Super Junior's 83z on their debut era: Eunhyuk and Kim Hee-chul didn't even have each other's numbers

Super Junior unit 83z just dropped their first mini-album 너를 위한 약속 (Promise for You). When Lee Teuk and Kim Hee-chul sat down with Eunhyuk and Donghae to talk about it, the conversation went somewhere unexpected.

On July 20, the online channel 동해물과 백두은혁 uploaded EP.5 of its "이쪽으로 올래?" series. The title: "슈퍼주니어는 절대 서로를 이해하지 못할 거야 | EP.5 슈퍼주니어-83z." What came out was startling. Eunhyuk and Kim Hee-chul didn't actually become friends until 3-4 years after Super Junior's debut.

Eunhyuk was blunt about it. He only got close to Kim Hee-chul after they appeared on Absolute Best Friends Note together. Before that? Nothing. Kim Hee-chul nodded along. "I had very severe favoritism," he said. When they finally swapped contact info on that show, the number saved was just a leftover from trainee days. Neither had ever actually called it.

Donghae was the bridge between them. He'd been in the Smile debut unit with Lee Teuk, spending years right next to him. He also lived with Kim Hee-chul. That explained the split loyalty.

Kim Hee-chul got real about the pressure of 83z's release. "If it goes too well, it seems like I won't be able to escape," he said. He's been "a bit wavering" lately, he admitted, and has thoughts about going somewhere else. He also described Lee Teuk as "someone who will go up to SM executive"—high praise, or a warning, depending on what you hear. (He's already thinking about whether a second album will happen.)