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heodang:

[B.A.P Hot Debut Story] Zelo ② “The counterattack of the ‘country boy from Mokpo’ begins”
“How did the celebrities inside our televisions become a star?” With the outlooks on the entertainment industry rising one step higher, we as the public aren’t just curious about their glamorous images, but their back stories before they became celebrities as well.
We have prepared the column “star story” in our publishing which not only tells a truthful side to stars, but their past that brought them to where they are today. This episode’s protagonist is the cute magnae of B.A.P, Zelo.
“With my older brother going to study abroad, I was stuck at a dazed state. It’s because I spent every day with my older brother that I didn’t really know how to make friends. It’s also my fault that I have a shy personality haha. I remember playing hide-and-seek with the younger kids of our neighborhood.”
And in spending his days, it was the year when Zelo was in 5th grade that through an acquaintance that recognized his talent in which he was introduced to an academy located in Gwangju. It’s also well-known because Seungri of Big Bang had attended the same academy.
“In the end of 5th grade, I was introduced to the academy that senior Seungri attended in Gwangju and I was criticized a lot for my fashion sense at first. At the time, I wore pants that were three-quarters in length and dyed my hair blue in the front and when the director of the academy saw me, they told me, “If you don’t change your fashion sense, then we’re not accepting you.” Since then, I wore skinny jeans and started growing interested in fashion.”
However, this didn’t mean that everyone had hope for Zelo as majority had low expectations for his success and those types of responses are what motivated him.
“I think a lot of people around me didn’t expect me to succeed and especially the label of being “the country kid from Mokpo” became a scar to me and I started changing my mindset. I was driven to focus on each and every area, from my appearance to fashion and music as well.”
Zelo’s capability was beyond what one imagined and earned the title of being the student to learn the fastest and to apply the skills the fastest out of the students in the academy. His fashion sense also garnered attention and he rose as one of the greatest fashionable people of Gwangju. Having already been over 170cm in height during his elementary school years, his abnormal height helped the fitting of his clothes better as well.
“Because I grew more interested in fashion, I clashed with my parents a lot, of whom I was on good terms with before. Because I tended to want clothes that reflected my character best, the clashes between my parents and I happened since they wanted me to dress averagely (laughs).”
He didn’t learn about fashion only as he officially began learning dancing, singing, and beat boxing around this time as well.
“I think what I learned in the academy was a big help to me and due to my capability of being able to apply what I learned fast, people started calling me a rising star but I wasn’t really sure. I couldn’t be satisfied despite hearing compliments such as those and I don’t think I ever was in a state of satisfaction before.”
CREDITS: HERALD M (SOURCE); HEODANG @ TUMBLR (TRANS) 
heodang:

[B.A.P Hot Debut Story] Jongup ③ “Middle school student Jongup, he was already known as a popular dancer in Bundang then”
“How did the celebrities inside our televisions become a star?”  With the outlooks on the entertainment industry rising one step higher, we as the public aren’t just curious about their glamorous images, but their back stories before they became celebrities as well. 
We have prepared the column “star story” in our publishing which not only tells a truthful side to stars, but their past that brought them to where they are today. This episode’s protagonist is B.A.P’s Jongup, who is one members of the heartwarming magnae line.
With Jongup graduating elementary school, he moved onto middle school where he faces a whole new world. To Jongup – who had just entered middle school then – everything was fascinating in his eyes and different kinds of extracurricular activities garnered his attention.
“I did extracurricular activities in my first year of middle school and joined cross-stitching with my friends and I don’t really know why I did choose cross-stitching then haha. Finding out that there was a club for dance was later on and after following my friend to the dance club all the time, I ended up joining as well.”
Jongup fell for the charms of charms of bboying when he saw his seniors in the dance club bboy and for a good while, he couldn’t find himself to detach away from it; he even hoped to become an awesome senior of the dance club in the future.
“Seeing the seniors dance, it made me think of how I wanted to try it for myself and since then, I literally only practiced. It was to the point where I’d go practice during school vacations. Around the end of my first year in middle school was when I went out to bboy competitions or school festivals the most. It was really fun to the point where I’d practice dancing more than playing with my friends.”
And it was during this time that Jongup tested his competence when entering official competitions. Despite being at such a young age – his second year of middle school – he was chosen as the representative of Bundang-gu to enter a competition where he showcased his skills. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to win a trophy but he claimed it to be his most memorable competition. Despite moving up grades in school, his passion for dancing continued.
“I was still active in the dance club during my third year of middle school. This was the time where I entered the most competitions. After placing 2nd in an open competition, I entered another one but still placed 2nd unfortunately. I entered during my second year in this same competition before and at the time, I didn’t earn any trophies so placing 2nd was a bit disappointing but that was what comforted me (laughs).”
However, Jongup’s life changed completely with this competition and it was because this was the time where his current company had scouted him in recognizing his skills.
“I met the person who was in charge of recruiting at the competition for the first time. In my first year of middle school, I got a phone call to audition for them and I didn’t have anything prepared necessarily so I danced to Usher’s song that I did for the qualification exam for my high school [*T/N: Like Himchan auditioning with drums for his Korean traditional music high school, Jongup auditioned for his “major” to enter his arts high school]. What did I feel at the time? I thought I was disqualified for sure. The person who was judging my auditions had a serious face (laughs). I was going home in almost having gave up but I got a call of them telling me, “It’s hard preparing to become an idol but do you think you can do it?” I shouted “Yes” of course haha.”
August of his first year in high school,  Jongup officially became a trainee and started an unforgettable summer.
CREDITS: HERALD M (SOURCE); HEODANG @ TUMBLR  (TRANS)