As ENHYPEN readjusts following the recent departure of member HEESEUNG, the next few episodes of the band’s weekly YouTube series “EN-O CLOCK” have been canceled.
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The temporary hiatus was announced by label BELIFT LAB on Thursday (March 12), the same day ENHYPEN had been scheduled to drop a new installment of the variety web-show. “We would like to inform you about the ‘EN-O’ CLOCK’ series,” a post on X read.
“The ‘EN-O’ CLOCK’ series, which was scheduled to be released every Thursday, will be taking a short break,” it continued. “We will return with even better content in April. We ask for your kind understanding.”
Billboard has reached out to BELIFT for more information.
The news comes just two days after the HYBE-owned company announced that after “extensive deliberation” and “in-depth discussions with each of the members,” they’d come to the decision that HEESEUNG would be leaving the septet in order to pursue a career as a soloist. The development sparked an outpouring of mixed reactions from fans of the band, who expressed sadness, concern and confusion online. One petition protesting the lineup change has more than 1 million signatures at press time.
When asked why HEESEUNG couldn’t explore solo opportunities while remaining in the band — a model other K-pop groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK have successfully operated under in recent years — BELIFT told Billboard in a statement, “We concluded that allowing HEESEUNG to focus fully on his career as a solo artist, rather than pursuing solo activities within the team, would be the most fulfilling approach for both ENHYPEN and HEESEUNG.”
Going forward, HEESEUNG will remain under the same label while working on his solo music, while ENHYPEN will continue functioning as a boy band with its remaining six members — SUNGHOON, JUNGWON, SUNOO, JAY, JAKE AND NI-KI — with two of the singers appearing on Australia’s The Morning Show on Wednesday (March 11) for their first interview since HEESEUNG’s departure, a topic they did not discuss.
Sitting next to JAY, however, JAKE did share that they’ve been in “a lot” of rehearsals ahead of the band’s upcoming concert at the Hello Melbourne festival. “There’s been a bit of changes in the choreo with the formation, all that,” the Aussie-raised performer said. “So we’ve been practicing a lot.”
