The Touching Story Of How Jimin, Taemin, Kai, Ha Sungwoon, Ravi, And More Became Best Friends

Ha Sungwoon has a close circle of friends that is famous among the K-Pop world as it includes top idols, such as BTS‘s Jimin, SHINee‘s Taemin, EXO‘s Kai and more!

Ha Sungwoon revealed how their famous friendship all started, and it all started with his former member, HOTSHOT‘s Timoteo!

Timoteo was a trainee under SM Entertainment for a long time, and grew close with Taemin and Kai. Timoteo also introduced them to his non-celebrity friend from school. So Timoteo, Taemin, Kai, and the non-celebrity friend have been close for ages!

Left to right: Ha Sungwoon, Taemin, Kai, non-celebrity friend, Timoteo

Timoteo then introduced Ha Sungwoon to the group, while Kai brought in VIXX‘s Ravi. Thus, the group grew more.

Lastly, Ha Sungwoon brought in Jimin but Jimin wasn’t his first friend from BTS!

Sungwoon and J-Hope were actually friends since they were trainees. Through J-Hope, he met Suga, who then introduced him to Jimin.

And Jimin and Sungwoon immediately clicked! They got along so well that Sungwoon introduced him to his other group of friends. Thus, Sungwoon, Jimin, Timoteo, Taemin, Kai, Ravi, and the non-celebrity friend formed the “Padding Friends”!

Left to right: Timoteo, Jimin, Kai, non-celebrity friend, Taemin, Ha Sungwoon Left to right: Taemin, Ha Sungwoon, Kai

Sungwoon revealed that Taemin actually gifted them all with matching paddings to solidify their friendship!

“The fans created the name ‘Padding Friends’. Taemin bought us all matching padding coats.”

— Ha Sungwoon

And may this beautiful friendship last a lifetime!

Check out the full story of how the “Padding Friends” came to be:

“It all started with a member from my former group, Timoteo. He started everything. He was a trainee under SM Entertainment for a long time. That’s how he was close with Taemin and Kai. There’s also a non-celebrity friend. He was a friend from school, but Timoteo introduced him to the other friends. These four have been friends for a very long time.

Kai also brought in Ravi, and I introduced in Jimin. How I got to meet Jimin was through J-Hope, who I was friends with since we were trainees. I knew him first, but he’s not the type to go out often. I’m the type that likes to go out. We meet up to eat together, but our hobbies are different.

Through [J-Hope], I somehow got to meet Suga, and Suga introduced me to Jimin. That’s how we met, but we clicked so well together. We got along so well, so I introduced him to my other friends. That’s how the seven of us meet often now.

I think we just get along so well, since we have similar hobbies and such, so we have fun together.”

— Ha Sungwoon