September 2009 was a dark chapter in K-Pop history.

Up to this point, the worst I had seen was the breakup of DBSK when JYJ went their separate way. But DBSK had been in the game since 2004. 2pm was still relatively new, only having debuted in September of 2008.

By all accounts, 2pm was considered a top contender to be one of the best in the industry. Hailing from JYP Entertainment, they came from the same label as the immensely popular Wonder Girls. They had just released “Again in Again” in early 2009. They were appearing on variety shows and winning all kinds of fans with their charm, talent, and diversity as Korea’s first “beastly idols”.

Jay Park

Then…Jay Park, Jaebeom as he was referred to back then…Jay Park left the group. Fellow member Taecyeon once described it as the worse day of his life. So much drama happened in the span of a few months but to a fan such as myself, it’s like it all happened in an instance. And when 2pm returned to the scene, they were no longer seven members, but six. The song they released seemed all too fitting to describe, not only their anguish, but the anguish of their fans. It was called “Heartbeat”.

So let’s back up. Here’s what happened…

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