ENHYPEN for BAZAAR Star: The Cosmic interview 🤍🥹
🐈: during the mama awards, a speech by super junior really stayed with me. they said that while they once believed awards were everything, they now value a team’s longevity much more because it’s far rarer. i was backstage listening to that and thought it was so inspiring. i want to stay with the members of enhypen for a long time with that same mindset. even if we don’t achieve every goal, i believe there’s always something meaningful to gain along the way.
🐈⬛: whenever we have to make a decision, we begin by sharing everyone’s ideas. we listen to every opinion before coming to one conclusion together. some teams might think that’s inefficient, but i believe our real strength comes from saying, ‘this is enhypen’s decision,’ instead of individuals speaking separately. i’m not just jay, i’m jay of enhypen.
🦮: i used to prefer handling everything on my own. but after spending years living and working in a group, i learned how to rely on others, as well as how to give and receive support. in the end, i also learned to focus only on what truly matters. we get along incredibly well. it’s honestly rare for things to feel this harmonious. statistically, you’d expect personality clashes, but we don’t really have that. some of my happiest moments are simply going out to eat and sharing a meal with the members.
🐧 i had a lot of concerns while preparing (hello melbourne performance) because we barely had enough practice time. but after the performance, every member felt the same: ‘if we keep pushing ourselves this much, we can create an even better stage than before.’ these days, i honestly don’t have any worries because it feels like all six of us are moving toward the same goal. as long as we give our best, everything else will naturally follow. by the end of this year, i want to see us become a team that has reached yet another level. our fans voted for us (mama daesang) with so much passion, and it reminded me once again that enhypen exists because engene exists. it made me feel incredibly proud of this team. we’ve truly grown a lot since debut. back then, i was never satisfied with myself, even when people told me i looked cool, i couldn’t understand why. now, instead of worrying about how others see us, i want us to move forward believing in ourselves. we’re still searching for our truest identity, but one thing is certain: our direction has become much clearer.
🦊: you only experience your twenties once. i see this as the most important chapter of my life, and these are the people i spend it with, even more than i do with my own family.
🐥: to the members, i’ll probably always be the youngest. now that i’ve grown taller and my voice has gotten deeper, people often say i don’t even seem like the maknae anymore. whenever they hear that, the older members actually look a little disappointed (laughs). but i’ve changed a lot, not only physically, but mentally too. i hope they can rely on me more and maybe put down some of the weight they’ve been carrying.
Today is the day we cement Jungwon in the hall of fame for being one of the bravest and best leaders in the entire history of kpop. It takes a real man to set the record straight and not shy away from difficult topic even though it is hard and could potentially bring him hate. My respect for him grew a hundred folds.