What Happened Between STAYC And IVE Off-Stage At The “2023 Melon Music Awards?”

K-Pop’s winter award show season is officially underway, celebrating the incredible achievements made by artists throughout the year.

Each award show gives fans the opportunity to take in the special fashion and elevated stage performances while enjoying what are oftentimes rare interactions between some of K-Pop’s top groups.

K-Pop idols attending the “2023 Melon Music Awards” | 달고나CAM/YouTube

This year’s performing acts at the 2023 Melon Music Awards turned the ceremony into a concert as artists engaged with their fellow idols in the audience, encouraged the crowd to sing along, and delivered next-level performances.

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While many interactions between artists were caught on-screen, there were some moments that lucky fans who attended the ceremony were able to record on their own.

One moment that quickly went viral was an interaction between STAYC‘s Yoon and Sumin and fellow 4th gen girl group members, IVE‘s Wonyoung and Liz.

STAYC was seated across the aisle from IVE, and while both groups were watching the performance on stage, STAYC’s Yoon noticed that the IVE members didn’t have blankets to cover their legs while wearing skirts.

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Upon noticing, Yoon appeared to fill Sumin in on the situation, pointing to the two blankets they had while gesturing to IVE.

Yoon then approached Wonyoung, offering her the extra blanket, which Wonyoung politely tried to insist STAYC keep. Yoon emphasized that Wonyoung and Liz should take the blanket, and both IVE members seemed touched by the gesture.

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Many netizens have been expressing their dissatisfaction with this year’s award shows, with claims of mistreatment toward girl groups and criticism of changes in formats and “fan wars” that led to fewer idol interactions compared to the past generations.

With the wholesome exchange between STAYC and IVE, netizens felt hopeful that fans would share more heartwarming moments between idols after seeing the two 4th gen groups take care of each other.

these are the award show fancams we need instead of two idols making eye contact for 2 seconds and it birthing a new ship

— k ⁷ ???? (@yoongimygi) December 4, 2023

This kind of interactions are what we miss in 4th gen
This is enough for kpop stans to know how lame their fanwars are

— AMICUS AD ARAS (@DEP23909876) December 4, 2023

the first award show in a while to take me back to second gen award show vibes

— x.ae (@x_aee__) December 4, 2023

Korean netizens shared the same sentiments, appreciating the friendly and warm interaction between the two groups.

| theqoo

• “Aw, this makes me feel good.”
• “Yoon is so sweet. And Wonyoung’s reaction is friendly. And Sumin giving her dongsaeng a pat on her head is also so unnie-like and gentle. Gosh, I love female idols.”
• “ANGELS. T-T”
• “This is so heartwarming…”
• “Women supporting women? We f*cking love to see it.”
• “Such a sweet moment from these beauties.”
• “These female idols are so sweet and awesome. I’ll be looking forward to more IVE x STAYC friendship moments!”