EXO’s Chanyeol carries Kai on back as he enlists in army, members bid him an emotional farewell

EXO member Kai aka Kim Jongin enlisted for his mandatory military training on Thursday. Exo’s nine group members–Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun, reunited for his farewell. All of them posed for pictures as they dropped off Kai at the military camp. Also read: Kai will begin military service next week ahead of EXO’s album release

Chanyeol took to his Instagram account and shared a bunch of photos from the farewell. In one of them, EXO members struck their signature pose for the group photo. They also placed their hands on Kai who debuted a buzz cut before his enlistment day.

Some pictures also featured Chanyeol giving a piggyback ride to Kai who seemed emotional. Sharing all moments, Chanyeol wrote in the caption of the post, “Don’t get hurt, and return safely!”

Meanwhile, several photos from the enlistment day have also gone viral on Twitter. Reacting to them, a fan wrote on Twitter, “Stay healthy and Serve well Jongin aah.” “We may as well send off Sehun sooner too, so we can have a full group comeback much faster… Gonna miss Nini a lot Their comeback won’t be the same without him,” added another one. Someone also commented, “I’m proud of him that he’s not like that person who evaded military until he reached 30.”

Besides EXO, Kai is also a member of its sub-unit Exo-K and SuperM. The K-pop idol debuted as a soloist in November 2020 with the release of his extended play, Kai. Kai has also starred in several television dramas such as Choco Bank (2016), Andante (2017), and Spring Has Come (2018).

His military enlistment announcement was made earlier this month. The official statement from SM Entertainment, which handles EXO, read: “Hello, this is SM Entertainment. We are delivering sudden news regarding Kai’s enlistment date. Although Kai had been preparing for EXO’s comeback later this year, due to recent changes in the law regarding military enlistment, Kai will be enlisting on May 11 to complete his basic training, after which he will begin working as a social worker.” Fans were shocked and emotional by the sudden update.