150522 TENASIA 10+ STAR JUNE 2015

Q. How did it feel to be taking photos just by the two of you?

Gongchan: It was fun! (in a playful tone while looking at Sandeul) I'm meeting this person for the first time today, and I hope to be able to do this with him more often in future. I had a very good first impression.

Sandeul: (tongue-in-cheek) But you griped earlier that I was a little heavy, isn't that a discourtesy on our first meeting?

Gongchan: It was a discourtesy on our first meeting... But what am I supposed to do if you're heavy? Hahaha (everyone breaks out in laughter)

Q. Haha. Both of you have worked together before through the song 'Overwhelmed'. It's a combination that is suitable for unit promotions.

Sandeul: Thank you. See, there are many people who support us~ Anyway we did think when should the both of us sing another song together. Should I push for this project unit?

Gongchan: Even if it's not this year, I want to do unit promotions and do performances!

Sandeul: After going to all 8 provinces, then to Japan and finally China. Haha. The chemistry between Chan and I was rea~lly good when we did 'Overwhelmed'.

Q. What was the best thing about it?

Sandeul: When I was young, I was so envious of the Vienna Boys' Choir. They were only boys but they sang with super beautiful voices. Channie has that kind of voice so it was really nice when it combined with my voice. Honestly I want a voice like Channie's but I just can't. When we said we were doing 'Overwhelmed', I'm sure there were people who thought that Channie's voice would probably be buried under mine as I was the main vocalist of the group. But actually I was more pressured. We had to differentiate ourselves. I remember I really thought a lot about it back then, and I think it was nice to have been able to think so much. In that train of thought, we were able to become each other's 'pluses' and express ourselves better.

Q. Gongchan, what do you think of your hyung saying all these?

Gongchan: Sandeul-ssi, thank you for praising me. (in a cute voice) Thank you! Honestly I was not very familiar with my own voice. But when we recorded, Sandeul hyung told me that my clear voice was really nice, and helped me practice and think a lot about how to match my voice better to the song. Whenever he does that, it helps me understand my own voice better and I'm working hard.

Sandeul: Channie works really hard. He tries to listen to a wide variety of music. Not just Korean pop, but he knows really well the trends of foreign music. It's really important to listen to many songs, but I'm the kind who listens to the same song repeatedly when I find one I like. I'm trying to learn from Channie. That's why whatever Channie says to me, I acknowledge it. When he says that I should do it this other way, I think "oh really? No wonder I felt it was weird too". I get a lot of help from Channie when I'm stuck without an answer.

Channie: Ey~ That's not it. I stil have a long way to do. 

Q. What have you been listening to recently?

Channie: Ed Sheeran. He plays the guitar alone while singing, but in a single album he covers various genres so I'm listening to it frequently. (looking at Sandeul) Ed Sheeran's good. (Sandeul: This is how I learn from him - I haven't listened to Ed Sheeran before.) The OST of 'The Fault in Our Stars' is also good.

Sandeul: It's important to watch and listen to many things bu it's really not working out for me. For me, music is a way to both relieve my stress and express my emotions. I tend to concentrate hard and listen to find out which songs can I express myself best with. And because of that I cannot help but to be choosy about what I listen to it.

Q. Do you listen more to the music expresses your emotions better?

Sandeul: That's right. That's why I start to like more classic music. And it is because I felt that that shouldn't be happening so I'm trying to learn from Channie. Whenever I listen to music with Channie, it's like a time of healing for me. When I listen to one song, I have to look for and listen to the whole album. That's probably also why it's so tough to hastily try other music genres.

Channie: The reason why I listen to (different genres of music) is because I'm still not well-versed about music. There's always something difficult about music no matter how much you learn about it. So for reasons that that are part healing and part studying, I try to listen to a song of a particular genre today and a different song from a different genre tomorrow.

Q. What is something that both of you like in common? Be it music or your daily lives.

Channie: Cycling!

