COSMOPOLITAN INTERVIEW - TIME TO PLAY (Leeteuk, Hankyung, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, and Kyuhyun)

*This is by initials
okay! E is for editor/interviewer

E: Phew.

LT:
Why are you sighing?

E: I'm worried. 8 members of SJ are looking at me
that I feel faint. I'm a woman too. I wonder if the interview will go well
today.

LT: KKK

E: You're sitting in
the middle of the table, because you're the team leader? You have the force of a
boss. Are you quite strict with your members?

LT: Not at all. They're actually strict with me. You saw
when we were taking photos, what they were doing to me.

E: When we were
preparing for the shoots, I asked what SJ meant to some members. The question
was probably too boring that a predictable answer was given.Family, a
relationship that you can't get rid of, and etc. I think the leader will give a
better answer, what do you think?

LT: Hmm..
what shall I say? What did you guys say?

EH:
I said SJ is a team that Teuk is leading.

LT:
Oh, that sounds good. Isn't that the best? The team that I lead. kkk. What did
the others say?

DH: SJ is LeeTeuk and kids.
Hahahaha

YS: Hey, let's stop messing about
now. This is a serious interview!

E: Cosmo likes this kind of atmosphere
anyway. So, what does serious YS think about friendship?

YS: How comes I get asked about friendship? Anyway, I think
friendship is learning from LT hyung in SJ. Oh, I know, friendship is Super
Junior. What do you think?

SW: That sounds
good. Super Junior is friendship. Let's tidy it up with that. Super Junior
equals Friendship!

LT: I think friendship is
tears. I've known DH and EH for 10 years now and a long time too with the other
members. We cried a lot together preparing for an uncertain future before.
Friendship got built without trying to make something, by crying tears. So to
us, friendship is from tears!

E: It's quite a textbook answer, even
though you've thought about it before giving your answer, I think? haha.
Actaully Cosmo decided that we must meet SJ because you guys perfectly upgraded
your level by the 3rd album "Sorry, Sorry".What happened to SJ during this time?

LT: We thought of this as if it would be our
last album, and gave everything we had for it.

E: Before the third album
SJ's name and some individual members were well known but as a singing group, it
wasn't really a stable situation. The most well-known song was the trot
"Rokkugo". Then with "Sorry, Sorry", SJ's stand in the KPOP industry was
re-established.By just looking at your 'thanks to's, we can see your confidence,
when you first heard 'Sorry, Sorry', did you think it'll be this
successful?SW,KH,EH,YS,

DH: Honestly, we did.

SM: When we got the other songs in the album,
I really liked them but felt also that they lacked something too. Then finally I
heard 'Sorry, Sorry' and most of the members said it was really good.For
definite, when we were doing the dancing together, I thought, wow, this is
really good, I really want to go out on stage for the audience.

HK: I honestly didn't know at first. So I worked harder for
it. They said it was a good song, so it had to become a good song.

LT: When I first heard 'Sorry, sorry', it sounded too much
of a club music. I personally prefer quite songs to songs with fast beats, so I
wasn't too familiar with this kind of song. I worried about whether we can
succeed with this song, and whether the public would like this song as well. But
it was an ungrounded fear. As we started recording and choreographed the
dance,The confidence that started at 0 went up to 90. Before when we were making
a come back, we always said in the interviews that the songs we are coming out
with had all these different flamboyant points, but this time, I was confident
enough to say that we'll show them, rather than explain verbally.

E:
Nick Bass's choreography for "Sorry, Sorry" is known as Idol group's dance
ultimatum. It's stylish and the shape dynamically changes, and also each
members' bits are stood out.But since there are so many members, you might have
been envious of someone else's parts?

YS: EH
gets to do a solo dance, and it looks cool even from a guy's point of view. I
can't dance very well, and I want to be able to dance, so I get envious of this.
I sometimes think what it would have been like if I could dance as well as EH.
Also, if I danced more rather than mucking about sometimes, I don't know, maybe
I could've danced as well as him?

