Nearing the end of our hour-long video call, Erin Duffy's voice begins to tremble. The 26-year-old A.C.E fan from Virginia pauses to take a breath, composing a shaky smile as she anxiously fumbles a chip clip with both hands. "Why am I crying?" she laughs, an attempt to deflect her sudden embarrassment. She taps her finger on the clip, her sage green nails shining in the glow of her dual monitors, one of which is now permanently fixed on a live view count of the K-pop group's music video for their latest single "Favorite Boys." It's jumped more than 4,000 views in the last 30 minutes. Then, she says: "I'm just really proud of them."
The relationship between artists and their fans is a singular phenomenon, but if tended to diligently, with both parties practicing patience and compassion, it's something that can make or break a career. In the three years since making their debut, the five members of A.C.E — Jun, Donghun, Wow, Byeongkwan, and Chan — have cultivated a fandom, known as Choice, that feels like an extension of themselves: a group of colorful, industrious underdogs who constantly challenge each other to work harder, to go further.
"We've built this relationship with them because we want to make them happy, as happy as they make us," rapper and dancer Byeongkwan tells Teen Vogue from a makeshift press room in Seoul, seamlessly switching between Korean and English. While any normal person would be showing early signs of fatigue after a full day of promotions, Byeongkwan is fired up and ready to talk about the group's new EP, HJZM : The Butterfly Phantasy. Oh, and his favorite subject, Choice. "Dancing and singing is our job, and we love it," he says. "But interacting with our fans on social media is special... It's especially important right now when things are still so bad because of the [coronavirus] pandemic. Our dream is to give them energy and cheer them up."
It's a skill Byeongkwan, the group's resident energizer, is well-versed in. Of the members, he's the most active on their official Twitter account. His mention parties, or "menpas," are legendary, and they almost always end in a fight between him and Choice over who loves the other more. (Byeongkwan insists that he's the winner; Choice respectfully disagrees.) "There are rumors that i'll be happier after you notice me," one fan tweets. "Oh I think thats not a rumor," he replies with a heart emoji. To another, he calls "playing with Choice" his "only joy" (with four heart-eyed emojis). And to a fan who asks for a virtual hug, he says, "Come here baby." He adds two more heart emojis. He was once told, "You shine, it’s not a compliment but a fact." Looking at Byeongkwan now, it's true: A Zoom call can hardly contain his blinding aura.
"It's not easy to interact with fans at all times," Byeongkwan says, "but we do [it] because we love it, and we get a lot of joy from talking to them."
"It’s like making new friends every day," main vocalist Donghun adds. He's wearing a black Oasis t-shirt and his chin-length hair is pulled into a half pony-tail, golden tendrils framing his round face. "We can’t reply to everybody because there are so many, but we read through the comments and try our best. They’re showing us the world is a lot bigger than we think. We’re learning every day. And that’s a great thing.”
In front of him, leader Jun sits comfortably in the middle of their two-row formation, his once-blue hair now faded to a steely grey. It matches his demeanor in this moment. Among fans, the vocalist is known as the reaction master. He can be loud (if he wants to), and he can be expressive (when he wants to). He's always in control, a trait he often exercises in practice rooms and recording studios. It's why the members call him their anchor, stable and secure. And why Choice can rely on him, too: Jun wanted to honor that relationship with a special fandom song on the album.
On "Clover," a soft pop-ballad Jun wrote for the fans, with lyrical contributions from rapper Wow and some suggestions from Choice, they sing, "In this endless wandering, you are my only clover." For Jun, it was important to convey that "Choice is a clover to A.C.E" — a symbol of hope and reminder to keep moving forward.
"A.C.E was able to come this far because Choice was there for us from the beginning," he says. "I believe we can continue on this long journey as A.C.E because of them. At the same time, we want to be a presence for them. That's what I thought when writing this song."