Sandeul: All of us bought bicycles but only the two of us cycle. We had a team name called 'Bang-ji-teok'. We need to change the name now that we've moved to Mapo district... (Gongchan: It hasn't been decided yet.) 'Bang-ji-teok' means 'people from the countryside(지ji) living in Bangbae(방bang)-dong riding without limits(턱teok)'. Jinyoung hyung used to cycle along Han River after attaching a speaker to his bicycle. After we moved to Mapo district and the weather got colder, he stopped cycling. And recently Channie and I have started going cycling. Our initial plans were to go on a food trip by cycling. Since we are all from the countryside, we are not familiar with Seoul. We wanted to go around Seoul's famous restaurants, take photos and post it up like a blog. We thought it would be nice to share it with our fans as well. We agreed to go once a week but because of schedule conflicts we haven't been able to go yet.

Channie: Ah! I thought of a good team name for our cycling team! Since it's just the two of us, how about 'ma-ja-yo'! (pointing about himself then Sandeul) 'these(요yo ) two riding the bicycles(자ja) of Mapo(마 ma) district'. Haha. Even though there are only two of us now, there will be no problems with changing it to 'these three', 'these four' or 'these four'. 

Sandeul: In that case it's possible to include other people outside of B1A4? But you have to live in Mapo district. When we were 'bang-ji-teok' you had to come from the countryside and live in Bangdae-dong. At least it's been expanded to include the entire Mapo district now! Ehehe.

Sandeul: We decided to go to Songdo for our next trip, and eat sashimi at a famous restaurant. But the ride on the way back is going to be so tough.

Gongchan: We can rest for 2 to 3 hours, and come back while looking at the sunset!

Sandeul: Ah you know how we cycle at night? There are not many people then, and it's actually scary so I tend to ride faster. On my way back from Paldang Dam this time round the sun actually set. I live apart from the dance teachers that I went with, so I went home alone and it was so scary. It was rea~lly so scary (going through the motions of pedaling) I pedalled like crazy. I rode without stopping for a few kilometres.

Q. So Sandeul has been to the Paldang Dam. The weather's good, have you been anywhere, Gongchan?

Gongchan: I went to Seoul Forest. I was so jealous looking at the couples, friends and families setting up their tents and playing around. I played a lot that way when I was young too... Now everyone is busy and lives far away so it's a pity we couldn't do that together. But if the opportunity arises I want to do that at least once. Oh yes it'll be nice to play foot volleyball there too. And, (looking at Sandeul) bring Mango along!

Sandeul: My Mango! Mango is the puppy that I'm raising at my Busan home.

Q. Are both your parents living in Busan and Suncheon? Do you call home frequently?

Sandeul: My mother always monitors me. It's fine if she just tells me she saw me on television, but she also tells me the reactions of other people who saw it too. When someone told her that they did not know it was me when I took off my mask on MBC 'Masked Singer', she took a screenshot of that and sent it to me too. And said that I looked ugly! (Gongchan: You were not ugly!) I think she hopes that I will develop myself.

Gongchan: But she talks about your face, how are you supposed to develop that?

Sandeul: Plastic surgery... Hahaha.

Gongchan: No! Don't touch~ It was probably the first time that hyung pushed your fringe up. People were just wondering who is that handsome guy with such thick eyebrows. It's not what you think it is!

Sandeul: But I have no intentions to do plastic surgery. Haha.

Q. You definitely shouldn't do it. It looks good on camera. Exactly like a celebrity.

Sandeul: Everyone is a celebrity so long you look good on camera. Of course there are also (looking at Gongchan) those celebrities that also look good in real life, haha. I did ever hope to live just once like Channie. When we just newly debuted, I think I always answered Channie whenever we received the question of "if there was someone amongst the members that you could live as for a day, who would it be?" He is rea~lly good looking. Even though he has a cute image to others, he is really the smart child amongst us. He's a fine man. That's why I'm really curious as to what thoughts do Channie have as he lives, and how people would react whenever he walks past. (looking at Gongchan as he raises an eyebrow out of embarrassment) I want to make these faces too!

