“Switch people!”
On the morning of December 26th, I was shocked to find not only a new YouTube video of Youngji and Mijoo together and a new Seulgi video (guest-starring Joy), but a Byul the Gatekeeper episode with the entire 9294* crew. It was a true Christmas miracle.
Going in chronological order based on the actual events, we start with the latest from Hi Seulgi:
I would not have predicted that Seulgi and Joy would prove to be one of the most durable Red Velvet pairings, but here we are at the end of 2025, and the two cuties are running amok in Abu Dhabi. After performing individual solo stages (we see bits of “Hello” and “28 Reasons”), they unwind at Ferrari World, perhaps the most ostentatiously named theme park, where Seulgi has my exact, withering experience with roller coasters in her 30s. They used to be fine, I don’t get it! What surprised and heartened me was how little Joy seems to have changed, emerging onto this new stage of her career without appearing burnt out. She’s still the same vaguely mischievous goofball. She also looks great with that short hairstyle.
Yellow and Green then head to Warner Bros. World, with Flintstones and Scooby-Doo attractions and all their puffy, pastel-colored whimsy. Seulgi has a hard time in a hall of mirrors funhouse, and they get to meet Batman.
The Google AI tells me that Abu Dhabi is the less tourism-focused UAE hot spot compared to Dubai (so take that with a grain of salt and screw AI), but this trip didn’t deal in cultural sites, only rides that made Seulgi dizzy.
Back in Seoul, she offers something of a New Year’s Resolution, but gets started immediately: learning to scuba dive. That is, truly, a very Seulgi activity. She loves nature, and it’s something peaceful and thrilling at the same time. I really think she should hook up with Kwon Yuri, who’s always doing stuff like this. Earlier this year, she was hanging out with the Korean diving women. That was really cool. We close things out with a pretty good look at Seulgi’s house, beyond the couch often seen in her videos, and it looks quite opulent, an appropriate upgrade from the closet of days long, long ago.
Next, our centerpiece 9294* video, courtesy of Moonbyul’s channel:
Seulgi braces herself for the chaos of 9294* (née “The ‘94 Line”), and the ensuing 34 minutes are, indeed, loud. Even the sound guy had to take off his headphones when Youngji really got going. She and Mijoo are the first to arrive, possibly having traveled together, and it’s amazing how much they’re shouting every word they say, from the stairwell to the entrance. Right away, we see that Youngji didn’t get the memo on the dress code, again reminding me of Kwon Yuri. “Thank goodness Hyojung is here,” Mijoo says, as she’d dressed up for the occasion.
They start by discussing their recent activities, most of which are YouTube channels. Hyojung’s been hosting a radio program called Volume Up! (hosted back in 2020 by my dear Kang Han-ha), and Youngji recently toured with Kara (in Japan, of course). I can’t wait to see any of that, beyond Instagram photos. Come on, Gyuri, give me something. Seulgi arrives, prompted to dance “Red Flavor” as she enters. She mentions the Dream Concert in Abu Dhabi, and asks if anyone else can withstand amusement park rides these days. The answer: not really, but they’re very enthusiastic about them. More war stories when they talk about Christmas parties, that shortly after Oh My Girl debuted, they had to stay in at the dorms instead of celebrate. “Every day is a party for me” is Hyojung’s attitude these days, and what a Hyojung thing to say.
Seulgi, trying hard as always
They then hang up balloon letters spelling out “Merry Christmas,” which gets everyone dancing. Or at least, Moonbyul and Youngji. Seulgi is already tired. Back at the table, Youngji asks about food for a second time, and gets an ad for something called Twozzim, which does look pretty good: braised short ribs of varying spice level. Youngji pours the makgeolli, first for the host, and then goes instinctively to her bestie Mijoo before asking who has the earlier birthday between her and Seulgi – it’s Seulgi. Youngji, apparently, is the youngest.
Then it’s time for gift-giving, which is a Secret Santa with a 30,000-won limit. They decide who gets whose gift with a ladder game, and this is how it turns out:
Hyojung’s gift > Seulgi
Mijoo’s gift > Youngji
Seulgi’s gift > Moonbyul
Youngi’s gift > Hyojung
Moonbyul’s gift > Mijoo
And so, Seulgi opens a bottle of balsamic vinegar, which worked out great because Seulgi is the only one who cooks. Youngji opens a recently wrapped (with Hyojun’s gift wrap) set of socks, which was no surprise. It sounds like Mijoo and Youngji might have gone shopping together, though this inspires Hyojung to tell the origin story of the Christmas stocking, to plenty of oohs and ahs. Moonbyul opens a nicely-wrapped gift from Seulgi (funny how all these worked out, especially as we’ll see), which turns out to be Hello Kitty hot water bottles from Haenggung-dong. Seulgi’s gone all over the world, but maybe it was in the spirit of things that she kept it relatively local (she’s got to be the wealthiest one here). Youngji wraps her gift in Hyojung’s twice-used gift wrap before handing it to Hyojung, and this is easily the lamest gift, a snowman key ring (she thought it was a “useless gift” exchange). “I think you got scammed,” she tells Youngji. But it is cute, they say, so it fits her well.
