I would feel sorry for EXO fans, except the fans may be feeling so numb from the relentless departure pains that no one can feel a thing anymore. The long drawn out withdrawal of Chinese member Tao (Huang Zi Tao) from the boy band appears to have come to a definitive conclusion over the weekend as Tao’s recently established workshop in China posted a teaser poster and date for his upcoming solo album release. Media and fans alike are taking this movie as the nail on the Tao returning to EXO coffin as any, so now it’s onward for EXO as a 9-member group.
For the top K-pop idol group of the last two years, EXO has hemorrhaged members at a rate incredible to behold considering how popular they are and how quickly members left in succession. First came Kris (Wu Yi Fan), followed a few months later by Luhan, and now Tao makes it a trifecta of Chinese members leaving, though that still leaves now sole Chinese member Lay still a member of the group. I do find it amusing that the three young men broke up with EXO in different ways that lend itself to pretty apt analogies on the typical ways guys can skedaddle.
Both Kris and Luhan are doing exceptionally well on their solo entertainment careers in China but only time will tell if Tao finds the same reception. I’m entertained by how these three departures really epitomize different ways of breaking up, which are often seen in K-dramas and does happen in reality even in non-romantic ways of ending an affiliation.
Tao’s departure from EXO is like a boyfriend who breaks up by just not confirming anything while letting actions speak for itself. He stops being proactive with calls and hanging out, and his responses trickle down to nothing. But he uses excuses such as his dad won’t let him see you, or he’s hurt and tired and needs to rest, until finally he cuts off all contact completely. You think that means he’s broken up with you, but you totally don’t know for sure 100% and that sucks because you need closure. You see him posting stuff on FB that seems to show him not injured and having free time to hang out with others. Finally you are forced to admit it’s over when you get invited to his wedding where he’s marrying someone else, and you wonder why he didn’t have the decency to just say “Let’s break up” to your face from the get go.
Kris’s breakup is the guy who disappears for a week “to be alone” and then returns to show up at your door in the middle of the night with a very important thing to say which is he wants to break up and he has to say it at that very moment because it’s so important to him that he gets his freedom. If you refuse to break up just like that then he gets angry and tells everyone around that you’re a terrible girlfriend and it was awful being with you and he won’t stop until you set him free.
Luhan’s breakup is totally the “it’s not you, it’s me” method, where he feels terrible and really wish it didn’t have to come to this. He’s willing to calmly talk to you about it but he’s not going to change his mind. Everyone around you doesn’t hate him for breaking up with you because he’s so gosh darn cute and sweet, and breaking up is sometimes the best for both sides. It wasn’t meant to be forever but it was wonderful however long it lasted.
That was the funniest thing I’ve read all day!
I can’t cosign the Kris breakup because it’s more like the one who just calls and unilaterally says it’s over and then ignores all contact with you and avoids mentioning anything after you got together (he only talks about trainee days in interviews and never a word about EXO or SM)
hahaha now I’m soooo excited how lay will try to break up with exo LOL
lol you know it’s coming
well it already happened again hahaha when something happens ONCE it could always be a random thing, but once it happens TWICE, it becomes a likelihood. :)) I was wondering why they should divide them into 2 groups if they really are ONE lol haha well now I know why haha clever :p
Hahahaha… so funny and now i finally grasp the whole situation… thanks for bringing forth the clear picture koala…
hahah I love this post and your comparison of members leaving with breaking up styles in love relationships!!! You’re jjang!!!
I usually don’t post comments, but this post was genuinely too funny not to! XD
Same here, my real laugh for a while
great analogy…lol…
Ms koala u just made my day! I love reading your post! Really daebak
I don’t know where you get the analogies Kris will tell everyone how terrible you are if you don’t break up with you. He is more appropriately leave you after he said his piece, don’t care what you got to say, don’t return your care and pretend you never existed kind of break up.
The other two are spot on though.
well look at that another chinese member left. what are the odd of that happening again? sm should just stop getting boy. just go after chinese girl they will be more loyal to you. just look at fx victoria. even with the big fan base she have in china. she still really loyal to sm.
boy have no loyal at all.
shut up lmao no one cares about fx anymore
LOL Nice analogies there
as funny as this post you forgot the end: SM is the boyfriend (i guess girlfriend in this analogy) who treats you like trash and doesn’t care about your mental, emotional, financial or future health then acts surprised when you say enough is enough, I’m leaving.
LOL, I think that’s agreed upon by even the most ardent SM-stan.
But you’re forgetting the quid pro quo – each of these guys willingly, knowingly, and voluntarily agreed to date the shitty ex in question, knowing that the ex is trash that doesn’t care and is only using you, because the trade off is the ex has tons of money and connections and take you to all the cool parties and make you super famous.
There is no win-win here with a side having some sort of moral high ground.
Well said! Both parties did agree to date each other.
Sorry but that’s bullshit.
I don’t think any of us are in any position to know what these kids knew or didn’t know when they signed that contract. Not to mention so many people are desperate to debut that even if they do question the contract, SM could easily kick them out and find someone else desperate to fulfill their dreams. So many people have false illusions of the entertainment industry and sign on board without fully knowing what they’ll be getting themselves into. That’s true even in Hollywood. Since the entertainment industry goes out of its way to present itself as wonderful, shiny and glamorous, and the culture brainwashes people into truly believing that hard work = breaking your back literally. But nobody can judge what these kids go through unless they have gone through it themselves.
On top of that, you can say the trade off is tons of money except half of their profits are being gutted by the company via unfair compensation rates. I just think it’s gross how far people will go to excuse a corrupt industry just because it’s part of your culture, or because your faves are doing well in it.
For the matter, from what I’ve seen most of the people in China that are fans of Kris and Luhan don’t even know that SM or EXO exists so even though being in that group helped them get started, I’ll venture out a guess and say that a lot of their success came from their own hands, through good old fashioned hustling (otherwise, EXO would be seeing the same if not more success in China if their name brand was that valuable).
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Lol, awesome post! True, when the guys decided to date SM, they knew what they could be in for, thanks to all the many famous “exes” of SM.
Yixing is the polygamist? Lol he’s already got one foot out the door with his studio and promotions in China.
Such a funny post. Those metaphors are comedy gold!
Okay, I love this post koala, such a drama, wish EXO luck since i love their popular release
Awesome post Koala !! wow if all the members left we would have so much knowledge on how guys behave in relationships and how they quit it. I like your post a lot and hopefully there will be more such funny and intuitive posts coming our way 🙂
Love this post! Who would have thought of this. Thanks for another comedic post 🙂
Hahahahahahahahaaaas all eyes are on Lay now :p
if the latter leave I bet SM will think twice before recruiting chinese boys in his groups hehehe
Then they should also think twice about their desperate attempts to break into the Chinese market.
Ha. I agree with the comment that lay was polygamist.. lol..
It’s like you date 2 girls in the same time n will left the worse for the better one.. so if his activities in china were greater than korea’s .. then bye2 SM.. he will broken up from you and leaving you.. like a boss..
Why is it that the moment I discovered my love for EXO happened to be synonymous with Tao’s departure? =.=
Only Lay? I thought all this time, Xiumin is Chinese too coz of his name. Hee. -_-