K-pop girlies Secret Number on Seventeen, songwriting, and their favorite YouTubers

Open up any Us Weekly magazine, and you’ll find a section dedicated to photos of celebrities doing normal human things. “Stars… they’re just like us!” reads the title above snaps of Dua Lipa spilling her coffee or Reese Witherspoon walking her dog. Talking to girl group Secret Number about what they watch online is like flipping through the pages of Us Weekly in real time.

From trying (and failing) makeup tutorials to watching (but not making) new recipes, these girls are just like us. Jinny, Soodam, Dita, Léa, Zuu, and Minji sat down with Mashable in the middle of promoting their latest single, “Doxa,”(opens in a new tab) to share the videos they’ve been loving lately.

Cooking videos

Dita: I love cooking and baking, so I’ve watched a lot of Joshua Weissman videos. He’s so funny, and I just love the style of his YouTube videos. He has a “but better” series where he’ll make, like, a McDonald’s burger “but better” or like Chick-Fil-A “but better.”

Have you ever made anything that he’s made?

Dita: I did. It was a hard one and took me almost two weeks. I used his sourdough recipe and it worked well, but now my sourdough starter is dead [Minji and Jinny laugh] so I have to start it again. But I used his recipe. Thank you, Joshua, if you’re reading!

Did the rest of you try her sourdough?

Jinny: Well, she never gave us any so…unfortunately no.

Dita: [Laughs] It was a small batch! So I finished it by myself.

Was there a particular burger recipe you liked from Weissman’s “Every Way To Cook A Burger” video?

Dita: I had wanted to try the “fry bread” burger. That’s the one that got the most votes [from taste testers in the video], so I think it’d be good. It’s probably going to be like pita bread, I guess: soft on the inside but crispy on the outside. 

Maybe she’ll make it for all of you, if you’re lucky! 

Soodam: I recently came across a channel about creating experimental foods. It’s almost like a challenge, like, what happens if you add 100 slices of cheese to a cup noodle ramen?(opens in a new tab) The result looks really appetizing, so that’s something I’m enjoying watching recently

Maybe Dita can make it for you.

Dita: Of course! As soon as I get 100 slices of cheese.

Minji: I also love watching cooking videos like this one,(opens in a new tab) but I’m honestly not interested in cooking myself. It’s so satisfactory to watch other people cooking so well. It’s calming.

K-pop dance videos and vlogs

Dita, you attended a K-pop dance cover studio in New York called “I Love Dance,” right?

Dita: Yes! I watch a lot of dance practices videos from other groups, most recently IVE’s “I Am” and Le Sserafim’s “Unforgiven.”(opens in a new tab) I still like to do dance covers. Sometimes it’s more fun to do because it’s not [a Secret Number] song. 

Zuu: I recently learned and filmed a cover of Seventeen’s “Super” challenge.(opens in a new tab)

On a scale of one to 10, how hard was it?

Zuu: The details in the choreography are fantastic. It’s so delicate, and they always put out a great performance. So, considering the fact that I tried to follow every detail of their choreography, I think that I would give it like a nine to 10. It was very hard.

Will you upload it at some point, or is it just for practice? 

Zuu: We’re waiting on confirmation from our company to upload it, so hopefully soon we’re all going to be watching it [laughs]. And if that happens, Elizabeth, I will make sure we let you know.

Thank you! Minji, you sent over a Seulgi vlog.(opens in a new tab) Are you a Red Velvet fan?

Minji: Red Velvet is one of the senior groups I really look up to. And personally, I love Seulgi’s fashion, her style, and I love watching traveling vlogs as well so watching her vlog in this relaxed style was fun.

What’s your favorite Red Velvet song?

Minji: It’s very hard to just pick one, but I loved Seulgi’s solo track, “28 Reasons.”

Jinny sent an episode of “Secret Tour(opens in a new tab),” the show she MCs with Minji. Do you watch back your own shows after they’re done?

Jinny: For monitoring purposes, I watched every single thing that’s related to Secret Number, and I search my own name, too. I always refresh the YouTube category — you can choose [to see videos by] newest, and I’ll filter that and check every day. I watch all our performances, reaction videos, and covers from fans.

When I go through our “Secret Tour” videos, I monitor how we can improve in making the show smoother. Minji and I watch it in the car on our way back home from shooting it, actually. From transitions and reactions to interactions with the guests, we watch to get the feedback of “Oh, maybe we should have done this” or “Let’s try this next time.” 

Beauty YouTubers

PONY Syndrome has been around for a long time, she’s like an OG YouTuber. Tell me about why you watch her.

Dita: Makeup is a hobby of mine, and I watch a lot of PONY’s videos because she is in Korea and a lot of the products that she uses, I use too. When I lived in the U.S., I’d watch a lot of American YouTuber makeup videos because I could get those products. So now that I’m living in Korea I try to find more Korean beauty YouTubers so I can find and use the products they use.

Minji: I watch a lot of Risa Bae.(opens in a new tab)

Do you ever try out the same looks they do, or is it just nice to watch?

Dita: I do recreate the makeup sometimes. PONY does a lot of spring or autumn makeup, like those sorts of things, and I usually copy those.

Minji: I actually practice and try my greatest, but it’s not too satisfactory [laughs]. So just watching it gives me satisfaction.

Cat clips

Jinny, you also sent me a cat video you recently watched.

Dita: [Laughs] That’s so Jinny.

Jinny: So me! [Laughs] I’m a huge cat person. I have two cats at home [with my parents], and they’re getting old but they’re still babies to me, so I love watching other people’s cat vlogs. They’re just so cute.

