[INTERVIEW] THE STAR JUNE 2013 EDITION

# Part 1: Under the Name of Infinite for 1095 Days

The Star: Welcome to Infinite’s Show. It’s almost your 3rd anniversary since debuting, right? Our first conversation will be about those 3 years. We’ll now commence into an audience mode without giving out questions.

Sungyeol: June is when we become 3 years old. We debuted on June 9th.

Hoya: ‘Infinite’s Show to Fit Their 3rd Anniversary’. You can post it like that.

Woohyun: To think it’s our 3rd anniversary… 3 years is going through 365 days 3 times. Haha! We have somehow already reached 3 years. It only seems like we debuted yesterday, so I can’t feel it.

Hoya: A lot of things happened during those 3 years. First off, we released many albums. To be honest, I believe that 3 years still coins us as rookies. We plan to work harder and reach a higher peak.

L: It’s already been 3 years since ‘Come Back Again’ was released.

Sunggyu: A lot of things happened during those 3 years. I personally think the members are all slowly maturing. Now that I look at it, I feel like it’s the path for everyone to find who they are. Although we debuted under the team of Infinite, Infinite is made up of 7 members and everyone wants to find their own self. Even for L, he normally diligently took pictures and was able to release a photobook.

Hoya: And Sunggyu hyung was able to achieve his childhood dream of being a rocker.

Dongwoo: Hyung and we were able to do the music we wanted, which for us was to create a hip-hop unit with the two of us.

Sungyeol: I did acting.

Sunggyu: And Woohyun did a ballad song.

Hoya: Sungjong wanted to become famous and he did. Haha.

Sungyeol: Something that’s really fascinating to me is when we debuted 3 years ago, we wondered what we would be doing a year later. And how we would turn out to be. I remember thinking that, but already 3 years passed by since then. I’m curious about what it will be like 3 years from now.

Sunggyu: Even 3 years later, you’ll probably be doing a photoshoot for ‘The Star’. Haha. I think I’m quite similar to the image that I thought I would become.

Hoya: I exceeded my expectations on the image I dreamed of 3 years ago, and didn’t exceed on some parts too.

Sungyeol: But since everyone prepared something, so it was fine, but I struggled so I didn’t even know what would happen the week right after or even the next day.

Woohyun: Something that really changed a lot is the amount of fans who love us really increased over these 3 years. While looking at the increasing fan amount, I feel that we’ve grown.

Hoya: I’m curious about what Sungjong’s thoughts are to?

Sungjong: My face changed a lot and my thinking changed a bit too. When I look at how I looked 3 years ago, I feel my fingers curling and I think, ‘I was like that then’. I also think that my member hyungs are all changing for the better as well.

Hoya: First off, all of us became more free. When we were trainees, we were really hungry, but now we’re able to eat a lot of tasty foods and our dorm become more comfortable too. Because we became more leisurely with money, I think a lot of other leisures follow along with it.

Sunggyu: That’s right. Long time ago, I didn’t think of money and just thought that I had to become a singer no matter what, because I liked doing music. While promoting hard to achieve that goal, money that we didn’t even think of came to us.

Sungyeol: But we all slightly look at how much we made even though we know that money automatically follows. Haha!

Sunggyu: We’re just helping it along the way, so that it doesn’t lose its path. Managing your property is important for your future. As we reach 3 years, we begin to think about how long we’re going to be doing music. Will we be doing music together 30 years from now?

Sungyeol: 30 years is too long. Let’s just look ahead to 3 years or now. 

Sunggyu: I’m definite on the fact that we’ll be doing music together 3 years from now. The reason is because our contract won’t have ended then (laughter).

Sungyeol: Although there’s the contract, think about the complications we’ll be going through during those 3 years. Just like we have till now.

Hoya: Looking at it now, we had a lot of funny times and meaningful times.

Sungjong: I remember going to a performance in Thailand with all the members, and playing with them. To combine it as a summer vacation, we went a couple of days prior to the performance, and played with our CEO and company staff members.

Woohyun: You said it was boring because the CEO came too?

Sungjong: That’s not true. I really had fun. I played all day at the pool.

Woohyun: Sungjong’s acting on the ‘Mak Irae Show’ on Tooniverse was fun too. ‘Although I’m not good at studying, I won’t give up.’ That line was hilarious. And filming ‘Infinite’s Ranking King’ on Mnet was really fun too. We built a lot of memories together.

# Part 2: When a Man Loves

The Star: This title song is ‘Man in Love’, right? So we can’t miss out on your love stories.

Sungjong: Love, can just anyone love~

Woohyun: Honestly, most of us haven’t learned what true love is.

Hoya: I think the worry of all adolescents is that. What could love be. Is this love. Isn’t life the process of trying to find out what love is. I think even people in their 60’s haven’t been able to find a definite for love.

Sunggyu: My father isn’t even in his 60’s, but he has a definition about love?

Hoya: He’s a very righteous man.

Sunggyu: It would be nice if this love was mutual, but an unrequited love is sad.

Hoya: That’s right. It hurts your heart.

Sunggyu: You talk as if you’re currently experiencing an unrequited love?