Q: Gongchan, do you know that you are good looking?

Gongchan: No... I'm gradually learning about it. Haha...

Sandeul: (in a cute voice) Ah, I'm so angry!

Gongchan: I've only become good-looking with makeup on.

Sandeul: For him, putting on makeup doesn't even take long. It takes forever for mine to be done~

Gongchan: Recently it's taking longer. I got a little tan while cycling.

Sandeul: You can simply cover it up with a lighter foundation~

Q: Gongchan is indeed a little more bronzed than I expected.

Gongchan: I've always had darker skin.

Sandeul: But if you take it off.. Heuheu.

Gongchan: I'm tanned even with my clothes off.

Sandeul: If you take them off, you just look healthy. If I take mine off... (Gongchan: He's super fair!) Too fair...

Gongchan: (singing a line of Big Bang's Bae Bae) "Rice cakes~♬" That song is really a song for Sandeul hyung!

Sandeul: I've always been 'rice cake' - people say that I only look firm and bouncy~

Gongchan: If Sandeul is white rice cake, then I'm that... the rice cake biscuit covered in chocolate.

Sandeul:  찰떡파이 rice cake pie!

Gongchan: Yes yes, that sort of feel.

Sandeul: Ah... I feel like crap that I'm even guessing this correctly.

Gongchan: As expected of hyung. It's hyung!

Sandeul: It doesn't feel very good to be guessing food correctly, but what am I supposed to do if I know the answer!

Q: Hahaha. It's been 4 years since your debut. Are there any charms of yours that you didn't know about back then but you do now? If this much time has passed, everyone becomes aware of which side of you people like the most.

Sandeul: For me... I didn't know I was such a talkative person. If I talk a lot to my friends in Busan, they get annoyed at me. So I didn't really chitchat in the past, but after coming to Seoul I realized there were no restrictions so I started 'flying'. If my mouth was stuffed with a sandbag back when I was in Busan, that has now been removed. There are many people who find my chattiness interesting. But there are times that they don't, so I'm holding myself back a little on broadcasts.

Q: Do you like talking usually?

Sandeul: I keep on talking. Haha. Of course I do reduce my words when I'm around other men. It's always the same things when we hang out so there isn't really much to say and I get less chatty. But when I meet someone new I get chatty again.

Q: How about Gongchan?

Gongchan: For me it's a reversal? (Sandeul: Obviously!!) My image is quite delicate, quiet and a 'cold city man'. (surprised at himself saying all that) Ah it's been a while since I heard that phrase. Hehe. (Sandeul: We're a little old) We're left behind... Anyway in front of the camera or on stage I have that kind of image but I'm the complete opposite off stage. When the fans see that side to me, they think "ah he has that side to him too, that's cute".

Q: You just said you were cute with your own mouth.

Gongchan: I was just mimicking what the fans said. Ahaha.

Q: Have you always been cute?

Sandeul: That's Gongchan. Talkative and has lots of aegyo. Otherwise there's no way all that can come out.

Gongchan: In my hometown my nickname was 'flibbertigibbet'. But when I came up to Seoul, that wasn't it either.

Sandeul: Back then we were unfamiliar that's why. It's like the seal was broken as we started living together. Ah seriously, I keep saying such things that I seem like his fan, but he's really quite a decent person. You can't hate him even when he jokes around. He's too cute.

Gongchan: Right? Ah thank goodness. I was sorry after joking around.

Sandeul: Even though we ask for him to stop, or ask him what does he think he's doing whenever he fools around, actually we like it. He's cute so we 'woo-jju-jju' him. This was also how the talk of us going cycling came up. And he pushes food to me too. Haha. The hyungs try to sound (Channie) out. When Jinyoung calls me 'bbang-bbang', it's basically going in a circle to say that I need to lose some weight. But Channie is like "Ah hyung~ It's okay, eat," so unknowingly I'm agreeing with him. (Gongchan: When you have to eat you eat!) It'll be nice to go on food trips with everyone... But I can't bring the topic rashly. That's why I got Channie to go with me. Heuheu.

