ATEEZ LORE MASTERDOC

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: CC, TIFF, MITCH

LAST UPDATED: DEC 27, 2022

PROLOGUE: INTRO
THIS IS A MASTERDOC FOR ATEEZ LORE. IT WILL INCLUDE OUR OWN INFO, INFO
FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES, AND THEORIES OUTSIDE OF CONFIRMED LORE. USE
THE OUTLINE ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE TO JUMP TO PARTS OF THE DOC (IF YOU
DON’T SEE THIS OUTLINE, OPEN IT BY NAVIGATING TO VIEW→OUTLINE). ENJOY!
OFFICIAL ATEEZ LORETINY DISCORD LINK: https://discord.gg/bwYk25pcKW

UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REFERENCED, ALL THEORIES / WORK IS OUR OWN; IT IS ORIGINAL.

IF YOU WISH TO TRANSLATE/SHARE ANY BIT OF THIS DOCUMENT, YOU MUST CREDIT
EITHER THE CREATOR REFERENCED OR @HALA_LORETINY ON TWITTER.

PART 1: TERMS
ATINY Website Glossary Link: https://www.atiny.net/storyline/glossary

CONCEPTS/PLACES/OBJECTS:
1. CROMER: (“timeline” and “dimension” are used interchangeably)
a. universe z cromer:
- a device in the shape of an hourglass that comes from the
timeline of halateez/strictland. it has several powerful abilities,
all interlocked to the phases of the moon. the user can send
messages through dreams on the crescent moon, and travel
time and dimensions on the full moon. this is the cromer given
to HJ at the start of the fever diary film.
b. universe a cromer:
- a “mayan relic,” functions like the halateez cromer. after YS
breaks it and sends the group back to their original dimension,
this is the cromer they retrieve in order to travel back to
strictland. (refer to fever pt.2, fever epilogue diary entries)
2. MOBIUS STRIP:
- a single-sided surface formed by joining the ends of a rectangular
strip after twisting one end 180°. when a singular point is drawn on
any section of the strip, and a continuous line is drawn from that
point, the line will eventually connect back to the singular point, hence
the strip being single-sided. held at an angle, it creates a figure-eight

ATEEZ 1
 shape and its mechanics determine the way the cromer works, as well
as the way many other concepts in the ateez universe work
- fun fact: when ateez’s logos are placed in order, they create
instructions on how to create a mobius strip. (ref: atz mechanics)
3. STRICTLAND:
- halateez’s origin world, a dystopian world set in a futuristic timeline
run by “Z” (unknown) in which all music, creative freedom, and artistic
expression has been banned, and citizens have mind-controlling chips
implanted in their ears by the government. everyone in this timeline is
able to live up to 200 years, so the duration of education has been
upped to 40 years, with a test at the end. if one does not pass the
test, they are taken to the android bunker and disposed of
4. SCIENSALVAR:
- a religion/cult started by cult leader henry jo established in 1999; the
cult believes that science is the key to solving human problems, and
that humans are collections of energy (ref. atiny glossary)
5. ANDROID GUARDIANS:
- masked android giants dressed in white created by the strictland
government under z’s rule. they carry out z’s bidding and hunt rebels
(black pirates)
6. ANDROID BUNKER:
- the hideout of the android guardians on an isolated island. the bunker
is ironically in the form of an art gallery, where the main exhibition is
halateez trapped in glass cases. It is also the location where android
guardians take rebels/failers to dispose of them and get high/drunk
off of the yellow fumes emitted from burning their memories
7. PRESTIGE ACADEMY:
- strictland’s best and most prestigious academy of the era. it is
cleverly designed and heavily guarded
8. BREAKERS:
- small hand-held cube-like structures with the capability to free
strictland citizens from the chips in their ears
9. DIARY ENTRIES:
- labeled by character name or by number, these entries are
content-filled diary entries. the entries labeled by name contain
backstory and POV info from the character listed, while number
entries are more narration-style paragraphs of information on events
10. HONGJOONG’S CAPTAIN ARMBAND:
- colored armband with an emblem/symbol that Hongjoong wears to
signify his status as captain. the emblem appears to contain the moon
phases and a diagram of the cromer

ATEEZ 2
MAIN CHARACTER INDEX:
1. BLACK PIRATES:
- originally made up of only halateez, the black pirates eventually
expand into a network of rebels who disagreed with z's way of rule in
strictland. their mission is to oppose and destroy the strictland
government as is. they developed the black link, a direct network to
the black pirates that can be accessed by choice through the chips
implanted under strictland citizen's ears once freed using the breaker
2. Z:
- the leader of the dystopian world of strictland. z's identity remains
anonymous at the moment, but it is known that he pushed the
creation of the android guardians, as well as banned artistic
expression to create his perfect world
3. HALATEEZ:
- [the version of] ateez from the new world/strictland timeline,
formerly known as the black pirates. they can be distinguished by
their unique uniforms of a black suit and a black hat to match. they
were trapped at the beginning of fever pt.1 era, and freed some time
after the world: movement era
4. ATEEZ:
- [the version of] ateez from the original old world timeline, where
fever pt.1 begins. they are eight boys with their own backstories, who
come together because of both their problems and their love for
dance and music
5. GRIMES SIBLINGS:
- the sister and brother duo that lead ateez to left-eye after
hongjoong turns the cromer for the first time and ateez is attacked
by android guardians. the girl's voice was originally stolen by the
android guardians, but ateez eventually helps her get her voice back
6. LEFT-EYE:
- the director/owner of the strictland garbage dump. left-eye is an old
man that can be recognized by a single shattered lens on his glasses.
he knows where the android bunker is, and his backstory will be
discussed in part 2 of this document
7. HENRY JO:
- the leader of the cult sciensalvar. not much is known about him
besides the fact that he was after the mayan relic (the ateez cromer)
in the dimension that ateez are transported to after yeosang breaks
the halateez cromer

NOTE: THESE TERMS ARE PART OF CONFIRMED LORE. DIAGRAMS + FURTHER

EXPLANATION CAN BE FOUND IN PART 5

ATEEZ 3
IMAGE CATALOGUE

HALATEEZ

Identified commonly by their black

masks, suits, and fedoras, Halateez is
the version of ATEEZ from a different
timeline

ANDROID GUARDIAN

Clad in white clothes and wearing

metallic masks containing spikes over
their white heads, android guardians
help to enforce the rules of Strictland

LEFT EYE

Shown by the long gray hair and

cracked left-lens of his glasses, Left
Eye is the director of the Strictland
Garbage Dump

ATEEZ 4
 GRIMES SIBLINGS

A girl and a boy that live in Strictland,

away from the big city. The siblings are
not portrayed in any of the MVs. The
image provided is from a tour-video.
The Grimes boy is not shown

CROMER

An hourglass shaped relic with the

capability of interdimensional time
travel. It operates based off of the
moon phases.

BLACK PIRATES

A rebellious organization started by

Halateez to oppose Strictland’s
dystopian policies.

ATEEZ 5
 ATEEZ

PIRATES ON A BOAT 🎵
(i’m sorry pls don’t take this seriously
they’re just a group of teens)

LITTLE BOY FROM THE PRESTIGE

ACADEMY

The little boy shown at the end of

Guerrilla MV. In the lore, he is a boy
who has freed both himself and his
brother from Strictland mind control,
and is seeking help from the Black
Pirates because he wants to save his
brother.

STRICTLAND/GREY CITY

The futuristic dystopian dimension in

which “Z” rules.

STRICTLAND GARBAGE DUMP

The garbage dump of Strictland, run by

Left Eye.

ATEEZ 6
 ANDROID BUNKER

The art gallery in Strictland where

Android Guardians burn peoples’
memories into yellow smoke. This is also
where Halateez and Yeosang were held
captive in glass boxes.

ATEEZ’S WAREHOUSE HIDEOUT

The place of gathering for the ATEEZ

members in their teenage years.

PRESTIGE ACADEMY

The most prestigious academy in

Strictland; it is surrounded by
surveillance and all windows in the
building are covered, closing its
students off from the outside world.

ATEEZ HIGH SCHOOL

A set location for multiple ATEEZ music

videos (ie Inception, Turbulence, The
Real)

ATEEZ 7
 HALATEEZ BUNKER

The Black Pirate rebellion’s place of

operation.

ATEEZ 8
PART 2: DIARY ENTRY ANNOTATION
NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THE LONG ANNOTATIONS, THERE WILL BE A SUMMARY OF THE STORYLINE
AT THE END OF SECTION 2. FOR QUICK ACCESS, USE THE OUTLINE ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE. PLEASE NOTE THAT
THE SUMMARY WILL STILL BE A LONG READ, AS THE ATEEZ UNIVERSE REQUIRES LOTS OF BACKGROUND
INFORMATION.
*Notes labeled as Inferences are not confirmed, everything else is confirmed

THE FOLLOWING DIARY ENTRIES ARE PLACED IN ORDER OF LORE. BY READING THE LEFT-HAND COLUMN, YOU WILL BE
READING EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO WORK WITH BY ATEEZ AND KQ THEMSELVES; IT IS A COHESIVE
STORYLINE. THE RIGHT-HAND COLUMN WILL CONTAIN OUR COMMENTS / A SUMMARY OF THE LEFT-HAND COLUMN. IT IS
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE TERMS DEFINED IN PART 1 BEFORE YOU PROCEED TO PART 2.

FEVER SERIES

FEVER EP. 1
*EP.1 TALKS ABOUT THE BACKSTORIES OF (OLD WORLD) ATEEZ IN THE STORYLINE. HOWEVER, THESE BACKSTORIES ARE
SOMEWHAT GROUNDED IN REALITY, AND DRAW INSPIRATION FROM THE REAL LIVES AND EXPERIENCES OF THE ATEEZ (KPOP
GROUP) MEMBERS.

A. INTRO

<< Out of the procession of busy people,
Along a deserted side road
And after passing a maze of cement walls
I can see the entrance to a factory with the ‘No-Entry’
warning sign.
The intro is a generalization of the perspective of all 8
ATEEZ boys; it is not from a specific person’s point of
view. It describes the experience of getting to their
shared hideout, which is an abandoned warehouse in an
old factory. This shared hideout is a safe haven for the
eight members to bond through various forms of
creative expression. It is a space for them to

ATEEZ 9
I cut through the wild grass growing at the entrance to
the factory.
A path appears with several footprints made through
the grass,
And as usual a familiar beat can be heard in the
distance.
The deserted warehouse, rusty iron gates ringing with
the beat.
Opening the iron gate, welcomed by our own space,
I see my friends dancing to the familiar beat.
When the guys came into my sight one by one,
A broad smile lit up my face.
These are the faces I never got tired of seeing every
day.
This is our own space.
Laughing, crying, arguing, dancing, and singing.
A space where our dreams came together,
Our hideout, our own world, separating us from the
adult world.
Right now, it is a moment void of compromises and
tameness,
It is the moment before we opened that door. >>
comfortably share their dreams and shortcomings, and
hide away from their problems in the real world. Each
member has their own unique backstory, and they all
come together as friends because of it. The following
diary entries will dive into each of the boys’ pasts.
We can INFER that every boy shares a different end
goal as of now, hence the intro stating that “it is a
moment void of compromises”.
We can also INFER that “the moment before we opened
the door” refers to the moment before ATEEZ first
begins their adventure.
NOTE: timelines and dimensions will be discussed
throughout the document. These are unique; for now,
Halateez is confirmed to be from a different dimension
and a different timeline, hence the reference to
Universe A and Universe Z.
AS OF NOW: the Cromer has not been thrown into the
equation yet. The boys are simply coming together as
friends who have troubles in their lives.
ATEEZ 10
 1. HONGJOONG

<< I don’t want to be forgotten as if I never existed. Simply put, Hongjoong is lonely because he has no
united family; he lives alone and feels distant from the
I am sure that we live under the same sky and under people around him because he feels like he cannot
relate to anyone. He often thinks about whether or not
the same world. But, I feel like I'm a bit different from
his family will notice him if he becomes a famous TV
those people on TV dancing under those bright lights. star, but his loneliness is curbed by ATEEZ as they work
Once I become a bright star that can be seen from toward their dreams together.
everywhere, like those people on TV, will my family
notice me? Even if it were by coincidence, I wish I could We can INFER that Hongjoong is slightly possessive
meet them at least once. If my family could get back over ATEEZ; he wants them desperately to stay
together like before… I miss the warmth of our living together because they are the only semblance of family
that he has at the moment.
room.
He has a music-related dream of becoming a TV star.
My family scattered around and here I am with my new
family I made while living alone… I’ve met my fellow
members by doing music together in our little hideout.
Just thinking about them warms my heart! I really hope
we can achieve our dreams together! My family, the
music we love, and our dreams… We must keep them.
>>

2. SEONGHWA

<< She, who was dancing to the beat.
Everything around me froze for a moment. The only
thing I could hear was the sound of music coming from
her earphones. She was moving as if nothing mattered
anymore.
In a way, Seonghwa approached life with an uptight and
stoic mindset, up until he saw a girl dancing in a
carefree way one night. This inspired him to see music
from a different perspective, as she “was moving as if
nothing mattered anymore”. Ever since that day, music
has changed for Seonghwa; the way he hears it

ATEEZ 11
Common sense, rules, and this tough world didn’t have
power over her moves. Right this moment, my world
broke along this snowy road. Something changed in me,
but I stayed still and couldn’t say anything.
She dropped a bracelet that had ‘Be Free’ engraved on
it. Ever since that day, I went to the same place at the
same time.
But, she never came back. I didn’t know her name or
address. Just like the ‘Be Free’ bracelet she wore, she
freed herself away. Since then, music never sounded
the same again. I can no longer distinguish the
structure, code, or genre of the song. Only the
lingering feeling of that day remains. >>
3. YUNHO
<< Hey brother, you look like you are in such a good
mood today!
The weather is so good as well. Even though I was
running to see you, I didn’t even feel the heat.
On days like this, we would have gone to the Han River
for some street performance, right? Ah, I’m getting
nostalgic!
Oh, brother! It has been a while since I took out that
broken guitar.
I wanted to get rid of it because it reminded me of a
broken side of you. But since it’s a guitar you cherished
remains more focused on the emotions that the music
elicits rather than the genre or structure of the music
itself. Music lost its technicality for him, and instead,
has become a vehicle for [freedom of] self-expression.
He visits the same place again and again, but the girl
never comes back, instead leaving behind her bracelet,
which had the words “Be Free” engraved on it.
“She” is an unknown girl as of now. We can INFER that
her identity is not really important; she is simply there
to further Seonghwa’s backstory.
Seonghwa has a music-related dream inspired by the
dancing girl.
Yunho is nostalgic as he examines a broken guitar that
used to belong to his brother, who was injured seriously
earlier on in his life, and is in a coma. His brother had a
music dream that he “abandoned” due to his coma.
Thanks to inspiration from his brother and ATEEZ,
Yunho decides to achieve the goals that his brother
couldn’t by pursuing music. He describes ATEEZ,
specifically Hongjoong, in a very positive light, saying
that they make him enjoy life again, and not recall the
painful memories as often anymore.
Based on the FEVER Part 1 Diary Film (uploaded on
ATEEZ 12
so much, I just left it out of sight because it seemed
like you abandoned your dream.
You know brother: I have a friend like you on our team!
His name is Hongjoong. He is the kind of person I would
go to when things get tough. He is a person I admire on
both artistic and humane level. Thinking about it now,
you both kind of look alike? I think you guys would get
along together if you’d ever meet each other.
You know, now I am laughing thanks to Hongjoong and
the guys from the team. I avoid thinking about these
painful memories and instead I am focusing on the
dreams you couldn’t achieve. I will make them happen:
the boys and I will make it happen.
When that time comes, you must wake up from the long
hibernation. I want to show you all of it!
I’ll be back tomorrow. Good night! >>
4. YEOSANG
<< I was never too good with mechanics. It all started
when I dismantled the speaker. Every time I felt stuffy,
I would disassemble various appliances or instruments
and then reassemble them back together.
My parents had everything planned for me: doing the
same routine at the exact same time. The only time I
ATEEZ’s Youtube channel), we can INFER that Yunho’s
brother was put in a coma after a car accident—we
see a clip of car headlights speeding toward the
camera at the end of Yunho’s diary entry section.
Yunho also states that he is eager for his brother to
“wake up from the long hibernation”.
We can INFER that Yunho looks up to Hongjoong as a
kind of replacement for his big brother, as he says that
“I have a friend like you on our team!... Thinking about it
now, you both kind of look alike?”
Yunho has a music-related dream inspired by his older
brother, who is currently in a coma.
Yeosang is tired of having his life routines controlled by
his parents. As seen in the FEVER Part 1 Diary Film, his
parents forced him to learn violin. To cope with his
struggles, he took up the hobby of constructing and
deconstructing certain machines, as it made him feel
like he had control over the process and routine of
something for once.
One day he is lured to the old warehouse by the sound
ATEEZ 13
could go out of this cycle was when I disassembled and
reassembled things.
Thanks to this weird habit, I met the guys.
That day in that shabby warehouse, a bunch of guys I’d
normally run away from, asked me if I knew how to work
a drone. This whole encounter was a bit strange! I
actually was lost and wandering around. The sound of
music is what brought me to that place.
From that day on I went there every day.
The best feeling was dancing to the music. Dancing was
such a mind-blowing activity.
Even when I saw my parents’ worried faces flashing
before my eyes, I just couldn’t stop.
For the first time ever, I felt alive. Heart pounding like
it’s about to burst out and this tingling feeling coming
up from my fingertips started to take over me.
Was there a moment when I wanted something this
bad? One by one, more children started to say my
name. The path that only I walked with one another
person became the path to many. Slowly, the word ‘I’
became ‘ours’. However, now I must leave the ‘ours’.
If I back out everything will be back to normal, the
scattered members and the stolen hideout.
I’m sorry guys. >>
of music. A bunch of random people are there (who he
later learns are ATEEZ) and they ask him if he knows
how to work a drone. Through this, he becomes friends
with them.
In FEVER Part 1 Diary Film, he is shown playing violin in a
room full of cages with birds in them. Birds represent
freedom, and we can INFER that them being in cages
clashes with this idea, similar to how Yeosang feels
about being caged by his parents' expectations. After
dropping his violin in the film, the birds are set free
from their cages, representing Yeosang breaking free
from his own cage.
Furthermore, in the Diary Film, after Yeosang meets
ATEEZ in the warehouse, we see the same birds flying
freely. Previously, he was being forced to learn music,
which is a form of self-expression, and therefore it was
not true passion and self-expression on his part. This in
turn ties in with the metaphor of being a bird in a cage.
We can therefore INFER that ATEEZ played a big role in
freeing him from his cage, helping him to find passion in
music. He says that after meeting ATEEZ, “[he] felt
alive. Heart pounding like it’s about to burst out and
this tingling feeling coming up from [his] fingertips
started to take over [him].”
Yeosang has a music-related dream inspired by both
ATEEZ and his motivation to express himself outside of
his parents’ expectations.
ATEEZ 14
 5. SAN
<< I was always laughing, but I always felt lonely. I just
couldn’t open up or maybe I’ve never had the time to
open up. Every time I got closer to someone, I had to
move.
It is happening again today, but this time it’s a little
different.
Now I have friends to talk to about my feelings. As soon
as I saw them, I knew right off the bat, they’re like me.
Oh, Seonghwa was a little different. He never tried to
do anything the traditional way, he was always ‘HIS’
way.
My dad said we would have to move again. It was
something I was used to hearing, but this time it hit
differently. Can I just leave like that now that I have a
place of my own…
What should I say to Wooyoung? Thanks to him, thanks
to my friends, I was able to perfect my dance moves.
Bobo, what should I do? What? You want me to do it the
‘MY’ way? >>
San has always been lonely, but in a different way than
Hongjoong is. His family moves a lot, and in turn, he
must also move with them. He, therefore, lacks
security, as well as proper and developed connection
with others because he is always gone before he can
establish a long-lasting bond with them.
However, after his most recent move, San met the
ATEEZ members and was able to form a close
connection with them quickly. Seonghwa has a unique
mindset and way of doing things, and when San and
“Bobo” discuss, “Bobo” suggests that San should do it
his own way as well, saying that San should do
something to change his current lifestyle.
Who is “Bobo”? We can INFER that Bobo is either a doll/
imaginary friend that keeps San company, based on the
AR Photocard Set in which San says “Bobo, I am on a
strange journey with my first real friends”.
In the FEVER Part 1 Diary Film, San is depicted moving
up and down escalators, which are used to move people
without them having to move. This represents the
numerous times that San is forced to move homes
against his will. At the end of his Diary Entry clip, San
finally takes action, turns around, and runs up the
downward-moving escalator. From this, we can INFER
that both Bobo and ATEEZ inspired San to do things his
way and stay with the rest of the members.
San has a music-related dream inspired by ATEEZ and
their time spent together creating music and dancing.
ATEEZ 15
 6. MINGI
<< Music was my haven, my escape, my one and only
relief. When I felt like dying, I would listen to music.
I wasn’t afraid of death! People who never lived in
poverty would never understand this feeling. People
around me looked at me as if I were an alien from
another planet, laughing at an immature high school
student wanting to die. I guess it is uncommon for
someone my age to feel that way.
Only few friends’ names you remember through
elementary, middle, and high school. Most of them were
in elementary school. No one talked to me, but that is
mainly because I didn’t answer even when they tried
talking to me. But Wooyoung was different. Not that I
remember, he was with me all throughout elementary,
middle, and high school. Wooyoung would always come
next to me every break. Whether I answer or not, he
would go on with his stories about our classmates, his
favorite songs, some respected American dancers, and
that music team he works for outside of school. He
always tops it with that signature laugh of his, which
naturally made me laugh. Out of shyness, I started
calling him ‘Woo-Ong’. Ah, that unique laugh of his. He
was the first friend I’ve ever opened up to.
At some point, I started eating and spending most of
my time with Wooyoung. It was around that time too
when I followed him to the hideout for the first time:
the place where I could dream. They were friends who
Mingi has always been inspired by music, using it as a
crutch to deal with his problems. He describes his
family as being poor, and he remembers feeling
alienated because of this. He understands that he did
not make much effort to approach others and
therefore did not make friends, but Wooyoung changed
that. Wooyoung made a consistent effort to spend
time with Mingi, even when Mingi was not responsive to
him. Eventually, Mingi was able to grow close to
Wooyoung who then introduced him to ATEEZ. He
describes Wooyooung as “the first friend [he’s] ever
opened up to”.
Upon meeting the rest of the ATEEZ members, Mingi
finally felt what it was like to be accepted by others
unconditionally.
Because he originated from a place of poverty,
however, he still harbors the fear that his dream is
going to get taken away from him, saying that “now I’m
getting scared. Can I really have a dream? Will it not be
taken away from me?” From this, we can INFER that he
does not think he is deserving of a dream.
He uses music as an unhealthy coping mechanism,
which, as portrayed in the Diary Film, eventually leads
to fights breaking out among ATEEZ. We can INFER
that the fighting also symbolizes his internal struggle;
he fights his urge to put his earbuds back in and shut
people out when in reality he wants to let people in.
Mingi has a music-related dream inspired not only by his
ATEEZ 16
took me as I am. We cried, laughed, and made music
together. They accepted me as who I am, regardless of
where I live or who my parents were. I felt exuberant
for the first time in my life. But now I’m getting scared.
Can I really have a dream? Will it not be taken away
from me? >>
7. WOOYOUNG
<< My mind has gone completely blank. Who am I?
Where am I? I want to run away.
Will I fail again? When I was practicing and dancing
alone, I was pretty confident! My practice video on
social media had reached over 100,000 views. Many
people contacted me and even big entertainment
companies offered me to audition for them. But once I
felt their look towards me, I just couldn’t move. I closed
my eyes trying to escape, and then Seonghwa’s voice
popped into my head.
“Wooyoung, before you start performing on stage,
remember these three things!”
“Everything will be okay!” “Believe in yourself!” “You can
do it!”
“He will be too nervous to remember THREE things!
What kind of psychology book did you read?”
“Yunho, are you making fun of Seonghwa again? But
hey Wooyoung, believing in you is the key.” Hongjoong is
always good at putting everything into perspective.
enjoyment of music, but also by his friendship with
Wooyoung, which subsequently led to gaining ATEEZ as
friends.
Wooyoung is a trainee with a large social media
presence, but he struggles with stage fright. He feels
confident when he dances alone, but when all eyes are
on him, he feels fear. He becomes friends with ATEEZ,
and the members help him overcome his stage fright by
giving him valuable advice and telling him to believe in
himself. Even when they’re not with him, ATEEZ gives
him confidence in himself.
He talks about using his chattiness as a cover for his
shyness and nervousness, but also says that the cover
is blown after he becomes aware of the audience. From
this, we can INFER that Wooyoung was nervous around
Mingi, but still really wanted to be friends with him to
the point where he overcame his nervousness to
continue to interact with him.
However, when he met ATEEZ, more specifically
Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Yunho, he learned that
performance/dance was more than technique; it was
their unique expression that captivated the audience.
He describes how he didn’t feel self-conscious at all
when dancing with them, and how he was able to dance
ATEEZ 17
A smile crept on my face. I felt their presence even
though they were nowhere to be seen. I felt the energy
back on my feet.
I had a habit of constantly chatting to overcome stage
fright and I practiced laughing to hide my shyness. It
was a defense mechanism of mine to focus. I didn’t
care even when others made fun of it. But that only
lasts for a minute, once I became aware of their
scrutinizing eyes, my body just froze.
his best around them. ATEEZ released his “chains”
(stage fright).
(An interesting thing to note is that we also see
Wooyoung tangled in chains in the Wonderland MV. This
may suggest that Wooyoung’s object motif is chains,
while Yeosang’s is drones.)
Wooyoung has a music-related dream inspired by his
own interests; ATEEZ helps him with this dream.

The first time I met Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Yunho

were at the street performance. I could see they had
something I didn’t have: Expressiveness beyond dance
techniques and showmanship that captivated the
audience. When I danced with them, I wasn’t
self-conscious and was able to deliver my best
performances.
My legs are tense. The first step the step that I was
never able to do, the chain that was tying my body, was
magically released >>

8. JONGHO

<< I had it all planned: Winning Nationals, being player
of the year, and the youngest national basketball
player… I had no other plans in my life than this one.
On the first day of this injury, I was only thinking of
quickly rehabilitating and getting back on the field. But,
Jongho was an extremely skilled basketball player
preparing for Nationals. After a serious injury, he made
plans to recover and return to the court, but the
doctors told him that he would not be able to play
professionally for the rest of his life.

ATEEZ 18
now I can’t play basketball anymore. “Then what do I do
now? I can’t do anything but basketball!” “Let me play
basketball, I’ll do anything!” I begged the doctor but it
didn’t work.
I felt like I was drowning. No matter how hard I tried, I
was still stuck in the exact same spot. As the time
went by, I just tried to keep myself from drowning, just
barely holding up. Is it okay to live like this? I know I
can’t! But the moment I gave up playing basketball,
everything inside of me was lifeless., as good as being
dead.
That lifeless look, before Yunho grabbing my hand,
looked so much like me. My hand is throbbing from the
pain. Mingi clearly saw the fist coming his way but
didn’t try to avoid it. His lifeless eyes are still haunting
me.
After this, he lost his dream, but was able to regain it
upon meeting ATEEZ, more specifically meeting Mingi.
As we mentioned in Mingi’s diary entry analysis, Mingi
felt that he was not deserving of a dream. Jongho
regained his dream through seeing himself in Mingi,
saying that “that lifeless look…looked so much like me.
Mingi clearly saw the fist coming his way but didn’t try
to avoid it. His lifeless eyes are still haunting me.”
He was angry after seeing Mingi lose his dream, but
realized that he was just like him. This was the
revelation that he needed to regain his dream. He
reflects upon the situation, saying that “funnily
enough, it was a heartbreaking moment for me, but
also the time I started to dream again.”
Jongho has a music-related dream inspired by his old
sport (basketball) and by ATEEZ.

When Mingi said he would quit, that our dream was a

luxury, and that the time we spent together meant
nothing to him, I couldn’t stand but to punch him.
Funnily enough, it was a heartbreaking moment for me,
but also the time I started to dream again.

At that time, I didn’t know how to reach out to a lost

Mingi.

