Why didn't Heeseung leave ENHYPEN and when should we expect him back?

BELIFT and its official statement

I’ll start with the statement that triggered all this chaos on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. BELIFT announced on the Weverse account and ENHYPEN’s Twitter that as of March 10, Heeseung is leaving the group to start solo promotions. It also notes that the artist’s vision for his musical future conflicts with the group’s activities, which is why he was offered a solo path. It’s worth noting the company says the decision was made a long time ago with much thought and a search for compromise. Heeseung himself wrote in a handwritten letter on Weverse that he accepted the direction the company offered.

The whole situation seems strange and illogical: why now, and what exactly happened? There are still eighteen months left until Enhypen's contract expires; the group is successful and has sold-out shows worldwide. Idols don't just leave groups like that for no reason. In the K-pop in

dustry, it has never been an issue to debut solo while remaining a member of their group; this is always beneficial and is practiced by every other successful group with a stable fandom. Literally, right next to them, Yeonjun from TXT exists, so—why?

the conclusion is: the company needs this departure

Complete mess with OT6/OT7 merch

And this is where the whole actual chaos begins, because in the eyes of the fandom, BELIFT is absolutely incompetent and can't do anything right. Since March 10, it’s been a total circus every single day: they announce that it's over, ENHYPEN is now a six-member group, and we should forget about OT7 forever, BUT! The Japanese album is being prepared with all seven members (!), and merch is still being sold for seven people. Some ads are being edited to cut Heeseung out, but literally not even fully?

Moreover, it's worth noting that all upcoming Japanese merch is OT7, because Japan has rather strict rules; BELIFT is obligated to report any changes in the group's lineup so that consumers aren't misled. But BELIFT isn't doing that. And they won't, because technically Heeseung is still a member of ENHYPEN. We have two solid pieces of evidence for this:

BELIFT edited his profile, but they only added his new name, Evan. In the "work experience" section, ENHYPEN is still listed.

The second thing we have is the company's statement itself; it doesn't say anywhere that he is terminating his contract. Usually, when idol leave a group, this is mandatory to mention—it’s literally the idol's status, whether they are now free to join other agencies.

What else is worth noting: we also know that the contract is still valid because Heeseung continues to hold fancalls as part of the promotion for the album "the sin:vanish." Why would an idol who has left the group do this?

Leaving a group means a complete cessation of activities, removing all merch featuring the former member from production, canceling all events with them, and, most importantly, cutting off access to the group's copyrights. As a former member, he shouldn't even be a part of Enhypen events, yet Heeseung continues to host fancalls? It's like being fired but still showing up to your old workplace. Why? No one has ever left like this. Belift perfectly understands that they were OBLIGATED to cancel everything prepared for OT7, rather than letting donut ads get on the nerves of upset fans.

It’s also worth noting that since Heeseung’s departure, ENGENEs have protested extensively and regulary. There were offline protests in front of buildings in LA and Seoul, pickets, online campaigns, petition with 2 million signatures, and much more—but Belift ignored EVERYTHING. Interestingly, there hasn't been a single article describing what’s happening. Not single one. A few days later, a Korean publisher writes a sponsored article, stating once again that Heeseung will not return because ENHYPEN has a busy schedule and there’s no room to fit in his solo work.

Don't forget that all this time, Belift continues to feed the fandom both OT6 and OT7 content equally, which naturally makes everyone even angrier. They are literally saying that Enhypen is six, but if you think about it, maybe they're seven.

About 10 days later, a huge number of articles with identical text inside are published; they all talk about how ENGENEs are fighting for Heeseung, writing about the voices demanding his return.

This cat-and-mouse game continues. From the very beginning, Belift has been trying to convince us that ENHYPEN has six members, but they leave hints everywhere that there are actually seven members, not six. perfect example is Jessica from SNSD who was edited out of a MUSIC VIDEO when she left the group.

Speaking of similar situations!

What about looking at Mark's departure from NCT: SM announced it a few days before the actual departure; it was truly of his own free will and upon the expiration of his contract—SM didn't ban other members from saying goodbye to him openly; they talked about him on livestreams, social media, and in letters. It really was by mutual consent (SM are quite the bastards when it comes to contract termination; that’s how they lost half of EXO). Oh, and Mark's Bubble became inactive the moment his contract ended. Heeseung's Weverse account stayed in the ENHYPEN member list for another two weeks, and who knows how long it would have stayed there if Korean engenes hadn't rebelled and demanded belift create something else for Heeseung (again, the main issue was that Heeseung's fans had nowhere to report hate comments; Heeseung didn't have a separate section for that, only a shared one with ENHYPEN).

Separately, I'd like to mention the brainrot happening with Belift and the Billboard Korea article.

The article itself states that it was provided by Belift Lab, which is important note for us.

For unknown reasons, Belift edited it THREE times: first, they wrote "ENHYPEN Heeseung," then they erased it and changed it to "former ENHYPEN member Heeseung," and finally, they just left it as "Heeseung." What’s with all this maneuvering, and why wasn't "former member Heeseung" good enough for you?

Now, I suppose it's time to move on to the theory itself. Why am I sure that Heeseung never actually left and will definitely return?

At the beginning of the year, HYBE announced a new development strategy called "Scarcity" which they intend to implement. What is "scarcity" and why is it happening now with ENGENE and ENHYPEN?

The Scarcity concept (deficit) in HYBE's strategy is a new business model officially announced in early 2024 as part of the "HYBE 2.0" update. The essence of the strategy lies in artificially limiting access to content and artists to increase their value and maximize profit.

📍 Key goals of the strategy:

• Increasing value: the less of a product on the market, the higher its status and price.
• Stimulating demand: the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) forces fans to buy faster and at a higher price.

