Though she claimed to be nervous, Hayoung talked about herself animatedly and without hesitation. She appears to grow emotional at times, slowing down to organize her thoughts and feelings. That’s when she’s talking about flover and the other members.

You recently posted a photo on Weverse of your new travel guitar. What made you buy that? 

Hayoung: I brought it with me today, too, so I can play it when I’m standing by. We have to wait a lot because of our type of work and I thought it would be better to work on my hobbies than to use my phone. I have a normal guitar but it’s too heavy to carry around, so I only ever end up playing it at home. I was looking for something light so I could spend more time playing, but it’s only got this long neck and no body so everyone said it looks like a Pepero stick. (laughs) I think carefully before I buy anything, so I spent over a year deciding whether or not to buy it. I ended up buying it as a gift for myself on January 1.

Are you practicing any songs on your guitar? Anything you want to play for flover?

Hayoung: Two years ago I posted a video where I sang “Pretender” by Official HIGE DANdism with my guitar teacher. People liked it more than I expected so I’m thinking of singing some Japanese songs like that, too. I already have a song in mind. The guitar part’s not quite there yet but I listen to it every day and practice. And I’d like to do something like an acoustic medley of our songs.

Coincidentally, you’ve also got an electric guitar in the concept photos for the new album.

Hayoung: I really wanted to do photos with that concept, actually. The acoustic guitar feels cozy, but an electric guitar is cool, you know? (laughs) I think I feel more attached to guitars now, too. I figured I better practice more regularly now that I even took photos like that. (laughs) It was nice to switch up my image and it was even better because I got a chance to show off a new side of myself to flover.

That new side of you shows up on the album, too, especially in the first track, “Escape Room,” with its R&B vibe.

Hayoung: The song’s got this husky, hip vibe, so I thought, How would Jiwon and Seoyeon sing this? I pictured singing it as a different version of me, then added a little more flavor from there.

I could feel your own brand of hipness in the choreography, though.

Hayoung: It was nice because there’s a lot of bouncing in it, which is a basic hip hop move. I used to do hip hop a long time ago, so when I joined fromis_9 I had a little trouble changing my dancing style. I made big movements when I danced (demonstrating hip hop moves) like this. (laughs) So I was always disappointed when I reviewed my dancing. I wanted to lose the habit, so I stopped practicing it and mostly forgot about it, but it’s still fun to do sometimes. So I had fun practicing “Escape Room”, like, “Ah yeah, that’s it!”

How did you like the choreography for “DM”? It has entirely different dance moves from “Escape Room.”

Hayoung: It was like—“DM” is all about laying your heart out on stage. We’re sitting down at the beginning and it draws people in. We should look pretty when we move and we wanted to emphasize part of the chorus so we practiced so much together. That choreography also uses up a lot of energy, so I’m out of breath by the time we finish it. I probably said it every time we practiced, but it was so exhausting that it’s like dancing through “Talk & Talk” four times. (laughs)

Wasn’t it hard to sing the chorus while performing such all-consuming choreography? What stood out most to me was your high-pitched ad-libbing near the end. (laughs)

Hayoung: It sounds like there’s a dolphin in “DM” at one point. (laughs) I listened to the demo version without thinking and was like, I can probably nail this. I kept practicing and it became easy enough. I felt good because it was like I overcame another hurdle. I can’t let myself become intimidated. I guess you could say it’s a battle between the song and me. Anytime I think, “I can’t lose—I can definitely do it,” it’s always worked. If I lose to the song, it means I can’t handle my own song. I have to win. (laughs)

It's not enough just to sing high notes well, of course, so I’m curious what kind of vocal style you’re after.

Hayoung: I like when vocals are almost swelling with emotion—the kind of vocals that make people think, How do they make it sound like they’re singing straight to my heart? When I practice, my intention is to vocalize the emotions I’ve felt and to make sure other people will feel them as well. I was happy I got to sing using all kinds of emotions on this album. “Love Is Around” isn’t a sad song, but it sounded like it is, so I thought about the first emotion I felt and sang softly, and like I was talking while holding back tears. “0g” feels like when I get home after I’m all done for the day and can’t sleep and filled with emptiness.

I’m guessing the way you listen to or approach songs has probably changed with your years of experience.

Hayoung: I think my taste in music is changing little by little. Before the debut, I was into slow, quiet indie music and songs that only I would’ve known about. But now I listen to a mix of different songs or top-100 songs on streaming sites. I think my tastes have changed such that I now sometimes analyze what makes a song popular. I want to try a lot of different things out, so I should listen to a wide variety of music.

How do you feel about being involved in the album-making process from time to time? Has anything changed? Have you developed your own approach?

Hayoung: When I was first making songs by myself, I wrote them based on whatever feelings and experiences I was having at the time, but when I have to make a group song I tend to seek out other songs and lyrics. Then I can find other ways to approach and analyze them and I can give it a shot for myself. So I think I end up making songs that sound different when I work with someone else. I don’t compose a lot of songs these days. (laughs) But sometimes if a melody comes to me while I’m in the shower, I make a short voice memo on my phone. It might get used when we’re all making songs later.

Hearing that reveals all the hard work you’ve put into playing the guitar, singing, choreography and songwriting.

Hayoung: When it comes to something like instruments, your skill for them quickly slips away if I walk away from them for a while, and I want to hold onto those skills. Even if I’m not improving, I think about how I want to keep them up just because I don’t want to lose the progress I’ve made so far.

