What If I Had Been That PUMA?
Updated: 2 days ago
⋆ Korean Title: Balance Game
⋆ Genre: Hip-hop
⋆ Producing Credits: Slow Rabbit
⋆ Writing/Composing Credits: Ebenezer, Magnus, Yeonjun, danke, hitman bang, Taehyun, Jo Yoon Kyung, Beomgyu, January 8th, LUTRA
ABOUT/MEANING: “What if I had been that PUMA” revisits the escaped puma from TXT’s earlier song "PUMA," but shifts the focus from experiencing freedom to the uncertainty of choosing it. Imagining themselves in the puma’s position, the boys wonder what they would have done: risk the dangers beyond captivity for the possibility of freedom, or remain somewhere restrictive but familiar and safe?
The Korean title, “Balance Game,” frames this dilemma as a choice between competing possibilities with no obvious correct answer. As the boys grow older and gain greater control over their lives, freedom consequently becomes more complicated. Faced with a “palette” of possibilities, they admit that they do not yet know their own colour: having more choices also forces them to confront questions about who they are, what they want and which version of their future they are willing to make real. Being able to choose your own path also means having to live with that choice - without knowing where either option will lead or whether the alternative might have been better.
Within The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE, this uncertainty reflects the paralysis that can accompany entering adulthood. The freedom the boys once longed for has arrived alongside choices they feel unprepared to make, leaving them emotionally “frozen” between possibilities. By returning to the puma metaphor, the song reveals how their perspective has changed: escaping the cage once represented freedom itself; now they understand that stepping outside it is only the beginning.
LYRICS - ENGLISH TRANSLATION (translations by @translatingTXT)
❗Please be sure to read the "About" section above, as it provides a brief explanation of how this song is based on TXT's previous track, PUMA, ensuring you have the proper context to fully understand these lyrics.
Pick your answer A or B,
In front of a balance game with a puma
CONTEXT/EXPLANATION: In Korea, a “balance game” (밸런스 게임) is a “this or that” game in which someone must choose between two competing options, often with neither being obviously preferable. Here, the playful format becomes a metaphor for the much more consequential choices the boys face as they grow older: unlike a game, choosing one path in life means actually having to live with its outcome.
Uh, do I really have to choose?
In front of that question
I’m mute as if I've eaten honey
TRANSLATION NOTE: The Korean expression 꿀 먹은 벙어리 (kkul meogeun beongeori), literally “a mute person who has eaten honey,” describes someone who remains completely silent or is unable to give an answer when one is expected. Here, the boy becomes speechless when confronted with the demand to choose between A and B - fitting his inability to decide which path he should take.
Among this tricky palette of choices, I don’t know my color
This continuous dilemma ends in darkness
I need you to tell me if you feel the same
I need you to tell me
My EXP is still zero (zero)
CONTEXT/EXPLANATION: In video games, EXP stands for “experience points,” which accumulate as a player progresses and gains experience. Saying his EXP is still “zero” playfully expresses the boy's feeling that he lacks the real-life experience needed to make the choices now being demanded of him.
CONNECTION: The song returns to the game imagery used in “Can't We Just Leave the Monster Alive?,” where growing up was compared to progressing through a game whose stages the boy questioned whether he needed to complete at all. Here, the problem has evolved from “Do I have to beat this stage?” to “Do I really have to choose?” With his “EXP” still at zero, he feels unprepared for a game in which every decision determines what becomes reality - and once again wishes he could simply “skip” the part he does not feel ready to face.
I hate unfamiliar places never ever (ever)
What should I choose, what’s good for me?
A matter with no answer
A sense of freedom lingers outside that door
(Run away!)
Ay, ay, the moment I face it
(Throw it up!)
All around me are my chasers
Be careful, it'll spread in an instant
Try choosing: believer or saver
Jaded by this endless game
Feeling a headache now
Whatever the result, I don’t care
I just wanna skip it
Pick your answer A or B
In front of a balance game with a puma
Uh, do I really have to choose?
In front of that question
I’m mute as if I've eaten honey
Among this tricky palette of choices, I don’t know my color
This continuous dilemma ends in darkness
This game of freeze tag repeats in my head
I just want an answer
At this crossroads, I’m clumsy
The odds are fifty-fifty
My choice becomes reality
Neither side I'm sure of
Close my eyes and guess it, guess it
My choices of either A or B
It might be better, but it's a hit-or-miss
As it sounds, it's not easy
What can it be? There might be no answer
Asking reveals no reasons
I speak well and make it all sound convincing
Then come and bet, if it’s life, can you?
There’s no right answer,
So why insist on a conclusion
I keep falling into this dilemma
I can’t live like this, low-key
Please stop, my mind is already overloaded
Maybe if it were me, I’d stay in the zoo
But I can’t guess back then
What were the puma’s feelings
I don’t know, just skip it
Pick your answer A or B
In front of a balance game with a puma
Uh, do I have to choose?
In front of that question
I’m mute as if I've eaten honey
Among this tricky palette of choices, I don’t know my color
This continuous dilemma ends in darkness
This game of freeze tag repeats in my head
I just want an answer
At this crossroads, I’m clumsy
The odds are fifty-fifty
My choice becomes reality
Neither side I'm sure of
Close my eyes and guess it, guess it
My choices of either A or B
It might be better, but it's a hit-or-miss
As it sounds, it's not easy
Maybe tomorrow I’ll escape reality
Still indulging in imagined doping
I don’t want to choose, I don’t care
I just wanna skip it
Pick your answer A or B
In front of a balance game with a puma
Uh, do I have to choose?
In front of that question,
I’m mute as if I've eaten honey
In this palette of tricky choices, I don’t know my color
This continuous dilemma ends in darkness
This game of freeze tag repeats in my head
I just want an answer
On this crossroads, I'm clumsy
The probability is fifty : fifty
My choice will then be reality
Either one, I’m not sure of it
Close my eyes and guess it, guess it
My choices of either A or B
It might be better, but it's a hit-or-miss
As it sounds, it's not easy
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