She used to pull ahead of the pack alone to cross the finish line first. Now, she’s running full speed ahead with six other girls, making their way to the stage together—propelled forward by the countless hours of practice deep in her bones, ready to fully savor that moment in the limelight. Together with TUIDE, SEAH’s on a journey to find her sun-kissed voice.
An active homebody
SEAH: I’ve always liked sports. I’ve always been really interested in them. I never had any special training but I like running and swimming. I was always the fastest runner in elementary school. (laughs) I guess I wanted to be good because of how competitive I am. The group says I’m a bottomless pit of energy, but my MBTI’s actually INFP. SEOHEE once said I’m “the definition of INFP.” (laughs) I give off T vibes when we’re all getting in step during practice, so I heard I come across as more of a T at first, but once people get to know me, they say I’m a total F. I’m generally a pretty active person, but at the same time, I’m a total homebody. Nowhere makes me feel as safe and secure as my bed. I’d rather spend my days off in bed sleeping or just chilling than go out shopping. That’s probably why I gravitate toward hobbies I can do during my alone time, like reading or gaming.
Getting in front of the camera
SEAH: I started working as a child model when I was five, doing everything from ads to photo shoots. Maybe that’s why being in front of the camera feels fairly natural to me. I try not to think of it as a shoot, just get into it, act natural, and have fun. I think I photograph better when I’m relaxed and enjoying myself, which is probably why I feel a little more at ease in front of the camera. (laughs) I didn’t actually always dream of being an idol, but the more I grew up and had more and more experiences, and kept hearing more about idols from everyone around me, the idea started to grow on me. At some point I found myself wanting to stand onstage and be with fans like that, and I just naturally started to dream of becoming an idol.
Determined to do a good job
SEAH: When I got scouted and went in to audition, I was so excited. I was really nervous, but I told myself to just enjoy it as much as I could and went in with the mindset to perfectly execute what I worked on. I remember I did the choreography for the aespa song “Drama,” but I never even took dance lessons before that. I just did it as a hobby, like dancing at home sometimes, and picked things up here and there, so when I started as a trainee, I came in really determined to do a good job. I was excited to learn to dance and sing with people my age and the older girls, and I was curious what life as a trainee would even be like. I guess I was passionate and excited about what was to come right off the bat. (laughs) I’ve always been really personally driven to do a good job in everything I do, and I’ve tried to do my best ever since I was little, but I think that drive grew even stronger once I became a trainee since I knew it was for the journey of becoming an idol.
Hard work pays off
SEAH: Watching the artists who came before me connecting with their fans so naturally from the stage and building on each other’s energy made me realize just how compelling being an idol really is. Being a trainee also taught me that you can only truly enjoy yourself onstage once you’ve put in the work beforehand, so I decided practice mattered more than anything else, and I kept reviewing video of me and practicing over and over until I was satisfied. There was even a time where I practiced the same style of dance for three hours straight. When something wasn’t clicking, I’d get frustrated or even low-key mad with myself, but there was real satisfaction in finally nailing a move I’d been struggling with, or showing off the results of all that practice at an evaluation or a showcase. I think you need to make sure practice makes perfect if you want to stop worrying about everything else and just express yourself to the fullest, so when the moment comes along where I can enjoy the stage without a single thought in my head, that’s when I know all that practice wasn’t for nothing. I think it was all that repetition and careful consideration during my trainee years that ultimately gave me confidence. Now I’m even more determined to show people my dance moves.
The TUIDE lineup in the eyes of their youngest member
SEAH: SEOHEE really has it all together. She keeps on top of everything there is to do, her performances are always polished, and she brings out every detail when she dances. I want to be able to emulate that about her. SEOYEON’s thoughtful and always looking out for everyone around her. She cleans up before anyone else, she helps the rest of us out, and she’s such a maximalist that she carries practically everything with her. She always has anything you need, like tissues. ELENA has such a sweet voice that she comes off as elegant and graceful, but when it’s just us, she’s the comedian of the group. (laughs) That’s part of her charm—the other side of her that’s silly and hilarious. JIA’s like a cute puppy that’s got a lot of spunk. At first she looks like just a pretty face, but she always gets things done and always shows good judgment whenever we’re all weighing in on something, so she’s a huge help. Sometimes the way she reacts to things makes us say she’s AI (laughs) but that’s just another part of her charm. SAKI’s the quirky, upbeat one. She’s not trying to be funny, she just says and does random things out of nowhere that we find hilarious. It’s a totally different side from the effortlessly cool image she has onstage, and I think that quirkiness is part of what makes her, her. And YI HANI’s a total tomboy. When we’re all together, she’s got so much to say that I’ve never seen her stop talking. And she’s so full of energy that the two of us basically split that energizer duty. (laughs) As for me … Everyone says I’m the energetic one, the one who picks us up whenever it’s needed. The rest of them always tell me I’m cute and they look out for me. I guess that’s one of the perks of being the youngest. (laughs)
Living with TUIDE
SEAH: All of us are pretty fashion conscious, so whenever one of us goes shopping and tries on something new, we ask around for opinions on how it looks. We also borrow and lend each other clothes we want to wear. Right now I’m sharing the main bedroom with ELENA and SEOYEON. We just switched recently and the vibe in our room’s really laid-back. The other girls come hang out all the time, and sometimes we’ll talk a little before bed about how our day went. We map out the schedule for the following day together and end the night with a “Fighting!” It’s really chill.
