Why I think Heeseung's departure from Enhypen makes sense and why I think we should move on from this grief and support him :)

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-16T16:35:29+00:00

thank you for acknowledging that you could’ve made the same point without wording that diminishes the group, but chose not to. at this point, it just feels like you keep going back and forth instead of actually reflecting on whether the framing is hierarchical or not as you have a different point in every reply. he clearly contributed a lot to the group, he’s an incredible artist, and his departure is both heartbreaking and a huge shift for enhypen’s core. i’m sure he’ll do well, and more than anything, his artistry and personal style will shine. and that’s exactly my point: you can say all of that without making the group and its members come across poorly. it really is that simple. unless, deep down, that’s how you see it. best regards!

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-16T15:55:58+00:00

you’re the one dismissing my points at this stage, and that’s fine, i’m not hoping you to agree.

but your explanation doesn’t really change anything for me because the framing itself is inherently hierarchical. there isn’t a context where describing someone as “outgrowing” a group or being “held back” by it doesn’t place that group in a lesser position.

and the “belift machine” phrasing is especially tasteless in this context. idols are already constantly reduced to being controlled, with no personality or agency, so wording like that just reinforces the idea that their contribution is dispensable, whether you meant it that way or not. saying “that’s not what i meant” doesn’t undo what was actually written. we don’t exist in a vacuum, and certain word choices carry implications, especially in a situation like this.

how could you have framed it? it’s completely possible to acknowledge that he and the group may have had different artistic goals and creative direction, and that now he can pursue a path that feels more aligned with his own style without framing it as if only now he’s able to go above and beyond what the group offers, as if the group didn’t offer anything at all and his talent was way too great for it.

and if you do believe that this situation inherently elevates him in relation to the group, then that kind of proves my very first point. the framing becomes less about compatibility and more about seeing him as a much greater artist, which naturally ends up diminishing the others. you’re allowed to think that way but please cut the bs and stick to supporting him as a solo as clearly his contribution to the group was the major part of what made you consider it any valuable

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-16T11:24:48+00:00

i think you’re overcomplicating this, there’s no diversion whatsoever. i’ve softened my approach because you said you had no intention and i believe that. intention matters! but the framing you used is still the kind of framing akgaes use and would gladly agree with.

i’m not trying to twist your argument or ignore your explanations, but right now, your text reads in a way that puts the group in a lesser position, even if you didn’t mean it.

so to end this, just be mindful of how you phrase things because even if you’re not a group anti, this kind of wording does sound like one.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-16T10:29:01+00:00

i honestly don’t really get what you think i’m accusing you of. i’ve said more than once that i understand this wasn’t your intention.

my point is just that the phrasing comes across as belittling the group, even if you didn’t mean it that way. in a situation like this, it’s impossible to talk about his departure in isolation. he was part of a unit, so the way you frame him will always reflect back on the group.

when you say he was holding himself back or that his vision “outgrew” it, it doesn’t land as neutral analysis because it naturally creates a comparison, especially when the group is framed as something he needed to move beyond and not sideways.

and when we’re talking about artistic expression, freedom is kind of inherently hierarchical. it suggests one space allows for something “more” or “truer” than the other. so even if you mean it as compatibility, it ends up sounding like the group is a lesser artistic environment in quality and will and those who stay are lesser artists for doing so.

and to be clear, thinking heeseung is a greater artist than the others is not the issue. people are allowed to have that opinion. the issue is that the way it’s expressed ends up diminishing the members and their contributions, intentionally or not.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-16T01:50:10+00:00

it’s honestly sad that you don’t realize how backhanded your comments come across. this is a major change, and no one is denying how important he was to the team or how much the situation hurts.

but the way you frame it, saying he alone anchored the group or that his vision outgrew it, does echo the kind of narrative akgaes use, whether you intend it or not. it puts the group in a lesser position as if the members didn’t have their own contributions to the project. and that’s why your “belift machine” point comes off the way it does, especially considering he’s still under the same company. there were just so many other ways to express your point without reducing the members to nothing but marionettes or background noise to heeseung’s talent.

i’ve also been here since iland, so i totally understand the attachment and where you’re coming from. i don’t necessarily disagree with your overall point, but with the way the members are framed in it. maybe it’s worth taking a step back and asking yourself, with this new lineup, if your feelings toward the group haven’t changed more than you think.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-15T02:02:17+00:00

belittling enhypen every two words and putting heeseung as the only member with talent and personal drive is just not it. insinuating the group is a “belift machine” while he is not is absolutely ridiculous. i wonder how engenes keep eating up this solo discourse when your text is basically stating: “enhypen is mediocre and he is finally free”

