Because “first encounters are always so hard,” DOHOON is still adjusting to everything new that’s happening around him. But no matter—whenever he performs, he still shouts out, “My name is …!” He’s dreamed of the moment when fans would yell “Dohoon Kim!” in response, and the image where “the fans call out our names and we’re absolutely thrilled” has never stopped looping in his head.

So this is your “first encounter” with Weverse Magazine. (laughs)

DOHOON: My outfit and hair are inspired by 1990s retro today. I was born in 2005, so I haven’t done a lot in this style, but I think everyone in the group, including myself, is pulling it off quite nicely, so I’m into it! (laughs) I tried to capture that old school vibe during the shoot, spreading my arms as wide as possible to make my gestures more exaggerated.

And there’s also a concept photo where you’re at the beach and spreading your arms wide open, too. Did the poses and facial expressions you practiced for that help you out during today’s shoot? The location, mood, and your facial expressions were different between concepts.

DOHOON: Even then I was thinking that I had to convey a clearly different feeling in each photo. That way they’d be fun for people who look at them and they’d get to see different sides of me. When I was supposed to look upbeat, I kept telling myself, “You’re pure and innocent, bright and sunny,” and tried to smile and look as relaxed as possible. In other photos, I tried to come across as more solemn and serious. The range of emotions I can express grew thanks to that opportunity, and even my dance instructor complimented me during lessons, telling me my facial expressions looked more natural! (laughs)

Congratulations. (laughs) In your video for the FIRST TIME series, not only do you show a wider range of facial expressions, but of acting, too. The way you ate cereal, got changed and ready to go to school looked completely natural. It felt like a perfect summary of who you are, seeing as cereal’s your favorite food and you said your personal hashtag is “fashion leader.”

DOHOON: I think that trailer did a great job of capturing who I am. You see me trying on a bunch of different outfits before finally getting into my school uniform. It’s just like how I used to try on so many different outfits before I found one I liked. I’ve been into street fashion and baggy clothes lately, and I have so many clothes in that style now that I can just grab anything and wear it. When I see myself in the mirror during practice these days, I think I look pretty cool, so I’ve been taking a lot of OOTDs. (laughs) Both HANJIN and I love taking pictures, so we take a lot of each other, using our phones and HANJIN’s camera.

Is your real morning routine for going to school similar to the one in the video?

DOHOON: I don’t actually have time for cereal in the mornings, but I eat it before bed a lot. (laughs) I tend to struggle with waking up, so I usually have only 10 minutes to get ready once I’m out of bed. Since I don’t unpack anything when I get home from practicing, I just wake up, grab my bag, throw on clothes, brush my teeth, and go!

It must be even harder to wake up when you have a lot of places to be or a lot to practice. What was it like before you became a trainee?

DOHOON: It was really fun sharing the fried tofu sushi and gimbap my parents packed me with friends every time we had a picnic or other field trip. I was always so excited the night before that I couldn’t sleep, and the day before I would call my friends and choose matching clothes. We had class T-shirts in elementary school, so we always wore matching T-shirts and jeans. There were five classes, named, in order, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue, and I wore orange when I was in third grade.

So I take it you were in Class 2 in third grade? (laughs) I saw you drew a soccer jersey with the number seven when asked your favorite sport for TWS: Think About Us! so I thought maybe that was your class shirt.

DOHOON: I was on the soccer team since elementary school and was number nine, but most players I like, like Son Heung-min, wear number seven, so I drew that. Oh, but I played left wing in elementary school, and you have to be able to run fast and have a lot of energy for that position. And I was pretty good at it. (laughs)

Was it because of the soccer team that you ended up attending a graduation ceremony at your elementary school after you were already a middle school student? That’s when you were scouted, wasn’t it?

DOHOON: Yes. (laughs) I went to my old school over winter break in my first year of middle school to congratulate some younger soccer teammates on their graduation. I couldn’t stay till the end because I didn’t have enough time, and as I was leaving the gym and heading down the stairs, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me, “Are you already with an agency?”

