FULL NAME Cha Hyerin 차혜린
OTHER NAMES NICKNAMES BIRTH DATE May 16, 1999
BIRTH PLACE Yeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea
HOMETOWN Yeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea
NATIONALITY South Korean
ETHNICITY Korean PRONOUNS She/her
UALITY Heteroual LANGUAGES

 

 

 

FACE CLAIM Goeun, PURPLE KISS
BACK UP Sihyeon, EVERGLOW APPEARANCE
Hyerin may not fully fit K-pop beauty standards, her eyes being on the smaller side. However, the way she carries herself more than makes up for it. If you ask her, she’ll say that makeup is the key to making herself feel good and look just like a goddess. As such, you don’t see her without makeup that often.

When it comes to her stature, Hyerin is a little disadvantaged in this regard, her height being 160 cm and her torso being almost the same length as that of her legs. However, she’s skinny, just like what is expected of an idol, weighing 46 kg. All that’s needed of her is just to dress herself in a way that masks her not so great proportions.

At present, she sports long brown hair. She also has two lobe piercings on each ear and no tattoos. She’s definitely open to changing up her hairstyle and hair colour in the future, but not so much when it comes to getting tattoos or more ear piercings. STYLE
Casual is embodied in Hyerin’s style. It’s important for her to strike a good balance between being chic and comfortable, so her clothing will also reflect this belief. She mainly dresses in neutral colours, especially white, black, beige and blue. She’s not so picky when it comes to tops or dresses, but when it comes to skirts, shorts and pants, they must be high waisted to make her appear as though she has long legs, no exceptions given.

When it comes to makeup, she also opts for mainly neutral colours, staying away from bright colours (unless she wants to look like a clown). Eyeliner is also a must, since it makes her eyes look bigger. As for accessories, a bag is a must, as well as presentable shoes. She doesn’t wear jewellery all that often, but certainly wouldn’t mind putting on some extra bling when the time calls for it or when she wants to do so.

 

 

 

ENTP, Choleric-sanguine, 7w8, Slytherin, Lawful evil Observant, sociable, tenacious, hardworking, disingenuous, pretentious, scheming, judgemental When people say that a particular person should have already made her debut, there’s a good chance that they could have been talking about Hyerin. She’s pretty much the perfect K-pop idol- she can sing, she can dance, she can even handle raps, despite rapping being the weakest skill out of the three. Plus, she’s always working hard, always evaluating her performances and seeing where she did well and where she could improve. She can even make a pretty good leader, too, with how easy it is for her to hit it off with someone and even impress them.

If Hyerin’s being honest, all of these skills are of utmost importance if she wants to be noticed in the industry, to be deemed worthy enough to even debut. But somehow, despite being capable in multiple things, she always manages to fall short, one way or another. She simply can’t wrap her head around how another trainee who only knows how to look pretty and nothing else besides that can even be chosen to debut, while she gets passed over. What makes them so special to the point that they succeed while she’s struggling? Needless to say, she’s definitely not friendly to those she deems as lacking in the basic skills needed to make it as an idol. Not even her goal of making a good impression can triumph in such situations at times.

Hyerin is skilled in knowing how to work her way around people. It isn’t something she’s naturally good at, but something that she took years to be experienced in. She’s always aware of what’s going on around her, when to react, when not to react, when to put on an act or exaggerate things a little. That comes with its consequences; it’s difficult to tell when she’s genuine, and when she’s just playing it up. To people who’s not so familiar with her, it can be easy to trick them with her words. But to those who are more familiar with her, this is when the motives behind what she says or does start to become much more significant.

It’s true that behaving in such a way will make it difficult for Hyerin to find friends who will always stay by her side, but it’s not really something that she concerns herself with too much. In such a ruthless and cutthroat industry, no one’s really your friend. It’s hard for Hyerin to let her guard down, not when she has been conditioned to always be in survival mode, lest she slips through the cracks. As such, impressing others takes precedence, even if she earns herself a reputation for being brown noser among those who know her too well. The general public who don’t know any better may not see her as being smart and strategic, but they can see that she’s animated and it’s not to the point where it gets annoying instead.

 

 

 

Growing up, Hyerin lived a comfortable life. Her parents weren’t rich by any means, but working as accountants means that they have enough money to live pretty well and not have too many financial worries.

More often than not, her parents were busy working, but they certainly had time to have family bonding time over the weekends, spending their time singing tunes from their CD player or watching Hyerin and her siblings, Hyewon and Hajoon, putting up skits they saw on television.

