perfectly imperfect

We are so happy to announce that we received 181 fantastic Sungwoon-centric prompts! 

You may now view our prompt archive and choose a prompt to claim. Remember, claiming is done on a first come, first serve basis! You can rank up to three prompts to claim, however, you will only be able to claim and write one at a time. If you none of the prompts catch your eye, but you still wish to write for the fest, you may choose to self-prompt instead. 

Prompt Archive

Claiming Form 

Self-Prompting Form

FAQ

You have until April 29th to claim or self-prompt. Final drafts are due June 23rd! 

Hello all! We did it! We have over 1000 followers! We want to show you guys how much we appreciate all of the encouraging messages and never-ending support so we’re going to be doing a giveaway!

Rules:

Three lucky winners will be randomly chosen to receive an item from NIT Shop (sorry it won’t be too expensive since we’ll be shipping internationally, but depending on the item and the availability, we’ll try our best to get you your bias)

1st place winner will have a choice of 2 items from the options given

2nd and 3rd will have a choice of 1 item

You must be following us

Reblog or like to enter (one entry per person)

No giveaway blogs please!

Please do not remove any of the text!

Please keep your asks open so we can get in touch with you! You’ll have 48 hours to respond.

Must be willing to send us your mailing addresses privately

Also, please send us proof shots once you receive your items! We wanna make sure you got your things!

The giveaway ends Friday, September 25th, 12PM KST.

Thank you all for being such a supportive fandom ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ And even more thanks to our love, INFINITE!

화이팅!!

Thank you for making time for us when INFINITE is having a comeback this week. You must be extremely busy. We’re also really sorry that we left you under the blazing sun even though you probably didn’t get to sleep much. It’s okay. I think I slept 2-3 hours. Our album came out yesterday and we also had a showcase. I had an extremely busy day because I had to stop by the practice room to correct some things and stuff. Now that I’m here, this place reminds me of my hometown, Jeonju. There’s also a famous supermarket in Jeonju that sells beer and dry food like here.

One of your INFINITE members, Dongwoo, is also coming out on the same musical as you despite it being a busy season. You must feel burdened. I do feel burdened because our album promotion and musical practice sessions overlap. I’m worried that I’ll inconvenience INFINITE or the musical, since it’s not easy to adjust both schedules. But no matter what, I will go to all the practice sessions regularly. And of course, work hard on our album promotion.

What is your reason for coming out on ‘In the Heights’ despite your busy schedule? When I first got the offer, I watched the Broadway performances on Youtube. It was really refreshing compared to the musicals that I’ve watched so far. I thought it’d be very fun, since the music and the choreography were also refreshing. And I really liked this song called ‘When the Sun Goes Down’, which is a duet sang by Benny and Nina when they confess their love for one another. I really wanted to sing it, and then I found out that the producer was Lee Jina-teacher, who was also the producer of the ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata’, the musical that I first was in. I was really lost, since that was my first time in a musical, and she really helped me out.

When I first heard about the confirmed list of the cast for ‘In the Heights’, I was most curious about you out of all the Benny’s. With ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata’ and ‘Vampire’, which you performed in Japan, this is your third time on a musical, isn’t it? Were you always interested in musicals? To be honest, it’s not like I was interested in musicals from the beginning. I didn’t really know much about it until ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata’. Maybe that was why I was able to challenge myself to do it. But since I was starting on a blank slate, I realized that musical preparation is not an easy process; it’s not something that you should start rashly, and it’s also not something that you can get used to easily. I felt really bad for the other musical actors and actresses because I couldn’t attend many practice sessions. But more than that, it was harder for me to start singing in the middle of my line. (Laugh) It was really awkward to sing while acting.

It’s expected, since it was your first time doing a musical. You must’ve felt troubled when you got so immersed in your lines and emotion but had to continue onto a song. That was really difficult. I felt again like I approached the musical without giving it much thought, and I had a lot of regrets. The musical ended on that note for me. Maybe that’s why I started having more interest in musicals afterwards. I went and watched all the musicals that I was interested in, like ‘Dr. Zhivago’, ‘Cats’, ‘Wicked’, and etc. Kim Heesun-teacher, who is my vocal teacher, knows a lot of musical actors and actresses so she took me to a lot of musicals. She also gave me a lot of advice.

