Before 'BREAK EVEN': an ILLIT starter guide, from the straight-ahead rush of 'Magnetic' to the 'bias' of 'It's Me'

ILLIT releases its fifth mini album, 'BREAK EVEN', at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 26. The title means the break-even point, where there's neither loss nor gain, and the album is about ending, on your own terms, a relationship that doesn't give back as much heart as you put in. Read the album notes in order since the group's March 2024 debut, and the feeling of liking 'you' moves one step further with every song. We picked six songs that follow those steps. Song descriptions and credits come from Bugs, and scene times from the official music videos.

At a glance

Year	Song	'Me and you' in the album notes	Start here
2024	'Magnetic'	Heading straight for the 'you' I like	0:43 a secret message alert
2024	'Cherish (My Love)'	My feelings matter more than yours	0:39 a 'SARANGNEE CLUB' invitation
2024	'Tick-Tack'	Inner feelings that change by the second	2:18 dancing inside a locker
2025	'Do the Dance'	A first date: "let's dance together"	3:03 a face hidden in a Ferris wheel
2025	'NOT CUTE ANYMORE'	Not wanting to look only cute	0:04 a 'CUTE IS DEAD' gravestone
2026	'It's Me'	"I'm your bias!"	0:17 a member atop a capsule toy

2024 · 'Magnetic'

The title track of the debut mini album 'SUPER REAL ME', released on March 25, 2024. The album notes call the pull toward the 'you' I like a 'super attraction' and point to the lyric '커다란 자석이 된 것만 같아' ("it's like I've turned into a giant magnet"). At 0:43 in the music video, a phone shows the alert 'A new secret message has arrived.', and an envelope tied with a pink ribbon appears. At 2:12, a member punches through a green wall and steps out. Apple Music

2024 · 'Cherish (My Love)'

It came out on October 21 that year on the second mini album, 'I'LL LIKE YOU'. The album notes say the story widened from 'the real me' to 'me and you'. It's a song about wondering how you feel, yet finding that my own feeling of liking you matters more. The music video is built around a 'SARANGNEE CLUB' (사랑니 is Korean for wisdom tooth, literally a 'love tooth'). At 0:39, a crumpled sheet of paper reads 'SARANGNEE CLUB' along with 'R.S.V.P', the invitation line asking guests to reply. At 3:22, a silver ring topped with a tooth-shaped charm sparkles. Apple Music

2024 · 'Tick-Tack'

A track from the same album, with its own music video released on November 14. It compares a mind full of things you want to show and things you want to hide to a messy cabinet. The scat in the chorus (riding the rhythm with wordless syllables) sounds like a ticking clock, just as the title says. The music video moves that cabinet into a school locker. From 2:18, the members dance inside a locker strewn with pencils and makeup brushes as big as they are, with the album title 'I'll Like you' posted on the wall. Apple Music

2025 · 'Do the Dance'

The title track of the third mini album, 'bomb', released on June 16, 2025; its Korean title, '빌려온 고양이', means 'borrowed cat'. The 'me' in the album notes now goes on a first date with you. After a slip-up, I freeze like a borrowed cat (a Korean idiom for someone who goes stiff and quiet somewhere unfamiliar), but not wanting it to end like this, I ask you to dance with me. The string melody in the intro borrows a passage from '優雅なる脱走' ("a graceful escape"), from the soundtrack of the Japanese anime 'The Five Star Stories'. The original composer, Tomoyuki Asakawa, and member YUNAH are both in the credits. At 0:28 in the music video, the five members pedal a five-seat bicycle uphill, and at 3:03, inside a Ferris wheel car, a member's face disappears behind both hands. Apple Music

2025 · 'NOT CUTE ANYMORE'

It came out on November 24, 2025, as ILLIT's first single album. In the album notes, ILLIT feels the gap between 'the me the world sees' and 'the me I see'. So, over a stripped-back reggae rhythm, the song says it doesn't want to look only cute anymore. The music video opens at 0:00 with yellow text reading 'BEING CUTE DOESN'T DEFINE WHO I AM.', and at 0:04 'CUTE IS DEAD' is carved on a glittering pink gravestone. The credits changed, too. Unlike the earlier title tracks, which each listed more than ten people, this one has just three: Sasha Alex Sloan, Jasper Harris and singer-songwriter youra. At 2:12, it runs almost a minute shorter than 'Do the Dance' (3:08). It also made NONOL's 10 songs under three minutes. Apple Music

2026 · 'It's Me'

The title track of the fourth mini album, 'MAMIHLAPINATAPAI', released on April 30, 2026. The album title means the look shared by two people who both want the same thing, while neither will make the first move. After the first date, the 'me' who wondered what to call the two of them finally shouts, "I'm your bias!" When NONOL measured it for our October 4 list, the very first sound was a voice. youra is in this song's credits, too. At 0:17 in the music video, a finger-sized member stands on top of a capsule toy, and at 1:24 'It's Me' lights up on a giant billboard above the city at night. Apple Music

October 26 'BREAK EVEN'

The tracklist revealed on September 28 came as four envelopes sent by the 'Dept. of Daily Irritation'. According to the agency's descriptions, on track 1, 'Super in Love', the 'me' realizes the liking only went one way, and on track 2, 'More', the embarrassment of having misread it all turns into irritation. Track 3, the title track '체포하겠어' (You're Under Arrest), ends the relationship, and on track 4, 'Pop', the 'me' falls for someone new. The straight-ahead rush of 'Magnetic' is now counting gains and losses.

The teasing video released on October 5 warns at 0:12, 'Wait. Irritation arrives faster than you think.', then plays the four songs one by one. In the 'More' part, a blindfolded game of tag ends with 'Tag, you're it!' at 1:34, and in the '체포하겠어' part, police holding a 'TOO LOUD' sign appear at 2:16 and a member blows a whistle at 2:24. The agency describes it as electropop with a whistle in it. The credits in the video show Sasha Alex Sloan and Jasper Harris from 'NOT CUTE ANYMORE' back on 'Super in Love', and Sorana and Rollo from 'It's Me' back on '체포하겠어'. According to the receipt-shaped schedule, one music video teaser arrives on each of the 23rd and 25th, and the album and music video come out together at 6 p.m. on the 26th.