Butylene

**Butylene** (stylized in all caps) (Korean: 뷰틸린; RR: Byutillin) is a South Korean girl group formed by Ethylene Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Ayeon, Yuwon, Hayeon, Taena, Awon, Miwon, Nara, Mieun, and Hawon. They debuted on March 8, 2024, with the release of their debut mini album Butene.

## Name

    The group's name, Butylene, is in reference to the chemical butylene. However, its Hangeul form differs from the chemical's Korean name, 부틸렌 (RR: butillen). The group's name is a reference to the chemical's energy, strength (in its use in various polymers), and versatility, with the -ene also representing femininity.

Before Miwon's addition, the eight hearts in the logo representing the hydrogen atoms in a butylene molecule, which had previously also corresponded to the members, no longer matched evenly. After her addition, Butylene's website was updated to say that Miwon's heart is the heart of the viewer/listener/reader, i.e. your heart.

## History

### 2023–2024: Pre-debut

Ethylene Entertainment was founded by [REDACTED] on June 13, 2022. Prior to debut, Butylene was known internally as "Ethylene Entertainment New Girl Group" (EENGG), named after their company, and briefly as "Ethyl Girls". The group's members, for whom this was the first time in the entertainment industry, were chosen by audition. They only trained for 6 months, an unusually short time for a trainee, as Ethylene Entertainment had underestimated the cost of idol training.

By February 2024, Ethylene Entertainment had been ₩700 million (US$868,000) in debt, which would increase to ₩1.569 billion ($1.97 million) by debut. The decision to debut Butylene, which incurred additional cost and accrued even more debt to the company, has been described as a foolish gamble; even more so considering the amount of money put into debut.

### 2024: Debut with *Butene*, addition of Miwon

On March 1, 2024, the groups' final name was announced as "Butylene", along with their debut in the next week with the mini album *Butene*. On March 8, the music video for the album's title track "Ignition" was released, receiving over 8 million views in the first 24 hours. Their album was released on the same day, selling 7,000 copies on its first day. In what the members have described as a miracle, it went on to sell a total of 1 million copies in the first week, allowing Ethylene Entertainment to pay off its debts and pay Butylene's members. The group made their music show debut on March 11, 2024, at Music Bank. The album debuted at number 2 on the weekly Gaon Album Chart. "Ignition" debuted at number 32 on Billboard's K-pop Hot 100, and number 21 on the World Digital Song Sales chart.

On March 21, it was announced that Miwon would be added to the group due to popular demand. The announcement also confirmed her participation in Butylene's upcoming comeback; as the comeback had not been previously announced up to that point, the announcement of Miwon's addition would also be the initial announcement of a comeback. It also confirmed that she would be participating in writing and composition.

## Members

* Ayeon (아연)
* Yuwon (유원)
* Hayeon (하연) - leader
* Taena (테나)
* Awon (아원)
* Miwon (미원)
* Nara (나라)
* Mieun (미은)
* Hawon (하원)

## Trivia

* Butylene's fandom name is Heartene, which comes from "Heart" and the name of the group.