2024 was an undeniably hot year for ENGENE, ENHYPEN’s fandom, the world over. The K-pop group’s second studio album, “ROMANCE: UNTOLD,” was astoundingly successful, ranking second on the 2024 Global Album Sales Chart released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the highest ever achieved by a K-pop artist. It also claimed third on Luminate’s year-end report of top US sales with 363,000 copies sold, trailing behind only Taylor Swift and Stray Kids. The repackaged version of the album, “ROMANCE: UNTOLD -daydream-,” set a historic sales high among K-pop artists’ repackaged albums with 1,478,354 copies sold in its first week (Hanteo Chart). Not only that, but ENHYPEN’s community on global fandom platform Weverse surpassed 10 million members by August.
“Bite Me,” the lead single off ENHYPEN’s 2023 album “DARK BLOOD,” made waves by reaching No. 163 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs list in the US. This marked ENHYPEN’s first appearance on the chart, and the song was also the most streamed track by a K-pop boy group that year. Additionally, the group’s original webtoon “DARK MOON: THE BLOOD ALTAR” reached 100 million views in January 2023. The vampire story reaches further than just the webtoon, though, tying into “DARK BLOOD” through the album’s fantasy-themed promotional concept trailer and the appropriately titled lead single, “Bite Me.” This integration between music and story marked a pivotal moment for ENHYPEN. Blending their real-world songs with characters from the fantasy world of the webtoon, this approach gave fans a fresh, immersive experience and signaled the dawn of “next entertainment,” the group’s vision for the future of entertainment. Another significant moment came when the group performed “One In A Billion” for the first time while on tour, giving fans their first in-person taste of a song that’s part of the soundtrack to “DARK MOON: THE BLOOD ALTAR”—and the roar of the crowd was thunderous.
“Our goal was to reaffirm their identities as vampires by synergizing with their original story, ‘DARK MOON,’” Youngji Hur, team lead of the OSB Album Storytelling team, says, describing how the weaving of ENHYPEN and the original story they inspire is a bold “next entertainment” move. Not only does “DARK BLOOD” represent the meeting point of “DARK MOON” with the vampire themes the group has been cultivating ever since their debut, but it’s also a meaningful expression of how they feel toward their fans that brings the vampires out of a fantasy setting and into the real world. “ENHYPEN debuted during the pandemic, meaning they had no choice but to focus on the self,” Hur explains, “but they could see ENHYPEN in person starting from their ‘MANIFESTO’ tour, meaning they started looking toward someone else, and that marks the evolution of a real artist.” The albums since “DARK BLOOD” portray the fans—the ones ENHYPEN is singing to when they sing about “you”—as the ones who drive the vampires to strive to grow. For example, while the vampires take a pessimistic view of their immortality, and their lack of a partner as a result, in “ORANGE BLOOD,” things are different on the lead single “No Doubt” off “ROMANCE: UNTOLD -daydream-,” where they’re ready to demonstrate their feelings: “If you want me to prove my love, I’ll prove it / A hundred, no, a thousand times.” “The ENHYPEN members weren’t yet fully developed as artists when they were on the audition show ‘I-LAND,’ but ENGENE still showed them unconditional love,” Hur recalls. “ENHYPEN debuted through that choice of ENGENE’s,” she says, adding, “For the fandom to be fully immersed, the artist’s growth and the storytelling through their albums must blend seamlessly.” For ENHYPEN, vampires aren’t just the starting point for a novel narrative within their albums but a means to work the real relationship between the group and their fandom into the storyline. It gives both the singers and their fans an opportunity to become deeply engrossed in one another’s worlds. “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC),” the lead single off their earlier album “MANIFESTO: DAY 1,” centers on self-discovery with a message of generational unity (“I realized / We ran together”), but in “Fate,” the opening track off “DARK BLOOD,” they shift the subject of their narrative: “To offer myself to you” and “follow the token of blood.” Now the focus is on the listener—ENGENE.
