[Heechul is on the way] Super Junior meets TVXQ!, TVXQ! "We are not supposed to fight..haha"
TVXQ! VS Super Junior. Some people refer to them as rivals and others refer to them as the closest group in the same agency. For me, the latter part is more likely to be correct.
I am the member of Super Junior but TVXQ! U-Know and MAX are people who made lots of memories with me for more than 10 years since when we were trainees.
U-Know lived at the same place with me when we were trainees. When U-Know hung out with me when I had long hair, he had a painful memory(?) of being rejected by a girl whom he liked because she thought I was a girl. Haha. MAX made a debut when he was 16 years old and after being part of TVXQ! for 10 years, he now became a real man.
This time, I met these two cool people not long ago at the waiting room of the music program. TVXQ! U-Know and MAX who celebrated the 10th anniversary of debut are the ones.
With them, we pulled pranks on one another every day when we were all trainees and also took SM’s weekly test together so we pretty much know everything about each other since long time ago. This also means that I have to be ready for their counter attack. Haha.
But still, I am not someone to lose. For the readers of ‘Heechul is on the way’, I asked questions as best as I can.
Now then, be with TVXQ! that a SuperJunior member met. This is what we call one plus one. Haha.
- Heechul: Are you guys getting ready for a performance? Thank you for allowing me to come into the waiting room. Haha. You guys know that I became a journalist, right? (Right at this moment, a phone call from a SuperJunior member came to Heechul. Of course, Heechul confidently picked up the phone.)
▶ MAX: (To a journalist who came together to edit the interview while looking at Heechul picking up the phone) You have to write something like this about Heechul. He came to interview us but is talking on the phone? Haha. Heechul is a person who is like a ball as it is hard to know to which direction he will bounce to so please take a good care of him. (Looking at Heechul again) I also read all ‘Heechul is on the way’ that were published so far.
- Heechul: I didn’t necessarily come just for the interview. I am also here to cheer for the performance of you guys’ ‘Spellbound’. Why, you can’t trust me?
▶ U-Know: You are not here to see the girl groups? Haha. I think it would be fun doing an interview with you but I think I also have to be nervous. You are manly but you also have a delicate sentiment just like women. I think the questions are going to be unusual. But still, there are times we spent together so please choose gentle questions mostly. Haha.
- Heechul: When U-Know, who have a lot of memories with me, say such a thing, I think my mind is getting a little weak. Haha. U-Know, do you remember? About 12 years ago when I came to Seoul for the first time after I was chosen as SM trainee, you were living at a dorm first and you came to Cheondam police station to take me to the dorm? You were perfectly Samcheonpo in ‘Reply 1994’ back then. Haha.
▶ U-Know: Of course I remember. You were standing in front of the police station and I brought you and with I, Donghae, Jay from TRAX and you all lived in a dorm together. Just right before I made a debut as TVXQ!. It was so much fun back then. No wonder we all came back from our hometowns earlier during thanksgiving season to play at our dorm. After you got injured due to a car accident after making a debut as SuperJunior and were admitted into hospital, I also injured my leg and was also admitted into hospital. I think I went through lots of interesting incidents with you.
- Heechul: That is right. Before making a debut, a girl who you liked saw us together at a fast food restaurant and there was an unfortunate situation because she thought I was a girl. Haha. My hair back then sure was long. When we were living at a dorm, we played catch with other kids in the basketball court and also buried the letter on the ground after watching ‘My Sassy Girl’. I did not get to talk to MAX often back then but when I saw him being close to Kibum, who has a solemn personality in SuperJunior, ever since he was a trainee, I thought that he is a good person.
▶ MAX: I am friends with Kibum. Haha. When you, U-Know and I were all trainees, Heechul always sang rock in front of SM staff members and other trainees when getting self-evaluation once a week and that memory is still vivid. Haha.
