Being the youngest of a group is always a little bit of a special thing. The expectations are different: you can make more mistakes, shoulder fewer responsibilities, trip and act silly only to be scolded with a fond shake of the head. But at the same time, you’re monitored in a different way, too. How […]

In a line of work where appearance is everything, being labeled as the “face” is no small responsibility. Instead, it’s the expectations of hundreds and thousands you will never personally meet, and the stress of pulling all of that weight in addition to your own. It might even be something you feel like you don’t […]

I’d like to start this off with a small astronomy reference — don’t worry, the lesson will be simple, seeing as I’m basing this entire analogy on a fact I learned in my 8th grade science class. But enough of a rambling introduction; let’s cut straight to the chase: her name. “Sunny”, of course, very […]

Jessica has always been independent. As a member of Girls’ Generation, she’s someone with the resolve of an ice princess — or maybe a sergeant — and the will to scream like a dolphin even in the face of immediate danger. She’s belted out bridges and ad-libs on stage after stage without a single waver, […]

One night, almost two decades ago, a lone figure stood on a bridge somewhere in the vastness of Seoul. She ignored the cameras at her back, the eyes on the other side ever watching (How many pairs? She must have wondered. Ten? Twenty? Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined today). Regardless, she […]

(A song — and an acronym — that describes what Choi Sooyoung is to SONE.) L.O.V.E. Loyal. When a show host suggested to Sooyoung that she shouldn’t promote Girls’ Generation first and should instead introduce herself as just “Sooyoung”, she immediately replied, “I need to add ‘Girls’ Generation’.” A simple declarative — packed with over […]