“MARRY ME,” Korean rapper and songwriter Dawn captioned the Instagram Post he published on Feb. 3. In the short clip, two hands wearing matching wedding rings curl around each other in a loving embrace. In the post, Dawn tagged his longtime girlfriend, fellow K-Pop star HyunA, and the former Wonder Girls singer shared the video to her profile. “Of course, yes,” she wrote, per Google Translate. HyunA, 29, also shared the close-up photo of the rings that Dawn, 27, posted on his account. “Thank you, thank you, and thank you always,” she wrote (again, h/t to Google Translate.)
The close-up shot revealed that these apparent engagement rings match. Both rings feature moonstones instead of traditional diamonds. The rings came in his and hers clamshell boxes. Both this and the video posts were quickly smothered in love from fans. “WHEW IM BAWLING MY EYES OUT, CONGRATULATIONS!!” wrote one. “OMG FINALLYYYYYY,” added another. “HYOJONG MAN FINALLY MADE HIS MOVE,” wrote another, referring to Dawn by his birthday. “Love is real goodbye,” commented another. The apparent engagement announcement was so powerful that the couple trended for hours on Twitter.
HyunA and Dawn have been dating since 2016, and they publicly confirmed their relationship in 2018. Doing so was a risky career move because, as South China Morning Post notes, the K-pop industry relies heavily on fans engaging in a “pseudo-relationship” with their favorite idols. Dating is frowned upon, and if artists do, they’re heavily encouraged to hide their romance from the public. Following their relationship reveal, Cube Entertainment – one of South Korea’s all-in-one record label/talent agency/production company/management organizations – terminated both Dawn and AyunA’s contracts.
The two quickly bounced back, signing with PNation, the label started by PSY of “Gangnam Style” fame. In September 2021, the two released 1+1=1, a joint-EP. “We’ve always wondered what it would be like to be on stage together and what amazing music we could create together as a team,” Dawn told Hypebae. “We just so happened to come up with a song we liked and decided to create an album based on that. Looking back now, we just wanted to produce something that we could remember.” “Plus, we knew our fans were looking forward to a duet album,” said HyunA. “PSY was also a great supporter along this journey.”