Monbebes, we are so back! Joohoney has finally completed his military service! Fans of K-pop boy groups are well acquainted with the struggle of waiting for our biases to return after their mandatory military enlistment. But rest assured, the Joohoney drought is over. After first enlisting as an active duty soldier in July 2023, the group’s beloved main rapper was discharged on Jan. 23. After an 18-month hiatus from the spotlight, it looks like Joohoney is getting right back to work and making up for lost time. Here’s a look at everything he’s been up to so far since getting out of the military.
If you’re a K-pop fan, then you know the drill with TikTok dance challenges. Dance trends, set to any kind of music, not just K-pop, go viral pretty often amongst idols. Having been enlisted and away from social media for a while, Joohoney had a lot of dances to catch up on, so he started filming right away. In fact he didn’t even change his clothes before getting in front of the camera, as he dances while still wearing his military uniform. His version of the popular dance trend to Tyler the Creator’s “Sticky” has already gone super viral, reaching over 2.3 million views in just a day.
But he didn’t stop there. Joohoney is a notoriously huge fan of the K-pop girl group Aespa. On numerous web shows, he’s been seen singing and dancing to their songs. So, of course, he had to do an Aespa dance challenge as well. He opted to dance to “Whiplash,” an Aespa song that was released during his enlistment. As a fellow MY (fan of Aespa), I just have to know, who is Joohoney’s bias?!
But Joohoney didn’t film all of the TikTok dances on his own. He also filmed a version of the viral “Shanghai Romance” trend with the other members of Monsta X — Shownu, I.M, and Minhyuk— who are not currently in the military. After being apart for so long, it’s good to see some of the members back together again.
In addition to filming TikToks, Joohoney also filmed an episode of the group’s web show, Monmukgo. Though we don’t know when the episode will be released, we do know that they started filming right away. In fact, the second Joohoney was discharged, the group’s staff placed a headband on his head that read “We have to go film Monmukgo” and pulled him towards the car. By the look on Joohoney’s face, he seemed just as surprised as fans were that he’d be filming so quickly. When it comes to Monsta X, there’s truly never a dull moment.
the fact that jooheon gets dragged to film monmukgo the second he’s out from the military 😭 peak comedypic.twitter.com/C7wGfOjPF1
— 채리균 💚💜 1526 (@TurtleLoveCat) January 23, 2025
For K-pop fans, the months that our faves are enlisted can be sad. But with Joohoney jumping right back into action, it feels like he never left. Now I just can’t wait until the other members are discharged and Monsta X is a full group again.