Girl's Day’s Hyeri shares behind-the-scenes story of her iconic aegyo moment on MBC's 'Real Men'

Girl's Day's Hyeri recently opened up about the story behind her iconic aegyo (cute charm) moment on MBC’s 'Real Men.' During her appearance on the YouTube web variety show 'Dex’s Fridge Interview' on August 15, Hyeri shared candid details about the viral scene that helped skyrocket her to stardom.

In 2014, Hyeri appeared on 'Real Men,' a military variety show. Before leaving the training camp, she famously performed a brief aegyo by saying “Eing~” while in tears to a drill instructor. The moment became a viral hit, turning Hyeri into an overnight sensation. The scene’s popularity online led to numerous endorsement deals for Hyeri.

However, Hyeri revealed that her aegyo wasn’t planned. She admitted, “I had no idea that moment would be perceived as aegyo. Honestly, I was a bit annoyed at the time.” She explained that she had been emotionally exhausted on the last day of training and was irritated by the strict attitude of the drill instructor, which caused her spontaneous reaction.

“I was frustrated and thought, ‘Why do I have to go through this in my final moments?’ Since I couldn’t express how I truly felt, I responded with the ‘Eing~’ to convey that I wasn’t happy,” she added with a laugh.

When Dex mentioned that Hyeri seems to have appeared less often in variety shows recently, she revealed that she would soon be back on screen. She shared “I’ll be starring in a new show called Our Neighborhood Furballs, which focuses on animals, I have a dog named Hodu who’s like a little sibling to me. I agreed to do the show because I kept thinking of Hodu, and I even shed some tears while reflecting on him.”