This idol, who had been dating her longtime boyfriend of seven years during her heyday, revealed how she was able to date outside without being caught.
Can you guess who the K-pop star is?
Hyerim Shares Secret to Date Without Being Caught: 'If you walk around confidently...'
On March 11, Lim Hyerim, a member of the K-pop legend Wonder Girls, appeared as a guest on the YouTube channel, Chmanchu. There, she unveiled the story of how she met her 7-year boyfriend-turned-husband, and how they were able to keep it a secret until they announced their engagement and wedding.
During the broadcast, the K-pop icon was asked to share more about her husband, Shim Min Chul, a South Korean Taekwondo athlete.
In particular, the MCs showed curiosity about how they were able to meet regardless of the difference in their career paths, especially amid Wonder Girls' hectic schedules. With this, Hyerim responded:
"(Wonder Girls) have all the time to date. My father is a Taekwondo instructor, and I met my husband when I went to his Taekwondo class."
The couple started to date in 2013 and until 2020, their relationship was kept as a secret. When asked:
"You were in a relationship for 7 years, but your relationship wasn't public at the time? How do (celebrities) meet their lovers?"
As a response, Hyerim highlighted the edge of dating a non-celebrity and claimed:
"My husband is not a celebrity. So when we went out together, people thought he was my manager."
As it constantly happened, Hyerim just went with it, adding:
"People would come up to my husband and ask, 'Can I get Hyerim's autograph?' So we can walk around comfortably."
The "So Hot" singer then claimed:
"If you go around hiding, you will arouse more suspicions. If you go around confidently, (people) will think he's just a manager."
Hyerim, who debuted as Wonder Girls in 2010, married Shim Min Chul in 2020, a Taekwondo athlete who's six years her senior. They had their firstborn in 2021.
K-Netz React to Lim Hyerim's Remark
Shortly after the broadcast, Lim Hyerim became a hot topic in various online forums due to her remark about making her boyfriend pretend like a manager to avoid dating rumors. This is in light of numerous fourth-gen K-pop idols being embroiled in romantic relationship speculations amid their rookie days.
K-netizens pointed out that fans aren't that "dumb" and Lim Hyerim's supporters most likely just pretended not to know to respect the idol's relationship.
- "It's impossible that they don't know. Fans know the faces of staff, security guards and even the company employees."
- "There is no way fans wouldn't know."
- "Fans are aware of what their managers look like. They just pretend not to know."
- "Oh my, if they are muggles, they might think that he's a manager, but fans know everything."
But rather than being criticized, Lim Hyerim drew smiles for her innocence, garnering comments like:
- "She's so innocent."
- "That's cute. Are you sure they didn't know? Our Hyerim is happy, anyway, so that's fine."
- "Seriously, fans knew all along. Me too. But it's cute how Hyerim thought that nobody knew."
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Written by Eunice Dawson.
