A Super Junior and Life without Heechul

Super Junior’s very own Heechul made some KPOP waves this past weekend as he revealed that he would be leaving for the army on September 1. This news naturally shocked fans all around the world as September 1 is only a week and a half away. And with his departure for two years, it means that Super Junior will be left with just 9 members until Kanginreturns in the summer of next year. So what does Heechul’s departure mean for Super Junior?

It’s a bit difficult to imagine life without Heechul. After all, Heechul is known for his crazy antics, his blunt personality, his honest nature. He’s not one to shy away from the camera and let others know what exactly is on his mind. He has definitely become a fan favorite with his 4D and spaceball personality and he has really endeared himself to us all.

After September 1, Super Junior will change as we know it. I don’t really see anyone matching up to Heechul’s crazy antics. Maybe it’ll take a combination of Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, and Shindong. But with Heechul’s departure to the army, we’ll probably see Leeteuk follow suit within the next couple of weeks, give or take a month. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leeteuk left around the same time as Heechul. That means the two will come back relatively at the same time. At most, Leeteuk will leave by the end of the year. And ELFs, expect that it’s coming. It shouldn’t come as a shock because really, the two have been mentioning it for some time now.

So what does it mean to have both the leader and the next-in-line gone? It means Super Junior will have a temporary leader, perhaps in Yesung or maybe in Eunhyuk. Or granted, there won’t even be a leader as Super Junior will most likely focus on its sub-groups. We could see Super Junior K.R.Y come out with their first album (which I would totally love to see). Super Junior-M seems to want and conquer more Asian markets. We could even see the birth of a new subgroup or maybe even see a member go solo (my money’s on Kyuhyun - have you noticed SM Entertainment is putting our evil maknae in more dance breaks and performances?). But definitely no new album as a group.

Nonetheless, Heechul’s absence will leave perhaps a great void in the group. I really don’t see anyone in the group stepping up to match him in personality, humor, bluntness, and DJ/MC skills. Heechul is definitely one-of-a-kind and the group will definitely miss him during these two years.

/sobs TT__TT i will miss you KIM HEE CHUL!