Where are we, where should we go? >>

ATEEZ 19
 Z. OUTRO
<< Even though I lost my dream and family again. There
was nothing I could do.
Everyone left and here I am, alone again.
On a summer day, when the hot and humid weather
continued without a single drop of rain, we decided to
go our separate ways. All that because our dream of
being together have become like shackles that hold us
down. The scorching sun melted away even our dream
of youth and made it disappear at the end of our feet.
Problems were piling up like laundry that had been put
off. Even if, not often, the promises we made were
pushed back day by day and we forgot about each
other. It was around that time I began seeing him in my
dream.
The man in the black fedora, whose eyes you could only
see through his mask, a somehow familiar, but tired
eyes.
“You lost your dream not because of the tough reality,
but because you guys decided to.”
“Get rid of the idea that the world you see is
everything. There are many dimensions and many
realities in this world. The world I am in, the world you
are in, are all real.”
“I want to tell you everything, but I don’t have much
time right now.”
ATEEZ eventually split for a period of time, and this
affects Hongjoong the most. We can INFER that the
person speaking is Hongjoong even though he is not
directly mentioned to be narrating because he says
“Even though I lost my dream and family again. There
was nothing I could do. Everyone left and here I am,
alone again.” This matches up perfectly with
Hongjoong’s backstory of losing his family and being
lonely.
Because ATEEZ were meeting up to ignore their
problems in real life, the problems did not disappear,
they simply built up “like laundry”. This, in turn, relates
back to how their dream of being together held them
down like shackles instead of helping them move
forward. It effectively chained them together. He
recalls that ATEEZ split up on a hot summer day,
meaning that the shackles heated up in the weather
and burned the boys. This metaphor basically explains
how the pain made them realize that they were being
chained down instead of being let free, and influenced
their decision to split up.
At this point, a man in a black fedora (who he much
later learns is Halateez Hongjoong), begins showing up
in Hongjoong’s dreams. He essentially criticizes
Hongjoong for giving up too early, saying that it is his
own fault that things turned out this way. However, he
also gives Hongjoong the valuable information that
there are many realities and dimensions out there,
meaning that there is a bigger picture. While the
mysterious man does not explain himself further,
ATEEZ 20

“What is this?”
“The Cromer. The key to connecting the world.”
He had a shining hourglass in his hand. This little
hourglass was the key to connecting the world?
I carefully picked up the Cromer. At that moment, the
man went back a few steps and spat out his last words.
“Follow your heart, the map is there.”
When I looked back up from the Cromer, the man was
already gone.
I then opened my eyes. It was all a dream. I fell asleep
alone in the hideout where no one was looking for him.
While I tried to hide my lonely heart and turn around, I
saw something shiny on the desk right in front of the
couch where I was lying. It’s the Cromer I saw in my
dream.
Wasn’t it a dream? While looking at the Cromer, I
inadvertently turned it around.
The sand in the hourglass began to flow back from
bottom to top.
The iron door then opened and I could hear footsteps
coming closer one by one. The guys then gathered
around me with the same puzzled face. >>
saying he doesn’t have time, he does deliver an object
through the dream. [refer to Cromer definition in part
1]
The man then hands Hongjoong a shiny hourglass that
he explains is “the Cromer. The key to connecting the
world.” As Hongjoong picks up the Cromer, the man
tells him to follow his heart, and then disappears.
Hongjoong wakes up and realizes that this was a
dream, but then notices the same Cromer sitting right
in front of him. It is here that we can INFER that the
Cromer not only gives the user the ability to deliver
messages through dreams, but also gives the user the
ability to deliver the Cromer ITSELF through dreams.
After turning the Cromer upside down, the sand inside
it starts to flow and the rest of the ATEEZ members
enter the warehouse through the door, as if called
upon. Essentially, Hongjoong is given a second chance
to unite ATEEZ, properly this time. We can INFER that
this is the moment Hongjoong first travels to
Strictland with his members [refer to part 1 for the
description of Strictland].
ATEEZ 21
FEVER EP. 2
*EP 2 WILL NOT HAVE NEARLY AS MANY ANNOTATIONS AS THE FIRST EP. THIS IS BECAUSE EP 2 IS EXTREMELY LORE-HEAVY,
AND THE PASSAGES THEMSELVES WILL MAKE SENSE IN PERFECT ORDER WITHOUT EXTRA COMMENTARY. IF YOU WOULD
NOT LIKE TO READ THE ENTIRE PASSAGE, REFER TO THE RIGHT-HAND COLUMN FOR A BRIEF SUMMARY.

A. INTRO

<< HJ POV: The Cromer in my hand flashed, but I was
still in the hideout. Members who were looking at me
were the same too.
‍
It was like an unbelievable dream to hear about the
various dimensions from the man wearing a black
fedora and to see the Cromer in my hand.
Right then, an unknown voice came from outside. As
the sound neared, giants dressed in white suddenly
appeared, breaking the hideout door.
They were wearing masks that covered their entire
face and did not feel like people.
They were looking at the Cromer. >>
Upon Hongjoong flipping the Cromer for the first time,
the ATEEZ members are transported to Strictland
without them knowing.
They hear voices coming from outside of their hideout,
and shortly after, “giants dressed in white suddenly
appeared, breaking the hideout door… they were
looking at the Cromer.” It is later revealed that these
giants, who “did not feel like people”, are the Android
Guardians created by the Strictland government [refer
to the description of Android Guardians in part 1].

1. HONGJOONG

<< It did not matter where this place was or whether
this place was really located in a different dimension.
What matters now is that those dangerous white-clad
giants are out for the Cromer in our hands and that we
cannot go back home if we lose the Cromer.
At this point, none of the ATEEZ members understand
where the Cromer transported them to. However,
Hongjoong knows that the only way for them to safely
return back to their warehouse hideout is if they keep
the Cromer with them.

I had to protect the Cromer and the members at the The “white-clad giants” or “masked men” (Android
same time, but that was more like a gamble. Guardians) are their most crucial threat right now, as

ATEEZ 22

Right that moment a broken piece of glass under my
foot caught my eye. I received the Cromer from Yunho
and started to provoke the giants.
“I’ll give you the Cromer,” I shouted, and threw what I
had in my hand through the window. The members who
were watching from behind were shocked.
As the sparkling piece flew away in an arc, the
white-clad giants ran towards it in haste. At the same
time, I yelled, “Run away!” >>
2. SAN
<< The place around the hideout was very similar to
where we used to stay. If I had not faced the strange
creatures, I would not have believed all the sayings
about the different dimensions and the Cromer.
Fortunately, we escaped the hideout safely, and thanks
to being familiar with the surroundings we were able to
find our way halfway down in the dark.
Visible spaces were very similar to the reality we knew
but were also slightly different. Under the cliff where
Wooyoung saved our Bobo in the past, there used to be
a valley and a gigantic rock on top but here, no sounds
of water flowing could be heard nor could the gigantic
rock be seen. Same, yet strangely different.
By the time I was immersed in such thoughts, I could
hear the members laughing.
they are trying to take the Cromer from ATEEZ.
Hongjoong notices a broken piece of glass laying on the
ground that resembles the cromer. He takes the
Cromer from Yunho and throws the broken glass out
the window to divert the giants.
As the giants run toward the glass, the members are
able to escape safely with the Cromer in hand.
San was hesitant to believe what he learned about “the
different dimensions and the Cromer” until he
witnessed the giants enter the hideout.
After escaping from the hideout, the members stepped
out into an environment that was “same, yet strangely
different” from the surroundings of the hideout in the
dimension they came from.
It is then confirmed that the broken piece of glass that
Hongjoong threw to divert the giants was merely a
random piece of glass that did not come from the
Cromer. As of now, the Cromer was safe with them and
completely intact.
ATEEZ 23
The members, who had been taking a break for a while,
were playing with each other, relieved that the Cromer
was safe. What Hongjoong had thrown out the window
was a piece of glass similar to the Cromer, not the real
Cromer. >>

3. WOOYOUNG

<< The child who saved me was a girl who matched well
with the moonlight.
‍ giants attack them again and drag Wooyoung away by
The girl willingly invited us to her house. Tired of being
chased and running away, we fell asleep immediately
and, in the meantime, the girl healed my injured ankle.
The white-clad giants, who had been fooled by the glass
fragments, attacked us again while we were resting in
the middle of the forest.
As the giants dragged me away by my ankle, all the
members rushed to save me and so we ended up losing
the Cromer.
After escaping from the hideout, the members take
some time to rest in the forest. At this point, the
the ankle. The members are able to save Wooyoung, but
they end up losing the Cromer as a result.
This is where the Grimes siblings are introduced (see
part 1 of this document for a full description of the
Grimes siblings). The girl appears from inside a cave in
the forest and signals for the ATEEZ members to come
into her house, where they meet her brother. The girl
and boy introduce themselves as the Grimes siblings,
and we find out that the girl “could not speak because
the white-clad giants took away the girl’s voice.”

After they took the Cromer away and turned their eyes
away, stones rolled over from the cave in the forest.
When we ran towards it, a girl in the cave gestured
between the rocks.

The girl had a brother. The boy said she could not speak
because the white-clad giants took away the girl’s
voice. They introduced themselves as the Grimes
siblings. >>

ATEEZ 24
 4. SEONGHWA
<< “One day they suddenly disappeared.” the Grimes
siblings looked at us with sad eyes.
According to the Grimes siblings, the central
government here established a stable future policy for
the entire human race by running AI simulations. They
put the blame on human emotions for causing crimes
and terrorism that threaten humanity and so the key
to their policy was to control the variables called
human emotions.
‍
A bill to lower human emotions below the thresholds by
using advanced technology and a bill to ban the arts,
which greatly affect human emotions, had been passed.
Consequently, the central government had achieved
high growth under a strong control policy, and people
enjoyed material affluence. However, laughter
disappeared from their faces, and only efficiency and
logic became the priority in this society.
As those days continued, men wearing black fedoras
began to appear one day. They sang and performed
here and there and that was said to have the power to
attract people. Being stimulated by these men, people
who escaped the control began to appear. People from
various fields formed a resistance against the central
government and called themselves the ‘Black Pirates’.
The central government put the men in Black Fedora on
the wanted list, but they repeatedly failed to arrest
The Grimes siblings proceed to inform the ATEEZ
members of the world that they’ve just entered
(Strictland).
Put simply, the Strictland government (refer to part 1
of the document for a complete description of
Strictland) has created a dystopian system to rule over
their society. The government’s actions and decisions
revolve around minimizing human emotions, which
eventually led to a ban on all forms of art.
As the level of human emotion amongst the general
population starts to decrease drastically, a group of
“men wearing black fedoras began to appear one day.”
We will later learn that these men in black fedoras are
Halateez (see part 1 for a description of Halateez).
In an attempt to rebel against the government, the
men in black fedoras sing and perform, helping people
regain control of themselves. The men in black fedoras
and the people that were able to escape the grasp of
the government ended up unifying to form a group they
called the “Black Pirates.”
However, the government begins making efforts to
capture the men in black fedoras, “but they repeatedly
failed to arrest them due to them being able to
teleport using the Cromer.” After creating the Android
guardians, they finally succeeded in capturing the men.
ATEEZ 25
them due to them being able to teleport using the
Cromer. However, at last, by putting in the new
Android Guardians - probably the white-clad giants who
came to catch us - the government succeeded in
capturing the men in Black Fedora.
The Black Pirates and the resistance, all that does not
matter. What is important is that we need the Cromer
to return home and that we lost our Cromer to the
Android Guardians. >>
5. YEOSANG
<< To my beloved father,
Father, I’m walking toward the ‘Strictland’ where I may
not be able to come back.
Now that I’m walking on a bumpy road after always
having walked on a beautiful and straight road, my feet
keep on throbbing.
My feet are sore, but I still feel good.
That is because I’m with my friends and I’m walking
towards a place that I’ve decided on my own.
Everyone says this is a new world but somehow, I’m
familiar with the scenery here. The city I faced after
coming down from the woods,
I could only see people who were running without taking
a single look in the sky, as if they were being chased,
people who took the escalators like products being
placed on machines, people who removed unnecessary
smiles and only talked about their needs, and people
Note: this entry is slightly confusing, and we will be
discussing a theory based on the content from this
entry later, which you can read more on in part 6 of
this document. For now, we will just be providing a brief
summary directly based on what is written.
Simply put, this section depicts a metaphorical
message written by Yeosang to his father. As we know
from Yeosang’s diary entry in FEVER Part 1, Yeosang
struggled to deal with having to live under his parents’
control and expectations. Upon meeting ATEEZ, he was
able to break free from this and finally find a passion
for music.
What we are seeing in this entry is Yeosang’s inner
monologue on the events he is experiencing after being
transported to Strictland. He reflects on the parallels
that he sees between Strictland and his own life in the
old world prior to meeting the ATEEZ members: “I
thought that maybe this place is not a new world, but
ATEEZ 26
who were only looking at small machines, having
forgotten how to see each other face to face.
‍
I thought that maybe this place is not a new world, but
that I’m just taking a microscopic look at the world I
was living in.
Father, I know you were shocked to see me singing and
dancing with these friends.
But I really wanted to escape the world I’ve lived in, the
world I’ve been trapped in.
I love my parents so much, but I have never been happy
in your world.
When we were kicked out of the garage that we have
been using as our hideout and had to be separated,
what was more painful to me was that my father was
the one that drove us out.
I became the person that took happiness away from
the friends who have willingly invited me into their
world. I regretted that if they haven’t met me from the
beginning, this situation wouldn’t have happened. I
resented you, father.
Father, thus I will not return to the world you have
created.
It’s not that I don’t love you, it is that I don’t want to
blame you anymore.
Your son, Yeosang>>
that I’m just taking a microscopic look at the world I
was living in.”
From a more literal perspective, Yeosang also states
that his father kicked him and his members out of their
hideout, which caused the group to separate. He feels
guilty about this, and ends up blaming himself as he
believes that he is “the person that took happiness
away from the friends who have willingly invited [him]
into their world.”
We can INFER that Yeosang’s father, who is a person
with status and power, disapproved of Yeosang and the
members utilizing the hideout as a space to house their
passion for the arts, and thus decided to shut it down
completely.
As Yeosang reflects on this event and his experience in
Strictland, his motivation to push forward with ATEEZ
and go against his father’s will grows even stronger. He
declares, “Father, thus I will not return to the world
you have created.”
ATEEZ 27
 6. MINGI
<< To find the Cromer, we must go to the Android
Guardians’ bunker, but the only person who knows
where the bunker is is Left Eye, the manager of the
Strictland dump. So, we had no choice but to come to
this place.
As if they were continuously burning trash, the yellow
smoke, which is said to cause hallucinations, was
constantly soaring. Perhaps because of that, the man
named Left Eye was mumbling to himself in the air.
Whew… how do we locate the Android bunker from that
person?
Thanks to nosy Wooyoung, we decided to find the
location of the Android bunker as well as regain the
voice of the Grimes girl. That dude is always so
unnecessarily nosy like that. By what we have heard
from Hongjoong and the Grimes siblings, that Left Eye
man seems to have his own story too. Whatever,
there’s no one without a story.
Anyway, we split into teams. Members who will go into a
pile of trash that looks like a cave to find the voice and
members who will convince Left Eye to find out the
location of the Android bunker. I was in the latter. >>
7. JONGHO
<< Boing boing. I heard a basketball bounce. I thought I
misheard.
At this point, the ATEEZ members have lost the Cromer
to the Android Guardians, met the Grimes siblings, and
learned more about the Strictland government from
the siblings.
The members and siblings now need to go to the
Android Guardians’ bunker in order to get the Cromer
back and retrieve the Grimes girl’s voice. To do this,
the group needs the help of Left Eye, who is the only
person that knows where the bunker is located (refer
to part 1 of the document for a more detailed
description of Left Eye).
The members split up into groups to search for the
voice and talk to Left Eye to find out the location of
the bunker. Mingi goes with the group that will
converse with Left Eye.
Jongho is with the half of the group that is searching
for the Grimes girl’s voice. As they step into the cave
ATEEZ 28

To find the girl’s abandoned voice, I slowly entered the
cave with a thin string tied around my body and a gas
mask on my face. (I don’t even know how someone can
abandon a voice and find it back, but they say it’s
possible because of the new energy extraction thing.)
I have never seen the shape of a voice before. When I
asked the Grimes boy if it had a shape or color, he said
it looks like a bead with a blue condensed energy inside.
The bead the boy had told us was shining deep inside
the yellow smoke.
Then, I heard the basketball bounce again. When I
stopped walking, a basketball rolled in front of my feet.
‘Victory is mine. J.H.’ It was my ball. When I looked up, I
was standing in a stadium.
“What are you doing? Pass it!”
My teammate shouted at me. Is it deja vu…? I blanked
out. The whistle rang in the stadium. I think I had a
strange dream for a bit. I was looking for something,
but I couldn’t remember what it was.
The game started again. I ran into the court. >>
8. YUNHO
<< Left Eye, who ran a small but unique brand shop
after studying fashion design, was often disqualified
from interviews at the fashion house due to his
unfriendly appearance. However, he had great skills and
was a warm person with passion. Until he lost his
where they believe the voice is located, Jongho begins
hearing sounds of a basketball bouncing.
At one point, Jongho sees a basketball roll toward him
on the ground: “‘Victory is mine. J.H.’ It was my ball.
When I looked up, I was standing in a stadium.”
He suddenly notices that he is back in his old basketball
stadium, playing basketball with his old teammates.
During this moment of deja vu, he senses that “[he]
was looking for something, but [he] couldn’t remember
what it was.” He is completely immersed in his
flashback of the basketball game, unable to recall that
he is in Strictland searching for the Grimes girl’s voice.
Yunho and the other half of the group meet Left Eye
and are able to learn more about his backstory. In
short, Left Eye was someone filled with passion and
warmth up until he lost his daughter due to a car
accident. After hearing the news of the accident, Left
ATEEZ 29
daughter.
His daughter was hit by a speeding car while she was
reaching out her hand to save a flower that had
bloomed on the road. People thought moving forward
quickly was more important than looking around. Even
after seeing the child on the street after getting hit by
the car, people were busy passing by, pretending not to
have seen anything. During that time, the child dies
slowly. Left Eye is said to have become furious and
fallen into despair when he had belatedly learned of
this truth and has become a completely different
person ever since.
After losing his daughter, he met the illusion of his
daughter while being intoxicated by the smoke that
creates delusions at Strictland’s dump. And while he
was wandering around in the dump, he was selected by
the Android Guardian to become the manager of
Strictland.
Eye turned cold and began seeing an illusion of his late
daughter “while being intoxicated by the smoke that
creates delusions at Strictland’s dump.”
He was later selected by the Android Guardians to
become the manager of Strictland.
Upon hearing Left Eye’s backstory, Yunho reflects on
the parallels between Left Eye and himself. He is able
to empathize with Left Eye and feels inclined to help
him because his own brother was put into a coma due
to a car accident. Thus, the group brings Left Eye to a
place that is less concentrated with smoke in order to
help him realize that the daughter he’s been seeing is
only an illusion.

It reminded me of my brother the whole time I heard his

story. I empathized with Left Eye’s feelings a little bit.
Left Eye reminded me of when I had lost my brother.

Despite my original intentions to find out about the

Android bunker, I personally wanted to help him out as
well.

To do so, we had to lure him to a place where the smoke

was not severe. We had to make him realize that the
daughter he was looking at was not real but just an
illusion. >>

ATEEZ 30
 Z. OUTRO

<< The safety strap tied to Jongho’s body stopped and Jongho is still stuck experiencing the deja vu of the
no longer moved. Worried Yeosang went into the trash basketball game (we now know that this illusion is
cave wearing the last remaining gas mask to find out caused by the yellow smoke in the Strictland dump).
about the situation.
- Wearing the last gas mask the group has, Yeosang
enters the cave to find out what is going on with
The game that had caused Jongho’s ankle injury was Jongho.
going on in front of his eyes. Jongho dismissed all the
things that had happened as mere illusion and deja vu At the same time, Left Eye is chasing the other half of
and ran more fiercely to erase the disgrace of that the members. Once the members are able to move him
past. to a smoke-free space, Left Eye realizes that his
- daughter was an illusion this whole time. Yunho bluntly
tells him that his daughter is dead. He says, “You’re
Left Eye started to attack the members. Running away denying it because you don’t want to believe it, but
from Left Eye who was chasing them, they secretly aren’t you already aware of this truth?” This provokes
lured him into a smoke-free space. When his daughter’s Left Eye, who threatens to kill Yunho and attempts to
illusion disappeared, he became even more furious. attack him.

Everyone was unsure what to do, but then Yunho Yeosang finds Jongho in the cave, still stuck in his
shouted amidst the silence. “Your daughter is dead!” illusion. Jongho starts sprinting toward the cliff
Everyone looked at Yunho in surprise. “You’re denying it because he thinks he is chasing a ball.
because you don’t want to believe it, but aren’t you
already aware of this truth?” Yunho accused him once
again.
“I’ll kill you!”
Left Eye let out a shriek and swung a big bat at Yunho
-

“Jongho!”
When Yeosang had arrived, Jongho was intoxicated
with illusion and was running furiously toward the cliff.
>>

ATEEZ 31
FEVER EP. 3
*EP 3 WILL NOT HAVE AS MANY ANNOTATIONS AS THE FIRST EP. THIS IS BECAUSE EP 3 IS EXTREMELY LORE-HEAVY, AND
THE PASSAGES THEMSELVES WILL MAKE SENSE IN PERFECT ORDER WITHOUT EXTRA COMMENTARY. IF YOU WOULD NOT
LIKE TO READ THE ENTIRE PASSAGE, REFER TO THE RIGHT-HAND COLUMN FOR A BRIEF SUMMARY.

A. INTRO

<< The fourth industrial revolution stimulated the The introduction to the FEVER EP. 3 Diary Entries
advances of science and technology. It also brought an provides a description of the history, formation, and
expansion of the human lifespan to 200 years. As the policies in Strictland (refer to part 1 for a description
human lifespan increased, so did compulsory education. of Strictland).
40 years of education was required to learn basic
knowledge and simple principles for living in this world.
‍
The central government desired to construct their own
utopian society by using an AI system, thereby making
it possible to remove and take control of every
predictable variable. It succeeded in predicting all
possible outcomes allowing the government to
completely take over but of course, there was one
problem they could not solve - human emotions.

By applying deep learning technology, the AI that

identified the new variable as a bug, cultivated a new
market platform for estimating individual energy, which
was known as something unpredictable, and trading it.

As the government prohibited all kinds of art and

exercised control over the new energy trading
platform, sensitivity, emotion, and free will gradually
faded away, and humanity fell to components for
maintaining the world. >>

ATEEZ 32
 1. JONGHO

<< A referee announced the restart of the game. My
teammate intercepted the ball and passed it to me.
With my great dribbling skill, I went across the court. I
attempted a lay-up from my rival’s blocking. The ball
hung on the rim and then fell in. ‘Yes. I’ve turned the
game around’. With excitement, I landed on my feet
from the successful shoot when all of a sudden, the
floor lay in front of my eyes. ‘Have I sprained my ankle?’
My head dimmed out. Just before I crashed to the floor
someone grabbed my arm.
“Jongho!”A familiar voice. One I have definitely heard
before. Who could it be? As my eyes started to regain
focus, the figure of the person holding my arm started
to form. A doctor. The doctor seemed to think deeply
before telling me about my ankle. It was somewhere
along the lines that I had no problem living a normal life,
but basketball would not be an option anymore. All my
colleagues could do was leave me with pitiful eyes. I
freed myself from the doctor’s stronghold of my arm
and yelled at my colleagues as they were distancing.
Jongho is still experiencing the illusion of his basketball
game. He relives the moment that caused his ankle
injury and recalls the doctors telling him that he would
never be able to play professionally again.
As he tries to break free from the doctor’s grip on his
arm, he yells toward his teammates, “‘Please take me
with you! Please, don’t leave me here!’”
Still in the illusion, he sees Yeosang standing behind the
doctor. Yeosang reaches out to him and puts the gas
mask on him, and he is finally able to come to his
senses. He sees that they are at the edge of a cliff,
and Yeosang informs him that they were able to get
the Grimes girl’s voice back.

‘Please take me with you! Please, don’t leave me here!’

I screamed at the top of my lungs desperately. Then
again, I hear it,

“Jongho! Choi Jongho!”

I could see faintly Yeosang’s face behind the doctor’s

shoulders. He reached out his arm to hold me which
stopped me frantically moving. He raised my body up
and put the gas mask from his face to mine. After

ATEEZ 33
inhaling in and out a few times, I began to see my
surroundings more clearly. We were sitting at the end
of a cliff. Speechless, I look up at Yeosang with
complete confusion. He held my hand and told me the
Grimes girl found her voice back. Then with a warm
smile said,

“Let's get out of here.” >>

2. YUNHO

<< The bat that Left Eye hit dodged me by an inch and
smashed into an abandoned window. The broken pieces
scattered into the air. I looked at him without a blink.
He would only swing the bat even more recklessly.
Everything that hit the bat shattered to nothing. I
slowly walked towards him. I hear the members’ voices
trying to stop me. But a strange form of pity inside me,
an unexplainable emotion on top of that led me
fearlessly to stand in front of him. Left Eye was still
holding tight to his bat, but his pupils were shaking. It
looked as if the hallucination was fading.
After being angered by Yunho’s harsh words, Left Eye
swung a bat toward Yunho that just nearly missed him.
Left Eye began swinging wildly and losing his sense of
control. Despite this, however, Yunho still felt inclined
to move toward him.
Eventually, Yunho says, “‘it’s not your fault’...‘You had
no thoughts of harming anyone in the first place.’”
These words seemed to relieve the guilt and sorrow
that Left Eye had been holding in, as he collapsed on
the floor crying.

“It’s not your fault.” Seeing Left Eye break down like this, Yunho felt as if he
With the drop of his bat, Left Eye fell to the floor like a was watching a raw version of himself. The words he
lifeless toy. comforted Left Eye with are likely words that he
needed to hear himself as well.
“You had no thoughts of harming anyone in the first
place.”

He looked up with sorrowful eyes and began to let go of

his tears - together with the emotions he had locked

ATEEZ 34
up. He would have lived many days with the burden of
guilt after his daughter died. What if, just what if I
didn’t send her there that day. What if I was there with
her, what if, what if…
Looking at him felt like seeing me stripped of
everything in front of a mirror. >>
3. MINGI
<< “Those boys will be able to save the Black Pirates.”
Sailing towards the Android Guardian’s bunker, I came
out to the deck as the members fell asleep. I hear
Grimes boy’s voice full of conviction from a distance.
Not wanting to join in their conversation, I quietly hid.
They were watching a video of Left Eye’s daughter
dancing and were missing the times when they could
sing and dance as much as they wanted. They
comforted themselves by saying they would soon save
the Black Pirates, and all will return to normal.
‍ “‘dancing defines at least the smallest will to live. So,
“Look at the sea.”
Shouted the Grimes girl with her returned voice.
The sea absorbing a bright orange color from the
sunset swayed beneath. It was beautiful.
“I was missing this in my life.” said Left Eye, adding that
he was blind by the past wandering relentlessly. They
watch the sea for a while in complete silence. As if all
the concerns and worries of this world had
disappeared, the Grimes siblings started humming a
song. Gradually getting louder, Left Eye playfully
As the group starts sailing toward the Android
Guardian’s bunker, Mingi watches the Grimes siblings
and Left Eye watch a video of Left Eye’s daughter
dancing. The three reminisce on the times they were
able to express themselves freely through music and
dance.
Gradually, Left Eye and the siblings began to let go of
their worries, singing and dancing happily. While
observing them, Mingi recalls a phrase that goes,
people dance in the brim of hopelessness.’” He reflects
on this moment saying that “[he] could not see the
present because it was disturbed by past
misfortunes.”
Because of his upbringing in poverty, as mentioned in
the FEVER EP. 1 Diary Entries, Mingi struggled to form
connections with the people around him, and instead
closed himself off by immersing himself in music to an
unhealthy extent; He turned toward music as a way to
distract himself from his present life. Even after
meeting ATEEZ, Mingi still struggled with believing that
ATEEZ 35
danced. Although a bit of a laugh, it was wonderful. I
didn’t realize I let out a small laugh.
The calm wind tickled my hair. The sea shone as if
embracing a pearl. As time passed, Left Eye and the
Grimes siblings were singing and dancing together.
Someone said, ‘Dancing defines at least the smallest
will to live. So, people dance in the brim of
hopelessness.’
That’s right. I could have lived without realizing this. I
could not see the present because it was disturbed by
past misfortunes.
The hopeless sun has hidden behind the horizon and the
stars of hope have made their appearance in the sky.
The sway of the orange-lit sea faded as the waves
embrace the shining stars. >>
4. WOOYOUNG
<< The late afternoon of the following day, we finally
arrive on the island. From the elongated shadows of
the afternoon sun, I could see pensions and sunbeds.
When I stepped onto the sand. I could feel the heat
rising. The island was considered a tourist paradise in
the past. However, nobody had visited this island for
their holidays anymore since taking a rest and trip
became meaningless and worthless in this world.
To escape quickly, Left Eye and the Grimes Siblings
stayed on the ship. We walked down the island to look
for the place, called the Android Guardian bunker. And
he was deserving of dreaming and experiencing
happiness.
We can INFER that this moment of introspection while
observing Left Eye and the siblings serves as
motivation for Mingi to push forward in his own life, as
well as a reflection on the current state of Strictland.
The next day, the group finally arrives on the island
where the Android Guardians’ bunker is located. Left
Eye and the Grimes siblings stay on the ship while the
ATEEZ members search for the bunker.
The members notice yellow steam coming from
somewhere on the island, and are able to locate the
bunker by following this.
Ironically, the bunker is located in an art gallery in the
middle of the island. The members enter the lobby of
the gallery and head toward the exhibition where they
ATEEZ 36
we easily found the place, which was blowing off golden find drunk Android Guardians on the floor. At the end
yellow steam on this isolated island. When we got of the room, they find the men in black fedoras trapped
there, it was a gallery in the middle of the island. in a glass prison.
Gallery… They banned all kinds of art - funny of them to
settle and build their bunker there. We passed along
the empty lobby and went towards the exhibition. The
golden yellow steam continually spurted from where an
arrow indicated an exhibition route.
‍
Some drunk Android Guardians were lying on the floor.
And at the end of its view, I could see the Men in Black
Fedora were in a glass prison. >>

5. HONGJOONG

<< There was a man at the end of the smoky road. To
be more specific, they were there, the Men in Black
Fedora that we met in our dreams. One person was
leaning on the wall, hardly on their feet, and my instinct
said that I must save them.
I threw myself to the glass wall. It did not move. I
bumped into it again. The man finally heard the noise
and saw me.
“Finally, you are here.”
He said, and he barely took off his mask.
As I saw his face, I was in shock. He was me. The man
had exactly the same face as mine.
“Listen, we called you here.”
In the midst of these strange incidents, I could only
shake my head.
Hongjoong sees the men in black fedoras at the end of
the room. He sees one man leaning against the glass
prison wall and feels the inclination to save them.
The man notices Hongjoong and takes off his mask,
revealing that he and Hongjoong have the exact same
face.
We can INFER that these men in black fedoras are, in
fact, Halateez (refer to part 1 for a description of
Halateez), and that the man facing Hongjoong is Hala
Hongjoong.
Hongjoong is shocked and confused, but the man tells
him that he needs ATEEZ to do their work for them. He
places his hand on the glass wall and tells the members
to do the same. He says to Hongjoong, “‘we all face
walls. Sometimes we think that our lives would be

ATEEZ 37
‍ happier without walls but that is not true. If we earn
“We are captured here, and somebody has to do our things easily, we could lose them easily.’”
work. You may have noticed it. This world needs a
change.” We can INTERPRET this as Halajoong reflecting on his
struggles against Strictland and the Android Guardians
“Why does it have to be us? Why do we share the same to get to the point where he is now, and as a general
face?” metaphor for overcoming hardships in life.

