Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for season 2 of Squid Game; read at your own caution.

About

"Unnie" / Kim Young-mi Behind the Door refers to a scene from season 2 of Squid Game in which Kim Young-mi (Player 095) is left on the other side of the door in "Mingle," resulting in her death. Unnie (Player 120) and Young-mi have a tearful, heartfelt moment looking at each other through the door slot while they both say each other's names, moments before Young-mi is killed. The scene went viral on TikTok in late 2024 and early 2025. TikTokers humorously recreated the scene by using its audio and showing themselves or their friends looking through similar door holes and saying, "Unnie!" Others recreated the scene in video games like Minecraft or Roblox, among others.

Origin

On December 26th, 2024, season 2 of Squid Game was released on Netflix. In episode 6, titled "O X," Kim Young-mi (Player 095) dies after she fails to join the others in a room during "Mingle." Her compatriot Unnie (Player 120) shares a tearful moment with Young-mi through the door slot as they say each other's names moments before Young-mi is gunned down.^[1]

The scene was shared on YouTube^[2] by Ultimate Scenes on January 4th, 2025, gaining over 901,800 views in 12 days (shown below).

Spread

On December 30th, 2024, TikToker^[3] @illitsita.wonheever reposted the scene, gaining over 84,300 likes in 17 days. In the following weeks, many used the video's TikTok sound.^[4] For instance, on January 3rd, 2025, TikToker^[5] @iiaahhx used the sound, recreating the scene with her friend. The video amassed over 283,500 likes in 13 days (shown below).

Also on January 3rd, TikToker^[6] @melyventures posted a clip of himself playing Mingle in Roblox in which he said, "Unnie," to people inside a room where one person was overly emotional about his death, making him laugh. The video received over 2.5 million likes in 13 days (shown below).

On January 5th, 2025, TikToker^[7] @_h0shivrs15 posted a photo of actress Kim Shi-eun as Kim Young-mi posing onstage with a caption reading, "Her after making us cry for hours," receiving over 172,500 likes in 11 days (shown below).

On January 10th, TikToker^[8] @oceaniseen7 posted an iteration with kittens and text overlay reading, "Youngmeow!" The video received over 541,000 likes in six days (shown below).

On January 12th, 2025, TikToker^[9] @munchmunchrice posted a photo with the sound that joked about My Chinese Spy after the potential 2025 U.S. TikTok Ban, gaining over 197,700 likes in four days (shown below).

By January 16th, 2025, the trend's primary TikTok sound^[4] had amassed over 7,200 posts.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References