ONE PACT 원팩트 'RUSH IN 2 U' Self-Made Video: Film Studies Professor Reacts

[@oolola]

This is such a beautiful song & MV. I had a lot of thoughts... and I felt like I could just keep rewinding and seeing more! I still can't decide whether I think this MV is more hopeful or sad or somewhere right in the middle... the song itself seems more hopeful, but the MV seems much more bittersweet. Also I'm still thinking about whether this is potential lore or more just thematic exploration... what do you think??

[@robertacanales]

i wish i was able to see your reaction to the album listening, this is definitely one of my fave songs I'm obssesed

[@oolola]

Thank you! it would be fun to do a listening reaction, but I've listened to this album so many times already it would definitely not be a first time reaction 😅

[@robertacanales]

@@oolola even without the reaction it so good you like them as much as me

[@ayaeternity]

Jongwoo explained that he made this video about how they were waiting for Jay and that he was the last one to join. Maybe that letter was the offer that Jay got from another company? Idk just a wild guess haha. I love that the story is very personal to them.

[@oolola]

Yes I just heard about this recently! That puts such an interesting spin on it! I mean, it makes sense--both about Jay specifically and about a sort of tension between them following their own careers (and their own past careers too) and the community of the group that's forming. That does make it personal and very real, and I love knowing that detail!

[@chubsgcf]

this is the best self-made kpop mv i’ve ever watched. jongwoo u genius.

[@oolola]

Hard agree - I'm still stunned by how good it is, and also how is Jungwoo so good at everything??

[@chubsgcf]

@@oolola i have no idea. but we’ve been needing someone like him in the idol industry for a longggg time.

[@cmk9046]

Thank you for your support of One Pact. They are all very talented artists and I like your detailed evaluation of the video and song. Thank you &🤍

[@oolola]

Thank you!! They are so impressive, I can't wait to see what they do next!

[@no-detective]

oh yay you are doing more of these!!! this mv is... wow. i had very similar expectations and was similarly blown away by how unexpectedly DEEP it is, even beyond the stunning editing (jongwoo... oh man. he is too! much!!! everything!!!!!). i agree that it's thematically a fit with MUST BE NICE bc of such similar mise en scene setups - each of the members is alone, walking somewhere or waiting and looking anxious or they're shot from behind so we look at their backs - still on point with the whole orpheus mythology. also the colors are desaturated, and there are so many night scenes with light sources being fire (or fire-adjacent sparklers). it's such a noir approach to portrayal of city life, defined by a road that goes in both directions in both the opening and the closing shot, and on which most of the time they feel/are visually alone... while singing about such a passionate, intense, intimate moment of connection with a loved one. (btw not only do they get to walk the same road for a while for the most uplifting part of the mv, but the editing has them almost blending into each other from shot to shot - except not too closely, there's just one match cut that you pointed out already. throughout they are filmed in similar shot types and positions, like they're all going through and feeling the same things even though their surroundings are different. srsly, if jongwoo gets tired of being an idol, he could easily give this directing thing a try...) does it feel like a carpe diem piece to you? there is all this really powerful, sensual LONGING in the song and in the video, like each of them is just waiting for the brief time when they get to experience all the beauty they know exists in the world and in life... but they're also certain that it can only be temporary. like that scene on the bridge when the colors pop into life (but even then, they're still desaturated and soft-looking), or that AMAZING prolonged shot of the field plants swaying in the breeze when tag is not even in the frame - oh, and all those opening shots of different surfaces of water, sparkling in the dark. it's all so beautiful but all so temporary, like the fiery glow of the sparkler dying in the sand with the waves behind it. they know they can't hold onto the beauty of a moment of connection, but they crave it all the same and fall into it like it's a high on which they could go out - a gorgeous, full-bodied sort of joy contextualized by the sadness of its impermanence. you mentioned suicidal ideation, which would certainly put the locations - the seaside and the bridges - into an even darker perspective. but i have a more optimistic reading, mostly bc of the shots of the sun peeking through the clouds - that is such a beautiful, hopeful shot! and it could also be more of a dramatic contrast in the overall narrative, like saying "i'm so happy i could die"; bleak but there's something very youthful about it. that's why jay's letter doesn't feel like a farewell note to me, but as the message of the song itself, a confession of sorts: i'm here, i want to be with you, let's celebrate this love while we can - and also, the opportunity to do so is very, very transient, gone in the blink of an eye. ETA omg tag's cardigan has a BRIGHT RED HEART on it, oh nooooo my feeeeeeeels ETA 2 and there's white stitching on the heart, that look the same as the white stitching on jongwoo's hat - so does that mean tag is the one who feels too much, and jongwoo is the one who thinks too much? idk idk their work is SO RICH

[@oolola]

