[Trans] CeCi Interview (Part 1) : Cover Story,SNS Talk

Kor-Eng: Haeda @2pmalways | Scanned by rangkat @junkayStreet

The 3rd Edition of 2PM

A thousand days since debut. It's already their third interview. My first sighting of them was that of joy, the second was of hardships and the end was of maturity. Boys have become deeper layer by layer and transformed into men in a thousand days.

The act of interviewing tends to have a one-off characteristic. During a certain period, for a certain reason (a new movie or drama, promoting new music would be the main reason) interviewers, as if they had been watching the interviewees for their entire lifetime, run into them like they understand everything. After securing one or two stories, interviews are always finished with a conclusion and make a judgement that 'so and so person is this sort of person'. For people with such missions (like me) are both sad and relieved of one-off interviews. At times you are impatient to know all the deep ends of your interviewees as if you've been seeing them often, but it is apparent that that's you don't have that deep relationship with them and that allows you to make a certain conclusion about that person with the limited material you have. But already a third interview. 2009 August, 2009 December and this one. I've been given an honour to meet 2PM face-to-face, at the very moment of their turning point.

Our first meeting was with 7 members including Jaebeom, where they were getting close to the audience as a friendly and funnier-than-comedians image while measuring the smell of people's feet or dressing up in awful costume and dancing to 'Abracadabra' on reality shows. I remember I was so seduced by the liveliness, playfulness, humourous and the laughs of men between boys and male animals that I wrote about the littlest things such as ① what they wear to bed, ② who's bottom they are jealous of, ③ which female idol they want to recruit to the group, and ④ who's the tidiest of all the members. It was an interview all about laughs and playfulness but just after 4 months, a syndrome became a scandal. A story of 6 members who were about to start their promotion for 'Heartbeat' in a month's time while all sorts of guesses and rumours were covering the internet after Jaebeom's withdrawal. It was an interview with a promise to not even bring up the letter 'w' of withdrawal and because I could see that confusions and pressure were pressing on the members' shoulders, I had to ask questions very carefully about 'what kept you going even though at a time like this'. I felt my heart become warm after hearing their truthful stories of ⑤ how they first came to dream, ⑥ the hardest moments through the long and tough times of training, and ⑦ things they had to give up because of the fact that they are 2PM. I felt their desperate desires when they left the joys of everyday life, friends, family and everything to make their dreams come true. After that, they've become a global superstar that no magazine was able to reach them.

A third meeting. An interview with all 6 members after one and a half years. I was having thoughts on what kind of interview they (the magazine) wanted me to do with them and randomly typed in 29 August 2008 (2PM's debut album release date) and 17 May 2011, when this June edition is being released, on a date calculating app on my smartphone. 991 days. Woah. I heard a BGM of '1000 days' by Lee Seunghwan playing inside my head. 1000 days of joy and events, glories and curves that carved these six mens to what they are now. I have a slight anticipation that I could possibly describe these young men into words. It could've been a self-delusion but nevertheless. Great fame of a year and a half could add strength to the shoulders and more power in the voice. They could've become different.

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A brief explanation for readers who have not read the past interviews. ① Nichkhun wears only a pair of basketball shorts and no top. All the other members all just wear training pants and a t-shirt. Wooyoung and Junho wear the same brand trainers like a uniform, and Chansung has worn a dinosaur costume to bed for a week. All the hyungs (older brothers) agreed that the maknae's (younger brother's) departure from everyday life was 'a gross action due to lack of love'. ② It's been concluded that Junho's bottoms are the nicest. ③ Taecyeon chose Afterschool's Kahi, Junsu chose Uee, and Bekah for Wooyoung. A round-up conclusion of the members is that they need a powerful woman to do acrobatics. ④ Nickhun is a warm-hearted mum who says kind things when the members are sick, Wooyoung is a tough and determined mum that scolds but ends up tidying up him/herself, Teacyeon is a sleeping bear, Chansung is a monkey that messes up everything. During their training days with 2AM members, they had battles to fight for everyday things such as underwear and socks. ⑤ Wooyoung's eyes opened wide when he saw Michael Jackson's live concert in his first grade. He started to seriously train for dancing in his second year at middle school but was found out by his father and had to plead for permission and he did get it in the end. Junsu fell in love with Black (soul) music after watching a clip of 'A Song For' by Donny Hathaway, and Chansung thought he'd just become a Taekwondo instructor until he found out his true dreams when he first encountered 'dancing' and dreamt about it every single day. ⑥ Taecyeon injured his back when he fell from trying a flying skill called 'House' after he was told he cannot debut if he couldn't do acrobatics. He showed off his evidence of miracle to his doctor after succeeding acrobatics with his condition. Junsu had failed to debut 7 times after 4 years of training but gained confidence again when his middle school deputy principal left a message on his mini homepage saying 'you must overcome the hardships even if it means you sleep in front of someone else's door.' ⑦ Wooyoung chose dating. At that time he's never had an experience of dating someone, only just liking someone to himself. Taecyeon left a deep lingering thought by saying 'I don't know if I have the right to pursue for my happiness when many people are watching over me.'

