Pre-Debut SHINee

So what was it like?

They knew each other like maybe two or three years before they became SHINee because they were trainees in SM together and then they had to train as a group before they debuted.

I know Taemin met Jonghyun first, so he’s known him the longest. Key met Minho first. I’m not sure how meeting went with others.

Taemin would always train with Onew on the SM rooftop and do vocal training together.

Before debut they were forced to learn Chinese but that was back when they were supposed to do more China promotions. Of course, they ended up doing Japanese and have forgotten most of their Mandarin XD

Minho used to be the maknae, actually! He was the maknae in SM (the whole K-Pop industry back then) until Taemin came him. Minho was actually happy to have someone younger to take care of and not be the youngest. Then Taemin became the youngest trainee in K-Pop for awhile.

They all lived in one dorm room. They hated it and would constantly argue with each other and struggle for space. They had to stand in line to use the bathroom and whoever was the fastest went in first XD They hated it at first but got used to it.

We all know about the whole Key/Minho drama, I’m sure.

Taemin didn’t want to debut because he didn’t think he was ready vocally. During pre-debut, he was going through puberty and SM didn’t allow him to have vocal lessons in that state when he really wanted to. So he practiced hard his own and struggled. He thought he lacked a lot and his friends called him tone-deaf and that he couldn’t sing. He said words like that hurt but considered it as motivation and practiced hard on his own to avoid being a burden to the other members.

How did Onew become leader? He was the oldest! XD That’s seriously the only reason. When SM picked a leader they were pretty much like “You’re the oldest, so you’re leader”. Onew didn’t really want to at first but well… XD

Taemin and Minho were the only ones in school, so they would go to rehearsals in their school uniforms. Jonghyun and Taemin lived in the same neighborhood and were really close together, so they would walk to places together and sometimes eat food from carts together.

I’m trying to remember others things but I think that’s it! 🙂

I might be forgetting things so ask anything you want to know and I’m sure it will ring a bell 😉