ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon Realistically Updates Fans On His Life Since The Group’s Hiatus

ZE:A debuted as Star Empire Entertainment‘s second male idol group in 2010, and the multi-talented members quickly made a name for themselves as a second-generation group.

ZE:A’s last release as a group was in 2015, and in 2017, they denied rumors they were disbanding and instead shared they would come back together as a group when the time was right.

While some members have remained active in the industry, others have found themselves on different paths, such as member Kim Taeheon.

Kim Taeheon recently appeared on a variety program where he updated fans on what he’s been doing since the group has been inactive.

He shared that he had a hard time sleeping the night before since it had been such a long time since he had been on camera.

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Taeheon revealed what he had been up to since his military service, explaining that he didn’t have work after he was discharged and began to struggle financially.

To earn money, he began working part-time at a bar and revealed that he “gained a lot of weight,” which made him feel “too ashamed” to work on anything else.

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Right after I got discharged from the military, I didn’t have work. So I struggled a bit, financially. And then, I started working part-time at a bar. I was a manager there. While working that job, I gained a lot of weight. I was over 100 kilograms at one point. I even have pictures, I’ll show you… Yeah, so I wasn’t able to work on anything else. I was honestly too ashamed of myself, too.

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon

His struggles didn’t begin when ZE:A’s group activities ended. Taeheon sadly shared that both his parents passed away when he was young, leading him to live in basements ever since.

He shared that he worked at a construction site two years ago, but it didn’t pay his bills and led him to develop a skin condition.

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I lost my parents early. My dad passed away when I was 8, and I lost my mom when I was just getting out of middle school. So I’ve always struggled; I’ve been living in basements since then. About two years ago… I started working at a construction site. But it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t pay the bills… so I didn’t have heat, water, or electricity. I ended up getting a skin condition because of how difficult things had been.

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon

After working at the construction site, Taeheon now works at the e-commerce company Coupang, where he’s employed at one of their distribution centers. His daily routine includes laborious work that “requires a lot of elbow grease.” He shared that he’s often covered in bruises and rashes from the working environment.

Currently, he works from 1:30 AM until around 9 AM.

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Now I work for Coupang, at one of their distribution centers. I go to work at 1:30 AM and get off around 9 AM. It’s like… a little parking lot where I work. I distribute the packages. There is a lot of work, loading and unloading boxes. But mainly, I do box distribution. I’d say it’s pretty laborious. It requires a lot of elbow grease. You’ll see that I’m bruised all over from handling all those boxes… On my leg, I have a bit of a… It’s kind of gross, but I have rashes on my leg here. It’s an allergic reaction to the grass at the distribution center.

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon

While he’s been leading a hardworking life since the group went on hiatus, he was disheartened to recently come across netizens on an online community site, DC Inside, criticizing him for working at a distribution center.

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On DC Inside (an online community site), someone started talking about me… like, ‘Hey, did you all know Taeheon works at a distribution center now? He must be out of his mind.’ And I thought to myself, ‘Well, I have to make a living somehow. Don’t I?’ But it did terrify me a bit to know that I could still get criticized for trying to support myself.

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon

The variety show host asked why he would be criticized for that, Taeheon sadly shared it was because “they think it’s disgracing ZE:A.”

While some netizens criticized him, Taeheon sweetly revealed that he still gets messages from fans sometimes, and it’s because of their fond memories of ZE:A and their encouragement that he can’t give up.

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I get DMs sometimes, and they’re from ZE:A fans. They tell me that they were happy in their teens and 20s thanks to ZE:A. And it’s because of these fans that I can’t give up.

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon

When he’s not working, Taeheon has also been leaning into his other talents, such as boxing, and he recently began acting in a theater group where he’s “starting from the bottom.”

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I competed recently, and I won. I’m thinking about boxing professionally. Trying new things, like becoming an athlete, does scare me…

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon

Taeheon is keeping busy, but he shared how much he misses working with his fellow members, and he’s hopeful they can align their schedules and make a group comeback.

In fact, Taeheon is hopeful the group will reunite by the end of next year.

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I absolutely miss being ZE:A. I hope things get all worked out soon for everyone and that ZE:A can make a comeback… Hopefully, by the end of next year.

— ZE:A’s Kim Taeheon