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Shohei, Japanese trainee of SMROOKIES, recently revealed the K-pop idol who inspired him to pursue a career in music: EXO’s Sehun. In the premier episode of Welcome to NCT Universe, hosts Sungchan and Shotaro welcomed the pre-debut team consisting of Shohei, Seunghan, and Eunseok.
The trio opened up about several things, one of which was Shohei talking about his role model. He spoke about the idol who inspired him to pursue the same path in one impactful line. He said:
“After seeing Sehun of EXO, I wanted to become a singer…”
After the hosts asked jokingly if it was only Sehun, since EXO formerly had 11 members and is currently a nine-member group, the SMROOKIES member replied:
“That’s right. Everything I want started because of Sehun (hyung).”
SMROOKIES’ Shohei sends an adorable video message to his role model EXO’s Sehun in Welcome to NCT Universe Ep. 1
Welcome to NCT Universe is the latest variety series that brings together all the NCT members (127, DREAM, and WayV) and SMROOKIES under one roof, with Sungchan and Shotaro as hosts. The show premiered on November 16, 2022 and invited SMROOKIES members Shohei, Seunghan, and Eunseok as guests.
At one point in the show, Sungchan asked Shohei the reason behind him pursuing the career of an idol. The 26-year-old trainee instantly replied with EXO’s Sehun name. He then shared that he met his role model once at a company dinner and found himself lucky enough to have the opportunity to interact with him.
“I was lucky enough to have a company dinner with him once. It felt like a dream.”
The 26-year-old to-be-idol added that he could not talk to him much since he was nervous. The comment gave hosts Sungchan and Shotaro an entertaining idea. They asked the SMROOKIES member to send Sehun a video message. The request threw him off guard, but he still complied with it.
“Hi, it's been a while. It's Shohei. Sehun hyung, I love you so much. I'm always rooting for you. I really hope I'll get a chance to have more company dinners with you. I love you.”
The SMROOKIES’ member’s message had Sungchan, Shotaro, Seunghan, and Eunseok squealing in excitement.
This isn’t the first time Shohei has talked about EXO’s Sehun being his inspiration to join the world of K-pop. In an interview with WWD Korea earlier this year, he said that he fell in love with the EXO singer at the very first glance after watching his performance in the 2014 song Overdose.
The Welcome to NCT Universe episode 2 teaser released on November 17 offered glimpses into an even more exciting get-together of all the NCT men. The new rookies will team up and compete against their seniors.
The second episode promises several heart-fluttering and adorable interactions between the idols and trainees. The new episode of Welcome to NCT Universe will be released on November 23, 2022 on Kocowa TV.
