oh Sung meet. Oh Sung said that he received Gunwoo’s “greeting” with a hint of amusement. Sunghoon assures Oh Sung that there are more minions where he came from and Oh Sung simply acknowledges it, implying that he too is going to use his little army of boys to bring Sunghoon down.

We now are brought back to Seyong, who has fully accepted his role as minion of Bad Guy Oh Sung. He is seen bullying some innocent workers.

However Gunwoo finds him and pulls him aside, demanding what Seyong is doing. He sees Seyong getting into the shady business and is worried about his friend, but Seyong shrugs Gunwoo off and basically tells him to leave him alone and that it is his life (that’s what “nae mamiya” means, right?). Seyong then struts away from Gunwoo who watches his friend with concern.

While he may not be acting with the best values, Seyong is making it big with his new boss. Bad Guy Oh Sung, to reward Seyong for his hard work, buys Seyong a new, expensive-looking watch. Seyong looks at Oh Sung in surprise, not believing that he is receiving such a nice gift. When Oh Sung assures him that the watch is his, Seyong excitedly tries it on. He is happy. His work is finally paying off.

Oh Sung then pulls Seyong close and tells him his next mission, which makes Seyong stand up with a grave expression and he nervously accepts the assignment.

It is a dark night and both Gunwoo and Seyong embark on their separate missions. Gunwoo is attacking some people exchanging goods while Seyong…

…has been given the task of killing the great Bad Guy Sunghoon himself.

Sunghoon however is way too experienced in this field and catches Seyong immediately. The two struggle with Seyong’s knife, but Sunghoon is clearly stronger and more experienced and backs Seyong against a wall.

Once Seyong sees that knife pointing at him, he realizes that he is done for. His face reflects that he never expected his work to get this out of hand where he could end up losing his own life.

He watches Sunghoon with nothing but childlike fear in his eyes. This is not what he wanted when he chose to join Oh Sung.

Sunghoon taunts Seyong as he kills him, making it even clearer to Seyong that he was delusional in thinking that he could take on Sunghoon. Sunghoon is a real fighter. Seyong is just an ambitious kid.

Once the knife makes contact with Seyong’s skin, Seyong feels the pain he never expected to feel and resists his death, but it is futile, and he is killed.

*pauses for tissues*

The same night, Bad Guy Sunghoon and Gunwoo meet for drinks, Gunwoo totally unaware that the very man he is sitting with has just killed one of this best friends. Gunwoo tells Sunghoon that he wants to stop with this life.

Gunwoo goes back to headquarters and notices some men dragging out a body bag, still unaware that the person in the bag is Seyong. He smiles when he opens his phone and texts Seyong.

“Seyong-ah – I miss the old times. Let’s go back to the old times.”

The video then flashes back to memories of the five members having fun with each other, a moment that now seems like a lifetime away.

However, those memories are in the past for good because Gunwoo has now realized what has happened and storms into Bad Guy Sunghoon’s hideout, enraged at what he did. He screams at Sunghoon and attempts to fight Sunghoon’s army.

As Gunwoo is fighting, we see flashbacks to Seyong’s funeral, JunQ, Insoo, and Chaejin tearfully bidding their friend goodbye.

To them, it was a tragedy, but Gunwoo knows the real story and cannot look his friends in the eye.

Back in the hideout, Gunwoo is no match for Sunghoon’s forces and is badly beaten.

When Gunwoo is on the ground, at his worst, Sunghoon bends down and whispers something to Gunwoo, presumably mocking Seyong, which causes Gunwoo to again become enraged and charge at Sunghoon.

At that moment, the remaining three friends enter the scene, as always ready to help their leader. They lay eyes on Gunwoo’s pitiful figure and realize just how bad things have gotten.

However, Gunwoo, as always, is happy to see them and gives them a haunting, bloody smile as Sunghoon shoots him, killing him.

The first reaction we see is of Chaejin, who watches the one person he has always relied on drop dead right before his eyes.

Insoo and JunQ jump right into action, fighting their leader’s killers with all their might.

Chaejin is now really left completely alone and runs away from the fight.

However, unlike their past fights, this time there are only two real fighting members left in MYNAME and they are quickly beaten by Sunghoon’s men. We watch from Chaejin’s perspective as JunQ is hit behind the head, killed instantly.

Chaejin finally tries with his last might to fight one of the men coming after him, but it does nothing and the man approaches Chaejin with a knife.

At that moment, Chaejin’s phone lights up, signaling a call from “Mom” (I think it literally reads something along the lines of “My loving mom”).

The man comes closer and closer to Chaejin who can do nothing but watch the knife in fear, knowing that he has absolutely no way of protecting himself anymore. Gunwoo is dead and his friends are already being killed by Sunghoon’s men. With nothing to stop him, the man stabs Chaejin.

As Chaejin falls to the ground, we see Insoo’s neck snapped by one of the men and he too falls dead.

Now that the fight is finally over, all we can hear is Chaejin’s tearful and desperate cries for his mom as he tries to reach for his phone.

However just as his hand is about to touch the phone, he becomes still, dead.

In a final scene, we are back to the friends on the beach, before any of this started, as they pose for a picture together, not knowing that soon they all will go through this ordeal and be killed.

And to foreshadow the events that are to come, the video closes with the picture burning in the fire. Five friends who got caught in a dark and deadly game none of them had anticipated.

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Guys, I cried even as I was putting this together. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched this video and I cry literally every single time I watch it. Seyong’s storyline just kills me.

The members of MYNAME are amazing actors. Half of the reason why this story is so impactful is because they act it out so well. Seyong’s little micro-movements in his face, Gunwoo’s rage when he finds out that Sunghoon killed Seyong, that heartbreaking final moment before Chaejin dies.

This post is literally step by step every single thing that happens in the music video, but it is all much more vivid and heart-breaking when watched with the background song. This whole comeback was really one of the best ones out there.

So, what did you all think of this post? It’s different from what I usually do. Are in-depth story analyses something you would like to see more of on this blog?

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Question of the Day:

There is so much to talk about with this story. What do you like best about it?

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#NowPlaying: Baby I’m Insane – A mashup of MYNAME’s Baby I’m Sorry and BTOB’s Insane. Two amazing songs put into one amazing mashup.

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