A.C.E's journey starts with Kim Hye-im, the founder and CEO of Beat Interactive. In 2015, she assembled a group of promising trainees from top entertainment companies and named them A.C.E. ("I learn a lot from working with my boss," Byeongkwan says. "She’s a fantastic leader.") It's a fitting name for a team of all-rounders, or K-pop artists who excel across vocal, rap, and dance. But it's the latter where they really shine. A.C.E started honing their performance skills in 2016 on the streets of Hongdae, Seoul's bustling arts district and a regular hotspot for students, tourists, and buskers. It's here that A.C.E started making a name for themselves, covering industry titans like BTS, BIGBANG, and EXO for excited onlookers. Busking is so much a part of A.C.E's DNA that they still make time for it, even three years after their debut. On their last U.S. tour, they busked everywhere from Seattle to New York. And most recently, the members — clad in masks and Vans — crashed another busking troupe's performance of their song "Savage" back in their old stomping grounds in Hongdae. The members say they revisit their roots when there's a need to go back to basics, to eliminate distractions and focus on what's most important: the audience.
"I believe that greatness starts from something small," rapper Wow says. The black-haired performer is quiet. He's the type who doesn't speak unless spoken to. Yet, his voice is full of sincerity. "Some might think of busking in Hongdae as a small thing, but I think of it as a great experience. You're face to face with an audience, and you can feel the vibe and react in real time. There's no lighting on the street. There's no stage. No artifice. There's nothing. Only people. It's a human interaction."
"Busking and performing on stage are totally different experiences," Byeongkwan adds. "When we busk, we're much closer to the crowd, and we can see peoples' reactions clearly, and that makes us nervous sometimes. What if they don't like it? But that thought fuels us to try harder to make them enjoy it. It makes us better performers."
As a group, A.C.E has never shied away from things that scare them. They debuted with "Cactus," a hard EDM song that sounded unlike anything in K-pop at that time. But they garnered even more attention for their styling, specifically their choice to wear hot pants. "Because of the hot pants, honestly, we were criticized a lot,” oldest member Donghun said in a 2017 episode of the survival series MIXNINE. "But if we can make A.C.E more well-known, even if I get embarrassed, [then] we’ll do it, whatever it is."
That scene has been mythologized within the fandom, as a testament to Donghun's tenacity and as a primary example of the group's resilience in an industry that's often unkind to lesser-known groups from small companies. A.C.E has never shown any regret for the hot pants, and they've continued to push even more boundaries since. "Take Me Higher" saw the members (sans Chan, who was promoting with another temporary group at the time) don colorful crop tops and bubblegum bright hair. In the bold, boisterous "Under Cover," Byeongkwan's grey pig-tails, cheetah-print crop top, and heavy, shimmery eye shadow shook stan Twitter to its core. "We debuted [in] hot pants," Byeongkwan says. "We've worn crop tops. That's something that makes our fans proud, and it makes us proud too."
And in the fantastical concept photos for "Favorite Boys," a song that's a thundering mix of rock, hip-hop, and spooky synths, Jun and youngest member Chan pose underwater in traditional Korean hanboks. It's that blend of old and new, hard and soft, that defines A.C.E's visual and sonic aesthetics. The end result of the shoot stunned even the members.
"It was very scary, and we drank lots of water [inside of the tank]," Chan jokes. "It was my first time [under water], so I was really scared." Of course, now he can look back on the grueling shoot — which spanned two days, with Jun and Chan inside of the tank for six hours a day — with a sense of pride. "You can't see anything underwater, so we had no idea how it was going to come out, but it came out great. And I love that our fans love it."
With his dark mop of hair and sleeveless, black Babymetal t-shirt, he looks like an E-boy. But looks can be deceiving, and Chan's cheerful enthusiasm for the creative process is palpable. "In preparing for this album, we wanted to try something new," he adds. "And it has to be something that no one's tried before. We wanted to show our fans what's authentic about us and what's something that only we can do."