It couldn’t have been easy doing schoolwork and being a trainee at the same time from middle school onward.

DOHOON: It wasn’t too hard at first since, even while practicing, I took private lessons on Sundays and days off to prepare for exams. I was focusing more on my academics then. But later on, as I believed in myself more and I became more determined to be a singer, I dedicated more of myself to practicing, and so I was short on time now and then.

Was there something specific that happened that made you believe in yourself?

DOHOON: It was around when I started performing well on evaluations. I was ranking first at the end of the month. (laughs) It’s not that I was more talented or better than anyone else—I think I got such good marks because I demonstrated growth through correcting myself with the feedback they gave.

If you ranked first, it means you put in the effort to grow and improve each time between monthly evaluations, and that’s no easy feat.

DOHOON: Still, as time went by, the sense of hardship faded and things were looking up, and that way I could just push myself through. I always practiced a lot and tried my best to correct anything they brought up in their feedback. Since the practice studio was close to my home, I lived with my family whenever I was in school. But in my last year of middle school, I wanted to focus more on practicing, so I stayed with the other trainees during school vacation. And I practiced even harder before TWS was officially announced so I could be even better when it was time to go public.

Why? I’d think that coming out on top in the evaluations would give you enough confidence.

DOHOON: When I was a trainee, BUMZU told me I had a charming voice and that people would absolutely adore it. I usually practiced singing more than rapping, so it was difficult showing off my tone and bringing out different nuances when rapping. But I have to do both rap and singing in our group, so I’ve been working hard. And when I found out I was going to be the first one revealed through our individual teasers in the FIRST TIME series, I felt I needed to work even harder to properly represent TWS. That’s why I was so strict with myself. I was careful with my diet and always put a sheet mask on before bed. (laughs)
 

That’s a lot of dedication to leaving a good first impression of TWS. (laughs) I remember you drew a heart on fire when asked to express yourself with an emoji. And indeed, you seem to be passionate about everything you do and take it seriously.

DOHOON: I want to become someone that people would look up to, but it’s a long way to go. For example, the members of SEVENTEEN have been working diligently since their debut and always show love for their fans.They take care of younger artists too, which is why so many people look up to them. I hope I can be like SEVENTEEN too.

SEVENTEEN were also there for TWS’s final evaluation pre-debut.

DOHOON: It was probably the most nervous we’d ever been for an evaluation. But all of us decided that we might as well enjoy it, and that way we would probably do even better. SEVENTEEN would check in on us regularly during our practices, telling us, “The ones who work hard and pull through during their trainee days are the ones who make it out on top.” And once we were selected to debut, they told us to listen carefully to the label (laughs) and talk a lot amongst ourselves.

And have you been following that advice?

DOHOON: I think it’s crucial to keep talking a lot since we’re still getting to know each other, just like SEVENTEEN said. That’s why we have a rule among ourselves not to bottle things up and to get together and talk things out anytime we’re upset, mad, or want to say thanks. The meat of our discussion changes depending on who takes the lead. Everyone can feel differently even when confronted with the same exact situation, so sometimes we talk about what we’re thankful for or upset about, and other times we contemplate our future together.

MBTI has its limitations, but you’re the sole T [thinking type] in the group. Have you found you express yourself differently from the other members?

DOHOON: Another rule we have is to be honest about our feelings as they come up. Everyone is so nice and considerate that they tend to mince words, which not only made conversations longer but also made it tough figuring out how to word things. My MBTI type actually changes every year. Up until last year I was an INFP, but halfway through 2023, I became an ISTP. (laughs) I used to think a lot before I speak and be a little shy about it, too, but once we started speaking openly with each other, I started to say exactly what’s on my mind as soon as it came to me, which might explain why my MBTI type changed.