SO

• Creating a deficit: Heeseung leaves the group and appears only once a week; his Instagram instantly gains a million followers, Twitter reach is massive engagements, the entire kpop fandom wait for his next appearance because we get him in doses and for a short time. By the way, Heeseung still doesn't have a Weverse account; he doesn't interact with fans like before. Now he's like a princess in a tower, and we are the dragon—we are only allowed to wait for his next outing. Belift has masterfully created a situation where demand suddenly far exceeds supply; fans are "hungry" and ready to pay even more
• Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO): forces fans to frantically buy up merch, especially if it's "OT7" (all 7 members) stuff, because "there won't be any more." Belift keeps convincing us that this is our last chance to buy something with Heeseung. Then there's total silence. A great recent example from HYBE's "Rhythm Hive": some time after the official announcement of Heeseung's departure, it was stated he would no longer appear in new card sets. ENGENEs started buying everything they could in game. And you know what? Heeseung's cards were recently returned to the game, which just proves the agency is confusing the fandom by saying it's the end, when in fact, it's far from the end.

Belift Lab is testing "scarcity" on us; they are trying it out (and they are doing a great job honestly).

Why then does the company continue to push the OT6 agenda? The reason is we believe it, so we buy merch out of pure emotion.

A little bit about the company in the words of Belift Lab's CEO; this interview was given by him to journalists in 2024 (the translation of the full article belongs to https://m.vk.ru/@cherishmyillit-kim-teho-glavnyi-operacionnyi-direktor-hybe-i-generalnyi-dir). Out of the important points, I will highlight two:

— Question: what position does BELIFT LAB hold today within HYBE, and what is HYBE's status in the global music industry?

"Given my dual role as the Chief Operating Officer of HYBE, BELIFT LAB naturally takes the lead in exploring new ventures and innovations within the company. True to the word 'LAB' in our name, we operate like a startup — taking risks and pushing boundaries to drive innovation. We also..."

"At HYBE, we are working hard to create a fully integrated experience for fans both online and offline; we are expanding into various types of businesses based on content IP and offering unique, personalized experiences for super-fans."

Kim Tae-ho (CEO of Belift, who was the one to announce the new "scarcity" development strategy) describes Belift Lab itself as a "company that takes on all risks, as well as the first subsidiary to implement new innovations." He emphasizes that the "Lab" in the agency's name stands for laboratory.

The Belift laboratory is offering us a new "unique experience," and they position themselves as the ones who will be the first to try out the label's innovations. It certainly shows.

And one more thing about the merch.

Heeseung's Japanese album are more expensive than the albums of other ENHYPEN members. A coincidence, right?

For the second month in a row, Belift has been busy making us believe in their narrative.

Now, for a few points that shouldn't go unnoticed:

• The HYBE India account posted a photo featuring OT7 banners near the HYBE building and then deleted it. Was it really accidental?

• The members at the Seoul concerts are very obviously leaving an empty space in their formations.

• The "Blood Saga" tour is held with the support of vampirenow.live, a website Belift created to promote ENHYPEN’s lore. The setlist also includes "Fate," a song with a very significant meaning (the entire ENHYPEN lore is permeated with the concept of fate). Details in the stage decorations are not just details

The name of the new Dark Moon chapter literally means "two moons," 2 moons.

Before Heeseung's departure, the moon in Moonstruck was always depicted as pink; in the new performances, it is ALWAYS blue, and this is emphasized more than once.

And Heeseung describe his solo with the color blue.

so I have to put some dark moon lore too

credit: @airyblossom in twt

• jay's wv reply:

• The members reply to ENGENEs who have the number "7" in their nicknames, Jungwon played only Heeseung’s part in "Shout Out" during his livestream, Sunoo watches aegyo videos of himself and Heeseung and etc.

when heeseung come back?

Anyway, here is my theory: EVAN has nothing to do with ENHYPEN; he is Heeseung's alter ego, which is why the members don't talk about his departure at all. Heeseung didn't leave; EVAN appeared, and he will likely play the role of a villain?? ENHYPEN will save him, and everything will go back to the way it was. All that's left is to wait for his solo debut

If my theory is correct, then Heeseung's solo will be quite... uh... dark? Provocative? EVAN should be revealed as a villain; I truly believe in this, honestly. What we are going through right now is a transitional period, the birth of EVAN; maybe Heeseung is "disconnected" from reality or something like that.

Because otherwise, I don't know how to justify Belift's actions. I don't believe in SUCH incompetence from a company that created the best lore in K-pop. All their actions SCREAM that they are simultaneously giving hope and taking it away; they want us to immerse ourselves in the lore completely.

(And at the same time, test their f***ing new "scarcity" strategy on ENGENEs; by the way, it's already working at full speed).

The concerts in LATAM are only in 2 months (Heeseung should have time to release his album already). Does anyone remember that the concert organizers in Lima posted an OT7 announcement on their Instagram? They later said it was a mistake, but come on, who’s going to believe that?

I'm not trying to stretch the truth or give false hope, but a two-month break and Heeseung's almost-ready album seem like more than a coincidence. And I don’t believe the organizers sat there using AI to fix the "Blood Saga" poster; they probably don't even know how many members are in ENHYPEN. But the fact that the poster was sent in advance is believable

And in the span of May and June, they could debut Heeseung, promote him on music shows, and bring him back to ENHYPEN. Doesn't that make sense?

SO WELL

Based on my assumptions and personal convictions, this will happen in June, unlikely any earlier. I am sure they will go to LATAM as a full group, and Heeseung's solo album will provide us with even more lore that will be connected to ENHYPEN.