Former ENHYPEN member EVAN has detailed his childhood cancer battle for the first time.
The 24-year-old star – whose real name is Lee Hee-seung – was in fourth grade when he was told he had malignant lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that happens when certain white blood cells (lymphocytes) become abnormal and start multiplying uncontrollably, forming tumours in lymph nodes or other organs.
Sharing his symptoms, he told Weverse Magazine: “I kept coughing, and at first I just figured it was a cold and didn’t think much of it, but then when I was playing soccer, I took four or five steps and suddenly couldn’t breathe.
“I found out at the hospital later that it was cancer.”
On the challenging treatment he underwent, EVAN said: “But when I saw how my mom took care of me nonstop, I wanted to put on a brave face for her.”
During his time on the hospital ward, he would perform in talent shows with his fellow patients and dream about becoming a pop star.
He said: “I dreamed of being a singer ever since I was six, but to be honest, back then I didn’t really have the mental bandwidth to even think about that.”
The K-pop star – who went by the name Heeseung in the boy band – recalled the devastation of watching the friends he’d made in hospital pass away from the disease.
He recalled: “I’d watch my friends pass away and kept thinking, ‘I want to live so badly, I want to go home.’ “Thankfully I made it through treatment and got to go on with my life.”
Returning to school was a big challenge he faced, with EVAN being bullied over his chemo hair.
He said: “I had a lot less energy, and since my hair was still growing back from chemo, I got teased a lot for it.”
On why he chose not to discuss his cancer battle until now, he admitted: “I haven’t thought about that in a long time. It hurts to bring it back up.”
Although EVAN hadn’t addressed it directly, he did without anyone knowing in song form.
He explained: “When I sing on Death of Me, the lead single, that this ‘ain’t the death of me,’ it comes from a place of having actually gone right up to the edge of death myself.
“No matter how far down I went, I felt over and over that it was never really the end.”
Back in March, EVAN quit ENHYPEN to pursue a solo career.
He addressed fans directly in a letter posted on Weverse, reflecting on his time with the group and explaining that he had been developing personal material for some time, but held back to avoid overshadowing ENHYPEN’s activities.