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Xikers' Full Storyline Explained - Masterlist

Ateez's label, KQ Entertainment - Everything you need to know.

Creative Spotlight Masterlist (Ateez Solo Projects)

Mini Lore Nuggets - Masterlist

Everything is in chronological order and updated whenever new information/content is released so, if you start from the top and work your way down, you should be fully caught up with the entire storyline up until now!

Side note: Early Japanese comebacks are not included since they're fully self-contained and Don’t Stop was left out since it's part of Ateez‘s 'Universe' (now 'Klap Entertainment') content which is separate from Ateez’s true storyline.

Masterlist:

Part 0: Glossary (Left Eye, Sopro & more)

BONUS: The Cromer Explained

BONUS: The Members (A-World)

BONUS: The Kingdom Performances

BONUS: Turbulence & The Real

BONUS: The Meaning of Hala Hala & Mito

BONUS: Work MV

BONUS: Ice On My Teeth MV

BONUS: Aniteez Lore

BONUS: The History of Strictland

Part 1: Fever Series Masterlist

Part 2: Treasure Series Masterlist

Part 3: The World Series Masterlist

Part 4: Golden Hour Series Masterlist

Part 4.5: Halazia Masterlist

Want to look at other people's theories? Try clicking here!

Ateez will be featured in two Japanese magazines!

While the 'ATEEZ Newspaper 2026' by Oshikatsu Daily contains a full 16 pages dedicated to Ateez, the August 4th edition of 'Daily Sports Tokyo' will also feature them.

In-person purchase location:

At the '2026 ATEEZ FANMEETING ATINY’S VOYAGE : TINY MYSTERY IN JAPAN', K-Arena, Yokohama

Genie Real-time Chart:

#11 BAD (+1) *New Peak 🆕

🇯🇵 CDTVライブライブ (Week of 2026/08/01):

#62 BAD (+18)

Billboard Global 200:

#167 BAD (+23) *New peak 🆕

Billboard Global Excl. US:

#85 BAD (+19) *New peak 🆕

🇯🇵 Billboard Japan Top Singles Sales:

#2 BAD (Japanese Ver.) ㅡ 259,030 copies sold 🆕

YouTube Charts 🇰🇷 South Korea ㅡ Daily Top Songs on Shorts:

#10 BAD (+1) *New peak 🆕

YouTube South Korea 🇰🇷 Daily Top Music Videos:

#5 'BAD' Official MV (-1) *Peak #2 #68 'BAD (Japanese Ver.)' Official MV (=) *Peak #1 #97 'BAD' Performance Stage (The Kelly Clarkson Show) 🆕

"BAD" on Spotify Daily Top Songs:

#80 Japan (+9) ㅡ 78,468 Streams *New peak 🆕

"BAD” — 09:00 KST:

#5 BUGS (=) *Peak #1 #10 FLO (+4) *Peak #8 #10 Melon (+1) *Peak #11 Genie (+5) *Peak

"BAD” Melon Daily Streaming:

[DAY 35] 4,871,154 streams (+199,194) [DAY 36] 5,079,044 streams (+207,890) [DAY 37] 5,271,230 streams (+192,186) [DAY 38] 5,437,193 streams (+165,963) [DAY 39] 5,633,021 streams (+195,828) 🔥

🇯🇵 Line Music Daily:

[260804 - 12:54AM KST] [Translated by sruumx]

⛰️: [emotion - Deureureuk] ⛰️: [emoticon - What are you doing?]

⛰️: Everyone, what are you doing~ ⛰️: I laid down just now ⛰️: covered by the blankets ⛰️: [emoticon: 🍀]

⛰️: I ate dinner ⛰️: Ordered a dupbap (rice bowl) and ate it, y’know? ⛰️: It was so delicious ⛰️: [emoticon: 🍀]

⛰️: These days, the ranking of ‘BAD’ ⛰️: has gone up a lot ⛰️: Oh, oh… 💬: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are you happy? ⛰️: Very happy ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: I'm flustered ⛰️: I didn’t expect it to go up this much… ⛰️: I guess a lot of people really love it/us.. ⛰️: [emoticon: 😭]

💬: Originally, he used to be Choi San who only I liked… ⛰️: I cherish you too ⛰️: [emoticon: 🍀]

⛰️: When practicing the choreography ⛰️: "um.. ATINYs will like it" ⛰️: is what I thought, but ⛰️: I didn’t expect it to get this big ⛰️: Flustered ⛰️: [emoticon: 😮!!!!!]

