EFFECT discusses "final secret," relationship with streamer Senika

Olivia Richman Published 18/07/2019

After retiring from Dallas Fuel in April, talented DPS player Hyeon “EFFECT” Hwang opened up about mental health issues he’d been dealing with.

Now, EFFECT has stated he has one final secret that’s been haunting him. On Facebook, EFFECT told his followers about his toxic relationship with streamer Lee “Senika” So-yoon, now his ex-girlfriend.

According to EFFECT, the story was posted without her permission or knowledge. In the past, he claims that Senika had threatened to self-harm or commit suicide if he shared their story. Despite threats from Senika to share his own mistakes, EFFECT decided that he had to talk about it to keep from going insane from “handling all these facts alone.”

EFFECT and Senika fall in together

EFFECT started dating Senika at the end of 2017. At the time, he was working as a professional gamer and Senika was streaming. They began to fall for each other after discussing their hobbies and interests, and decided to meet up with each other in Korea.

Once they met up, EFFECT learned of Senika’s difficult childhood, her past as a prostitute, and found out she owed around $60,000.

While shocked, EFFECT decided to pay off her debt with the money he’d saved from being a pro gamer.

“So thinking I am saving a person, I handed her huge amounts of money to pay her bond. It was money that I collected hard over years, but it was worth it because It was for someone I love,” he said.

Soon, EFFECT found out she owed quite a bit less than what she let on. But when he asked for the leftover money back, Senika didn’t return it. By that point, the two were living together and EFFECT brushed it off. But as she started to slack with her streaming work, he became disappointed.

“Eventually, there were many big and small fights, I could not stand it anymore so I decided to separate. After that Senika’s obsession started so I angrily told her not to contact me anymore and I would tell everyone everything that I have went through if you keep contacting me. As soon as she heard that, she tried to commit suicide by eating pills,” EFFECT admitted.

The ordeal was so intense for him that EFFECT said he had cried while on stream many times. He wanted to get away from Senika at this point, but instead they found themselves rekindling their relationship.

That’s when another major incident occured.

Senika told EFFECT she was going out to drink with two male friends who wanted to hang out and play PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

“But as always, alcohol breaks the walls between men and women. I was a fool to allow it. Suddenly, at some point in the evening, I was not able to get in touch with her, and she eventually invited them to her house and started drinking,” he recalled.

When EFFECT learned that Senika had been raped by the two men, he began to self-harm. In the Facebook post, EFFECT appears to blame Senika for the occurance, since he believes she should have known that drinking with the two men was wrong. While Senika continued to tell him that she was betrayed by the men involved, EFFECT admitted on the post that he didn’t believe it was really rape.

EFFECT admits he wants to ruin Senika’s image

“Senika’s morbidly chatting and conversation record collecting after me knowing the secret, was the reason that I could not speak about this situation until now. Because I thought it would be better for me to just be silent instead of trying to kill one’s career. I never knew being silent was this hard,” EFFECT said.

He stated that he had reached out to her to be friends, and she had agreed. But after breaking a promise, EFFECT decided to finally post publicly about the entire ordeal and then cut her from his life.

While EFFECT did seem to think Senika’s actions were appaling throughout their relationship, he did admit to some wrongdoings himself. He stated that while he never punched her, he did say many words that he could “not even say again.”

“I’m sorry for being selfish. However, since I have already accumulated such hatred, I do not like to see Senika streaming in such a good image,” he said.

EFFECT has already received death threats for making the Facebook post, but he stated that he will “not give in.” He said he hopes other victims like himself don’t let things like this happen to themselves again.

It appears that Senika’s lawyer, Kim Yeon-soo, of Law Firm Myungjae, has already made a statement on EFFECT’s decision to publish the post, calling it libel.

“We will take certain legal action against the malicious false rumor that Lee So-yoon worked in prostitution to earn money, and also warn that distorting the facts about Lee So-yoon’s sexual assault and calling it ‘cheating’ can be secondary victimization,” the post read.

The lawyer went on to say that he advises others to not spread “unfounded assumptions” and “false rumors.”

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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