In his debut interview, TAESAN talked about how he’s not someone to lean on others. But now, there’s a certain group of people he finds himself wanting to be attended to by, whom he relies on without even realizing it. Whether discussing whom he leans on, who keeps him going, or who pushes him forward, TAESAN consistently pointed to ONEDOOR.

There was a dog in the photoshoot today. I heard your family recently got a dog, too.
TAESAN: I saw Dupal, our new dog, for the first time when I went home over the Seollal holiday. At first, she was like, “Who’s this guy? What’s he doing here?” But then I gave she some treats and he never left my side. (laughs) I was thinking about how today’s shoot would’ve been even harder if it had been with Dupal. She’s so hyper. (laughs)

I heard your dad was the one who named the dog Dupal. It seems like you inherited his skill for giving names and his sense of humor.
TAESAN: My dad named me, too. And my mischievous side is 100% from him. Me and my siblings used to make bets with him when we were younger, like buying a five-pack of yogurt and seeing who could drink it the fastest. If we lost, we had to kiss him, and if we won, he’d buy us any snack we wanted from the convenience store. I was almost always the winner.

You said that, the first time the group got a number one after debuting, your dad texted you, saying, “I’ll keep the congratulations to a minimum for now since I know BOYNEXTDOOR is going to keep getting better and achieve even greater things.” It seems like your dad’s responsible not only for your mischievous side but for your serious side, too.
TAESAN: I’m seeing a lot of my dad in me as I grow up—especially when it comes to work. I’m a bit of a stickler and a perfectionist, and I really prefer to handle things on my own, just like he does. He found his own personal way of connecting with people and tackling things he needs to get done. I think the same qualities come out in me when it comes to music. My dad also loves sending me inspirational quotes. (laughs) He sends me these long messages three or so times a week about something he read that he liked and how he feels about it. He says stuff like, “Things could turn out challenging if you live your life that way—it’s more productive to live your life like this. The most memorable thing he ever said to me was, "Sharing too much happiness breeds jealousy; revealing sadness shows weakness."

You’re the oldest of three children, with nine years separating you and your youngest sibling, and it’s clear how much affection you have for her.
TAESAN: I got to spend some time with her over Seollal. She’s really grown up now. I’ve seen her grow every step of the way ever since she was born. It’s been amazing to watch. She used to love kids’ songs and cartoons when she was a little kid, but now she’s into idols and K-pop and buying their albums.

It seems like you still like to play the kind of pranks you were into as a kid. Fans even made popular video compilations of your pranks, like using fake cockroaches and door lock sounds. (laughs)
TAESAN: It’s so funny watching how the other members react with a mix of surprise and laughter. (laughs) There’s something really delightful about the creativity that goes into a good prank. When I was a trainee, I stacked two foam rollers, drew a really scary face on a piece of paper, stuck it to the rollers, taped some clothes to it, and stuck it right in front of the door to the vocal practice studio. The other members were so scared when they came out. They were like, “What the—!” I played so many pranks like that. Doesn’t it just make sense to want to tease someone you’re really close with?

The other members said you dole out your pranks in equal measure to everyone. (laughs) I heard you send silly texts to ZICO, too, like, “Woo Ji-ho, you crazy” with a thumbs up emoji.
TAESAN: I think I feel close enough to him that I can joke around like that because I’ve known him since I was a trainee and he’s always been really open with us. He gives us a lot of freedom. I mess around with people I care about, and ZICO is one of them.

You also vlogged recently about trying to surf as a potential new hobby.
TAESAN: I’ve loved watersports ever since I was little, and it was always a wish of mine to try surfing one day. I think my love of water comes from going to the public bathhouse so much with my dad when I was a kid. We made up a rule about going with him once a week. I started going when I was around five, and playing in the cold water there got me comfortable with being in water. I tell people that I taught myself how to swim, but what I don’t say is that I taught myself at a bathhouse. (laughs)

You said you would keep getting back up on the surfboard until you could get it. Is it typical for you to stick with something once you’re really into it?
TAESAN: Yes. I’m the kind of person who sticks with something until I feel like I’m decent at it. It’s the same when I’m working on a song: If I set a goal for myself to get a certain amount done that day, I have to finish it before I go home, no matter how long it takes.

You also enjoy reading novels, and have for a long time.
TAESAN: And I love reading when I’m on a plane. I love how, when you read a novel, the whole world gets projected into your mind and everything’s up to your own imagination—the scenarios, what the characters look like… Keeping my imagination active like that is a huge help when I’m writing songs, too.

I heard that, when you write songs, you exercise your creativity to create the characters. That’s basically like writing a story in itself.
TAESAN: I guess that’s true. If I work on the characters’ backgrounds, it makes it way easier to write better lyrics. It’s a lot easier to write when I think about what would be cool for the characters to say and what will resonate with listeners. And I get really detailed with what I picture: the song’s characters’ personalities, movements, clothes, hairstyles, the people in their lives—stuff like that.

Do we get to see your novel-like approach to songwriting anywhere on your new album, HOW?
TAESAN: At the end of “l i f e i s c o o l.” LEEHAN wanted to try and give it a Gatsby feel, so I was like, “Gatsby? Okay.” I started looking up clips from The Great Gatsby and started thinking about who else might bear resemblance to him. And then I realized that one of my favorite singers, Elvis Presley, looked just like the character I was picturing in my head. I thought it’d be fun to pay homage to Elvis, so I ended up working a reference into the lyrics. It was really fun to work on.

Do you also give ideas for the visual presentation of the songs?
TAESAN: I think visual presentation is really important, so I let the producers know about my ideas when the music or the choreography’s being worked on. With “l i f e i s c o o l,” for instance, I thought the highlight should come from LEEHAN and that it’d be fun to make it feel all fancy by having him dress up in a Gatsby-ish robe and come out alone holding a glass of wine.