While “ROMANCE: UNTOLD” “is a romance anyone can relate to,” the goal was also for “fans who heard it and know the story” to see it as “both the love between a vampire and a human and the love between ENHYPEN and ENGENE,” Katie Yim, head of the BELIFT LAB A&R team, reveals. On the album’s lead single, “XO (Only If You Say Yes),” lyrics like, “I’ll be your genie,” or, “The one and only key to make me move,” can be read as a romantic tale of a vampire wanting to use their powers to make someone’s dreams come true, but they also reflect the universal sentiment of wanting to give everything to the one you love. “As ENHYPEN had previously focused mostly on danceable, choreography-heavy lead singles, ‘XO (Only If You Say Yes)’—a mid-tempo, laid-back track—was chosen with the intention to give fans something fresh while making the group’s music a little more accessible to a wider audience not yet familiar with the group,” Yim says. This left room open for the song to be interpreted as a representation of the relationship between the artist and their fans. The fact that the group has a concept as specific as vampires yet still manages to keep their messages universal has been one of the key factors in growing ENHYPEN’s global fanbase since “DARK BLOOD.” “XO (Only If You Say Yes),” a collaboration with singer-songwriter JVKE, takes “a sophisticated, lyrical pop melody” and adds “emotional depth through delicate vocals.” While the melody is smooth and simple, and the lyrics make it out to be a happy love song, it’s also colored with the complicated, sadder emotions of a vampire grappling with how messy things inevitably get when they fall in love with a human, further expanding ENHYPEN’s musical spectrum. There’s also “Brought The Heat Back,” about how a vampire, cold by nature, turns hot with jealousy for the first time, and the story expands to include how, if the person causing that jealousy allows it, the singer is prepared to be fully open about their true identity as a vampire. In the recording studio, they “experimented extensively with a variety of singing techniques, like nuances in pronunciation, and other details like breathing and note bending,” Yim explains, to “express the character of the vampire—how cute it is that he’s trying to play it cool and maintain his composure while actually flustered by his first brush with jealousy—effectively.” Lee Gunhee, head of BELIFT LAB’s VC team, similarly emphasizes how they opted for a “direction that could showcase ENHYPEN’s core vampire identity and each member’s individual charm in a way that meshes well starting with ‘DARK BLOOD.’” As Lee further explains, the business attire they wear in the “No Doubt” music video adds a touch of unconventional and unfamiliar appeal through “more illusory elements,” like the striking combination of suits with skirts and twisted belts. The idea was to follow in the footsteps of the video’s theme of “breaking free from illusion.”
“Giving universal fashion sense a vampire twist to create a distinctive image” also serves to bring what makes each member of the group unique into relief—an approach Lee says is possible because “the ENHYPEN members have wide-ranging fashion tastes.” For example, the custom-designed Prada outfits the group first wore during the opening of “WALK THE LINE IN GOYANG” were a perfect fit for the sophisticated image ENHYPEN channeled as brand ambassadors: a stunning black, simple and oozing aloof sophistication in the fashion house’s signature minimalism, both symbolic of vampires and readily identified with Prada’s high-end branding. The outfits were “custom designed based on the Prada global team’s interpretation of each member’s image and personal details,” Lee says. This is particularly significant as Prada had previously only designed concert outfits for a select few artists, like Beyoncé, Drake, and Mahmood—always individuals, never groups. Prada, who “aim for a classic yet contemporary image,” as well as their signature “style and silhouette,” are “perfectly matched for vampires,” and “ENHYPEN is the first to come to mind” when thinking of the supernatural creature, Lee explains. It all works to capture what new angles the idols opened a door to starting with “DARK BLOOD.” From songs with universal appeal to outfits that not only fit the vampire vibe but wouldn’t look out of place on a runway, ENHYPEN’s vampire concept combines elements of widely loved music with an immersive level of depth that shows they’re ardently committed to their image. In essence, ENHYPEN has worked themselves and their messages into the world of vampires across all aspects of their content. In doing so, they’ve demonstrated an ideal way to deeply engage K-pop listeners the world over while showing off how diverse they are.