Q: Do the members talk a lot about how you want each other to do things?

Sandeul: We talk about everything amongst ourselves. And we try to change too. It's just that it's a little tougher when it comes to food. That's something I can't help. Haha. 

Sandeul: Sandeul hyung is fine just the way he is. But hyung has been exercising really hard recently. He cycles, and if he has time he also does kickboxing. He comes back all sweaty.

Sandeul: For kickboxing... I don't know how long I'll do it so I don't really talk about it. Haha.

Q: Sandeul, you must like learning about something. There was once that you also enrolled in a guitar school under your real name in the past.

Sandeul: I like learning. I'm 24 years old, and it's the time that I should be learning. Even though I'll continue singing, I also need to look into the future. It's a time that I think about what should I be doing, and if there are lessons that I can receive I will try to attend them all. It's definitely good to tell people when you want to do something. After you tell people that "oh, I'm doing this," means you can't stop doing it, can't not want to do it. Recently I've been using Weibo as I learn Mandarin, and they also say there's a teacher who can teach me the guitar 1:1 so I'm intending to start lessons to.

Gongchan: I'm quite the opposite from hyung. Unlike hyung who packs his schedule to the brim, I do it more leisurely. Doing only one thing everyday, resting the other day or going cycling. But I am constantly looking or listening to things.

Sandeul: It's hard for me to do that because of my personality. I'm impatient so it's hard for me stay in one place for long. Channie doesn't like to be tied up so it's more efficient for him to do it lesiurely, whereas I just fill my time up like crazy. Haha.

Gongchan: If Sandeul hyung was a salaried worker, I would be a freelancer!

Sandeul: Channie calls me a 'planned man'. I had never thought about myself that way so I was surprised when he said that. I always thought of myself as loose. So when he said I was a planned man, I felt it was a compliment and I was really thankful though I didn't express it. I'm not good with saying stuff like thank you, sorry, I like you...

Q: Are you not good at expressing yourselves to each other?

Sandeul: I'm the one who's bad at it. Channie is good at it.

Q: I guessed as much, Gongchan continuously touches you affectionately as he talks but you are avoiding it a little. (laugh)

Sandeul: Hahaha. I have always been (does the motion of moving away stealthily) like this, and Channie has always been like thtat.

Q: Gongchan really looks like he receives nothing else but love from the hyungs.

Sandeul: He treats us really well. No matter where he goes, he does well. Recently our company just debuted Oh My Girl. He tells them to be like us (B1A4), but never once does he say to be like himself. So on his behalf, we ask them if they know how Gongchan acts, and I would say that they should act the way he does. (Gongchan: When did you say that?) I want to be a hyung that could show you off so I said that when you weren't around, you brat. (Channie: Ah, that's embarrassing...) I tell Arin and Binnie that if you were in our team, you would be in the same shoes as Channie. I didn't say that they should act like Gongchan, but I told her that when the eldest unnis or the unnis in the centre are tired, they should care for them too. Channie shows concern for the hyungs when we are facing some difficulties, and despite him being younger, he is a friend that we can rely on. I told them that if they did that, it would be a great source of strength for the unnis too. They say that they wanted to do so too.

Q: When Jinyoung did his interview, he refered to Gongchan as "a shoulder he could lean on despite him being the youngest".

Sandeul: I believe that even if you asked the other members, they would say the same thing.

Gongchan: Well, I'm leaning on all 4 of you! Haha. (while looking at Sandeul) A few days back, I said this to hyung, didn't I? That I always ask hyung for your opinion, and from there I always gain a set of advice.

Sandeul: Channie is the youngest amongst us so he's cute, does aegyo, joke around with the hyungs and stir up vigor. But at home, he's the eldest son so he has the habit of looking after a younger sibling. Maybe he's so used to that that despite him being the youngest he looks after the hyungs well.

