Spring, night, and Jeong Yein
Q. The concept that you like the most from today
“The concept where I posed with fruits while sitting on a chair. I liked the outfit with the colorful sweater and brown wide pants too, and it was nice because I felt lively even for a short time (Laughs)”
Q. You seem to normally like casual outfits more than fancy dresses
“That's right. I tend to prefer pants more than dresses and skirts, and wide leg pants too, not skinny pants. I'm slowly finding clothes that feel comfortable on my body.”
Q. You revealed your short hair in the 7th mini album ‘Unforgettable’, your first since your debut. It seems that you hear that it suits you a lot from the people around you
“Thankfully, I often hear how I look much better with it. My old friends say that it looks really good on me, but they said that it makes me look a little tough. I'm happy because I received a lot of compliments, but on the other hand, I also felt regret, "I should've cut it before/sooner," because I've lived with long hair for 23 years (Laughs)”
Q. Why did you keep holding on to your long hair?
“First of all, I preferred long hairstyle, and it's because I thought that that kind of natural image had stuck with me in the group too. I actually thought that short hair wouldn't look good on me.”
Q. Lovelyz's choreography looks girly at first glance, but many say that the intensity is surprisingly strong. What effort did you concentrate on to improve your stamina?
“Taking lessons with the choreographer. She makes us continuously run for 4 songs before the lesson starts, and on the last lap, we run with our knees up high (high stepping). After that, we jump straight into the dance practice. We've been practicing with this kind of process, so the choreography itself will become really easy.”
Q. The Lovelyz song that is the hardest physically?
“I think it's ‘Hi~’. It looks easy because it looks gentle, but it's not easy to control the dynamics.”
Q. Lovelyz won a medal at MBC ‘Idol Star Athletics Championship’ for the first time. Are you usually the active type?
“I did modern dance when I was little, so I can use my body to some extent, but I'm actually not the type who enjoys that. But as much as it's hard to go out these days, I'm starting to do modern dance again. The reason why I've been whining throughout the shoot wasn't because it was hard but because of muscle pains (Laughs)”
Q. You were the last one to join the group. With you joining, in what way did you think you could fill Lovelyz?
“First of all, I lowered the group's average age? (Laughs) Another thing is that my voice is low and husky when I talk normally, but when I sing, I think that I have a voice tone that fits Lovelyz's image.”
Q. Did you feel any pressure at joining?
“I couldn't even feel pressured. I made by debut after a very short period of training, so I felt like it was hectic.”
Q. I heard that you sang Taeyeon's ‘Can You Hear Me’ at your audition. Which musician do you get motivated by?
“I listen to SWJA-sunbaenim's music often. My skills absolutely can't touch it, but I sometimes cover SWJA-nim's songs. She's a musician whom I really cherish.”
Q. You're famous for resembling your member, Seo Jisoo. The title must've been not bad, being called looking like her whose beauty has been praised highly since the first time you met her
“Of course. When I first met Jisoo-unnie during our trainee days, I thought, ‘So a person that pretty is a celebrity.’ I felt very lacking compared to her. I was so happy and grateful the first time I heard that we look alike.”
Q. What was Seo Jisoo's reaction at hearing that you look alike?
“Jisoo-unnie likes it too (Laughs)”
Q. I heard that in your debut days, your agency's staff confused both of your names
“Yes, but as we grow older, I think we each grew up differently. Unnie has more of a cat face. I look more like a puppy or a deer (Laughs)”
Q. You garnered a lot of attention with your performance of ‘Lady Vengeance’ in Mnet ‘Queendom’. I'm sure this performance has changed the way people around you look at you
“It's a moment where people showed me a lot of interest ever since I did rhythmic gymnastics at ‘Idol Star Athletics Championship’. Many people don't know that I used to do modern dance. I think that was why it got more attention. Most of all, I'm grateful that my strength was recognized.”
