On March 10, 2026, K-pop idol Heeseung stunned fans in the worst way possible by announcing his departure from the trend-setting and top-charting boy group ENHYPEN. The shocking news has dug up a similar, long-buried trauma experienced by music lovers 11 years ago.

With the K-pop group’s agency announcing that the South Korean singer will pursue solo music in the future, melophiles couldn’t help but think back to a date in March 2015 when yet another music industry heartthrob left many hearts broken with an identical decision. On March 25, 2015, One Direction formally announced that Zayn Malik had decided to quit the sensational British band, leaving the music act as a four-piece.

Now that ENHYPEN will be moving forward as a six-member group, social media has been flooded with all sorts of meltdowns. An emerging trend caught many X users speculating that Heeseung had “pulled a Zayn” by doing the unthinkable.

ALSO READ

Viral tweet sparks parallels between ENHYPEN and One Direction

‘About Music,’ a popular music updates page on X, especially fanned the fire of conspiracy theories after posting the message, “11 years ago on this month, Zayn announced his departure from One Direction.” The ironic coincidence of the tweet’s emergency on the same day as Heeseung’s exit from ENHYPEN wasn’t lost on fans of both the beloved groups. Directioners (fans of 1D) and ENGENEs (fans of ENHYPEN) left comments like “No one understands the pain of a Directiongene” on X.

Another K-pop enthusiast chimed in, “Girl this being posted the day Heeseung surprisingly departed ENHYPEN is sending me.”

A third said, “2 main vocals left their group on the same day 11 years apart what in the conspiracy is this.”

A heartbroken user added, “Zayn leaving 1D 11 years ago today… and Heeseung dips from ENHYPEN same day? Universe is trolling main vocalists.”

Yet another person replied, “Zayn leaving one direction was bad but Heeseung pulling a Zayn on the exact same date 11 years later??? that’s not coincidence that’s a DEMONIC RITUAL.”

Striking similarities between Heeseung and Zayn Malik’s exit stories

As is expected from the aftermath of Heeseung’s departure, music lovers couldn’t come to terms with Zayn’s exit from 1D either 11 years ago. Over a decade later, many Directioners still choose to be in denial and wistfully look forward to a day when Malik can rejoin the band. Heeseung is currently 24 years old and (used to be) the oldest member of ENHYPEN. Meanwhile, Zayn was 22 years old and the second-oldest member (after Louis Tomlinson) when he left One Direction in 2015.

Like Malik carving a solo music career after his 1D departure, Heeseung has also been confirmed to be walking the same path. An official date for his debut has yet to be announced. Zayn, on his part, dropped his first solo album in 2016, the very next year after he stopped being a One Direction member.

Although he initially cited his desire to live as a “normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight” as the reason for his exit, he disclosed in a subsequent interview with The Fader in December 2015 that he disliked the group’s musical direction. He further noted that the band didn’t leave any room for him to experiment creatively, as its sound pushed an image that aligned with “generic” pop.

Heeseung, on the other hand, hasn’t yet outlined a specific reason (except for his desire to debut solo) for leaving the group.

As long as we’re on the page of discussing parallels between the two, both singers dedicated nearly the same amount of time to their former bands. While Zayn left after spending five years with 1D, Heesung also called it quits after a little over five years with ENHYPEN. Another icing on the cake of the “conspiracy” talk is that both groups were formed on survival competition TV shows: 1D on The X Factor and ENHYPEN on I-LAND.