⛰️: A white sleeveless shirtㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: Nopeㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: That white undershirt guy…. ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: The man from the vineyard ⛰️: What 💬: The undershirt young manㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: Ah? ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: The fact everyone is following along ⛰️: men and women of all ages ⛰️: I’m so happy ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: Boom-chika boom-chika 💬: There are so many different kinds of ‘San’ (mountains), dwit-san (a mountain behind a village), gwang-san (mineral mountain) and all sorts???? ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: It’s really funㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: I hope you all enjoy it a lot… 💬: I'm already looking forward to the next episode of ‘guet-tteu-jjong’ (9트쫑), Wooyoungie said it’s so much funnier than the first episode! ⛰️: Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: The next one ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: I am curious myself too ⛰️: It’ll be fun… ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: The two of us playfully bickering ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: The bracelet?

I think they're referring to this one and based on what Sanie talks about next, I assume the Atiny asked if he and Wooyoung bought matching bracelets because they look quite similar:

⛰️: This one was a gift from an acquaintance! ⛰️: Nope, Jung Wooyoung keeps ⛰️: buying the same hat as me ⛰️: ㅡㅡ ⛰️: If I always come wearing it ⛰️: 'Oh’ ⛰️: ‘give it to me’ ⛰️: Puts it on ⛰️: ‘The fit is nice’ ⛰️: ‘Oh damn’ ⛰️: ‘Can I buy it?’ ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: Copy-pasting Wooyoungie’s way of speaking ⛰️: ‘Kk, buy it’ ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: Sanie, you like five million hats, right… ⛰️: I don’t have five million ⛰️: maybe around 50 💬: Do you hang them up separately at home? ⛰️: Nope… ⛰️: I just stack them up… ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: I like adding a pop of color with my hats, so ⛰️: I usually have a lot of hats stocked up 💬: Ah but, that 3 hat ‘San-Minsu’ look, I was going to do it but it’s all sold out,,

The Atiny is referring to this hat WooSan both own:

⛰️: Ah? ⛰️: That fit is pretty ⛰️: That hat was ⛰️: definitely bought after checking the fit, so ⛰️: I’m currently looking for a new one that fits just as well 💬: Sanie, did you buy pokemon cards when you went to Japan this time too?•&• ⛰️: I did, but ⛰️: they were all fails ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: I didn’t get the ones I wanted, so… ⛰️: ^^ ⛰️: I noticed a lot of people collect Pokemon (cards) as well, even the staff members ⛰️: (Someone) to trade with… ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: As for me, it’s Ditto, Charizard, Pikachu and Umbreon 💬: Wooyoungie looks like Litten, do y’know it?

⛰️: Looking it up ⛰️: Oh, it does look like him 💬: Sanie also kind of looks like Wobbuffet

Fun fact: In Japanese, Wobbuffet's name is ソーナンス (sō nansu), meaning "That's the way it is/goes" - a popular Japanese comedian's catchphrase (though the full version goes "Sō nansu, okusan." which translates to "That's the way it is, ma'am.")

In English, they then named it Wobbuffet as a combination of the words "wobble" and "buff-et" (buff it), because he wobbles and can take a lot of blows.

In the version I grew up with, the German version, the name was translated to Woingenau, meaning he was basically always asking "Woingenau? / Wohin genau?", aka "Where to exactly?" - it was very much a running gag in my family and we'd always say it when someone was going somewhere or we were stuck in the car on a roadtrip.

⛰️: Oh… ⛰️: I'm meowth-yaong

⛰️: Exactlyyyy-yaong ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: Anyone who knows this ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: Sanie also kind of looks like Woong (slowpoke)… too….