- Heechul: MAX, you always sang ‘Cold’ by Lee Ki Chan back then. Kibum thought that you were really cool back then. Haha. U-Know sang ‘Incurable Diseases’ by Harim every time and I did rock but U-Know most actively cheered for me. He always clapped most loudly. When it comes to reactions, U-Know was no doubt the best. Haha. U-Know is lively but also polite. He is not that much younger than me but he always used respectful speech to me ever since he was a trainee.
▶ U-Know: Of course, because you were older. When I want something from juniors, I try to show it myself first through actions instead of words. Seniors and juniors of course have to be close to one another but I still think that there has to be polite manners to be kept.
- Heechul: I think I know why you are referred to as SM top 3 lesson captain after Siwon from SuperJunior and Minho from SHINee. Haha. U-Know is no doubt a cool man. It has been already 10 years since the real man U-Know and fully grown MAX made a debut as TVXQ!. Congratulations, and how do you feel?
▶ U-Know: The first day of going on air was December 26th, 2003 and we released the debut singe ‘Hug’ in January, 2004. At first, we thought that did we become that old. Next, we thought that we really did lots of things and got huge amount of love from the fans. We are going to prepare for much better album and performances for the fans. Oh, we might be the only team in SM that held the concert on the day of our 10th anniversary(SMTOWN WEEK). We were glad and touched. SuperJunior’s 10th anniversary is also coming up, right?
- Heechul: Oh, that is right. It will be our 10th anniversary next year. I can’t believe 10th anniversary of SuperJunior, whom the members fight confidently with one another, is already coming up. Haha. I just told you now but when the members fight, they have the kind of personalities that fight for real when they have to and when resolving the situation, they resolve it for real. I think resolving the emotions instead of building them up right at those moments served as the cause of lasting for almost 10 years. How about TVXQ!?
▶ MAX: The truth is, I was jealous of SuperJunior members’ such sides including you, who are so free. Fight for real and resolve it for real. We don’t do something like that. Instead, we talk a lot. I became much closer to U-Know by talking a lot with him when we were on Japan tour last year. Since we have been together for a long time, we naturally got to know the times when we are supposed to talk to each other or remain silent even when giving opinions.
▶ U-Know: With MAX, it got so much convenient as we learned about the limitation line of one another and we rarely get into an argument. Since we know the personalities of one another well, it is easy to match opinions when working and the results tend to come out faster. We are not supposed to fight. For SuperJunior, even when two members fight, other members try to resolve the situation but for us, we have only two people so when we fight, there is no one to make us apologize. Haha.
- Heechul: You are right. That is so. For us, when there are members who had a fight, the rest of the members say ‘Let’s go and get a drink, play a game’ and bring them out together and quietly make time for them to apologize. I think you guys will be much more affectionate.
▶ MAX: Think about how you would become a duet just with Siwon(SuperJunior Siwon). It will be completely different from treating Siwon in a comfortable way as a SuperJunior group member in which several people are together. When two people work together, much more understanding and care is necessary. I am grateful to U-Know in that aspect.
- Heechul: TVXQ! really has charisma and is a cool team. You guys are cool, funny and have completely different style with us, as we have friendly atmosphere. You guys have to continue to be cool but are there no burdens?
▶ MAX: There is a burden. We always did cool things but we also worry that the fans will not feel the same even when we do cool things on the stage due to the decrease in our physical endurance in future, and some people might say ‘They always try to do only cool things’. We are trying to show a little bit of funny sides from now on. When I think about it, I am excited because there are still lots of things to try. Of course, even when we do funny things, we are not going to be like SuperJunior but are going to emphasize our own unique characteristics.
▶ U-Know: I think we showed lots of cool performances by holding concerts in Korea and Japan and so on for past 10 years. However, we did not get to do fun things often so we are going to pay attention to this also from now on. I think it would be okay to show fun performances as we have an excuse that this year is 10th anniversary. Haha. MAX also talked about it but we are going to present fun things while still maintaining our coolness. We wish to make TVXQ!’s unique brand show that can show all of coolness and fun.