Hoya: I’m always experiencing an unrequited love. Do you know why? It’s because I love my fans more than my fans like me.

Sunggyu: Sungjong, have you loved before?

Sungjong: I have still yet to experience a true love. The hyungs give me good love, and I feel like always just receive it from fans and staff members.

Hoya: We always give it, but Sungjong just receives. That’s cool. L, have you loved before?

L: Love…

Woohyun: Love to L is like an invisible person. Love doesn’t exist, so of course it wouldn’t appear to him. Haha! Sungyeol, you’ve loved before, right?

Sungyeol: I always say this, but love is something bitter. After getting burned deeply from it, I’m scared and no matter who approaches, I’m reluctant to approach them back and I feel scared.

Sunggyu: But love is something that may hurt you, but a new love can come and heal that love. (While looking at Dongwoo) You’ve loved often, right?

Woohyun: Is Dongwoo that type to approach first? Or are you the type to express yourself once a girl approaches you first?

Dongwoo: I run towards them till the death. As if I were a beast.

Sunggyu: Love’s hunter? Hunter? (T/N: the second hunter he said in English) Haha.

Hoya: Whenever I love, I always feel tense. Although I can talk fluently and well normally, I start stuttering and my pronunciation becomes unclear.

Woohyun: If you can’t do it on a straight mind, then drink some alcohol before meeting her

Sunggyu: When we do interviews, something like that alcohol thing that Woohyun just said gets published wrongly as if I said it. I hope that you can distinctly write who said it. Woohyun was the one who said the alcohol thing. (Laughter)

L: L didn’t say one thing.

Woohyun: Hey~ Why are you being like this. What kind of type are you, L?

L: I’m the type to give and take for love. Although I’ve failed before. It’s a joke. (Laughter) The more you learn about love, the harder it gets. On the other hand, it’s sweet too. It really feels like alcohol.

Sunggyu: L seems like he’s loved before. It seems like it.

L: Although I’ve never truly loved before, I’m currently experiencing it with Inspirits.

Woohyun: That’s so formal. 

Sungyeol: Everything we said till now has been formal, right? 

Sunggyu: Woohyun was the one who said it was formal.

Woohyun: We love our fanclub, Inspirit.

Sunggyu: Through a small misunderstanding, I broke up with my girlfriend in high school before. I went to girlfriend’s house with a present because it was her birthday, but she had fallen asleep. Without even knowing that, I felt like I was being repudiated because she wouldn’t open the door.

Sungyeol: You went to her house with your bare, no make-up face, huh.

Woohyun: Or maybe she looked through the peephole and thought, ‘Isn’t that present too small? I’m not going to open the door’, and acted like she was sleeping.

Sunggyu: The present back then was small. But that’s because I was a student. But it was still normal. Relationships can be broken through small misunderstandings like that. The scary thing about love is that even as you’re truly loving each other, you can end it with just the phrase of ‘let’s say farewell now’.

Hoya: No matter how many times you say you love each other, it all ends with just the one phrase of ‘let’s break up’.

Sungyeol: I went through something completely unbelievable, but the other person asked to break up with me because I was young. I whined back then saying that it was hard, but at that age, I didn’t know what I was doing was whining. 

L: Don’t make fun of me for being young. I can’t even say it because I’m shy. Don’t make fun of me for being young~ (T/N: Lyrics to ‘Girls’ Generation’)

Woohyun: Don’t jingjing (whine), jangjang instead.

Sungjong: Woohyun hyung just said that right now.

Sungyeol: I would understand it if she asked to break up and gave a reason for it, but I think the hate for that person grows more if they just ask to break up.

L: People need to converse.

Hoya: But if you really like them, it’s hard to ask them out. And at this age, the chances of getting married after dating them is slim. So you can become strangers forever, which makes it hard to confess.

Dongwoo: You guys are all different from me. I still contact them even if I break up? We become friends.

Woohyun: I’m like that too. You’re similar to me. It’s because I was originally friends with them prior to dating them.

Sungyeol: I can’t do that. If you become friends with someone you broke up with, won’t you think of past memories whenever you see them?

Dongwoo: Even if you remember those things, they’re all memories in the past. It’s possible to never see that person again, but it’s also possible to meet them again. If you become twisted from something like that, then you should live on a secluded island by yourself.

Sungyeol: Wow. It’s possible to think like that? I think it would be hard because of those past memories?

Sunggyu: But what if you end your relationship on bad terms?

Dongwoo: I broke up on good terms with them. Didn’t you all break up with them on good terms?

Woohyun: But there are times when you become suspicious too.

Sunggyu: That’s right. Even though it’s a really small misunderstanding, if you aren’t able to resolve that misunderstanding and have it end just like that, it would be embarrassing to see them late.

Dongwoo: But as time passes, that event seems like nothing later on.

Sungjong: Time is medicine. Why was I like that then? Something like that. 

L: I think among emotions, love is the hardest to control. Because it covers everything. I think it’s really hard.

Woohyun: Love is really hard. I don’t even know how to go through marriage.

Sunggyu: Didn’t you say you were going to get married to a fan?

