“Girls’ Generation’s 20th anniversary is coming up,” HYOYEON says in “Fake Kim Hyoyeon,” a mockumentary on her YouTube channel, Hyo’s Level Up. “For the 20th, I wanna make a big move too. Since there’s TTS,” she reckons—the subunit made up of TAEYEON, TIFFANY, and SEOHYUN—then why not HYOYEON, YURI, and SOOYOUNG—“HRS”? This was the fake rivalry that gave birth to Girls’ Generation’s latest subunit. When the video came out on September 24, 2025, and even with the traction it picked up, the whole setup was just another fun bit for YouTube. The people who made it saw things differently from the people who watched it, though. Everybody laughed at how seriously HYOYEON, the group’s main dancer, asks TIFFANY, one of the vocalists, whether she feels threatened, but the whole joke ended up becoming real when HRS released their debut single, “Skibidi.” Girls’ Generation has a long, storied career, and what started as a simple gag ended up taking on a life of its own for the group members.

For established idols working past the standard contract term—the so-called seven-year curse—the challenge is in constantly finding something new. The longer an idol has been associated with their singing, dancing, or humor, and the deeper the shared memories run, the harder it gets to put on a new face and make it work. That’s not a problem that can be solved with traditional TV variety shows or the music world’s standard promotional playbook. It’s an even bigger issue for a group like Girls’ Generation, one of the defining K-pop girl groups still making new material on the heels of their 20th anniversary.

In “Fake Kim Hyoyeon,” HYOYEON plays a new role in a fictionalized world, and in doing so challenges the labels people apply to, and the public’s understanding of, the idol. She’s been an energetic, engaging presence with plenty of clever things to say on variety shows ever since she debuted. In a group where every member dazzles in her own way, HYOYEON’s always been uniquely approachable. That same quality is what got her tapped to lead an MBC-produced YouTube channel and build rapport with idols across all generations, and that real aspect of her personality is also the foundation of the mockumentary, which in turn helps to expand the group’s image even further.

Within a world of scripted scenarios and role playing, the tension that people seem to imagine exists around dividing up singing parts on a song gets mined for comedy. In the video where HRS started in the first place, HYOYEON makes no secret about her ambition to take TAEYEON’s spot as main vocalist as in TTS, and confidently belts out some bars right in front of TIFFANY. Because the whole thing’s exaggerated for effect, she can name someone she’s actually shared a stage with as her rival and openly admit she wants a bigger share of the singing pie. TIFFANY plays along for a bit, then becomes forcibly practical and strict and gives singing tips.

Things aren’t all smooth sailing when the three HRS members are working together, either. YURI and SOOYOUNG go along with the project HYOYEON pitched, but they’re not about to hand over control without a fight. HYOYEON wants to be at the center of everything from singing and dancing to producing, but YURI and SOOYOUNG aren’t going down that easily, so the bickering goes on and on. Even the name HRS wasn’t locked in until HYOYEON won a vote among fans of the YouTube channel to become the main vocalist and claim the center for herself. This is the surprise source of fun that makes “Fake Kim Hyoyeon” so entertaining—the necessary division of labor in the K-pop field that the general public loves to speculate leads to all sorts of tension, played up as exaggerated rivalry for laughs.

HRS has straddled the line between real and fake right from the beginning, making it feel fresh. Trying to outdo subunit TTS, HYOYEON, YURI, and SOOYOUNG try to figure out what will set them apart in both look and sound, and exaggerate what they have to offer when they’re with the producer. The subunit comes together under utterly chaotic conditions—they cut each other off because they always know what the other’s about to say, and they use the past against each other, too. Girl groups are expected to show humility and harmony between their members, and while the Girls’ Generation name means a lot and its members have had their share of ups and downs together, that means nothing here. They don’t need to play down their ambition, act humble when complimented, or show off how close they are with each other. They’re open about wanting to be the center of attention, and none of them back down when the others disagree with them. It’s the kind of attitude that would usually get edited out or come with a long explanation attached, but that doesn’t matter on “Fake Kim Hyoyeon,” which opens every episode with a disclaimer about the fictional nature of the mockumentary format.

