Girl group ARIAZ (formerly Empire Girls) debuted in 2019 under Rising Star Entertainment. Several members had participated in audition programs, garnering significant attention in their early days. However, by 2022, multiple members had left the company and terminated their contracts. The agency never officially announced a disbandment, leaving the group's status ambiguous.
Member Hyokey (효경), who now promotes under the name Hyokey, has been consistently sharing her past experiences as an idol on her personal channel. In addition to discussing the behind-the-scenes of the K-pop industry, she has also opened up about her dating experiences during her trainee and idol periods. One particular anecdote about being caught on her very first date has garnered significant attention.
Hyokey previously shared her experiences working in the K-pop industry, and recently released a new video on her personal channel discussing her romantic life as an idol.
She confessed that her first “romantic relationship” actually occurred during her trainee days. However, the two never truly met in person, communicating primarily through messages and phone calls, supporting each other and becoming each other's emotional pillars.
It wasn't until her next relationship that she actually met and dated someone in person. Hyokey revealed that the man had already debuted as an idol, while she was still a trainee. After their first meeting, she quickly noticed him constantly checking his phone.
It turned out he wasn't busy replying to messages; instead, he was repeatedly checking “if anyone saw us,” worried that their date would be photographed by passersby and uploaded online. Hyokey admitted that his constant phone-checking was a bit distracting, but at the time, she thought, “He's not that famous, so there shouldn't be any problems.”
To her surprise, reality quickly hit. Their first date was immediately exposed! Even more awkwardly, when Hyokey returned to the company the next day, her groupmates saw her and asked, “Are you crazy?”
It turned out that a friend of her groupmate had witnessed the two of them together and subsequently informed her. The friend even advised Hyokey to end the relationship quickly before company staff found out.
Hyokey shared more dating stories from her idol days in the video, discussing her experience of being caught on her first real date, sparking enthusiastic discussion among fans.