Sharing your feelings and feedback like that must’ve helped you understand one another better.

DOHOON: And that’s why the other members are the root of my self-confidence. I’m the kind of person who’s shy about dancing alone, but I feel so much confident when I dance with the group. Having them by my side really boosts my confidence and self-esteem.

That teamwork is on full display in “Oh Mymy : 7s.” Right at the start, you lie down between YOUNGJAE and JIHOON, who then help you up—choreography that requires not just precision but trust.

DOHOON: When I first learned that move, I couldn’t be lifted up at all. I wasn’t even sure it was possible. It starts with me falling down like I’m surprised, and even that was a struggle. (laughs) We figured out that their feet have to be perfectly lined up with my waist, and if either side is off, it won’t really work. I have to have good momentum for me to get up in one go. We put a lot of practice into it and improved our teamwork, and now we can do it flawlessly.

It must have taken a lot of practice to line it up perfectly like that. What pushed you to make it through all that practicing?

DOHOON: As demanding as the choreography is, what enabled us to perfect it was that we started working out twice a day last year after we were confirmed to be debuting. In the morning, we did exercises like burpees, pushups, ab exercises, high jumps, squats—exercises that really make you feel you’re building stamina. Then we’d have dance lessons, everyone would go to their own vocal or language lessons, meet for lunch, and later in the day, do strength training with a fitness trainer before more dance lessons in the evening. Working out all day like that made me super sleepy at first and my muscles sore, which made all the dance moves harder when doing choreo lessons, but as time went on, my body adjusted and things got better. It was tough, but we were doing it all for ourselves, so it wasn’t just about building physical strength—it helped us work on our mindset for the future. It made us think, “Nothing can stop us now! We can do anything!” (laughs)

That must be why you never stop smiling, even during those high-energy dances. (laughs)

DOHOON: We even set time aside specifically to work on our facial expressions. We would look at each other and practice putting on big smiles. It’d paint a weird picture if somebody looked sulky while somebody else was smiling gleefully, so we made sure to match the tone of our facial expressions. In the beginning, we were too busy cracking up and it is still funny to try and match facial expressions even now. But it’s still a serious part of our training, so the six of us circle up and look at each other, practicing the expressions for one song at a time. Then we give each other feedback like, “His facial expression was pretty good there,” or, “His expression wasn’t quite there yet.” I’ve gotten a lot of feedback about always having my mouth open when it’s not my part, so I’ve been working on that.

So, have you developed any unique facial expressions for yourself?

DOHOON: There are parts in the intro and outro of “plot twist” where a smile slowly spreads across my lips and I look right into the camera. We all talked about it, and we thought a slow, soft smile would make people’s hearts flutter, as opposed to me just breaking out into a big smile, so I worked on that a lot. And for the line, “My name is,” I wanted it to be burned into fans’ minds so they would shout, “Dohoon Kim!” But I feel embarrassed and shy about doing it alone, so I’m working with the performance directors on my facial expressions and how to set the tone. As for now, I’m working on what facial expressions I should be making when I look into the camera to make it as memorable as possible. (laughs)

A soft smile and a facial expression to excite fans into shouting out, “Dohoon Kim”? I can’t wait to see how fans react. (laughs)

DOHOON: While I do like cute things, I want fans to see me as this cool person—someone who draws comparisons to a fox, a wolf, or a cat. (laughs)

Soon you’ll be able to hear fans shout “Dohoon Kim” for real. (laughs) The [Korean] title of “plot twist” means “first encounters don’t go to plan.” Do you think your first encounter with your fans will go according to plan?

DOHOON: I have less of a plan and more an image in my mind where the fans call out our names and we’re absolutely thrilled. I’m pretty shy and don’t always know what to say when meeting someone for the first time. I’m not the type to lead a conversation. So I might come across as out of place and awkward, but honestly, I know I’m going to feel amazing. I mean, it’s the first time in my life to be adored by so many people. (laughs)