A Male Idol Debuted Because He Lost His Passport, Here’s The Funny Story

Whether it was an actual dream or an agency employee grabbing them, many idols have fascinating stories on how they joined their companies. This time, VERIVERY‘s Hoyoung shared the story of how losing his passport led to him debuting as an idol.

On an episode of Eric Nam‘s K-Pop Daebak podcast, a few VERIVERY members appeared as guests and answered some of his pressing questions. One of those questions was how they ended up debuting in the group. Hoyoung had a beginning that was drastically different from the others because he’d never imagined himself as an idol and had spent most of his childhood in another country.

I actually lived in New Zealand for ten years. …I was really distant. I was really far away from being an idol.

And I also didn’t like to sing or dance, so it’s kind of funny to see myself right now on stage.

— Hoyoung

Because of a “residency problem” back then, Hoyoung split his time between Korea and New Zealand. So when he attended middle school in Korea, Hoyoung remembered seeing a performance of EXO‘s “Growl” that inspired him to “try to dance.” After practicing on his own and learning from his friends, Hoyoung took the next step.

Putting his skills to the test, Hoyoung went to a few companies to audition but with the mindset of using it as more practice. There was one funny problem, though. He couldn’t fly back to New Zealand after the auditions in Korea because he’d lost his valuable passport.

I went to the audition. I went to four places, and it was for practice. This is another funny story.

I was meant to return to New Zealand the next day, but I lost my passport. I know. People say that I lost it on purpose, but I actually lost my passport.

— Hoyoung

Since Hoyoung was stuck in Korea after losing his passport, his mother gave him the push he needed by saying, “Okay, just give it a try.” So Hoyoung ended up passing the audition for Jellyfish Entertainment with her blessing and debuting in VERIVERY.

If Hoyoung found his passport that fateful day, he wouldn’t have had the chance to audition and become the graceful dancer and talented rapper of VERIVERY that fans know and love. Fortunately, luck was on his side.

Check out Hoyoung sharing the funny story of how it all went down here.