[INTERVIEW] 2PM

Wild, animal, bizarre, comedic. It does not matter what you call them. Their identity is composed of charm which has no boundaries nor rules. They are no longer promoting their second single album, but continue to remain at the center of attention, receiving endless calls to appear on TV shows. What are they up to and what are they thinking? 10Asia reveals its personal date with 2PM on the first anniversary of their debut.

10Asia: Do you feel your popularity increasing exponentially these days? A lot of female celebrities mention you as their ideal guy.
Jae-beom: What, you’re just saying that for fun.
Jun-ho: No. The name of one or two members in particular come up often.
Woo-young: Yeah. Just one or two!
Jun-su: We're not even mentioned.

10: The older female singers especially adore Jae-beom.
Jun-ho: Man, I’m over this now.
Woo-young: It’s not like we can change their minds by us thinking certain thoughts.
Jun-su: Woo-young, you always say, "Don't expect anything" It's a terrific phrase.
Jun-ho: I actually don’t want hear things like that. But Jae-beom always comes up to me and says, “So-and-so talked about me.” Ahhhh!
Jae-beom: It's just so interesting, that’s why.

10: You appeared on MBC’s TV show “Infinite Challenge”. How was it?
Jun-ho: Honestly, tiring. We shot all night and had to sleep in the car because we had to get going early in the morning.
Woo-young: Come on, we’re young. We’re young.
Jae-beom: There’s a segment which hasn't aired yet where we plant rice seeds. I was really surprised when we shot that because we had to finish our work even when we weren’t in shooting.
Jun-su: The director was unbelievable. He made us finish everything to the very end. No joke, to the end!
Chan-sung: It’s a TV show, so I didn’t think they’d make us work like that. But wow.
Jae-beom: He made us work until the end even after the camera was off.
Jun-su: I even did that spraying thing at the end.
Jae-beom: Like at the snails!
Jun-ho: The insect killer. Pond snails!
Taec-yeon: What an ending.

10: If you were a woman, who would you want to go on a date with amongst your group members.
Jae-beom: Aw. That's an embarrassing question. If I were a woman, who would I like.. I don’t like that.

10: I saw on Mnet's "Wide Entertainment News" that you were disappointed to find out you were not on the "Bride of May" list. I thought you enjoyed jokes like that. (laugh)
Jae-beom: Oh, I was just kidding then. I feel weird when I get questions like that. I am not a woman. I don't imagine of things like that. I'm feeling weird. (laughs)
Jun-su: Questions like, pick who your ideal woman is amongst the female Korean celebrities is also really difficult to answer too.
Jun-ho: That’s like a question on a college entrance exam. An exam.

10: In a similar context, for the question, “If you had a sister, who would you introduce her to?” you answered that you wouldn’t want to introduce anybody.
Woo-young: We're honest.
Jae-beom: I think I was the one who wrote that.
Woo-young: I wrote that.
Jun-su: I did too. Almost everybody wrote that.
Jun-ho: No, Khun and Jae-beom were in the responses.

10: The number of Woo-young’s male fans are on the rise. Are you aware of this?
Jae-beom: Woo-young really has a lot of guy fans.
Jun-su: He kinda does.
Woo-young: Yeah, yeah, yeah.. OK.

10: Taec-yeon is called a fashion terrorist. Tell me, is that for real or for show?
Taec-yeon: I really do like primary colors. I have a lot of stuff like orange pants and yellow shirts. My parents dressed me in those colors when I was a kid. I think I got the nickname “fashion terrorist” because I always wear those colors although they don't go with my look. But I think I've become brainwashed that it's actually true after hearing so many fans telling me that. So now when I get to show my personal clothes on TV, I want to dress even worse and wear more splashy colors.

10: Is that why you came out wearing glasses on that one episode on Mnet’s “Wild Bunny”?
Taec-yeon: I actually do wear glasses in real life. But I couldn’t wear my contacts that day because my eyes hurt. My vocal cords were in strain too, so I was in my worst condition that day.
Jae-beom: Taec-yeon likes it when people say ‘Aw, come on’. He wants to get attention!
Chan-sung: He really likes it.

10: If you had a day with no work schedule and could get out of the apartment for one day, what do you do?
Jae-beom: We had a short break a while ago but there was nothing special. I had piano lessons, ate, I worked out.
Chan-sung: I want to see a movie.
Jun-su: A midnight movie! Midnight movie!
Jae-beom: Ah, I like movies like “Transformers”. And I want to go the U.S. too.
Jun-ho: See a friend, maybe? What else is there to do.
Jae-beom: Mmm. This is depressing.
Jun-su: All my friends have gone to the army. There was one, but even he went off a while ago.
Chan-sun: And.. we have no money.

2PM: What does mango mean for your group? Were you, by any chance, shocked by the fact that it was being sold at supermarkets when for you guys, it is a tool for maintaining power?
Taec-yeon: Oh! No, but we were really surprised that they sell the same brand of mango in Korea.

10: I guess you don’t usually go to supermarkets.
Taec-yeon: Rarely. We have no reason to. Very rarely, Chan-sung and I used to do some cooking but that’s only when we were doing out first album. With this album, we're so busy that the apartment was just a place to sleep. We mostly eat out.

10: You are often compared to Shinee, who debuted at a similar time to you guys. Have you ever thought of actually trying Shinee’s concept?
Jae-beom: Shinee is great. They are young but talented and have their own bright and vivid style so they are attractive in their own way.
Jun-ho: Oh no. We wouldn’t go with the Shinee style.
Jae-beom: Khun is the only one who’s all pretty so I don’t think we could do it.
Jun-su: Khun would be great at it.
Chan-sung: I think the music would probably become animalistic. Juliette! Huh!

10: Which member is most different in real life than on-screen?
Jae-beom: Taec-young is like an animal sometimes but he is also active and feminine too sometimes.
Chan-sung: No, he’s not feminine... he’s very cutesy.
Jae-beom: It’s not cuteness, just something very bright... there’s something weird about him.
Jun-ho: In other words, he lives in own world.
Jun-su: On the other hand though, when Taec-yeon isn’t around, the atmosphere becomes somber. He has that energy that always brightens the atmosphere.
Taec-yeon: I’m a big, tall guy, so my rough and wild side is accentuated on stage. But I do like to act cute sometimes because I received a lot of love from my parents growing up. But I don’t show that side to people I just met. (laughs)

10: Even so, you guys are still called the “Animal Idols”. How do you feel about the adjective “animal”?
Jae-beom: Personally, I like it. I think it fits us well. Sounds like we are that dynamic, honest and free-spirited.

Senior Reporter : Kang Myoung-Seok
Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun, Yoon Hee-Seong
Photographer : Chae ki-won
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-jin