Shocking reveal: Former S#arp member and TV personality Lee Ji-hye exposed that her close friends Baek Ji-young and Cool’s Yuri were once awkward around each other and not on friendly terms.
On July 2, Lee Ji-hye uploaded a new video featuring Baek Ji-young and Yuri on her YouTube channel. The trio looked back on their long friendship and candidly admitted that their relationship used to feel completely different from how it is now.
Lee Ji-hye joked about Yuri and Baek Ji-young’s bond, saying, “I was a little salty because when I was promoting, you two would hang out without me.” Baek Ji-young responded, “Jihye was the bridge between me and Yuri,” thanking Lee for bringing them together.
But it wasn’t always smooth between the two. Lee confessed, “Originally, I was close with Yuri, and I was also close with Jiyoung. But the two of them kind of didn’t like each other,” drawing attention with the reveal.
Baek Ji-young tried to clarify, saying, “It’s not that—I just wasn’t interested.” Still, Lee recalled, “I remember it exactly. Yuri once said, ‘Why are you so close with Baek Ji-young?’” She added, “And it felt like Jiyoung didn’t particularly like Yuri either,” admitting she often read the room carefully between them at the time.
Yuri also laughed while looking back. Pointing at Baek Ji-young, she said, “She really didn’t like me,” to which Baek Ji-young shot back, “Not completely,” making everyone laugh. Yuri then revealed, “One time, Jihye said she was going to meet a senior she knew—she lied and said she played the cello—but she actually went to meet Jiyoung,” sending the set into laughter.
Feeling stuck between the two, Lee Ji-hye finally arranged a direct meetup. “In front of Yuri, I hid that I was meeting Jiyoung, and in front of Jiyoung, I hid that I was hanging out with Yuri,” she said. “Then I thought it’d be great if they could become friends, so I set up a get-together.”
The result? They clicked way faster than expected. “As soon as they met, they just vibed. At some point, I was out of the loop and the two started contacting each other directly,” Lee said. Yuri agreed, recalling, “We got close on day one and basically stuck together after that.”
From awkward acquaintances to inseparable besties, Baek Ji-young and Yuri—and the friend who linked them, Lee Ji-hye—turned their story into a testament to a 30-year friendship.