On the August 31 episode of JTBC4’s “Secret Sister,” EXID’s Hani and Weki Meki’s Choi Yoojung shared their experiences with each other in which they both felt sorry to their fellow group members for being more in the spotlight.

Hani first commented on Weki Meki’s unique situation from debut, where two members — Kim Doyeon and Choi Yoojung — were already familiar to the public through “Produce 101.” “Rather than all members being new faces,” said Hani, “there were at least two among the eight that people already knew. So you would’ve worked that much harder, having a sense of responsibility to the group.”

Choi Yoo Jung agreed, saying, “I’m always thinking about that. That I should work harder for us all to succeed.’”

Hani added that it was similar for her. “For me, I had the thought that, essentially, I was the first up to bat. At first, [EXID] debuted, and then we didn’t do anything for two years. We didn’t even have a practice room. For two years, there was nothing that we could do.” Hani said that they were thinking they would have to quit, because “Up & Down,” which was like their last hurrah, didn’t do very well. “That was when,” said Hani, “good things started to happen. Lucky things,” referring to the viral fancam of Hani performing “Up & Down” that completely revived the group and what they had thought was a failed release.

“We tried really hard not to get used to [the popularity] because it could disappear at any second,” said Hani. “And I started to worry for the members, wondering if they were feeling left out and what I should do if they did.” But, Hani said, the members were so happy for her, saying how great she did and asking her all sorts of questions about the celebrities that she saw and what it was like. “They would say things like, ‘Thank you, and it’s okay even if you don’t do well.’”

Choi Yoojung, tearing up, said it was the same for her, with the Weki Meki members giving her a lot of support and being really curious about her experiences.

In a follow-up interview, Choi Yoojung expressed how thankful she was to have met Hani. She said, “I realized that Hani is an unnie (sister) who has a lot more life experience than me. I now have someone who can [give me new perspective]. I could relate so much to [Hani talking about] taking the support of the group members and using it as strength to build up the team that it made me cry.”

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