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Musical career

The group's origins trace to the 2007 Super Boy competition, a male counterpart to Super Girl produced by Hunan TV and EE Media. Four contestants—Li Mao of Nanjing, Ma Xueyang of Chengdu, Liu Zhoucheng of Guangzhou, and Gao Wei of Changsha—were eliminated before the final round, but EE Media proposed uniting them as a vocal group. Contestant Yang Fan of Jinan was initially included but soon removed. After test recordings, EE Media signed the four to contracts under the temporary name 'Happy Boy Group'.

Meanwhile, finalist Zhang Yuan (representing Nanjing, who placed ninth overall) was originally slated for a thirteen-member touring group called 'Happy Top 13', but that plan was discarded, and he became the fifth member of Happy Boy Group. That same month, the five recorded the pre-debut single 'Kiss' and performed it at the Super Boy concert in Shanghai. In October 2007, with support from South Korea's DoReMi Media, the group was sent to South Korea for vocal and dance training.

Rumors circulated that EE Media would replace a member with a Korean trainee, and Chinese media speculated Zhang Yuan might be replaced due to his late addition. In early 2008, EE Media confirmed a lineup change: Gao Wei was replaced by an anonymous member. The group returned to China in April 2008 with the announcement of new member Kim Eun-sung, a Korean trainee from DoReMi Media. The addition of Kim led Chinese media to speculate the group was competing with Super Junior-M, and Korean fans labeled Kim the Korean version of Han Geng.

EE Media stated Kim was added for his voice and bond with the members. The group's popularity rose in Korea, and they gave interviews to KBS.