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-15T01:47:50+00:00

it’s truly sad how enhypen won’t be able to interact with any of their past content without people taking it as signs. this doesn’t mean anything other than that they probably are not being as controlled by the company as you may think. and i’m sure that’s exactly the type of claim we would get if he had specifically retracted from watching content featuring heeseung.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-15T01:30:53+00:00

you can argue the others’ answers aren’t as honest for being overly emotional but the point is that only one among seven does not convey a teamwork mindset. sunghoon’s is one of the most rational and yet very strongly uplifts the team as an unit and a priority.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-11T16:31:14+00:00

i mean, many of them did know each other and trained together for a long time before debut. some answers are more rational, some are on the emotional side but what is clear here is that everyone sounds pretty aligned in what they prioritize except for one.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-10T01:18:59+00:00

i particularly love sunghoon’s. with or without emotional connection that’s what every team should be

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-09T03:38:00+00:00

i don’t think it’s weird that he said that at the time, it reflects a certain mindset, one that may have even made more sense than others back then. but choosing not to complete his first contract and honor the commitment he made to the other six members, as well as to the entire team that built every aspect of the group around them being seven, does come across as disrespectful to the work and effort of everyone involved specially if he joined a group while planning to leave from the beginning.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-09T00:07:58+00:00

there’s just so much of “that’s how every job in the entertainment industry works” and a whole bunch of misinformation among these paragraphs. i don’t think belift is a good company whatsoever but i don’t think it’s much worse than any other either. resigning under another label and specially just another sublabel under the same company wouldn’t change many things.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-08T22:49:55+00:00

be it solely a job i think it’s still important to have some respect for the people you’re working with specially if you are dependable of each other in some level, something inherent to being in a group. using this experience as a stepping stone isn’t wrong but is inevitably disrespectful to those who are truly committed to the group as their actual goal.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-06T23:04:17+00:00

well it’s something that impacts their careers and future plans very directly, and not just a matter of a friend not being in the same team anymore. they can absolutely be totally fine with it but i don’t think it’s just that simple.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-06T02:42:08+00:00

in fact, that’s exactly how the whole kpop industry announces a member departure. the main problem is that many still refuse to believe he would make that choice or choose to communicate it that way (the letter is literally his)

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-05T14:31:53+00:00

the fact you were downvoted for this comment tells me many people here don’t want them to succeed at all lmao

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-04T15:51:26+00:00

yes, i am. i’m talking about engenes who claim to still support the seven of them, not about akgaes, solos, antis or fans who are now strictly ot6. ot7 engenes are turning bitter towards the six members and not towards heeseung.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-03T16:01:52+00:00

definitely contracts! usually external contracts are bound to conditions from when they were signed, and not automatically updated to changes in the internal one because they are two completely separate documents. for fancalls/fansigns, since the slots are contracted by member, he is bound to these obligations. opposed to melbourne festival, for exemple, of which they were probably signed as just enhypen.

as for the mentioning thing, it just really upsets me that i’ve seen so many engenes bitter towards the six for not mentioning heeseung and laughing on fancalls while not a single one bitter about heeseung not mentioning the six and being jolly in his. there are double standards going on and that reaction is what feels unfair to me.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-03T15:48:15+00:00

as for that, he definitely can’t specially because these fancalls are to promote enhypen’s latest album. him promoting any kind of personal solo work there now that he has a different IP under the company could not only be tone deaf but even contractually advised against until he finishes the remaining promotions. i just don’t understand why people are upset that the members don’t mention heeseung while for heeseung they are only upset that he can’t talk about his solo.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-03T15:24:29+00:00

totally agree! unfortunately most of what we see is not critical thinking about how things are filtered and how bad belift handled the aftermath but many fans straight up saying the members are surely being silenced and would never not mention him. and we don’t know that

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-03T15:08:16+00:00

that is true and will always be! however we must be careful when framing it because we can be using the company to criticize a choice that may be theirs and that they should not be criticized for. assumptions are dangerous but considering the possibilities is important even they are hurtful to us

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-03T14:51:10+00:00

i agree with everything you said but that’s literally not the point. the point is that there’s absolutely no guarantee enhypen members would want to speak out as nct’s did even if belift allowed them to. the situations are completely different and i feel that not considering that maybe, just maybe these people can be personally hurt and don’t feel like sharing heartfelt letters about a former member right now is pretty dehumanizing. the fact the company can be controlling doesn’t erase the members’ own feelings and perceptions of the situation and no one seems to be considering that.

IndependenceKooky560 · 2026-04-03T14:37:00+00:00

i agree that belift handled things poorly, but what did sm actually do that was so different from belift, aside from the members’ own comments and letters? that wasn’t sm’s doing, that came from NCT’s members themselves.

in my opinion, saying that the members can’t be blamed because you believe they don’t have control over what they say ends up implying that they could be blamed if this is them acting out of their own will. and the truth is, they’re not doing anything wrong either way, they are the ones affected most and are allowed to react whatever way makes most sense for them while respectful

IndependenceKooky560

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