I'm glad AKMU has finally got on the same wavelength, despite the countless differences in their personalities, aspirations, worldview in general.
It must have been mentally exhausting for both of them in the past. Chanhyuk with his perfectionist and uncompromising work ethics: Suhyun with her carefree, 'live and let live' attitude. It seriously worsened when they eventually moved out around 2020-21, when Chanhyuk aspired too much and Suhyun became exhausted chasing after what he wants.
Post Chanhyuk's enlistment, they deliberately avoided each other so as to develop their own individual images. But for me, it ended up causing a mismatch in their harmony. I felt much disdain watching their performances around that time, when one was erratically moving around enjoying the stage, and the other stood motionless.
Chanhyuk... As a fan, even I felt somewhat uncomfortable watching his stage ethics around that time. All I could gather was that he was trying to find a style that suited him, while making the audience accept that "new side" of him. He made some progress, sure, but it's hard for the public to fully digest his kind of 'self'. It unfortunately came across as unnatural and "tried too hard" in many people's point of view.
And Suhyun... Well, she was just doing her job as always. She seemed to smile less though, understandably because of the "grown-up" / artistic image they were trying to impose for AKMU.
So I'm glad - they have made efforts to tackle their differences, and found the much needed harmony with Love Lee.
Suhyun has grown her own ego as a performer - she drew the boundaries, not just lying there letting Chanhyuk order her around. And she too, became more respectful of his wishes for her to grow.
Chanhyuk too, seemed to have learned a lesson about being considerate of his own artist - his own sister.
Their performances have become a lot more enjoyable to watch ever since. The two made an effort to match each other's energy, bringing back the much needed harmony to the stage.
Chanhyuk tones down on his odd movements, which makes him blend a lot more naturally onto the crowd - while still stands out extremely well as a crowd hyper. Even with his individual gigs too, I think he has found a way to express his self image in a way that the public adores.
(It turns out he just really loves being praised? So blending between being handsome + having a unique individual image is his way now 🐸)
Suhyun is like a teddy bear with all kinds of colorful expressions, mainly cute hehe. She smiles and moves around the stage a lot more with her brother...
That's what I call teamwork (and being siblings). I have yearned for this for a long time.