BTS’ Jimin gets a ‘train of love’ and birthday song as he turns 31 in Peru: ‘I'll keep you in my heart'

For one week in October, Lima belonged to Park Jimin. BTS played Peru for the first time ever, three nights at Estadio San Marcos on October 7, 9 and 10, and the visit landed days before Jimin's birthday on October 13. Peruvian ARMY did the math and threw him a party the size of a city.

There was a decorated metro train, billboards, LED trucks, drones over the Pacific, and tens of thousands of voices singing "Happy Birthday" in two languages. Here is how it all came together.

All aboard: A Train of Love for Jimin

The headline act started before BTS sang a note. On Wednesday, October 7, the same day as the first Lima concert, a Line 1 train of the Lima Metro rolled out dressed head to tail in Jimin.

The project, officially titled 'A Train of Love for Jimin,' was driven by the fanbase JIMIN PERÚ 13 with Línea 1 as its partner. The wrap carries photos of Jimin and birthday messages, and Chimmy, his BT21 character, rides along inside the cab.

This is no short shuttle. The train runs all 26 stations of Line 1 during normal service, from Villa El Salvador in the south to Bayóvar in San Juan de Lurigancho. For scale, Line 1 covers 34.6 km of track and moves more than 200 million passengers a year (El Peruano). That is a lot of commuters getting an unexpected dose of Jimin on the way to work.

How long will it run? The fanbase has not said. If you are in Lima during Jimtober, keep an eye on the platform.

Three nights at San Marcos

BTS arrived in Lima on October 5, straight from two shows in Bogotá, for three dates on the "Arirang" world tour. It was the group's first concert in Peru, and Jimin set the tone on night one in Spanish: it took them a long time to get to Lima, so they would make the show incredible (Andina).

He delivered. Across the run, Jimin worked the 360-degree stage, hit the walkways to get close to fans on the field, and turned an outfit change into a moment. On October 9 he performed Butter in a white chullo, the knitted Andean hat, and on closing night all seven members came out in Peruvian ponchos and chullos.

Then came the singing. ARMY did not wait for the big night. On October 9, the crowd slipped a "Happy Birthday" into "We are Bulletproof: the Eternal," and Jimin answered with a "gracias" that set off a wave of screams.

On Saturday, October 10, the final show, the stadium went all in. During the closing speeches, when Jimin's turn came, thousands of fans broke into "Feliz cumpleaños" as one voice. Visibly moved, he thanked them with a "Muchas gracias"and a line Peruvian press picked up everywhere: "Voy a guardarlos en mi corazón", I will keep you in my heart.

Fan clips from the Lima shows also captured a longer, emotional thank-you from Jimin: "I love you, thank you so much, this is nice, now that I am here, I feel like life is worth living." And ARMY watching the screens kept spotting Jungkook flashing a thumbs-up every time a Jimin birthday banner or project came into view, a small, very maknae way of saying good job.

A city-sized birthday card

The train was one stop on a much longer route. Peruvian and Korean fanbases spread Jimin across Lima in the run-up to October 13, when he turns 31.

• The stadium plan. BTS Perú, ARMY Perú and the Jimin fanbase PJMUSAS ran small dynamics at all three shows, building to October 10, which they billed as the night to celebrate Jimin's birthday in Lima.

• Uchiwas on October 9. Fans were invited to bring the Japanese hand fans printed with their own favourite Jimin photo, for a sea of faces in the stands.

• Hearts and a banner on October 10. A special Jimin banner went up on cue, alongside PJMUSAS's heart cards, while the stadium sang "Happy Birthday" in English and Spanish.

• Screens all over town. Korean fans ran LED ads near San Marcos for the whole month from October 1, plus a week at Campo Marte from October 7. Peruvian fans aired four different videos at four Lima landmarks over four days, put up a big billboard by the stadium, hung streetlight banners, and sent LED trucks circling the area.

All of it rolls straight into Jimtober, the month-long countdown ARMY has run every October for years.

Next stop: October 13

BTS has moved on to Santiago, but Lima's party is not over. The Jimin train is still running its 26 stations with no announced end date, and Jimin's actual birthday is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13.

Peru waited 13 years for a BTS concert. Its fans made sure the first one ended with a stadium singing to Jimin, and a city that will keep riding past his face for a while yet. Feliz cumpleaños, Jimin. Next train leaves in three minutes.