Nearly two years after he went on hiatus, Seunghan returns, rebranded as XngHan&Xoul, with a declaration that he has no time left to waste.

If you find the title of Seunghan’s debut single “Waste No Time” a little on the nose, it might be because Seunghan—now recording under the stage name XngHan—has been dealt nothing but wasted time.

In 2023, after debuting under SM Entertainment in the boy group RIIZE, Seunghan’s personal photos, including posts from his private Instagram, were leaked. While the photos’ contents were about as ordinary as any teenager’s Instagram feed, fan outrage—fueled by parasocial engagement—was swift. Seunghan was immediately placed on hiatus and disappeared from public life for over a year. RIIZE continued on, scoring some of their biggest hits, despite loud protests from international fans who threatened boycotts unless Seunghan was reinstated.

In 2024, SM announced that Seunghan would return to RIIZE. At first, the news seemed like a resolution—until the same fans who had pushed him into hiatus began to revolt. Funeral wreaths were sent in droves to the company in protest. More fans threatened boycotts, and Seunghan decided, once and for all, to withdraw from the group.

A year later, Seunghan is back, this time as a soloist. His debut is being marketed under the new name XngHan&Xoul, perhaps to distance him from the upheavals that plagued his time in RIIZE. In a video announcing the stage name, an X was placed over the first syllable of Seunghan’s name—implying that nothing rebrands an artist faster than changing your name.

Seunghan is supported by “Xoul,” two backup dancers who appear in all of his content and performances. In interviews, he speaks warmly of them and calls them friends. Yet their purpose is confusing. A skeptical critic (myself included) might question the incoherent messaging: Is XngHan&Xoul a solo venture for Seunghan, or the debut of a new kind of trio in K-Pop?

If they are indeed a trio, then strangely, Xoul has no identity of its own. The members do not speak in interviews or record vocals. (At Inkigayo, they were each given microphones but only used them to say the group’s name.) They do not receive individual photocards or have personal social media accounts. Even their names—Yul and Kohong—are hard to find. Worse, in performances, their presence feels awkward and distracting, with choreography that gives them nothing interesting to do to justify a trio format. (To be clear, this is no reflection of their talent, which—like anyone in K-Pop—can prove itself elsewhere.)

Thankfully, though, the music holds up.

XngHan&Xoul’s debut centers on positivity. The songs are bouncy, feel-good pop—earworms that lodge themselves in your head almost instantly. In many ways, “Waste No Time” and the b-side “Heavenly Blue” run counter to current K-Pop trends: the music isn’t maximalist, and the lyrics aren’t drenched in bravado or swagger. These trends would have never fit Seunghan, and SM was wise not to force them. His charm lies in looking wholesome rather than edgy.

The tracks highlight Seunghan’s sweet, wispy vocals, and on “Heavenly Blue” the production leans toward a sophisticated Euro-dance pop sound. If I had to choose, it would be my favorite of the two. But it’s easy to see why “Waste No Time” was chosen as the lead single: the title alone is a statement.

“Waste No Time” is one of only a handful of times SM has allowed an artist to address controversy head-on in their music. BoA, the company’s creative director and long-running soloist, has done this most recently with tracks like “Crazier” and “Forgive Me”, which respond directly to hate comments. Lucas Wong, who went on hiatus in 2021 after troubling allegations emerged, also hit back at “haters” with his single “Renegade”. His debut was SM’s first experiment in re-debuting an idol scorned by the public, but the single failed to catch on—and a year later, Lucas has yet to receive a second comeback.

Still, “Waste No Time” is an ironic title. It was never Seunghan’s decision to wait this long to debut again. His original dream was to be in a group. As RIIZE continued to gain popularity with tours and hit singles like “Love 119”, Seunghan stayed out of sight. In an interview with Dazed, he spoke vaguely about his hiatus, saying his parents asked him few questions when he returned home. He claims he spent most of the time alone, reflecting or exercising.

Perhaps the most ironic thing about “Waste No Time”, then, is that XngHan&Xoul would never have debuted at all if Seunghan hadn’t lost years to a system that can be as punishing as it is star-making.

The Poignant Irony of XngHan&Xoul’s “Waste No Time”

The Blueprint of Crystal Kay