I think ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata’ is a perfect musical for idols to get their foot into musicals, because it has pop songs and has a character in the musical, Jiyong, who is an idol. But being on stage as a singer is completely different from being on stage for a musical. I’ve sang on small stages, big stages, many different stages, but musical is just really different. It’s a completely different atmosphere on stage. To me, that is very attractive. Just as I was thinking that I wanted to try another musical, I was offered ‘Vampire’. I was stubborn about doing it, even though I was on an even tighter schedule back then compared to now. We were preparing for a concert, and on top of album promotions, I would also have to practice for the musical simultaneously. I even had to fly to Japan right after our 7-day concert for the musical, but the only thought running through my head was, “I want to do this, and I want to do this well.” I worked really hard to make up for my lack of practice time, and my desire to do well also grew bigger as I performed more. Musical helped me a lot in my singing too; I can immerse myself in music more deeply now.

It must be very different from performing as a singer. My character from ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata’, Jiyong, was very free-spirited, but for ‘Vampire’, even walking was hard for me. Because I’m so used to dancing, I kept walking in time with the beat. In a musical, you have to continue doing the thing that you were doing before the music starts playing, but without knowing it, I’d start grooving to the music. (Laugh) I had a hard time because of that.

Your album ’27’, which you published this spring, signifies your age twenty-seven. When I took a look at your interviews from that period, you said in every interview that twenty-seven is like your second puberty. I thought that twenty-seven was such an ambiguous age. It’s an age where you’re not so young, but you’re not too old. I keep thinking that I would regret it if I missed a chance or something right now. If I think back now, I had similar thoughts back when I was 17, 18. I thought I would regret it all my life if I didn’t pursue music at that time. I really wanted to become a singer. So right after graduating from high school, I came up to Seoul from Jeonju. I auditioned while living in a single-room apartment and working. I really wanted to be in the same company as Nell, the band that I looked up to a lot, so after the audition, I walked out after telling them, “You’ll regret all your life if you don’t pick me.”

It seems like your desire to be in the company that you’re in right now was great. I guess they looked favorably upon that immature act, because I got in. And after spending two years as a trainee, I debuted as a member of INFINITE. In my high school days, there was a period of time when I would lie to pursue music. I would practice and go on competitions, and I fought a lot with my parents. In their anger they told me to get out if I wanted to continue pursuing music, which I actually did. I really wanted to pursue music. Back then, I was filled with the thought that I should at least try. I thought it would be too sad if I told my children in the future, “Daddy’s dream was to sing on stage.” So I thought I should try at least, even if I were to fail; but that desperate dream of mine became a reality.

We talked a little about dreams with YDG, but sometimes, you feel empty or even lost after achieving your dream, and that’s why you move onto your next dream. Right now, what is your dream, as a 27 year-old Kim Sunggyu? I’ve already achieved my dream regarding my career, as in, my dream to become a singer, but there’s something that I’ve been saying habitually ever since my trainee days: I want to become a world star. (Laugh) I mean, I’ve been on a world tour and have fans in other countries, but you can’t say that I’m at that level yet. It’s still a distant dream, but I need to strive forward.

You said that you were attracted by the music of ‘In the Heights’, but how did you feel after reading the script? Your character Benny is a passionate young man who pursues his dream and is not fearful of loving someone who is different in race and social status. I tried to find similarities between Benny and me. An honest and upright image; I can say confidently that I’ve lived an honest, upright life. …Or am I wrong? (Laugh) We’re especially similar in that we’re passionate about our dreams, and in how we live our life to our fullest. I think it’ll be important to portray the Benny in me in a natural way.

