Among all global music markets, Kpop seems to be the one where appearance is one of the most important factors. It directly affects how the public perceives and evaluates an artist. The more beautiful or handsome you are, and the more you match the majority’s taste, the more attention and points you receive, even overshadowing any flaws.

Correspondingly, the public has also established what is called the “standard appearance of a Kpop idol” – extremely strict, yet inconsistent, constantly shifting with trends. It’s almost as if whatever fans want, idols are expected to deliver.

However, it must be said that no one has the right to interfere with or judge someone’s appearance, not even fans, because all standards of appearance are arbitrary. Everyone is born unique, and appearance is a personal matter. As long as it does not violate ethics or harm anyone, there is absolutely no problem.

Yet even V – crowned The Most Handsome Man in the World by global media outlets – is not immune to toxic fans who are always intent on controlling idols to fit their own standards.

On September 27, the idol shared multiple photos and videos in an Instagram post, capturing his daily life over the three months since his military discharge. Among them were two selfies showing his bare face, with a sparse, cute beard.

While many fans reacted positively to his handsome, simple, and cute appearance, some others did not. They simply had an issue with his beard! Some of these fans even reposted the photos on Weverse with negative comments. Unfortunately, V happened to see them and could not help but respond.

One comment read: “Taehyung, do you seriously think the beard suits you?” and V replied: “Someday it will suit me… for my 50s.”

Another fan was impolite enough to say: “My suggestion is to shave the beard,” which hurt V, but he still responded: “The way you said it, seriously lol… a, it kinda hurts.”

Complaints like these were numerous enough to make V uncomfortable, prompting him to delete the bare-faced photos from the original post, leaving his genuine fans surprised. In the past, the idol had openly confronted negative comments strongly, but it seems this time, remarks about his appearance genuinely hurt him, and he wanted to remove them to reduce the hαѕѕle.

ARMYs were furious at these toxic fans – claiming to be fans but showing no awareness of the boundaries between idol and fandom, showing no respect for him. They also criticized that such behavior ruins the joyful atmosphere of the fandom and the idol’s space.

On the other hand, they defended the idol and called for polite conduct from fellow fans:

- The fact Taehyung deleted this post on ig because some entitled people told him the beard doesn't look good on him... like he literally trust us that much that he shares things from his private time but yet these people have the audacity to tell him these bullsнιт? He doesnt deserve this.. Don't listen to them Taehyung, anything looks good on you

- Taehyung, you look handsome with or without a mustache, don't pay attention to those people. It's your choice, and no one has the right to say anything that could hurt you!

- No one should blame Taehyung for what he should or shouldn't do. He's not your exclusive doll, he has his own ideas. If you can't learn to respect him, don't call yourself a fan Taehyung deleted a photo from IG, which is what those people want, they will never learn to 'respect'

- Great. Now people will see this as an opportunity to keep demanding things from him. He shouldn’t have deleted the photo. It also shows how a single negative comment from a кσяєαn fan can outweigh thousands of supportive messages from international fans. This s*cks.

- Is it Taehyung's fault then? Do you even know how insecurities work? And in this case, it goes beyond that, it all stems from his culture. You're doing the same thing as the commenter, trying to control Taehyung's actions

- fr i can just imagine his face all done, like seriously, all it takes is just one comment from someone you thought was your own person to like make you turn off so bad about soмєтнing you were so excited and pαѕѕionate abt

- The fact Taehyung deleted this post on ig because some entitled people told him the beard doesn't look good on him... like he literally trust us that much that he shares things from his private time but yet these people have the audacity to tell him these bullsнιт? He doesnt deserve this.. Don't listen to them Taehyung, anything looks good on you

- Geez! Why do some people have to be cruel at spitting out their opinion? Hey, being kind is free. We love you taehyung, just ignore those MF!

- Some “fans” need to learn their place! They think that they have a saying in everything! Get a life delusional people! Sorry Taehyung some of those called “army” don’t deserve you

- What's wrong with people seriously !! Especially the weverse armys....They are idiots... He'll do whatever he wants !! It's his life not yours !!