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Exo's Chen wishes Exo-L 'happy 6th birthday', fan club says haters give him hell but he'll still return love

The artiste has taken a break from his career to focus on his marriage and newborn daughter, but it hasn't stopped haters from demanding his removal from the group

Exo's Chen has emerged from his temporary hiatus to wish the group's fandom, Exo-L, a happy birthday. The fandom was officially established on August 5, 2014, which is when Exo's label SM Entertainment revealed the fandom's name as well as what it represented.

In their statement back in 2014, SM shared that the 'L' stood for 'Love', adding that the letter also symbolically represented the link that held the group together since it is between the letters 'K' and 'M', which are the names of the group's two sub-units — Exo-K (the Korean unit) and Exo-M (the Chinese sub-unit). Exo-L is treated as if it were one of the group's sub-units, without which Exo would not be complete. To top it off, 'L' is also the 12th letter in the alphabet, and when the group debuted, it had 12 members in total, making this number even more special to the fandom.

While the fandom was celebrating their sixth birthday across the globe, none of them could have expected Chen to jump online to share in the festivities. The member, whose real name is Kim Jong-dae, has remained mostly out of the spotlight in recent months following his marriage and the birth of his daughter early this year. While it is understandable he would take time off to tend to his growing family, he was also noted to be dealing with a significant amount of backlash for his decision to get married while he was still an idol, something that is largely frowned upon by the international K-pop fan community.

Idols who are 'caught' dating often face disciplinary action via their labels, in addition to being consistently hounded by media and hate comments alike. Chen, being a member of one of the top idol groups, shocked the K-pop world when he announced he would be a husband and father at just 27 years of age. This, unfortunately, made him a target for malicious comments, including ones demanding his removal from Exo permanently. As the label and Chen work out how to address the situation, the idol himself has remained silent and out of the public eye.

But Exo-Ls are now left gushing after Chen decided to break his silence to wish them a happy birthday. His message on Lysn, the SM-created mobile app for artiste-to-fan communication, read, "EXO-L, happy 6th birthday ~ I hope you all have a leisurely and enjoyable day today~!!" Fans were soon tweeting their reactions to the message, with one sharing, "JONGDAE POSTED IN LYSN / I M NOT CRYING AND STAY PRESSED ANTIS EXO IS 9." 

Another said, "Oh dear Jongdae you're an angel!! Thank you!" and one tweet reading, "JONGDAE WE MISS YOU SO MUCH, HIS PLACE IS SO PEACEFUL."

Regardless of the negativity, Chen appeared to be quite happy in the photo shared along with his message, leading fans to believe he must be doing fine while on his break. One fan shared, "I cry right now uri JONGDAE YOUR SO CUTE."  

Another said, "Omg sweet boy Jongdae. I love him so much!"

One stated, "I wanna cry too we miss you Chen thank you!" 

The negativity did seep in, nonetheless, with anti-fans showing up under the post to demand Chen's removal from Exo. But Exo-Ls have been doing their best to drown out the hate. "I really love Kim Jongdae with all of my heart. I want to protect him. He deserves the whole entire world. He's THE SWEETEST, KINDEST, MOST CARING BOY EVER," tweeted one fan. 

Another said, "Antis could give him hell but he’ll still return it with love. He deserves all the good things in this world, please."

Some fans thought the idol was being far too kind, stating that he ought to take stricter action against his haters. "Can Jongdae stop being too nice and mf sue those b*****s or Jongdae please LET ME SLAP THEM FOR YOU," tweeted one fan.

Others thought he had made the right choice to ignore them, stating, "JONGDAE Don’t care for haters, please remember that you have fans who support you and wish you the best. Please keep your smile and health, we are with you forever."

And as fans await his return patiently, some are hoping if they pray hard enough, they'll get a comeback from the idol within this year. "Jongdae album, when?? Manifesting around fall or winter pleaseeeee. It suits him."