150727 L'OFFICIEL interview
As the team leader, do you feel like you have to be extra responsible?
Yixuan: I used to be in a dance team. I was the youngest one so I was the spoiled one. Sometimes I would do aegyo to the older members. However, after I joined UNIQ, I am the oldest so I slowly grew this sense of responsibility. They all call me “Xuan Ge”. It is short, but when I hear “Xuan~Ge~” in a long articulation, I know that they want me to do something.
When was the first time you feel like you have to be a man and take care of the family?
Sungjoo: When I was 16, my father’s company had a hard time doing business. I wanted to go to art school, but the tuition was expensive. It was hard for my family. My mother had to work so I would help her with the chores when I was home. Since then I started to take my responsibility. Now I finally managed to get through the period of being a trainee and debuted. I want to offer them a better life.
Before becoming a trainee, did you have the experience of studying abroad alone?
Seungyoun: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a soccer player. I went through two major changes in my life because of this. The first is when I decided to go to Brazil alone to play soccer. I got in touch with different kinds of music in South America, so I told my mother that I wanted to be a singer. My mother asked why did I change my mind. I said, “compared to soccer, I like singing more”. At first she could not understand so I kept talking her into it. When I was 16, I was finally able to head towards the direction of becoming a singer.
Having such an experience, are you the type of person who can get used to loneliness and possess a strong personality?
Wenhan: I used to be a careless person because when I was studying in the United States, all I had to do was to mind my own business. We have known each other for about 4 to 5 years since we were still trainees. We had to get along with each other at the very beginning. It has been getting better and better. That is because we started to grow a sense of honor as a team. We still have meetings from time to time where everyone can open up and be honest. We are different people with our own code of conduct. It is better for UNIQ when you restrain yourself.
Who wants to say something about getting along with each other?
Yibo: I am the youngest one, but I am a little grumpy. I have been dancing since I was a little kid. I am the lead dancer in the group so sometimes I have to teach them. Maybe because I have been dancing for a really long time and have a better dancing foundation, I tend to be hard on my brothers sometimes. I then got to know that they all have their own specialties. It took time to practice, so I would put down my judgement and teach them little by little.Translation Cr: Sammi Abby @ FiveShadesOfGod
