Prudent, principled, and ever passionate. JUHOON has always moved to the beat of his own drum, and as soon as the light turned green, he didn’t hesitate for a second.

I heard you were in LA recently. [Note: This interview took place on April 18.]
JUHOON: We’ve been working in LA since the debut album, so at this point I feel just as at home there as in Seoul. (laughs) When I saw our album on display in the K-pop section at Amoeba Music, it made me realize how we’re actually out there in the world now. The sun’s brighter there than in Seoul and everything’s bigger. You definitely feel open and relaxed there. It’s the kind of place that’s so inspiring it actually makes you want to work, and I feel like it changes the way I dress, too. (laughs)

So did you pull off any bold new looks while you were there? (laughs)
JUHOON: (laughs) Umm … I usually wear a lot of Adidas, but I picked up a Nike t-shirt there while I was shopping, so I tried this completely unhinged combination of a Nike tee and an Adidas hoodie. (laughs)

Quite the mash-up. (laughs) What kind of style are you into these days?
JUHOON: I don’t have a hard preference for any one aesthetic right now. You have to try a lot of things before you know what actually works on you, and I feel like I’m still in the middle of that process. I look at Pinterest to see how other people pull things together. I draw a little from here and there and try to make it my own. Overall I’d say I’ve gotten more into minimalism than I used to be, just wearing things for what they are instead of with a belt or a bunch of accessories. I want it to feel like it’s something that’s just a natural extension of me, just me being really human and natural, not like I’m dressing to impress anyone. That’s the feeling I’ve been going for lately.

That pursuit of authenticity is actually one of the defining qualities of your group’s music.
JUHOON: That’s why figuring out what made sense for where we’re at right now was such an important part of the process. We wanted to show off CORTIS’ true colors, but we didn’t want to repeat anything we’d already done in other songs. The key to “REDRED” was finding the right subject matter, and at first we had absolutely no idea what to even write about. We went through session after session, and then JAMES threw the phrase “GREENGREEN” into the mix, and that’s when the song found its unique angle. What we’re aiming for, and what we’re trying to avoid—we decided that would be a good topic to explore and wrote the hook around that. When I look back now, I think it was exactly the right call.

In what way?
JUHOON: The lyrics just flow really smoothly from start to finish. Like, when you first meet someone, you usually don’t dive straight into the deep stuff, so the first verse starts with light, everyday small-talk things. Then we wrote the hook that comes next to feel like a declaration of who we are. And in the second verse, we went deeper, trying to lay out all the things we’re typically thinking about.

What kind of things did you want to say?
JUHOON: MARTIN’s part in the second verse hits me especially hard—the lyrics from “a cold abandoned city” to “my head turns bright red.” I think it captures something all of us as a group feel. We felt the world keeps getting more individualistic, losing warmth. That part’s also about wanting the people who watch us to really give themselves over to the performance. When the whole crowd’s cheering together, you feel way more energetic.

Your musical instincts and taste seem a lot more defined than they used to be.
JUHOON: I was in the songwriting camp for our debut album right when I first started making music, so it was more of a learning experience for me to figure out how the whole process works. This time around, I wanted to push a little further with what I’d picked up from that. JAMES and I wrote the second verse of “Wassup” together. The chords for that song feel darker than the other tracks, so I approached the work looking to sort of neutralize that effect. I was also careful not to let things get too emotional while recording. We took turns freestyling during those sessions one by one, and I got right in there. And when all five of us were freestyling around a single mic at the same time, I got a little more into it.

It can’t be easy to get all your different perspectives on the same page when you’re all trying to make the best choices for the music.
JUHOON: All five of us have strong personalities, so getting everyone on the same page isn’t so easy. (laughs) When we’re divided on something, we try making every vision into its own version and see how they feel. It happened with the music video we made for “TNT” too. We couldn’t reach a consensus. (laughs) We were shooting at the location we planned for, and then suddenly, right in the middle of the road, we ended up in a 30-minute debate. (laughs) “I think we should do it like this.” “No, we should stick with the plan.” (laughs) In the end, three of us shot the original idea as planned and the other two shot a reworked version using the new idea, and we sent both to the director and the label. That way we could hear everyone out and make a final call from there.

So you respect each other’s ideas but still have to prove it works to the crew.
JUHOON: At the end of the day, we have to make something. We have to make the best version possible, whether that means picking the best idea or combining a few of them. But honestly, when we’re just having fun doing the shoot, the final result tends to come out pretty good. We shot freestyle this time too. We were never really built for planning anyway. (laughs)

How did shooting the “REDRED” music video yourselves go?
JUHOON: We spent a lot of time thinking about how to bring the raw feel of “REDRED” to the screen. We ended up making two versions. The one that became the main music video grew out of an idea to capture a vintage Korean feel. When we were first working on “REDRED,” we were imagining boys from a British hood. We wanted to evoke that and layer in something distinctly Korean at the same time, which is where the idea for an old local restaurant came in. We shot at a minmul jangeo place that someone on staff found for us. (laughs) There were so many things we could just grab right there and use as props. We threw on bibs, went into the bathroom, got a shot of the calendar on the wall. And there were two welcome mats at the entrance—one green, one red. (laughs) The second we saw them, we got the insert shot. That’s basically what the whole thing was—just one camcorder, no real plan, making it up as we went. There’s also a version that’s more focused on hand gestures, and for that one I suggested using a low frame rate to give the visuals a little extra something. JAMES handled shooting and editing for that one.

