HAECHAN of K-pop boy group NCT turned his dream of having a cover of the hit Japanese love song “First Love” into reality, and his fans, collectively known as Sunflowers, are here for it!
From imagining how Haechan would sound like singing “First Love” with artificial intelligence (AI), fans were blown away by how incredibly lovely his voice was in his rendition of the song, which he dropped on Wednesday, January 22.
The 24-year-old K-pop idol brought tranquility and butterflies to Sunflowers as he serenaded them with his five-minute cover of “First Love,” originally performed by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada.
The clip opened with Haechan looking at the cityscape at night and putting on his wired earphones.
He was just standing and walking around aimlessly in one area, as his version of “First Love” was playing in the background.
First released in 1999, “First Love” is a soulful track about a person reminiscing about their first love and how their shared memories impact them.
The ballad expresses that no matter how much time has passed, their first love will always have a place in their heart.
Like the original version, Haechan clearly sang “First Love” in a mix of Japanese and English and added his soothing riffs and runs.
During NCT Dream’s appearance on the show “K-pop House,” Haechan mentioned how he had always wanted to cover “First Love.” He even sang a part of the song, leaving fans to want more.
haechan mentioning first love by hikaru utada as one of the japanese songs he’d love to cover one day and singing a short snippet of it 🥹 sounds so good already… pic.twitter.com/t80PGM8Ud0
— ً (@LHCFEED) March 14, 2024
“First Love” was part of Hikaru’s second studio album of the same name in March 1999. The track inspired the 2022 romance series “First Love” on Netflix, starring Hikari Mitsushima and Takeru Satoh.
Before Haechan, his fellow NCT member Doyoung dropped a short cover of “First Love” in an Instagram reel in February 2023.
‘Kinikilig ako’
Haechan’s “First Love” cover immediately trended on X (formerly Twitter), taking the fourth spot in the Philippines trends list on Wednesday.
Sunflowers could not help but admire Haechan’s angelic voice, with many Filipino fans saying his vocals gave them butterflies.
“Kinikilig ako. At the same time naiiyak din ako,” one fan wrote on X. “It got me emotional. This shows how beautiful your cover is.”
Kinikilig ako. At the same time naiiyak din ako. ANG GANDA NG VERSION MO HAECHAN!! 👏👏👏 It got me emotional. This shows how beautiful your cover is. 🥺🥺💚💚💚 https://t.co/ecysaQh0wg
— Just can't say good night 🌙☀️🌌 (@todayis_Wensdei) January 21, 2025
Others said Haechan’s cover made them look forward to his debut as a solo artist. Other NCT members like Taeyong and Jaehyun already debuted as soloists.
grabe!!! kinikilig ako kay haechan, my ghaaaad!!! the vocalsssss❤️❤️😍😍🌻🌻🌻. I'm sooo excited for his solooo. https://t.co/p35Umn2N1f
— 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝔂 ᥫ᭡_𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓵𝔃𝓮𝓷 𝓓𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝔃𝓮𝓷.♡ (@yuno_onej_1423) January 22, 2025
Some Filo Sunflowers asked in jest, “Sino ba ‘yan si first love?”
sino ba yan si first love?? pero grabe hands down talaga sa vocals ni haechan https://t.co/DM815PObd5
— Cloud (@jmjncznie) January 21, 2025
HAECHAN YOU ARE SO AMAZING! SINO BA YANG FIRST LOVE MO AT GANYAN NAMAN PAGKAKANTA MO! https://t.co/rbztPIqCVo
— ginny (@08MKJM) January 21, 2025
NCT Dream leader Mark, meanwhile, supported Haechan’s “First Love” cover by promoting it on his Instagram story.
mark’s instagram story supporting haechan’s ‘first love’ cover!!!
— risa ⏱︎ (@xneojunx) January 21, 2025
THE “🌻” LINK!!?!!! 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/LJmhoKySDK
MARK LEE NOT ONLY POSTED HAECHAN’S COVER OF FIRST LOVE BY UTADA HIKARU ON HIS STORY, HE PUT THE LINK TO THE COVER USING THE SUNFLOWER EMOJI 🥺😭 My strongest duo!!! pic.twitter.com/mLNFMsXC5n
— it’s not a mango (@yunohjaehyun) January 21, 2025
Haechan’s “First Love” cover on YouTube has now garnered over 920,000 views.
Let’s give Haechan’s rendition a listen and tell us what you love about it!
How useful was this post?
Click on a star to rate it!
Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0
No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.
We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!
Let us improve this post!
Tell us how we can improve this post?