SNS TALK with 2PM

@taectaec I heard you guys put money together to get a new dorm. How did you allocate the rooms? Paper scissors rock? In age order?

Junho This house is really special to us. We did everything ourselves from looking around different houses. Our previous dorm was so small so we just looked for a big place, where we can have a room to ourselves.

Wooyoung It's a double-storeyed house but we got rid of the gate on the first floor for security reasons. So we have to walk up all the way from the 4th floor underground carpark. We gave the first floor to Teacyeon and Junsu because they lived uncomfortably in the previous dorm and the younger ones are using the rooms on the second floor. So we're going up and down 5 sets of staircases everyday.

Chansung The cleanest room is Teacyeon's. There's only a bed in there. The most comfy room is Nichkhun's. The interior of his room is very nicely decorated. Junsu's room has the most items. He's sent a whole box full of things to his brother but his room is still very full. The most spacious room is Chansung's room. My room has no secrets because it's actually the living room divided by a free-standing wall. Everyone can see what's happening inside.

Junsu Our fans try not to come to our new dorm. It's so thankful they're keeping their etiquette and manners and I shall quietly send the message that I hope they will stay that way.

@0sotsot0 I’d like to know what is the most precious item each member treasures and the reason.

Nichkun My bag. I love bags with lots of pockets so I put snacks, chargers and daily necessities here and there. I can go out for a couple of days if I have this bag with me.

Wooyoung My desk in the new dorm. I become relaxed whenever I sit and read books or magazines. It reminds me of my schooling days. I guess it’s because it gives me a feeling of satisfaction that I have time to myself.

Junsu Fans have bought me a really nice keyboard for my birthday. I compose everynight using that and wow, it’s really awesome. It makes me enjoy composing.

Taecyeon I received a bicycle as a gift. The weather’s been nice so I’ve been riding on it quite often recently. I’d ride from Cheongdam-dong where our office is, towards Seonreung Station. Or go to Cheonho-dong via Jamsil Station, which are my main riding courses.

Junho I bought a new notebook recently when I was buying a t-shirt by the Garosu Street. It was a notebook worth the cost of 2 t-shirts, which was 95,000 won. I jot down some lyrics and thoughts, and it really makes me feel good.

Chansung A book called . I’m reading it with amaze because it deals with a theme that I’ve been having thoughts about for a very long time. You know when somebody stares at you and think ‘why are they staring me in that way’ and you feel bad yourself? But according to a scientific finding, it’s all about how you set your mind. It’s your own fault for thinking that person is staring you in a bad way. In the end it’s never good to blame other people. I’m learning things like that.’

@Jun2baKAY Which member would you wish your son didn’t resemble?

Taecyeon Does this mean we have to say bad things about the members? Haha. Then I’d pick Nichkhun! He makes the ladies feel bad because his manners are too good (to everybody). I wish my son wouldn’t let the girl go through a hard time.

Chansung Taecyeon is good at cooking. It’d be nice for my son to receive lots of love from his wife, but it wouldn’t be good if he used his skills to all the ladies. Dear son, please don’t be like that.

Junho Chansung plays games too much. He’s deeply into Civilization and Sudden Attack. (Chansung adds “I even bring my laptop to our schedule venue and play it sometimes” then immediately regrets.) My son, please don’t get into games too much.

Junsu, Wooyoung We vote for Chansung, too. Stop liking that games so much and give us some lovin’ too.

Nickhun I’ll pick Junho. He’s too fast-tempered. Spontaneous and a bit hot-tempered, too. But he knows it himself very well. I think he’ll become a much happier person if he would relax and enjoy a bit more!