"Mi Amor Caliente" (Jeno & Jeonah for Cosmopolitan Korea - August 2021 Cover)

[Official_STRBM]

Star Beam's Jeonah & NCT Dream's Jeno is Cosmo KR's cover stars for August 2021!

After their triumphant comebacks this year, all eyes are on Jeonah & Jeno (or JeoJe).

The soft-spoken visual couple who happens to be charismatic onstage reflects on how they became together (for almost a year) & how would they balance their time as a couple and work. Despite their age gap of 4 years (Jeonah is the older one), sparks fly as they posed together in this shoot.

First of all, "Why?"

Our cover stars, Jeno & Jeonah, usually received those kind of questions when they first revealed that they are dating each other. Of course, dating is still taboo in K-pop industry but dating a younger man is another issue. For almost a year, both of them explained that THEY ARE BOTH CONSENTING ADULTS IN A RELATIONSHIP contrary to rumors about Jeonah.

Beyond the discussions of age gap and shaming noona relationships, Jeno & Jeonah are actually similar : both of them are charismatic onstage but cute offstage, introverts, shy, soft spoken, rappers, visuals, bassists, gamers, takes a sport for fun (no "pursuing Olympics" related questions for Jeno please), proud fur parent (Jeonah has 3 dogs while Jeno has 3 cats), music show MCs (Jeonah is in M Countdown while Jeno was former The Show MC), and worked at an early age (Jeonah and her brothers helped their mom in their cafeteria business in Busan to pay for their late dad's hospital bills and at the same time joining various contests in battle of the bands, jingle making, track and field, and singing contests since 13 years old while Jeno was a child model and actor before he join NCT). These similarities makes sense since they share similar skills, values and traits.

It's easy to dismiss this couple as "just another fling" but Jeno took a traditional route to win Jeonah's heart.

Now... how did he eventually won her heart?

Ever since their debut, Jeonah would always avoid Dreamies especially Jeno after greeting because she doesn't want to ruin someone's career thanks to potential rumors since opposite-sex friendship is a big deal. But in late 2019, Jeno (who is already an adult man) personally asked Jeonah if he can write a song for Star Beam (which obviously she said yes). To avoid suspicion, they invited Jaemin & Saeyoon in their song writing sessions without knowing that it will narrate their future love story through their song "Can We Love". From then on, Jeno and Jeonah became close friends even if they are too shy to show their closeness in public but they share a lot of beautiful memories together in their private life.

As 2020 came, the two became too sweet and comfortable to be friends when they secretly held hands when they play games or sleeping on each other's shoulders on breaks, Jeonah starts wondering if she can fight for her him or let him go despite the pressures in both the industry and the society without knowing that Jeno is already secretly in love with her. In ISAC 2020, he confessed his feelings to her with a long text then she just replied with a simple "I love you". Then, they go on dates alone where they pretend not to know each other for the sake of their privacy.

When NCT & Star Beam took their career into greater heights in 2020, she never fails to support him quietly and shower him with love. No one raised suspicions on cam and off cam because they act professionally instead of a lovey dovey couple. Their post Valentines date became a shock to everyone especially to both NCTzens & ByulBis. But since SeuBim & Neos worked together a lot, they gave Jeno & Jeonah lots of blessings and love they really deserve.

What the public did not know is that their relationship is already known among their families, their companies and their bandmates but they requested not to publicize it immediately and instead they will reveal it themselves. After few months of white lies, it paid off. The reason why they lied is not because they are afraid of losing their momentum but rather, they just want to protect each other.

Fast forward to "Hot Sauce" era, Jeno is so happy to win because Jeonah was the one who announced NCT Dream as winners. Some call their PDA "unprofessional" but for many, it was a big step for the idols specifically JeoJe to live happily and freely in a scary industry they're in. When "Mi Sol Amor" & "Hello Future" promotions overlapped, they will visit each other on music shows whenever they can. They always have weekly dates regardless if they are busy or not. There is nothing to fear anymore when they face it together.

From what we learned, Jeonah & Jeno (who are both painfully shy in real life) helped each other a lot both in work and life, more than we see on screen. They bring out the best in each other while setting boundaries when needed. For now, they are enjoying their relationship before taking it to the next level (read: marriage) when the right time comes. The future is bright for this adorable couple