That reminds me of something you said in the “9 WAY TICKET KEYWORD INTERVIEW”: “We’ll always work hard.”

Hayoung: I think I get nervous when I’m being lazy or not doing anything. I make small plans, like, I’m going to eat this and then go to sleep. I’m going to watch this and then sleep. I’ll write this without fail before sleeping. They’re not big plans, but they’re still my plans, so I make sure to do them all before bed. Even though I don’t have J in my MBTI. (laughs)

Do you get a different result now?

Hayoung: I got P. I don’t trust MBTI completely (laughs) but if it sounds plausible enough, I can believe it. I think in my case the P stands for “planning.” I’m not one of these Ps with no plan. (laughs)

You also mentioned on V LIVE that you’ve been working on your abs since October. What kind of exercise do you usually do?

Hayoung: These days I go to the gym and work on my abs and lower body a lot. On Weverse I always said my abs are “on vacation” (laughs) and I told flover that I’d make them come back home. But there was so much stuff like this (pointing to snacks on table) in the green room today. I ate a ton as soon as I got in (laughs) but I’m still trying to get my abs back before the comeback at least.

Whenever there’s something to do with working out on Channel_9, it’s always you. You’re also known to be the competitive one of the group.

Hayoung: I’m the kind of person who gets motivation from having someone to compete with. Whenever I work out with someone, my thoughts are always, You did how many? Well, I’m gonna do that many, plus one! I saw someone the same age as me do the splits on TV when I was young and I thought if they could do it then I could do it to and gave it a try. And I have to win. (laughs) I think I actually like things that bring out the best in me more than I like to win, even if I lose.

And yet you’re very considerate toward, and respond well to, the other members on Channel_9. You even follow Nagyung’s lead in the episode “ADVERTISEMENT_9.”

Hayoung: I think I follow whoever’s best: Okay, you’re the one who knows this best. All the members are quite good at leading and following according to who’s best in any area. And it feels good when you talk and someone responds to that, doesn’t it? If one of us has a funny story, we share it with the others. And when we do, it’s fun when everyone reacts with a “wow.” I guess I just get a burst of energy every time I’m with the others.

You’re roommates with Jiwon, who’s also got big reactions. What’s it like sharing a room together?

Hayoung: She feels like exactly the kind of younger sister I would have. How can I explain this? You know how you’re with your family every day and sometimes you fight about really pointless things, but how, when something good comes up or you’re eating something good, they’re the first ones you want to share it with? I think that’s how it is with Jiwon and me. It feels like we’re actually sisters.

As vice-captain, you must feel things are different now that Jiheon, the youngest member of the group, is turning 19 this year.

Hayoung: Now that Jiheon’s going to be 19, all of us are adults. Jiheon never has any fun. (laughs) She just studies and doesn’t really do anything that a student shouldn’t. So while we were shooting the concept trailer, I was thinking about how Jiheon’s an adult now and how I want to talk with her more and maybe have a drink together.

You look like you’re full of affection whenever you talk about the other members.

Hayoung: To be honest? It’s like thinking about my parents—whenever I think about the other members, I could almost cry. They’re always doing a good job, trying their best. They always do everything they can for each other—for us. So if someone asks me to give a shoutout to the other members—just like giving one to my parents, it always makes me feel like I’m going to cry. (laughs)

And then there’s flover. You think about them as much as you think about the over members. People call you the Weverse CommunicationsQueen. (laughs)

Hayoung: I think I’ve become closer with flover thanks to using Weverse. I like how, whether it’s super early in the morning or really late at night, when I ask flover what they’re doing, they always respond and tell me what they’re up to. (laughs) And my middle school friends and I always send a message in our group chat at 11:11. Now I can do that with all the flover on Weverse, too. It feels like we’re coming together. It makes me feel like we’re all sharing this time together with one big heart. I want to be a friend to flover—someone they always miss and want to hang out with.

You recently saw flover in person for the first time in a while at 2022 Weverse Con.

Hayoung: I was so happy. I suddenly feel like I’m going to cry. (laughs) I love the rush I got backstage from really being there. When I hear them say, “one minute to showtime,” I can feel all the endorphins. It reminds me why I’m on stage and the applause and response are all so rewarding and make me feel so proud. And it made me think about how I’d like to arrange some special concert of our own.

You must be itching to see flover again soon.

Hayoung: “Feel Good (SECRET CODE)” was actually our first comeback in a long time, and it was an enormously sad thing not being able to see the fans in person. I’m sure flover wants to see us as much as we want to see them, but since we couldn’t, it felt like we were on opposite sides of the world. I don’t like that remote communication is becoming the norm. I think people need to come together to be strong, but it’s hard to be strong right now. I hope this situation goes away as soon as possible.

I’m guessing that feeling will be reflected in a lot in your promotional circuit.

Hayoung: It took a long time before we won first place anywhere, and this is our first comeback since then. To that end, all of us thought we needed to have something to show and perform even better for flover, our families and our label this time. The reason we’re especially fond of our latest single is: it’s a really good song. (laughs) And I hope lots of people can share in that feeling.

What other kind of feeling would you like to share with flover?

Hayoung: The other members and I all talked about this at home before. The lyrics seem to be directed to one person in particular, but also to flover. When I listened to the music while thinking about flover, I started to cry. I wasn’t drinking or anything. (laughs) I hope the fans will hear all the affection—the almost overwhelming emotions—I have for them and can tell how we want to grow closer with them.