I just want to preface this by saying that there is no hate in my heart or malicious intent behind this post. These are my thoughts based on what I've inferred from the information given and, honestly, what I personally feel.
As someone whose spam TikTok bio says Enhypens D1 glazer, this statement remains true, especially now. I made a TikTok saying that while I will support Heeseung, who has re-debuted under EVAN, on his solo journey, I am an ENHYPEN fan first and foremost. I tell people this all the time: there was a time when I was very into K-pop as a whole, but the person that I am right now is mainly only into ENHYPEN, and I see it staying that way for a while.
So now, for the topic at hand. On March 10th, 2026, at 5 a.m., I woke up to the news that HS left ENHYPEN to pursue a solo career. I was up to go to work, and I unfortunately had to leave work early because my vibe was awful, and I cried while making someone's latte. I then treated myself to some shopping and posting on TikTok to make myself feel better. That day, HS and Belift Lab shared a letter that he wrote to Engenes to explain his departure, which I will link here.
Going through the stages of grief is a very interesting thing: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But going through them on a mass scale was something I've never personally experienced before. The hashtags, fanchants, spam commenting, protest trucks, etc. That was a little of what Engenes did to get more clarity on the situation.
At first, I thought HS left because the company decided his wanting to release his own music as part of a group was a waste of resources, and it wouldn't be surprising given how this company operates. The tone of the letter made it seem as if he was given the ultimatum of either be in the group without your solo or be out of it with a solo, and he chose the latter, especially with the mixtape having already been done. Then, to me, the problem evolved; it wasn't simply the fact that he left; it was a matter of why the boys have a schedule so hectic that they don't have the time to focus on solo artistic pursuits of any kind. This is not a problem for most other idol groups. The boys don't have solo shows and barely any covers. Ni-Ki, whose first love is dance, has had 2-3 opportunities to show himself up and out in their 6 - 7 years as idols. For me, this stopped being about just Heeseung and started being about Enhypen's creative freedom and right to not be overworked. No matter what way you put it, they've been on tour since 2022 and have had release after release since they started. Their first break, which ENGENEs rejoiced over, was probably when they found out Heeseung was leaving, and that's not fair.
As time goes on, I personally stopped caring about why he left and have come to accept the fact that he did. This is where acceptance comes in. But it's more than that now. I didn't like how this entire situation was handled from start to finish. How he left was shady, and how he's stayed gone has been shady. He's still an idol under the same company, which could be Belift keeping him because he's a financial asset, or maybe he likes the company and simply wanted out of the group.
Heeseung left at a very tumultuous time; not only was contract renewal time in a few months, but the group was going to Australia for the first time in their careers, the home country of elder member Jake. It was found that his flight ticket was cancelled, and the boys had to relearn every dance on their set list and add in lines to make up for HS not being there. The trip that meant so much to Jake, who hasn't been home since coming to Korea and has been talking for years about how much he has missed home, was heavily overshadowed by HS's departure. Then, when the boys performed there and in other places afterward, fans, unsure of what to do and wanting to show support based on what they knew or thought, said the ot7 fan chant. Even on Jay's birthday live, fans spammed the hashtags and ot7 comments, and he had to tell them not to do that on anyone else's birthday because it would make the others feel bad. After a few weeks - months of fan wars and this behaviour, the group's leader, Jungwon, went live and asked the fans to stop and to respect the group as 6 from then on out.
It has now been 5 months since HS left the group, and in the entirety of those months, there was not a word from him or the company to help the 6 boys when they were being harassed with questions about it. A few days ago, in an interview with Teen Vogue for his album coming out tomorrow, an interviewer asked when he started wanting to go solo, and refusing to answer the question, Evan said that while he would love to answer, he is "staying silent" to protect the people he left, an obvious PR stunt to generate buzz for his new release.
But this, along with him saying he had a normal day the day of the announcement, has made me side-eye him in a way I never thought I could. Even if he's no longer a part of the group, as their now junior and as their former eldest member, the path he has chosen is passivity in the face of adversity. And that's all well and good when you're not the one being harassed day in and day out for 5 months. And honestly, I have some views on the interview as a whole, but I will not share - this is me also staying silent to protect people. (That red ranger comment did it for me because how much more main can you get as center and lead vocalist, but whatever).
Blame him or not, his departure was the reason ENHYPEN had to endure months of change and uncertainty, and in all that time he stayed silent. And now, when asked when he felt he wanted to leave, instead of simply answering the question, he has chosen to stay silent again, and in his silence has given us a few options. He either went into this group knowing he'd leave eventually, decided to leave when he thought the group had reached its peak, or something happened that made him decide to leave. Now that I am thinking back on it, I never would have imagined someone left because this group always felt very close, but now knowing who, I am not surprised he left and the others remained. The group was made around him; we all know that, but as someone who's been watching them since around drunk dazed, I felt that as the others improved, even as the center and lead vocalist, he faded into the background as others got to his level and potentially even surpassed him. I can make a separate post on that, though.
When I made my TikTok, I mentioned that it seemed as if the remaining boys don't mess with HS anymore and had to put someone in their place for talking to me crazy about that bit. But in all honesty, if you were in this situation, would you? All the members have said that the group is better than ever and now it's even and equal, and the leader, Jungwon, has said he's never thought of going solo. I don't know about you guys, but on a sunny or even cloudy day, it's never hard to spot shade, no matter how close someone is to the person. These boys know well enough how their words are taken, and they know how to say certain phrases to smooth things over, and if they simply don't like him right now, later, or haven't liked him for a while - that is their business. No matter how you want to phrase it. They're the ones he left in the dust, and they have a right to see him in the hallway and look at him like this:
Enhypen dropped their newest release, THE SIN: BLISS, with fear that the fans would hate it and leave them because HS wasn't there anymore, and I can just say that this is one of my favorite releases from them (see my last post for a review!) and it sucks to think that they made it with so much anxiety in their hearts, which is why I am so happy the album is doing so well!
As biased as I am, I do support EVAN in his future endeavors, even if I may not be as tuned into him as I am to Enha. He holds a special place in my heart as the guy who got me into the group, but I have successfully separated him from the 6 members now, and it may take a good amount of work to do it all over again.
Go stream THE SIN: BLISS and support Enhypen!
☆ stay cool, cool girls! ☆
xoxo,
eternalcoolgirl ☆
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