01 December 2014

Pledis Studio, Seoul

One of our managers said the CEO wanted to speak with me so here I was, in the reception area of the building. I was told to go to the executive boardroom at the end of the passage.

"Take a seat," I did as I was instructed.

"As you know, we haven't had SeventeenTV air in a while," he took my nod as one of understanding and continued, "so as part of our publicity campaign, you'll appear on Hello! Stranger, starting next week, the episode airing on the eleventh."

"Okay," I was about to be scrutinised by men of various races and ethnicities living in South Korea.

"I'm not sure if you should prepare anything but going by their usual routine, how about performing something from the 'Just for Fun' mixtape?"

"Yes sir," I stood up and bowed, taking the instruction leaflet before me.

I walked into the waiting room of the airport, feeling conspicuous in my red parka with the US flag on it, welcomed by Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. The presenters were surprised when I greeted them and one of the first questions was, "Are you a 95 or a 96?" All of them laughed when I said I was a 98 and Kangnam from MIB just glared at me. This was to be expected as he was a rival musician.

"Perform something for us," the challenge was issued and I brushed my hand through my hair nervously.

"Okay party people in the house, I'm Hansol Chwe AKA VC from now."

I briefly mentioned being homeschooled after leaving Changcheon and all in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected. Hopefully, the other episodes would be just as chilled.

It was not only the presenters who were impressed by my freestyle but also fans. Some of them commented that my braces made me seem like I'd be a sexy vampire. Instead of being self-conscious about my braces when we started promotions next year, I decided to own it. What I didn't like was people saying I looked like Leo di Caprio, even though he was one of my favourite actors. This was like saying a random Seventeen member looked like Jackie Chan. Hopefully, no one would call me 'baby di Caprio' once we debuted.