Woohyun: Seems like I’ll have to create a palace if I want to live with 180,000 Inspirits.

Hoya: There’s really no end to a conversation when you start talking about love.

L: What’s our next topic?

Sunggyu: Alright, let’s end it well. Although we’ve all experienced a first love, we’re fine without having girlfriends, because we receive that much love from our fans right now. And more than anything, we don’t feel alone at all since we’re all together. We believe that our career is more important than love right now.

L: I believe that too.

Woohyun: But truthfully, we feel lonely when we go back home after work, right?

Sunggyu: Even if we feel lonely, I’m really happy because our fans are here to love us.

(The editor who interrupted and asked, “There’s something I’m really curious about, but fans have boyfriends. So isn’t it a bit too much that they won’t let Infinite date people?”)

Sungyeol: I don’t understand why idols aren’t allowed to date. We’re people too.

Woohyun: You’re going to be in big trouble. I’m saying this for your own good. The fans will really hate you. (Laughter)

Hoya: I believe something like this. If I had to divide it, you can’t just say you want to love later on because work is more important now. If I find someone that I naturally start loving, I’ll start dating then. I think the idea of ‘That’s right. You’re an idol. You’re not allowed to’ isn’t right. I think our fans will understand that too.

Sunggyu: Anyways, we love Inspirits. Even if we want to love right now, we don’t even have the time right now to, because we’re busy.

L: I believe our careers are currently more important than love.

Dongwoo: Everything is important to me.

L: Ah, okay. I understand. Thank you.

# Part 3: I Need a Family

The Star: The last topic. What’s a topic that Infinite has the most interest in lately?

Hoya: Something we’re really interested in is filial duty.

Sunggyu: That’s right. Although we aren’t able to all talk about it, there were times when I talked about it with a few of the members. I think we’re all sharing similar concerns during similar times.

Woohyun: Because my parents are currently doing something very tiring for work, I honestly want to tell them to stop. I also hope that they could freely go on vacation.

Sunggyu: That’s right. During the holidays, I took my parents on a vacation to Jeju Island, but it wasn’t easy going on a vacation together. My parents really enjoy just going somewhere with me, and even feel happiness from just something small like eating a meal.

L: My parents also feel burdened by expensive gifts, and when I ask them to eat out with me, they suggest going to small restaurants in front of our house. We recently went out to a pig’s skin restaurant.

Dongwoo: I think the best thing you could gift them is your own time. Conversations are the most important thing. I think the best thing you could give to your parents is just doing something with them and creating memories.

Sunggyu: It’s really harder to spend time with them instead of sending money. On Parents’ Day, our company sent us home no matter what last year and the year before that, but we weren’t able to go this year due to being too busy.

Woohyun: That’s not true. The members without schedules went home.

Sunggyu: Oh, that’s how it was. I just made one phone call, but my mother was really happy.

Woohyun: I bought my mother snow crabs on Parents’ Day, but she really liked it. Because things like snow crabs are expensive, we aren’t able to eat it often. She really didn’t leave any leftovers and ate it all very deliciously.

Sungyeol: If you buy them snow crabs, they really like it.

Sunggyu: Snow crabs are very expensive. But from what I know, you haven’t eaten snow crabs often either, right? There’s something like that. When we’re in front of our parents, we want to show them that we’re eating and doing well, so even though we’re eating it for the first time, we sort of lie to our moms like, ‘I eat a lot of good things’.

Woohyun: Although I’m the youngest in my family, it feels like I’ve become the pillar.

Sunggyu: Since it’s reached our 3rd year since debuting, I really think about the importance of family. The reason behind this is if you count my trainee days, I’ve lived away from home for around 5 years. If you don’t eat your family’s homecooking for 5 years, your body condition starts to worsen. Then you realize, ‘my mom made delicious food for me and even did the laundry too’. Once a red light for your health comes, you realize it.

L: That’s why I want to hurry and have my parents check their health condition, but they always tell me that they’re okay.

Sunggyu: While you were thinking about your family’s health, looks like I was thinking about my health. Haha.

Woohyun: Yes, alright. Infinite’s interest point is our family.

Sungyeol: (As the editor sends a suspicious glance) Really. We’ve never tried making an image. The company doesn’t try managing our image, and we also don’t know how to do it.

Sunggyu: It’s true, Hoya recently also bought his parents a house. And Dongwoo bought a car for his family, Woohyun leased a store, and Sungyeol is preparing to lease a restaurant for his parents. Since our ages are similar and we’re in a similar start, we often ask each other ‘What should we do for our parents?’

Woohyun: Since my parents are working hard right now, I want to make them more comfortable. My father works in construction, while my mother and brother are running a restaurant, but they seem very tired.

Sunggyu: My mom does computer backup.

Hoya: My mom does pick-up.

Sunggyu: Alright, hurry up. (T/N: jobs normally end with ‘-up’, so they’re making a play on words)

The Star: Haha. A lot of time passed by, so shall we end it here?

L: Wow. Time already passed like that. It was like participating in those debates that you see on TV.

-

trans. cr; hyejin @ infinite updates | source cr ; always spring ; take out with full credits