School was relatively smooth sailing for Hyerin- she was a part of her school’s theatre club, and she greatly enjoyed learning more about acting and singing and dancing. Once, she even successfully auditioned for a lead role in their school’s musical, specially written to commemorate their 30th anniversary.

One day, while returning home from a theatre practice session at school, Hyerin was approached by a woman claiming to be a staff member from YG Entertainment (yes, the entertainment company that’s home to BIGBANG and 2NE1, some of her sister’s favourite K-pop groups). She had passed Hyerin a business card, encouraging her to audition for their company. Out of curiosity, she did so, with her sister in tow. Little did she expect that she’ll pass the auditions, and all that’s left for her is to fly over to Seoul to discuss her contract and become a trainee at the company.

It goes without saying that Mr and Mrs Cha had their reservations, with how young Hyerin was at that time. However, after some deliberation, they decided that they shouldn’t stop their daughter from pursuing her dreams. Even if she ultimately decides that being a K-pop idol is not for her, they will always welcome her home with open arms. With that, Hyerin left to go live with her aunt in Seoul, and two weeks after her departure, she became a trainee at YG Entertainment.

 

 

 

♕ She likes neutral makeup palettes and lipsticks, floral-scented perfumes, oversized T-shirts, sour candy, video game soundtracks and homecooked food.
♕ She dislikes being underestimated, eels, raw octopus, bell bottoms, instant noodles and statement jewellery.
♕ She has a habit of showering three times a day (morning, afternoon and night), twitching her nose when she doesn’t like something, biting her lower lip and never going out or appearing on camera without putting on foundation.
♕ She enjoys collecting lipsticks and perfumes, meditating and playing the guitar.
♕ Out of all the sports brands Hyerin has shopped at, her favourite would have to be Nike.
♕ When it comes to statement jewellery, she especially dislikes beaded jewellery, as she thinks that she can’t pull them off well. However, she will wear them only when her stylist says it’s absolutely necessary for her to do so.
♕ She usually sprays perfume on her wrists.
♕ She listens to K-pop too, although less often than video game soundtracks. While she listens to music across all K-pop generations, she tends to go for music released by third-generation K-pop groups.
♕ She makes it a point to meditate every day. Even if she’s extremely busy on that day, she’ll still squeeze in a five-minute meditation exercise.
♕ Her favourite and usual coffee order is a flat white.
♕ She isn’t a huge fan of K-dramas, preferring American dramas instead. Her favourite drama at the moment is Breaking Bad.
♕ She used to learn how to play the piano when she was young, but stopped piano lessons when she was in fourth grade of elementary school due to her disinterest in it.
♕ She picked up guitar when she was a YG trainee, enjoying learning how to strum guitar arrangements to pop songs. If asked to flex her skills in the instrument, she won’t hesitate to say yes to such an opportunity.
♕ She currently only owns an Instagram account, @chyerini_ii, which she created shortly after her departure from JYP Entertainment. She usually posts dance practices, song covers and pictures of herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLOTLINE The Rejected
TALENT TWIN Goeun, PURPLE KISS
BACK UP Sihyeon, EVERGLOW or Yujin, IVE TRAINEE YEARS PAST EXPERIENCES ELABORATION
Life as a K-pop trainee (and starting from the tender age of 13) is definitely vastly different from the relatively carefree lifestyle Hyerin was used to. And with how prestigious YG Entertainment is among the K-pop companies, making her debut under them is as much a testament of her abilities as it is an honour. But with YG’s track record, she would soon find out that it’s not as easy as she initially expected.

Not even her siblings’ advice could prepare how hard it was to survive in such a cutthroat company. Scoldings ranging from her lack of power in her vocals to being unable to keep up with the choreography was a rather common affair from her. It didn’t take her too long for her to realise that she was falling very behind as compared to other trainees at the company. If she wanted to continue to stay and not get expelled, she had better pull her socks up.

Thankfully for her, approaching top trainees like Jennie Kim or Roseanne Park or Moon Sua or Cho Miyeon helped her to push through with training and even slowly climbed the ranks. The chances of making the cut for YG Entertainment’s next girl group was increasing day by day.

That is, until the company announced the members who will make up what will be known as BLACKPINK. Hyerin’s name wasn’t among the trainees who were called up.

Having been passed over for debut under YG Entertainment, Hyerin knew that it’ll be ages before the time comes for picking members for the company's next girl group. Two months before BLACKPINK made their debut, she left YG Entertainment following the conclusion of her contract.

