EVAN, once known as Heeseung, has shared for the first time publicly that he was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma in the fourth grade. In a candid Weverse Magazine interview timed to his upcoming solo work, the 24-year-old described a persistent cough he dismissed as a cold until a soccer game left him gasping after just a few steps. Hospital tests confirmed the blood cancer.
The treatment was grueling. Evan said he watched friends in the pediatric ward pass away while clinging to one thought: he wanted to live and go home. His mother stayed by his side without pause, so he forced a brave face for her. At hospital talent shows he played guitar and even hosted, holding onto the singer dream he had carried since age six even when survival left little room for anything else. After chemo, returning to school proved hard. Lower energy and sparse regrowing hair brought teasing “What is that, grass? You’re like a monk” and he absorbed it to fit in. By middle school the once-outgoing boy had grown more introverted. “I haven’t thought about that in a long time. It hurts to bring it back up,” he admitted.That history now sits behind his solo chapter.
Evan left ENHYPEN in March 2026 after discussions with the members and Belift Lab, choosing to pursue his own musical direction while remaining under the label. He reintroduced himself under the childhood name Evan, dropped the self-produced single “Ride or Die” in June, and is set to release his debut EP Death of Me on September 7. He has said the title track draws directly from having stood “right up to the edge of death” himself; the message is that it does not have to be the end.Meanwhile ENHYPEN, now six members, scored its first Billboard 200 No. 1 with The Sin: Bliss and continues strong promotions. Fans responding to Evan’s story have largely offered support and perspective. Many noted the resilience required to survive childhood cancer, hospital losses, and later bullying, then still choose a public creative path.
Posts circulating the interview quotes emphasize relief that he is cancer-free and respect for the quiet strength he showed his mother and, later, himself. The timing, just days before Death of Me, has given the personal reveal extra weight for listeners who now hear the record’s themes of endurance through a clearer lens.