During the photoshoot and interview alike, and even during the breaks scattered throughout, Jiwon was always herself. Her hellos and thank yous had the power to put everyone around her at ease. A warm consideration layered beneath a bright cheerfulness—put altogether, they create the one and only Jiwon.

Late last night (January 6) you posted a comment on Weverse: “I’m so excited for the comeback. Let’s all hold out just a little longer.” It’s just a matter of days now until your comeback. How have you been? 

Jiwon: I’ve been spending most of my time in the practice studio lately. I actually came home from the studio late last night. I’m getting really excited as the comeback gets closer. And I want to meet flover’s expectations after they’ve waited so long. I’m really determined about putting on a great show for them. That’s why I was there in the practice studio yesterday. (laughs)

It feels like you’re always passionate about everything.

Jiwon: I think I come across as having a really energetic and bright personality. I think flover really likes to see that from me. Whenever I film or shoot anything, I’m thinking about how I hope flover will feel energized when they watch it.

Did you make your new album, Midnight Guest, with that mindset, too?

Jiwon: I’ll never forget the love that came pouring out for the last album, so I wanted to have a good time with flover on this album, too. I’m looking forward to this album since it has songs from a huge variety of genres. I paid extra attention to the vocals. I think listeners will find there’s something a little different about this fromis_9 album.

I think that makes a lot of sense, when I think of your vocals on all the different songs you’ve done on “flaylist.”

Jiwon: Right. I used to change my singing style a lot to fit in with fromis_9’s better because I’m part of a group. I was trying to be a better fit with the group’s sound. But while I was preparing for this album, I realized I always enjoy listening to songs in those other styles, and sometimes I would sing them when I was alone and kept thinking how it would be great if we could all sing songs like that someday. So it was nice I could do both these things at the same time for this album. I love fromis_9’s classic sound, and I also love the vibe of the new album, too. (laughs)

So perhaps the concept for your album has changed a lot, and therefore your singing style has changed as well. What can you tell us about the highlights from this album?

Jiwon: I wanted to show off a variety of vocal styles on this album. For example, I heard “Escape Room” and decided I wanted to sing it just like a pop song, so I paid close attention to my pronunciation and tried to sing it with more flair, like making my voice more breathy. And I practiced “DM” so much because of all the super high notes in the song. I worked out what I could do to make the vocals work for me and I hope I can get the feeling across to the listeners, too. I pictured excitedly confessing my love while recording the song in the recording booth. It’s a lot different when you sing with the emotions in mind instead of just singing it without thinking, so I was very careful with my vocal tone and the way I expressed my emotions.

How do you tap into your emotions when you sing? Is there something you picture in your head?

Jiwon: I’m always imagining things. This is kind of funny, but when I’m alone in the practice studio and singing by myself, sometimes I start to cry. (laughs) I get immersed in the mood of the song while looking over the lyrics, then picture the images in my head and try to follow my emotions.

It seems most of the fromis_9 albums have at least one song written by you on them. What was it like working on “Hush Hush”?

Jiwon: This album will be the first time a song I worked on with Seoyeon gets released. But we’ve actually worked together several times. I guess you could say it’s like when people finish each other’s sentences. We were trading ideas, asking, How’s this? and, What about that? And came up with some ideas, churned out some melodies, mixed them together to find a balance and, just like that, the song was done.

Do you have designs on trying to write a lead single for one of your next albums? (laughs)

Jiwon: I really want to write a lead single. (laughs) I’ve actually made several demos. It's not just me—Hayoung and Seoyeon really like writing songs, too, so we keep on trying. I think as we get more experience one of our songs will be selected as a lead single someday. Am I selling it enough? (laughs) I always ask the other members to listen to my songs when I write one, too. And then they always say things like, This is so great. I hope you let flover listen to it even if it doesn’t get released. I find that encouraging. It fills me with strength.

How was the choreography for this album? I love that last part in the choreography for the single “DM” where you stand in the center with all the other members surrounding you on both sides.

Jiwon: Yes, there’s a lot of moves in the “DM” choreography where we spread our arms open and go over and hug each other. In that part you mentioned, especially, when I stand in the center and look at all the other members, I just bubble over with emotion. They just look so sweet and happy together, so sometimes even in the middle of practice I felt like I was going to cry.

Getting emotional, looking at the members during practice … It seems like you have a lot of affection for them.

