Seoul Searching | BT21 at Line Friends Store.

While walking along the streets of Hongdae, Yue and I came across a group of girls holding cute character balloons in their hands. Recognizing the characters right away, Yue gasped, "Mommy, it's BT21!!!" BT21 is a line of animated characters created by Kpop group BTS, in collaboration with Line Friends.

Just then, another group of girls - mostly foreigners this time - showed up, also with BT21 balloons in tow. "Where did they get those balloons?" I wondered, almost on the verge of asking one of the girls that we ran into. Before I could even unravel the mystery, Yue already figured it out, pointing at the huge Line Friends Store across the street.

Line Friends Store in Hongdae.

Almost every individual that walked out of the store had a BT21 balloon, and Yue wanted one for himself. Well, I wanted one, too - never mind if I'm already an ahjumma who's already in her late 30's. Lol.

BT21, the brain child of BTS in collaboration with Line Friends.

As we entered the store, I asked one of the staff how can I avail of the balloon. "Just buy anything, and we'll give you a balloon," he said. "Anything? Even a small item like that?" I asked, pointing to a Brown hair tie worth 5000 won. "Yes, anything!" he said with a smile. And with that, we made our way to the second floor to check out the BT21 goods.

Cute and cuddly pillows.

The BT21 characters were officially introduced in September last year, but it wasn't until December when Line Friends started selling BT21 merchandise. They were such a huge hit among BTS fans, that not even freezing winter temperatures could stop them from lining up in front of the Line Friends store to get their hands on BT21 items.

Yue with the BT21 gang!

He's standing beside his favorite character, Chimmy.

Thankfully, there was no pandemonium of that sort when we visited, nor did we have to fall in line to enter the store. Sure, the place was still crowded with shoppers (and I reckon most of them are BTS fans) but Yue and I were able to look around and take photos without a hitch.

Yue wanted them all, but baggage allowance does not permit, lol.

Kooky, Chimmy, and Mang.

RJ the alpaca.

Plushies!

Prices for the BT21 merchandise range from 2500 won to 55000 won. Plastic folders printed with BT21 characters were the cheapest, while black hooded sweatshirts with patches of Tata, Cooky, and Shooky were the most expensive. As far as I'm concerned, these items are still within the affordable price range, and if you're a hardcore BTS fan, the price really wouldn't matter anyway. Haha.

Passport cases, 12000 won each.

Tata is my favorite, because this represents V. :)

Yue and I finally settled on getting a gel pen, because that's the only thing we had a need for at that moment. Surprisingly, the staff gave us two balloons even if the Cooky pen that I bought (Tata was out of stock) only costs 3000 won!

En route to Digital Media City. Yes, we went all the way to DMC with those balloons, lol.

A few weeks later, we visited the Line Friends Store and Cafe in Itaewon. We were in the neighborhood to pick up the husband's sneakers at the Under Armour store and I asked the boys if we could swing by Line Friends because I wanted to see the cafe, which the Hongdae store did not have.

Line Friends Store and Cafe in Itaewon.

The cafe is located in the third floor, and their menu now includes BT21 drinks and desserts such as Chimmy's Pineapple Smoothie and Tata's Berry Sundae. We didn't get to try them though, as the place was packed (we went on a Sunday) and we wanted to eat at Dairy Queen anyway.

BT21 drinks and desserts.

The stairs leading to the third floor.

If you're a BTS fan, you'll find the Itaewon flagship store a lot more interesting since they have BTS memorabilia on display. For instance, these sketches of Koya by his creator, RM.

Koya by RM (also known as Kim Nam Joon).

And the statue of Space Robot Van, signed by all BTS members.

Signed statue of Space Robot Van.

In addition, the Itaewon store has more photo zones and carries more BT21 merchandise than its Hongdae counterpart. Now if you're an ARMY, I'm sure you won't leave either store empty-handed. We left Itaewon with another BT21 gel pen, lol.

Still no luck with Tata, huhu.

To get to the Hongdae Line Friends Store, take Hongik University Station (Line 2), exit 2.
To get to the Itaewon Line Friends Store and Cafe, take Itaewon Station (Line 6), exit 3.