Former gugudan member Haebin has opened up about what happened after her idol career came to an end and how she began rebuilding her life outside the K-pop industry.

On September 1, Haebin shared a video on social media with the question, “What do you do for a living after retiring from a girl group?”

Looking back on her career, Haebin said she spent five years as a trainee before debuting as gugudan’s main vocalist. She recalled receiving a rookie award, holding a solo concert with the group, and performing overseas while pursuing her dream as an idol.

However, she described the end of that chapter as sudden.

“At some point, the job disappeared. My life as an idol felt like a brief moment,” she said, adding that many people did not know much about what happened to her afterward.

After leaving idol activities behind, Haebin continued using her musical experience by working on OSTs and pursuing music projects she personally wanted to try.

She explained, “I only knew how to sing, so I worked on OSTs and made the music I wanted to make. Instead of focusing on rankings, I started looking for things that I genuinely enjoyed.”

Haebin said the transition required her to learn many things again from the beginning as she searched for a career and lifestyle that felt sustainable.

“I had to learn everything again from scratch,” she said. “Instead of trying to make other people like me, I wanted to find something I could continue doing while learning to like myself.”

She added that she is still taking on new challenges and now considers herself someone with multiple jobs and interests rather than only a former idol.

Haebin also revealed that she plans to share more of her life under her real name, Han Ye Seo.

“My job as an idol has ended, but my challenges have not,” she said. “From now on, instead of gugudan’s Haebin, I want to show you the everyday life of Han Ye Seo.”

gugudan debuted in 2016 and officially ended group activities in 2020. Since then, Haebin has continued exploring music and other projects and is currently active as an influencer.

Her latest update offers a personal look at the difficult transition that can follow an idol career and the process of finding a new identity and direction after leaving the K-pop industry.