Omona They Didn't

Tumblr, and the rest of the kpop related internet for that matter, is in frenzy over a picture recently posted of JYJ's Jaejoong and Super Junior's Heechul together in a car for a joyride. The origin of the photo is still unknown, however it's rumored that Heechul posted it to his Twitter account before he private/deactivated said account around his birthday. Whether that's true or not, no one knows. As for if the photo is real? That's actually pretty easy to answer with the use of some nerdy information. If you want the short answer, instead of the explanation, more than likely the photo IS real. As for when it was posted, who it was posted by, or how it was snatched, no clue.


Both camps are in shock and disbelief that Jaechul have been spotted together, let alone in the same car looking as chummy as ever. And many people are freaking out wondering if it's real or a photomanipulation, while others are flat out saying it's fake and that it shouldn't be spread around/spoken about. Cassie and ELF are not happy campers, which is often the case in situations like these. After all, it's some unspoken rule that a burger stands between these two men having a close friendship, let alone more serious things like the lawsuit that's spanned three years and supposedly divided SME employees and JYJ. That's besides the point, however.

The point itself is this; using a technique developed by Neal Krawets, it's possible in this day and age to break a photograph down to see behind what the naked eye is looking at; the noise of the photo. When you take a photograph and adjust it to view the 'noise' in the photo, you're given an image that looks like a bunch of strange dots and/or large fractals. This noise is what's used to spot any inconsistancies such as photoshopping or copy and pasting; this site gives a pretty in depth explanation about such. Basically if a photo is touched up, there's visible inconsistencies that one can spot. If the photo has NOT been touched up, than all the different outlines and shadings match up rather well.

In the case of Jaechul's selca, it would appear that it is more likely to be REAL than false, which one can view by checking out THIS comparison. There's also another reference HERE, with larger fractals for those of us who are as blind as bats. When looking at the outline of the two bodies, as well as the seats between them, there pretty much identical; the same can be said for the bulk of fractals in Heechul's hat and Jae's head. And as well as that, the both of them have the same level of white noise in their ELA, meaning they're actually together in the photograph rather than being copied and pasted one atop the other.

Both references seem to make it rather clear that there's no cut and paste done here, or any other hinkiness. This also lends to prove that while a lot of people screamed, 'HAX!!!!!!!!111!!!' over their following of one another on Twitter in months prior, it's pretty likely that was real as well. It would seem that these two Flower Boys have stood the test of burger espionage, and remain friends whether or not the fandoms can handle it. I say kudos to them, and it's nice to see that lines haven't been drawn in the sand between current SME employees and former-ish ones. It's also kind of epic to imagine the two and what trouble they might wreck on Seoul together.

Sauce(s): 韩网 (original poster of the photo), Destinyhae @ Sup3runior.com for reposting the photo, and my nerdy nerdy self with the use of Neal's talents, Fotoforensic's awesome web engine, and 29a.c's helpful tool.

Yes I am that nerdy, and that determined to prove Jaechul don't hate each other because of a cheap burger centuries ago, or their alleged pretty boy statuses.