Gongchan: I did face some difficulties thinking about how I should act as the youngest in the beginning. I thought a lot about the roles that the youngest in the group has to play. The conclusion is, to just be me. Haha.

Q: You did a live broadcast for your 4th anniversary, and revealed a video reenacting 'O.K' just like during their debut days. What has changed the most?

Sandeul: For me, it's 'all'. Haha. It was nice to recall our debut days. After our 4th year anniversary, I've been overworking my body at schedules. It feels like I'm back to my 20 year old self. Back then, I was confident about my energy levels. Even though that energy hasn't died now, but I get all fired up thinking about then.

Q: What period is it for you guys at 23 and 24 years old? Do you think that you need to achieve something?

Gongchan: Generally speaking, we are young. But amongst idols, we are not young anymore. We're like middle-aged. When I look at the kids (Oh My Girl)... I'm in shock.

Sandeul: Their youngest Arin is 7 years apart from me. 8 years apart from CNU hyung and Jinyoung hyung. Wah, it's like a mental breakdown. Haha. Talking about age, there's a song that has become my standard - 'Around 30' [T/N: By Kim Kwangseok.] When I'm around 30 and singing, I want to sing a song that is made up of everything my life had been up until then. For that to happen, I need to keep filling myself up now. I want to be singing when I'm around 30 years old. Since I have that goal, this song feels so huge and I can't sing it thoughtlessly. I'm still young, I know nothing and I'm lacking. One may think that 24 years old is old, but I feel that it's an age that you can still develop at, and fill up.

Gongchan: I'm still young but occasionally I think of my family in the future. I want to be a person that my children, my son and daughter, can go around telling people everything that my father is such a person. That is why I'm working hard now.

Q: Both of you are forward-looking. How do you think you will be like in 10 years' time?

Sandeul: Isn't everyone like that? Thinking about the future you helps the current you think about the things you have to do. (Gongchan: And you gain strength too!) I want to be B1A4 10 years down the road. (Gongchan: We will be around!) We have always talked about this matter amongst ourselves, that our individual colors will become stronger while being a part of B1A4, 10 or 20 years down the road. I'm not sure what I will be doing when I'm 34 years old, but I will fill myself up full in that time.

Q: Is there a moment or thing that you feel that you should never forget while living?

Gongchan: There are too many... Not just my parents but my grandparents watch music broadcasts and variety shows because of me. They've always only watched the epic dramas or the news. Occasionally when I call them, they tell me that they're watching me well on TV. My grandparents tell me that their friends are all very jealous of them, and that they are very proud of me. I always get a little teary when they tell me not to hurt, and that they are watching me so I should work hard... Kyaa.

Sandeul: Instead of a moment, there was a period of time. From the later part of my first year in high school till I entered my third year, I learnt how to sing. The songs that the teacher taught me then are still my standards now. I try not to forget them. That teacher made me what I am today. While singing, it's hard to feel the sense of achievement that you get from solving math problems. But ever since I met that teacher, my refusal to give up and desire to win got so strong. I mentioned that I went to many singing competitions all around the country, but I actually got eliminated at the preliminary rounds in my first and second year of high school. But one year ahead, I won awards at the same competitions. I gained many things while being with that teacher. Even as a person. You know how they say in the dramas and movies that before you sing, you need to become a person. That teacher taught me that. The days that I spent with that teacher have been my foundation that I cannot forget for life. That's why when we went to Busan, I introduced that teacher to Channie and the other members.

Q: It's Teachers' Day in a few days (this interview was carried out on 7 May), would that teacher be the person you call your life's teacher?

Sandeul: That teacher too... But I like learning so I have many teachers. Haha.

Gongchan: To me, the hyungs are my life's teachers. (Sandeul: That's burdensome. Haha) I was a boy who didn't know how to sing or how to dance. But it's because each one of them came up to me, talked to me and taught me that I slowly changed. Even now I'm following in the footsteps of and learning from the gyungs.

Q: I remember Gongchan saying at the end of the live broadcast on your 4th anniversary, "I'm not sure what to do because I need to treat the hyungs well but they are treating me better than I am to them". Let's talk about Sandeul first.