⛰️: I know ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: I’m Rosa! ⛰️: I’m Roy! ⛰️: I'm meowth-yaong

⛰️: Exactlyyyy-yaong ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: This is a universal rule ⛰️: Team rocket.. 💬: Gyuwook-dad looks like professor oakㅋㅋㅋㅋㅎㅋ

Gywuwook is the name of KQ's CEO - he looks like this: | And then there's Professor Oak:

⛰️: Um? ⛰️: I think he’s more like Woong (Slowpoke), if anything ⛰️: but seriously, while opening card packs ⛰️: I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but ⛰️: when Professor Oak appears ⛰️: I genuinely ⛰️: hate it^^ ⛰️: like stop appearing ⛰️: The only hit card being Professor Oak is a bit ⛰️: Because, everybody, I’ll ⛰️: explain it to you all ⛰️: If you want to collect Pokemon cards ⛰️: one way is to buy packs ⛰️: (the ones they used to sell individually at stationery stores, around 800 won each, original price) ⛰️: and there’s a way to buy them by the box too ⛰️: A box contains about 10~30 packs depending on the type of cards ⛰️: But in that box ⛰️: because the inclusion rates are predetermined… ⛰️: to put it simply, there’s one valuable card ⛰️: and one high-grade card ⛰️: With anticipation, you bought a box, opened it hoping to get the card you wanted, but ⛰️: Professor Oak. ⛰️: If it’s at the end ⛰️: you’re crying ⛰️: If there are people who collect Professor Oak cards, I'm sorry ⛰️: to those who really want it ⛰️: please go get them ⛰️: That’s not the direction I’m going for ⛰️: Mine's that side… ⛰️: But WANTEEZ and 9트쫑 ⛰️: is now coming out soon, so ⛰️: sounds fun, right ⛰️: Those days you won’t be bored 💬: was WANTEEZ scary for you this time too?? ⛰️: Really ⛰️: Phew ⛰️: I hated it 💬: Sanie didn’t seem to be scared more so than I expected ⛰️: ....? ⛰️: What you see on the outside isn’t everything.. ⛰️: You have no idea how much thinking I was doing ⛰️: Whether it (the zombie) will come out from here ⛰️: or from there ⛰️: considering every possible variable ⛰️: seriously ⛰️: And so ⛰️: '무딱싫' (The horror YouTube Live he did recently) ⛰️: ha. ⛰️: ha. ⛰️: Seriously ⛰️: nope ⛰️: ha. ⛰️: because I’ve always really liked ‘무딱싫’ ⛰️: I went there having predicted all the possible factors ⛰️: that could arise at the usual filming location, but ⛰️: 'You’re saying the location was changed, right?' ⛰️: As soon as I arrived ⛰️: ‘Eh’ ⛰️: ;; ⛰️: ;;;;;;;;; ⛰️: So I tried knocking on the walls too ⛰️: Do they break… ⛰️: Poking the ceiling repeatedly ⛰️: I wonder if something above is about to go off… ⛰️: so I investigated everything around me, but… ⛰️: 'Okay, I've eliminated the variable’ ⛰️: ‘There’s nothing^^’ ⛰️: is what I thought ⛰️: ;;;;; ⛰️: But I really, really like ‘무딱싫’ ⛰️: Please show lots of interest and support! ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: When you were with Yunho though, you nearly killed that poor actor😆

Referring to this moment:

⛰️: Nooo ⛰️: it’s not like that.. ⛰️: Eliminating variables ⛰️ Be careful of your throat... ⛰️: I'm sorry for getting so immersed ⛰️: Seriously, in situations like that ⛰️: I could only think about eliminating the variables ⛰️: the moment you see it ⛰️Ha. ⛰️: ㅎㅎ ⛰️: ㅎㅎㅎ ⛰️: If you walk up to them, there’s a 100% chance they’ll scare you ⛰️: but in that situation, is there a chance you’d bite one of the members? ⛰️: Um ⛰️: 미지의세 (the world of the unknown) ⛰️: Let’s just cover it. ⛰️: Avoiding any unexpected situations ⛰️: (The) end ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: Alright, so who’s the villain now? ⛰️: ㅎㅎ ⛰️: I'm not sure, but ⛰️: I seriously ⛰️: when I enter the site ⛰️: I check all my surroundings ⛰️: and what percentage chance there is I’d get scared ⛰️: I also look to see what’s around the camera areas ⛰️: whether it’s a place a person could get into ⛰️: when I interact ⛰️: Whether there’s a possibility it could scare me 💬: So then, how was it this time???? ⛰️: I'm screwed, I guess ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ⛰️: Oh ⛰️: I almost fell asleep ⛰️: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 💬: Then I’ll give Sanie the most expensive Pokemon card, but can you go back inside by yourself again? ⛰️: Um ⛰️: nope? ⛰️: ^^ ⛰️: Even if i go in, I can’t escape^^ 💬: If ATINYs go with you, can you go in again? ⛰️: Ah, if I'm in a position where I have to protect again ⛰️: then, I guess I'll do whatever I can… ⛰️: [emoticon]

⛰️: Then, I’ll now ⛰️: to prevent anything that could affect me while I sleep ⛰️: I'll play some upbeat background music and go to bed ⛰️: I shouldn’t have told you so late ⛰️: damnit ⛰️: Good night everyone ⛰️: [emoticon - I love you 3000❤️] ⛰️: [emoticon - close❤️]

[260803 - 10:51PM JST/KST] [Translated by lovelifebeauty_]

🐿️: Hiii 🐿️: Yep, yep, the fanmeeting starts tomorrow! 🐿️: Today, since it’s the day before the performance, I'm/we’re checking everything that needs to be checked 🐿️: Ah, about me not being in the photo - that’s not today!

He's referring to this one:

🐿️: I’ll do well on stage tomorrow👍 🐿️: You don’t have to worry🙏 🐿️: These days, I’ve mastered Japanese delivery foodㅎㅎ 🐿️: Recently, I saw something like a sukiyaki rice bowl, so I tried it, and 🐿️: it was delicious👍👍 🐿️: I also ate gyukatsu once! 🐿️: As for abura soba, I kind of had a feeling it might be available at the (fanmeeting) venue… 🐿️: ㅎㅎ 🐿️: This time, I couldn’t? Didn’t? Go even once?ㅎㅎ 🐿️: It’s delicious!! 🐿️: but it’s kind of hard to go there and eat it every single time, so..ㅎㅎㅎ 🐿️: I order it for delivery too! 🐿️: More than I expected, once I go out, my energy disappears so much 🐿️: ㅋㅋㅋ큐ㅠㅠ 🐿️: I like going out with the kids (members), but! 🐿️: right now, it’s kinda 🐿️: a time when I need more energy..ㅎㅎㅎ 🐿️: Sometimes I even get convenience store stuff delivered and stock up 🐿️: I’m the best at finding delivery 🐿️: ㅎㅎ This time, I ordered a really huge amount of water 🐿️: and stocked up on it 🐿️: Thanks to the coughing? 🐿️: I quit coffee, 🐿️: since I’ve been drinking a lot of water, 🐿️: my skin got better 🐿️: I'm a person who likes coffee, but… 🐿️: for my health, I’m going to try cutting back from now on! 🐿️: I realized I'd been living while depending on caffeine way too muchㅎ 🐿️: I drank a lot of energy drinks too, 🐿️: so 🐿️: everything is good in moderation 🐿️: This time, in Japan too because we can do all the broadcasts 🐿️: (I'm feeling) good good 🐿️: These days, during live broadcasts or interviews, 🐿️: I try to stand as far off to the side as possibleㅋㅋㅎㅎ 🐿️: because I randomly cough, so it might get picked up while (someone is) talking 🐿️: The kids 🐿️: say it’s a mission 🐿️: that “Hongjoongie-hyung’s live broadcast mission is starting” 🐿️: Right, they called it a challenge 🐿️: Actually, when I filmed with John Park sunbaenim as well, 🐿️: since it had been scheduled quite a long time ago, 🐿️: I was worried by the time we'd film, it might not go smoothly because of my coughing, but 🐿️: sunbaenim and the production staff 🐿️: really took such good care of me, and 🐿️: waited for me, so 🐿️: I was grateful 🐿️: Yep yep 🐿️: I don’t want to make you worry, but I don’t think it’ll get better easily for a while..!! 🐿️: If I'm different from usual, or you think, “why’s he acting like that?” 🐿️: just think I’m doing a challenge in my own way..ㅎㅎㅎ 🐿️: I’m trying this and that too, and based on the examination/consultation I had at the hospital in Japan, I decided to get examined again in Korea, so!! 🐿️: I don’t feel good about making you worry either, and I don’t want to keep talking about it, but I'm worried there might be situations during live broadcasts or interviews that could cause misunderstandings..🥹 🐿️: Yep yep 🐿️: Thank you always!! 🐿️: I’ll keep you updated!ㅋㅋ 🐿️: Right, these days too people keep mentioning “BAD” here and there a lot, so 🐿️: I’m amazed tooㅎㅎ 🐿️: I'll keep working hard from now on too, but! 🐿️: More than anything else, 🐿️: it feels like we’re leaving behind another unforgettable season in the bond between our TINYs and the members 🐿️: People who don’t know us will think according to what they see, but 🐿️: because there’s a feeling only we share (for us) it's different 🐿️: and more than anything, 🐿️: to be honest, it’s not something that comes from just eussya eussya (cheering each other on) - there’s another kind of motivation that’s growing among the members, 🐿️: I can see that with my own eyes, being right there beside them, so 🐿️: I’m grateful for that, too! 🐿️: It makes me feel like I should work even harder and do even better!! 🐿️: Yep yep 🐿️: Today too, let’s finish the day well!! 🐿️: Today too, thank you and I love you🫶🫶 🐿️: I hope only good things come our way 🐿️: Ah 🐿️: [📸]

