Chapter 5

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The first K-pop music video I show Colby is a personal favorite of mine, Wave by ATEEZ. I can't believe I'm pulling Colby into my little world of K-dramas and K-pop. It feels like I'm forcing him to be into it, but he told me he's genuinely curious about what all the talk about is surrounding BTS and all these other groups breaking into America. When we finish watching Wave by ATEEZ, I quickly type in the next music video that comes to my mind. That music video just so happened to be Rock with you by SEVENTEEN, followed by Darl+ing by SEVENTEEN.
"Holy moly, how many are there in this group?" Colby asked.
"There's 13 of them, but if you really wanna see a huge group, I can show you NCT after this." I said.
"I'm down." Colby said, "Wait a minute. That man is BEAUTIFUL."
"Oh, which one?" I asked.
"The one with the fluffy, curly black hair. His face is so perfect, like how?" Colby asked.
"Oh, you mean Mingyu. Yeah, he's a beautiful man." I said, laughing.
When Darl+ing finishes playing, I then click on Beautiful by NCT 2021.
"This music video gives me High School Musical vibes, but in winter." Colby said.
"That's what I said!" I exclaimed.
"All these men are beautiful. How is their skin that dewy and flawless?" Colby asked.
"Korea has some serious skincare beauty products that keep your skin acne free, all dewy and blemish free. That's how." I said.
"How many are in this group?" Colby asked.
"For this particular music video, 21 members participated. But, there are 22 members in NCT. They have a complicated concept that I'm too lazy to explain to you right now." I said.
"No, please explain it to me. I'm so fascinated by this." Colby said.
"Okay, so. NCT as a whole has 22 members. Those 22 members are then broken down into several sub units. The first being NCT U who debuted in 2016. Following the debut of NCT U, then came NCT 127 who debuted on July 7, 2016. They have 9 members; Taeyong who is the overall leader of NCT, Taeil, Johnny, Jungwoo, Mark, Yuta, Haechan, Doyoung, and Jaehyun. The next sub unit to debut was NCT Dream on August 24, 2016. This lineup used to consist of all the NCT members who were under 20, but they have since changed their concept. They have 7 members; Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Chenle, Jaemin, and Jisung. The next sub unit to debut was NCT 2018 who debuted on March 14, 2018. This sub unit consists of; Win Win, Jaemin, Haechan, Jaehyun, Kun, Renjun, Mark, Doyoung, Yuta, Jungwoo, Johnny, Jeno, Taeil, Jisung, Taeyong, Ten, Chenle, and Lucas. They had various sub unit songs that further broke down those members, but yeah. The next sub unit to debut was WayV. They're the Chinese sub unit of NCT who debuted on January 17, 2019. This subunit consists of; Kun, Ten, Win Win, Lucas, Xiao Jun, Hendery, and Yang Yang. Told you it was complicated." I explained.
"Okay, that was a lot of dates, numbers, and names." Colby said, blinking as if trying to understand.
"That's NCT for you. Oh, in 2020, they debuted 2 new members named Sungchan and Shotaro. So, in total, that makes 22 members in the whole of NCT." I said.
"How did you learn all their names?" Colby asked.
"A lot of studying of the different sub units. Breaking them down into their sub units helps. There's two last people I want to show you, then we can be done with K-pop for today." I said.
"Alright, who are they?" Colby asked.
"I'll start with the one who I actually saw in concert last year in February. His name is Eric Nam. He's a Korean-American K-pop idol who makes music in both English and Korean. His most recent release was There and Back Again, and that whole album is in English. That was also the name of his world tour that took place last year." I said.
"Okay, show me." Colby said.

The last music videos I show Colby is of Eric Nam. The first music video I show him is of one of my favorite music videos from Eric Nam. It's called Paradise. I got the pleasure of seeing this song performed live, and let me tell you, Eric Nam doesn't sound any different from the studio recording and live. There is little difference between his live vocals and the studio recording, which was impressive to me when I saw him live. He's also an incredibly handsome man in real life. I can't wait for another opportunity to go see him live again some day. I then show Colby two more music videos from Eric Nam. I chose I Don't Know You Anymore and Lost On Me. The music video for I Don't Know You Anymore is so good. I love the part where Eric is in an old school 50's diner, having a milkshake. For Lost On Me, my favorite part is when he is dancing on a boat as it speeds down the water. That takes a lot of talent. When Lost On Me ends, Colby has time to comment on what he thinks.
"First of all, the man has both the vocals of an angel, and the dance moves. I see why you like this guy. The fact that you also saw him live, I'm a little jealous not gonna lie. Listen, this type of music is usually not the genre I go for, but you have opened my eyes to it, and I think I'll listen to it more often." Colby said.
"There's one more person I want to show you. Her name is AleXa. She is also a Korean-American from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Last year she won season 1 of American Song Contest with her song Wonderland. I'll show you that performance first." I said.
"Oklahoma huh? Not too far from Kansas, I see." Colby said.
I show Colby the following AleXa music videos; Wonderland, Xtra, Revolution, Do or Die, and Bomb. I really wanted to show off AleXa to Colby because she is my favorite female K-pop soloist. I just think she's so talented, dances so well, and sings incredibly amazing as well.
"I'm not gonna lie but, that AleXa chick is hot." Colby said.
"Colby!" I exclaimed, slapping his bicep.
"I just wanted to be honest." Colby said.
"Fine, you're allowed to simp for her." I said, giving up.
"Yes." Colby said under his breath.

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