EXO-Ls all over the world continued to trend messages of support for Chen after some factions of the fandom from Korea staged a physical protest calling for his expulsion from the group. As the physical protest yielded only a handful of participants, global fans continued trending the retention of EXO as a nine-member unit.
According to a report by All Kpop, millions of global EXO-Ls trended the hashtags #MyAnswerIsEXO9, #Chen_Stays and #EXOLBelieveInEXO9, representing support for nine members of the idol group including Suho, Chanyeol, Xiumin, D.O, Bekhyun, Kai, Chen, Sehun, and Lay.
It can be recalled that EXO-L ACE, a Korea based faction of the fandom, recently called for Chen to leave the group after he announced plans to get married to his pregnant girlfriend. In his letter to fans, Chen appealed for understanding and said that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the person he loved.
His news divided fans who both rejoiced his happy news and criticized him for betraying the fans and being irresponsible. EXO-L ACE, who claimed to be the biggest EXO group in Korea, demanded that Chen immediately be removed from the group because of the negative impact of his news on the image of the group as a whole.
The group also announced plans to stage a massive protest in front of the SM Entertainment building in Seoul over the weekend and set out guidelines for the protest, expecting a huge turnout of fans to attend.
However, a report by Koreaboo indicated that the protest only yielded a handful of people which quickly spread like wildfire among the fandom. Some even resorted to creating memes about the 10-20 people who attended the physical protest.
Fans called out the protesters for hiding their faces in shame when they were so proud to say mean things about Chen online. Some laughed out loud at the failure of the protesters to gather enough numbers to back up their clamor for Chen's removal from the group.
"I am proud of IEXO-L for working hard to protect EXO9 despite distances and language barriers. It demands a purely supportive heart to be able to stay strong among so much negativity. You showed everyone how love will always win. #CHEN_STAYS #MyAnswerIsEXO9," an international fan said online.
"No matter what happens, EXO is still 9 members," another fan echoed.
