Chaeyoung Leaves JYP After 14 Years—but Says TWICE Will Not Change

Chaeyoung is officially leaving the company where she spent almost half her life but she is not saying goodbye to TWICE.

On August 13, the 27-year-old singer shared a handwritten letter announcing the end of her 14 year relationship with JYP Entertainment, where she trained before debuting as a member of TWICE in 2015. Her next move will place greater emphasis on the eccentric, intimate musical identity she introduced through her first solo studio album, LIL FANTASY vol.1. “I’m going to create musical activities within my own ‘LIL FANTASY’ world,” Chaeyoung explained in her message.

But one part of the announcement was particularly important for fans: Chaeyoung is still a member of TWICE. She emphasized that her activities with the group will continue and described TWICE as the “root” of the love and career she has built over the past decade.

For international ONCE, that distinction matters. Chaeyoung is changing the company that manages her individual career not announcing her departure from the group that made her famous.

‘LIL FANTASY’ is becoming more than an album title

The most interesting part of Chaeyoung’s letter may not actually be her departure from JYP. It is the name she chose for whatever comes next. LIL FANTASY. Fans already know those words from LIL FANTASY vol.1, Chaeyoung’s first solo album, released in September 2025. JYP’s official TWICE site promoted the record with “SHOOT (Firecracker)” as its title track. But Chaeyoung has previously described “LIL FANTASY” as something bigger than a record: a name for the small world inside her. Her latest announcement now suggests that she plans to turn that world into the foundation for her future musical identity. That possibility immediately caught fans’ attention.

One highly active TWICE fan discussion responded to the announcement by noting that the first album was literally called “vol.1”, making more music seem inevitable. The fan said they were nevertheless surprised and “unbelievably excited” that Chaeyoung was committing so strongly to LIL FANTASY as an ongoing concept. It raises an obvious question: Is LIL FANTASY vol.2 coming next?

Chaeyoung has not officially announced a second album, so that remains fan speculation. But there have already been hints of continued activity around the project, including fans discussing possible new LIL FANTASY material after recent social media updates.

Her first solo album proved there was an audience for a different Chaeyoung

Leaving JYP to pursue her individual music becomes easier to understand when looking at what happened with her solo debut. LIL FANTASY vol.1 was deliberately different from the polished pop sound that international listeners usually associate with TWICE. The project moved through R&B, neo-soul, jazz and more experimental pop textures, while giving Chaeyoung significantly greater creative control over the music and visual identity. Forbes highlighted the album upon its release as an introduction to the singer’s personal artistic world.

The response from international critics was unusually strong.

Rolling Stone placed LIL FANTASY vol.1 at No. 86 on its 100 Best Albums of 2025, praising the way Chaeyoung explored friendship, loneliness, forgiveness and individuality through genres including neo-soul, trip-hop and funk.

Teen Vogue also included the record among its best non-English albums of the year, describing it as worth the wait and emphasizing how far its sound moved from Chaeyoung’s work with TWICE.

That critical response gives her departure a different meaning. Chaeyoung is not leaving JYP before establishing a solo identity. She is leaving after discovering that the identity she wanted to build could stand on its own.

Fans seem excited but also curious about what happens to TWICE

Initial international fan reaction has mixed excitement with understandable uncertainty.

A discussion on TWICE’s main Reddit community quickly attracted hundreds of votes after Chaeyoung posted her letter. Some fans said they had expected the announcement, while others immediately began wondering which company she might join or whether LIL FANTASY could become a more independent operation. Another K-pop discussion of the announcement drew more than 500 votes within hours, with fans focusing heavily on the reassurance that TWICE itself would continue. Some fans also interpreted the move as an opportunity for Chaeyoung to gain greater control over her solo promotions and creative direction. Those comments represent fan interpretation rather than a reason officially given by Chaeyoung.

Her own explanation was simpler: she wants to take on “a new challenge” and continue building music that can become meaningful in listeners’ lives. The tone of her letter was not angry or confrontational. Instead, Chaeyoung thanked JYP staff and the TWICE team for supporting what she affectionately described as her mischievous personality throughout the past 14 years. She also thanked her eight members for consistently encouraging her.

Leaving JYP no longer automatically means leaving TWICE

Chaeyoung’s announcement comes only days after another major change inside the group.

Jeongyeon became the first TWICE member to officially leave JYP during the current contract period, signing with Varo Entertainment to pursue acting while explicitly confirming that she would remain part of TWICE. Chaeyoung is now following a similar structural path, although she has not yet announced a new agency.

That arrangement may initially seem confusing to fans accustomed to K-pop groups whose members are all exclusively managed by one company. But it is increasingly possible for veteran groups to separate individual management from group activities.

TWICE’s members previously renewed their contracts with JYP in 2022. As another contract period approached in 2026, individual members began considering different paths for their solo careers. The exact long-term management structure for TWICE has not yet been fully detailed publicly. What Chaeyoung has made clear is that, from her perspective, changing agencies does not change her commitment to the group.

“TWICE will always be my roots”

That may be the sentence fans needed most. Chaeyoung acknowledged that the ability to pursue something as personal as LIL FANTASY exists partly because of everything that came before it. She credited TWICE with creating the foundation for the love she has received and promised that group activities would continue unchanged from her side.

Her message effectively separates two versions of herself without asking fans to choose between them. There is Chaeyoung of TWICE, the rapper, singer and songwriter who spent more than a decade growing alongside eight other members. And there is Chaeyoung of LIL FANTASY, whose music is stranger, smaller, more personal and increasingly shaped by her own artistic instincts. She wants both to survive. That idea also helps explain why the departure does not necessarily feel like a dramatic breakup with her past.

Chaeyoung is taking part of that past with her.

Fans are already waiting for the next fantasy

There is currently no confirmed new agency, release date or LIL FANTASY vol.2 announcement.

But the enthusiasm surrounding Chaeyoung’s wording shows that fans have already understood the direction she is pointing toward. After LIL FANTASY vol.1 established a sound that felt distinctly separate from TWICE, the name now appears poised to become the umbrella under which Chaeyoung builds the next chapter of her individual career.

Her first album title suddenly feels more intentional than ever. It was never LIL FANTASY. It was LIL FANTASY vol.1.

And with Chaeyoung stepping outside JYP after 14 years, ONCE are already waiting to discover what volume two of that story might sound like.