Aespa’s Group Greeting Was Originally Very Different—Here’s How, According To Giselle

K-Pop groups typically introduce themselves with a special greeting that is unique to them. Fans of SM Entertainment girl group aespa may already be familiar with their official greeting, “Be MY æ! Hello, we are aespa!”

But did you know that it was originally very different? The girls talked all about it in an interview with YouTube channel “Zach Sang Show.”

At first, they started out with a simple, “Hi, this is aespa!”

But when Zach asked them about the first time they had ever said it in unison, Giselle perked up and explained that they have a longer, more intricate group greeting.

Oh! We actually, you know, we have our greeting—the ‘Be my æ!’

— Giselle

The four members giggled before doing their customary introduction, which was as chic as ever!

Giselle then said that that the peace-like hand movement wasn’t the original gesture. “It wasn’t this before. We did stuff with our hands to express our ‘Be my æ.'”

After thinking about it for a moment, she corrected herself and revealed that they didn’t actually use the word “æ,” which stands for “Avatar X Experience,” and “aspect,” meaning double-sided. They instead used the word “MY,” which is their fandom’s name, and also the word “friend.”

It wasn’t even ‘Be my æ,’ it was like, ‘Be my MY’ or like, ‘Be my friend.’

— Giselle

“There were different options to choose from, so it took a while to get to ‘Be my æ,’” she concluded with a smile.

Although the shortlisted greetings weren’t bad by any standard, the final one is undoubtedly the best! Everything from the words to the gestures matches the group perfectly.