🍓 anon here with part 3 of the EXO lore! This one should be a major earthquake but the way it unfolded looks more like one of the smallest earthquakes, so I don’t know how to classify it.
Anyway, here we go.
October 10, 2014, Chinese member Luhan left the group.
On October 10, news broke out that Luhan had filed a lawsuit and would be leaving the group. The reasons cited were identical to those of Kris Wu - mistreatment and disregard of health. What’s interesting, however, is that Luhan’s case unfolded the calmest (and shortest) out of the three Chinese members, which to this day is a bit of a mystery, especially given that he was the most popular Chinese member among Korean fans. The most logical conclusion (which was kind of confirmed by EXO themselves) is that he simply handled the situation much better than Kris Wu by notifying the members and the company beforehand about his decision. Quite possibly, both the members and the company also foresaw his impeding leave when Luhan started skipping schedules due to health issues and was looking out of it during those he was present for.
Another difference from Kris Wu is that, about a week earlier before the news, rumours actually started circulating that Luhan would be leaving the group. When EXO’s world tour started in May, fans quickly noticed that Luhan looked noticeably unwell and not like himself during most of the shows. Then in June, EXO filmed a variety show in China where his unusual behaviour continued. This culminated with him skipping two of EXO’s concerts in September due to exhaustion, headaches and insomnia, as well as SMTown’s company concert in early October. So when a few days after, the news of him leaving finally came out, I guess fans were already expecting it. Also, I think that yet another member leaving just five months after the first one proved that the problem was indeed with SM, so fans directed their anger and disappointment towards the company this time around, instead of Luhan. The fact that Luhan’s settlement with SM was more favourable than Kris Wu’s proved even further how much better his situation was. His contract also remained valid until 2022, but he was allowed to keep a slightly larger part of his profits even if he still had to share them with SM.
Finally, the rumors of some of the EXO members visiting him, as well as him visiting them in Seoul in the following years was the final indicator of just how much savvier he handled everything. There was even an alleged ‘proof shot’ of him riding the Seoul metro. In recent years, he even played some of EXO’s songs on his lives and still follows some of them on instagram. In Kris Wu’s situation, not even rumors appeared.
So, that’s the story of how Luhan left the group. Next, I will cover the last Chinese member to officially leave the group, Tao - a situation a lot messier than Luhan’s, and perhaps even messier than Kris Wu’s.
P.S: Since you said my lore is still welcome, I decided to continue sending it whenever I have the time. I don’t know how frequent it will be, but I’ll be doing it. Thanks for reading!
P.S.S: I will be sending nothing but the lore. It was fun engaging with other EXOLs on your blog until the ones spreading rumours and looking to fight appeared. I do not wish to engage in that and I won’t. Thank you anyone for your understanding!
sent 26.3.10
I'm so glad you're back! I love your lore posts. Thank you for sharing!