LT: At the
beginning, there's that bit where SW lifts up his finger. We teased him saying
he looked like some boss of a company, but we only teased because we were
envious. hahaha.

SM: I'm envious when HK
hyung at the beginning walks out with his hands in his pockets. The force of the
entrance!

E: Why doesn't KH talk? Do you not have any envious members?

KH: I'm fine.

DH: He's got lots of lines, that's why.

Everyone:
Hahahahaha

E: I heard that you're going to start promoting E-Tribe's
song, 'It's you.' How is it different in terms of feeling compared to 'Sorry,
Sorry' I wonder?

SM: You can say that it has
that romantic code that the girls will like, compared to 'Sorry, Sorry'.

EH: The repackage album that has this song
also has a song that RW composed and SM writing the lyrics for the first time,
so we anticipate it even more.

LT: We heard
that with 'Sorry, Sorry', we've changed a lot, but SJ still have more to show.
We're still working hard to improve.

E: So an idol's foundation is
through endless practising? Listening to LT and EH's Super Junior's Kiss The
Radio Season2, you talk quite a bit about going through a difficult time when
you were practising before debut.I became curious to whether you had someone in
mind that you didn't want to be in the same team with?

LT: DBSK's Junsu told me a lot about EH. That he had a
friend who was a good rapper and a good dancer, and on top of that, he even had
the image of JangWooHyuk.. so you know, a really cool guy.So I was a bit
disappointed when I met EH for the first time. Because I heard so many good
things about him. Hahahaha.

SM: So you
shoudn't anticipate someone too much if that person gets praised so much!

LT: When I saw EH, I thought he'd leave in
less than 3 months. If you practice for so long, you kind of know when a new
person will tire out. But EH was still hanging on after 3 months. From that
moment, I looked at him in a different light, and indeed he danced well, rapped
well and had a lot of talent, just like Junsu said.

YS: When we practiced, we had a system of after practising
after a week, we had to show what we did and get commented on it and see what
other talents people had. That's when I first saw these lot, everyone was really
good looking and uniqte. Then there was one that really stood out. He was in his
school uniform and was sitting down really meekly, so I was like, what is
he?Then I saw him dancing on stage, I was shocked because he was that good. That
boy was Eunhyuk.

E: The answer to the question got the answer towards
one person, I didn't get the answer that I wanted because it was well praised.So
we'll skip this. With SJ, it seems that different members' are more familiar to
the public than the others, compared to balanced popularity with the other idol
groups. Who honestly thinks that they are moderately good at all the aspects?

DH: Huh? I just heard someone say 'me'. 2
people, maybe?

EH: That was me.

DH: We can just ignore him. He's always like this.

E: By your expression, you seem to think you're the best in Super
Junior?

EH: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

E: How
about Hangeng? You're called a miracle of 13 hundred million, and you're popular
in Korea and China. You don't really talk if I don't talk to you first, so
please talk a bit.

HK: I feel quite
comfortable in these things

E: Huh?

DH: He's saying that he is popular. He's quite confident
anyway.

SM: We're all quite comfortable,
since we'll have different points in terms of popularity. When we do one thing,
he looks cool, when we do something else, he's cool, so it changes in this kind
of way all the time.

E: So, who's the most popular person with the 3rd
album's promotions?

DH: Teuk hyung. He speaks
really well.

SM: He's the president of all
the girls.

All: HAHAHAHAHA

LT: Our
managers and I think that I feel I'm right in the middle in terms of Super
Junior. It's better if the leader is not so good or not so bad, but in the
middle, so I heard that we picked a good leader.I didn't really like this
position, but now I think it's right.

YS: I
think I'm lacking in some aspects, but everyone is popular to some extent.
However, I think it's better to work hard at one's position whatever the
popularity, so I try to work harder all the time.

E: In "Come to play",
Yehneung (entertainment) Yesung made everyone laugh so hard that it hurt. Today
I'm a bit disappointed that you're being serious in answering idol's textbook
style.