I kept questioning him and tried to break the glass wall Suddenly, the members feel a strange energy
between us. But not even a small crack. surrounding them, and shortly after, they are all
wearing the black suits of the men in black.
“I don’t have enough time to tell you the whole story.
We are going to be seen by the guardians when the
smoke fades. Do what I do.”
The man put his hand on the glass wall and told us to
copy him. So we put our hands as he did.

“We all face walls. Sometimes we think that our lives

would be happier without walls but that is not true. If
we earn things easily, we could lose them easily.”

The man and I faced each other, and I felt some

indescribable energy swirling near us, regardless of
this unbelievable reality - the men with the same faces
as us, endless questions about this world and
everything. Soon after, we were wearing their black
suits without even noticing. >>

6. SAN

<< When I was dazed by this black suit thing, I heard After ATEEZ are put in the black suits, San hears
the voice of the man who has the same face as Halajoong’s voice yell at them to run away before the
Hongjoong from the other side of the wall. “You have to yellow smoke fades so that the Android Guardians can’t

ATEEZ 38
run before the smoke fades,” he shouted.
The Android Guardian was burning new energy in the
center of the hall. It was people’s memories. I picked
some of the memories that were not yet burnt from
the floor.
A memory of confessing love to my lover.
A memory of walking my dog on the beach.
A memory of my first trip with my friends.
They were all valuable and unforgettable memories.
These memories were the source to live and hope.
Android guardians were burning the hope of people and
they were drunk from the smoke. I felt a surge of anger
coming over me. All of a sudden, Seonghwa shouted,
“I can't see Yeosang!” >>
7. SEONGHWA
<< After Yeosang disappeared, we all were in panic and
ran instantly to the lobby.
Fortunately, Yeosang also ran to us from the opposite
exhibition at the same time. With relief, we moved
toward the exhibition. While looking back, Yeosang
threw a shining object. The object was the Cromer.
It was just a short moment of celebration that we are
soon going back home when the crowd of Android
guardians came up to us behind Yeosang. The biggest
guardian grabbed Yeosang’s neck. He threatened us
saying that if we do not hand over the Cromer, he
catch them.
San sees the Android Guardians burning the energy of
peoples’ memories in the center of the hall and picks
some of the memories up and looks at them: “A memory
of confessing love to my lover. A memory of walking my
dog on the beach. A memory of my first trip with my
friends.” He feels enraged that the guardians are
burning precious memories and destroying the hope
and happiness of the people.
Then, “Seonghwa shouted, ‘I can't see Yeosang!’”
The members rush toward the lobby of the gallery and
find Yeosang running toward them. Yeosang throws the
Cromer to Hongjoong before getting grabbed by the
neck by the guardian.
The members are then given an ultimatum: hand over
the Cromer to the guardians or let Yeosang get
captured and have his neck broken.
Hongjoong attempts to step closer to Yeosang but the
guardians tell him to throw the Cromer to them
instead. If they tossed the Cromer over, the guardians
ATEEZ 39
would break Yeosang’s neck. There was no way. When
Hongjoong, holding the Cromer attempted to approach
Yeosang, the Android Guardians ordered them not to
come near and just to throw the Cromer from a
distance.
would capture all eight members, but, if they kept the
Cromer, Yeosang would have to be sacrificed.
Hongjoong decides that he will toss the Cromer if they
allow Yeosang to stand between the members and the
guardians.

“Don’t hand it over! Once we give it to them, they will

take us too!” Yeosang shouted.

It was the worst situation for us. If we did not hand it

over, Yeosang would be in danger.

If we just hand it over, everyone would be caught. We

cannot let Yeosang sacrifice for 7 members. What can I
do?

Hongjoong seemed to have the same thought looking at

Yeosang and us by turns.

Hongjoong began to speak about his decision. He said

that he would throw the Cromer over to them if they
would let Yeosang go between us and them. >>

8. YEOSANG

<< This Android Guardian could get us whenever he
wanted us in this gallery. I don’t doubt that. Is there
any way to save myself and get the Cromer? No. These
guys are everywhere. It was my fault. I should have
been more careful. My friends would not have all been
scattered if I had not met them at first. Then we could
have not been left in this weird and dangerous place.
Yeosang regrets being careless and blames himself for
the situation that ATEEZ is in. He contemplates what
he should do and remembers that the Cromer is able to
transport people between dimensions.
With this knowledge, Yeosang catches the Cromer as
Hongjoong tosses it toward the guardians. Yeosang
turns the Cromer and smashes it as the guardians

ATEEZ 40
While regretting my careless behavior, I arrived in the chase after him. Hongjoong tries to grab him but the
middle of the guardians and my members. The Android guardians drag him away.
Guardian shouted to Hongjoong to pass the Cromer. I
saw the Cromer in the hands of Hongjoong. Yeosang sees a flash of light.

What do we know about that sandglass? I asked myself

and an answer popped in my head. It may be a gamble
but there was no other way.

Hongjoong threw the Cromer to the guardian. The

Cromer darted through the air, and I quickly snatched
and turned it.

The Android Guardians seemed confused, and they

immediately started to chase after me. So I smashed
the Cromer. The glass broke down and the sand
splashed everywhere. I was being dragged away and
Hongjoong tried to grab my hand. The light flashed. >>

Z. OUTRO

<< “One, two, three, four, five, six… seven.” The members wake up back in the warehouse hideout.
San’s quivering voice echoed in the heavy air of Dawn. They’ve been transported back to the past. However,
When we woke up, we were in the warehouse where our there are only seven of them–Yeosang is trapped in
journey began, and everything was remaining the same. Strictland’s dimension.

San could not believe that there were only seven of The group begins to worry, and they hear a knock on
them. He wiped his tears and tried to get himself the door. Hongjoong opens the door to find Yeosang’s
together. Everyone was silent, they were only staring drone and notices lights coming from outside the door.
into each other’s eyes.
They all instinctively knew that Yeosang was still alive.
“Jongho, Woooung, Mingi, Yunho, Seonghwa, Hongjoong
and I…”

ATEEZ 41
San repeatedly shook his head. He mumbled to count
again and again with a crying voice then he moaned. A
shadow of despair fell on their faces.

“What would happen to Yeosang? Like the Black Pirate,

what if he’s been…” Wooyoung couldn’t finish his
sentence. A heavy silence filled the space, and no one
could answer his question.

Hongjoong stood up from the couch. He opened and

showed his hands full of blood and fragments of glass
and dirty sand to the members. He dusted his hands
off. Broken pieces fell down and down.

“We shouldn’t have been there then nothing would have

happened…”

Knock knock, there was a knocking sound from an old

door. Hard-faced Hongjoong opened the door.
Nobody was there. Something bumped into the door
and fell on the floor.

“This is Yeosang’s drone.”

“Who drove this here?”

Hongjoong swept dirt from the drone and placed it on

top of a drawer. He stared at the lights coming from
the slightly opened door.

We all surely felt it. Yeosang is alive. >>

ATEEZ 42
FEVER EPILOGUE
A. INTRO

“Saving humanity from the doom that’s about to This entry provides a backstory on Henry Jo and the
strike” Sciensalvar organization. For a brief summary, refer to
the definitions of them in part 1 of this document.
A Trio caught stealing a Mayan relic was revealed as
‘Sciensalvar,’ a new religious organization.
‍
The security arrested the trio red-handed. The trio
were attempting to steal a Mayan relic from ‘The
Mayan Civilization’ exhibition at the National Museum
of Korea. Seoul Yongsan Police Station is investigating
suspects A(31), B(28), and C(21) for the crime attempt
of special larceny. The trio are suspected of stealing
the exhibited relic from ‘The Time, Destiny, and
Prophecy of the Mayan Civilization’ at 10:05 AM on the
10th. The reporter behind the case interviewed suspect
A’s crime motive. Suspect A stated that “I had to steal
the relic to save humanity before they face the world’s
end.” It was later found that the trio are believers of
the religion “Sciensalvar’.

It is speculated that the trio committed the crime

under the influence of Henry Jo, the religious leader.
Sciensalvar is a new religion and was established in
1999 by a scientist named Henry Jo. This religion
believes that humans are a collection of energy, and
human concerns from an uncertain future can be
resolved by science. Henry Jo frequently mentioned
the Mayan relic, shaped in an hourglass, in official
statements. Henry Jo also mentioned that the energy
condensed inside of it will be the key to saving

ATEEZ 43
humanity.

The Mayan relic Henry Jo mentioned is an hourglass

artifact that imitates the moon’s movement. There are
many speculations for the exact purpose of the
artifact among experts. However, one clear
established theory is that the relic, crafted through an
uncommon metallurgy technique, was used for
ceremonial purposes. >>

1. SAN

<< A week has passed since we came back here without
Yeosang.
We stayed at this place, where Android Guardians do
not exist, before we left to that other dimension.
That street and people, all still looked the same as
always. But the only thing that changed is the time
zone. Simply put, we have returned to the past.
This was the moment before we gathered at our
hideout, not too long before Yunho’s older brother’s
car accident. We assumed that the time zone was
twisted when the Cromer broke, and Yunho was
thrilled.
Probably because his brother was brought back to life
from the tragic accident.
I can understand Yunho, but deep down in my heart, I
felt bitter against him.
Whether we are in the past or present, one thing was
clear. We may be alive, but Yeosang isn’t here with us.
Since the Cromer was broken, there’s no way for us to
be back there.
The ATEEZ members have been staying in the hideout
for a week now. It turns out that they were
transported even further into the past than when they
first left for Strictland. At this point in time, Yunho’s
brother had not gotten into his car accident yet.
Seonghwa finds an article about an attempted robbery
with a picture of the Cromer. The Cromer in the article
is described as “the Mayan relic exhibited at the
National Museum of Korea, ‘The Hourglass that
Captures the Lunar Movement.’”
This is presumably the Cromer that Henry Jo was
searching for in the timeline described in the intro
entry of Fever Epilogue. We can INFER that after
Yeosang flipped the Cromer, ATEEZ was transported to
the dimension that Henry Jo and Sciensalvar exist in.

ATEEZ 44
We were hopelessly wasting time, then Seonghwa
rushed and shouted
“This is the Cromer, right?”
He showed an article featuring the attempted robbery
of the Mayan relic exhibited at the National Museum of
Korea, ‘The Hourglass that Captures the Lunar
Movement’. >>
2. SEONGHWA
<< “If we think back, to the broken Cromer, I got in my
dream, was from the man with the black fedora. It
means, that Cromer was existing in their dimension. It
would be possible that there is another Cromer in this
dimension. Let’s find the Cromer to find Yeosang and
put it back to the original place!” Hongjoong yelled.
However, other members were against Hongjoong’s
idea, saying it is too dangerous and illegal.
“Whether it is legal or illegal, What about Yeosang? You
are telling me that you want us to leave him there?”
If it were me in the past, who was stuck up and scared
to break the rules, I would have reacted the same as
the other members when Hongjoong suggested his
idea.
Maybe this made me even madder.
But now, I’m not the person who I used to be.
Saving Yeosang is my top priority.
“We decided not to be stuck in the past. When we left
for another dimension, we all made up our minds. Didn’t
Hongjoong reasons that the Cromer he was given was
from a different dimension because it was given to him
by the man in the black fedora. He believes this means
there is a possibility that there is another Cromer that
exists in the dimension they are currently in.
Hongjoong intends to find this dimension’s Cromer in
order to find Yeosang and return to their original
dimension, but the other members disagree as they
believe this plan will be too risky.
Seonghwa sides with Hongjoong, as he is no longer
someone who’s afraid to break rules. His main priority
at this moment is to rescue Yeosang, and he believes
“[the members] must go back to make everything
right.”
Seonghwa’s words convince the members to agree with
Hongjoong’s plan. Yunho, however, says that he wants
to stay in this dimension because his brother is still
alive there.
ATEEZ 45
we?”
We do know we are not in the present. So, we must go
back to make everything right.
After giving some thought, one by one, the members
started to agree with stealing the Cromer.
As everyone was coming together, Yunho quietly said, “I
want to stay here. I can’t leave my brother.” >>
3. JONGHO
<< As much as I believed in Yunho, his statement came
as a shock.
I walked around our hideout to pull myself together.
Mingi quietly came out and walked with me. He probably
felt the same.
‍ Mingi says, “...everything felt meaningless, even my
“I respect Yunho’s decision.”
I looked at Mingi, perplexed. He carefully went on.
‘When I thought that I may lose my grandmother,
everything felt meaningless, even my dreams and our
members. I believe it will be even worse for Yunho. He
already lost his brother once. He’d never want to let
him go.”
At that moment, I remembered when I punched Mingi.
When Mingi told us he wanted to quit, saying that our
dreams are meaningless, I felt betrayed and swung my
fist.
Obviously, my heart was instantly flooded with regret…
“It’s too late to say this now, but I didn’t want to give
up at all.”
Jongho is shocked by Yunho’s statement and disagrees
with his decision, thinking that Mingi will feel the same
way. However, this was not the case. Mingi states that
he respects Yunho’s decision, as he once almost lost
his grandmother and he could empathize with Yunho.
dreams and our members. I believe it will be even worse
for Yunho. He already lost his brother once. He’d never
want to let him go.”
After hearing this, Jongho instantly regrets the
moment he punched Mingi in the warehouse after Mingi
said that their dreams were meaningless.
Mingi opens up, telling the members that he only
decided to give up because his grandmother collapsed,
and that he felt guilty for enjoying his time with the
members while his grandmother was suffering.
This helps Jongho understand both Mingi and Yunho
better, and he decides to respect Yunho’s decision to
stay with his brother in the current dimension.
ATEEZ 46
He said that the only reason he’d made up his mind to
give up was his grandmother, his only family member
who had collapsed on that day. The fact that he is
having a great time with our members while his
grandmother is suffering haunted him.
I was able to finally understand Mingi’s perspective
after he shared his story.
I knew that I could never fully understand what Yunho
has gone through, but I assumed that he had a hard
time as well.
He should be conflicted between finding his brother
and saving Yeosang. I am sure he is suffering from it.

After having a long discussion, we chose to respect

Yunho’s choice.
No one can force him to decide. >>

4. YUNHO

<< Everyone should be in front of the museum by now.
Why am I so nervous? I’m sure everything is going as we
planned.
My brother scolded me for checking my phone every
minute. Full of embarrassment, I put down my phone. I
started to massage his left leg, telling him everything
was fine. “You are so weird! You’ve changed so much!
Well, I like it a lot better than when you were wandering
around on your motorcycle… But I still can’t get used
to this sudden change in the last two weeks.”
I understand what he said. Well, I came back from the
future.
Yunho remains with his brother as the other members
venture to the museum to retrieve the Cromer.
While Yunho and his brother enjoy their time together,
they turn the TV on to see the headlining news: “Henry
Jo, the leader of Sciensalvar, [is] breaking into the
National Museum of Korea to steal Mayan relics with
hundreds of Sciensalvar’s believers. Some boys who
were trying to stop them from stealing the relic, and
now they are held as hostages.”
Yunho realizes that these hostages are his members
and rushes out on his motorcycle to go to them.

ATEEZ 47
‘I think God gave you perfect hands at the cost of
giving legs that need a bit of help.” I said.
I imitated my brother playing the guitar as he gave me
a curious look. He laughed out loud and asked me to
massage his left leg harder.

Since birth, he had a dysfunctional right leg, so my

brother’s left leg would always be swollen as it is doing
all of the leg work.

“Well if my legs were good, I would never imagine myself

sitting here to play the instrument. Maybe some
deficiencies are a blessing in disguise, giving insight.
Right?”
‍
He finished talking and turned on the TV in the corner
of the room, and the headline news came out. It was
about Henry Jo, the leader of Sciensalvar, breaking
into the National Museum of Korea to steal Mayan
relics with hundreds of Sciensalvar’s believers. Some
boys who were trying to stop them from stealing the
relic, and now they are held as hostages.

I jumped up. The hostages were my members.

I took out my motorcycle key from the cabinet and
yelled at my brother,
“Stay inside. You must stay inside no matter what!” >>

5. WOOYOUNG

<< I thought Sciensalvar was a religious group. But The ATEEZ members arrived at the museum and
why… Why is Henry Jo pointing his knife at my throat? formulated their plan: they would enter in two groups
How did this happen? of three. While one group distracted the security

ATEEZ 48

4 PM, we met up in front of the museum and planned to
enter the museum in two groups of three.
As closing time approached, the security guards were
loosening up. One group was responsible for catching
the guard’s attention while the other group steals the
Cromer.
We planned to go get Yeosang as soon as we stole the
Cromer.
However, even before entering the museum, our plan
fell apart.
Among the crowd of people in red coming out of the
exhibition hall, a man in a black techwear outfit was
holding the Cromer. He had a long white beard, a black
mole on his right cheek, and large goggles.
It was Henry Jo, the leader of Sciensalvar.
guards, the other would steal the Cromer. Then, they
would immediately travel together to rescue Yeosang.
However, before they were able to enter the museum,
Henry Jo walked out holding the Cromer amongst a
crowd of Sciensalvar believers dressed in red.
Wooyoung and the rest of the members took off red
blankets from people in the crowd in order to disguise
themselves and blend in.
As they approached Henry Jo and attempted to grab
the Cromer, a policeman fired a blank at Henry Jo and
the Sciensalvar believers. Wooyoung reached for the
Cromer, but before he was able to steal it, Henry Jo
pointed a blade at his throat and held him hostage.

We had to get the Cromer back from him. If we miss

this opportunity, there may be no way back.
Right then, some high school girls with red blankets on
their shoulders passed by me. Without giving any
thought, I took their blanket and put it over my head,
and then joined the group of Sciensalvar believers.
Leaving the faces of embarrassed high school girls
behind, the members also joined the group covered with
blankets.

We gradually approached Henry Jo.

As we reached close enough to snatch the Cromer…
Bang! The police shot a blank fire shot and blocked
Henry Jo and the Sciensalvar believers.
At that moment I reached towards the Cromer… But
Henry Jo pointed a blade at my throat even more

ATEEZ 49
quickly. He whispered in my ear, holding back his
laughter.

“I just needed a hostage, so thank you for coming!” >>

6. HONGJOONG

<< “Think Hongijoong. Think!” Hongjoong was panicking trying to think of a solution to
My head blacked out. the hostage situation, but suddenly a group of bikers
arrived at the scene, their loud bikes distracting
My head stopped because of this fear I’d never felt everyone. The bikes began to drive around in circles,
before. Bang! The police shot another blank fire shot. drowning out the noise from the situation so that no
As the final warning, the police yelled that if the one could be heard.
hostages were not released, they would fire shots
immediately. As the believers started to murmur, Henry However, Hongjoong notices that the bike looks familiar
Jo yelled not to be swayed. because of the stickers on it, and realizes that Yunho
and his friends have come to save them.
At this moment, a group of bikers ran toward the
museum with a loud exhaust sound. Six bikes began to Hongjoong turns toward Wooyoung to tell him to grab
circle the crown of Sciensalvar. The believers started the Cromer, but Wooyoung does it anyway, grabbing it
to get nervous about the riders’ unknown intentions. from Henry Jo and making a run for it. Henry Jo is then
Henry Jo shouted, but the motorcycles were too loud seen running off alone after ATEEZ is picked up by the
to hear anything. bikers.

Then, a familiar sticker caught my eye. ‘ATEEZ YH’. It

was Yunho! The other riders must be Yunho’s friends.

I intuitively knew Yunho’s plan.

As Henry Jo lost control over his believers he turned
towards the crowd.
“Wooyoung!!!”

I wasn’t sure if Wooyoung heard me, or if he intuitively

ATEEZ 50
knew it was Yunho, but Wooyoung snatched the Cromer
and started to run.
As soon as we ran out of the group of believers, Yunho
and the riders seated us on their motorcycles and
ramped up
We could see Henry Jo running away alone while the
police were trying to control the believers. >>
7. MINGI
<< Ah, I knew you'd come back!” I shouted with
excitement behind Yunho.
As I was shouting with joy, I heard Hongjoong saying
“There’s a car behind you!” The six motorcycles
suddenly turned their directions, and everyone fell to
the ground. The car, coming to crush us, was
overpowered by its own momentum and flipped into the
pedestrian walk, hitting the pedestrians. Yunho’s eyes
trembled as he saw the pedestrians lying on the
ground.
‘Brother!” Yunho screamed as he ran to the pedestrian.
It was Yunho’s brother on the ground. He seemed like
he was heading toward the museum, after seeing
Yunho’s motorcycle on the news. Yunho’s brother
slowly opened his eyes and asked, “Is it 5:07 right
now?” I checked my phone and it was 5:07 PM. “Your
diary said that I got hit by a car at 5:07 PM.” Yunho
looked at his brother, startled. His brother went on to
say, “Sorry. I read your journal on the desk.
As Mingi celebrates Yunho’s return, Hongjoong notices
a car speeding toward them and attempts to alert
everyone.
The car hits the pedestrians–one of which is Yunho’s
brother. Yunho’s brother tells him that he read the
diary where Yunho wrote about his car accident, and
provides Yunho with closure before passing out:
“‘there’s something I need to tell you… it wasn’t your
fault that I got injured back then, and even now, it
wasn’t your fault. So leave me in the past and move on
with your own life.’”
From this, we can INFER that events in one
world/dimension run parallel to events even in different
dimensions, with Yunho’s brother still ultimately
getting hit by a car. This information will be relevant to
a later theory.
Henry Jo, whose face is now covered with blood, runs
toward Wooyoung with a knife. Yunho punches Henry
ATEEZ 51

I knew something was going on, but you never told me
what you're going through.” He painfully continued
breathing. “It didn’t make any sense, so I thought it
was a lie. I guess it wasn’t.”
Jo and yells at Wooyoung to turn the Cromer.
Right before Henry Jo attacks them, Wooyoung turns
the Cromer.

“We need to go to the hospital right now.” Yunho wiped

his tears and tried to pull his brother, but his brother
grabbed his arm. Yunho held onto his brother's hand as
if he’d never let his brother go.

“There’s something I need to tell you… It wasn’t your

fault that I got injured back then, and even now, it
wasn’t your fault. So leave me in the past and move on
with your own life.”

Yunho was weeping. His brother slowly patted Yunho’s

head. “I love you, my brother. You know what I always
say, right? You’re doing your best just by going through
the day. I was happy enough for the last two weeks. I
appreciate it. Then, Yunho’s brother passed out. Yunho
put his head down on his brother’s chest and wailed.

Henry Jo stumbled out of the driver's seat of the

overturned car. Blood was running down slowly on
Henry Jo’s face because of his head injury. Henry Jo
stared at the Cromer in Wooyoung’s hand. He then
began to run towards Wooyoung with a knife. Yunho
quickly threw his fist at Henry Jo and yelled “Turn the
Cromer!” Henry Jo snatched the knife that he dropped
when he fell down.

“Hurry!” Right at the moment when Henry Jo was

raging towards us, Wooyoung turned the Cromer. >>

ATEEZ 52
 8. YEOSANG
<< How long have I been in this glass room? It felt like
an eternity being in this tube without any light. I found
the whole like of Resistances, who revolted against the
government, standing in front of my glass room with
their biological energy stolen.
Android Guardians covered them with black fabric.
Maybe they did not want to see the undead
Resistances. The worst part was that the Grimes
siblings were among the covered Resistances.
‍ slowly began to spiral negatively, desiring to be killed
The Grimes siblings and Left Eye ran into the art
museum after seeing the light that the Cromer had
emitted when it shattered. Left Eye was able to escape
the bunker, but he lost his right arm. The Grimes
siblings got caught and lost their biological energy.
I don’t know how much time has passed. The pain was
so great that I desired to lose my emotions instead. I
wished that the guardians would just kill me.
When my train of thought went that far, I heard a
trumpet sound somewhere. The guardians, surveilling
me, busted out. I heard beating and moaning outside. I
started beating at the glass tube without even
knowing. “Somebody please get me out of here!
Please!”
The light that I hadn’t seen for ages slid in when the
door opened. Men in black fedoras were fighting with
Android Guardians behind the opened door.
Meanwhile, Yeosang, who is still in Strictland and has
no idea what is going on in the outside world, stands
trapped in a glass case in a dark room. He recalls
seeing many other rebellion members, who had their
energy taken away from them, standing in front of his
glass room. Among these people are the Grimes
Siblings. Yeosang then remembers that Left Eye made
it out alive, only losing his right arm.
As he was in the dark room for a long time, Yeosang
instead of living his life in a glass case. However,
suddenly there is a trumpet sound, and the android
guardians rush to investigate. Seeing this as his
chance to make himself known and escape, Yeosang
desperately begins calling for help.
A black-masked man enters the room, filling it with
light, and opens the door for Yeosang, who is relieved
at finally being rescued. He is even happier to see that
his rescuer is Seonghwa, and the other masked men
fighting outside are ATEEZ.
ATEEZ is reunited, becoming eight members once more.
ATEEZ 53
“Hey, Yeosang.” I heard a warm voice calling my name. A
guy came near my glass room and pulled down his black
mask. Tears of relief burst out my eyes. It was
Seonghwa. >>

Z. OUTRO

<< -The underground hideout of the Resistance
organization ‘Black Pirate’-
A signal came from an old small machine.
A one-armed man rushed in and sat down in front of
the old machine. The one-armed man held up a pen to
write down the codes. It was Left Eye
After suffering from another loss, he looked rather
fragile.
Meanwhile, at the underground hideout of the Black
Pirate resistance, Left Eye resides there. When a
signal comes from a machine on his desk, he rushes to
receive it, preparing a pen and notepad. When he hears
the message in morse, writing it down and decoding it,
relief floods him.
“They’re back! They came back!!” he says, and cheers
fill the hideout.
The decoded message reads “SAY MY NAME. ATEEZ”.

“... ._ _.__ __ _._ _. ._ __. ._ _ . . __..”

Left Eye interpreted the Morse Code he wrote down.

The light of hope spread on his face gradually. Left Eye
turned to the people and shouted, “They’re back! They
came back!!”

