ATEEZ‘s leader Hongjoong has brought the attention of the local and international fans after his personal interview about his middle school and trainee days. The idol has recalled some stories and addressed being too strict on his members.
On October 2, Hongjoong appeared in a new episode of ‘Jung Yonghwa’s LP Room 2’, where he addressed the struggles from ATEEZ’s debut days. Then, the idol talked about how strict he was on the members, which almost drove them to tears.
One time, one of the members sat down when the lights blacked and then got up a little late. That bothered me, so I said to them after coming down from the stage, ‘I thought we agreed not to sit down’.”
After the experience, the members reunited to talk with Hongjoong about their feelings, and they told him that they felt like they were suffocating. The members mentioned he was being too overbearing, and even one of them cried, saying, “Hyung, it’s too much. I can’t go on like this. You need to let us breathe.” Once Hongjoon saw him crying, he realized that he had been too hard on them and apologized.