HyunA and E'Dawn Post Date Photos After Firing From Label, Fans Go Wild With Support And Excitement

GettyImages-454709516 (1)
Kim Hyun-A (L) attends the Rebecca Minkoff fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2015 at The Pavilion at Lincoln Center on September 5, 2014, in New York City. Known by her K-pop name HyunA,... Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

South Korean K-pop idols, HyunA and E'Dawn (Hyojong) have shared their first photos as a couple after being fired from their label for admitting their relationship in September. The pair were allegedly under a contractual agreement to stay single as they were performing under the label, Cube Entertainment.

HyunA, 26, and E'Dawn, 24, come from different K-pop backgrounds, HyunA with a solo career and E'Dawn a member of boy band Pentagon. The two, along with a third member of Pentagon, then formed their side project, Triple H.

No-dating clauses are common in South Korean entertainment contracts and idols go to lengths to keep their relationships secret. HyunA and E'Dawn had been secretly dating for two years, according to BBC. The pair told the public about their relationship before admitting it to their label, according to the New York Times.

Cube Entertainment originally denied the couple's dismissal and released a statement revealing the matter was up for discussion. In mid-September, they confirmed the firing.

"When we manage artists, we consider mutual trust and faith our top priority," the label wrote."We decided the trust is broken beyond repair, so we are expelling the two from our company."

Fans, who denounced the decision of the label, rallied behind the newly-public couple when HyunA posted photos of the pair on a date on Instagram Wednesday. Since then, their names have been mentioned over 60,000 times on Twitter.

Most fans were overwhelmed with excitement. "HYUNA POSTED PICS OF HER AND HYOJONG ON A DATE IN JAPAN???? MY HEART," a Twitter user wrote.

A HyunA fan account mentioned no idol should be held to a label's or fan's unrealistic standards. "I hope everything Hyuna and Hyojong went through changes dating culture in K-pop posting couple pics on Instagram is not something to be shamed or hated or kicked out for and it should be viewed that way," the fan account said. "Idols are not products made to fit and normalize obsessive fan behavior."

Most on Twitter took the side of the couple and bashed Cube Entertainment. "Hyuna and Hyojong are so bold. I love their relationship despite the fact that they had an issue with their (ex) entertainment about it," a user Tweeted. "They are the ones who deserve respect, hah slap that on your face Cube Ent."

South Korean music critic, Kim Zakka said the K-pop industry presents their idols as sexual fantasies. Seeing an artist date a fellow musician may take something away from that goal, she told the New York Times.

"The K-pop idol industry is still based on the agency owning the idol, whose character the company creates," said Zakka. "Since the business worked based on the fantasy of the fan having a pseudo-relationship with the idol, the idol dating in real life breaks the business model."

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