The cheers of ‘Black Pirate’ echoed in the underground

hideout. The messy handwriting of Left Eye on the
paper reads:

‘SAY MY NAME. ATEEZ.’ >>

ATEEZ 54
THE WORLD

THE WORLD EP.1: MOVEMENT

A. INTRO

<< Weeeeeeeeing!!!!!!!! In Strictland, an alarm sounds, and every citizen looks

‍ upward toward the highest monitor to receive a
A loud alarm sound echoed in the plazas, streets,
schools, and buildings. The Guardians monitoring people
from everywhere were the first to respond to the
sound. People walking on the street, office workers
doing their business, and students studying, all stopped
what they were doing, got up, and turned to the
highest monitor.
Looking down from the sky, the whole world looked like
a well-made set. People with blank faces, well-organized
roads, and buildings. A pretty and neat world, but there
was no life in it. In the middle of the cold, dull buildings
surrounded by stiff, mannequin-like people a mellifluous
voice echoed.
‍ point is still trapped).
Z: A perfect world. Being perfect, our world is safe. A
small error is a crack, and a crack leads to pain. Pain,
pain is an unnecessary emotion and a negative element
in life. We want to protect you all.
message from Z, who begins to speak of a perfect
world, and how emotion is a disease. Z continues by
saying that everything the government does is for the
people, and the chips implanted in the citizens’ ears
begin to glow yellow.
As the people cheer, however, Z’s message is
interrupted by loud music coming from the hijacked
speakers. The yellow lights from the chips begin to fade
as the music plays, and people begin to experience
emotion [confusion]. Strangely, even surprising
themselves, the Strictland citizens recognize the men
standing among them in the costumes of black as
ATEEZ (not to be confused with Halateez, who at this

From the streets, companies, schools, and plazas, Z’s

roaring voice came out of the speaker. A yellow light lit
up next to the ears of people listening with dry faces
and blinking their eyes. Looking closely, it was the light
from a small chip stuck under their ear.

ATEEZ 55
Z: A world without cracks is always beautiful. You, living
your life in your position are the world itself. Do not
doubt yourself. You are always right. We are right
because you are right.

Smiles spread on people’s faces. But no one’s eyes

were smiling. It was just the facial muscles that moved
like a machine that obeyed commands.

Z: Keep that in mind. The government works for you.

The government is committed to you. All of this… is for
you.
‍
At the end of Z’s words, the crowd clapped their hands
altogether and cheered.

“Z! Z! Z! Z!”

At that point when the voices of people shouting for Z

overflowed the world, music began to play out of
nowhere with a crackling noise from the speaker. Soon
after, along with the sound from the megaphone, Z’s
voice was swallowed up by the gradually increasing
sound of the music, and the yellow light that flashed
next to people’s ears faded away.

The Guardians who stood among the crowd began to

look around as if they were looking for someone. For
the first time, the feeling of ‘confusion’ crossed the
faces of those who were puzzled by the sound of the
song.

When the man standing in the plaza, feeling somebody’s

ATEEZ 56
presence, looked to the left. Hongjoong, wearing a
black fedora, smiled at him. The man didn’t know
Hongjoong, but unknowingly spit his name out of his
mouth.

“A… TEEZ…?” >>

001.

<< “Look, once you see us, you can never forget us.”
Said Mingi, who appeared to the man’s right. The man’s
eyes lit up with life. Then Mingi threw something from
his hand to the man. The man who reflectively received
the object, flying in an arc, opened his hand. It was a
small square-shaped machine.
ATEEZ begins to distribute tiny cube-like devices called
breakers (see Part 1 terms for full explanation)
amongst the crowds. The breakers have instructions
on them, informing the citizens of the chips in their
ears. While the music played from the hacked speakers,
ATEEZ members began to dance in the street, and
unconsciously, people began to join them.

Inside the machine was written in small letters.‘There is They also distribute flyers all over the city by dropping
a chip under your ear. Let the breaker touch the chip.’ them everywhere, and the flyers talk about self
identity and how important it is to feel emotions and
In the middle of the street appeared Wooyoung and understand yourself. This is the message of the Black
Yeosang, on top of the building Seonghwa and San, and Pirates.
in the school Yunho and Jongho. To the music, ATEEZ
started dancing.

People who first looked blankly at it began to shake

their bodies unconsciously in response to the music.
The Black Pirates began spreading flyers in the sky and
handing out breakers on the ground. People picked up
the flyers and read them.

You are valuable by yourself. No one can define you,

and no one can control you. Being alive is imperfect,

ATEEZ 57
and it’s beautiful to be imperfect. Read poetry, draw
pictures, listen to music, dance, and sing. Therein lies
your own answer [Black Pirates] >>

002.

<< The people who listened to ATEEZ’s music, watched
their performance, and read the message in the flyers
instinctively touched the chips with an unfamiliar
feeling under their ears. For the first time, they
realized the chips were implanted in their bodies.
The Guardians were eager to control people and
capture ATEEZ. But as ATEEZ used the Cromer moving
space to space instantly, it was difficult to catch
them.
The people who witnessed ATEEZ and broke from their
trance begin to realize that the chip in their ear is
foreign to the human body. The android guardians try
to capture ATEEZ, but ATEEZ has the Cromer, so they
are able to instantly transport themselves across
space and time. This makes them nearly impossible to
catch. People also began to use the breakers, freeing
themselves from government control, and the public’s
feelings are mixed. Some people turn afraid, while
others turn rebellious.

Meanwhile, people put the breaker on the chips under

their ears. With a crackling, small spark, small particles
popped out of the machine and entered the chip.

The Guardians began to drive the ATEEZ members to

one side. From school to street, from street to plaza.
ATEEZ danced their final dance to the end of the music
and disappeared in an instant. Right at the moment
when they were about to be caught by the Guardians
who were reaching out to them.

The faces of those who put the machine on the chip

were filled with chaos and fear.

The people running away and the Guardians chasing

them, the people returning to their work with the same

ATEEZ 58
dry face even in this mess, and… among them, one hand
picked up a breaker that had fallen on the ground and
put it in his pocket. >>

003.

<< Cheers overflowed in the underground bunker of
the Black Pirates. Because this plan also succeeded,
ATEEZ and the Black Pirates were celebrating
themselves eating food with a background of upbeat
music.
‍ moment someone is freed, Left Eye disagrees with this.
“I was worried about how to block the control system
developed with new energy… Awesome, Left Eye.”
Left Eye said shyly, scratching his head at San’s
praise,“There were a lot of failed chips of the
government in the waste rolled into the Strictland
dump, so we were lucky.”
ATEEZ praises left eye for the creation of the
breakers, and also for the creation of the Black Link, a
network/system for communication with the Black
Pirates rebellion. While some ATEEZ members argue
that the Black Link should be effective immediately the
Left Eye argues that people should be given a choice,
otherwise they are no different from Z, who forced
people to obey.

“If we put this machine on the chip, does it lead to the

Black Link we use?”“Yes. But not right away. Because
each person’s will is important. All we do is get them
out of the government-controlled link. After that, it is
left to their own will.”

When Jongho asked if it is a matter of choice, Left Eye

continued, “Right. They will not even know that this
machine connects not only people but also the
Guardians to the Black Link. They’ll think of it as just a
breaker that blocks them from the control link. Since
the safety of the Black Pirates is also important.”

ATEEZ 59
“But why? Forced link connections are more efficient.”
Other members nodded and looked at Left Eye in
response to Mingi’s suggestion to save more people by
forcing the link to be connected. >​​>

004.

<< “I’ve lived in this world for a long time, so I know. At
first, I felt fear when I met you and remembered the
memories and feelings of love and other emotions of
the past that I had forgotten. Just like when you guys
first came to this world. As the unknown is always
feared.”
“That’s why you give them time. Giving themselves time
to overcome the chaos and to decide, until the
Guardians find out that the control link has been
blocked.”
‍
Left Eye nodded quietly drinking a glass of wine.
Emotions are ever-changing and fluctuating, and thus
can make a human very hard to control. Left Eye tells
ATEEZ this as another argument as to why a person is
not immediately connected to the Black Link. Fear, as
Left Eye says, is a dangerous emotion, and he has
experience with what it can do to a person. Left Eye
says that people will contact the Black Link or vice
versa when they decide to, otherwise, the choice
remains open.

“When people become self-reliant, a signal goes to the

Black Link we use. Then, the Black Pirates, scattered all
over the place, contact them..”“What if someone
chooses to stand on the side of the government even
after getting their feelings back?”

“We can’t force them. Because the fear is big. No one

knows what will happen if I’m the only one against it.
We can’t dangerously force someone who wants to
follow the flow. That’s not different from the central
government that says only they themselves are right.”
>>

ATEEZ 60
 005.
<< “You haven’t figured out the location of Z yet, have
you?” When Hongjoong looked back at the Black
Pirates, everyone stared at him with questioning eyes.
The Black Pirates shook their heads with awkward
faces.
It was not easy to find where ‘Z’ was located because it
was information that even the Guardians did not know
unless they were high-ranking members of the
government. Undoubtedly, ‘Z’ is the ruler of this world,
at the same time, the symbol of the ‘Z World’.
Therefore, his safety was the top priority to prevent
terrorism.
“For now, that’s the last step. Let’s start with what we
can do now.” Everyone nodded at Seonghwa’s words.
To install mirrors and remove the coverings blocking
the windows, ATEEZ decided to infiltrate the symbolic
place that is establishing this world. >>
006.
<< A mirror is a window through which one can
perceive oneself. In the early days, the government did
not know the importance of mirrors, so they just tried
only to control the emotions with the new energy.
The Black Pirates have not figured out the location of
Z yet, so instead they draw up a plan based on the
material that they already knew. As Seonghwa says,
“For now, that’s the last step [referring to finding Z].
Let’s start with what we can do now.”
While Z is the ruler of the world, the Black Pirates are
nowhere ready to take him down. Instead, they decide
to infiltrate and cause uprisings within prestigious
government buildings first, to cause commotion and
send a message.
The Black Pirates’ mission at this point is to install
mirrors and remove all coverings of the Prestige
Academy building.
Previously, with the help of the Cromer, ATEEZ and the
ATEEZ 61
However, as people looking at the mirror and
recognizing themselves kept getting out of control,
they removed all reflective objects, including mirrors.
So were the windows. To look out the windows at the
landscape is to open the possibility of freedom and is a
door that recognizes oneself and others and sees the
world. So old buildings were blocked with curtains,
coverings, and sheets, or in buildings built afterward,
there were no windows at all. Furthermore, a large
dome was placed in each zone to block out the solar
heat and intake of vitamins and nutrients, made by
being exposed to light, was controlled by medicine. As
this dome also served as a blocker and a boundary
between zones and zones, it was an extremely
important method of control for the government.
‍ access to all mirrors, windows, and signs of the world
With the Cromer, ATEEZ and the Black Pirates moved
freely across the areas, which allowed them to touch
people’s hearts with their performance, but that was
not enough. The control of the government became
increasingly systematic. Even humans, who became
aware of the control with the emotions rising within
them, were either controlled again or taken to the
Guardians and transported to the Guardians’ bunker.
Now, the only way ATEEZ and the Black Pirates had to
go was to ‘make as many people aware as possible at
once’.
The first target point to install mirrors and remove the
coverings of the entire building was the Prestige
Academy, which was called the best school of this era.
>>
Black Pirates were already able to roam freely around
Strictland and spread awareness among the population
through their performances.
However, this was not effective enough to take down
the government. Those that did become aware of the
corruption in Strictland ended up either being
controlled again or captured by the Android Guardians.
On top of this, the government realized that citizens
were becoming aware of themselves, the outside world,
and the concept of freedom because they were able to
recognize themselves in the mirror and see the
landscape of the world through the windows.
They reasoned that if they wanted to hold complete
control over peoples’ emotions, they had to remove
outside.
Therefore, in order to effectively awaken people, the
Black Pirates decided that they would need to infiltrate
the Academy to reinstall mirrors and uncover the
building’s windows.
ATEEZ 62
 007.

<< An emergency signal rang inside the underground
bunker to alert an intruder within a 1km radius.
Everyone’s eyes were on the monitor and there was a
short moment of tension. A young boy was crying alone,
shouting “Help, Black Pirates!”
The boy took a sip of hot tea and looked at the
members with slightly relaxed eyes and said “Please,
save my older brother.”
On the way to school, the boy saw the performance of
ATEEZ and the Black Pirates for the first time and got
out of control through a breaker.
A young boy, crying alone, yells for the Black Pirates’
help. He explains that he saw ATEEZ and the pirates
perform and was able to awaken with the help of a
breaker. He felt a rush of emotions as he came to
realize the true, dark state of the world he was living
in.
When he went home that night, he explained his
experience to his older brother in hopes that he would
understand and break free as well. However, instead of
breaking free, his brother wanted to report him to the
Guardians. Because of this, the boy used the breaker
to remove the chip on his brother’s ear.

“It was terrifying,” said the boy. It was because he then

realized how bleak and violent the school and the world
are when he saw them after having emotions for the
first time.

The boy told, returning home that night, he carefully

brought up this story to his older brother, who
attended the same school, and his older brother tried
to report him to the Guardians, so the boy unwittingly
put the breaker on his older brother’s chip.

The boy thought his older brother would understand his

intention after going through the same process he did,
but the reaction was different. The older brother who
felt his emotions for the first time shouted as if in
pain, trembled, and looked at his younger brother with
blaming eyes >>

ATEEZ 63
 008.

<< “Do you know the Guardians’ Island?” Tears welled Guardians’ Island, the place Yeosang was taken to when
up in the boy’s eyes again. The members looked at he was captured, was described to citizens as a
Yeosang. The place where Yeosang was kept, re-education facility for those that recovered their
‘Guardians’ Island’ is apparently a facility for emotions. In reality though, it was where the
re-educating the socially maladjusted. However, in government disposed of all objects that stimulated
reality, it was a place to dispose of people who rebelled human emotion and all people that rebelled.
against the central government system, and other
various things such as art and instruments that People who have completed 40 years of education and
stimulate human emotions. passed the final graduation exam will not be taken to
the Island. However, if an individual fails the emotional
This does not apply to those who have completed 40 test on the exam, they will be deemed defective and will
years of education and are being used in their be disposed of at Guardians’ Island.
respective positions, but those who recover their
emotions and act as Resistance are caught by the The boy tells the members that he is afraid his brother,
guardians and then disposed of there. So, it was a who is just about to take the graduation exam, would
place that the members and the Black Pirates knew be taken to Guardians’ Island because of him.
well. However, they did not know that children who
were not even Resistance would be taken to the
Guardians’ Island.
‍
To complete the 40-year education curriculum, people
must take the final graduation exam. During this exam,
they will be investigated on what kind of part they will
have in society and if they fail to pass the emotional
test they are judged as defective and will be sent to
Guardians’ Island.
The boy cried again. As his older brother, who was
about to take the graduation exam, could be taken to
Guardians’ Island because of him, he desperately
accessed the Black Link of the Black Pirates and found
a nearby area believed to be a bunker. >>

ATEEZ 64
 Z. OUTRO

<< ​“The exam is not the problem, we have to save him
right away, even tomorrow. That’s how school is like,
easy to be targeted when one seems different from
the crowd.”
Mingi, who had a hard time at school, intuitively caught
the danger. The boy nodded. “There is a student
organization in school. Since the Guardians and
teachers cannot monitor all of the students, they
selected the best students and built this organization
to monitor others. But as our school organization is
certified by Mr. Z… no, by Z directly to the head of the
organization, they might notice it before even taking
the exam.”
The boy informs the members that his brother attends
the Prestige Academy–the school that the group was
planning on infiltrating–and explains that there is a
student organization set up for the top students to
monitor the rest of the students. Any student that
seems different from the rest will be noticed and
targeted.
The boy proceeds to explain that the Prestige Academy
has direct communication with Z. This means that the
government may notice his brother and capture him
even before the exam begins.

The members became complicated. There was a high

possibility that it would not end with just saving his
older brother. As it must be something really turning
the whole school upside down. If they decide to go to
another school, not the Prestige Academy, where they
have thoroughly researched for the installation of
mirrors and removal of coverings… the Prestige
Academy infiltration plan thereafter could be
dangerous or impossible.

“What school do you go to?”

The boy who grasped the atmosphere said with a
worried face, “Prestige Academy.”

There were no words, but they spoke with their

eyes.“That’s perfect. We were planning to go there
too.” >>

ATEEZ 65
ABRIDGED SUMMARY
*THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY IS AN EXTREMELY CONDENSED VERSION OF THE ENTIRE DIARY ENTRY STORYLINE, AND ACTS
AS A TLDR. IT EXCLUDES A LOT OF SPECIFIC DETAILS THAT MAY BE IMPORTANT TO TRULY UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH OF THE
LORE. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FULLY UNDERSTANDING ALL THE THEMES AND SYMBOLS IN
THE STORYLINE, THEN YOU SHOULD READ THE ABOVE ANNOTATIONS INSTEAD, NO MATTER HOW LONG IT IS.

SUMMARY BEGINS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The eight boys all have their own backstories and shortcomings to deal with. They eventually unite together in an
abandoned warehouse, helping each other overcome their fears and inspiring each other to pursue their goals and
dreams. The eight boys all pursue music-related dreams because of various reasons in their life.

Hongjoong, who lives alone, aspires to be a star on TV so that his broken family may finally notice him.

Seonghwa aspires to pursue music after being inspired by a girl dancing freely to music without a care in the
world, a foreign perspective in his uptight life.

Yunho decides to pursue music in honor of his brother, who is in a coma because of a car crash.

Yeosang, who is forced to learn violin and participate in his parent’s planned routines, turns to assembling
machines as a pastime. He is inspired to passionately pursue music after meeting ATEEZ and dancing and
performing in the warehouse with them, learning the true joy of music and self-expression instead of being forced
by his parents to learn [violin music].

San, on the other hand, had always felt alone in the world because he could not develop proper connections with
people due to always moving around before he could establish them. ATEEZ convinces him to act against his family
this time and stay instead of moving, and San decides to pursue music with them.

Mingi, who uses music as an unhealthy coping mechanism and a means to stay alone, becomes friends with
Wooyoung, who eventually introduces him to the rest of ATEEZ. Through ATEEZ, he learns a new meaning of music,

ATEEZ 66
the passionate and free side of the very thing he uses as a crutch. However, he loses sight of his dream because
of his poor origins, and believes that he is undeserving of a dream.

Wooyoung is a trainee with a big social media presence, but he has stage fright, which holds him back from
performing in front of crowds. Through meeting ATEEZ and seeing Seonghwa, Hongjoong, and Yunho dance, he
learns to face his fears, and tries his best to break the chains of fear that bound him. With ATEEZ, he feels free.

Jongho is a skilled basketball player who has a dream of going to nationals, but his dream is shattered when he
gets seriously injured and is unable to ever play basketball professionally again. Instead, he takes up dancing with
ATEEZ, and gains sight of his dream after being angry when he sees himself in Mingi, who believes that his dream is
not worth pursuing.

The eight boys unite together for a period of time before deciding to split when they realize that purely pursuing
their passions and ignoring the problems building up in their lives weighs them down instead of pushing them
forward. This is where a mysterious masked figure dressed in a black suit and hat begins to appear in Hongjoong’s
dreams, essentially telling him both that it is his fault that things played out the way they did, and also telling him
that there are more dimensions and worlds out there, not just his own. He then delivers the Cromer to Hongjoong
through the dream message, and Hongjoong wakes up from the dream one day with the Cromer sitting on his table.
(For an explanation of the Cromer and its abilities, please refer to part 1). He turns the Cromer, and the other
seven members arrive at the warehouse as if called upon.

<<This ends the diary entries of Fever Part 1>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fever Part 2. begins now, with the group arriving at Strictland after Hongjoong turns the Cromer. White-clad
giants with masks break down the door, looking for the Cromer, and Hongjoong, who notes that the giants did not
seem human, distracts them by throwing a piece of glass that looks like the Cromer out of the window. The
white-clad giants chase the piece of glass, believing it to be the Cromer, which gives ATEEZ a window of time to
escape. They escape and are rescued by two siblings, a brother and a sister. The sister lost her voice to the
white-clad giants, and they learn from the brother that these two are the Grimes Siblings. The two siblings take

ATEEZ 67
ATEEZ to their home, and while ATEEZ rests, they are attacked again by the white giants, who discovered the
fluke.

Wooyoung is dragged away, and while all of ATEEZ attempts to save him, the Cromer is lost to the white giants,
however, they end up saving Wooyoung successfully. The Grimes siblings save them once again, hiding them in a
cave, and they tell ATEEZ about Strictland and its policies. [It is strongly recommended that the terms in Part 1
are read through to better understand this section]. It turns out that Strictland’s policies were created after the
discovery that human emotion was an unstable factor in a “perfect world”. To control the outbreak of human
emotion, Strictland banned all artistic and creative expression, including music.

ATEEZ are then told of the Black Pirates, men wearing black hats and suits that appeared one day, singing and
performing in the streets and bringing emotion back to Strictland. Freed people joined the Black Pirates, and the
rebellion grew. The government had a hard time catching them because they had the Cromer, which had the ability
to teleport them around dimensions and timelines, but with the new development of the Android Guardians, which
were the white-clad giants in masks, The Black Pirates (Halateez) were captured.

As a last attempt, a member of Halateez had sent the Cromer to ATEEZ, who could save them all. Meanwhile,
Yeosang makes the observation that Strictland looks a lot like the world he was living in already, being caged by his
parents. He expresses his sorrow at his current situation. The Grimes Siblings inform ATEEZ that the manager of
the Strictland Garbage Dump, Left Eye, knew the location of the android bunker in which the Black Pirates and the
Cromer were being held. They take ATEEZ to the Strictland Garbage Dump, where ATEEZ first sees Left Eye. Due
to the yellow smoke fumes from the garbage dump, which caused people to enter a high/drunk state, Left Eye was
mumbling to himself, and ATEEZ figured out that he had his own tragic backstory.

ATEEZ decides to split into two groups: one group would find out the location of the bunker from Left Eye, and the
other group would recover the voice of the Grimes girl. When asked what the shape of the girl’s voice was, the
Grimes boy replied that it would look like a shining blue bead in the yellow smoke. Meanwhile, Jongho breathes in
the hallucinating smoke while searching, and hallucinates that he is in a basketball game. He runs toward the ball,
which doesn’t actually exist. While originally, their mission was not to help Left Eye, Yunho sympathizes with Left
Eye after hearing the story in which his daughter was killed because of a car crash. It reminded him of his own

ATEEZ 68
brother. Ever since the crash, Left Eye became much more unfriendly, and got high on the fumes of the garbage
dump while wandering. The fumes created an illusion of his daughter, and he stayed in the dump because of this
and because the Android Guardians appointed him as the manager of the place. To save Left Eye, ATEEZ had to lure
him out of the smoke-heavy area. Unwilling to leave the area, lest his daughter’s illusion disappears, Left Eye
becomes violent, swinging at Yunho, who shouted at him that his daughter was already gone.

This is a moment of retrospection for Yunho, who still cannot accept the fact that his own brother is in a
comatose state. Meanwhile, the other members notice something wrong with Jongho. Jongho is also lost in the
hallucination of his basketball game, and runs straight towards a cliff, believing that he was chasing a ball.

<<This ends the diary entries of Fever Part 2>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The Fever Part 3 diary entries start with a brief explanation of Strictland and the ear chip implants. If you have
read through Part 1, then you will already know this information, so we will skip past this. If not, please refer to
Part 1 now before returning). Jongho hears a voice calling him after reliving his injury, and the voice eventually
reveals itself to be Yeosang, who caught him before he ran off the cliff. Yeosang puts his gas mask around Jongho,
who breathes through it, and the illusion clears up for him because of this. Yeosang informs Jongho that the
Grimes girl received her voice back already, then pulls Jongho away with him.

Back to the Left Eye situation, Left Eye is still violent. Yunho walks towards him even when the other members tell
him not to, as he understands what Left Eye is feeling and can tell that the illusion is clearing up. Yunho tells Left
Eye that his daughter’s death is not his fault, and, rid of the illusion at last, Left Eye begins crying. Yunho briefly
reflects on how looking at Left Eye and his emotions are like looking into a mirror.

It is implied that Left Eye thinks that ATEEZ will be able to save the Black Pirates (Halateez and the revolution
group in general). On the ship sailing to the bunker, Left Eye and the Grimes siblings bond through music and
watching clips of his daughter dancing, while Mingi hides, observing them. ATEEZ arrives at the bunker, and they
find that the bunker is an art gallery where the main exhibition is Halateez trapped in glass cases. The Grimes
Siblings and Left Eye stay on the ship, so ATEEZ is alone.

ATEEZ 69
They describe the same yellow smoke from the garbage dump being in the gallery, and discover that the smoke
comes from the burning of people’s memories. Hongjoong recognizes Halateez from his dream and tries to break
them out, to no avail. This is when Halateez Hongjoong takes his mask off and reveals that they have the same
face, leading to Hongjoong having a lot of questions. Hala-Hongjoong doesn’t have time to answer, instead saying
that first, ATEEZ must take the place of the Black Pirates and do their job. Hala-Hongjoong offers him a piece of
valuable advice though, and that is that there are obstacles in life that are not always detrimental to someone’s
overall life.

He says that “if we earn things easily, we could lose them easily”, essentially saying that one should work for a
good result. Halateez then give ATEEZ their uniforms, and ATEEZ prepares to take their role.

San sees Hala-Hongjoong’s face, confused, but Hala-Hongjoong shouts for them to leave before the smoke clears
up and the guardians wake up. Seonghwa then notes that Yeosang is nowhere to be found, and ATEEZ begins to
panic. It turns out that Yeosang found the Cromer in another room, and the group reunites. Yeosang is held back
by the guardians, but he tosses the Cromer to Hongjoong, who catches it. The guardians and Yeosang then make a
deal to trade Yeosang for the Cromer. As Hongjoong tosses the Cromer toward the Android Guardians, however,
Yeosang intercepts it, turning the Cromer and then smashing it to the floor.

The other seven boys are then teleported back to the old world, which is their own original world, but Yeosang gets
left behind in Strictland because he is grabbed by the guardians. With no way back to Yeosang, ATEEZ becomes
stressed. Luckily it is implied that due to Yeosang’s clever thinking, he flies a drone towards the warehouse that
ATEEZ land in, therefore notifying ATEEZ that he is alive for the time being.

<<This ends the diary entries of Fever Part 3>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The next series depicts ATEEZ going back for Yeosang after being transported back to the past, a time before
ATEEZ met and gathered together, and a time when Yunho’s brother was still alive and well. For better
understanding of this section, one will have to understand the terms used. Please refer to Part 1 before you
return if you have not yet read the definitions for a better understanding of what each term means in context.) A

ATEEZ 70
trio of suspects from the cult Sciensalvar formed in 1999 (Refer to Part 1 for definition) was caught trying to
steal a Mayan relic from a museum in Korea.

The cult believed that the relic was the key to saving humanity, and after further investigation, it was found that
the leader of their cult was a man named Henry Jo. The artifact is described to be an hourglass-shaped relic that
imitates moon movement. This event is strange, and ATEEZ figures out that they are in the past, even before their
own world’s timeline. At this point in time, Yunho’s brother is even still alive and well, and there were no Android
Guardians hunting them down, as they were not in Strictland anymore. Yunho is excited that his brother is still
alive, and insists that he will stay with him instead of continuing on with ATEEZ. The group has no choice but to
agree as they bitterly understand where Yunho is coming from. However, Seonghwa finds the news article talking
about the attempted heist, and tells ATEEZ about it, saying that he found the Cromer and that the Mayan artifact
that the cult had been trying to steal was this timeline’s Cromer. Hongjoong immediately says that they should
steal the Cromer before the cult can so that they have a chance of saving Yeosang, and Seonghwa agrees,
surprising even himself. Seonghwa lists Yeosang as his top priority at the moment.

One by one, the rest of the members agree as well, all except for Yunho, who as mentioned, wanted to stay with
his brother. ATEEZ (without Yunho) gets ready for the heist, and everything is going to plan on the day until the
last minute. It turns out that Henry Jo, leader of Sciensalvar, had the same plan of stealing the Cromer, and he
actually succeeded before ATEEZ could even try.

Wooyoung and the other members snatch the red robes from the cult members, disguising themselves, and
Wooyoung tries to reach for the Cromer, instead getting a knife pointed at his throat by Henry Jo, who tells him
he needed a hostage anyway. While Yunho is out of the plan though, he still cares and worries for his members.
While Yunho is helping his brother, who has a dysfunctional right leg, the news reports that some boys are being
held hostage by the cult members, who attempted to steal the relic again. Yunho realizes that the reporter is
talking about ATEEZ.

