Keonho • Dominic Fike
Keonho of CORTIS finally saw Dominic Fike, and Martin is the reason it happened
He asked the company over and over. He is a minor, so it was never going to be simple. Then his leader stepped in as his legal guardian and went with him, and Keonho came away with a photo, a brand new Fender, and a hoodie he went on to wear to Chanel.
He had been asking for this for a long time
This is the part that makes the photo worth a whole article. Keonho did not get handed this. COERs had already watched him ask for it, publicly and repeatedly, with no guarantee it would work.
Fans translating from the company group chat described him pleading to be allowed to go, saying the artist had a huge influence on his life, and proving it by rattling off everything he knew about the upcoming album. One fan account summed up the mood of the whole fandom at the time in four words: please let keonho see dominic fike.
The obstacle was not that nobody believed him. The obstacle was that he is a minor, and a concert in another country is not a simple yes for a company to give. So it took time, and it took someone else vouching for him.
This was never a passing interest. Keonho has made songs inspired by Dominic Fike before, and he has covered him on television: he sang Great Pretender on Lee Mujin Service. The influence was already in his music long before he got anywhere near the stage.
Martin is the one who got him there
Martin backed the request and pushed it through. As the leader, and as the member old enough to be the responsible adult in the room, he was the one who could make the company comfortable with it. Then he did the other half: he went with him, as his legal guardian for the night. That is not a figure of speech. A minor at a concert abroad needs an adult who is answerable for him, and Martin signed up to be that person.
COERs have pointed out the obvious follow-up. If Martin was the one standing there, Martin is very likely the one who took the photo at the top of this page.
It is a small thing and it is also the whole point. They tease each other constantly, and then one of them quietly spends his own credibility getting the youngest into a concert.
What COERs said about it
“the thing i love the most about cortis is how they truly value friendship and genuinely look out for and help each other.”
The posts
The show he went to: 29 September, Los Angeles
We know exactly which night it was, because the setlist got photographed. The sheet is headed COMEDY TRAGEDY PARODY — Fike Live, Sept 29, Los Angeles, CA.
It is a long one. How Much Is Weed, Come Here into Skeleton, Quite the Opp, Westcoast Co., Misses, Ant Pile, Sandman, Falling Asleep, Bodies, Mona Lisa, White Keys, Great Pretender, Wallflower, Think Fast, then a laptop and dancers section, and down the right-hand column Superstar Sh*t, 10x Stronger, Politics & Violence, Wurli, Mama’s Boy, Frisky, Babydoll, One Glass and Bowie Box into Why.
Wallflower is in there, which matters: that is the single from an album that was still unreleased. Keonho did not just get the hits, he heard the new record live before it was out.
Two songs on that sheet are worth pausing on. Wallflower is the single from an album that was still unreleased, so Keonho heard the new record live before anyone could stream it. And Great Pretender is on there too, which is the song Keonho had already covered on Lee Mujin Service. He went from singing it on Korean television to standing in the room while its author played it.
And then he came home with a Fender
The same week, Keonho showed off a guitar. Not a borrowed one from a studio: a brand new one, tags still hanging off it, gig bag still labelled.
What exactly is it?
| Model | Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster |
|---|---|
| Finish | Olympic Pearl |
| Fingerboard | Rosewood |
| Pickguard | White pearloid, visible in the photo |
| Condition | New. Hangtag, lesson card and bag tag all still attached |
The Player II Modified line is Fender’s upgraded take on its most popular working-musician series. Olympic Pearl is the cream-white finish you can see in the photo, and the rosewood board is the darker fingerboard rather than the pale maple.
So here is the question COERs are actually asking
Dominic Fike has a real history with Fender. He was one of the artists Fender picked for its 2023 Player Series campaign, and he has his own episode of Fender Sessions, the brand’s performance series. The guitar he is associated with in that campaign is the Stratocaster.
Keonho met him. Days later Keonho has a brand new Fender Player Stratocaster.
Did Fike give him the guitar? Nobody has said so. It is a very good question and it is currently nothing more than that.
The honest counterweight: the hangtag, the lesson card and the shop tag on the bag are all still on it, which is just as consistent with somebody buying a guitar for himself. A gift from an artist would not necessarily arrive in full retail packaging.
