KKUTEO (꾸테오)

Debut date: April 22, 2026

“I would know, because we’re endless.” SONG: the first chat (Intro) Sung by: KOJI

Summary

KKUTEO (KOR: 꾸테오 RR: kkuteo) is the second ever global group, and the first ever boy-group to debut as a global group under HYBE. The members consist of 4 members named: HECTO, RUNO, KOJI, and NATE, who were just a typical friend group in school. Their name is a shortened version of the Korean phase, “kkeut-eobs (끝없)” meaning endless. They chose this phase because they are implying that they will be a quadruple endlessly no matter what happens. Originally, they would have been a Korea-based group. But because of the original label, HYBE, did not allow any members who are not fluent and/or sufficient in Korean to join, so instead they applied for a global group, and barely made it to training on the leaderboard. They almost failed to another group debuting, but beat them by only a point. Their debut single will be titled “CAMPFIRE” and will be released sometime around this month.

Story (Lore)

As planned, it was only going to be a trio. HECTO was newly added to their trio only 2 weeks before their appearance at the pop-up, as KOJI states. The trio came to the United States around the same time, and HECTO came 3-4 months later after them. They all attended the same ESL school in Los Angeles. It started as only a duo, with KOJI and RUNO. Both met when they were required to sit next to each other in class. It started when KOJI peeked at RUNO’s phone screen for a split second, and pointed it out to him. After they got along really well as a duo. NATE, or known as “SARAKRANMIPIKUNPATAIKAN”, joined after RUNO saw him eating alone in a classroom. RUNO states, “I’ve never seen anyones name that long before. I mean, it doesn’t even fit on the roll call sheet.” After a few months, HECTO joined the class. They all thought he was intimidating with a skateboard and somewhat buff. HECTO joined because they needed a fourth person for their English project. For the project, they all gathered at KOJI’s house to do it. They saw having HECTO over wasn’t so bad. They described him as “funny and loving” despite his appearance. RUNO admitted he really liked HECTO’s style, and wanted to learn to skate too. Despite being the only Hispanic in the group, they still loved him as much as the others. Ever since then, they all sat near each other, and sometime disrupts class. They all referred to HECTO as the protector because of his appearance and his muscles. During a hangout in LA, they stumble across a poster by HYBE in collaboration with Geffen Records for an opportunity to debut as a global group. the others except HECTO hesitated for a bit, then eventually gave in. They thought it would be a fun experience to try it, and if they don’t get in, oh well. They went, and applied. They were asked to dance, but none of them knew how to dance, so they had to make up a random, mock choreography right there and then. “Honestly, our choreography was so bad I didn’t know we would even get in.” KOJI says. They only applied as a joke. They didn’t know they would get in, and beat the other groups competing. They thought it was unfair even. But, they still got in. They were eventually flown to South Korea for training with the actual label, HYBE. After 4 months of training and criticism, they are now preparing for their debut. HYBE staff described them as a “fast learner, yet energy lacking” group.

KKUTEO “CAMPFIRE - EP” Concept Photo