YS: That's me being honest though.
Other members are better looking than I am and excel in many ways. I don't dance
well, I'm the vocal but I don't think I'm all that good at singing, and that's
why I accept that part.I accept it and think to myself to work harder. I used to
be upset about that before, but now I'm done with all that worrying.

E:
So which member do you wonder why they have so much popularity? Who gets more
attention to what they have?

EH: Everyone has
the amount of popularity in parallel with their talents. Don't ask more now.

E: kkk, I'll pass this as well, since it looks like you're being
careful. Let's talk about "Intimate note" that got a bit of media attention. I
got shocked that there were some members who didn't know the others' numbers.You
were really not that close to each other? Or was it the editing? Eunhyuk and
Sungmin answer please, since you were the actual people in the show.

EH: It really is how we look. Honestly, when
I'm alone with Heechul hyung, I can feel the awkward atmosphere.

SM: I was also a bit awkward with Kangin hyung. But to make
us sit in front of 10 or more cameras without a script, it looked even worse
than it looked. Even people really close to each other would look awkward in
those situations too.Anyway, when Kangin hyung and I are by ourselves, we do
talk less, just because we're different, in what we like.

YS: It's more that they're into different things, and they
have different hobbies too.

LT: Also, just
like it was broadcasted, EH did take Heechul's t-shirt and they don't really
talk and stuff, yeah they're all right. hahahaa

E: I'm a bit freaked out
because I thought it was all editing. So are you guys closer now after the show?

LT: Well as a bystander, I don't think
they're that close yet. But EH and HC pair and KI and SM pair don't call each
others' names but rather call each other "Hey, intimate mate!" after the
show.Few days ago, during the filming of 'It's you' MV, Eunhyuk was eating by
himself. I felt sorry for him, so I was going to go over to eat with him, then
Heechul said, "Hey, intimate mate, let's eat together!" and took his stuff to
eat with Eunhyuk.

SM: And then they ate
without a conversation. It looks awkward when you're with them, but they said
that they're comfortable like that.

DH: KK
Yeah, that's right. They didn't say a word as they were eating.

YS: Heechul hyung and Eunhyuk are the kind of people who
don't usually talk when they're eating, and they don't like others taking their
food. What's the point of being together then?!

E: So, if you took part
in "Intimate Note" again, is there anyone you want to go on with?

DH: I want to be awkward with these people. So that I can
actually go on the show!

SM: You don't seem
to realise this, but you're awkward with me. Hahahahaha

SW: There's no one from here, I don't think.. kkk

E: Usually when I interview singers in a group, they tell me that
they've fought really fiercely at one point. Have you ever fought that you saw
blood?

EH: Fight until we saw blood?

DH: We don't fist fight with each other.

YS: In our team, we get divided into two
categories; the releasing kind and the holding in kind, so it never becomes into
a big fight.

LT: I've known EH for 10 years
now and only fought properly this one time. When we went to Thailand, they were
set on teasing me. I said, let's practice, but Eunhyuk, Shindong and Sungmin
just kept on teasing and won't listen. So I was really angry that I moved to
another room, but I could still hear them behind me talking! So I just turned my
head, and Eunhyuk was shining his big smile at me. I just blasted off there and
grabbed him and said "What did you just say?". That is as big as it gets.

E: That's not really a big fight, but rather a petty one? Which members
fight over small things?

SM: Donghae, Eunhyuk
and Siwon.

YS: They muck about, then gets
upset, they get all serious and go outside to talk about it. They're like, "Hey,
what you did then, that wasn't really on," "You started it," ; "But you were
quite harsh just then weren't you?" ; "You hit me with some feeling, I could
tell." Things like that. It's really funny just watching them.

LT: They're the same age, that's why. Donghae likes to talk
about his worries to his friends, but Eunhyuk tends to keep it to himself when
he has worries. So Donghae gets upset when Eunhyuk doesn't talk to him, and asks
why he doesn't say anything.The Siwon comes along and butts in asking "What are
you guys talking about?" Then Donghae plays around and say, "You stay out of
it". Then Siwon goes "Hey, what did I do to upset you?" then.. they get serious
and go outside.

