NMIXX‘s Haewon became the second member to appear on Leemujin’s Service alone after Lily. In between soulful ballads, the host asked her about her career and past as a trainee.
One topic was about her status as one of the most legendary trainees in JYP Entertainment: “I’ve heard that you and Lily were top were the top trainees who got evaluated as the top and second to the top.”
Haewon confirmed that she was, indeed, a top trainee. She was particularly good at vocal techniques as agreed upon by the company teachers. She was also praised for her polite personality.
That’s true. That’s correct. I ranked first. It was about technique evaluation together with the evaluation of all the trainers from each end-of-the-month test. [I also ranked high in the] attitude score.
— Haewon
Another big reason why Haewon is considered a trainee that will go down in history is because of something other than her talent.
I heard that apart from your skills, another reason you were called a legendary trainee was because of your commuting time? Is that because your commuting time was long or was it short?
— Lee Mu Jin
Unlike most trainees who lived in Seoul while practicing, Haewon chose to take public transportation over staying in a dorm. The travel time from her house in Incheon to Cheongdam, Gangnam, where the old JYP Entertainment building was located was over one and a half hours per way. Thus, in total, she would be on the road for three to four hours each day.
It was [a] long [commute]. At the time the company was at Cheongdam so my commuting time was around three to four hours.
— Haewon
When asked what she did to preoccupy herself during the difficult commute, Haewon replied that she listened to music such as Stray Kids’ “MIROH.”
In the red bus which takes more than an hour, I slept. I was drooling all over when I slept. And then, once I got to the subway, I listened to songs. When I was transferring, I had to stay focused so I listened to the hardcore songs…do you know Stray Kids’ ‘MIROH’?
— Haewon
Watch the full interview below to learn more about Haewon!
This content was originally published here.
