Aespa’s Karina Recalls Introducing Herself To Winter For The First Time In A Slightly Awkward Encounter

Karina and Winter of aespa recently recalled their first encounter and talked about their first impressions of one another.

On May 9, Karina and Winter appeared on the MBC radio show Lee Seokhoon’s Brunch Cafe to talk about themselves and their new EP album My World.

In the interview hosted by singer and member of SG Wannabe, Lee Seokhoon, the two aespa members acted in a reading of a story sent in by a listener. With Lee Seokhoon narrating the story and Winter and Karina acting out the spoken lines, the story was about two people meeting at a bus stop on their way to their respective jobs and becoming friends. The two couldn’t help but giggle while acting, but they each performed their roles amazingly.

Lee Seokhoon then asked Winter and Karina how they met for the first time. Karina shared that they met for the first time in a small rehearsal room.

We met for the first time in a rehearsal room. In the very small vocal room, there were three Japanese people and the two of us. So it was super awkward and then I approached her first because I’m the sunbae by a couple months, and said, ‘Hi, I’m Yoo Jimin.’ It was such a short moment; I don’t remember all the details but I remember it was a small room with five people.

— Karina

Karina shared her first impression of Winter, comparing her to a freshly steamed potato.

She was very soft and fluffy. She looked nice and warm [because she recently joined], like a freshly steamed potato that’s soft and fluffy.

— Karina

Karina was a trainee at SM Entertainment a few months before Winter, so as a sunbae, or senior, she saw Winter as a soft and fluffy rookie.

Winter also recalled her first impression of meeting Karina.

She had a sort of a model feel. I felt like she had a unique look and she looked tall, even though our height difference is not that much—maybe around 2 centimeters? But she looked super tall.

— Winter

To this, Karina joked that she looked tall because she was the sunbae, and Winter went along with the joke, saying that there must have been a wall of seniority that made her look taller.

Although their first encounter was a slightly awkward one in a small rehearsal room, the two members are now as close as siblings—and their chemistry can be seen in their outstanding performances.

Check out Karina and Winter’s chemistry in their new music video for “Spicy.”