You have a real eye for video direction. I imagine the fact that you like movies and books feeds into that.
JUHOON: I recently read the novel “Pavane for a Dead Princess” before watching the movie that’s based on it, “Pavane.” I brought it along to read on the plane and during downtime when we were shooting in Japan, and I ended up reading the whole thing before we came back. If a movie based on a book comes out, I’ll usually read the book first. A movie gives you one definite picture, but I like how absorbed I get in my own version of how I imagine things when I’m reading a book.

Coming up with your own images in your head is certainly one of the great pleasures of reading. I understand you even reread “Annyeongira Geuraesseo” [“They Said Bye”].
JUHOON: Sometimes once just doesn’t feel like enough. I’ll finish a book and think, “Ha, there’s still more I can get from this!” And then I’ll go back and read it again from the beginning. I want to really make the book my own. With the one you mentioned, I found it a little difficult to follow the first time through. After I read the commentary at the back, I read back through it going, “Oh, so that’s what that line meant—that was foreshadowing.”

That drive to give shape to something until you’re fully satisfied with it seems to reflect your attitude toward yourself, too.
JUHOON: I think there’s a lot of people who don’t really know themselves all that well. I’m still in the process of figuring myself out, too. I used to look at things and think to myself, “This looks good, but that looks good too. I dunno which to choose …” But lately I know well enough that I can look at something and say, “I can tell, this one’s definitely better!” I can actually feel how I’m different from how I used to be. I think I feel more certain about my views now that I’ve gained more experience.

That might be why KEONHO called you the “loudest person” in the group. He talked about how you’re usually quiet but that you can get really firm about your opinions sometimes.
JUHOON: To make a good song, you have to commit to one good idea, for better or for worse. When we’re working, the only way to help the group is to have a strong opinion, so I try to share my ideas as much as I can. Normally speaking, though, I try only to speak up when I genuinely believe in something. And I just tend to think a lot before opening my mouth. (laughs)

That reminds me of something you said in an interview with “GQ”—that maturity means taking responsibility for your words and understanding the weight of your actions. You also mentioned wanting to work on reeling in your emotions when they stray too far from the center.
JUHOON: I think you have to accept your emotions for what they are but still be able to keep them in check on your own. I’ve been feeling a wider range of emotions than usual lately. Sometimes you need to express them, but I just try to keep them inside when it wouldn’t be a good idea to let them show.

But sometimes those emotions break through anyway, like on August 11 last year, the day they hung an ad outside the label’s offices leading up to your debut.
JUHOON: That was such an intense mix of emotions. I was ecstatic about the fact that we were debuting, but in that moment, it hit me that something that had always felt so far away was suddenly right in front of me. Seeing our huge faces up there on that enormous building, it was like, “Ah … It’s really happening. The big moment has arrived.” (laughs) I think the tears were from all of those emotions mixed together. At the time, I kept asking myself over and over whether I was really ready to present myself to the world.

What’s on your mind as you head into the promotional period for the next album?
JUHOON: Well, things are never easy. (laughs) This is a completely different world from when I was just doing my own thing, and I don’t think anyone can get used to it all in one go. I’m still finding my footing in this world. But whether it’s through music or something like this interview, I want to show people as much about what makes me unique as I can. It’s the kind of environment where it’s easy to get pulled in by what other people say. I just don’t want to lose what makes me me.

Is there anything you’re absolutely determined never to lose? You sing about wanting to be “the real deal” in both “REDRED” and “ACAI.”
JUHOON: That’s a tough one. (after thinking with his head down awhile) The feeling of having my own two feet on the ground. No matter what anyone says or what comes my way, I want to know I can hold onto my sense of stability. I think that would keep me from losing myself.

Maybe the process of working through that is exactly what it means to find your own sense of cool. In the “2024_Rookie Team_Interview.xlsx” video, you said, “I don’t find myself cool yet.” Has your thinking on that changed at all?
JUHOON: Maybe a tiny fraction compared to back then … (laughs) But I’ve still got a long way to go. (laughs)

You value stability, and yet you chose a career where change is constant and the pace never slows. What was it about it that called to you?
JUHOON: That it’s … That it’s fun, I guess. I think I wanted to lead a more exciting life. Making music and getting onstage like I do now just feels a little more fun to me. There’s definitely times when it’s physically and mentally draining, but I can say with certainty that I’m having fun.

So it’s because the light representing fun turned “GREENGREEN.”
JUHOON: You have to have fun to stay interested, and you have to be interested to be passionate. It’s the same with my personal projects—I just do it for fun. When I look back, I guess everything began with having fun.