TUIDE is bliss
SEAH: I’m happiest when I’m with the rest of the group. We’re together 24 hours a day, every day, but we still never run out of things to say to each other, and I feel like all that time spent talking and hanging out gives us all the energy we need to carry us through our work together. On New Year’s Day, we all went out to watch the sunrise together and make a wish. Back at home, we put together a whole spread. We made tteokguk and dumplings and fried up some jeon. We sat down to eat and said, “All right, let’s eat. Happy New Year!” and while we ate, we all told each other, “Let’s give it our all in 2026!” It felt amazing seeing all of us so determined like that. There was also this one time we left a window open by mistake and a bunch of little bugs got in. None of us are any good at catching bugs, but we all banded together to hunt down every last one off the walls. It’s a funny memory now. (laughs)
Face to face onstage
SEAH: Something we always talk about as a group is how we made a promise to speak to each other with respect, whether we’re practicing or just doing our thing, so I’d say respect is TUIDE’s guiding principle. We’re all really driven, and we all really want to put on a great show, which is why, when we’re practicing, there’s no age hierarchy—everyone feels free to speak up with whatever might help the group. It keeps things easy, and it also makes me really grateful to the older girls. Everyone practices with total focus, and when we need it, we psych each other up and keep the energy high to keep going. Maybe that’s why there’s such a concerted effort to make plenty of eye contact when we’re onstage. There’s points during a performance where I’ll step out of the spotlight for a second, catch someone else’s eye, move to the beat together, and then step back in. Moments like that absolutely fill me with energy. There’s seven of us in the group, all with completely different personalities, and it just wouldn’t be TUIDE without each and every one of us. I think being close-knit like that’s exactly what makes me want to work even harder going forward.
One mosaic of many colors
SEAH: While we were working on the album, we spent time as a group talking through the songs and trying to really understand what each one was saying. When I run into things in a song that touch on things I haven’t personally experienced, I try to bring my own energy and interpretation to my part and do the things I do best. The song “SUN KISS” brings all seven of our personalities together into something explosive. I think the key point is how each of our personalities comes through in our own parts, and how smoothly it all flows from one part to the next, so the flow from one of us to the next felt really important. Even with the choreography, I paid as much attention as possible to the angles I moved at and my facial expressions, trying to make everything feel natural alongside everyone else’s moves. I tried to perfect the overall flow of the song when we were recording vocals, too. I focused on bringing out the rhythm in the parts where rhythm mattered most and capturing the gentleness in the parts with a gentler melody. At the same time, I wanted to use my parts to really show off my personal vocal tone as much as possible. I think I have a chill voice, and GroovyRoom, the producers, encouraged me to lean into that strength.
An energetic first solo dance
SEAH: “GRLS” is structured so that each of us gets a part that feels like our own little introduction. I admit I felt some pressure about getting the first solo dance, but I also really wanted to do a good job with it. My solo is a house-style dance, so I tried to bring out as much of the rhythm and movement of house as I could through small details like in the tips of my toes and the angle when I turn. I’ve been told plenty of times that I’m bursting with energy when I dance, and I’ve always thought of myself as being pretty strong, so I tried to put in as much of that as I could. “GRLS” really highlights our energy, so if you listen closely, you’ll hear how strong and energetic each and every one of our voices is. I think what makes me special comes down to the gap between how I look when I’m smiling and when I’m not. Especially when I break into a big smile, I think that’s when my cheerful energy really shines through.
Starting things off with “SUN KISS”
SEAH: “SUN KISS” is a song about when you learn to trust your own voice and instincts and express them. For me, I think, the moment I trusted my instincts to make a choice was when I decided to take on this path. I was always drawn to singing and dancing, and for a while I’d been dreaming of standing onstage as part of a group with other people like me, so when I first found out we were debuting, I was so excited, but it sort of came with a certain amount of pressure too. Now that our schedule’s filling up and there’s so much on the horizon that needs to get done, I mean. And since I’m naturally quite motivated, I want to get plenty of practice in so I can put my best face forward and become the kind of artist who really knows how to enjoy herself onstage. And most of all, I’m really curious and excited about what we’ll build together piece by piece from here. The debut’s really starting to feel real.
An exciting first step
SEAH: It feels surreal seeing bits of our everyday life and behind-the-scenes moments slowly showing up on Instagram and Weverse. It’s not the version of us you see onstage, it’s who we actually are day to day, out there for everyone to see. The seven of us each have such lively, colorful personalities, so I hope TUIDE will be the kind of group that people feel good just watching, one that gives off positive vibes. And moving forward, as we make memories and a history with our fans, I want to grow into the kind of artist they can really count on. That’s the kind of person I want to become.