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Ji Byeonghwi (지병휘; or simply known as Byeonghwi) is a South Korean singer, model, radio host, actor, and trainee under Origin Music. He is a member of the upcoming boy group EPHEMERA serving as the leader of the group. He is best known as a former member of LAVA.B and a contestant in survival programs SOL PUZZLE (2021) and Star Maker X 101 (2022).
As the vocal powerhouse for his group, his vocals are described to be "full of color" and have been complimented by various trainers and idols themselves. His distinct and unique voice has captured the hearts of many. Even before his dream as an idol first began, he was also already active in the entertainment industry; being most notable for his works in different dramas and films.
Early life[]
Ji Byeong-hwi was born on August 15, 1999, to a middle-class family living in Sun-cheon, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. His father is Ji Joo-hyeok, a former member of 1990s industrial rock band Seoul Is Burning while his mother operated a general merchandise store. By the 2010s, he was already involved in the acting and modeling industry as a side job alongside his studies. In 2014, he played young Soo-chul In thriller film Manhole and young Ryu Tae-oh in crime drama Gap-Dong. In early 2015, he was casted the voice actor for supporting character Hiroyuno Mino in Desolate Desert Warfare, a Japanese-Korean an apocalyptic action animated series about a group of survivors who find themselves in the midst of a violent alien invasion taking place in a dystopian desert town. In 2016, he appeared in Yong Hwa's music video for "School Days" as a student.
Personality[]
Byeonghwi is described to be someone who can be seen as average at first but is literally a hidden gem. His personality being "chronically awkward" has been a struggle for him especially when idols are particularly loved for their bright personality most of the time. He has spoken out about fearing that he may seem a bit boring. It has also impacted him during his time as a trainee since he would often find himself being unable to create emotional connections with the other trainees. He's someone who's quite literally afraid to speak up for himself when the time comes and he can never navigate or lead the flow of conversations with others. As much as he wants his voice to be heard, it's like his body won't let him. Sometimes, this causes him to question himself and worry about things constantly.
Despite his awkwardness, he is someone that just really wants to have the ability to show his love easily for others. He expressed how bad he feels for not being able to be a comforting type of person or someone that can properly show that they care. Though, aside from his awkwardness, he is a loving person whose true personality shines whenever he warms up to the people around him. He is described to be a pure bundle of joy due to his wholesomeness and the gentle aura that radiates the room. He always never fails to put a smile on people's faces and his members always shower him with this fact that makes him gush every time.
As one of the older members and leader of his group, he tries to put on a strong suit in front of the members and even sometimes by forcing himself. He doesn't want the younger members to deal with anything or struggle; he takes in all the darkness for himself and shields them from it. He is also basically forced to become an extrovert especially when having to do the introductions, speeches, etc. Although sometimes he struggles under the pressure as he leader, he expresses his gratitude for taking the position. Being a leader puts him in an uncomfortable position but it allows him to grow as a person and hopefully, one day come out of his shell. One of his good characteristics as a leader is being someone that can stay attentive and focused on the task at hand. He is also someone that can plan things out with ease and stay organized. He always tries his best to help people out and his selflessness is one of his best traits.
Personality summary
- Awkward (but he's improving!)
- Indecisive
- Constant worrier
- Selfless
- Takes the initiative if needed
- Caring
- Resilient
- Ambivert
- Strong-willed
- Motherly (as a leader)
Career[]
2017-2020: LAVA.B[]
After training to become an idol for six months under Realize Entertainment, Byeonghwi made his debut as a member of boy group LAVA.B in July 2017 with the single album LAVA.BE. The music video for its lead single "Deep Core" hit 10 million views under one week partly due to hype coming from one of their members, Richard, who is Malaysian and received significant local press. Unfortunately, LAVA.B's hype did not last long and the group was only able to release one Japanese compilation album and three extended plays before they disbanded in May 2020 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, Byeonghwi signed with actor management agency T&D Management.
2021: SOL PUZZLE[]
In mid-2021, Byeonghwi participated in boy group talent competition program SOL PUZZLE, which envisioned the formation of a five-member supergroup by the end of the show. He was eliminated in the second elimination round.