Gongchan: You know the phrase 'mental breakdown'? There are times that I get a mental breakdown. I cannot get myself together and I just let it all go and stay still. There are times that I finish practicing by myself that I think to myself, 'is this going well? Am I improving?' In that moment that I wonder to myself what more I need to do, Sandeul comes to me and tells me that practicing is like a flight of stairs. He tells me that the flight of stairs is endless, and each step is long, and looking back after each step the path you've come is also long.

Q: You likened practice and growth to stairs. How far on do you think you are in terms of promoting as B1A4?

Sandeul: Wow... This question is really tough. The reason I liken singing or practicing to stairs is because there is always a slump. If you take a step, you can take a step down and a step back up again. If you don't practice, you go back down. And it repeats itself... I think right now, I'm pacing in the same stop. This is regarding my singing. If we were to talk about our position, then I think we need to have a more objective viewpoint. For me, it's great right now. We've come 4 years together, without rest. If any of the members do well elsewhere, instead of getting jealous we tell them 'you did well there. If you do well there, I'll be here doing well too. Let's do it this way after coming back as B1A4'. The fact that we are talking about these things means we have climbed up quite high. Even though people may see us as still needing lots of growth, I think we're climbing the stairs slowly but surely while helping each other. Instead of wondering how many steps, whether they are few or many, we just feel less tired by working together as we climb up. It's really tough and difficult to have done as we have done thus far, but I don't have any memory of it being particularly tough because we came here together. Despite being mentally insecure, I felt that it would be alright if we came together and did well. I really like that.

Gongchan: Honestly we still have a long way to go. Really, I can only say this. There's so much more left to do, to show everyone. 

Q: What do you want to show people?

Gongchan: (Gongchan thought about this question for quite a while) For now, I want to show people my actual self. Even though we're B1A4, there are many people around the world who don't know us. I think I need to show them myself before I can do anything more.

Q: Do you think you know yourself well?

Gongchan: No, I don't know myself well. Sometimes I'm surprised at myself, that I have those sides to me too. If my actual self is number 1, I always thought that I only had number 1. But upon entering B1A4, I gained number 2 as the group's maknae. I thought it was a side to myself that never existed, so I was surprised to see it in myself. There is number 3, the Gongchan that comes out on TV. There's plenty. And once again, I think that I learnt these about myself because of the work I do.

Sandeul: The things that we set out to do are accumulating. I think theose are really important.

Q: Lastly, let's end it with something you want to say to the other.

Sandeul: Did time pass that quickly?

Gongchan: (sticking out his hand) Rock scissors paper.

Sandeul: How am I supposed to win you at rock scissors paper?! (after losing to Gongchan at it) Ah this is really embarrassing...

Gongchan: Do it please~

Sandeul: I show off about you to other people elsewhere.

Gongchan: I only found out about that today. If you never mentioned it, I would have never known.

Sandeul: That's right... Heuheu (clearing his throat) The reason why we're able to get closer and be happy when we are together... Um... I think it's because we both love the work that we are doing. The most important thing is, to stay healthy... Ah, why are the words not coming out? Anyway... Don't you have to treat me well? Hahahaha. Can't you do it first?

Gongchan: You can just do it! Not any more, not any less, just the way it is is great. I hope things stay the way they are now. The relationship between the members hare getting stronger by each day that passes after debut. We don't have the same blood, but we're like brothers. Even though Sandeul hyung doesn't express it, family members usually don't tell each other that they love each other. I know how you feel so I don't feel sad or anything even if hyung doesn't express yourself. It's because hyung really thinks of us that way that you don't express yourself. I'd love it if we remain just like this.

Sandeul: Me too! Just the way we are doing is fine. In future, let's pull each other on from in front, push each other forward from behind, and continue like this for a long long time healthily.

Source: gongchan.kr

Translation Credits: skipfire.tistory.com

Please take out with full credits to source and translator..