yuerstruly

Note: I had planned to put EVERYTHING into one big post, but given that I'm too under the weather to bring it in me to properly write about NCT and all my feelings, I've opted for a mini series, as I would like to call it, documenting every step of my journey with NCT.

It's April 6, 2026, as I'm writing this. As indicated in the title, I want to write a post documenting how I got into NCT and my journey as a fan since 2015. I had in mind mini letters to each member, not really for them to see per se, but for myself and a reminder of why I have loved NCT for the past decade plus and why I will continue to love them for the years to come, barring controversies. They won't be covered here; I always have way too much to say, and trying to write consistently on Dreamwidth has made me realize I really yap so much. I have can'tshutupitis.

From the beginning. I got into K-pop in 2015. I was in middle school and trying to fit in. I wanted to be like the other girls, know what they were talking about, make friends. So I asked, what group should I get into? The answer? GOT7, which is apparently their answer for normies trying to get into K-pop. So I clicked on a GOT7 music video, and I don't think I hated whatever song I listened to, but the next video I clicked was definitely GOT7. The song that convinced me I could get into K-pop? EXO-M's "Overdose." Yes, you heard that right. EXO-M. Getting into K-pop through a song sung in Mandarin because I'm Chinese. Then, I clicked on their other MVs. No clue what order. And after that, I searched them up, looked at the company, clicked that Wikipedia page, and went, "Wait, BoA? I thought she was Japanese." I had been downloading BoA's Japanese songs for an entire year because of my weeb phase without even realizing she was Korean.

Anyway, I got attached to EXO pretty quickly. I watched EXO's Showtime and decided my favorite was Luhan (cue clown noises). Very heartbreaking when I had gone through EXO's entire discography and realized: there's a voice MISSING! And I think, because of that, I never became fully attached to EXO in the way many of my friends were. EXO and BoA did, however, expose me to so many SM artists! Putting aside how miserable it is to follow SM artists, I don't think there's a better introduction into K-pop. Because of that, I was very soon exposed to the SM Rookies as a concept. I don't remember the exact date, but by the time I had gotten into them, everything—Doyoung and Jaehyun as Show Champion MCs; The Mickey Mouse Club with Mark, Jeno, Donghyuck, Jaemin, Jisung; the SM Rookies Show—had already happened.

You know what I was there for though? Kun's introduction as an SM Rookie. I was so excited because he was the first Chinese trainee! It's funny to hear that now and sounds very gullible, but what did I know at the age of 13, only four months into K-pop? That's not to say my exposure to EXO wasn't enough; I simply did not know.

In any case, Kun was the reason I fully boarded the train, premium ticket to a destination I could not even pinpoint. Perhaps there wasn't even an end. Shortly after, Winwin was introduced, and five days into 2016, we had 15 SM Rookies. I watched the stupid 37-minute conference video in mid-January of Lee Sooman explaining the concept of NCT. I was fascinated at the time, but I know now that this was not a novel concept, but an ambition of his that would remain half-baked no matter how many times he tried to mold it. There's a world where what he envisioned could have worked, but not with whoever was in charge of unit assignments and whoever was in charge of all aspects, maybe except for music production. But enough about my complains; I could go for days talking about how I would change it.

I downloaded that SM Rookies app, which may or may not be on one of my old phones I cannot unlock now. I logged in every day, diligently answering the 100 silly trivia questions for each member, and writing them into a document that I may or may not have lost. I was on there from day one, up until its end of service. Though I had already unlocked everything by that time, I was still sad to see it go.

I tuned in for the very first NCT Life series, and anticipated the clips coming out of their Bangkok show. By then, I had probably watched everything available. So many times. I remember MJ vaguely referencing a video of Jisung they could not remember, and I was able to pull it up right away, knowing exactly what they were describing even though I had two characteristics to go off of. Funnily enough, because there wasn't constant content at the time, I may be able to remember more about predebut videos than half the things I have watched over the past few years, which are moreso attributed to the fact that the funnier moments are brought up on my timeline constantly; and if not, from time to time often enough that everyone is meant to be reminded of them.

Needless to say, I fully invested myself into NCT. They are one of two groups I followed from predebut—the other being ASTRO—and though I have gone through so much with them, growing up alongside the brand, the group, the members, has been an experience I would never trade away or give up.