Unable to leave his members in trouble, he yells for his brother to stay inside and goes to help. While Wooyoung still
had the knife to his throat, Hongjoong tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. Thankfully though, Yunho
and his friends showed up on motorcycles, which were very loud and diverted the attention of both the cult and

ATEEZ 71
the police. Hongjoong notices that it is Yunho, and Wooyoung, who may or may not have noticed, snatches the
Cromer from Henry Jo and takes off.

The ATEEZ members leave on Yunho and his friends’ bikes. Henry Jo is then seen running away alone. As ATEEZ
catches up with Yunho, Hongjoong notices a car behind them, and startled, the bikers turn quickly. The car races
towards them, but flips due to poor driving, injuring pedestrians on the sidewalk, one of which Yunho soon
discovers is his own brother. Yunho, confused, discovers that his brother has read his diary and now knows about
the time travel and of his own demise. Yunho tries to take his brother to the hospital, but his brother assures him
that his getting injured, this time and the time before, was not Yunho’s fault, and to live on.

From the car, Henry Jo stumbles out injured, running straight for the Cromer in Wooyoung’s hands with a knife.
Yunho punches Henry Jo, and Wooyoung quickly turns the Cromer, transporting all seven members back to
Strictland. Meanwhile, in Strictland, Yeosang has been suffering alone in a glass room in the android bunker. He
had seen many resistance members standing in front of his own glass room with their “biological energies” stolen
(in other words, the android guardians did something to them and took their memories), including the Grimes
siblings.

Yeosang notes that Left Eye made it off the island with only his right arm missing, and wishes for death and loss of
his emotion because of his ordeal. Suddenly, Yeosang hears a trumpet, and the android guardians rush out. There
are sounds of fighting outside, and Yeosang begins to scream for help.

Help does come, in the form of black suits and hats, and when the man who rescued Yeosang pulls down his mask, it
is revealed to be [normal ATEEZ’s] Seonghwa. ATEEZ succeeded in Yeosang’s rescue. Now with Yeosang back in the
team, ATEEZ are eight once more. They go on to fulfill the duty that Halateez assigned to them for now, while they
figure out how to rescue Halateez. Their first order of business? Sending Left Eye a comeback message. They send
Left Eye a message using morse code, and Left Eye deciphers the message to read “SAY MY NAME. ATEEZ”. The
resistance cheers. The Black Pirates are back.

<<This ends the diary entries of Fever Epilogue, ending the entire Fever series. Next summarized will be The World
Part 1>>

ATEEZ 72
(At this point in the timeline. ATEEZ is still in Strictland. What follows is a Strictland announcement from Z,
Strictland’s ruler. Once again, we must remind you that the summary is best read with full understanding of the
terms used. For term definitions, please refer to Part 1) An alarm sounds everywhere in Strictland, and on cue,
every being looks upward to the highest screen. Z broadcasts a message in which he talks about a world without
cracks and a world without human emotion, which he thinks of as a disease. The chips in the citizens’ ears light up
yellow, and the crowd cheers. However, this is soon interrupted by loud music playing from the speakers; someone
has hacked into them and is playing music, which is forbidden. It turns out that this is the work of Hongjoong, and
for the first time, people who hear the music look around in confusion as if waking up from a trance. One by one
the ATEEZ members appear in the streets of Strictland, preaching their word of revolution and tossing
square-shaped machines called breakers (refer to Part 1 for detailed explanation of what a breaker is) that could
be used to break the chips in their ears. ATEEZ then starts dancing while flyers fall from the sky, disrespecting all
of the rules that Z had set for Strictland. The flyers read:

––“You are valuable by yourself. No one can define you, and no one can control you. Being alive is imperfect, and
it’s beautiful to be imperfect. Read poetry, draw pictures, listen to music, dance, and sing. Therein lies your own
answer” [Black Pirates]––

People were immediately affected by the music and performance, as well as the flyers. The breakers were being
used everywhere across Strictland, and the android guardians tried to stop ATEEZ. However, every time, ATEEZ
would just use the Cromer to get away. After the performance was finished, the world went more or less back to
normal, save for certain people who were now free from the government’s control. The Black Pirates cheered for
their small victory, and ATEEZ praises Left Eye for the creation of the breaker. It turns out that the Black Pirates
also set up a system called the Black Link within the breaker that transferred to the chip when used. People were
given a choice to access the Black Link or not, and when Left Eye was questioned as to why everyone was not
immediately connected, he said that they would be no better than Z if they forced people to do so. He also says
that fear would make people do strange things, and it wouldn’t be safe for the Black Pirates either.

ATEEZ then makes a plan for what they would do, and Seonghwa cleverly says that finding Z is the last step of the
plan; they must first do what they can to disrupt the government. They therefore plan to install mirrors and

ATEEZ 73
unblock windows to promote the discovery of self-identity and uniqueness as a first step. The unblocking of
windows would also let natural light and sun in, which was detrimental to the government’s plan of keeping citizens
under control. No matter how many performances ATEEZ did around Strictland, the government would do their
best to take away the newly freed citizens and re-educate them or dispose of them in the android bunker, so
ATEEZ decided that they were going to hit the most important places for the government first, starting with
Strictland’s best school: Prestige Academy.

Because the government increased security everywhere, ATEEZ knew that hitting the best spots first would
guarantee the least security. They suddenly receive an emergency signal from a young boy wearing an academy
uniform asking for help, so they take the boy in. The boy asks for them to save his older brother, who also attends
said academy.

The brother had been freed earlier on but had been adamant that he was on the government’s side. The little boy
was afraid that his brother would fail the test (refer to Part 1 Strictland definition) because he had been freed,
and would therefore be sent to the bunker to be disposed of. ATEEZ assures the boy that they know where the
guardian bunker is, and the boy tells them that he is grateful and that he accessed the Black Link to save his
brother. ATEEZ believes that they still have time since the exam is a decent amount of time away, but the boy then
informs them of a student organization formed by the guardians to monitor other students, meaning that the
boy’s brother could be found out any day.

At this point, ATEEZ is actually unaware of which school the boys go to, as they have not asked yet. Because they
have the plan to attack Prestige Academy when there is the least amount of security possible, attacking another
school first would throw a wrench in their plan. When they do ask and the boy says that he is from the Prestige
Academy, they smile, because it is perfect; that is exactly where they planned to go first anyway.

<<This ends the diary entries of The World Part 1, and ends all of the current diary entries that have been provided
to us so far>>.

SUMMARY ENDS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ATEEZ 74
SIMPLE TIMELINE [CHART]

Here is an even more condensed version of events, simplified with terms:

*Follow the direction of the arrows to navigate the timeline. The chart has been curved to save space, so it may be a little
confusing looking. You may find this useful for a review of the overall timeline after reading large chunks of text.

ATEEZ 75
PART 3: TREASURE SERIES
THE REASON WE HAVE NOT PLACED THE TREASURE SERIES INTO THE OFFICIAL
TIMELINE IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO CONFIRMED SPOT FOR IT. BUT HERE IS
WHERE IT GETS TRICKY: WHERE SHOULD THE TREASURE SERIES GO?

For now, the simple answer is that it does not come first in the storyline.

Based on new information released for The Witness comeback, we can speculate
that Treasure Series does not come linearly in the timeline, but rather occurs
simultaneously somewhere with the events of the Fever Diary Film. We cannot be
exactly sure as to when the overlap begins, however, we know that Halateez could
very well be Treasureteez (the ATEEZ we see during Treasure era) after their
memories are stripped away by the Android Guardians after the Cromer is
delivered to (Fever)teez.

For future reference: there may be sections in this document where ATEEZ are
referred to as Feverteez. Feverteez represents the original ATEEZ that we see in
the Fever series. This includes when Feverteez dons Halateez clothing later on in
the Fever series; they will still be referred to as Feverteez here. Halateez will
always mean the original Halateez, and we may refer to Treasureteez, which,
according to our current theory, is Halateez after they are stripped of their
memories.

Up until now, the only confirmed lore we have is of the diary entries of Fever and
The World. Everything else is technically speculation, although some
theories/inferences have an abundant amount of proof to back them up, hence our
placement of Treasure after The World (for this theory, you can refer to
@yookikihh on tiktok to access a video explanation). ATEEZ constantly reminds us
that there are clues hidden everywhere, from merch to music videos to lyrics to
tour tapes.

*THERE IS A THEORY ABOUT THE TREASURE SERIES AND WHERE THEY ARE
PLACED THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, SINCE IT IS A THEORY, IT WILL BE
ACCESSIBLE IN PART 6 INSTEAD OF PART 3, AND WILL BE LABELED ACCORDINGLY.

In the following part, we will analyze lyrics and themes from all the lore-heavy
songs, putting our focus on title tracks. As mentioned earlier, we are now in
unknown territory; there is no confirmed lore to work with anymore. This is the
toughest section to decipher, therefore we cannot guarantee accuracy, but we
can guarantee creating connections between lyrics to the lore we have on hand.

ATEEZ 76
PART 4: CONTENT ANALYSIS: THEMES
*THE FOLLOWING IS A CONDENSED LIST OF IMPORTANT THEMES THAT SHOW UP
THROUGHOUT MVS AND SONG LYRICS.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN READING THE FULL THEME DOCUMENTATION, PLEASE USE
THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS IT. THE FULL DOCUMENT IS COLOR CODED ACCORDING TO
THEME AND WILL CONTAIN ALL IMPORTANT LYRICS THAT MENTION THESE THEMES.

DOCUMENTATION FOR THEMES IN ATEEZ LORE

FULL ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF RELEVANT ATEEZ SONGS HAVE BEEN COMPILED INTO
ONE DOCUMENT FOR EASE OF SEARCHING. THAT CAN BE ACCESSED HERE:

LYRICS : COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

THEMES AND THEIR MEANINGS

Below is a list of themes common in ATEEZ content. These themes include fire/heat,
light/feathers, time, mirrors/reflections, dreams, colors, doors/memories, and senses.

THEME DESCRIPTION

FIRE/HEAT ANYTHING RELATED TO FIRE OR HEAT: WARMTH, BURNING, FLAMES

ETC

MEANING: destruction/change
FEVER DIARY FILM: JONGHO

LYRICS:
- ANSWER “The burning eyes and our loud shoutings reaching
across the world”
- FIREWORKS “When the whole town is on fire / Yeah, we come
together / We gon’ make a fire like a meteor”
- SECTOR 1 “The red light is exploding”
- CYBERPUNK “The carnival of lies that has covered up the sun”
- THE RING “Bomb, bombing, bomb, the light that even reveals lies /
There’s a flame in my vein, now, we’re pumping endorphin, yeah”
- WDIG
- “White flames spread / A paradise where only ashes
remain”
- “In a world about to explode”
- NEW WORLD “We have to put it back in place now / With volcanic
heat”

ANALYSIS:

ATEEZ 77
THEME DESCRIPTION

- Fire and heat are usually used to describe destruction, but on the
flip side, it can also represent a necessary or beneficial change.
For example, controlled forest fires promote healthier and lusher
forest growth in certain cases. Oftentimes the destruction of
one thing leads to change and growth in another. For example,
Jongho is always associated with fire, with scenes often showing
a basketball (representative of his dreams) on fire. This may show
destruction of his first dream, but as one can remember, in the
diary entries, he describes how he found another dream, one of
dance and music, because of the destruction and burning away of
his original dream. This is not to say that fire is not negatively
destructive; it most definitely is, but often one must lose
something to gain something different.
- Alternatively, words relating to fire and heat are also used
throughout the ATEEZ storyline to represent motivation and
strong feelings. In Answer, for example, ATEEZ sings that “The
burning eyes and our loud shoutings reach[ing] across the world”,
symbolizing burning passion or strong emotion elicited from
something. Similarly, fire provides not only heat but also light,
which ties into the next theme.

LIGHT/FEATHERS LIGHT / SUBTHEME OF DARKNESS IN COMPARISON TO LIGHT

MEANING: hope, direction/guidance (feathers = freedom)

FEVER DIARY FILM: YEOSANG

LYRICS:
- CYBERPUNK “in the city where darkness falls, the lights are
dancing a dance of chaos”
- ILLUSION “On top of it, I follow the light round and round”
- WAVE “Are you ready to find it? / The light under the sun”
- DAZZLING LIGHT “We find the light but lose it again / Because of
that, the path to the light has no end”
- PRECIOUS
- “We need more light”
- “The lights gathered produce this color”
- SECTOR 1 “Like the light in the sky, we are free”
- GUERRILLA
- “Expression is losing the light”
- “Vow to the light and darkness until they clear up”
- THE RING “Follow me, come into the light”
- WDIG “A land that is losing its light”
- NEW WORLD
- “Hello world, can’t you see? / The wave of light”
- “One ray of light will be enough”

ATEEZ 78
THEME DESCRIPTION

- “All the little lights”

- PARADIGM “Farewell to darkness / Create light”

ANALYSIS:
- Light is often mentioned as a representation of hope and a sense
of direction. We usually see it in the context of “searching for
the light” such as in the lyrics of Illusion, Wave, and Dazzling
Light, creating light (New World), or losing light (The World Album,
Paradigm, Dazzling Light). In the Treasure Series (Illusion, Wave,
and Dazzling Light), the members mention the “light” as a symbol
representing their end goal. The loss of light we see in The World
Album represents the desolate society of Strictland that ATEEZ
has stepped into. In this case, through starting the revolution,
ATEEZ becomes the light for the people of Strictland, helping
unite citizens through music and giving them hope of freedom.
- We also see hope and freedom represented by feathers and
birds. Yeosang’s scene in the FEVER PT. 1 Diary Film shows him in
a room with birds in cages surrounding him as he plays violin in an
orchestra. As Yeosang describes, being forced by his father to
play violin gave him “limited freedom, like a bird in a cage.” He was
given the ability to express himself through violin, but his father
prohibited him from participating in all other forms of music and
artistic expression. Thus, once Yeosang drops the violin and the
birds are freed from their cages, it signals his decision to go
against his father’s will and seek freedom with creative
expression. After this, the film cuts to a scene of the warehouse
and we see the same birds flying freely as Yeosang meets the
rest of the ATEEZ members–the people that would fuel his
newfound hope and freedom.

TIME OF DAY PASSAGE OF TIME, SEASONS, SUN, MOON, DAY/NIGHT

MEANING:
New beginnings (spring, rising sun, dawn, new moon)
Endings (sunsets, night time, winter)
Change (passing time, phases in solar/lunar movement)

LYRICS:
- PARADIGM “blow up the old moon, i got a new one full”
- SECTOR 1 “After the dawn that seemed to die / I think I can see
it, another chapter one”
- CYBERPUNK “The clock hand stopped because it lost its meaning
/ Future and past, consumable feelings / Slowly becoming dull in
this controlled reality”
- ILLUSION

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- “One day, two days, three days, four days / I don’t know
what day it is today”
- “The bluish sun, the purple star”
- GOOD LIL BOY “The Mobius strip that turned the wrong fate into
infinity”

ANALYSIS:
- The passage of time is often symbolized by the presence of
butterflies. During the Answer MV, we see that Wooyoung is
surrounded by butterflies, and during the Deja Vu MV, a butterfly
rests on Yeosang’s finger. Butterflies are usually associated with
time and are a symbol for growth and transformation; an example
of this would be the butterfly effect. Therefore we can infer
that the butterflies shown in the MVs are also associated with
time. The butterfly effect states that one little change made or
different direction taken [in time] can drastically change the
future and its outcomes; it is most likely dubbed the butterfly
effect to show that even a movement from the delicate and small
butterfly can change the world as we know it. An example of this
could be when Yeosang smashes the Cromer.
- Time is less symbolic in this case; it is used very generally
throughout the entire storyline as well as the MVs. For one, it
can be used as a parallel to compare and contrast possible
different dimensions, for example day or night, sunrise or sunset.
Alternatively, it can also be used within the storyline to define
how time has lost its importance and meaning because now there
is an object that can manipulate it (the Cromer). This can be
inferred through certain lyrics pertaining to time and how a
sense of it can easily be lost, for example in Illusion, where they
say that “One day, two days, three days, four days / I don’t know
what day it is today”. It can also be used to describe how since
there are an established near infinite timelines, supported by
Sector 1’s “After the dawn that seemed to die / I think I can see
it, another chapter one”, there are not nearly as many dire
consequences.
- Time can also be used within the storyline to represent a timeline;
as observed in the line in “Good Lil Boy”, a time loop, or Mobius
strip, is at play here, and the lyrics suggest that the strip turned
a wrong fate into infinity (a loop).

MIRRORS/ REFLECTIVE SURFACES: WATER, MIRRORS, TABLES ETC

REFLECTIONS
MEANING: sense of self (or lack thereof), identity
FEVER DIARY FILM: WAREHOUSE + HONGJOONG

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LYRICS:
- GOOD LIL BOY “Scorching rain / My image and light reflected
under my feet / The Mobius strip that turned the wrong fate into
infinity”
- FEVER “I look at the moon and feel sorry for myself”

ANALYSIS:
- Reflections, especially mirrors, have always been used in media to
symbolize identity and introspection. It is no different in the
ATEEZ universe. Many moments of lost and/or ever-changing
identity are displayed by members standing in front of reflective
surfaces. This, as a concept, including glossy surfaces like water
or tables, is deemed important enough to be given scenes,
because it is a crucial concept within the universe.
- Mirrors are also used as a form of strange connection, or
gateway to another world, like when San sees Yeosang in the Say
My Name MV. It forms a sort of border or horizon between two
worlds.

DREAMS ANY MENTION OF DREAMS OR BEING IN THE DREAM WORLD

MEANING: illusions, traveling between worlds (as it relates to the

Cromer)
FEVER DIARY FILM: HONGJOONG (displayed by warm lighting)

LYRICS:
- SAY MY NAME “The dream of being on top and the bottom / Can
be changed with one difference”
- WONDERLAND “The island where the map calls / Is everyone’s
dream and fear / Dream starts in the end, wings spread”
- INCEPTION
- “I feel like dreaming a dream I’ve never seen even in
dreams / It’s too vivid to conclude it as just a dream”
- “As if I have dreamed in a dream / I am lost looking for you
/ You are the dream I live in, the dream I can never awake
from”
- ETERNAL SUNSHINE “The place you’ve been dreaming for is in
front of you”
- DEJA VU
- “Are you, in front of my eyes, a dream / Reality or illusion”
- “It feels as if I just had a dream in a dream”
- “Oh in my dream, after this scene / It’s beep-”
- “Even if it takes my breath away / Next time in my dream /
Find you in my heart”
- SECTOR 1

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- “A dream I feel for the first time, realization is ‘one and

only’”
- “It’s like I’m dreaming dreams”

ANALYSIS:
- Dreams in ATEEZ’s storyline are often a signal for when the
members are experiencing an illusion of their desires: “are you, in
front of my eyes, a dream / reality or illusion” (Deja Vu).
- We also see them depicted visually in videos through the use of
yellowish lighting and physically with the Cromer. Hongjoong’s
FEVER Diary Film scene starts out with him sitting in the
yellow-tinted warehouse, as Halajoong gives him the Cromer to
fulfill his desire of having family and companionship. Once
Hongjoong wakes up from the dream, the lighting changes to a
cool blue tone. Expanding on this, the Cromer serves as the main
symbolic object for dreaming and the dream world (see: Part 5:
Diagrams, Diagram 4).
- Along the same lines, yellow smoke is also seen in Strictland when
the Android Guardians burn people’s memories in their bunker.
Inhaling the smoke puts individuals in an illusive/dream state.
- Lyrics in multiple songs (most notably, Deja Vu, Inception, and
Sector 1) also mention “dreaming in a dream.” This particular lyric
is first introduced in FEVER PT. 1 with Inception (the song), and is
based on the movie Inception, in which people have the ability to
create their own dream “reality” and enter other peoples’
dreams.
- Say My Name also references the Cromer’s dream abilities: “the
dream of being on top and the bottom / Can be changed with one
difference.” ATEEZ and Halateez are represented on opposite
ends of the Cromer (see: Part 5: Diagrams, Diagram 4). Flipping
the Cromer allows the members to either switch dimensions or
communicate with the other dimension through dreams.

COLORS COLORS USED THROUGHOUT MVS: RED, BLUE, YELLOW, PURPLE,

BLACK/WHITE

MEANING:
RED: Halateez
BLUE: ATEEZ
- Red and blue are contrasting colors, representing the contrast
between the two groups
YELLOW: associated with memories
PURPLE: between worlds/dreams and illusions
BLACK/WHITE: duality between light/dark, ATEEZ/Halateez

LYRICS:

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- DESIRE “The bright red flame growing inside of my heart / Will

bloom and explode”
- LIGHT “Flickering white in the distance”
- ILLUSION
- “On top of the rainbow-colored sea / Should I paint a more
fantastical dream?”
- “Red forsythias and sunflowers”
- “The bluish sun, the purple star”
- AURORA “Various colors spread out in front of me / The
ambiguous boundary between lines”
- WIN “Color this land, let’s go around the earth”
- FIREWORKS “The whole town is dancing red”
- THE LEADERS “Red medicine for the pain”
- TAKE ME HOME
- “I wipe my tears, its blood red everywhere”
- “Below the red sunset”
- ETERNAL SUNSHINE “Maybe my night will be in purple”
- FEELING LIKE I DO “Purple savage love has arrived and I ran”
- DEJA VU “A decalcomanie on a white street”
- SECTOR 1 “The red light is exploding / Spreading over the gray
city”
- CYBERPUNK
- “Blue blood, red tears, my existence itself is a doubt”
- “Lost in a black and white photo studio / Who am I? I, my,
my mine”
- WDIG “White flames spread / A paradise where only ashes
remain”

ANALYSIS:
- Red and blue: used to compare and contrast / show opposition
between worlds and groups. Halateez and Ateez can be compared
and contrasted, as well as Universe A (old world) and Universe Z
(new world). For example, when in the new world, everything is in
reverse including time and seasons, and colors are used to show
this. In Cyberpunk, they sing “Blue blood, red tears, my existence
itself is a doubt”, which is fitting because it takes place in
Universe Z instead of Universe A. There are a TON of timestamps
in the MVs where there is red and blue contrast, as well as in the
lyrics. This is a very important theme, and it is our best guess as
to what it means.
- Yellow is used to represent memories and dreams. In FEVER PT. 2,
we learn that the Android Guardians burn the memories of
Strictland citizens in the bunker, which causes yellow smoke to
fill up the entire Strictland garbage dump. The yellow smoke also

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causes individuals that inhale a high concentration of it to start

seeing illusions. We see this in the FEVER PT. 2 diaries when Left
Eye has illusions of his late daughter and Jongho begins reliving
the moments from his last basketball game again.
- Purple: meant to represent a state of dream or illusion. It is the
main theme for much of the Illusion MV, as well as the following
live performance sets in which ATEEZ sang the song. We often
see purple and yellow to represent states of mind/story that are
not necessarily happening in real life at that time. Interestingly,
purple is a mix between red and blue, which we suspect to be
representative of the two universes, meaning that fittingly,
purple could be the dream state/world between the two.
- Black/White: our best guess as of right now is that black and
white are used to represent the duality between light and dark as
well as ATEEZ and Halateez (similar to how red and blue are
utilized). Notable appearances of these colors include the
entirety of the HALA HALA Performance Video and the Paradigm
Music Video from 0:00 to 0:24.

DOORS/ SPECIFICALLY THE DOOR OF TRUTH + OTHER ENTRYWAYS

MEMORIES
MEANING: the door of truth is the passageway to regaining one’s
memories; the door of darkness is on the other side of the door of truth
FEVER DIARY FILM: SEONGHWA & YUNHO & SAN (memories)

LYRICS:
- WONDERLAND “Facing the door of truth opening” x2
- DAZZLING LIGHT “Open the door and, as always, we find the
answers”
- GUERRILLA “Open the doors right away, splendidly make it boom”
- PARADIGM “Open the door of darkness”
- WDIG “my eyes look empty / in my memory, i had different eyes /
where the hell am i”
- TAKE ME HOME “Get out of the gray city and follow the lights /
to the place in our memories”

ANALYSIS:
- Note: this interpretation of the “door of truth” is dependent on
portions of Theory 007 in Part 6 of this document. Reading
Theory 007 may help you understand this theme better. In short,
to explain this theme, we are assuming that Treasure era ATEEZ
IS Halateez in their dream state.
- We mainly see the door of truth mentioned in Treasure Era during
Wonderland–both in the lyrics (“facing the door of truth
opening”) and in the music video itself (timestamp - 2:09). The

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THEME DESCRIPTION

song Dazzling Light also says, “Open the door and, as always, we
find the answers.” As we explain in Theory 007, Treasureteez IS
Halateez. At this point, Halateez are in an unconscious dream
state, and their memories have been stripped from them by the
Android Guardians. Based on this, we then know that the ATEEZ
we see in Wonderland is Halateez while they go through a
sequence of dreams in search of a treasure/light. The “truth”
and “answers” they are searching for are the memories they lost
to the Androids.
- Continuing off of this, if we are under the assumption that
Halateez in Treasure era is searching for treasure/light (as seen
by lyrics listed under the “Light/feathers” theme), the “door of
darkness” must be the opposite side (the side that Halateez is in
during Treasure era) of the “door of truth,” which represents the
found “treasure”–their memories.

SENSES EYES, VOICE, EARS, ILLUSIONS, RESTRICTION OF SENSES

MEANING: awareness of the world, awareness of the underlying

corruption within society
FEVER DIARY FILM: MINGI & WOOYOUNG

LYRICS:
- UTOPIA “When the night crosses over and I open my eyes / I hope
I can reach it a little more”
- ILLUSION “I closed and opened my eyes / I blinked several times /
Now I’m like Columbus”
- INCEPTION
- “Eye meets in that short instant / The moment all the
senses stop”
- “Little tremors spread inside me / For the first time I am
swallowed by the feeling that I became who I am”
- TAKE ME HOME “Locked inside the dark / Where I’m suffocating
in deep / I’m just falling down”
- DEJA VU
- “My senses are dulled / By the attraction that captivates
me / Are you, in front of my eyes, a dream / Reality or
illusion”
- “Oh, it’s like the shivers of my body / Remembers you / I
know you get deja vu”
- “I’m confused whether it’s an illusion or an illness / It’s an
instinct for my heart to want you”
- SECTOR 1

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THEME DESCRIPTION

- “I want to know / What is love? / What it feels like? /

Something inside me keeps going / I’m keeping my eyes
open”
- “Let’s go, everyone wake up / Listen carefully to the sound
inside of me”
- CYBERPUNK
- “I am crushed by the silence falling like a veil / Only the
silence of the lost souls that were taken away (No way) /
I’m getting numb as if I’m paralyzed”
- “But I can’t forget it / As if it’s chained / Like a dancing
puppet / I don’t feel anymore”
- GUERRILLA “Disappearing emotion / Expression is losing the light
/ Laughter is controlled / Only numbness left”
- THE RING “Don’t be afraid, open your eyes / Follow me, come into
the light”
- WDIG
- “My eyes look empty / In my memory, I had different eyes /
Where the hell am I”
- “In a world about to explode, I am losing me more and
more”
- NEW WORLD
- “Wake up world, how do you feel? / Look at the storm
move / When you open your eyes and face the truth”
- “To unfold before your eyes … / Your heart will want it”
- “This is a place no one could see / Now I feel, now I see, the
new world is in front of me”
- PARADIGM
- “Problems stuck to the back of my eyelids”
- “Now we feel it, freedom no matter where we are”

ANALYSIS:
- Simply put, the inclusion of senses is one of the most common
concepts within the MVs and the universe. It represents
awareness of the world around ATEEZ and awareness of lies and
corruption. However, it can also similarly be used to describe lack
thereof. Many lyrics throughout the songs talk about vision as a
sense, like New World’s “To unfold before your eyes … / Your
heart will want it” and The Ring’s “Don’t be afraid, open your eyes
/ Follow me, come into the light”.
- In Cyberpunk, there is a mental recreation of a physical sense,
the lyrics saying that “But I can’t forget it / As if it’s chained /
Like a dancing puppet / I don’t feel anymore”
- In Guerilla and pretty much in all of Strictworld, it is emphasized
how important sound as a sense is. Music, a sound of awareness

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 THEME DESCRIPTION

and self-expression, is banned. The chip implants in citizens’ ears

are implanted in the ear. Every day, Z releases more and more
propaganda in schools and through big speakers and screens.
Sound is also an extremely important sense. Perhaps more
obviously, however, is the suppression of senses and emotions,
which is what the Strictland arc is all about. The entire storyline
pretty much orbits around using senses to be aware of the world
around you, and the consequences of these senses being
suppressed.