“I actually had Mijoo in mind from the start when I picked my gift,” Moonbyul says, an absolutely killer detail you get from a rewatch. In true Moonbyul fashion, it’s a brilliant troll. The gift comes in a Balenciaga bag, prompting cries of “Unnie!” from Mijoo, especially when the wrapped package would appear to be a handbag. “Unnie, seriously!” and “My heart is racing so much.” They talk about how there was one lucky winner all along, and Youngji wants to exchange. Mijoo probably has a feeling that it isn’t actually a designer handbag, because she plays it up with everyone else, turning around and closing her eyes and screaming in excitement. Youngji makes sure to extract a promise that since Mijoo is getting the expensive gift, that she buys them dinner. And then the big reveal: it’s some ahjumma clothes.
I seriously love how Hyojung points and cackles at Mijoo.
With that done and Mijoo wearing her floral vest, they play that weird square game, whose rules no Westerner has ever figured out, and then the Frying Pan game. This would give me the biggest laugh of the video. “What’s the penalty?” Mijoo asks, and Youngji immediately decides: “A kiss from us?” That definitely will be a penalty, they agree. Hyojung loses the first round, and earns kisses on both cheeks from Mijoo and Youngji. She notes that she doesn’t even get kisses from her own members, which surprises me, given YooA. In round two, Moonbyul leads the charge in targeting Hyojung, which is extremely funny. Finally, she messes up again, and Mijoo and Youngji go in for a kiss. “Why is it them again?!” she says. “Switch people!”
Finally, we have Mijoo and Youngji breaking off for what appears to be the first in a dangerously multi-part road trip:
They’re close friends, of course, but they’re also equally loud and obnoxious, making the theme of this video “Friendship at Risk.” I feel for Mijoo here, because she is the host — and the driver, which comes into play — and when you have plans, things suddenly have to “go to plan.” All Youngji has to do is get in the car. The plan, unfulfilled as of this first installment, is to go glamping, possibly in Gangwon-do.
Things start out great for Mijoo, who’d just gotten her car washed, when it starts raining on the road. It’s enough agitation to where Mijoo hangs up on Youngji mid-sentence. “So noisy.” They do call each other “honey,” though. She picks up Youngji, who keeps shouting “Mijoo-ah! Mijoo-ah!” and they take their first-ever trip together. Today’s goal? “Don’t fight.” And what happens if we fight, Mijoo asks? If we fight, we fight, Youngji reasons.
Their bickering is pretty standard Youngji/Mijoo stuff, where Youngji keeps going on and on about the sudden bad weather and Mijoo has to tell her to stop, but they finally reconcile when the topic of food comes up: dakgalbi. They go on to talk about the Moonbyul video, where apparently 9294* hung out for seven and a half hours. There’s also some disagreement as to whether or not Mijoo did buy them dinner. She paid, but everyone paid her back, so Youngji is quick to deny her the magnanimity.
They end up pulling off the highway and getting so-tteok-so-tteok at a rest stop. Mijoo is paying, so Youngji is generous enough to take the entire staff’s orders. Apparently, they’re still on track for dakgalbi, but they didn’t want to wait.
And so, they arrive at Hakgok Intersection Dakgalbi, according to the English subtitles, only after Mijoo lays down a road rule: “don’t talk back to me.” Inside the restaurant, Mijoo has another idea, that they’ll add “thank you” to the end of each sentence, to which Youngji quickly replies: “Can you just not talk for a bit?” The dakgalbi is prepared at the table, and it’s some sort of stir-fried chicken dish. Looks amazing.
Back on the road, Youngji suggests a nearby liquor market, which as we’ll see is more fun for her than it is for the designated driver.
More trolling of Mijoo. If only she had that Balenciaga bag
They find some sort of Lady Gaga wine in the basement, and Youngji breaks one of the trip’s friendship commandments when Mijoo halfheartedly takes her picture and Youngji complains. Apparently, one of the rules is “Don’t get annoyed,” which is how Mijoo ended up paying for lunch. So Mijoo now rushes over to the staff to tattle on Youngji. It doesn’t seem to take.
When queried on the day’s various indignities, Mijoo insists that she’s doing it all for Youngji, who continues to act trollish in the background. “So I’m happy, too, being with Youngji,” Mijoo says. Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen.
With the snow still falling, their phones ping with disaster alerts heading into the preview of the next installment. Soon enough, we’ll see that they do reach their glamping destination, and Mijoo has to vent by shouting into the sky.
I don’t suppose I’ll be able to justify covering the next part, but these videos were way more than I was expecting anyway (which was none). I’m just so glad that 9294* remains strong, though Youngji and Mijoo may do whatever they can to destroy it. I guess that’s fair, as they’re the reason it exists in the first place. What they gave they can taketh away.
With Eyes East 