2022: Star Maker X 101, New agency[]
In January 2022, Byeonghwi announced his departure from T&D Management after differences in career perspectives. His Instagram account went inactive around the same time and was later set to private around March, leading to his fanbase believing that he was training in a company.
In 2022, Byeonghwi was revealed to be participating in survival reality show Star Maker X 101 as a trainee of Four Bloc Records alongside Kyler Kim, Han Yul, and Won Kyungjun, all three of which also competed in SOL PUZZLE. During the company evaluations, he received an A grade and was one of the 10 chosen trainees who received an advantage for the first group mission. While only receiving few screentime for the first few episodes of the show, he was able to attain the spotlight after his storyline in the position battles, where he overcame his fear of taking on the main vocalist position and became the centerpiece of an above average cover of Taeyeon's "11:11". He finished 17th in the final episode, failing to make it to the debut group SOLUNEX.
On September 12, 2022, Byeonghwi was announced to be the new host of the Afternoon radio show, succeeding Kim Yun-min.
Shortly after the finale of Star Maker X 101, all eyes were on the eliminated trainees that were unable to make it to the final lineup of SOLUNEX. One of them was Ji Byeonghwi who was a trainee under the well-renowned Four Bloc Records at the time. After failing to make it into the group, his time with the company was over, and soon he split ways with the agency following the termination of his contract. Despite the numerous casting calls from different agencies, he was ultimately left undecided due to his own choice. He felt his time as an idol was over, since the latter had been his third survival show he believed his time with K-pop was done.
It wasn't until he received a mysterious call a month after the finale from his current company which had contacted him in hopes of recruitment. He was immediately offered a ticket to debut and there, he realized he couldn't give up on his dream.
2023: Solo debut, EPHEMERA, RANKDOWN[]
On February 27, 2023, Byeonghwi independently released his debut single album One and a Half, consisting of four tracks including the lead single "Cassette", which features popular singer Keiran as a guest rapper. The remainder of the single album consists of B-sides "스트레스 (Stress)", "Discomfort and Pain", and "Amigara", the fourth of which was produced by FINEKIZ member Lee Taerae and is based of Junji Ito's short story The Enigma of Amigara Fault. The album did relatively well, with the lead single "Cassette" being able to enter the top 100 of MelOn's Daily Chart and peaked on the Circle Digital Chart at 99.
On July 2, he was introduced as the first member of EPHEMERA.
On July 23, it was announced that Byeonghwi (alongside Jess of RANDOMIZE and Graciella of Femme Fatale) would be the newest MC of K-RANKDOWN and would begin activities on July 29.
Personal life[]
TBA
Discography[]
Single albums[]
- One and a Half (2023)
Official soundtracks[]
- "Dumb and Dumber" (Realmu Exclusives) (2022)
- "You Rescued Me / 넌 나의 힐링이야" (Not So Bad OST) (2022)
Filmography[]
Film[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Manhole | Young Soo-chul | Crime drama |
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Gap-Dong | Young Ryu Tae-oh | Crime drama |
| 2015 | Desolate Desert Warfare | Hiroyuno Mino | Animated drama |
| 2021 | SOL PUZZLE | Contestant | Survival show; Eliminated |
| 2022 | Star Maker X 101 | Contestant | Survival show; Eliminated |
Radio[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - present | Byeonghwi's Afternoon | Host | Since September 2022 |
Relationships[]
Members[]
Donghyuck[]
"Donghyuck-hyung... my beloved and quite literally the only person in the group I can call hyung. I don't know exactly how long it has been since we first met but it's been a few months at least. But I didn't even imagine that in just a few months, I would be able to get so close to someone. This is probably the first time this has happened to me. I hope your mind can somehow manage to forget about our first interaction once you stop reminding me about it- But you are someone that I can always seek advice or help from. "
Hyuk[]
"I laughed when I realized that me and Hyuk's situation were basically the same. Aspiring trainee on a survival show that missed out on debut and most surprisingly, we ended up with the same rank of 17th place. Wasn't it shocking? It's like it was fate for us to be in the same group. But when I first met you, I was visibly taken aback. I couldn't help but wonder how on earth someone could be this pretty-"
Yong[]
"Yong, thank you for being the person I can comfortably sit in silence with. Even if we don't talk that much whenever we're together, I'm still able to lean onto you as a friend. I appreciate all the hard work you've been putting in training and I hope we can continue to be great friends in the future~"
Xiao[]
"Xiaoooo is it bad to admit that you kind of scare me..... haha. I don't know where you get your quiet confidence from but just so you know, I'm jealous that you're able to always be so cool all the time. Our number one rapper~ I hope to continue seeing your skills thrive and I hope we can get closer."