MUSIC VIDEO BREAKDOWN

The following will not be descriptions of each music video, so the assumption is
that you’ve already viewed them. These passages will call attention to interesting
moments, shared themes, and potential connections to other videos. Personal
analysis is limited - The emphasis is on the content itself. While there will be some
references to the choreography, they will only be key moves, not a complete
consideration. Font change is intentional.

The music videos are presented in chronological order of release and color-coded
by series for ease of viewing. Member names will be in initials:

HJ - Hongjoong | SH - Seonghwa | YS - Yeosang | MG - Mingi

YH - Yunho | SN - San | WY - Wooyoung | JH - Jongho

> TREASURE SERIES

Intro: The Long Journey
While visually stunning, this is a fairly straightforward video. The use of flags is perhaps
something to take note of, as flag colors shift throughout the Treasure series. Here, we’re
introduced to the often used white ATEEZ flag with black stripes, and a black flag with
ATEEZ written out in orange. There’s a section in the video where all the members are seen
holding the white flag except for HJ and JH, who hold the black one. It’s unlikely this has
significance.

Pirate King

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There are several moments in the Pirate King video where we flip from standard color to
black and white. The intro screen itself is red, and we revisit that bright shade in key
transitions, as red glitches. When the very first beat of YS’s center intro choreo hits, the
screen glitches between red and black and white for several moments, before settling on
color for YH’s first verse. There are red glitches to get us into MG’s rap verse, which is
entirely in black and white in the canyon setting, and another red glitch to get us out of it.
Again, at the top of WY’s pre-chorus verse, the screen goes black and white and then
uses red glitching to move between color and black and white, before settling on color for
his chorus. Midway through YS’s chorus choreo, we once again get red glitches over a
color scene, ending when HJ begins his verse. That’s the last glitch before the end of the
song.

Beyond that, there are theories on YS’s introductory choreography, which could very well
have significance considering it’s the first official choreo the world saw from Ateez. Opinions
differ on whether or not YS is being held down by the two on either side of him, or being
helped up. He yanks free regardless. At 0:35, the group’s choreo matches that of
Wonderland, where JH has a very similar cross downstage with the members swapping
places in his wake.

HJ fires a finger gun to his temple to end his rap verse, and another shot straight to the
camera to end the song itself. At the latter, the screen glitches like an old film, and then
Ateez is gone - leaving only the empty desert and some oddly glitching bushes. Eventually,
the camera zooms out and we see the members walking, HJ leading them and MG in the
back with the white and black flag.

Treasure
Right at the top of the video, we get a very clear shot of the twilight sky and the Waxing
Gibbous that hangs over HJ’s head. This is the phase directly before a Full Moon. The top of
the choreo sees JH and SH covering HJ’s eyes as he kneels on the ground. Eyes are an
important theme, both lyrically and visually, so this is especially notable.

At 0:53, WY and YS sit back to back on the rim of an empty fountain. Any inclusion of
WATER in the Treasure series is something to take note of, considering the Pirate theme
and the many references to sailing. We get our first view of water at 1:10, with the
members standing behind a large, full pool. The lyrics over the scene are: “Every day, every
night” which is a phrase to keep an eye out for. There are several theories concerning the
Treasure series as a whole, and many of them reference the day/night cycle.

At 1:49, MG and HJ are in a new exterior location between two very large, graffiti-covered
boulders. Much of the text is standard graffiti, save for the bright blue Anarchy symbol on
MG’s side, and the white letters “AI” with three open eyes underneath on HJ’s side. With
the science-fiction of The World series and the constant lore reference to eyes, the art feels
prominently placed. Less notable is the “1992” engraved on the left side of a hallway at
3:34, but I’ll mention it just in case.

ATEEZ 88
Say My Name
Say My Name is undoubtedly the center of Ateez lore as we know it. It connects the
Treasure and Fever series, and will likely connect to future storylines in ways we can’t
comprehend with our current knowledge of the lore. For that reason, this breakdown will be
brief. If you’d like to see my full dive notes, that link is at the very bottom of the Music
Video Breakdown section.

We’re introduced to the Trumpet - the “old world” counter to the “new world” Megaphone
we see next in Hala Hala. There’s a scrap of a red flag with a black ATEEZ logo tied to the
Trumpet, and this is the first time we’ve seen this flag. HJ begins the scene holding it, but
drops it to the ground at 0:13.

The half-burnt picture of the tree is the only piece of wall art present throughout the video,
and is confirmed to be the same tree we see in the Fever series.

YS is encased in a glass tube, alone for the most part, save for when a Halateez member
paces around him, looking in. Based on clothing, we can confirm that this is HalaWY.
Similarly, when SN is looking into the mirror at 2:13, the one looking back at him isn’t
HalaSN, but HalaYS. This is also confirmed in the Say My Name Making Film.

When Ateez and Halateez sit across from each other at the glass partitions, Ateez are
wearing hand-made name tags made up of various objects. WY is the first and only
member to actually touch the glass partition, at 1:05.

At 2:30, the members stand in a circle, the Trumpet in the center with a circle of white
light falling in from the skylight. The lyrics are “When the shiny moon calls on us,” making it
clear the light is intended to reflect the moon.

When the song ends, we see a darkened doorway now framed in the empty glass tube, the
members gone from the museum. Treasure plays softly as the camera pans back.

HALA HALA (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive)

We get a fairly long intro that covers a lot of visual ground. A pressure gauge with the
needle on 0 leads to HJ picking up a now well-known Megaphone. The scrap of red flag on
the Megaphone is the same as that of the Say My Name Trumpet. Starting with SH, we get
red overlays of all the members shown maskless then masked - with the exception of YS,
who is the final one shown and is only shown masked. Then we get a view of the whole
group wearing neutral-colored “street clothes” and their masks. They do not have their full
black outfits or their fedoras on.

In all the videos that are canonically confirmed to show Halateez, this is unique in that we
don’t ever again see Halateez in street clothes. YH is wearing a razor blade necklace in this
outfit, which matches WY’s razor blade earring in his Halateez outfit later on.

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Police sirens start off the song, and we can take note of the intro choreography. SN stands
isolated in the top right corner, facing away from the group. After the first beat of the
music, YS moves to take SN’s place while SN rejoins the members. When SH moves away
from WY, he and YS mirror each other’s movements before turning back to back. Everyone
jerks and there’s the clear sound of breaking glass.

At the start of YS’s verse, there’s a very harsh jump to blue lighting, and that stays nearly
the entire song, until the aggressive conclusion. When MG starts his rap verse at 2:14, he
shoves YS aside - which I wouldn’t have noticed if not for HJ doing the same to WY a
minute later at 3:13. SN is center at 2:35 and performs a very distinct move that’s
reminiscent of the Pirate King chorus. This move has also been used to symbolize the
turning of the Cromer.

Just before the finale, the members remove their fedoras and toss them aside, leaving them
in full black and masks. The ending choreo needs little explanation - the entirety of the
room snap their own necks, save for WY, who smears his lipstick with his wrist and stares
directly into the camera as police sirens once again pick up outside.

Wave
Wave is the first “light-hearted” video we get from Ateez, both sound and content. That isn’t
to say it’s lacking in curiosity. We start with the members asleep - YS, JH, and SN are in a
group while MG, SH, and YH are by themselves. HJ is also alone, on a long road and holding
a compass in his right hand. MG has his headphones on, holding his walkman. YH is in a
parked red car and SH is sitting leaning back against something. YS, JH, and SN are inside,
piled on a bed that’s cluttered with cassettes, small records, a handheld camcorder, and
other items that would be considered vintage even in 2018 when the song was released.
YS has very similar headphones to MG, but they’re dropped around his neck.

The first time we see WY is at 0:37, and it’s not a close-up. He’s walking in a rocky gulf by
himself, and we do not see him asleep. The back of his sweater says “1926.”

SH is the only member we see actually enter the ocean at 0:24, and at 0:57 we can see
he’s wearing a bracelet with a trumpet charm. Speaking as someone who was in a band
for 7 years, it’s shaped more like a mellophone or cornet, but considering that this MV
follows Say My Name so closely, it’s easily assumed to be a reference to the trumpet.

It was at this point that I began noticing just how often YS is choreographed with his back
to another member. It was WY in Treasure, YH in Say My Name, SH in Hala Hala, JH
here in Wave, and it happens in several other videos coming up.

The final large note on this video is about the room some of the members wake up in.
Visible at 0:59, the room’s walls are completely bare. There are curtains over the
windows and plenty of artistic things present, but the wall art has been removed. Two
paintings are on the floor on the bottom right of the frame, facing the wall, with a blanket
draped over the larger one’s corner, as if it had previously been covering them both. At the

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time of release, this detail meant nothing, but now that we’ve learned of Universe Z and
Strictland’s art ban, the situation feels much more intentional.

Illusion
There is a considerable amount of ground to cover in Illusion. While typically I’ve tried to
group these passages into themes or locations, this will be presented in purely chronological
order. This was a 0.25x scrub and I still had to rewind many moments. Objects are key in
Illusion and will be highlighted in green. Let’s get into it.

On the deck of a ship, the members are asleep, all separate save for SN and SH. YS has a
set of binoculars, SN has a map, and HJ has a compass - giving the sense they’d fallen
asleep in the middle of doing something. They’re all awake after the title screen, HJ at the
ship’s wheel, the other members keeping busy behind him. YS is using the binoculars to
scan the clouds, and YH is now holding the compass. MG is still laying down on the edge
of the ship, in clear contrast to the rest of the members helping out.

HJ, YS, SH, JH, YH, and SN are all wearing strings of pearls, leaving MG and WY out. YH and
SN are also wearing lock necklaces. JH and SH have charms on their necklaces with both
“A” and “Z.” There may be other members wearing jewelry of note, but that hasn’t been
checked as of now.

YS, YH, and JH are the members most obviously busy, as they spend the majority of the
video pouring over journals and maps, searching for something. They work closely
together. Inside the ship, the room is stocked with maps, a big chalkboard with a rough
drawing of a world map (labeled with several interesting things), and a table cluttered with
various items. We’ll address those specific items later on.

If the pink clouds and the flying ship weren’t enough, we’re thrown into a full dream
sequence at 0:55 when the background changes to 2D clouds in bright pinks, oranges,
and purples. Originally, there was a bright blue sun, but it changes to a Waning Crescent
Moon, which is the stage just before a New Moon. The function of the Cromer during a New
Moon is unknown to us at this time. When the moon arrives, the clouds on that side are
replaced with ones that are black and dark purple, and the boys on the ship react in
surprise or fear.

Back inside, MG is finally up, a minute into the video. We get a full shot of the table: A large
map of North America. Lots of small books or journals that they’re looking at with
magnifying glasses. One open book is half open, with a hand-drawn red flower inside.
An hourglass full of black sand. A large glass ball and a large glass cube, the latter of
which is on a stand. A small figurine of a dragonfly/bug. An additional world map with a
title in Latin. A bowl of matchboxes near a wax candle in an ornate holder.

Following this is the shot of a Hala Hala mask hanging off a globe. WY looks into the glass
ball, his reflection upside down inside. SH examines it next, we do not see his reflection. At
1:09 I made the subjective note that SN does not look very well. There are bags under
his eyes, he’s moving clumsily, and his hair is ruffled. We get a shot of the binoculars left up

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on the deck, and after some inspection there doesn’t seem to be anything of note reflected
in the dark lenses.

Night falls when MG begins his verse. He’s rapping inside, holding a spyglass. On the
mention of the lyrics “Purple paradise,” a storm rolls in, complete with 2D cartoon lightning.
The lyrics in this section are well worth examining. At 1:40, we see HJ in the back putting
a record into the gramophone. YS is at the table writing with a large brown quill. WY
lights a match, for the first but certainly not the last time in the lore. At 1:44 the crow’s
nest is visible, flying a white flag with a black ATEEZ logo. The logo appeared odd to me,
as if the lettering is on fire, or distorted in some way. Immediately after, we see the island in
the distance for the first time. MG has his headphones back on.

2:01 there’s a series of very, very quick frames - YS with the quill has marked an X on one
of the maps. YH stands over him, holding the compass he’s had the entire MV. SH turns
the hourglass, the sand flows standardly. A Hala Hala fedora is shown in a box. Another
full shot of the table, nothing notable changed from what we’ve seen so far.

They arrive on the island, in a setting very similar to Wave, save for the giant white roses
on the right side of the screen, blue mushrooms scattered around, a huge compass
half-behind the mountains, and a large floating hourglass. The compass is mirrored and
the dial moves erratically. YS’s sweater has “1986” on the back. There’s a flower cart on
the left that feels very out of place. It reminded me of the pale flowers seen in the Wedding
VCR [see Additional Videos section]. YS and JH are the only ones who interact with the
flower cart, and YS winds up taking one of them before they go into the cave.

The choreography at 2:40 has a move identical to the intro choreo to Pirate King,
performed by YS where the members split like ocean waves.

Inside the cave, there are pink curtains hanging down as the members progress into the
dark. We see the silhouette of a Halateez member at 3:00 and based on the distinct
clothes, this is HalaYH.

There’s a shot of WY reflected back in a pool of water, which turns blue when he drags
his hand through it. Immediately following is YH skipping, leading the members into a hazy
blue room with white neon light rods hanging down, wrapped in flowers. There are
several trees with patches of grass around the base and several desk-style lamps in a ring
around each one. At 3:10 we can see that YS has a “Z” charm necklace. The lights in the
room shift to pink and we get a full shot of the members, YS and JH on either end, hidden
by flowers.

Finally, the members run down the sandy tunnel into the light, the beginning of Wave
plays and we get shots of all the members save for WY. SH opens his eyes.

Wonderland
Just as we didn’t fully understand Say My Name when it was released, we likely won’t fully
understand Wonderland or Answer until later on in the story.

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Including the title, the MV is stocked with references to Alice in Wonderland. JH wears a
Cheshire Cat sweater. SH’s outfit is notably similar to the Queen of Hearts. YH’s cool-toned
sweater and the panel of TVs behind him puts him parallel to the Caterpillar. YS sits on red
fabric with a bouquet of white roses, like the stripe of a paintbrush on the Queen’s roses,
which were painted red at her behest. SN very well could be Alice, sitting in a ring of
flowers, lost far from home. There are plenty of connections to be made.

There are three outfits we see Ateez in - their Standard outfits, matching the Wonderland
theme. Black Military Uniforms adorned with medals and chains. And Red Velvet suits, seen
primarily towards the end of the MV.

HJ begins holding a compass, sitting on a throne of red. Later, SH lights a flame lantern,
standing with YS and SN in a small, grated-off elevator. The elevator is stationary, and the
exterior direction buttons are dark, with no indication if they’re traveling up or down. SN has
a lock necklace. Later on, we see that MG also has a lock necklace. YS has a key necklace,
the first time we’ve seen that.

WY’s solo location is a square platform where he’s on his knees, chained entirely immobile.
The light is purple when we first see him, and frequently shifts between red, purple, and
blue. This is Standard outfit WY, implying that this is the WY from Ateez. JH climbs sets of
giant stairs in a “Limbo Space,” and other members are seen doing the same later on. At
one point, JH is holding a plain black flag as he climbs upwards.

The Military Uniforms are primarily in a well-lit room, with an asymmetrical platform
hanging from the ceiling. MG is the only Standard outfit member to appear in this room.
Seen both sitting on top of the platform, and on the floor, which is flooded with water and
surrounded by a ring of fire. This contrast is present in several MVs, and likely reflects a
specific struggle that hasn’t been clarified yet. At 2:20 we see SH blow out a lit match,
followed by SN in his ring of flowers, shielding his eyes from a very bright white light that
shines down on him from above.

The lyrics in the song speak of a “Door of Truth” several times, and understandably this
has been connected to the very large door that Ateez face, seen opening at 2:09 after
light outlines the compass shape engraved in it. Bright white light shines through the
opening, and Ateez assumedly enter the door at 2:41, considering we don’t see Standard
outfit Ateez past that point - save for MG, at 2:44, when he’s seen in WY’s empty chain
room, bathed in a mix of pink and indigo light.

The choreography at 0:58 is that of the Military Uniformed members putting on gloves.
At 1:43, Military WY has a curious move where he locks pinkies with himself, and then splits
his hands.

The finale is primarily the Military Uniformed members leading a parade reminiscent of
Thanxx. The choreography is incredibly intense, with the members even acting
aggressive toward each other at certain points. The background dancers are in black,

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wearing chains across black hats that are not fedoras. Our final shot is the members holding
open a large white and black flag. The lights are still flashing around them but at 3:18 we
can clearly see YH’s shadow flicker and duplicate oddly several times.

Answer
This is perhaps Ateez’s most analyzed MV, considering it comes as the “finale” of the
Treasure series. Much of the content online is theorizing, and there are plenty of possible
meanings to nearly every aspect of this song, so this breakdown will be relatively brief, and
possibly more subjective than previous sections.

The primary location is an ornate mansion, the living room and dining room specifically. SN
wears worn, tattered clothes, which is immediately out of place. There are several white
statues around that may be reminiscent of those in Say My Name. SN’s intro choreography
is him raising a glass before pouring it out, hand shaking.

The costumes in Answer are fairly warm-toned. There’s a lot of orange and brown, seen
even in the big blankets used as set dressings in several shots (group dance at 0:33, SH at
1:04, etc). Several solo scenes (YH in the mirrors, YS in the desert, SN on the table, SH
with the red blanket) are also cast warmly, while others (HJ on the clock face, MG in the
boat, WY in the sand, JH with a purple blanket) are contrasting cool tones.

The choreography at 1:06 has always been interesting. YH holds onto SH, one hand over
his eyes. Though SH is angled forward, YH and the other members are turned entirely
away, hiding their own eyes. At 1:18 we see YH touching one eye - though which hand
and which eye used changes depending on which mirror you’re looking at.

We see at 1:36 that MG is holding a spyglass, just as he did during his verse in Illusion,
though this time it’s hanging by his side, unused. Where there were bright stars
surrounding him before, the sky is dark now. In WY’s solo shots, he’s standing in what
appears to be the bottom of an hourglass, white sand piled around his feet and falling from
the sky. I can’t help but think the white dusting during the intro and outro Guardian scenes
looks identical to that which falls in these scenes. Both look like ash.

A very personal opinion, SH makes a motion at 1:57 that looks like his center
Wonderland move.

At 2:00, the hand of HJ’s clock ticks, sending the camera and the world shaking. The
camera travels up, through sets of gears and up a cement tube, until we rise through the
sand of the desert YS walks through. There are shards of glass half-buried. YS is alone here,
and the lyrics are “We started there,” which may reference the desert of Pirate King.

2:22 has SN and YS joining WY in the bottom of the hourglass. At 2:40, WY seems to be
alone again, and the ash begins rising instead of falling. 2:49 sees all three back in, and
though the ash is falling downwards again, the camera pans up. There’s a massive blue
ring hanging above them.

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SN is the only member who uses the table in solo scenes, both dancing on top of it and
standing against walls so that the camera has him centered behind it, directly down the
middle (2:29). At 2:57, WY sits alone in the living room, watching a bright blue butterfly
land on his finger. Later, at 3:19, there are several more fluttering around him.

We see our first Halateez member at 3:14. This is when I began paying attention to
pearls. This member, and the rest of Halateez, are wearing full strings of white pearls, and
were wearing the same in Say My Name. The champagne glass in front of this member is
full. Ateez MG also has a full glass, as does HalaHJ and Ateez HJ when they clink in a toast
at 3:39. When the camera pulls back, all glasses are empty except for SH’s. Whatever
emotions Halateez and Ateez are feeling as they look at each other, they’re certainly strong,
and entirely subjective.

The final pose is a repeat of SN’s first move, bringing the song full circle. Except for this
time, SN isn’t alone. In the post-scene, the ash coats the room. MG’s spyglass is on the
table next to the chandelier, and Sector 1 plays as the Guardian wanders around.

> FEVER SERIES

Fever Diary film
Since this isn’t technically an MV, and constitutes a larger analysis, a full breakdown will be
provided after the comeback. There will be a notification when this is updated.

Inception
This is a video that has many interpretations, and there’s no solid answer for what it’s
intended to depict, so most theories are grounded in at least partial truth. It’s clear that
Inception shows Ateez falling into a dream, much like the movie of the same name, and
struggling to wake up. Due to the cyclical nature of the settings, we can assume they do
eventually wake up, though the question is where, and when. The MV begins in a beige
classroom that we see in SN’s Fever Diary film (FD) entry and ends in the same place.
In between, we see the boys sleeping alone in various locations, including their unique FD
settings, and dancing in the same classroom as before, though the floor is covered in water
and eventual flames take over the ceiling.

All of the boys are wearing white and blue school uniforms with a half-black half-white ATZ
Crest insignia. WY and YS are wearing additional black and white insignias, one a large
rectangle and the other in the rough shape of plane wings. There’s likely a name for this
shape but I don’t know it. These patches are visible most clearly at 0:33 on WY’s jacket. HJ
is wearing a lock necklace, and YH wears a lock earring that’s in clear focus at the top of the
song.

In addition to the locations we see in the FD, we’re also in a pale bluish-grey building, with
doors along the hallway. We’ll call this location the Hotel. It’s vaguely similar to the

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hallways we see in Say My Name, but not nearly enough for me to consider significant. MG
has only one solo shot outside of the Hotel. At 1:35, there’s a distinct shot of him
looking pained, and he lifts a hand to cover his eyes. Only at 1:51 do we see him in a
white bed, fidgeting and rolling over. Either he’s awake, or actively fighting to be.
Throughout the entirety of his rap verse, he’s covering his eyes, which may be improvised
choreo, or indicative of his restless state.

The lighting changes in the group dance scenes are notable. After the first change to red
at 1:27, the lights switch constantly between white/blue, and red. Often, the right set of
windows is lit with blue from behind, whereas the left-hand windows are a much warmer
color. A notable shift happens during YS’s solo verse mid-song, where the lights return to
neutral and the water vanishes from the floor. The background choreo at this section is
jerky, with the members repeating the same motion several times along with the music.

Throughout the entire video, we get brief flashes of various FD scenes. At the 1:00 mark,
JH is shown restless, asleep in bed while flashes of YS’s entry play. When the violin drops,
JH’s eyes open as if he’d been dreaming about the same scenes we just saw. This
introduces the concept that the members aren’t just dreaming of their own entries, but that
of the others as well. Later in the MV, there are two distinct changes to FD locations we’re
familiar with. At 2:42, HJ’s TVs show red fire on the top row, and blue fire on the bottom
row, which mimics the group dance setting with fire on the roof and water on the ground.

He also distinctly covers his right eye as he sings. Soon after, at 2:45, SH is shown
holding his Be Free bracelet, and then his FD note room is set ablaze behind him. Just as
in the FD, Say My Name is playing on his small TV throughout the video, but in the scene at
2:06, the screen glitches for the first and only time. In the same scene, there’s a lighting
shift across his face that reminded me quite a bit of his pre-bridge verse in Paradigm.

While a huge portion of the choreography can be analyzed for story connections, there are
two points that are notable enough to be shocking. First is the inclusion of the driving move
from Say My Name at 1:30, and the second is the inclusion of the jump move from the
Wave chorus at 2:18. Sometimes repeated choreo can be chalked up to choreographer
habits, but these are two incredibly iconic Ateez moves that are instantly recognizable.
Using them is a tie to the Treasure series that’s incredibly curious, and warrants more
theorizing.

Things pick up at 2:59 when HJ stands at one end of the Hotel hallway and sees himself
sleeping at the other end. This is the bed surrounded by moving boxes, which up to this
point has only been associated with SN, considering his FD background. We did already see
a similar hallway-to-bed shot with SN at 2:16, so there’s a possibility that the production
team wanted to use only one vertical bedroom set, which is why HJ is there now.
Regardless, he runs and jumps “into” himself, but there’s a flash of light and he stumbles
into the Limbo Space, alone. Immediately after, WY, HJ, and YH are seen in their white
beds opening their eyes. We’re once again shown HJ in the Limbo Space, so it’s curious
we also clearly see him “wake up.” Very soon after this at 3:16, we see JH covering his
left eye and YH covering both eyes. At 3:34 there are flashes of YS’s FD scene where

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the birds are released, interspersed with flashes of his eyes opening. Note, he’s not in a
bed waking up, it’s a close-up of just his eyes.

We did see JH open his eyes in a bed much earlier in the MV (1:00, mentioned previously),
but we get no clear shots of MG, SH, or SN “waking up” or anything similar. Actually,
the last we saw of SN was him falling back asleep at 2:15. To my knowledge, we also
never see SH in a bed of any kind.

At the end of the video, the flashing clips of YS’s FD entry and his eyes opening is followed
immediately by HJ’s loss of gravity scene from the FD. Theories are that Inception
depicts the boys traveling dimensions, and the inclusion of that scene is strong proof. At
3:18 the fire vanishes from the ceiling, replaced with the flat light we saw earlier in the
video, and we also see the plain classroom from the intro, which helps the video feel
cyclical in nature, as we return to the beginning. The final scene does take place in the
water room, as the members all turn their backs to the camera and MG and HJ have a
move reminiscent of them closing a door behind them. The two share an interesting look.

The post-scene depicts HJ alone in the Limbo Space and begins with an odd noise I can’t
place before static plays for the remainder.

Jewelry plays an important role in visual analysis, even if it’s sometimes difficult to keep
track of. It’s an aspect of the lore that I have an extreme interest in and will likely attempt a
full breakdown of later. For this specific dive, I noted razor blades, pearls, locks, and keys.
The members are also seen quite a lot in crosses and safety pins, but I wasn’t keeping track
of those. Now that we know the Halazia choreography includes a cross-motion, it may wind
up being significant.

Thanxx
The members are in school uniforms in a similar color scheme to Inception, though in a
different palette. The choice to release these two videos back to back makes this very
obvious. Though instead of having any school insignia, they wear name tags with their
names in the Fever title font. The school has some odd features, like padlocked doors in the
hallway.

At 0:21 the members hold open a large flag - the red and black striped AZ flag with
THANXX scrawled in neon green across it - in the same style as the end of Wonderland.
Though the three members on the right - YS, MG, and JH - are actively facing away. At
0:45 the members walk down the school hallway holding flags, leading a crowd in a
revolt-style march. YS and HJ both have visible strings of pearls on their outfits.

Our secondary location is a brightly lit desert building that we’ll call the Bazaar for its use
of vibrant rugs hanging down the walls and over clotheslines. The members are in very
unique, colorful outfits, including HJ’s large backpack. At 2:16 we can see a sprig of
purple flowers in the side pocket, in a way that feels intentional for the audience to notice.
As YS finally breaks eye contact with the camera to head inside with the rest of the group, a
storm rolls in overhead, lightning flashing in the clouds.

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The final location is the night street Parade, which includes lots of racing cars, a huge
stage wreathed in neon flowers and a large skull, and some cargo-colored animals floating
overhead. There’s also a black pirate ship flying alongside them, with orange sails. Along
each side of the street, we see the same mechanized flag arms as we do throughout
Wonderland, though they’re neon yellow this time, and waving the orange and black
striped THANXX flag.

The ending title screen glitches out, which I don’t think I’ve seen a title screen do before.
The post-scene is the pirate ship flying directly overhead as the intro to Fireworks plays.

Fireworks (I’m The One)

Yellow fog serves to transition between several scenes and is prominently hanging around
the city buildings and landscape. The majority of the MV takes place in an abandoned
subway station, referred to by members as “the underground bunker.” There’s a stopped
train on the tracks, and the lights shining through the windows change from scene to
scene - yellow, blue, and red are the most prominent. In a transition shot at 1:29, white
graffiti on the left interior window spells out “STRICTLAND” which confirms the location of
Ateez at this point in the story.

Since MG was on hiatus during the shooting, they include him by playing his rap through an
old radio system, even displaying some of his lyrics as digitized text.

SH has several solo scenes involving guns, but we never see him fire one. There is a scene
where he’s holding a pistol and facing a paper target, clearly having gotten several
bullseyes, but we do not see the gun ever fire. To my knowledge, the only time we’ve seen
guns actively fired by Ateez was actually Halateez, during the Kingdom performance of
‘Rhythm Ta.’ The inclusion of so much weaponry associated specifically with SH is
interesting. The choreo does include gunshots, primarily with JH in the chorus as seen at
1:07.

At 0:37, SN ends his choreo by clearly tapping below his left eye. At 0:48 we get our first
MV sighting of HJ in his Captain’s band, silver and on his right arm. Later, at 2:08, we
also see a white megaphone at his feet, which is the first time we’ve seen a megaphone
since Hala Hala.

There’s a burning paper effect used on 3 of SN’s scene transitions, the final one seen
clearly at 2:57. It may just be an editing choice, but I took notice after realizing it was only
associated with SN.