Would you ever have a cat in the dorm?

Jinny: [Sighs] I don’t think my members would like that.

You have some dog people in the group?

[Dita raises hand]

Jinny: They’re all dog people, except for Soodam and Minji — they have cats, too.

It seems like it’s three-on-three, like you guys are at war. I was talking to Fifty Fifty the other day about getting a pet for their dorm and I said, “You have to get something you all agree on,” like a fish or a parrot!

Jinny: I love parrots, too!

Dita: [Leans over to Jinny] Wait, it’s OK to keep them as pets?

Jinny: Yeah, you can keep them as a pet, too!

Dita: Oh, really?

They’re very loud, though. 

Jinny: Yeah they are loud.

South Korean skit channels

Soodam: I love watching Korean skit channels, like Deep. They’re based on how people would act differently in a given situation. Skit channels are pretty popular in Korea because a lot of people can relate to them. I’m just amazed at their ideas, how they can come up with this skit and how they can act out a given situation. Another skit I like(opens in a new tab) is about old couples, you know how someone would act if they had been with a person for a long, long time, their change in attitude towards each other in that relationship.

Zuu: I like two channels similar to Soodam’s: mimgorithm(opens in a new tab) and she(opens in a new tab). They’re hilarious, and I relate to them so much. While I watch I’m like, “Oh! I just had this kind of conversation or situation with my band members or my own siblings or family.” It’s very relatable.

Soodam: Sometimes elements of MBTI are blended into some of the skits, like how a “P” person might act this way or an “F” person would think like this. To see the differences from a third person’s point of view is very interesting. Léa is really into MBTI tests.

Léa: I love all types of personality tests, but I’m most curious about other people’s MBTI and how they will react and what they think about in a given situation. In our group chat I send messages like “what do you think about this MBTI’s perspective, do you agree?” [All laugh and nod] And if my members don’t react to that, I would get sad. That’s how I am.

Zuu: The biggest perk of understanding each other’s MBTI for us is that we can relate to each other better, because we know each other’s personality. When we are trying to say something to each other, we know how each person is going to react. Our MBTI types are very accurate, so it’s very easy to know what to say, what not to say, and how to actually word it for each other.

Creative inspiration

Léa: One thing I’m really interested in is the universe, things beyond anything that I have ever experienced. I’m always intrigued to know more about them. This channel called Owl’s Review(opens in a new tab) talks about the universe, among other topics. In one video I remember, they were talking about the human eye as the Earth. And that made me think, like, we are living on planet Earth. But if we think of the Earth as a human being, we’re kind of living in that person. The Earth is alive just like we are. So I love imagining, “If we, on Earth, are living in another human being, what if there’s another human being living inside of us?”

Wow Léa! That makes my brain hurt. Jinny is over there watching cat videos, and you’re thinking about philosophy and physics. 

Léa: I also love looking at tourist spots all around the world, so whenever I see a good one I will usually bookmark or save the post and then imagine traveling around to those spots one day. One account I like, travel_behappyhere(opens in a new tab), focuses on Korean tourist spots and introduces the places you need to visit when you visit.

Is there a spot you recently saw that really made you go, “Wow!” Maybe some place you can visit when Secret Number goes on tour in the future?

Léa: There’s an island called Miyako in Japan, and it’s very pretty. Its scenery is beautiful. I think it’d be fantastic to visit to shoot a music video one day.

Minji, you shared a summer pop playlist(opens in a new tab) with us.

Minji: Because I write music, I don’t actively look out for certain genres or songs. I want to explore as many genres and styles as possible without actually looking for them. So I love listening to playlists because you can discover new music you’ve never even heard of, and it’s a good way to refresh what you’re listening to. I like to play it in the background to explore new styles of music.

Can you tell us more about your songwriting?

Minji: I haven’t participated in the songwriting for this upcoming single, but I participated in “Hola” from our Doomchita album. And actually, my first self-written track(opens in a new tab) was thankfully chosen as the original soundtrack for a drama, which meant other great artists performed my song. [It] was a great honor for me. And also, I wrote two songs that an fantastic Japanese artist, Kawaguchi Yurina, performed(opens in a new tab). I haven’t participated in writing a lot of Secret Number songs, but I have constantly written for others. 

Jinny: I’ve been able to contribute in writing songs for Secret Number ever since debut, and I hope to continue to. I would love to work with Minji on our own group song, too.

Zuu: I’m constantly practicing and making up choreography. I want to be more involved, personally, and I know I have a lot more to learn, but I hope someday I can participate in creating point choreography for our own song. That would be really cool.

I would love to see all of that happen for you. Management folks in the room, hint hint! What else has been inspiring you lately?

Minji: I love watching a show called You Quiz on the Block. It’s an interview show that invites people of various occupations, both celebrities and non-celebrities, to share advice on how they live their life, what they’ve learned from life, things like that. It’s a very comforting, very warm show to watch.

One of the things that stood out to me from a recent episode with actor Kim Woobin(opens in a new tab) is that he said, “When you are living daily life, it’s very rare to look up at the sky intentionally.” And that made me think “Wow, I haven’t really looked up at the sky very often, not even once a day.” Another thing he said that was memorable was that when he made the career transition from modeling to acting, he wrote about what he was thankful for every day, which really inspired and impressed me. Remembering what you’re thankful for is very important.

Have you started writing down what you’re thankful for every day?

Minji: I will write about today’s interview, I am very thankful for you.