Following their recent interaction, aespa Karina and ZEROBASEONE Sung Hanbin have been embroiled in a dating rumor. Fans initially debunked this, but more "proofs" are coming out to prove their relationship.

Earlier, Karina and Sung Hanbin had a cute interaction after the male idol did aespa's "Jingle Bell Rock" challenge with the female star.

   @aespa_official Jingle Bell Rock #Jinglebellrock_Challenge  #ZEROBASEONE #ZB1 #제로베이스원 #SUNGHANBIN #성한빈 #Jinglebellrock #aespa #에스파 #KARINA #카리나 ♬ Jingle Bell Rock - aespa    

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At the time, the video immediately blew up, amassing over 9.2 million views and 1.5 million likes. K-pop fans were particularly shocked that the clip was filmed with the idols so close to each other, their shoulders and hands touching at some point.

aespa Karina & Sung Hanbin's First Dating 'Proof'

Looking at the closeness and comfortable atmosphere between the two artists, there are speculations that they might have been friends.

However, there are claims that they are more than that and are actually seeing each other, the first proof being their posting peeled tangerines on their SNS, consecutively.

Sung Hanbin posted it first on Dec. 18 on the fandom-communicating platform, "Bubble" and wrote a follow-up message:

"Can I get married?"

ALSO READ: aespa Karina, ZEROBASEONE Hanbin Spark Dating Speculation— Details Inside

Two days later on December 20, Karina then posted unpeeled tangerines, writing:

"tangerines are love."

In another photo, she posted the peeled tangerines and added the words:

"high-end tangerine peeler."

aespa Karina & Sung Hanbin Dating Rumor Escalates After More 'Proofs' Surfaced

Since then, keen-eyed netizens pointed out more pieces of evidence that associate the two idols with each other.

Sung Hanbin, born in 2001 likes older women, while Karina, born in 2000 also said she likes younger men. The male idol's song choice "Bye Bye My Blue" is said to be related to Karina as well, since it sounds like her Instagram username, @/katarinabluu.

The "Crush" singer was also spotted wearing a ring that is famously associated with Karina.

On December 26, another proof surfaced following the Christmas celebration. On Instagram, Karina wrote "Happy holiday" as a caption to her recently uploaded photos.

On the same day, Hanbin also sent the same message on Bubble.

According to netizens, the message written in English was rarely used by Koreans as a greeting for Christmas, adding more to the speculation.

Nevertheless, their fans also continue to debunk the dating rumor and left comments:

• "Oh 'Happy New Year,' 'Merry Christmas,' if I say things like these, I would be dating the whole nation, right?"
• "If I write 'Happy Holiday' in English, would I also be dating Sung Hanbin or Karina? I'll write it now."
• "If you do the challenge together once, you're dating. If you do the challenge twice, they will make a big fuss that they are married."
• "Ah, I'm seriously sick of this."
• "It seems like Sung Hanbin's fans are pushing this. I know Karina, but I don't know him. If they went viral, more people would look for Sung Hanbin. At this rate, they are only doing this to go viral."

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Written by Eunice Dawson.