Q. It must've been hard for you to practice modern dance after so long
“Of course. It was very hard. I especially only had 4 days to practice because I was going to Japan at that time. It wasn't easy to practice with the dance team in the allocated time.”
Q. Did you prepare the performance according to yourself?
“That's right. I was chosen as the representative for my team and I planned the music, choreography, dance, outfit, everything by myself.”
Q. There are many saying that you blew away the parts that was regretful in the show at once with ‘Obliviate’. It seemed like the members also worked harder
“I can say this now, but the members were all very worried. We had only been showing pure and sentimental songs and suddenly we showed a mature image? We tried hard not to look awkward. Fortunately, our fans' reactions weren't bad (Laughs)”
Q. You showcase a different song and stage with every promotion. What's your secret to immersing yourself in [the concept]?
“My personality is actually far from adorable and cute (Laughs). During my debut days, it wasn't easy to get myself into that kind of mood, but ever since ‘Ah-Choo’, I slowly got more natural. Since I'd been preparing for the ‘Obliviate’ promotion, I did some practice in advance in various ways, like image training or looking up stage videos. Because it was my first time performing with this kind of concept.”
“The secret is to practice my expressions a lot in front of the mirror. The members consistently do that to show a more familiar side.”
Q. What's the most memorable compliment that you got while promoting with Lovelyz?
“I don't remember the exact sentence, but a comment left a deep impression on me. It said that listening to our music feels like the sentimental feeling of a first love. Actually, there aren't many groups that do that kind of music in the idol market. I have pride for showing songs deep with sensibility and not only focusing on light and exciting songs. So I was even more concerned for the ‘Obliviate’ promotion, because it didn't have the strength and mood that we'd been showing so far.”
Q. You stopped doing modern dance in the past due to an ankle injury. After that, you went to a practical music academy. Was it because you had a dream of being on stage?
“I really couldn't sing, so I didn't dream of being a singer. This is how much I've grown (Laughs) At that time, I couldn't dance because of my leg injury and I couldn't go to school because of the high school qualification exam. When I was bored, I thought, ‘Let's just go to a practical music academy,’ and it opened a new door. I never imagined that I would become a singer.”
Q. Are you a hard worker?
“Isn't each people's standard of working hard different? I do work hard in front of every goal, but I don't think I spend a tremendous amount of time on it. There are a lot of people who work even harder than I do, so I think I regret that (Laughs)”
Q. What do you think about the job of being an idol? It's never something to start with a light heart
“Personally, the job of being an idol is about the passion itself. Should I say that it's something that you can't do if you don't have the passion? Even if you can start with a light heart, you won't be able to last long. You have to practice a lot and you have to have a good wit. They demand more variety of yourself these days, so you won't survive if you're not passionate.”
Q. Do you think that you were full of passion about the process?
“Looking back on it, yes. I think I'm here with the passion of having fun and being happy just standing in front of a stage. Otherwise, I would've lost the desire to promote.”
Q. The song that you're most fond of?
“‘Candy Jelly Love’. Since it's our debut song, I listen to it a lot until I get sick of it (Laughs) I only have 2 lines but combined with all the songs I've recorded, this is the song that I practiced on the most. I'm fond of it as much as that.”
Q. Do you have any hobby that you're steadily doing lately?
“The people around me also don't believe it, but I'm reading Phaedo of Socrates (Laughs). It has a lot of philosophical content, so it brings a lot of learning into acting study. When I was young, I was forced to read books, but now, I learn a lot through reading.”
Q. Time has passed in no time since you debuted with your 1st album ‘Girls' Invasion’ and now you're in your 6th year. Do you have anything that you were proud of and that you regretted while looking back at your activities?
“The thing that I was proud of is that I'm promoting until now without any major incident. Of course, there were a few gossips in the middle, but I'm thankful that they didn't affect the team in a bad way. The thing that I regretted is that if I had debuted with a bit more preparation, I think it would've been better. I lacked a lot because I had a very short training period.”
(Source: 1)
