THE TEA · KISS OF LIFE · CREATIVE TRANSITION

KISS OF LIFE’s Creative Director Left, and 224 Became the First Real Test

Lee Hae-in helped build one of fifth-generation K-pop’s clearest debut identities. Then the group had to prove the identity lived inside four members, not only one director’s mood board.

Why Lee Hae-in mattered

“Creative director” sounds smaller than the job became. Lee helped assemble the team, shape member identities and connect four solo films, “Bye My Neverland” and “Shhh” into one debut story. The rollout taught people who the women were before asking them to memorize a profile table.

What S2 confirmed

In January 2025, S2 said Lee had not participated in KISS OF LIFE’s visual directing since around November 2024. Reporting connected her next work to CLOSE YOUR EYES. The useful word is visual: she was not the sole author of every song, performance choice or personality.

224 answered part of the question

“Lips Hips Kiss” and “k bye” did not recreate the debut-film universe. They trusted the established members, adult R&B structure and a cleaner promotional file. The result sounded recognizably KIOF. That means the original direction successfully built identities the women could carry forward.

The visual storytelling became less ambitious. That is not failure; it is the exact tradeoff fans should be able to name without pretending every personnel change is betrayal.

The debut rollout was a system, not one pretty teaser

Julie’s “Kitty Cat,” Natty’s “Sugarcoat,” Belle’s “Countdown” and Haneul’s “Play Love Games” were individual introductions with different musical temperatures. “Bye My Neverland” connected the women, and “Shhh” completed the arrival. The system solved a rookie problem: viewers learned why four people belonged together before the title track asked for loyalty.

Lee’s direction let pre-debut history become character without becoming prison. Natty was more than a survival-show contestant. Julie was more than a former YG trainee. Belle was more than a songwriter’s daughter, and Haneul was more than the unknown member beside three résumés.

What the post-Lee era risked losing

The risk was not that every outfit would become ugly. It was that releases would stop connecting individual identity, music and visual narrative. A concept-heavy group can survive a new director only if the members internalized the language instead of merely wearing it.

There was also an unfair expectation hidden inside fan anxiety: a new team was being asked to duplicate somebody else’s signature immediately. Copying the debut exactly would have proved nothing except that S2 kept the old files.

The member labor became easier to see

Julie’s restraint, Natty’s pocket, Belle’s construction instincts and Haneul’s clean blend carried more responsibility once the connected universe receded. That is the healthiest evidence in the file. The concept did not evaporate because the people had already learned how their separate strengths fit together.

The next test is not whether fans can identify a Lee Hae-in substitute. It is whether S2 documents new creative leadership, credits visual teams correctly and gives the group another idea large enough to develop across more than one teaser cycle.