EH: Wow you guys know us
really well?

SW: It just means that you're
the problem, man~

E: You fight like this, and hang around together all
the time, and sometimes because there are so many of you, some get left behind
on the streets. Isn't it better to be by yourself?

SW: When I was filming "battle of the wits" and filming the
drama, I was on my own, I wasn't relaxed at all. We need each other.

EH: When I go on a variety show, I can't
really say much. When I go with someone else, I tend to attempt more, but when
I'm by myself, I come back without doing anything.

YS: When we're together, if we fail, other members can
cover up for me, so I feel more relaxed. But that doesn't happen when I'm by
myself. Some time ago, I went to film "Yasimmanman2" by myself,I became nervous
from the day before. I felt that I didn't show off all my skills on the show,
and felt that if there was another member there I would've shown all I've
prepared. I think by doing things on our own makes us realise the importance of
each other.

SM: I haven't really done
anything by myself, so I don't really know.

KH: Me too. Hahaha. Even with SJ-KRY and SJ-M stuff too.
It's less fun when it's not all 13 together.

LT: EH and I do a radio show together, and it's our third
year coming August. But honestly, I don't know if it was only one of us, if we
could've held on for 3 years, and feel that if one of us isn't there, then the
program wouldn't be as fun to the listeners.

E: By that point, maybe
it's more relaxing to be with the members, rather than your own family.

SM: You can say that it's the same thing.
Being at home, or at our residence. We're already a family.

EH: Now it really feels like one of my body parts is
missing if there aren't our members next to me. When we first gathered, it was
just a team collegue relationship, but now we've become real brothers.

DH: I want us to have the name Super Junior
until the end even when later in our life we're in other areas in the industry.
When Teuk hyung becomes a well known MC like Yoo Jae Suk, he would say, "I'm
Super Junior's LeeTeuk."We don't have to say that we belong somewhere but feel
it, so we belong in Super Junior. Whatever we do, wherever we are.

SW: Wow that's cool! But wouldn't it be quite funny? If we
say, "We're Super Junior!" in old men's voices.

LT: It'll become like what Donghae said. I think SJ can go
on until we're in our 40s and 50s. The idols lifespan is short only in Korea,
it's not in Japan or China. Kimura Takuya releases his albums under the teams
name and works on his own too. We, the 13 members are going to use Asia as our
stage to perform. That's our plan.

E: Finally, I wanted to talk about
love, which is something that's forbidden for the idols. But I won't go in too
deeply about it. So lightly, I'll ask you this.Between love and friendship,
which member would choose friendship without hesitating, if they had to choose
one?

YS: There's no one, right? kkk

DH: Why isn't there? There's me! Me!

SM: I think Donghae might actually.

YS: Definitely not Eunhyuk.

SM: Yeah that's definitely right.

SW: That's right, that's so obvious.

EH:........

LT: I don't
know about the people here, but Shindong, who isn't here, I think. I asked him
once, "Hey, if you had a girlfriend and the members asked you to break up with
her, would you do it?", he said, "Yeah, sure".So I asked why, and he said
"Because the members told me to." Shindong is quite laid back like that.

SW: But I think if members told me to break
up, I would, as well.

SM: Maybe Eunhyuk will
lean towards friendship if we tell him to break up?

YS: But that situation won't ever occur anyway.
kkkkk

Source: Korean Cosmopolitan, June 2009
Translated by soundscape @ sj-world.net
Resource & page layout by
Alice @ sj-world.net

Donghae can really be honest huh?

Eunhyuk has guts! Choosing love over friendship. I can never understand that.

Siwon "your the problem man~" EunSiHae! <3

Leeteuk can really talk. Just envy that skill of his.

Yesung being serious, hahahahahaha LOL xD

Hankyung has become more talkative!

Sungmin do you choose love or friendship? i wanted to know his answer T_T

Kyuhyun is one contented guy c:

~this has been xiang!`