Apink Looks Back On Their Debut Days, Reflects On Their 10 Years Together, And More On "Problem Child In House"

Four Apink members recently appeared as guests on KBS’s “Problem Child in House”! Chorong, Jung Eun Ji, Namjoo, and Hayoung were the guests, while Bomi was absent due to health issues and Son Naeun is not promoting due to scheduling conflicts.

Apink recently released the special album “HORN” and title track “Dilemma,” which was in commemoration of the group’s 10th debut anniversary last year. Jung Eun Ji said, “As we got along together, it somehow became 10 years.” The other members picked Jung Eun Ji as the member who had changed the most, with Chorong saying, “She’s been acting cool lately. Her sense of style is better.”

Jung Eun Ji shared that she had gotten into exercising, focusing on building her muscles rather than refining her lines. “My health was really bad for a time,” she said. “I did too much dieting that my body was damaged, my immune system was weak and I had a slipped disc in my lower back. There were times when I had to lie down in the car while moving between work events. It was like a stretcher. I realized that I couldn’t go like this for long, so I started exercising. Now my physique has changed and I’m overflowing with confidence. Kim Jong Kook is my role model.”

When Apink debuted in 2011, they weren’t allowed personal phones for two years and underwent strict management of their diets. Namjoo said, “We ate salad and had to split one can of chicken breast among the six of us. We didn’t even have sauce, just vegetables. When we drank misutgaru [powdered roast grain] we could only have powder and water, no milk. When we had red bean shaved ice, we had to take out the red bean and only have ice and fruit. We couldn’t even have frozen shaved milk ice.” Hayoung said, “When I saw myself on TV, I wanted to lose weight, but when I was forced to not eat, I wanted to eat. We’d secretly order chicken in the storage area behind the practice room and go to the bathroom one by one to eat it.”

Namjoo said that she easily cried these days and got choked up while sharing her affection for Apink. She said, “The affection I feel for the members is different from just friendship. Before our 10th anniversary, I’d forgotten how precious this was. When we passed our 10th anniversary, we were back together all the time promoting, and I felt more love than ever. I was moved every day just by having these people around me for 10 years.”

Jung Eun Ji reminisced about how it felt when she’d come up to Seoul from Busan to become a trainee, revealing that she’d wanted to quit on Apink’s first day together. “I met Chorong unni first when I was a trainee,” she said. “I came up to Seoul without knowing a soul and everything was unfamiliar. I was 19. I came to Seoul and could only think of my mom. I was like, ‘What can I even do here?’ I went to Chorong and said, ‘I want to go home. I’m scared.’ It was only after I joined that the debut lineup was confirmed, and Chorong knew that if I quit, her debut would be pushed back again. She thought for a long time and then said to me, ‘Have you thought hard about it?’ She wasn’t feeling well at the time, so she suggested I talk it out with the agency. I bothered the agency staff like that a lot before my debut. I was really scared.”

Chorong said, “I’d also come up to Seoul from the provinces, so I knew how she felt in such an unfamiliar environment. I understood how she felt, so I couldn’t come out and say, ‘Don’t leave.’ It was her decision, so I couldn’t just tell her what to do.”

Apink shared that because they had such dissimilar tastes, there was never an occasion for them to fight. Sensitive topics like the order that makeup would be done and bed location were decided by using the ladder game (known in English as Ghost Leg).

Jung Eun Ji also talked about her popular drama, “Work Later, Drink Now,” which has been renewed for a second season. Her character is a hard drinker, smoker, and has an infamous cursing scene, to which the singer and actress said, “It’s a scene that was born from much practice.” She also said about her smoking scene, “I told my family from the start that it was a non-tobacco cigarette and that they shouldn’t worry.” However, her parents forgot what they’d told her and were shocked when they saw the scene while watching the drama during dinner. “They didn’t even get mad, they just stared at the TV in shock,” Jung Eun Ji said.

Check out Apink’s new music video for “Dilemma” here!

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