Look back at the events preceding BIGBANG's T.O.P's army enlistment

The day many BIGBANG fans had been dreading finally arrived on Thursday (9 February) when T.O.P, one of the more popular members of the K-pop boy group, enlisted into the army.

Since its debut in 2006, the five-piece group, which also consists of G-Dragon, Daesung, Taeyang and Seungri, has produced eight Korean and Japanese studio albums and garnered millions of fans around the world. This year, the group has been nominated for the Nickelodeon’s Teens Choice Award in the US.

But with the enlistment of T.O.P, fans will have to wait two years before they get to see their dear oppa (elder brother in Korean) again.

Here is a look back at all the BIGBANG events leading up to T.O.P’s enlistment.

22 January 2017: BIGBANG finished its 10th anniversary concert in Hong Kong. It was the last overseas concert for the group before T.O.P’s enlistment.

26 January 2017: T.O.P posted a photo of himself from the set of his upcoming German-Chinese thriller “Out Of Control”, where he will appear alongside Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung and American actor Michael Trevino (“The Vampire Diaries”).

6 February 2017: Three days before entering the army, T.O.P uploaded a group photo of BIGBANG with the caption, “I miss you guys so much that maybe I shouldn’t meet you guys before going in. :P”

8 February 2017: A photo of him smoking, together with a brief goodbye message, “Good bye Seoul”, was also uploaded.

8 February 2017: Then he uploaded a selfie with his mother. (Aww.)

8 February 2017: And a couple more selfies of himself, with a message that Allkpop translated as, “I really want to leave quietly today. Please understand even if I leave without any greetings. I’m sorry.” (The message has since been removed.)

8 February 2017: He also posted a photo of a bottle of wine that he received from Lee Byung-heon, his former co-star from the Korean thriller “IRIS”, with the message. “Please return in good health. I hope that the time you spend in the army is not wasted and I hope to drink this with you when you are discharged from the army.”

8 February 2017: On the same day, the leader and other rapper of BIGBANG, G-Dragon, uploaded a photo of him resting his head on T.O.P’s shoulder, with the caption “My hyung” and a teary-faced emoticon.

The bromance game between GD and T.O.P is undeniably strong.

8 February 2017: And as a final reminder for fans not to forget him, he posted an image with the text, “I forgot to remember to forget”.

Let’s hope to see those eyebrows and stage swag again soon.

In the meantime, catch his last appearance with BIGBANG on the variety show, “Weekly Idol”, where he shows off his unique dance moves and his ‘special ability’ of swinging hula hoops three times around his neck.