Beginning with “ORANGE BLOOD,” ENHYPEN has employed an additional strategy of releasing videos shot from a first-person point of view. TikToks like “Choose Your ENHYPEN” parts one and two and “Which type you like?” were filmed on the sets of the music videos for “XO (Only If You Say Yes)” and “No Doubt,” blending the theme of the album with what makes the seven members of the group so alluring. “The artists are very familiar with the things they excel at, which not only enhances the quality of the content but also drives higher viewership,” says Ryu Jihee, a representative with BELIFT LAB’s Marketing 1 team. Platforms like TikTok are extremely effective at showcasing each group member’s personal appeal and helping fans who watch feel closer to them emotionally. As of April 2025, ENHYPEN’s TikTok boasts approximately 28.4 million followers and was ranked second among artists globally in the “Year On TikTok 2024” report. And the group has plenty to be proud of when it comes to their influence on the app: Their challenges, like JUNGWON’s “Gento” challenge, frequently set viewership records, and a recent piece of user-generated content—a fan edit of HEESEUNG performing live called “HEESEUNG Parade”—has been liked nearly three million times and took the top spot on the list of popular challenges on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart. “We live in a world where people buy a product through an ad on TikTok or Instagram, become a fan of the brand, and make repeat purchases,” Choe Youlee, BELIFT LAB’s marketing division head, explains. “Since it’s now possible for short-form content to be the thing that gets someone to start ‘stanning’ an artist, we believed that doing short-form media well would result in a new influx of fans.” ENHYPEN’s TikTok channel capitalizes on the platform’s unique algorithm and personalized content recommendations to attract not only existing fans but also potential new ones with a variety of different videos. “While ENGENE watches content immediately after it’s uploaded,” Choe explains, the team also produces content that includes hooks to grab the interests of “followers of their TikTok who aren’t fans so that they’ll want to watch it.” One example of this strategy is how they’ve taken the typical longer behind-the-scenes look at music videos and now focus on key moments in short-form videos. Such growth underscores ENHYPEN’s ability to take a theme as timeless as vampires and recontextualize it in ways that align with their own evolution, and for the members of the group to build a real, lasting connection with their fans.
“Growing with their generation through connections is ENHYPEN’s vision for their group, and that’s why they’re able to talk about so many different things,” Choe explains. The storytelling approach of comparing a vampire–human romance with the relationship between ENHYPEN and ENGENE fills the group’s content with layers of connection rooted in the moment, the expansive nature of which ultimately translates into growth for the idols. As of April, ENHYPEN’s Weverse community boasts approximately 11.2 million members. ENHYPEN was the most active artist by comments last year, commenting a total of 15,082 times there. They also held 220 Weverse LIVE sessions. The group not only keeps fans constantly updated on their daily routine but also lends a friendly ear to ENGENE’s concerns, allowing their fans to come to feel they’re always connected. ENHYPEN’s “-note” series, where they “get in front of the camera alone and lay bare their feelings about how they did that day or the audience’s reaction,” serves as a window into the inner thoughts of the group members, Choe says. Ryu from the Marketing 1 team adds that “ENGENE comparing the early ‘-note’ videos to the new ones can feel firsthand how ENHYPEN has grown artistically.” Videos like these have allowed the group to maintain a close and consistent dialog with their fans right from their debut. This same foundation—fostering connection through communication—has given the group even more opportunities to grow, working the vampire–human love story into its real-world artist–fan equivalent in content online. The vampire storyline went a particularly long way to elevate ENHYPEN’s earliest milestones of connection and growth to a new level after “DARK BLOOD.” The inclusion of their first fan dedication song, “Highway 1009,” as the final track on “ROMANCE: UNTOLD” seems to encapsulate this new phase of their journey as they write it. With HEESEUNG helping to produce and the entire group contributing to the lyrics, the song embodies what A&R team head Yim describes as “the process of directly expressing the stories they want to tell, beyond simply singing and dancing.” It conveys ENHYPEN’s growth as a group and their sincerity toward their connection with ENGENE. HEESEUNG previously reflected on “Highway 1009” in a “-note,” talking about how “there were times that really shined bright because we were together” and expressing how he “wanted us to remember that as we move forward on this highway to a higher, happier place.” Much like the idol described, ENHYPEN’s leaps and bounds in 2024 were made possible thanks to their memories of those “times that really shined bright” with fans and how they blossomed into new stories to tell. The vampires are sincere in their love of that special someone—just look at the 15,082 heartfelt comments left by the group in the course of one year. Their love is so pure, almost whimsically so, that it takes a piece of fantasy just to portray it correctly—and offers some insight into what K-pop today should be doing for its fans.
