On the outside, Red Velvet‘s Irene may seem cool, calm, and collected, but the truth is that she can pretty zany when she gets comfortable. Just take a look at these three trainee stories that are so crazy, you’ll be shocked they actually happened.

1. The cockroaches

Being a trainee involves a lot of hard work every day, but that doesn’t mean there’s no time for a little fun. Back in July 2020 when Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi released their debut hit “Monster”, the pair sat down for a fun Q&A where Irene revealed one of the kookiest things she did as a trainee.

After Seulgi pulled a creepy fake cockroach out of the Q&A “Monster Box”, Irene remembered the time she pranked everyone with fake roaches herself. Even though she became a trainee at the age of 18, Irene knows well that you’re never too old for a good prank. However, she didn’t just purchase the faux bugs from a Halloween store—she painstakingly made them out of paper!

Recalling the story with a smile, Irene explained that she drew them with a marker and added realistic texture with a ballpoint pen. After taking the time to make 10 paper cockroaches, she cut them all out and left them in random places, from the water purifier to the sofa. They were so convincing, everyone fell for it and got scared.

Seulgi couldn’t help but laugh remembering the story, saying it was “pointlessly enthusiastic” and “so childish“, but admitted that Irene drew the cockroaches really well. “Everyone freaked out!” Irene recalled with glee. The funniest part is that Irene herself is easily pranked by fake bugs, falling for the trick multiple times in one “Monster” promotional video.

2. The banana peel

Slipping on a banana peel is something that only happens in cartoons, right? Or so we thought. Back in an old radio interview, Irene shared the story of what she called the most humiliating day of her life.

In September 2010, around a year after Irene joined SM Entertainment, she briefly left the comforts of the company for a dentist appointment. Back then, trainees weren’t allowed to use their cell phones, so Irene usually had to hand hers in to the staff. However, since she was heading out on her own that day, the staff unnies told Irene to take her phone in case she needed to contact them.

But, since Irene didn’t get to use her phone that often, it seems she found herself absorbed in the gadget while she walked. One minute, she had her eyes glued to the cell phone. The next, she revealed her legs were suddenly doing the splits. When she looked down, she realized she’d slipped on a banana peel!

As soon as Irene started telling the story, Yeri burst into a fit of laughter that shocked even the radio host. “I thought it only happened in cartoons,” Irene laughed. Thankfully she didn’t get hurt, but she did freeze in embarrassment as everyone watched her.

3. The fight

While Irene’s fake cockroach story proves she’s a real prank master, she can’t always do it alone. In a recent video uploaded to Red Velvet’s YouTube channel, Wendy told the story of a very memorable birthday.

As trainees, Wendy explained that the members had to diet. So, when her birthday rolled around, she couldn’t eat a normal cake. Instead, the members sweetly made her a strange cake out of low-calorie jelly sweets, cherry tomatoes, and a single Ferrero Rocher chocolate. But as well as the treat, they also had a trick up their sleeves.

To celebrate, Wendy gave the members rice cakes, but they weren’t supposed to eat them because of their diet. So, Irene and Joy teamed up to prank Wendy by pretending to fight over it! As Joy left the room crying, Wendy suddenly found herself feeling guilty, thinking she’d caused an argument.

Thankfully, it was all a harmless joke. Right after Joy left, she and the rest of the members came back with Wendy’s diet-friendly homemade cake. While many people may think staging a fight on someone’s birthday is crazy, Wendy wrapped up the story by thanking Irene and the members for making “an unforgettable memory“.

It seems they enjoyed the memory so much, they did it again and again. In her own recent YouTube video, Seulgi confessed the fight prank became a ritual. Seulgi explained she would find herself getting upset as she tried to stop them, but then they’d turn off the lights and cheer, “Seulgi, happy birthday!”