K-pop boy group BTOB's member Yook Sungjae is under the spotlight for using a smart way to respond to his recent dating rumors.
At 9PM on August 13, BTOB held a live broadcast session to say goodbye to the leader Seo Eunkwang with fans, since he is planned to enlist in the military on August 21.
Earlier on August 13, one media outlet reported that Yook Sungjae and girl group DIA's JUEUN have been dating since January.
Not long after the report was made, management agencies of both stars denied the dating rumors.
During the live broadcast, Yook Sungjae cleverly responded to the dating rumors with JUEUN that arose in the afternoon that day.
While BTOB members were enjoying the farewell party together, Seo Eunkwang shouted out, "Apparently, BTOB is now at No. 3 on the real time chart of most searched word on a major search engine!".
Although all members probably knew that it was because of Yook Sungjae's dating rumors, they began celebrating the news pretending like they did not know the reason for it.
Without any changes in his facial expression, Yook Sungjae commented, "We have been ranking high on the real time chart today. Is it because we are doing a live broadcast today?", then lifted his paper cup as if he was trying to take a sip of a drink.
That is when fans noticed there was something written on the bottom of his cup, and it said 'meok-geum'.
'Meok-geum' is a newly-invented abbreviation for "You shouldn't feed them anything.", meaning "Don't pay attention to useless things/rumors."
Only a few hours after the dating rumors, Yook Sungjae very quickly cleared them up, and fans still cannot get over how clever Yook Sungjae's way of sending a message to fans was.
Meanwhile, BTOB made a comeback as a sub-unit BTOB-BLUE on August 2 with a sentimental ballad track 'When it rains'.
(Lee Narin, Credit= NAVER V LIVE)