🐿️: The originals!! 🐿️: [📸]

🐿️: [emoticon - bye👋] 🐿️: [emoticon - love ya.🩷]

[260803 - 3:56PM KST] [Translated by lovelifebeauty_]

🐥: What are you doing 🐥: Aren’t you working? 🐥: Eating??? 🐥: I haven’t eaten yet, though 🐥: (Birthday) MD spoiler?? 🐥: Uumm…. 🐥: It’s an item you can keep using! 🐥: This one’s gonna be hard 🐥: It’s not a necklace 🐥: It’s something you can use!! 🐥: You have no idea, right?? 🐥: ㅎㅎ 🐥: Another little hint….. 🐥: When it’s dry??? 🐥: ㅎ.ㅎ 🐥: That's enough now 🐥: What should I eat today!! 🐥: I’ll just eat a little now, 🐥: and then I have to go back on a diet again 🐥: no binge-eating ㅎ 🐥: But… 🐥: sushi? 🐥: My face has gotten way too chubby, though 🐥: I'm in the middle of evolving into Ming-ddungie 🐥: It seems I should evolve at least once before I go (back on a diet) 🐥: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 🐥: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 🐥: Agreed? 🐥: I'm not a Pokémon, 🐥: (I’m) a Digimon! 🐥: Craniummon

This guy:

🐥: Old??? 🐥: I get it 🐥: ㅋ 🐥: Ming-ddungmon! 🐥: I'm going to eat now, so I'll send you a photo 🐥: Just wait!! 🐥: But don’t wait too much - go have some fun while you wait!! 🐥: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[260803 - 8:31PM KST]

🐥: Hi 🐥: I’ll show you what I ate 🐥: [📸x2]

🐥: How is it? 🐥: Sushi 🐥: It’s small? 🐥: I just took the photo nicelyㅠㅠ 🐥: I didn’t take a selca thoughhh 🐥: I'll send one tomorrow 🐥: Yeah, yeah, I have a date promise tomorrow!! 🐥: Aren’t we seeing each other tomorrow? 🐥: Us? 🐥: I’ll come back again in a little while!! 🐥: !!!