Jiwon: We’ve been together a long time, so I’m used to having them around and feel anxious when I don’t. I think that’s why it feels like I never want them to change and want us to be together until the very end. They’re the ones who are always with me, whether I’m having a hard time or a good one.

In an interview you did when you debuted, you said you wanted to “play the role of a bridge that connects the other members together.”

Jiwon: I always try my best to play that role. The reason is because I see Saerom taking on the role of leader and then I think about how she’s always doing an amazing job. That can be a really burdensome and challenging role to play, but she’s doing a fantastic job and shows no signs of having any difficulty with it. And she’s always affectionately taking care of the other members. So I always tell her, Saerom, if you’re ever having a hard time, tell me. I’ll be your bridge. I don’t know how good a job I’m doing, but I’ll keep trying my hardest this year, too. (laughs)

We caught a glimpse of your different roles and images on Channel_9. What else should we expect to see from you in the future?

Jiwon: I want to show you an honest portrayal of myself. When there’s no camera on us, our members are so lovely, funny and outgoing. It’s my hope that the show will show a little more of that and of our unique chemistry. All the members are funnier than you can imagine. They’re holding themselves back. (laughs)

As long as we’re on the subject, I have to bring up the “girlfriend concept” that you started pushing last year and which people really seem to like. (laughs) How did you get started with that?

Jiwon: I had a feeling you’d ask about that. (laughs) It started on V LIVE when flover asked me to try speaking really casually, so I gave them a little, “Hey!” Then I was like, Am I making a mistake? And I tried to backtrack, but the reaction was actually better than I thought it would be. I did it jokingly at first, like, “Hey! flover! Who told you you could come here this late?” Their reaction was like, What is she doing?—like they really hated it, but it turns out they liked it and asked me to keep going. It’s so funny when they react that way. It makes me want to do it more and more. (laughs)

It seems like you regularly communicate with flover through V LIVE and Weverse. You leave a lot of replies to flover’s posts on Weverse in particular.

Jiwon: The fans have a great sense of humor. Whenever I post something, they always leave witty comments on it. And there was this one hilarious thing: Somebody left a post saying, “Help me name my dog,” and I left a really funny comment. But all these funny replies kept coming to mine in real time and I couldn’t let them win, obviously. (laughs) I loved that feeling of sending messages back and forth with flover in real time.

You not only leave funny comments, but also sometimes inspirational, long answers with words of comfort in response to flover’s posts. Has flover left any comments that really impressed you lately?

Jiwon: I browse Weverse while going home from the practice studio when I’ve had a rough and tiring day. flover writes a lot of long messages, but there’s also lots of people who leave really short but touching posts. “Don’t worry—we’ll always be here for you.” That kind of post always gets to me. I found out I smile without realizing it when I see flover post like that. They’re fun to read. And touching.

I think you have a lot of warmth under your funny entertainer character. Even when you’re with the other members, you respond and react to everything they say, even things that you could just let pass by.

Jiwon: I think that’s just a natural reaction when you live together that long. It's normal just to respond naturally and react to whatever someone says. I don’t think it’s only me. All the other members are that way too, I think. I guess you could say we’re like family.

I’m guessing the things that happened last year made you grow that much closer. It was a meaningful year for the group in many ways, not least of which was your first time winning first place on a music show.

Jiwon: Honestly, we couldn’t sleep that night. We got first place, something we had hoped for for so long. And we were talking all together about this and that until morning. It’s also true that we’ve grown closer and our bond has grown stronger since that day. Looking back now, four years was kind of a long time to take. Still, we always say it’s nice it took so long for us to win first place because we could take our time reaching the top and that it will make us stronger and not easily deterred in the future. It feels like this is just the beginning. And so I really can’t wait to see what kind of group fromis_9 will become. There was lots of good happening in 2021, so I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings.

From making albums, reviewing your videos, planning concepts, to communicating with your fans, where does your drive to continue working so hard come from?

Jiwon: I’d probably say the drive behind my hard work comes from seeing flover’s reactions and smiles. As long as they can be happy, I always want to make then smile, make them happy—I’m able to be passionate at all times because that feeling for them is so strong inside me. It’s not hard for me because I always want to keep moving forward and there’s so much left to see. I’ve got the other members with me, and flover, too, so I want to keep going further together.