News Of EXO's Kai And Krystal From f(x) Dating Becomes Top Trending Item On Facebook
When broke Thursday that EXO vocalist Kai was dating Krystal of the group f(x), another secret K-pop couple outed with photographic evidence from South Korea's first tabloid, Dispatch, the reaction was swift and overwhelming.
Articles referencing the photos quickly racked up thousands of clicks for Korean entertainment websites. By Friday, the news had crossed over into mainstream pop culture in the US, with news of Kai and Krystal's dating experience becoming one of the top trending topics on Facebook.
Unlike the frequent denials from record labels that Hallyu fans are used to, EXO and f(x)'s record label SM Entertainment confirmed Kai and Krystal were dating the shortly after the story broke.
"They were friends before and recently began to have romantic feelings towards each other," read the SM statement according to a Seoul Broadcasting System news report.
Kai, who is 22-years-old and Krystal, 21, have known each other for 10 years, since they were first were being groomed for pop stardom in SM's infamous "trainee" program, according to Dispatch.
"Despite having full schedules with EXO currently on their world tour and f(x) also performing their concert overseas in Japan, the two idols have allegedly found time in-between to meet with one another for dates," the report read.
The pair was photographed together on several dates from February and more recently when Kai was returning from Jakarta, Indonesia and Krystal from Nagoya, Japan.
After news of the labelmates dating was confirmed, a comment Kim Heechul of Super Junior, another band on the SM roster, made back in 2011 was reexamined as perhaps evidence that founding chairman Lee Soo Man would be okay with Krystal and Kai dating, as pointed out by the website Soompi.
"Lee Soo Man said, 'if you're going to date, I'd rather you date within the company. It's easy for us and we can take care of all the scandals,'" the Super Junior member recalled.
