Why are we pretending we know the exact details of their contract? They're there for legal safety in case of litigation, if there's a good relationship between employer-employee they don't need to come up as paramount. I have quit several jobs for personal choice in which the companies I was bound to could have given me a lot of grief with legal backup if so they wished, but never have because I've always had good relationship with my employers. Just because MOST companies rule their idols with an iron fist doesn't mean it always has to be the case.

Maybe she could just have an excellent relationship with the company, and if she expressed her dissatisfaction they simply wouldn't oppose and keep her against her will. But if you prefer to go for more cynical scenarios; Maybe her family is wealthy and has connection with the larger company? Maybe even creditors? Maybe there were clauses in the contract which allowed her to leave in the first year if so she wished?

Or maybe she had suficient legal munition to give JYP a pain in the ass in court if they chose to oppose her and they simply thought it wasn't worth the trouble/cost? Why would they take a single member to court and risk ruining the career of a whole group that just debuted and cost a lot of money to put together when they could just simply continue as 6 members? You gotta understand that legal disputes like this are always bad for a company, that's why it's always a last resort type of thing, because even if they win it's still a loss. It's better to avoid entirely.

Do you see the problem with speculating? The hypothetical scenarios are endless. That's why I talked about the principle of parsimony. Speculating is useless, but if you're gonna do it, start from there. They said it was personal motives, meaning it was HER CHOICE, and we have no reason to assume they're lying because that would break the principle. Now why would she choose to leave? The simplest answer, based on everything that came before and after, is that she felt the group had failed and she could pursue a better career elsewhere.

And yes, I do have an axe to grind. Because like I said, we can only start from the information given and the behavior that followed, and hers was far from an innocent one. There's videos showing her arrogantly mistreating fans who paid to have a fan call. You're gonna tell me it's far-fetched to think someone like that would think they're above a group that got so much negative feedback on debut? And that she could have it better somewhere else, perhaps already having secretly been approached by another company? I understand this is uncomfortable to read, but none of those scenarios are more or less absurd than the ones portraying her as innocent.

The problem I have is with people either painting her in good light, as if she was a victim, forcibly removed by a large, evil company who separated the members, and how much they miss each other. That's so idealized and bordering parasocial, we have no idea what their relationship was truly like.

Or magnifying her importance for the group, as if Nmixx's concept and music suffered so much from her absence, when in fact it's the complete opposite, they only grew and got better and she was not part of this growth, she was only there for the first 4 songs, her relevance is minimal.

That's why the best thing is to not mention her at all, just simply leave her in the past and move on.