Until one of them says something, treat it as the fun theory it is.
He wore the merch to Paris Fashion Week
If anyone thought the concert was a one-off treat, here is the follow-up. Keonho turned up to the Chanel show at Paris Fashion Week in a black hoodie with guitar music across the chest in highlighter yellow.
That hoodie is Dominic Fike’s. It was on the merch stand on the tour, photographed on 22 September 2026, hanging as item #6 at $100, next to the grey Comedy Tragedy Parody North America 2026 long sleeve and the sweats with the neon guitar pick on the leg.
So he went to the show, bought the merch, and then wore it to Chanel. He is taking this very seriously.
Who is Dominic Fike, for anyone catching up
An American singer, rapper and guitarist from Naples, Florida, signed after a label bidding war off the back of a six-song EP he put out in 2018. His albums are What Could Possibly Go Wrong (2020), Sunburn (2023) and Rocket (2025). He also acted in the second season of Euphoria.
And the timing here is not a coincidence. His third studio album, How to Quit Smoking, is out on 9 October 2026, announced back in August alongside the single Wallflower. His Comedy Tragedy Parody tour ran through August and September 2026 and closed on 30 September at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.
Which means two things. First, when Keonho was telling the company he knew all about the new album, there really was a new album to know about. Second, look again at the jacket in the photo at the top of this page: the yellow box on Fike’s chest reads QUIT.
And one more thing: the letter Martin wrote him
This feels like the right moment to talk about KEONTIN, because the concert is only the visible part of it. The oldest member spent his own standing with the company so the youngest could have one night, and then put his name down as the adult responsible for him. That is not a one-off favour, it is what these two are like.
Which lands differently once you have read what Martin wrote to him. Here is the letter in full:
To KEONHO
Hey, honestly this is something i have always wanted to tell you, that I am so grateful and feels like I can breathe because you’re in our team. Our personality click in so many ways, and you know how much i overthink things too, right? Having a guy like you who can understand and relate with me is truly a blessing.
I am so happy that I have you guys, people who I can just casually have a great time with, and hit up to hang out whenever I’m bored. Let’s keep having even more fun together from now on.
I hope we achieve our dreams too, and I’d love it if you could be there with me someday in the big house I’ll have in LA. Everyone’s different, but I’ve always wanted to live in a house full of people. Making music with my friends and the people I share my life with… you have to be a part of that too!
Thank you always!
Read the third paragraph again. Martin wrote about a big house he will have in LA, and about wanting Keonho in it. The two of them have since been in Los Angeles together, working on the new album, and Martin stood next to him while he met the artist he had been asking to see for months.
The letter was not written that week. It is older than any of this, which is rather the point.
They tease each other relentlessly. And then this.
Questions COERs are asking
Did Keonho actually meet Dominic Fike?
Yes. There is a photo of the two of them together, taken at Fike’s concert, which went around X in early October 2026.
Why was it so hard for him to go?
Because he is a minor. Attending a concert abroad needed the company’s approval, and that took a lot of asking.
Who took him?
Martin. He is the leader, he backed Keonho’s request with the company, and he went with him.
What guitar does Keonho have?
A Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster in Olympic Pearl with a rosewood fingerboard, photographed brand new with its tags and Fender gig bag.
Did Dominic Fike give Keonho the guitar?
There is no confirmation of that. It is a fan theory, built on the fact that Fike has been a Fender Player Series campaign artist. The guitar still has its retail tags on, which points just as easily to a normal purchase.
Which concert did Keonho go to?
The Comedy Tragedy Parody show in Los Angeles on 29 September 2026. The setlist from that night confirms the date and the city.
What hoodie was Keonho wearing in Paris?
The black guitar music hoodie from Dominic Fike’s tour merch, sold as item #6 at $100. He wore it on his way to the Chanel show at Paris Fashion Week.
What is Dominic Fike’s new album?
How to Quit Smoking, out 9 October 2026. The lead single is Wallflower.
If you want more of what the members actually listen to, there is a whole post on everything Martin consumes, and another on the songs Seonghyeon played on his live.
Enjoyed this? This site is made and paid for by one COER. A donation keeps it going.
Make a donation