WOODZ and BLACKPINK's Jennie Have Been Best Friends for Over 10 Years — The Origin Story Nobody Expected

WOODZ dropped a YouTube video on April 29 that immediately sent fans into a frenzy — not just because it featured BLACKPINK's Jennie, but because it finally answered a question that had lingered for years: how exactly did two of K-pop's most beloved figures become such close friends?

The video, titled "Why Bother Date with Jennie," pulled back the curtain on a friendship that has quietly endured for over a decade, revealing layers that even longtime fans never knew existed.

For most of the K-pop world, WOODZ and Jennie coexist in the same industry but occupy very different spaces in the public eye. That is exactly what made the video so surprising — the two moved with the effortless ease of people who have long since run out of things to prove to each other.

How It All Started: A High School Festival and a Chance Meeting

The origin story is more layered than most fans could have guessed. WOODZ and Jennie first crossed paths at a high school festival — a meeting that seemed coincidental at the time but would anchor a friendship lasting well over a decade.

"I remember meeting for the first time at a high school festival," Jennie recalled during the video, describing the moment with the kind of easy clarity that comes from having told a story many times in private. WOODZ put it simply: "I have known Jennie for about 10 years."

But the shared history did not stop at a school festival. Both became trainees at the same agency — a detail that gave their friendship time and structure to develop. Training life in K-pop is famously intense, and the bonds forged during those years tend to last. WOODZ and Jennie had the unusual advantage of navigating that pressure together, even before either of them debuted.

Then came the detail that truly stunned viewers: the two also attended the same elementary school. "Many people wonder why we are close," Jennie said. "But our connection is deeper than people think." It was a quiet understatement that somehow landed harder than a dramatic reveal ever could.

WOODZ Made the First Move — and Jennie Confirmed It

One of the most charming moments in the video came when the two unpacked how their friendship actually became a friendship. According to Jennie, it was WOODZ who made the first move — not romantically, but socially, which arguably matters more in the long run.

"WOODZ was the one who first approached me wanting to be friends," Jennie said, with a tone that suggests she still finds it a little endearing in hindsight. WOODZ did not deny it. "I just wanted to be a fun friend to have," he said, laughing.

That origin makes a certain kind of sense. WOODZ — known for a disarming mix of humor and sincerity — has always struck fans as someone who commits fully to the people around him. Reaching out to a high-achieving trainee at a school festival and turning that into a decade-long friendship is entirely on-brand for him.

For Jennie's part, the warmth she showed throughout the video made it clear the feeling was always mutual. Their banter carried the specific rhythm of people who have long since moved past the need to impress each other — teasing, calling out small inconsistencies with affectionate precision, laughing at inside jokes without needing to explain them.

Shopping, Tracksuits, and the Language of Long Friendships

The video's central premise — a casual "why bother" date, a low-stakes hangout format — played perfectly to what makes their friendship so watchable. There were no awkward silences, no performed chemistry. Just two people who genuinely enjoy each other's company.

One moment stood out for its pure comedic timing: WOODZ casually observed that Jennie's default shopping instinct is to reach for tracksuits. And then, almost as if on cue, the very first item Jennie picked up during their shopping segment was a tracksuit. WOODZ's reaction said everything his words did not need to. Jennie, to her credit, did not try to defend it.

It was the kind of small, specific knowledge that only accumulates over years of paying close attention to someone — the kind that cannot be faked and does not need to be explained. Fans watching picked up on it immediately.

Throughout the video, Jennie showed off her own knowledge of WOODZ by teasing him about his tendency to do things purely for laughs. WOODZ accepted the characterization without protest. The mutual teasing felt less like content and more like two people falling back into a well-worn groove.

Why the Video Broke the Internet

The video spread quickly, not because of any particular dramatic moment but because of its cumulative effect. Seeing two major K-pop figures interact with total unselfconsciousness is genuinely rare. The industry is structured in ways that make authentic cross-group relationships difficult to maintain, let alone display publicly. That WOODZ and Jennie managed to keep this friendship intact and relatively low-key for over a decade — and then reveal it so casually — struck something real in fans.

The reactions online ranged from disbelief to outright delight. "I cannot believe my eyes — I never thought I would get to see this combination like this," wrote one viewer. Others were more direct: "My favorites." "WOODZ and Jennie, this is insane. I absolutely love this combo."

Some fans noted that the video felt different from typical idol content — less curated, more honest. The real draw was watching two people who clearly do not need to perform their friendship for it to feel genuine, and who chose to share it with the world anyway.

Two Solo Careers, One Enduring Bond

WOODZ — full name Cho Seung-youn — debuted in 2019 as a solo artist and has since built a dedicated following on the strength of his versatility as a singer, songwriter, and performer. He blends genre influences in ways that resist easy categorization, and carries a personality that reads as genuine whether on stage or in a casual YouTube video.

Jennie became one of the most recognizable faces in K-pop as a member of BLACKPINK, and has since launched an acclaimed solo career that has taken her well beyond the group's already enormous reach. Her solo album Ruby cemented her standing as a singular force in the global pop landscape.

The fact that a friendship formed in the training years of both their careers has survived debut, rising fame, and the very different trajectories that followed says something meaningful. The K-pop industry does not make it easy to hold onto the connections made before the lights came on. That WOODZ and Jennie seem to have done exactly that — with relatively little fanfare until now — makes the reveal feel genuinely earned.

Whether this video marks the beginning of more public moments between the two remains to be seen. For now, fans are more than happy to sit with the full origin story, and everything it quietly confirms about what genuine friendship in K-pop looks like when nobody is performing it.