- Heechul: After hearing what you guys said, I think that is correct. I think it would be weird if U-Know suddenly do a girly disguise like SuperJunior and sing Sunmi’s ‘Full Moon’. Haha. I think changing little by little is right for TVXQ!. Oh, the album you guys released in Japan not long also won 1st place on Oricon chart. I think TVXQ! is different from other Korean wave teams. You guys went through a lot of troubles in Japan, eventually stepped up and stood on top. You guys are amazing.
▶ U-Know: Upon making the decision to go to some other country such as Japan and so on, I think the localization strategy is most important. The vibe of a foreign singer who comes to Korea and leaves after singing once and vibe of the foreign singer who continuously stay active is going to be a lot different, right? For us too, since we decided to advance to Japan, we thought that we should show everything we got. We diligently learned Japanese and started performing from very small place. I think lots of people are aware of our efforts now so we are grateful.
- Heechul: It is 10th year since the debut so I think there will be lot of junior singers who comes to the waiting room to make a greeting. What do you tell them?
▶ MAX: U-Know tells them lots of good things. I tend to just accept everything well with a smile.
▶ U-Know: Once we make a comeback, we visit the waiting rooms of junior singers ourselves and gives them the CD while greeting. It carries a meaning of let’s greet each other well as same singers, but it also carries my own message to junior singers to freely visit our waiting room. When I look at the senior singers, there are times when they are alone at the waiting room and as a junior singer, I felt sorry and sad. Since lots of teams holds activity for the new song shorter than they used to these days so there are cases that views the relationship of seniors and juniors only as competitors. I hope that the juniors approach the seniors first also. It is because the singers continue to have to see one another.
- Heechul: Since MAX made a debut in age 16, I think it would feel different to look at juniors with young age.
▶ MAX: When looking at it from my experience, I hope that they don’t feel pressured about doing so well and have to become popular and just enjoy each day. Do not forcefully try to become mature at an early age. I learned this kind of thing a little late and I think it would have been much more fun if I knew about it earlier. Haha.
- Heechul: What is something you hope to see from the juniors?
▶ U-Know: Because the systems of all companies got so much better, I think the rookies also do so well on the stage also as they firmly received dancing and singing lessons before the debut. Meanwhile, I think it is sad as free characteristics and individualities are disappearing. It is okay to be a little awkward at first so I just hope that they clearly show their own styles in regardless of whether it is cool or funny.
- Heechul: In regards to that, I feel the same. There are lots of singers who dance and sing well but I think the relaxation on the stage has disappeared. When I look at the performance of (Lee) Min Woo from Shinhwa, it looks like he does not dance too much but really has charisma and is cool. I think there are lots of eccentric singers in other countries and I hope singers with strong individualities come out in Korea also.
I said before that the reason why I am jealous of TVXQ! much more than SuperJunior that has a lot of members is because you guys get to take more when calculating the wage. I am still jealous of that but today, I am jealous of the relationship between the two that got much deeper. Our SuperJunior has a lot of members. That width is much broader. Haha. U-Know and MAX who sang ‘Hug’ really became fully grown up adults. What is you guys’ plan for the rest of the year?
▶ U-Know: After wrapping up the activities in Korea of ‘Spellbound’ repackage album, we will promote the new album released in Japan and will go on Japan nationwide tour. Afterwards, we will come back to Korea and will actively hold solo activities so please cheer for us. Enjoy this year with TVXQ! as it is our 10th anniversary. This interview with Heechul was also so much fun. It felt like we have gone back to the time of trainees that was naïve in a long time. Everyone, please show lots of love towards ‘Heechul is on the way’.
▶ MAX: After actively holding TVXQ! activities with U-Know, I am also going to work hard on solo activity. It already became 10th year without even being aware of it and I feel proud of myself for being part of an idol group for 10 years. TVXQ! will still be like you guys’ friends. Oh, fighting for Heechul too!
Edited by : Star News Gil Hye Seong(comet@mtstarnews.com)
Pictures : Star News Choi Boo Suk (my2eye@mt.co.kr)
source: Naver
shared by: DBSKnights + nachan87