By Amanda Moses
This summer has been entrenched in new K-Pop album releases, but one of the most anticipated drops this July was ENHYPEN’s ROMANCE: UNTOLD (which earned it’s highest spot on Billboard’s 200 Chart History as No. 2 today!)
K-Pop Nara, an official K-pop album and merch store, launched a special pop-up event for ENHYPEN’s album ROMANCE: UNTOLD from July 12th to July 14th across six cities (New York City, East Rutherford, Southfield, Chicago, Schaumburg, and Seattle).
ENHYPEN fans, affectionately known as ENGENE, were able to stop by their local K-Pop Nara (for New Yorkers that meant heading to K-Town at 1263 Broadway) to snag various versions of ROMANCE: UNTOLD, receive a customized cup sleeve, leave affectionate notes for their favorite band on a message wall, and participate in a photocard decoration competition for a chance to win a prize.
Additionally, about a week before the event, ENGENEs were also invited to send in any question they would like to ask ENHYPEN via K-Pop Nara’s Instagram comments. This was then sent to the group, and attendees were treated to a QR code linking to ENHYPEN’s answers.
BELIFT LAB’s seven-member boy group, ENHYPEN consists of members JUNGWON, HEESEUNG, JAY, JAKE, SUNGHOON, SUNOO, and NI-KI. With over 2.2. million pre-orders, ROMANCE: UNTOLD is the South Korean group’s second full-length album since their debut in 2020, and ENGENEs are already saying it’s their best release yet.
Fifteen-year-old Yi Yu and her friend Jessica Wang giggled profusely as they gushed over their new photocards and posed with heart-shaped glasses in front of an ENHYPEN display at K-Pop Nara. The teens both stated that they love the group for their visuals and vocal style.
“I like ENHYPEN because they are handsome,” Yu told the Spring Creek Sun, adding that JAKE is her bias and her favorite song by the group is “By Me.”
“I think this pop-up is great,” Wang said, also sharing that SUNGHOON is her absolute favorite member.
The concept behind this 9-track album is romantic fantasy based on the story of seven boys vowing to protect their love at all costs and includes an amalgamation of synth-pop, R&B and alternative rock.
In this outing, HEESEUNG produced “Highway 1009,” and all seven members contributed to the lyrics expressing their love for their fanbase, ENGENE. JUNGWON also wrote the topline for the song “Hundred Broken Hearts,” which is said to pay homage to old-school R&B.
K-Pop Nara is also currently hosting a celebration for Stray Kids’ album ATE’s release this week and attendees can receive a free cup sleeve and sign up for a photocard (the photocard delivery has been delayed but, fans can leave their information when it arrives at the store).
Photos by Amanda Moses
