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Eunseok, Seunghan and Shohei, the newest SM Rookies of SM Entertainment, made their first variety show appearance on The NCT Show. It was also the first time the public saw the trio interact with the UNIVERSE K-pop group, who many believe will be the group the rookies will debut in.
In the latest episode of The NCT Show, the SM Rookies shared stories from the first time they joined the agency with the hosts, Doyoung and Jungwoo.
From being confused and not knowing where to go to getting awestruck by a fellow trainee, the trio gave viewers an insight into their pre-debut stories.
Out of the three, Eunseok joined SM Entertainment first. He got into the agency in 2017. Shohei arrived a year later in 2018, and Seunghan in 2020. The trio have worked extremely hard to realise their dream of making their debut, and are exceptionally close to it now.
SM Rookies Eunseok, Seunghan and Shohei share first time stories, ask questions to NCT, and more
In the latest episode of The NCT Show released on July 23, SM Rookies Eunseok, Seunghan, and Shohei made an appearance, finally giving viewers new content. The trio were announced on July 1 in a fancy photoshoot with WWD. The pictorials created quite the buzz in the industry, albeit a bit negative too.
With hosts Doyoung and Jungwoo, the trio took a trip down memory lane. Speaking about the time they joined the agency, Eunseok shared that he was one of the people who trained with the now-NCT member Jungwoo.
Calling Jungwoo a leader and complimenting him, Eunseok shared a story that he had never told anyone else before. He said,
“Jungwoo and I trained together for a bit. He was like a leader… I came in early 2017. It’s been a while. The first person I saw was Jungwoo. When I first saw him, I thought, ‘I saw a celebrity.’ I’ve never said it before but that’s what I thought.”
Meanwhile, Seunghan shared the inspiration behind him wanting to become an idol and joining SM Entertainment.
“SM was very famous since I was a child, and I was very familiar with it. But knowing that I’ll start practicing here made me feel nervous and excited.”
He even mentioned that he met Shohei on the first day of his arrival. Since he was lost in the agency building, Shohei came to his rescue and helped him with directions.
Being a trainee is one of the hardest parts of being a K-pop idol. Jungwoo joined the agency in 2014, was introduced as an SM Rookies member in 2017 and debuted with NCT in 2018. As a senior trainee to Seunghan and other idols-in-training, he shared that he wanted them to “feel comfortable” around him.
“Seunghan and others were there but I tried to take good care (of everyone). I like everyone being very close. I wanted to be approachable to them. I wanted to make them feel comfortable around me. I thought hard about ways to do that.”
During the segment, there were also moments when Doyoung continuously comforted Seunghan not to be nervous. The SM Rookies trio shared fun moments with the NCT members as well.
After the first official and public interaction with NCT, fans now await more content from SM Rookies.