Her next shot at debuting was passed onto SM Entertainment. Having already trained for four years, it didn’t take that long for Hyerin to adjust to SM Entertainment’s training style. Just a few months into her training, she was already considered to be one of the top female trainees with a good chance of being selected for the company’s new girl group. She even made friends with several trainees, including the female SM Rookies, but also trainees like Yoo Jimin or Kim Minjeong.

Imagine her shock when SM Entertainment felt that she did not fit the image of their next girl group, æspa. And, as though they were adding insult to injury, they picked Uchinaga Eri, who’s only been a trainee for a little more than a month, over her, a trainee of over three years by this point.

So she terminated her contract, leaving SM Entertainment in February 2020 to debut elsewhere.

With her going to turn 21 years old, Hyerin was aware that her chances of being accepted by a K-pop company were much slimmer than before. Yet, JYP Entertainment was willing to sign her on as a trainee. Having debuted ITZY in 2019 and in the process of planning for a survival programme to seek out hopefuls to form a boy group, it’s only a matter of time before they set their sights on the female trainees at the company for their next girl group.

Unfortunately for Hyerin, the image of JYP Entertainment’s new girl group is fresh and youthful, and because of her age, she was passed over for debut once again.

Her only option would be joining a company that was willing to take her in and deem her ready for debut following her departure from JYP Entertainment in June 2021. Thankfully for her, Grindell Entertainment was ready to take her on and make her a K-pop idol. Even though their company is small, maybe they could hit the jackpot with Hyerin as one of the company’s artists.

Hyerin didn’t mind the fact that the CEO is planning to debut a three-member girl group, Fleurette, by the end of 2021. Not when Lee Yiyoung, a highly talented dancer and competent rapper, would be part of the group. But then there was Kim Aeri, whose vocals, dance and rap was... rather lacking, to say the least. Despite her disdain towards Aeri, she held her tongue in front of the company’s executives, because being able to make her debut was far more important.

That is, until it was made known to the girls that Grindell Entertainment was so deep in debt, they couldn’t keep the company afloat any longer.

And so the girls of Fleurette found themselves without a company when Grindell Entertainment was dissolved.

And Hyerin, a 22-year-old by this point, was too old to be accepted by almost every K-pop company in South Korea.

 

 

 

If you were a member of a K-pop group, what would your position be?
“I’d say that my position is main vocalist and lead dancer. Although my rapping skills aren’t as great as my singing or dancing, I can rap if needed, though if I’m being honest, I think I'm good enough to be considered for at least a rapper position.”

Hyerin is truthful with regard to her current skills and capabilities, but if there’s something she wants to get better in, it’ll be rapping, so that her skill level in that matches her vocals and dance skills. Out of 10, how talented would you consider yourself?
“I consider myself a 9. As for why I left that 1 point out, I’m aware that despite my training, I can still further improve in singing, dancing and rapping.”

As Hyerin has been a trainee for nine years, her skills are definitely good enough for her to make her debut. However, she may be overestimating her level of talent, as her rapping ability is not quite there yet. Furthermore, she has limited experience in other related fields such as songwriting, producing, choreography and acting. To other people, it may range between 7 to 9, or maybe even 10. Why do you want to be a K-pop idol?
“I became a trainee by chance, and over the years, being a K-pop idol has grown to become something that I can really see myself doing, and I want to be able to achieve this dream of mine.”

Truth to be told, with Hyerin being a trainee for so long, she has become somewhat isolated from the outside world. If she is unable to make it as a K-pop idol, what would she do then? She could perhaps become a musical actress, since she has experience acting in musicals, but being a K-pop idol still takes precedence, at least while she’s still able to do something about it. Do you have good stage presence and charisma? What about star quality?
“Yes to all three questions. Might I add that despite my eyes being on the smaller side and a slight insecurity of mine, I find my eyes my most charming point, since I can communicate so much just by using them alone.”

She isn’t wrong with pointing out her ability to communicate with an audience using her eyes. She has received feedback from dance instructors that her ability to use her eyes is one of her greatest strengths, and what keeps attention on her despite not being in the centre. Would you consider yourself a team player?
“Yes, provided that I’m with the right people. If the people around me don’t want to work as a team, there’s so much I can even if I try my best. The team may still fall apart.”

Hyerin isn’t exactly wrong to say that. Even if she may not like the people she is working with, she’ll try her best to put it aside and focus on what’s more important to her. After all, a team is only as strong as its weakest member. However, if she isn’t able to put her own judgements aside, she has the ability to put the team in jeopardy.