DxS, Seventeen’s new subunit starring DK & Seungkwan, teases new album, ‘Serenade’ with the bittersweet ‘An Ordinary Love’ trailer
DK (left) and Seungkwan (right). Photo: courtesy of Pledis Entertainment.
Seventeen members, DK and Seungkwan, are debuting a brand‑new unit under the name DxS, with their first mini‑album, Serenade, dropping on Jan. 12. DxS joins the band’s existing lineup of four subunits —BSS (featuring DK, Hoshi, and Seungkwan), JxW (Jeonghan and Wonwoo), HxW (Hoshi and Woozi), and CxM (S.Coups and Mingyu). The announcement arrives via a trailer titled “An Ordinary Love,” released recently on HYBE Labels’ official YouTube channel, offering a first taste of the duo’s cinematic storytelling.
The trailer opens with DK staring at a phone he can’t hang up, a frozen beat of longing that hangs in the air like a held breath. The scene then cuts to his apartment. Around him, wilted potted plants and a bowl of dried-out fruit sit in muted, desaturated tones, their gray‑washed leaves mirroring a love that’s slowly losing its spark. His everyday routine feels like a loop of endless, cloudy days, until an unexpected someone (without revealing her face) appears and snaps the scene into motion, hinting that the two lovers are about to drift onto separate tracks. The visual vibe is a warm yet melancholy mix of vintage Nineties and the nostalgia it brings: flip phones, grainy film stock, and a cozy comic‑book café. Every frame is drenched in soft, slightly desaturated colors, with a delicate color grade that gives the whole thing a short-film-like feel.
Seungkwan enters the scene behind the counter at a little comic‑book café, and when a customer pulls out a pile of books, his eyes light up like he’s just seen an old flame. A quick, wistful smile slides across his face, and he’s instantly back in that warm, fuzzy memory. Then, in a split second, he fumbles, misses one of the books off the pile, and rushes to hand it over, a tiny reminder of missed chances and those fleeting connections. The cover of that book flashes “Blue,” adding a sense of melancholy and also a hint of mystery to the sequence. On the other side, DK’s finger ring (possibly a wedding ring) glints in the low light, a subtle nod to a love that once felt forever, while the “Blue” comic acts as a symbolic key to the album’s heart. Together, their stories — DK’s static boredom and emotional distance, Seungkwan’s wistful recollections — weave an anthology of ordinary love: the encounters, the separations, the quiet moments, and the new beginnings. The trailer, titled “An Ordinary Love,” captures all that in a cinematic, almost poetic way, setting the stage for Serenade.
According to a press release, Serenade, meaning “a love song sung at night,” captures every little moment between meeting and parting through DK and Seungkwan’s raw storytelling. It’s got that cozy, wintertime feeling and paints the everyday ups and downs of love in a way anyone can relate to. The album promises to pull listeners into an emotional groove, while the two artists get a chance to explore their own identities and push their artistry further. Think of it as a blend of their complementary voices, polished technique, powerful delivery, and a whole lot of feeling.