When asked what that something is, Byeongkwan is ready: "We don't have limits when it comes to fashion or music," he says in English. "We want to try everything." A.C.E approaches most things with this mindset. It's even in their name: Adventure Calling Emotions, which essentially means they want to stir the kinds of emotions — hope, strength, liberation — that inspire their fans to pursue adventure, to challenge themselves and the institutions around them. "We want many people to get inspiration from us."
In talking to Choice, it's clear that it's almost impossible to encapsulate what the group means to them in some coherent, succinct way. But there are two universal truths within the fandom: A.C.E work hard, and they deserve more recognition. "They bring a lot of comfort to me," 22-year-old Lims, a recent college graduate, tells Teen Vogue from their Chicago apartment. "I feel really happy when I see them doing things that haven't been done in K-pop before. That's something I admire. I want to push boundaries, too." Illustrator and college senior Elias, 21, can relate. Watching the members of A.C.E confidently express themselves in ways that balk at traditional ideals of masculinity has given Elias the security to do the same. "Seeing them want to wear makeup and want to wear crop tops, all of that helps me be a little bit more comfortable," he says. "I'm not alone. I'm not the only guy out there who likes wearing makeup and feeling pretty."
Alyson, a 27-year-old social media coordinator from Texas, started stanning after watching the "Cactus" dance practice video. Like so many Choice, she was enamored by their performance. Now, she's streaming the "Favorite Boys" music video to help get A.C.E their first music show win, a tangible symbol of a group's growth and momentum in the industry. "We want them to know, 'You guys are amazing. You deserve this.'"
Brittney, 26, runs @Choice_NAtion7, the North American fan base, and she's been averaging two hours of sleep per night throughout this comeback. She spends her days and nights coordinating with Choice fan bases around the world, communicating across time zones to hit streaming goals, create hashtags, and set new digital records. It's a 24/7 job, but she does it out of pure love for the group. "They work hard," she says. "So that motivates me to work hard for them." Erin, who organized a streaming project for this comeback and maintains a thorough YouTube playlist, has an entire folder on her iPhone dedicated to this goal with music show voting apps and Korean streaming platforms. It's titled "ACE 1st Win." As she tilts her phone to the screen to show me, I catch a glimpse of the Donghun photocard in the back of her phone case. "You gotta dream big," she smiles, a bit wearily.
Then, more assuredly, she continues: "Every time A.C.E gets knocked down, they find a way to get back up and to keep going and improving." That, she says, is what she admires most.
Choice's efforts haven't gone unnoticed. "The fans have given us so much support through streaming and tweeting and creating hashtags," Jun says. "They tried really hard to get us a first win [on a music show], and we fell short of their expectations. But we are not here to win; we’re here to enjoy our time with Choice. We try to be better people every day. That’s why we do what we do. Not to win, but to grow."
So, what does success mean to A.C.E, a group that always does the most with what they have? It's different for every member. For Wow, it's that he's constantly learning. "I learned how to enjoy music over the past years," he says. "I also learned how to be loved." Byeongkwan has found his purpose in being a beacon for his fans. Donghun is now comfortable embracing the uncomfortable, a successful step into adulthood. "I feel more flexible in dealing with unexpected situations," he says, "and I enjoy new challenges."
"We’ve already achieved success," Jun sagely replies. "We have fans. We put out an album and a great music video. We were nominated for [Korean music show] The Show, and even though we didn’t win, we were nominated by the fans. That’s something we never expected. I believe that true success is waking up and being better than you were the day before." And they plan to reach even new heights with their first full-length album, which they hope to release before the year ends. Success is a team effort, they say — a collaboration between the members, their management, and, importantly, the fans who continue to walk alongside them.
"As Kang Yu-chan, I couldn’t have come this far without the people around me, and I always think that I should be grateful," Chan adds. "Wouldn't it be a success to be able to think this way and to still be a strong team after three years?"
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