Some action is implied to begin at HJ’s verse when the underground bunker lights have
shut off, and HJ holds a flashlight. He switches some sort of electrical lever, and at 2:41 we
see the members in harsh red lighting, running towards the train which is lit up a bright
blue.

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WY holds a lighter at 1:44, which falls under the thread of members’ lighting matches.
There’s a large, obvious ‘Quarantine’ sign behind him, and the lyrics as he stares into the
flame are: “Everyone is all mistaken, oh no.” Later at 2:42, he drops the lighter into the
pool of liquid at his feet, and it sets ablaze. This transitions us into the burned tree scene.

The members are in black and red outfits in the final night shots of the video, and HJ does
not have his Captain’s band on. Instead, he has a scrap of red cloth tucked into his right
breast pocket, with the Captain’s symbol stitched on in black.

Dreamers
A Japanese single released July of 2021 - At 0:09 HJ holds what many believe is a
Breaker from The World. The members are all seen holding them throughout.

Deja Vu
Despite being incredibly relevant to the storyline, Deja Vu as an MV is relatively simple.

We open with the members on a rooftop, which will repeat at the end. Down in the grey
cement bunker, the lights stay white until WY’s first verse, when they shift to red. There’s
a scene of WY in a darker location, a large vase of pink flowers on a table next to him.
Behind him shines yellow light, which may be a reference to the fog of Strictland.

At 0:49, SH sings: “It feels as if I just had a dream in a dream” while dancing Inception’s
point move. YS and SH sit on a white bed that’s resting on the floor, YS watching a blue
butterfly land on his finger and then take off, as he wonders in the lyrics if this is “Reality
or illusion.”

There’s a shot of a round silver machine flying quickly down a brick tunnel at 0:50,
theorized to be one of YS’s drones which he canonically works with. At 0:56, the screen
goes digital and blue lights scan YS, HJ, and YH. A panel at the top spells out “ANALYZING,”
and boxes appear next to them with headshots (of them in their parking lot outfits from
later) and what appears to be a Level Number. It’s difficult to make out, but YH appears to
be Level 11, HJ appears to be around Level 19, and YS has a higher number, maybe around
Level 30 or 50. The text to the right is coding terms, including a mention of “indirect block
pointer” which references how data interacts. It’s likely this is default text, and not related
to the scene or members.

HJ is not wearing his Captain’s band in either outfit. At 2:21 we see both MG and SH
covering their eyes in the choreography. At 2:30, JH’s silhouette of blue dots transitions
to a soccer ball (or maybe the moon), Earth, an hourglass, a car, a butterfly, and a Halateez
member - which winds up being HalaHJ in a glass tube, re: Say My Name. He looks up
and meets HJ’s eyes, maskless this time.

In the lore, Deja Vu very likely mirrors the diary entries where Ateez goes to Guardian
Bunker to retrieve the Universe Z Cromer, and find the imprisoned Halateez members. If
this is the case, that moment is the first time Ateez sees Halateez without their masks.

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On the rooftop once again, it’s raining, lightning striking behind the members. WY hits
SN, seemingly knocking him out, before grabbing him by the collar and tossing him aside.
When the choreo concludes it’s still raining, but we cut back to the dry shot of all the
members we saw at the beginning.

The post-scene shows YS catching the Cromer, turning it, and then throwing it to the
ground where it shatters. HJ reaches for him, but there’s a flash of light before they touch.
Over the scene, Turbulence plays softly.

Eternal Sunshine
The four primary settings of the MV are intensely colorful - the entrance to a subway
station, the interior of a subway train, tennis courts surrounded by tall apartment buildings,
and a parking lot between two motels with the sight of the ocean in the background. All of
the posters visible in the subway station and the train itself are lyric references to the rest
of the songs on the album.

At 1:02, YS is center and covers his right eye as all the members behind him lift both
hands to cover their faces and eyes. Except for WY, whose hands rise only enough to
cover his mouth, leaving his eyes free to stare directly into the camera. The lyrics are: “A
night that even darkness is asleep.”

Our first solo shot of HJ is for his verse in the train, and the lyrics are extremely relevant to
the lore. The interior of the train begins shifting seasons, moving from winter snow to
spring foliage fairly quickly. YS and YH run through the train at 2:12 and see only clouds
through the window as if the train is now flying. At this point, the reality is fully in
question. Snow also falls outside in the parking lot despite the sunshine and the fact they
seem to be on a tropical coast based on the trees and the ocean behind them.

Final choreo, WY holds his hand out and SN interlocks their fingers, raising both their
hands upwards as the members watch. In the post-scene, SN is flying above the tennis
courts, and we see WY run and fly up to join him, taking each other’s hands once again as
multicolored petals fall.

Turbulence
There’s a melancholic atmosphere to this MV to match the emotional lyrics. The members
are entirely isolated, and never seen together in a group shot, which reflects their
individual struggles. The most notable locations are SN in the back of a parked bus, WY on
an airport runway, HJ in a tunnel, and YS in a classroom. The window of the classroom is
barred or slatted, cutting shadows through the bright, warm light that shines in. There’s a
warm tint to the scene, perhaps unexpected considering the circumstances. His desk is
cluttered, notably a paper airplane and a full glass of water. YS turns his phone to airplane
mode.

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YS, YH, and SN are seen wearing the black and white airplane school insignia from
Inception, though they’re the only ones. It’s an interesting inclusion, given that YS is the
only one we see actually in a school, even leaning against some blue lockers in his
secondary location. This scene is cold, with a blue light rippling like the reflection of
water over him.

At 1:49, WY is completely surrounded by fog, blocking his view of the way forward. 2:26,
HJ is in a dark tunnel with what’s presumably YS’s paper airplane under his foot. He lifts it
and reads whatever's written on the paper, but the wind tugs it from his hand and sends it
flying down the tunnel. As it leaves, the overhead lights turn on in its path, lighting the
way down the entire tunnel.

The sun begins rising on the other members’ scenes, with SN getting up and moving as if
he’s leaving the bus. Curiously, JH has had several cuts throughout the MV where the sun is
already rising or is fully up, despite all the others being in nearly complete darkness. There’s
a strong chance this was a scheduling issue, where his shoot times were too close to the
morning, and the inclusion of the sun was unintentional.

There are two points in which we see SH sitting inside a building wearing dark clothes that
we never fully see. At 3:00 there are only clouds outside his window with no sign of the
city, almost as if he’s flying. The lights of the runway have lit up for WY by this point, in
parallel to the lights of HJ’s tunnel snapping on, and WY begins running. At 3:03 his
sneakers leave the ground, and he’s flying through the air, the sky brightening around him.
HJ is also running down the tunnel, in the direction the lights had turned on.

Immediately after, at 3:15, we return to the classroom where YS is sitting with his eyes
closed. The glass of water on his desk is vibrating, the entire room rumbling as the warm
light from the window shifts drastically, sliding across the room. Either the light source is
traveling, or the classroom is. In the Turbulence Making Film, YS states that the classroom
is an “airplane,” which reflects a lot of what we see in the MV: The paper airplane, the
wing-shaped insignias, the airport runway that WY is on, and the rumbling of a plane
engine.

There are several theories able to be extracted from Turbulence, and considering that
multiple other videos end with snippets of the song, this MV could wind up being more
important than we understand right now.

> THE WORLD SERIES

Guerrilla

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For those who’ve viewed the two Movement teasers and read through the singular The
World diary entry, the Guerrilla MV feels relatively familiar. Certain locations are shown in
more detail, and we reinforce some of the member’s roles in their revolutionary group, but
the plot is straightforward. Ateez are now anarchists in Strictland, taking over Halateez’s
position as head of the Black Pirates. They spread posters and blast music and play their
recordings throughout the city to break the citizen’s free of the government’s mind control.

At 0:22 we get to see the Cromer’s teleportation abilities. We don’t have much
information on the specifics of this, or if it locks to a specific phase of the moon. Here, it’s
shown as red glitching across the screen. The visual effects that play over HJ and MG’s rap
verses are stark black and white, almost comic book in nature. There are themes of black
and white throughout the video, especially in the costume department. Several members
(including SH, MG, SN, and YS) are seen wearing white pearls with what I refer to as their
“Headquarter” Outfits, as that’s the name I attached to the set location at the bottom of the
concrete cylinder, where the van is parked. This isn’t their main HQ, but it will suffice for
now. JH and YH both wear black pearls with the same outfits.

SH is introduced in a large elevator, which may be coincidental to his elevator introduction

in Wonderland. The posters behind him are nothing we haven’t seen before. While there
are several new flag designs introduced in the HQ location, the new design we should take
note of is the hourglass inside the sun as seen at 1:16, on the city box set in the chorus.
The Cromer has always been associated with the Moon, so to see it in a Sun symbol is very
new.

The science-fiction nature of The World means we may need to start paying attention to
cameras and CCTV footage. Plenty of the shots we get in Guerrilla are of the members
viewed on TVs, through grainy camera footage. I didn’t notice any solid connections, but
that may change in the future.

At 1:10 we see SN running from government agents, and he’s wearing a thick black
armband, on his right arm to mirror HJ’s Captain band. Many have theorized this shows
how SN is the “False Captain” of the Black Pirates. He may serve as the face of the rebellion
to keep the government’s attention off of HJ, the true brains of the operation.

During MG’s rap verse at 1:58, it’s fun to note that the camera cracks as he headbangs,
implying that he hit it. On an actual lore note, WY joins the scene despite not being involved
in the choreo. While MG is upside down, WY holds a finger gun to his temple and fires
while staring directly into the camera.

At 2:34 we’re offered a shot of a big speaker ball in the middle of a Strictland street.
Despite the fact that our perspective of the city has encompassed the glittering chrome
skyline at the top of Guerrilla, the crumbling buildings shrouded in fog in Fireworks, and
the industrial mazes and technology-laden warehouse of the Movement teasers, it’s
jarring to see an average city street. It doesn’t appear to have any “futuristic” CGI at all.

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Starting at 3:15 we see a hijacked blimp dropping posters down on the city. In the diaries,
this is also when the resistance drops Breakers, the small cube devices used to disrupt Z’s
mind control of the citizens. We don’t see any explicitly in this MV.

We saw Ateez’s pure white outfits in the gorgeous slow-motion scene at 2:35, and we see
silhouettes of their full black outfits at 3:34. Their background dancers are wearing Fedoras
in a clear Halateez style, and while Ateez is wearing their Halateez outfits, they aren’t
wearing fedoras or masks. This red dance setting is the final setting we see, as the
background dancers (dressed as Halateez) all drop to the floor as Ateez cock their arm guns
and fire them into the screen. The screen glitches red into the title, and the music video
section is over.

The post-scene is of Ateez in their actual HQ with Left Eye, when they notice a boy from
Prestige Academy sneaking into the resistance base. We learn exactly who this is in The
World diary entry. There’s the clear sound of a bell ringing at the very end of the scene.

Paradigm
The lyrics to Paradigm are far more important than the visuals, considering that we received
a Performance Video and not a full MV, but there are some things of note.

Now that The Witness is approaching, the whistling at the start of the song is more
ominous than it was at the time of release. SH is auto-tuned for all of his sung lines, even
in the bridge when the rest of the vocals are raw.

Costumes are fairly standard. HJ is wearing his Captain’s band and a few of the members
are wearing pearls. The setting has the grey concrete vibes of a few Strictland locations,
especially with the maze-like roof design. The grey fabric hanging down is interesting, as it
gives the impression that the location has been abandoned, or is located somewhere more
natural. There’s an opening at the back of the room that continually shines bright blue
light, regardless of the other lighting in the scene. At 2:19 there are sparks that appear on
screen, implying there’s fire in front of the members, but the camera doesn’t ever fully
show any.

Entering MG’s verse, we get some clear red glitches. There’s an additional glitch effect on
the end of HJ’s verse, in much paler colors. Blue lightning frequently appears as a screen
texture, most notably over the heavily modified pre-chorus that WY lip syncs over. While the
specific art that glitches over his face doesn’t feel particularly notable (save for a brief cross
symbol, which is now a confirmed part of Halazia’s choreography), the inclusion of one
bright blue contact in WY’s left eye is the first time heterochromia has ever been
included in an Ateez MV. Mostly we see members using their hands to cover one or both of
their eyes, but this is a clear shift from traditional symbolism.

HALAZIA
TBD

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If you’d like to look through my raw dive notes, you may view those here.
Please note these are unfiltered thoughts and are not presented with the
professionalism of this Master Document, and contain much more of my personal
opinions. Language warning. A reminder that this took a considerable amount of
time and work, so crediting me for my theories is expected.

ADDITIONAL VIDEOS
VCRs and other media that provide supplementary information or visuals
to the storyline, presented in loose chronological order of album releases.
Items marked with ** are considered Essential Viewing
Items marked with ^^ are Live Performances

The Fellowship - Map the Treasure

VCR One - Mostly aesthetic, but sets up some VCRs in the future
VCR Two - Primarily aesthetic, has some interesting visuals later on
VCR Three - The members have different objects that could hold some meaning

Illusion VCR - Nothing is explicitly added to the lore, but the vibe is suitably creepy

^^ Desire in XR Show Fever - From the Fever era, but no doubt a large hint to the
Treasure series, the choreo here is intense and eerie

Wonderland VCR - Mildly disturbing aesthetic VCR, utilizes glitching in an interesting way

** Beginning of the End VCR - A very, very interesting video that shows Halateez and
Ateez communicating through dimensions

Action to Answer Preview - The objects in each member’s solo shots are theorized to
have been picked intentionally, and also this provides very clear shots of each member’s
Hala Hala outfit

Answer VCR - My [Mitch] personal favorite VCR, showing a conversation about morality
between Ateez and Halateez. The glasses at the end are filled like the moon’s phases.

^^ PRECIOUS Seoul Concert - An emotional performance that highlights choreography

that may be hints to the Treasure series as a whole

Fever VCR - A visual of the girl from the Fever Diary film intro, who HJ has an interesting
interaction with

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** Fever Road: Storyline - A collection of the intro/outro lore scenes from the Fever Road
series, supplementary to to the Fever Diary film

Fever Road Finale - The last few minutes of the Fever Road series, where Ateez receive an
important message about the functionality of the Cromer

Inception VCR - Purely visuals

ZERO: Fever Part.1 Preview - Song previews for the album, good vibes

ZERO: Fever Part.2 Concept Teaser - Notable recently for the bird whistling in the
background

ZERO: Fever Part.2 Concept Teaser 2 - The voice-over gives some additional
information about Ateez’s arrival in Strictland

** ZERO: Fever Part 2 Showcase - In the middle of the concert, they answer a few
questions about the universe, and give hints to the lore - essential viewing
(The link above starts at the explanation, this link includes the cute intro)
Much of it we already know, but there are some interesting notes:
- The subway station in “Fireworks” is called the “underground bunker” and HJ
describes it as a very important location
- YH states that since the Cromer interlocks with the Moon, we can expect another
item that interlocks with the Sun [after he says this, HJ stresses that this is an
assumption that Atiny can make, and it looks like YH maybe said more than he was
supposed to]
- This stage on March 2nd 2021 is where Hongjoong “receives” his Captain armband,
and he wears it for every Fever stage thereafter

Fireworks VCR - Comeback stage intro that references the Fever Diary film

^^ TAKE ME HOME in Seoul 2022 - A live stage with powerful imagery, not explicitly lore
related but deepens the emotional connection to their story

** Scenes from XR Show Fever - A collection of acting/lore scenes from an online live
concert, contains lore from both the Fever and The World series
- Something notable: 3:40, after flashes of scenes from MVs and the Diaries, Yeosang
is seen flipping the Cromer, sending the members into the Pirate King canyon

Showterview with Sunmi - Hongjoong delivers a short explanation as to where The World
fits into the timeline

07.29 WAKE UP, THE WORLD - A short teaser video set in the Guerrilla recording booth

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** The World ‘MOVEMENT’ Official Trailer 1 and Official Trailer 2
Shows extensive footage of Strictland and Ateez’s preparations for the revolution. Stunning
imagery and very emotive

THE WORLD Ep.1 : MOVEMENT Preview - Album preview, provides a more in-depth look
at some of the locations we encounter in Strictland

Guerrilla Official MV Teaser 1 - Some world-building in preparation for Guerrilla

** Break The Wall Tour in Oakland

VCR One [English] - The dialogue is an example of the announcements made regularly in
Strictland to keep the citizens in check
VCR Two - Direct references to the Fever Diary Film, offers insight into the member’s goals
and redefines where they’re heading
VCR Three - Shows Ateez planning their revolution, includes some interesting details about
their roles in the group
VCR Four - What I’ve affectionately dubbed the “Wedding VCR” - the pale visuals are odd,
and there’s no dialogue except for the singular line at the end

** SPIN OFF: From the Witness Prologue - The most recent release, our first
introduction to the upcoming spin-off album

The Making Films for each MV also often contain further context.

DIAGRAMS - NEXT PAGE

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PART 5: DIAGRAMS
*BEFORE YOU VIEW THE DIAGRAM SHEET: PLEASE DON’T BE INTIMIDATED! THERE ARE 6
FIGURES ON THIS DIAGRAM SHEET, LABELED A-F. THERE WILL BE WRITTEN EXPLANATIONS
FOR EACH DIAGRAM BELOW, SO JUST FOLLOW ALONG! ALL OTHER DIAGRAMS OUTSIDE
OF THE SHEET WILL ALSO BE CAPTIONED. Drawing creds: @greenapplesyrup on twitter

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FIGURE A: A three-step process required to make a Mobius strip. Please see
FIGURE G below for a more detailed explanation. For better understanding of this,
it is recommended to watch Tiny Bug Ink’s Video.

FIGURE B: A diagram of the Mobius strip from the front view, a tilted view, and an
aerial view. The Mobius strip is one surface and looks different from different
angles. The tilted view is included because of the unique shape that it produces
when done so: a figure-eight. From the ATEEZ universe, we see how this shape is
an extremely common theme: a figure 8 tilted on its side is an infinity symbol,
symbolizing loops (possibly loops in time), while a figure 8 standing up is the
number 8, which can be attributed to both ATEEZ or Halateez. The Cromer
hourglass relic is also shaped like a figure 8.

When looking at the aerial view of a Mobius strip, while also taking into account
that the strip is a one-sided surface shape, we can understand that it is a cycle.
Here is a further explanation: if you draw one point on any part of the strip, then
trace a continuous line from that point, you will eventually loop back around to the
point, but from the other side, making a cycle. An easier way to understand is this:
if you draw a line from one side of the rectangular strip to the other before you
make and tape the strip together, then tape it after, the result will be the same: a
cycle.

Similarly, if one is to draw a line halfway around the strip, they would end up on the
other “side” of the strip. Now, as we established, there is technically only one side
to the Mobius strip, however, physically, at any point in the shape, there are two
sides to the strip of material used to create the strip before it is taped together.
Let’s label these points as starting point A and halfway point B. With this
information, we can understand that starting point A and halfway point B will
always be on “opposite sides” of each other on the strip. When in relation to a
complete strip, which only has one side, this means that they “intersect” halfway,
meaning they coexist at the halfway point. This information is essential in
understanding the first cycle of Figure C.

FIGURE C: A set of four different diagrams using the concept of the Mobius
strip’s aerial view. Some concepts are summarized from Tiny Bug Ink’s explanation
video, so it is highly recommended that you watch them to better understand.

Diagram 1: Diagram one is a dual diagram of both ATEEZ and Halateez with
respect to time travel. ATEEZ and Halateez’s timelines are one, and travel in a
cycle, as told by the Treasure series. The past (ATEEZ) and the present (Halateez)
move throughout this cycle and intersect in the present time, where they can both
coexist. Simply speaking, ATEEZ and Halateez cannot coexist in the past and the

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future, only in the present. However, the present is ever-changing according to
where in time they are. To summarize, the past (ATEEZ) and the present (Halateez)
meet and coexist at the “horizon”/intersection point in the cycle of time, which is
the present.

Diagram 2: An illustration of the movement of the sun and the cycle of a

day; As the sun sets below the horizon, day becomes night. As the sun rises above
the horizon, night turns into day, and the cycle repeats.

In regards to the Cromer being used, when the Cromer is flipped, the user
teleports to either the past or to the future. If it is daytime in Strictland, then it
is nighttime in the Old World.

Diagram 3: This diagram is slightly different. It uses the general concept,

just like the other three cycles, however, there is an extra element. Just like
diagram 2 suggests, when it is day in the old world, it is night in the new world.
Similarly, when something is described as red in one world, it is described as blue in
the other world. This may not be physically true in regard to world mechanics, but
it is a clever way to explain the lyrics in certain songs.

Here is an example:
- “under the bluish sun” - ATEEZ song “Illusion” from Treasure Ep 3
- “under the red sun” - ATEEZ song “Take Me Home” Fever Ep 2

For more information, watch Tiny Bug Ink’s ATEEZ World Mechanics Video, linked in
multiple places and in Part 7: Sources.

Diagram 4: This diagram depicts the cycling phases of the moon. The new
moon turns into a crescent moon, which then becomes a full moon. Going back up
around the diagram, the full moon then becomes a crescent moon again, and finally
completes the cycle with another new moon.

From FEVER ROAD EP. 8 (timestamp: 21:33), we know that “[the Cromer] changes
its function according to the changes of the moon. When the crescent moon rises,
it can deliver messages through dreams, and when the full moon rises, it can move
dimensions”

FIGURE D: An elaborated, different way of showing how the Cromer works. Same
explanation as Figure B and Diagram 1 of Figure C.

FIGURE E: An ESTIMATED timeline (as of now, this can change with new
comebacks) of the order of the albums. Fever Series is confirmed to come first. It

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is believed that Say My Name and Hala Hala come right after, which are a part of
Treasure Ep.2, and The World Pt.1 comes after that. There may be more story with
what comes after in unreleased albums, so that period is displayed as a question
mark and does not need to be worried about as of now. The final installment is the
rest of the Treasure series, which travels in an infinite loop (due to the Mobius
strip theory, please see Part 6 for further information on this theory). This draws
from @yookikihh’s TikTok theory, so for a better explanation, you can view his
video.

FIGURE F: A simple diagram of the breaker, the chip, and an ear. The chip is the
circular contraption/shape that is seen implanted in the ear. It glows yellow at
times in the Strictland world. The cube-like device next to it is the breaker and is
drawn at relative predicted size to the ear. The breaker contains instructions for
how to use it, and its function is to break the chip’s governmental brainwashing
function. Its alternate use is connecting a user to the Black Link (see Part 1).

SOURCE: Screenshot from 11:40 @ Tiny Bug Ink’s Video

FIGURE G: A diagram comparing the ATEEZ logos (placed in order of release)

matching the steps (on the right) needed to create a Mobius strip. The last step,
or the current ATEEZ logo, could either be the strip taped together or broken
apart. As of now, we do not know which yet. As you can see, the first logo is a
rectangular strip, then it is twisted in the second logo just like how to make a
Mobius strip, then put together in the third logo.

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PART 6: FUTURE THEORIES
*BELOW, WE WILL DISCUSS SEVERAL THEORIES RELATED TO THE ATEEZ STORYLINE AS
WE KNOW IT RIGHT NOW. THESE THEORIES ARE GATHERED BASED ON COMMON BELIEF,
WITH SOME PURELY BASED ON OUR PERSONAL OPINIONS, PREDICTIONS, AND
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CONFIRMED LORE, MUSIC VIDEOS, LYRICS, THEMES, AND
MOTIFS RELEASED BY ATEEZ/KQ ENTERTAINMENT. WE ARE NOT CLAIMING THAT ANY OF
THESE THEORIES ARE CORRECT, THAT IS A DECISION FOR YOU TO MAKE. OUR WITNESS
COMEBACK THEORY WILL BE AT THE VERY END OF THIS SECTION.

THEORY 001: PLACEMENT OF TREASURE SERIES

The Treasure Series is the least lore-filled series out of all ATEEZ albums.
This is one possible theory, which is @yookikihh’s theory on TikTok. Since
new information has been released due to the recent comeback, this theory
has changed for now, but is still plausible. For the updated theory, look at
Theory 008.

This link is @yookikihh’s explanation of the ateez storyline. It is much more

comprehensive than an entire written entry, so please watch in place of
reading and rest your eyes!

Q:
In an ATEEZ interview, Hongjoong groups Fever PT.1 and Treasure EP.1 in one
group, then draws a question mark before putting The World: Movement EP.
1 in the second group. Doesn’t this mean that Treasure Ep.1 comes after
Fever PT.1 in terms of storyline, as Hongjoong said so?

A:
Hongjoong does not state that Treasure EP. 1 comes directly after Fever
PT.1, he simply groups them together, then putting them under the bracket
of “Universe A”, which is the old world. The question mark, as he later
reveals, is the connector of the two universes, which is the Cromer. He then
says that The World: Movement EP.1 is in Universe Z, which we know as
Strictland/New World. Therefore, it is not safe to say that Treasure EP.1
comes right after Fever, as that was not Hongjoong’s intention.

THEORY 002: WOOYOUNG’s SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

Ever since HALA HALA era, we have seen many instances of suspicious
activity with Wooyoung and the portrayal of his character. Below, we will
analyze and interpret some of the evidence we’ve gathered from music
videos, concept photos, and other official content.

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SECTION 001: FIRE
Wooyoung has been seen playing with fire in multiple music videos. At
timestamp 1:42 in Illusion, we see him lighting a match, and in the Fireworks
music video, we see him sitting in the garbage dump holding a lighter. At
2:45 in the Fireworks MV, Wooyoung throws the lighter and sets the ground
on fire. We also see that the concept photos on ATEEZ’s official Instagram
account for The Witness comeback have borders that appear to be burning
off. Two separate photos of the From the Witness book were also
posted–the first post was a normal book and the corner of the book was
burnt off in the second post. Knowing that Wooyoung is often seen around
fire, the burns on these new concept photos may have been his doing.

SECTION 002: MUSIC VIDEO + FEVER ROAD OBSERVATIONS

Aside from being connected to the motif of fire, Wooyoung also exhibits
suspicious behavior in many other ways. The following are just a few of the
observations we made.

In the ending of the HALA HALA music video, we get a close-up shot of
Wooyoung, who is the only one standing; all of the other members are lying
on the ground. Wooyoung then wipes his hand across his mouth, which is
covered in blood (timestamp - 3:56). In the Paradigm music video, a quick
transition shows Wooyoung kneeling on the ground. The shot first shows a
flash of thunder, then a bright red circle around his face with a neon blue
line across his eyes, and finally a red “X” over his face (time stamp - 2:58).
At 3:23 in the Illusion music video, the members line up next to each other in
the purple-tinted room, but Wooyoung appears separated from them as he
stands ever so slightly closer to the camera than the rest. Near the end of
the Deja Vu MV, Wooyoung grabs San’s shoulder and puts his mouth toward
it. He then proceeds to shove San out of the shot (timestamp - 2:55). Lastly,
in the Wonderland music video, we see multiple shots of Wooyoung being
held in chains, almost as if he is being imprisoned (we will discuss this last
point in more detail in Section 004 of this theory).

ATEEZ’s FEVER ROAD variety show also contains a clip that contributes to
this theory. To quote Wooyoung’s dialogue starting from 21:02 in FEVER
ROAD EP. 7,

“Because I was scared and frightened, everything about myself was a

lie. Before they came back to me again, I couldn’t escape from the
fear. But now I can stand up again because they have come, just for
me. I’m not scared anymore. Now I will find my true self.”

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The visuals at timestamp 21:50 during this clip are also important. This
specific shot is a close-up of Wooyoung’s face. It is split down the middle by
a drastic difference in lighting. The left side appears to be his normal
resting face in white lighting, while the right side of his face shows a slight
grin in yellowish-orange lighting.

At first glance, Wooyoung’s dialogue may seem to refer to his struggle with
stage fright as the video includes shots similar to what was depicted in the
FEVER Part 1 Diary Film. HOWEVER, Wooyoung stating “everything about
myself was a lie…now I will find my true self” combined with the imagery of
the final shot at 12:50–most importantly the eerie grin on the yellow-lit
portion of Wooyoung’s face–signals to us that the “true self” he is
referring to may have some malicious intentions in mind.

SECTION 003: THE WITNESS COMEBACK CONCEPT PHOTOS

We have also noticed some suspicious details in the concept/teaser photos
for The Witness. Wooyoung’s first concept photo is an image of him
standing by a staircase wearing a black robe. Comparing his photo to the
rest of the members’ Concept Photo 1 images, we notice that Wooyoung is
the only one with his back turned away from the camera. All of the other
members are either facing the camera directly or facing the side. This may
SUGGEST that he is planning on turning his back on the group and doing
something that will betray the rest of ATEEZ.

