By Hasan Beyaz
Creative Director: Jose Moreno // Creative Assistant: Marie Terese Quirapas // Visual Director: LOUDI // Producer: Kuya Allen // Photographer: Ahn Hongje // Photography Assistants: Geongmin Ha, Yoonwoo Kim, Ryungseo Yoon // Editorial Coordinator: Scarlett Kersey // Production Company: Mondays // Production Manager: Charlene Ho // Production Assistants: Joanne Zhang, 김은총 // Stylist: Im Soyoung // Hair Stylist: Sohee // Makeup Artist: Noh Hangyeol // Videographer: Shey Allen
Three years into a career that opened with the loud, theatrical world of HOUSE OF TRICKY, xikers have moved into ROUTE ZERO : The ORA – the ten-member K-pop group's seventh mini album, fronted by a title track called "OKay" built around self-belief.
xikers debuted in March 2023 as KQ Entertainment's second group with an instinct for stage-first, physically demanding performance and a knack for building story-driven worlds around their music. xikers spent their first six eras inside the HOUSE OF TRICKY saga, a labyrinth-and-illusion universe the group has now closed for good on their own terms. ROUTE ZERO : The ORA opens the door to what comes after: a "world of order," where xikers exist as the anomaly, choosing their own direction inside a system built to prevent exactly that. What hasn't changed is the artistry underneath any storyline: ten performers who can master a high-impact sound on pure execution.
Within that, HUNTER and SUMIN occupy a specific lane. HUNTER, KQ's first Thai idol, is the group's dance-break specialist, with choreography that’s technically sharp but never stiff. He points to the closing break in "OKay" as the moment that feels most like him: unpolished at points, funny even, and exactly the kind of freedom he says he's drawn to. SUMIN is formative within the group's rap identity, possessing a tone that's grown more distinct with every era – something he traces back to his verses on "ICONIC" (HOUSE OF TRICKY : WRECKING THE HOUSE) and "BREATHE" (HOUSE OF TRICKY : SPUR).
The two of them share more than a stage. English is their default language with each other inside a ten-member group; they have a habit of cooking together, running together, and lately taking boxing classes. It shows up in small ways: shared mannerisms, a rhythm to how they read each other mid-performance, and an ease that neither one seems especially interested in hiding from their fans, road𝓨.