Thanks to the fictionalized aspect, there’s a lot more breathing room. The girls are very much accustomed to handling the choreography side of things, but rarely set out to be the main attraction. Now they get to choose who sings which part, who’s in the center, what song they’ll perform, the choreography expert who’ll work on their dance moves—all under the premise of being a new “6th-gen” girl group. Only a group with the kind of track record Girls’ Generation has can get the producer of a music show they’re chummy with to work in a helicopter entrance or have SM Entertainment CAO Chris Lee hand over “Skibidi” and other demo songs. At the same time, you also get to see HRS turn to Hearts2Hearts—a group that debuted ages later—and pick up pointers on the kind of mindset that idols starting out today need and how to shoot viral short-form videos. Although it’s fair to say these girls are long-time idols who are already at the top of their game, they team up with SM’s in-house vocal coach Jang Jinyoung and dancer Vata to debut anew, just the three of them.

When the zeal of being a new idol clashes with experience, you don’t end up seeing an alter ego that erases age and a storied career. Instead, the series stays rooted in reality, even as it builds out its alternate timeline—and it’s all possible thanks to YouTube. The site allows for something more honest and raw than traditional TV shows, and it lets them run a long-term series where they can gauge the public’s reaction as they go and design even better bits around that. Viewers who weigh in with unforeseen reactions end up being more than just an audience for a finished product—they become contributors to a story as it unfolds. And that viewer-shaped story arc ended with HRS being a real subunit.

There’s more to HRS than the runaway success of their videos. They’re also making good music. Built on the house beats SM Entertainment’s been known for for years, “Skibidi” takes a little bit of singing and a dash of rapping and fully brings out HYOYEON, YURI, and SOOYOUNG’s distinct voices. It also brings back the genre-bending blend that made “I GOT A BOY” so memorable, with each of the girls taking turns at every switch-up in the song to keep the staging dynamic. HYOYEON and SOOYOUNG dominate the house sections, while YURI shows up wearing a snapback to transition the song to a hip hop beat. The label’s early “SMP” sound and the house music they leaned into throughout the 2010s both make a comeback here, cool as ever but in that playful Girls’ Generation’s style.

It’s a novel experience, seeing the members of HRS take center stage when they’re part of such a big group. At the same time, there’s a familiarity to it that feels deliberate. Watching the performance video, choreographed with input from We Dem Boyz, it’s hard not to think of the group’s “Gee” era, when all of Girls’ Generation came out in white T-shirts and jeans. They may have argued over who would take the center, but the girls are in perfect step with one another in the new video. “Lowkey In Love,” released alongside “Skibidi,” cements their identity even further. With its upbeat brass and rhythmic groove, the new jack swing dance pop track adds to the excitement of the fast-approaching 20th anniversary of Girls’ Generation while also working as a celebratory anthem for the new subunit that’s brought a fresh energy to the group.

As K-pop continues to grow on and idols’ careers last longer, it’s no longer unusual to see 20th or even 30th anniversaries. Plenty of groups now think just as hard about building a solid, long-term identity as they do about the fresh, youthful energy that only comes with being new kids on the block. Hyo’s Level Up focuses on the long game, exercising the power of YouTube to focus on the individual. As a result, HRS has breathed new life into Girls’ Generation this far into their career, keeping them in the conversation without messing with their legacy.

On the last episode of the HRS debut arc, released after the subunit made their music show debut, HYOYEON—worn out from the grueling schedule—lies down on a couch and drifts off. What started as something half joking, half serious, becomes something real she takes on alongside her Girls’ Generation sisters, and in her dream, all that time she’s poured in without even realizing it flashes by. “I’ve discovered so much about myself here that I didn't even know,” HYOYEON says. She’s always taken her work with the group seriously, and now, given a bit of wiggle room through a fictionalized version of herself, she’s called up the energy to kick Girls’ Generation into full gear again ahead of their big milestone next year. Both the fake and the real HRS came together on the back of a whirlwind of experiences, so who cares what’s real and what’s fake? For HRS and Girls’ Generation, this is just the beginning.