*Written by shupagirl; she asked me to repost it as she has recently deactivated her account T_T

In Korea, it’s stated that whoever has a birthday before March 1 is automatically considered a year older than their actual age. Also, during a mother’s pregnancy, the baby is already considered a year old when it is born. And on New Year’s, everybody turns a year older.

Leeteuk and Heechul

Leeteuk and Heechul were born on the same year and month, only being nine days apart. Leeteuk is older but Heechul doesn’t call him ‘hyung’. Why? Well, nine days apart don’t really mean that much. Besides, they were both born on July, so no matter what, they’re considered the same age.

The only way nine days could make a difference is if Leeteuk was born on February 22 and Heechul was born on March 2. In that situation, Heechul would probably have to refer to Leeteuk as ‘hyung’ because Leeteuk’s birthday comes before March 1 whereas Heechul’s birthday comes after. You’ll see the explanation above.

BUT during pre-debut days, it seems that Heechul used to call Leeteuk ‘hyung’. So I guess it all depends on the person.

Another example of this would be Mithra Jin from Epik High. Like Heechul and Leeteuk, he was born in 1983. But his birthday is on January. Now, both Leeteuk and Heechul call him 'hyung' because his birthday is before March. It's not that confusing, right?

When you meet a person for the first time in Korea, you have to be very strict with the formal speech. Yeah, that matters a lot in Korea. You can only drop the formal speech when someone tells you to. If you feel like it’s time to start talking informally then you should talk about it with whoever it is you want to talk informally to. You can’t make that decision yourself, really.

Though in some exceptions, people just let informal talking slide.

Leeteuk, Heechul and Han Geng

Now, Han Geng was born on February 9, 1984. But he doesn’t call either Leeteuk or Heechul ‘hyung’, mainly because there’s no need for him to.

At first I thought that it was because of his foreignism so they’re letting it go. But then I realized that the trio are actually considered ‘chingus’. You see, chingus don’t just mean friends in Korea. 'Chingus' means two or more people who are within the same age.

So because Han Geng has a birthday that comes before March, he doesn’t have to call Heechul or Leeteuk ‘hyung’ because he’s considered the same age as them.

Han Geng and Yesung

I’m not too sure about this but I’m guessing Yesung calls Han Geng ‘hyung’. Correct me if I’m wrong please. This could easily be edited.

So yeah, anyway. Yesung’s birthday is on August. You can do the math, it’s quite clear that his birthday comes before March. So because of this, he’s not considered the same age as Han Geng, whose birthday is on February. That’s why he (I’m assuming he does) calls Han Geng ‘hyung’.

Yesung and Kangin

This actually bugged me a lot before I figured out the age system in Korea.

So, why does Kangin call Han Geng ‘hyung’ but not Yesung? Well, I may be becoming a bit redundant here but if that’s what it takes for explaining this whole thing, then so be it.

Kangin was born on January 1985. Yesung was born on August 1984. Han Geng was born on February 1984.

Han Geng is the same age as Heechul and Leeteuk, both whom Kangin refers to as ‘hyung’. So naturally, Kangin has to call Han Geng ‘hyung’ as well.

But Yesung’s birthday is late and Kangin’s birthday is early. So you see, they are considered the same age. And if you’d bother to do some computing, you’d see that Yesung’s only actually more or less five months older than Kangin.

Kangin and Shindong

Now, I’m quite sure that Shindong calls Kangin ‘hyung’. But why? Well, although I think you smart readers have gotten the point by now, I’ll still gladly explain.

Shindong was born on September 1985. (Mind you, he was actually born on the same date – but not year – as I was. ^^) Kangin was born on January 1985.

Kangin is considered an 84’er. Shindong is an 85’er. And so, that is why Shindong calls Kangin ‘hyung’ even though their birthdays both fall on the same year, 1985.

Shindong and Sungmin

Sungmin doesn’t call Shindong ‘hyung’. Sungmin’s birthday is on New Year’s, so obviously, his birthday is before March. And so, Sungmin is considered the same age as Shindong. If you look at it, Shindong is actually only about three months (or less) older than Sungmin.

LATE ADDITION: I almost forgot, Sungmin is actually 28 years old in Korea when he's only 26 internationally. As you can see, people like Sungmin, who were born on January 1, are automatically two years older as indicated at the very start of the chapter.

Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Zhou Mi, and Donghae

This is where it gets tricky.

Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon were all born in 1986. But EunSiHae all call Sungmin ‘hyung’. And Siwon’s registered birthday is in 1987 but he doesn’t call Eunhyuk or Donghae ‘hyung’. Why?

Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon all call Sungmin 'hyung' because Sungmin's birthday is on New Year's, which is before March 1. Because their birthdays are (respectively) on April, October and April again – all after March – they are not ‘chingus’ with Sungmin. 

BUT, Eunhyuk and Donghae are chingus. Their birthdays are on April and October, respectively, which both come after March. Because of this, they are not the same age as Sungmin so they have to call him ‘hyung’. But they (EunHae) don’t have to call each other ‘hyung’.

What really used to confuse me is the whole thing with Siwon and Donghae. Siwon's real birthday comes before Donghae's, but Siwon’s registered birthday comes after Donghae’s. Siwon doesn't call Donghae ‘hyung’ because…well, why would he? In any way you put it, Donghae and Siwon don’t have to call each other ‘hyung’. Let me explain:

Siwon’s real birthday is on April 9, thus making him older than Donghae. But Donghae doesn’t need to call him ‘hyung’ because both of their birthdays are still after March, which makes them the same age; much like how Donghae doesn’t call Eunhyuk ‘hyung’.

Siwon’s registered birthday is on February 10, 1987, thus making his birthday later than Donghae’s. But February 10 still comes before March 1 (obviously) so technically, Siwon is still considered the same age as Donghae.

Also, both Siwon’s real birthday and registered birthday are after Eunhyuk’s birthday, but either way, he doesn’t have to call him ‘hyung’. Because even if he does go by his birthday in April or by his birthday in February, no matter what, he’s still an 86’er, as is Eunhyuk.

I don’t think Chinese people are really strict about honorifics like Koreans are. If you’ve watched any shows Super Junior M were on, you can see that Kyuhyun and Henry don’t usually refer to any of the other members as ‘gege’ (older brother in Chinese). And Kyuhyun and Henry only call them ‘hyung’ when they’re talking in Korean.

Zhou Mi, when speaking in Korean, has to call Sungmin ‘hyung’ too. But when speaking in Chinese, he can just simply call him ‘Sungmin’ or by his Chinese name, ‘Chéngmǐn’.

Siwon and Ryeowook

Siwon’s registered birthday is on February 1987 so many people think that he’s actually the same age as Ryeowook. But no, that's not the case. In either of Siwon's birthdays, he can’t be considered the same age as Ryeowook.

Because like I said before, no matter what, Siwon is considered an 86’er. And Ryeowook will always be an 87’er. And so that is why Ryeowook refers to Shisus as ‘hyung’.

Ryeowook, Kibum and Kyuhyun

Most people think that Kyuhyun doesn’t call Ryeowook and Kibum ‘hyung’ because he’s an evil maknae. While Evil Kyu is evil, his evilness has nothing do with him not calling Ryeowook and Kibum ‘hyung’.

Kyuhyun was born on February 1988; Ryeowook and Kibum were born on June and August 1987 (respectively). Kyuhyun was born before March. Ryeowook and Kibum were born after March.

So, if you’ve been paying any attention since the start of this chapter, you’d understand that these three are actually the same age. Kyuhyun’s birthday is early so he’s considered an 87’er. That gives him no need to actually call the two ‘hyung’.

Henry and Everybody Else

Henry’s birthday is on October 1989 so he really has no other choice but to call everyone ‘hyung’.

If he were born on January or February or March 1, he’d still have to call everyone ‘hyung’. Yes, including Kyuhyun. Why?

Because, like I’ve indicated above, Kyuhyun is actually an 87’er in Korea. If Henry’s birthday was early, then he’d be considered an 88’er. So if you sum it up, Kyuhyun is an 87’er while Henry is (hypothetically) an 88’er. He’d still have to call him ‘hyung’.

So yes, Henry really is the real maknae. Lol.

So the members who are actually considered the same age are:

Leeteuk, Heechul and Han Geng

Yesung and Kangin

Shindong and Sungmin

Eunhyuk, Zhou Mi, Siwon and Donghae

Ryeowook, Kibum and Kyuhyun

And Henry has no one. xD