There’s a scene in the musical when Benny and other characters sing about what they’ll do if they win the lotto. What do you want to do if you win the lotto? A trip around the world. I’ve been to a lot of countries because of the world tour, but there are still more countries that I’ve never been to. I’m a curious person, so I want to explore the unknown. I dream of traveling to the space one day. I’m serious. (Laugh)

What are looking forward to from this musical? It’s been a while since I’ve been on a musical, so I’m extremely excited. And I’m looking forward to the practice sessions because all the actors for Usnavi are special to me in some way. My absolute favorite drama is ‘Ruler of Your Own World’, so I’ve been a fan of YDG-sunbaenim ever since I was little. So you can’t imagine how excited I am to be on stage and working together with him. It was my first time seeing him properly today, but I was really happy that he treated me comfortably at the photoshoot. And I’m glad to be with Wonyoungie-hyung, whom I’ve become close with during ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata’. We acted the same role so we were together all the time back when we were practicing, but it was hard to see him after the musical started. I’m looking forward to the performances when I’ll get to act with him. And my member, Dongwoo — it’ll be fun to be with him on a musical stage, not an INFINITE stage. We’ve been talking a lot about this musical together, and I didn’t realize how much being together on a musical could strengthen me and allow me to depend on him.

It’s your third try being on a musical. As a new musical actor Kim Sunggyu — not as INFINITE Sunggyu — what do you want to show your audience? My goal for now is to show a perfect performance as a musical actor. I want to do my best to not become a burden to the musical. I want to hear “That guy is good at musicals too,” rather than “INFINITE Sunggyu is singing on stage” from the audience. I have also been thinking more and more that I want to continue performing in musicals.

As I write the articles for this leader series, I realize once again how heavy the role of a leader is. I also realize that it’s not easy being a leader of a group with many members. In that aspect, I want to give a round of applause to all the leaders out there. I especially want to give more applause to INFINITE’s leader Sunggyu, whom I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while. Because I’ve been keeping my eyes on INFINITE for a while, a lot of people ask me why INFINITE, out of many other idol groups. Sunggyu the leader is actually one of the reason why. He is a person who knows his boundaries, with responsibilities as the main vocal, the oldest hyung, and the leader of an idol group from a company that produced an idol group for the first time.

INFINITE is a fun group when they are together. They have filmed a lot of reality shows, starting from ‘You Are My Oppa’ to ‘Sesame Player’, ‘Ranking King’, and ‘This is INFINITE’. Reality show, for most idols, is what gets them a lot of fans. Because they have a good teamwork, the shows are full of adlibs. It’s also a good way to show off their hidden variety skills. But when they go too far or when there are questionable moments, you become edgy. That’s because these reality shows are a lot more comfortable than other variety shows, so their true intentions and colors are revealed. And through them, you can witness their true characters. The reason why INFINITE’s Sunggyu stands out in this aspect is this: even though his members tease him often, he knows how to make it fun and comfortable for the viewers to watch. He is real good with his witty response and jokes that don’t cross boundaries.

On a broadcast, someone asked Sunggyu if he ever gets sick of seeing his members, since they live with and see each other everyday. He answered calmly, “Do you get sick of your family?” We’re used to hearing a lot of idol groups talking about their close relationship and their wish to stay together forever, but the reason why Sunggyu’s answer rings even truer is because the fans know how Sunggyu has acted toward his members ever since their debut. You can see how each member thinks of each other when you watch ‘Grow: INFINITE’s Real Youth Life’, which documents INFINITE’s growth.

As a representative of INFINITE, Sunggyu also said this in another interview: “I can’t imagine INFINITE without me.” Wouldn’t everyone agree? Sunggyu is the one who helps these bright seven men to stick together and shine even brighter, and he is also a central figure in building the ‘skilled idol’ image for INFINITE. Wherever he goes, he is always loved because of his singing skills and witty speech. Since it didn’t take too long for INFINITE to be known as the ‘skilled, good-hearted idol group’, I’m looking forward for them to show us what they have.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say once again that he is a person who knows where his boundaries lie. There are many celebrities who go too far with their actions and words; we must not forget that Sunggyu, as the leader of INFINITE, played a big role in maintaining INFINITE’s position at the top without any huge scandals. Again, I’ve mentioned in another article about INFINITE that what INFINITE needs is the ‘ease of a victor’. I support Leader Sunggyu!