TXT Hueningkai Recalls His Struggle Of Not Knowing Korean When He First Came To Korea

TXT‘s Hueningkai may be the youngest of the group, but he makes up for it with his cultural experiences.

Since he was born in Hawaii, spent time living in China, and later came to Korea, his childhood was filled with a variety of cultures and languages. Unfortunately, it didn’t come without its own struggles.

During his interview with Weverse Magazine, interviewer Lim Hyun Kyung asked the maknae about the difficulties he faced because of it.

Hueningkai began by expressing his amazement at his life leading him to Korea. “As my parents came from different backgrounds, I moved to China and then came to Korea. I’m surprised how it all worked out that I eventually became an idol.”

While MOAs know him as outgoing and full of energy, that wasn’t the case when he’d first come to Korea.

Hueningkai had been the complete opposite, especially since he didn’t know any Korean. “I was pretty shy when I first came to Korea. In first grade, I was all turned around and couldn’t even speak Korean, and so I just stayed home until I was in second grade.”

When he did learn the language and finally entered school, Hueningkai still didn’t have it any easier. He revealed that one of his teachers would get angry at him simply because he didn’t yet know how to use a specific form of Korean.

It isolated Hueningkai even more. “My teacher was mad at me because I couldn’t speak Korean in the polite form and was so out of place. I felt really lost.”

Fortunately, he didn’t have to go through it alone, “Luckily, some classmates started talking to me.”

His classmates reached out to him and gave him the courage to create friendships of his own. “After I felt adjusted, I started speaking up and tried to make some friends. At that time, I kept asking myself what I was even doing there.”

Although he’d been unsure of why he’d come to Korea, it all paid off in the end.

Hueningkai debuted in TXT and gained all the strength he needed to become the ray of sunshine he was meant to: “Thanks to all the love from MOA after our debut, I became a more positive, energetic person.“

Source: Weverse Magazine