Seojun[]
"Seojun-ah, things may seem confusing but don't worry, I was just like you before when I first started off as a trainee. You're so adorable and I'm happy I got to know you. I feel like the atmosphere of the group wouldn't be the same if we didn't have you. Let's have a fun journey together alright?"
Friendships[]
TBA
Trivia[]
- Nicknames: Hwi-hwi, The Ji Byeonghwi, Leader-hyung
- He recently received another nickname from Donghyuck, with the other calling him "Hwi-byeong" nowadays.
- Likes: Staying at home, peace and quiet, his ducklings (members)
- In the 230709 EPH.M post, he referred to his members as his "little ducklings".
- Dislikes: Voice cracks, having a sore throat, feeling awkward
- He thinks having a sore throat is the worst thing ever in the world.
- He wouldn't even wish it upon his sole enemy.
- He thinks having a sore throat is the worst thing ever in the world.
- Hobbies: Singing, planning things out, karaoke
- He uses karaoke as a way to relax and have fun.
- Favorite food: Kimchi-jiggae
- Favorite color: All
- He can't decide on a favorite color so he likes all of them.
- Favorite animal: Monarch butterfly
- Favorite song(s): "Very Very Very" (I.O.I), "the perfect pair" (beabadoobee)
- "Very Very Very" has been his top song of the year for a while.
- It is also his favorite K-pop dance to dance to.
- "Very Very Very" has been his top song of the year for a while.
- Role model(s): Dean, Joji, and Beabadoobee.
- His MBTI type is ISTP.
- He is the only introvert out of all the members in EPHEMERA.
- Fans and netizens find it hilarious especially because he is the leader of the group the same time too.
- He is the only introvert out of all the members in EPHEMERA.
- He describes himself to be "chronically awkward".
- He is known for having an unnerving yet humorous blank stare.
- He turns easily red, his ears being the most noticeable whenever he's blushing.
- He has numerous role models that he looks up to.
- He hopes to one day make great music just like them.
- He went viral after a conspiracy theory spread online about him being missing after being "gone" since the end of Star Maker X 101.
- The hashtag "#WHEREISBYEONGHWI" was trending for the entire last half of 2022.
- An edit of him also went viral at the same time.
- The hashtag "#WHEREISBYEONGHWI" was trending for the entire last half of 2022.
- He was a big fan of girl group I.O.I, and his favorite members were Sejeong, Sohye, Jieqiong, and Yeonjung.
- He aspires to use his voice for good.
- He hopes to inspire people not only in South Korea but around the world with his singing.
- He also hopes to appear on King of the Masked Singer one day.
- He hopes to inspire people not only in South Korea but around the world with his singing.
- He is also very talented at doing voice impressions because of acting skills.
- He wants to try bungee jumping in the future for fun.
- He revealed that he was immediately contacted and scouted by Origin Music staff five minutes after the Star Maker X 101 finale had ended.
- He used to struggle with having low confidence in his singing in the past.
- He overcame his struggles by practice and with the power of friendship.
- He likes resting on his bed and hiding in his room after a tiring day.
- He feels embarrassed whenever he has to take selfies.
- He also spoke about how doing stuff in front of people makes him laugh.
- He was born in 1999 so he (along with Donghyuck) are the only ones in the group not born in the 20th century.
- He views Donghyuck as his comfort person; the two first got close while training together and Byeonghwi appreciated how caring the other was towards him.