Wooyoung’s second concept photo shows him kneeling on concrete with a

skyline view of Strictland’s gray city behind him. The two crucial details to
note in this image are the torn black flag flying behind him and the black
Halateez fedora on his knee. The torn flag serves as another piece of
evidence pointing to his potential betrayal toward his members (we will
expand on this point even more in the next section of this theory), and the
Halateez fedora on his knee represents his contemplation. He needs to make
a decision that could alter the fate of the group–he must decide whether or
not to put on the hat and take on the Halateez identity.

SECTION 004: A MINI THEORY

One final detail we want to point out is a clip from the Wonderland music
video at timestamp 1:48 - 1:54. This specific portion of the video shows
Wooyoung in a room alone, locked in chains as if he is being imprisoned. The
video then cuts to San in another room with a floor covered in flowers and
swords stabbed into the ground. It’s important to note that San holds a
non-torn black flag almost identical to the torn flag we see in Wooyoung’s

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 The Witness concept photo. THEREFORE, we can formulate a theory that
San may have caught Wooyoung red-handed betraying ATEEZ (as indicated
by the torn black flag and San’s swords) and imprisoned him with the chains
we see in Wonderland.

THEORY 003: HENRY JO IS FROM SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE

SECTION 001: HENRY JO’S CHARACTER AND VALUES

As described by the FEVER Epilogue diary intro, Henry Jo is the leader of a
new religion named Sciensalvar that was established in 1999. The basis of
this religion is that “humans are a collection of energy, and human concerns
from an uncertain future can be resolved by science.” Henry Jo also
stresses the importance of a “Mayan relic, shaped in an hourglass,” which
we know as the Cromer. As he describes it, “the energy condensed inside of
[the Cromer] will be the key to saving humanity.”

Following the establishment of his religion, Henry Jo and his followers break
into the museum in which the Cromer is held with the intention of stealing
it. We see this story unfold during the rest of the FEVER Epilogue entries as
ATEEZ attempts to steal the Cromer from Henry Jo in order for them to
transport back to their own dimension. Wooyoung’s diary entry provides us
with a description of Henry Jo’s character: “a man in a black techwear
outfit was holding the Cromer. He had a long white beard, a black mole on his
right cheek, and large goggles.” We also know that Henry Jo and
Sciensalvar’s current dimension is in 1999.

COMBINING our knowledge of Henry Jo’s beliefs about energy and science
with Wooyoung’s description of him wearing a full black techwear outfit and
goggles, it almost feels absurd that he is living in 1999. His characteristics
and beliefs are far more futuristic and technologically advanced than the
average scientist’s in the 20th century.

SECTION 002: STRICTLAND POLICIES

We can also DRAW PARALLELS between Henry Jo’s scientific beliefs and
Strictland’s policies, which might hint that Henry Jo is originally from
Strictland’s dimension or a dimension even further into the future.
Specifically, we see in FEVER Part 2 and Part 3 Diaries that voices and
memories in Strictland can be condensed and destroyed by Android
Guardians. The Grimes boy explains that “[the Grimes girl’s voice] looks like a
bead with a blue condensed energy inside” (Jongho’s FEVER Part 2 entry),
and we know that memories get burned and turned into yellow smoke in the
Android bunker in the FEVER Part 3 Diary (San’s entry). If we compare these

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 facts to Henry Jo’s belief system, which states that “humans are a
collection of energy, and human concerns from an uncertain future can be
resolved by science,” we notice that this directly aligns with the Strictland
government’s knowledge and beliefs. Henry Jo is effectively stating that he
believes emotions and worries can be relieved and resolved by literally
extracting them from the individual–which is exactly the method that we
see Strictland implementing.

He also mentions that “the energy condensed inside of [the Cromer] will be
the key to saving humanity.” IN OTHER WORDS, as it relates to Strictland
processes, he believes that the ability to condense human voices and
memories (gaining full control over human emotion) is the superior method
of governance.

SECTION 003: HENRY JO’S EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE

LASTLY, we know that Henry Jo is educated on the power of the Cromer and
its properties. HOWEVER, it seems strange that his knowledge of the
Cromer stretches much further than the knowledge of anyone else in 1999.
The newspaper mentioned in the FEVER Epilogue Diary INTRO merely
describes the Cromer as a Mayan relic that “captures Lunar Movement”
exhibited at a museum gallery.

How does Henry Jo know that the Cromer even exists in the first place?
How was he able to determine its importance in scientific development as it
relates to his own beliefs about energy? Of course, there could be many
possible explanations for this, but we believe this would all make sense if
Henry Jo was originally from a future dimension–either from Strictland
itself or somewhere even further along.

SIDENOTE:
As a final point to end this theory, we know that Henry Jo and Sciensalvar
have been given extremely elaborate backstories and explanations in the
diary entries (even more elaborate than the Grimes siblings). So far, they
have only been seen and mentioned when ATEEZ steals the Cromer from
Henry Jo at the museum. If this is the only significance that his character
provides, would it have been worth the effort to provide us with such detail
about him? Perhaps this indicates that he serves an important purpose in
the lore that has not been revealed yet.

THEORY 004: Z = HENRY JO

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This theory is a sub-theory of Theory 003. As we know, besides Halateez and
ATEEZ, Henry Jo is the only known and named human character in the entire
storyline that knows about the Cromer. Now, we should think back to the
dimension where Yunho’s brother was still alive–before ATEEZ even united
or knew about the Cromer's existence. Based on the FEVER Epilogue Diaries,
we know that when ATEEZ was transported to said dimension, they
witnessed Henry Jo rally his Sciensalvar followers to steal the Cromer from
the art gallery. Therefore, we know that some time in this past
dimension–before ATEEZ were transported there and began interfering
with the rally–Henry Jo had succeeded in stealing the Cromer.

As we analyzed in Theory 003, Henry Jo had accurate knowledge on the

Cromer and its functionality, as he talked about the energy inside it and how
it was world-changing. This all suggests that he is either from a future
timeline, or, at the very least, has traveled to a future timeline before.
Furthermore, we know that Henry Jo’s beliefs on science and emotion are
nearly a direct reflection of the policies implemented by Strictland’s
government.

THUS, because Henry Jo succeeded in stealing the Cromer in a timeline

before ATEEZ began interfering with the past dimension, we know that he
has the ability to travel into the future. Along with this, he has been able to
obtain abnormally accurate information about the Cromer’s abilities during
a comparatively less scientifically advanced time period AND has expressed
opinions almost identical to those reflected in Strictland policies. Therefore,
we can THEORIZE that the first time Henry Jo stole the Cromer from the
art gallery (before ATEEZ ever traveled to Sciensalvar’s dimension), Henry
Jo may have used the Cromer’s power to travel to the Strictland dimension
and become Z, governing Strictland according to his view that condensing
energy to remove emotion is the “key to saving humanity”.

NOTE: we do not have much confirmed information regarding the precise

behavior of time travel in the ATEEZ universe. This theory functions under
the assumption that traveling to the past does not impact future events. If
this assumption turns out to be false, we can also reason that Henry Jo was
the original Z before ATEEZ interfered with the past and future dimensions,
and was later knocked from that position entirely when ATEEZ stole the
Cromer from him in the art gallery. In this case, the “Z” that rules
Strictland when ATEEZ transports there during FEVER and The World is
someone else.

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THEORY 005: Z = YEOSANG’S DAD

To properly explain this theory, we first need to remember Yeosang’s diary

entries during the FEVER series. We know that before meeting the ATEEZ
members, Yeosang was required to follow a rigid routine created by his
parents.

SECTION 001: POWER AND SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOM

In the FEVER Part 1 Diary Film, we see that his father forced him to learn
violin and restricted him from participating in any other forms of creative
expression. Thus, Yeosang felt trapped with “limited freedom like a bird in a
cage.” In the film, we can also see that Yeosang presumably attends some
form of a prestigious academy. His scene is set in a room with tall arched
windows and he wears a polished school uniform. This may indicate that he
comes from a well-off family that holds a considerably significant amount of
status and power in society.

Yeosang’s FEVER Part 2 diary entry notes that the warehouse which him
and the rest of the members were using as a hideout to practice dancing
and singing was shut down by his father: “Father, I know you were shocked
to see me singing and dancing with these friends…When we were kicked
out…, what was more painful to me was that my father was the one that
drove us out.”

We also see confirmation that this warehouse was shut down in the Diary
Film at the end of Wooyoung’s portion (timestamp - 6:30). Thus, it becomes
clear that Yeosang’s father dislikes Yeosang participating in forms of
artistic expression outside of violin AND that Yeosang’s father (and/or
family) holds enough power to be able to shut down an entire warehouse.

SECTION 002: YEOSANG’S LETTER

We can analyze Yeosang’s diary entries even further. Yeosang’s entire
excerpt in the FEVER Part 2 entries is a “letter” addressed to his father in
which he draws parallels between Strictland and his life with his family back
in the Old World. He describes the bleak, dreary mood and the people drained
of all human emotion and social interaction, and writes that “[he] thought
that maybe this place is not a new world, but that [he is] just taking a
microscopic look at the world [he] was living in.” He then concludes the
letter with, “Father, thus I will not return to the world you have created.”

TO SUMMARIZE: we know that (1) Yeosang’s father has a negative view

toward creative expression and prefers creating rigidity in Yeosang’s

ATEEZ 117
 routine and life. (2) Yeosang’s dad was in a position of status/power during
Yeosang’s teenage years as shown by his ability to shut down the ATEEZ
members’ warehouse hideout. (3) Yeosang sees Strictland as a
“microscopic” reflection of his own past.

THEREFORE, because Yeosang’s father was already in a position of power

during Yeosang’s childhood AND he held the belief that rigid routine is
superior to creative expression AND Yeosang was able to clearly sense
parallels between his father’s style of education and control in Strictland’s
society, we can THEORIZE that it is plausible for Yeosang’s father to rise to
a position as high as Z (the ruler of Strictland) within the given timeframe
and govern according to his personal values.

Q:
Why is it that art is banned in Strictland when clearly, government workers
or officials still need it? (Ex: art is needed to design buildings, the android
bunker is an old art gallery etc.)

A:
As @ROCKSTARHWA on Twitter writes, “The hypocrisy is that art is only
banned when it comes to the self-expression of the people. When it serves
the interest of the government then it’s fine. Art in Strictland is (for lack of
a better word) gentrified to contribute to the brainwashing of the masses,
who are afraid and disgusted by anything against the status quo they live in.
The classical music we hear in Strictland does not represent art, but
capitalist propaganda.” Here we can see the similarities in the way
Yeosang’s father works. Yeosang is forced to participate in orchestra
lessons and performances as a violin player, yet his father does not approve
of him dancing and singing with the rest of ATEEZ. This is because it does
not benefit him in any way. It is a direct parallel.

THEORY 006: THE CROMER THAT YEOSANG BROKE CAN BE FIXED

NOTE: with what we know from the current confirmed lore, this theory is
purely based on speculation–it’s just a possibility we want to keep in the
back of our minds for now. While we do have a couple of reasons for why it
would make sense logically, there is not much concrete evidence to back it
up yet.

For now, though, we want to point out one quote that sparked this idea. In
Yeosang’s FEVER Part 1 entry, he describes how “the only way for [him] to
break the cycle [of his rigid routine and his parents’ expectations] was to

ATEEZ 118
 disassemble and reassemble things.” We know that the Cromer functions
based on the cycles or phases of the moon. If we analyze this symbolically,
Yeosang breaking the Cromer is essentially him ending the cycle of time
travel, which is reflective of him breaking the cycle of his routines from his
past. This would represent the “disassembling” portion mentioned in the
diary entry. IF Yeosang disassembling machines/technology is a metaphor
for breaking the Cromer, then we can say that reassembling said machines
implies that the Cromer can also be reassembled. However, again, this is
purely speculation.

THEORY 007: WITNESS COMEBACK THEORY

This section will be less of a theory and more of a list of observations. We’ll
discuss a few minor connections we have made based on The Witness
comeback content thus far (concept photos, @from_the_witness on
Instagram, Prologue teaser, etc). Theory 008 Section 003 will contain the
bulk of our analysis of The Witness in relation to its place in the overall
timeline of events.

We will attempt to make sense of it all, but we’d like to emphasize that much
of the next two theories WILL be pure speculation as there are still so many
missing pieces and plot holes that simply have not been addressed yet. Our
predictions and inferences may turn out to be far from true, and you may
find holes in our logic. Our goal is to educate and spark meaningful
discussion, not to achieve complete accuracy.

Alternatively, if you would not like to read through the entire list of
observations, check out YOOKIKIH/MITCH’s COMBINED THEORY PART 1,
followed by PART 2, which answers commonly asked questions. Below will
simply be an add-on to the above videos.

SECTION 001: THE WITNESS

The witness has been described as someone anonymous, so we believe they
are most definitely not a member of ATEEZ nor someone that has already
been introduced to us. The way the witness describes ATEEZ as a “group of
Eight” from an outsider’s perspective also gives this away.

SECTION 002: “A NEW 8”

The “new Eight” mentioned in the Prologue teaser video may be referring to
either Halateez or Feverteez. We believe it is more likely that the term
refers to Halateez.

ATEEZ 119
 Refer to Section 003 of Theory 008 for a more detailed analysis and
explanation.

SECTION 003: SEONGHWA’s GLITCH

At 1:54 in the Prologue, Seonghwa, who is dressed in a white outfit, stands in
front of the Halateez scarecrow contraption while mimicking its pose and
glitching; there is a strong possibility that the real Seonghwa is elsewhere,
and what we see is a hologram in his place, which would explain the glitching
effect that we see. The glitch may also be symbolic of wavering direction.

SECTION 004: HALAZIA THE NAME

Before we get into possible meanings for HALAZIA, Twitter user @ddakjowa
translated that “the title song “halazia” expresses the journey of a small
blue bird’s whisper that started in the cold world, to become a desperate
cry for light, conveying a message of hope in the dark.”

We know that the Mayans placed great importance on celestial/heavenly

bodies such as the moon and the sun, and we know that the Cromer is a
moon-related Mayan relic in ATEEZ’s universe. We also know that KQ likes to
draw inspiration from different cultures; this led us to do more research
into what the “ZIA” from “HALAZIA” meant. A quick search tells us that Zia
is a sun symbol which represents the four cardinal directions, four seasons,
four times of day, etc. We have reason to believe that this is relevant
because we also see a hand motion in the spoiled choreography that seems
to reflect the shape of the Zia symbol, but again, this is speculation. From
this information, we can also assume that ZIA will eventually come into play
in the lore, meaning there is reasonable suspicion that a new relic, this time
a sun relic, may be introduced.

THEORY 008: ORDER OF ALBUMS/ERAS IN THE TIMELINE

If you would like to view all of the released music videos in their
chronological order in the ATEEZ storyline, you can refer to the Youtube
playlist here.

SECTION 001: FEVER AND THE WORLD

Based on the diary entries from the FEVER series and The World: Movement,
we know that the entirety of the FEVER era leads us into The World. ATEEZ
goes through the events of being given the Cromer, being transported to
Strictland, breaking the Cromer and losing Yeosang to the Androids, then
being transported to a past dimension to steal the Cromer back, and finally
saving Yeosang at the end of FEVER Epilogue.

ATEEZ 120
The final diary entry for FEVER Epilogue ends with Left Eye interpreting
Morse Code: “Left Eye turned to the people and shouted, ‘They’re back!
They came back!!’...The messy handwriting of Left Eye on the paper reads:
‘SAY MY NAME. ATEEZ.’” During the FEVER series, we learned that Halateez
was captured by the Android Guardians and imprisoned in the bunker.
Through the Cromer, they communicated to ATEEZ that they needed
ATEEZ’s help revolting against Strictland. We can interpret this last passage
as ATEEZ’s signal that they have arrived in Strictland with the intention of
starting the revolution we see in The World: Movement (Guerrilla era).

SECTION 002: PLACEMENT OF TREASURE ERA IN THE TIMELINE

We know that the majority of the Treasure series takes place in a dream
world where the members go on a journey in search of “treasure.” This
whole concept seems out of place in relation to FEVER and The World. Why
would ATEEZ purposefully enter a dream in the middle of their attempts to
save Yeosang and revolt against Strictland?

If we think back to what we know about Strictland and Halateez from the
diaries, the Android Guardians burn the memories of people who rebel and
regain their emotions in the Android bunker. The smoke from the process of
burning memories causes people who inhale it to start dreaming and
experiencing illusions. In FEVER PT. 2, it is confirmed that Halateez (and the
Black Pirates) started to revolt against Strictland and ended up being
captured by the guardians. At the beginning of the FEVER Diary Film, we see
that Halajoong is the man in the black fedora that hands Hongjoong the
Cromer. Knowing this, we can infer that when Halateez failed to overthrow
the Strictland government, they communicated with Feverteez (the normal
ATEEZ from the FEVER era) through the Cromer and passed the Cromer to
them. Halateez requested that ATEEZ help them successfully rebel against
Strictland. After doing so, Halateez was captured and had the Cromer taken
from them, and since then have remained unconscious in the Android
bunker. Due to having their memories stripped from them by the guardians
and having to spend a prolonged amount of time in the bunker–which we
know is constantly covered with yellow smoke, we can assume that Halateez
are experiencing illusions and existing in a dream state while ATEEZ is on
their mission to successfully overthrow the Strictland government. The
moment that Halateez begins feeling the effects of the yellow smoke in the
bunker is the moment that they become Treasureteez. The “treasure” that
Halateez/Treasureteez is in search of throughout the Treasure series is the
memories that were stripped from them in the bunker.

ATEEZ 121
 THEREFORE, our best prediction right now is that the Treasure series
occurs somewhat simultaneously with the events from FEVER and The
World.

SECTION 003: PLACEMENT OF THE WITNESS COMEBACK IN THE TIMELINE

This section is where it starts to get a bit confusing, and also the most
interesting. There are still some plot holes in this which we will point out for
both sub-theories.

SUBTHEORY #1:
The Witness occurs at the same time as the FEVER Diary Film events. The
Witness is the first album in the ENTIRE ATEEZ storyline. Several pieces of
the Prologue trailer point us to this conclusion.

To explain this theory, we must think about the overall timeline very
carefully and draw clues and inferences from all eras. The dialogue
introduction of the FEVER Diary Film says, “the universe is divided into many
dimensions...this is the story where their dimensions are split into eight
pieces again.” In this clip, the film also shows a piece of glass breaking into
eight pieces with one member’s reflection in each piece. We also see this
splitting of eight dimensions in the Prologue trailer, with the shot of seven
new moons/spheres appearing in the sky (timestamp 0:17), followed by the
dialogue saying that “the world lost gravity.” It is plausible that the splitting
of dimensions in both the FEVER Diary Film and the Prologue are the same
event and occurred in both universes simultaneously. The time at which the
dimensions split is the moment that ATEEZ’s warehouse from the FEVER
Diary gets shut down and the ATEEZ members split up for a period of time.

This theory may be a stretch and a long shot, however, in the overall scheme
of things, it is the one that makes the most sense. Our theory is that the
Witness occurs at the same time as the Fever Diary Film events, meaning it
is the first album in the entire storyline. Therefore, we must think about “a
new Eight” as Halateez, the “old Eight” as some unknown group that came
before, and The Witness in terms of a Halateez origin story. With this in
mind, we can match up the different albums to the timeline in a somewhat
cohesive manner.

Once the “old Eight” or “they,” as they’re referred to in the Prologue, fail
their revolution against Strictland, the “new Eight” arrive. From this point
on, the new Eight will be referred to as Halateez. This happens in relation to
the event of the world losing gravity, which happens both in Universe Z
(Witness Prologue teaser) and Universe A (Fever Diary Film). Matching these

ATEEZ 122
 events up, we assume the loss of gravity in both universes to be happening
at the same time in the overall timeline. Continuing along with the rest of
the timeline, Halateez steals the Cromer but fails in their revolution.
Halajoong sends the Cromer BACK IN TIME and to a different dimension
–Universe A. This begins the events of the Fever series, showing the clear
overlap between such events. This explanation may be difficult to follow, so
please feel free to reference the flowchart at the end of Subtheory #1 to
review and understand it in simpler terms.

Other additional parallels can also be drawn between the Prologue and
FEVER Diary Film. FEVER PT. 1 introduces each member and their respective
motifs, and the Prologue highlights these motifs again. For example, Jongho
stands above a crowd with flames, just as he was on the basketball court
that was on fire in FEVER Diary Film. San is in an abandoned mall with an
escalator behind him, while the diary film showed him traveling by escalator.
Mingi is seen carrying a diary in the Prologue, and his diary film excerpt is
titled “Mingi’s Diary.” This pattern goes for all the other members as well,
and solidifies the idea that the Witness comeback may be concurrent with
the FEVER Diary Film in the storyline, with the events of both being parallel
to each other. We can see that events in different universes, while
somewhat different in terms of detail, are still parallel across universes, for
example, Yunho’s brother’s accident.

TIMELINE FLOWCHART:
Below is a simple flowchart of our theoretical timeline up through Witness CB.

ATEEZ 123
SUBTHEORY #2 CONTRADICTS SUBTHEORY #1:
The Witness occurs at the same time as the FEVER Series. Several pieces of
the Prologue trailer point us to this conclusion.

To explain this sub-theory, we need to understand where exactly in the

timeline the Prologue occurs. Starting from 0:11 in the Prologue, the video
shows a moon in the sky, then a shot of the Cromer turning–the exact same
shot as the one we see in the Deja Vu MV when the Cromer breaks–and
lastly a shot of the seven new moons/spheres appearing in the sky. At the
very beginning of the FEVER Diary Film, the narrator also says, “the
universe is divided into many dimensions…[video shows a piece of glass
breaking into eight pieces]...this is the story where their dimensions are
split into eight pieces again.” It’s possible that this splitting into eight
dimensions occurs the moment the Cromer breaks in the Deja Vu music
video, and that the seven moons that appear in the Prologue clip represent
the seven new dimensions that have just been created. In other words, the
Prologue to The Witness comeback may occur concurrently with the events
that happen when Yeosang breaks the Cromer during FEVER PT. 3.

Knowing this, we can find further evidence from the Prologue video that
point us to the events that occurred prior to the dimensions splitting.
Timestamp 0:55 in the Prologue starts with the dialogue, “people did nothing
but wait for them to return…all while knowing that ‘they’ would never
appear again,” presumably referring to Halateez and the Black Pirates who
attempted to revolt against Strictland. Then, the trailer shows a quick
sequence of shots: Hongjoong seeing Halajoong in a glass box in the bunker,
the bunker with seats from the Say My Name MV, the broken Cromer from
Deja Vu, a man wearing a black fedora holding the Cromer in the ATEEZ
warehouse (the same shot as one in the FEVER Diary Film), and shots of all
the Halateez members.

This hints at the possibility that these were the events that happened after
Halateez’s failed revolution: Halajoong passes the Cromer to Feverteez
Hongjoong in the warehouse during FEVER PT. 1. This is the catalyst for the
entire rest of the FEVER series. After passing the Cromer over, Halateez
gets captured, Hongjoong finds Halajoong in the glass box in the bunker,
Yeosang breaks the Cromer, the universe splits, and as stated in the
dialogue, Strictland citizens desperately wait for “them” (Halateez/the
Black Pirates) to return.

The dialogue beginning from 1:27 says: “amidst this desolate hope…a new
Eight made their appearance.” Similarly, the final entry in the FEVER

ATEEZ 124
 Epilogue diary reads, “‘They’re back! They came back!!’...The messy
handwriting of Left Eye on the paper reads: ‘SAY MY NAME. ATEEZ,’”
signaling the appearance of Feverteez and the start of their lead in the
revolution. Thus, it’s plausible that the Witness occurs during FEVER series
and the start of Feverteez’s world movement.

While this is a logical theory, there are still plenty of plot holes and gaps in
our reasoning. For instance, if there ARE seven new moons in Strictland’s
sky when Feverteez “returns” as Halateez, why don’t we see these extra
moons in The World and Guerrilla? And wouldn’t the splitting of the universe
create more friction in Feverteez’s journey between the events of FEVER
and The World that were never addressed in the Diaries? Are the “moons”
even moons at all? Realistically speaking, they don’t even look like moons–it’s
possible that they are really just metal spheres with new technology that
Strictland put up in the sky. If the Prologue really does occur right before
Feverteez start their revolution, why does the city appear so torn and
ruined in the trailer? It’s a drastic contrast to the sleek, polished Strictland
we see in the trailers for Guerrilla. Is it possible that the Strictland
government was able to rebuild the city from the ground up in such a short
period of time? There are many unanswered questions but for now, we can
only make assumptions.

Once again we must remind you that we are purely writing an educational
document; the theories section is more of an add-on to our original plan, so it is
included at the very end. There will always be minor plot holes as long as we are not
given the storyline straight up, so take all of these theories with a grain of salt.

There are lots of other cool theories out there! Here are some accounts that we
have come across who have plenty of their own cool theories to read about:

Username Platform Link to content

@hongteezer Twitter https://twitter.com/hongteezer

@HONGSMINGKI Twitter https://twitter.com/HONGSMINGKI

@khjcaptain Twitter https://twitter.com/khjcaptain

@princeruu Twitter https://twitter.com/princeruu

@ideefixe_on Twitter https://twitter.com/ideefixe_on

ATEEZ 125
PART 7: SOURCES
THE FOLLOWING ARE REFERENCES TO ALL SOURCES THAT AIDED US IN
COMPILING THIS DOCUMENT:

OFFICIAL SOURCES:

- ATEEZ CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@ATEEZofficial

- ATEEZ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ATEEZofficial
- FEVER DIARY FILM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g833H8DPC4Q
- KQ ENTERTAINMENT CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@KQENT

ALTERNATE SOURCES:

- All images pulled from Google/MVs unless otherwise specified.

- ADDITIONAL VCR VIDEOS AND THEIR LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE
- AR PHOTOCARD ANALYSIS:
https://jonghours.tumblr.com/post/ateez-diary-album-ar-photocard-analysis
- ATEEZ Diary Entries Link: https://www.atiny.net/storyline/storyline
- ATEEZ Diary Entries Scans: GoogleDrive Images
- ATINY Website Glossary Link: https://www.atiny.net/storyline/glossary
- Bookish Theories: https://www.youtube.com/@bookishtheories
- Cromer Picture: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuQzWlqXcAIrlfv.jpg
- ETERNITEEZ CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@eterniteez
- Lyrics: unless otherwise listed, all lyric translations were taken from Genius
Lyrics English Translations
- MITCH’S CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@meetchmeetch
- Mobius Strip Picture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6bius_strip
- Paradigm: https://lyricskpop.net/lyrics/ateez-paradigm-english-translation/
- ROCKSTARHWA’s twitter quote: https://mobile.twitter.com/rockstarhwa
- Taya (outdated theory): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0C4Tc7fILY
- TinyBugInk’s Mechanics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLRjm4sieM
- Yookikihh’s Video Explanations: https://www.tiktok.com/@yookikihh

ATEEZ 126
EPILOGUE: OUTRO
THIS DOC WILL BE UPDATED WITH EVERY NEW PIECE OF CANON INFO RELEASED.
UPDATES AND QNA CAN BE FOUND AT THE NEW TWT ACCOUNT DOWN BELOW.
CONTACT CREATORS W/ QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS, CRITICISM, OR COMMENTS.

UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REFERENCED, ALL THEORIES / WORK IS OUR OWN; IT IS

ORIGINAL. IF YOU WISH TO TRANSLATE/SHARE ANY BIT OF THIS DOC, YOU MUST
CREDIT EITHER THE CREATOR REFERENCED OR @HALA_LORETINY ON TWITTER.

THIS GOT A LOT MORE TRACTION THAN WE ORIGINALLY THOUGHT, SO OUR BIGGEST
THANKS FOR INTERACTING AND READING! WE HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON!

ALL CREATORS’ JOINT LORE TWITTER ACCOUNT: @hala_loretiny

OFFICIAL ATEEZ LORETINY DISCORD LINK: https://discord.gg/bwYk25pcKW
CONTRIBUTOR Username Platform Link to content

CC @greenapplesyrup TikTok CLICK HERE

CC @greenapplesyrup Twitter CLICK HERE

CC @carbonated__coffee Instagram CLICK HERE MAIN

@green_apple_jam CLICK HERE ART ACC

CC 0110#0110 Discord N/A: MANUAL TYPE

CONTRIBUTOR Username Platform Link to content

TIFF @hnyoolongt TikTok CLICK HERE

TIFF @honeyoolongt Twitter CLICK HERE

TIFF @tffnchn Instagram CLICK HERE

TIFF tiff#4551 Discord N/A: MANUAL TYPE

CONTRIBUTOR Username Platform Link to content

MITCH @yookikihh TikTok CLICK HERE

MITCH @mikkel_exe Twitter CLICK HERE

MITCH mitch#7445 Discord N/A: MANUAL TYPE

ATEEZ 127