OMG first off I cannot believe that you managed to lore up the cardigan.... now I'm really going to have to find that cardigan, aren't I... Ahhh so many interesting things to reply to here, where to begin? (After the cardigan, that is...) I LOVE that you're thinking of this as noir as well -- I mean, I think it's so interesting to consider both of these MVs as noir or noir-esque or neo noir or something, because it lends them both a moral ambiguity of sorts; like, in Must Be Nice we're put in Orpheus' shoes even though his choices are so questionable because he lets his desire or doubt override him and he indriectly kills/loses Eurydice as a result (this especially through Jake's representation) and here we're shown this really muddy set of emotions -- desire, hope, joy in connection & community, doubt, depression, desperation -- they're all mixed together without a clear resolution. I hadn't thought of Jay's letter as a farewell (or suicide) note, but as a confession of doubt, depression, dark feelings, something we see all of them struggling with. And so I guess I don't see this as carpe diem as much as an acknowledgment that doubt, sadness, depression don't just magically go away with community, friendship, collectivity; they remain and can pull people back into isolation. I mean, if we tie it to the Orpheus myth in the end, by his looking back and picking up the note at the end and then losing his friends, it's akin to Orpheus looking back at Eurydice and losing her as a result--desire, impulse, curiousity, doubt undermine moving forward with real connection and community. Ahhhh anyway thank you sooo much for the thoughtful & thought provoking comment, there's just so much to say about ONE PACT's work & they've only just debuted!! (And yeah, Jongwoo is amazingly talented at everything -- I'm in AWE)

[@no-detective]

@@oolola omg i didn't actually think of jongwoo turning back and getting the letter and then suddenly being alone again as the orpheus story - idk why, it's RIGHT THERE!!! i get too much into the lyrics admittedly, and the letter appears on screen as they sing about being ready to begin, give this connection a shot, etc. etc... but of course, in the context of the debut m/v that direction totally shifts. (especially since i've seen this track described in a few places as the song for the fans, and like... k-pop groups don't normally start out with this much openness / awareness of their own temporality & their own success being utterly dependent on their audiences?? i guess "memento mori" is the other side of the "carpe diem" coin. so G.O.A.T. is a much more typical debut song; but nope, bleeding heart on the sleeve of sorts, these guys just dive right in there from the very beginning!)

[@oolola]

Totally, everything about their debut has been so unique, and people have noticed. From GOAT not being their debut, to the depth, lore, complexity, and maturity of Must Be Nice to like, everything about Rush in 2 U, it's all so unexpected and wonderful! I'm still totally obsessed and waiting for *more* @@no-detective

[@Joyce-tw5vo]

One pact ❤❤❤ Jay ❤❤❤

[@avery1_1]

I know I'm kinda late but I just wanna let out my thoughts here. As someone in the comments also said this is about members waiting for Jay to finally join, and do you also notice how Jay is the only one who's always on that same road the whole time on the mv? He's always been in the middle of that two-way road and seems to be having a dilemma initially on the beginning scenes he appeared. The road with two ways which means he has options to consider. This makes me feel like he was conflicted about whether to join the members or not. Although the song leans towards to more of a melo side and same with the visuals of the mv too, but I weirdly feel the positivity instead of a negative sense. The lyrics like "nothing last forever" "You ready or not one day it will all end" 'If the time is now, I won't waste it" are giving "carpe diem". And one of the theories I read somewhere is also interesting. Jay's lines "Who's there.." (at the start) "Who's there.. I need your answer" (the last chorus) and the rest of the members' lyrics throughout seem to be the responses to Jay and giving reassurance and convincing him to make the best out of now together with also a sense of knowing things will eventually end someday+ the unknown future. Most of the people associate "bottling up" with depression (like bottle up the feelings) but I want to think it ("Bottles bottles up. Let's celebrate this love baby.") as them acknowledging things don't last but let's bottle up (see what I did here?) the negative sense of this nature and appreciate the present. Also bottles as in them literally cheering with drink bottles up too. After thinking about for a while, Jay finally decided to give it a go and walks towards the opposite direction of the initial camera shot. "This is the beginning. I can't let it go before I see the end." At the last chorus, members are "rushing" towards a direction with by foot or by car (Jongwoo lol) and finally all together meeting with Jay and walking towards the same direction. (that opposite direction from the viewer's pov) Do you notice how that two arrows turn into the same direction after One Pact becomes together and also directing towards the same way they have walked? Also Jongwoo at the last scenes feel like he is looking back his past alone self (before he literally recruited the members as we all know) where no one was there yet. Btw have you watched the new self-made video that was preleased for upcoming album? I feel like we have connections with these self-made videos so far. If you don't know this latest song title was in their second self-made video's ending (the scene of Jongwoo's phone screen and what he was listening) The theme is similar too. The lyrics are "If I keep walking and keep walking, will I be able to reach you?" and we can see they are walking towards somewhere. (Rush~Walk) And that line is the most repetitive part. My delulu self can't help but think about that it's made for Jay and them longing for him🤧. If you reach here then, thanks for taking time to reading my thoughts :3