I tipped cups of alcohol with the 7 members of Infinite, who are dreaming of a world stage, at a snack bar in Hongdae. Most of them drank rice wine, while L drank Chungha. Considering the amount of members, we ordered various dishes to go with our drinks such as stir-fried chicken and roasted ham. Also, they shared three plates of ‘jjapaguri’ (T/N: instant black bean noodles with instant seafood noodles) instead of eating dinner. While the drunk talk was going on, the members constantly clinked glasses together and one-shotted their drinks. As expected of the group that’s famous for ‘angled choreography’, they showed a fresh side to themselves.
▶ Japan Promotions After Korea, Now a World Tour
- Do you feel your popularity in Japan?
“To be honest, it didn’t hit us till before. Of course, if we see fans that come to see us, having just that is heartwarming.” (Dongwoo)
“There was a time where L and I went on the streets of Japan, but they recognized L and not me. My pride was a bit hurt.” (Sunggyu)
“When we go to Japan, I feel like I’m resting. I think it’s because there’s a lot of quiet places. Also, I think I feel like that since there’s free time from starting early in the morning and ending our promotions in the evening.” (Hoya)
- Is there a specific nation you wish to go to when starting a world tour?
“I want to go to Australia. I want to appeal with our charms to people who haven’t seen us yet.” (Dongwoo)
“I hope to promote in Egypt. There has been a bit of response towards K-pop from there as well.” (Sungjong)
“I want to go to Serbia. There’s a big fan of me there. That person came to Korea and even came out on TV as well. They complimented me, saying that my looks work a bit in Europe.” (Sunggyu)
- Aren’t you tired due to your difficult angled group choreography?
“All the members have a place that hurts. But it’s not serious. All of them know how to control it themselves. But there are occasionally times where we get hurt from making mistakes. While promoting with ‘100/100 (T/N: the reporter wrote the wrong title, and I’m not sure which song they meant…), I hurt my leg during the kicking part. It still hasn’t healed.” (Hoya)
▶ First Love, Ideal Type, and the Love That Will Come Again
- If you started dating a girl, but the fans were against it, what would you do?
“I’ll respect my fans’ opinions and break up with her.” (Woohyun)
“I would try to convince my fans by explaining the positive points of my girlfriend. Do you know how hard it was to find fate… If it’s a girl that I like, I believe that our fans would clap for me.” (Dongwoo)
- Would it be possible to date a fan?
“If I love them, then nothing’s impossible. Also, our fans are especially known to be pretty.” (Woohyun)
“There are times when pretty fans in the front row catch our attention. When then happens, we start asking each other ‘did you see her’ once we return to the waiting room. And once we go back onstage, we all go towards that person and sing.” (Hoya)
“To be honest, I don’t think that will be easy in our current situation.” (Sunggyu)
- Please say one thing about your first love.
“When I was 18, I had a one-sided love for a noona who was a year older. Because of that noona, I came up from Busan and lived at my grandma’s house in Seoul for a couple of months.” (Hoya)
“It was when I was in high school. I ran like crazy because I wanted to see her so much.” (Sunggyu)
“It was a noona I dated who was 5 years older than me when I was in my 2nd year of high school. I remember seeing her on the streets, so I ran and asked her for her phone number. Through that experience, we became friends.” (Sungyeol)
“In my 3rd year of middle school, I dated a girl of the same age for a long time. I still think of those memories.” (Sungjong)
▶ Dorm Life, Quickly Making Up After Arguing
- Who shares rooms in your dorm?
“Dongwoo and Hoya share one room, and L-Sunggyu-Sungjong also share a room. Sungyeol and Woohyun use individual rooms. We decided this through playing rock-paper-scissors. We also play rock-paper-scissors to decide the order for showering. Besides that, we also decide over serious problems by playing rock-paper-scissors.” (Woohyun)
- I’m curious as to who is in charge of cooking at the dorms.
“No one does it. (Laughter) If we’re hungry, we go out to places like the convenience store, and buy food. However, the eating problem has been solved by our manager who has a license as a chef. From soups to fried foods, there’s nothing that he can’t do. It’s probably hard waking 7 members up in the morning, but he even sets up our food before waking us up. That’s why we call our hyung, ‘Mom’.” (Sunggyu)
- Have you guys fought before?
“Because we’ve been together for such a long time, it doesn’t happen any more. And even if we were to fight, we instantly make up the next day. At times like that, a finger-curling situation occurs.” (Woohyun)
“When we were trainees, there were times when we had fist fights among the members. It couldn’t be avoided since it was just a bunch of guys together. Because we’ve gone through such a stage, I think it allowed us to become closer.” (Sungjong)
▶ Each Have Their Own Drinking Capacity, All 7 Will Enter the Military Together
- What’s the members’ usual drinking capacity?
“Sunggyu hyung drinks the most alcohol. Due to recent schedules, we haven’t had a chance to drink. We’re drinking after 3 weeks through this drunken talk. My favorite alcoholic drink is a cocktail. I like mixing a bit of juice in vodka and drinking it.” (Dongwoo)
“My drinking capacity differs depending on when I drink it. I usually drink it well, but when I’m tired, I pass out even with just one cup of beer.” (Sunggyu)
“I’m bad with drinking. My body is pretty healthy, but my intestine is sensitive. It became more sensitive after I debuted, so I lost 8 kg.” (Woohyun)
“I like clear alcoholic drinks such as soju, Chungha, sake, or vodka. I’m not very good at drinking rice wine.” (L)
- The members joked around and said, ‘L’s drinking habits are bad’, but is this true?
“When he drinks, he drinks quite a bit. There was a time when he drank an entire bottle of Absolut Vodka in one sitting. At that state, he calls up people he knows and talks a lot. But he isn’t a large bother to people around him. Due to L’s image in the group, he shows a lot of serious sides, but he actually has a lot of bright and fun sides to him like a maknae. For people who have only seen his image during promotions, they may look at L talking a lot during a drinking session and think he’s drunk.” (Sunggyu)
- What would the Infinite members be like in 10 years?
“We talk a lot about that with each other. The thing we always say is that we should become the subject of music promotions. We want to make everything like composing, writing lyrics, designing the album jacket, choreography, and stage clothes with just the abilities of our members. I think it would be good if L would make the music video, Dongwoo and Hoya would write the rap, and Woohyun, Sungyeol, and Sunggyu would write and sing. And Sungjong could take care of the clothes or the overall artistic parts. Although this is talking about the future, we talk about how all 7 of us should enter the army together. We all received the 1st rank on our physical check up for the army. Only Sungjong received 2nd due to his vision. We’re all strong men who can enter the military as active-duty soldiers.” (Dongwoo)
While the drunk talk was going on, fans started surrounding the outside of the snack bar. And I don’t know how they knew, but there were also fans who called the reporter’s cellphone number and asked for the location. It was expected of a team who are enjoying the peak of popularity. Even after finishing the drunk talk, the members showed a bright smile and said, “If it’s an interview like this, we’re open whenever.” After gathering up and taking a commemoration shot, they said they’ll be watching out for the Daesang (T/N: grand prize) during the Golden Disk Awards, which is being hosted by Ilgan Sports, and we split in a good mood.
trans. cr; hyejin @ infinite updates | source cr; ilgan sports ; take out with full credits
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