Eric Nam Reveals His Moving First Impression Of NCT Dream's Mark And What Made Him Stand Out

Eric Nam‘s moving first impression of NCT Dream‘s Mark is making the rounds online.

NCT Dream recently guested on Episode 119 of DIVE Studio‘s “K-pop Daebak,” where Eric Nam revealed his initial impression of the rapper. He started off by explaining that he first saw Mark when NCT 127 won “Best New Male Artist” at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

I remember when I first recognized who you were. It was 2016, and I only bring this up because you keep talking about destiny. It was 2016, and it was at MAMA. I didn’t know you then. I don’t think we had ever said ‘Hi’ or anything. You guys received, I think, an award for ‘Best Rookie’ or something like that.

— Eric Nam

Mark grabbed Eric Nam’s attention when he started speaking in English for his speech, a language they are both fluent in. The most memorable part about his words, however, was when he thanked God.

I was in the back, just hanging, and somebody just started speaking in English. I was like, ‘Who’s speaking in English?‘ What stuck out to me—and I always wanted to tell this to you when I met you or whenever we connected—was how you went out of your way to talk about your faith and to thank God.

— Eric Nam

In his speech, Mark thanked God for blessing their group. “I really wanna thank God right now because he blessed us so much for us to learn and grow.”

Eric Nam recalled feeling “moved” when he heard that. He praised Mark for proudly upholding his faith and reflecting beyond the K-Pop industry. At that moment, he remembered thinking that Mark would have a bright future.

I was so moved by that because that is a big testament to values and whatever you believe in, whatever religion it is. For me, I was like, ‘Oh, that guy probably has a lot of thoughts and probably has a really big future.‘

I just remember you saying, ‘Thank you, God, for…‘ And I was like, ‘Oh, wow. He’s thinking about stuff beyond the music entertainment and all that.‘ I thought that was really cool.

— Eric Nam

On the other end of the call, Mark replied that he could not believe that Eric Nam remembered such a short speech from five years ago. “I’m surprised that someone like you even noticed.”