You contributed lyrics and music to five tracks on the album. That must have been a lot of work.
TAESAN: Some of the tracks are ones I was working on before the debut, and some I was working on even while we were promoting. Now I’m reminded of those days of working alone, late into the night, whenever I had time, despite how busy everything was. It’s satisfying, feeling like I’m living life to the fullest. I’m the one who made the first part of the second verse of “So let’s go see the stars.” It took me less than an hour. Once I’m clear on the characters, I can usually write fairly quickly. I guess that’s how I’m able to write so much. The producers even said to me recently, “How do you write songs so fast? Your output is crazy.” (laughs)

What do you think is the best part you wrote out of all the songs you worked on?
TAESAN: The very first line of the first verse of “So let’s go see the stars”: “I’m right by your place / Come out for a sec if you’re awake.” Back when all we had was the melody, the producer wanted some lyrics about going out to look at the stars. The whole idea of going stargazing is really sweet and romantic. When I started writing, I was determined to make a song that would paint a whole scene and get people thinking—something like two people, deep in love with each other, holding hands and running together. The producers liked that part, and I think it turned out quite well too.

You’ve mentioned before that you’ve uploaded over 70 private songs to SoundCloud starting from when you were a trainee, using up all 180 minutes of your storage space. It’s amazing how passionate you are about exploring your creativity.
TAESAN: There’s probably something like 100 songs on my laptop that I’ve worked on. I’d like to share some of them for people to hear, but they’re not all finished products yet, to be honest. Some are just melodies y or a single verse. There’s also songs on there that I don’t really like and wouldn’t want anyone to hear. But since everything I’ve worked on since the beginning up to today is all on there, it’s sort of like a journal for me. It’s a collection of memories, and they’re all important to me.

Do you usually feel confident about your work?
TAESAN: Always. You know what people who come prepared say: If you practice a lot, you’ll have confidence no matter what you’re doing. I wanted to be a good songwriter ever since I was a trainee, so I honestly worked harder at it than anybody. Now I feel like I can work on songs of my own to some degree. And I’m still just as much of a perfectionist as ever. I ask other people all the time to film me for self-monitoring purposes. I can’t stand it when I spot my own weaknesses.

I heard that, while the other members were crying at the HOW? comeback show, you were there giving out tissues.
TAESAN: I didn’t cry, but I felt just as emotional. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do when I saw them crying that much, but tears are just a way of expressing your emotions, so I figured it made sense. I have heard from a lot of people that I’m sort of an emotional desert, though. (laughs) I do have emotions—things can move me or touch me. It’s just that it isn’t always that obvious.

How did it feel to see your fans at the comeback show?
TAESAN: As you know, that was our first time singing from our new album for them, and seeing ONEDOOR [BOYNEXTDOOR’s fandom] absolutely vibing with every single track made me so incredibly happy. The whole thing took over 10 hours to film, but the fans kept the energy up right till the end and kept cheering us on. I was really, really grateful. That’s probably why we weren’t running out of energy. Not only did the other members cry during the show, but a ton of our fans did, too. After everyone had cried, we performed “Dear. My Darling” like an encore of sorts. I never felt anything like it before. When it was all over, the other members and I talked about how hard we worked that day and how we’re going to keep doing our best.

In the interview you did with Weverse Magazine for your debut, you said that you’re not the kind of person to lean on others. Seeing as it’s been a while since that interview, and that you’ve since spent a lot more time with the other members and with your fans, do you still feel that way?
TAESAN: I lean on ONEDOOR all the time. When we have to dance or film something for a long time, there’s a huge difference when the fans are there with us versus when they’re not. The comeback show was physically demanding, but the whole reason we could keep going was because of our fans. Even if we’re shooting something that’s easier and doesn’t take nearly as much time, it sometimes still feels harder when the fans aren’t there.

One of your fans on Weverse recently said, “Thank you for not hiding the fact that you’re having a hard time,” and you wrote back, “I usually hate when people can see that, but I just wanted to be comforted like a baby.”
TAESAN: All I really wanted that day was to be comforted. I left early that day because I wasn’t feeling well, but that was our last chance to practice before performing at KCON. I felt terrible about it, but reading what the fans wrote made me feel better. Seeing them always there supporting us pushes me to keep working hard. I want to be completely open and real with them. There’s still so much about myself that I haven’t shared with them yet. I hope our relationship with ONEDOOR just continues to grow and that we get even closer with each other.

What keeps you going when you’re working and times get tough?
TAESAN: ONEDOOR. They’ve got tons of nicknames—Wonder, Hanmun, Wonderyomi, Wondoah. (laughs) Our first fan meeting is coming up soon, and I think the rush of emotions is going to be intense. Our light stick’s ready, and picturing the place filled with our fans, all waving the light stick around, makes me so excited. I heard that many fans decorate their light sticks, sometimes to reflect their bias in the group. And I want to perform “400 Years,” our fan song, in a venue that’s completely filled with ONEDOOR.

The idea of “400 Years” was born out of you saying, “Let’s try and love each other for 400 years,” replacing the typical “forever” with “400 years.” If the phrase “I love you” ever disappeared from the world completely, what would you replace it with?
TAESAN: I’d say, “Be happy.” If you wish someone else happiness, I think it must mean they hold a really, really special place in your heart.

At the comeback show, you said, “I wish you more happiness than I wish for myself.” It’s no small thing to wish that someone else would be happier than you are.
TAESAN: I said that because I genuinely do wish more happiness for them than for myself. Because ONEDOOR are the ones who make me happy. They’re the source of my happiness, and I’m serious about making them even happier.