You must feel disappointed that the broadcast of the reality program, ‘Cover Girl’, was postponed.
Jessica: I think it’s an inevitable situation. Still, I’m looking forward to when the first broadcast will be held.
Krystal: Because it has daily happenings with my sister, it didn’t feel like work. So time flew by while filming. I think we can wait for the first broadcast with the same, current feeling? I’m just hoping broadcasts will resume soon.
It’s not easy seeing you in variety shows or reality programs. How did you come to choosing ‘Cover Girl’?
Jessica: I didn't have any plans to intentionally pick a reality program. Just, I think people feel a sense of distance from us. I thought we should try to shorten that distance through ‘Cover Girl’.
Krystal: It was fun because the concept was sisters showing their daily life and comfortable appearances. There wasn't any reason to try hard preparing decorated or exaggerated things.
Still, you’re girls. Wasn’t it burdensome having to show every little part of your day?
Jessica: To be honest, it’s harder trying to look good to viewers.
Krystal: That really doesn’t go well with our personalities either. Haha. People tend to think we’re arrogant, but we actually enjoy eating street food and don’t really like dressing ourselves up. We wanted to show these sides of us naturally through a show.
What’s something you want to show the most through the reality program?
Jessica: We were most concerned with teamwork while each of us promoted with Girls’ Generation and f(x). However, everything was natural in this program. You will be able to see us work in perfect harmony without any effort or even trying hard. Because we’re special sisters.
Krystal: Someone told us our voices are similar. They said our voices become the same when they’re at a particular pitch. I thought, ‘It could be similar since we’re sisters.’ Even as a family, isn’t it amazing having the same-sounding voice? Different, yet similar appearances. I hope people will have fun watching us mingling.
When did each of you first discover the other had talents to become singers?
Krystal: I don’t know if it’s because [Jessica] started as a trainee before me, but, looking at my sister, I thought it was natural for me to dance and sing well.
Jessica: Before becoming a trainee, I learned ballet and jazz dance. Krystal started going out on showcases and competitions. Watching her, I felt, ‘She’s good. If she improves a little more, she can do better.’
When do you make each other feel strong?
Jessica: After debuting, we started depending on each other a lot more. Comparing ourselves to friends who are leading normal lives, the field of work we’re in is so different that, no matter how we explain things in detail, there aren’t a lot of things they can understand. Even if they can mentally agree, ultimately, it’s difficult to understand in-depth.
Krystal: She’s right. When I’m tired, my friends cheer me up, but they couldn’t fully understand my position.
Jessica: So I’ve talked with Girls’ Generation, ‘There’s really only us in this world. Nobody will understand even if we explain our work.’ After Krystal debuted, I liked how I could share things with her, that I couldn’t share with anyone else. Especially secrets that I couldn’t even confess to friends. Hahaha.
Krystal: There was a time where I had a deep talk with my sister and bawled my eyes out. Because my sister knew my situation so well. The tears flowed endlessly. I think I liked the feeling ‘She’s a person who honestly understands me.’
On the other hand, when did you dislike each other the most?
Krystal: When I was so young that I don’t remember. You know you even fight over food at that age.
Jessica: I remember. You know how instant udon has the pink fish cake in it. We fought, wanting to be the one who gets to eat it. It was because Krystal thought my mom’s and mine were both hers. So there was a time where I ate the pink fish cake as soon as I got the udon. Sisters normally quarrel over little things.
Krystal: When I got New Year’s money, I gave it all to my sister. At the time, when I was an elementary school student, I didn’t know the value of money. As soon as I got New Year’s money, I gave it to my sister. My sister has been buying me lots of yummy food lately, and I feel like she’s paying me back for all that money I gave her. Hahaha.
There are things about one another you want to take after, right?
Jessica: Krystal cooks quite well. She likes to carefully create a dish and share it with people. I’m more annoyed with cooking.
Krystal: My sister cooks well too?
Jessica: I’m just making basic dishes because I’m a girl, it’s far from cooking. Haha.
Krystal: My sister’s good at reading people. So she has a lot of friends around her, and has a lot of personal connections in the entertainment world. I want to meet different people too.
In what way do you mean Jessica is good at grasping how a person is?
Jessica: There’s still room for improvement. Just, if there’s someone who likes to beat around the bush, I’m not that type of person. I’m not really indecisive either. When I was younger, I didn’t have a bright and spirited personality like I do now. My personality changed while promoting. I’ve naturally gained a discerning eye by meeting people in different areas of work and learned how to treat people.
If you were shy when you were younger, you must have been reluctant to open up.
Krystal: Of course. There was a time where I thought it’d be good if nobody knew me.
Jessica: I also imagined, ‘How great would it be if there was an invisibility cloak?’
When was a moment you liked the most while being active?
Jessica: I got the feeling that the way I treat other people changed a lot when I became a celebrity, and that feeling wasn’t too bad. Before I debuted, I didn’t like fake appearances, but I realized that a moderate amount of it is needed when active.
What is something you say to each other the most?
Jessica: I tell Krystal, ‘Even if you’re staying still, you could look mad to someone, so it’s good to smile lightly.’
Krystal: That’s why there are a lot of pictures of me where my eyes aren’t smiling, but my mouth is. Haha.
Older and younger siblings. How do you think it’d be if you switched roles?
Krystal: We absolutely can not. I’ve gained too much thanks to my sister. In school, there were people who treated me well because I was Jessica’s little sister, and I benefited from that during my trainee days. Thinking about it now, I’ve lived quite comfortably. Hahaha. I think that’s why the role of an older sibling would be hard.
Jessica: Is that why it is? My sister tends to listen to what I say more than what my mom says. I don’t think I can ever change roles because of Krystal.
Has there never been a single moment where Jessica thought, ‘If I was the younger one…’?
Jessica: I was jealous when my parents would take the youngest’s side saying ‘our baby’.
Krystal: But, my mom calls my sister ‘baby’ too, so I’m calling it a draw.
You have nicknames that only you two know, right?
Krystal: There aren’t special nicknames, but there is an episode that happened when calling names. At the company [building], I once asked Yoona unnie, “Where’s Jessica?” At the moment, she was really surprised at me not adding the word ‘unnie’.
Jessica: In America, she also just calls me ‘Jessica’, so it probably didn’t stick for her.
Krystal: So I just call her ‘Jessie’. I could have simply said that there aren’t any nicknames. My reply unintentionally went all over the place. Haha.
What thought dominates your minds lately?
Jessica: That it’s a good think that I chose this work. There was a time when someone asked me, ‘Aren’t you afraid that you might have to quit this work?’, but I don’t have any of those worries.
What kind of picture are you drawing for your future?
Jessica: I think I could attempt all kinds of various things. Rather than moving with one concept, I mean that I could experiment new things.
Krystal: It’s similar to the future I thought about. Because my sister’s so good with her words, there’s nothing more to add. Haha.
The photos will probably be put into the American ‘NYLON’ magazine. How do you want to appear to the American readers?
Jessica: I hope we appear pretty and charming. Americans first think about ‘eyes without double-eyelids’ when they think of Asians. I hope we appear, not like those typical Asians, but different.
Krystal: That’s a hard question. When reading a magazine, there are pages that you flip through easily, and there are others that you focus on. I hope our photoshoot is included in the latter. I hope it becomes pages that stay on people’s minds.
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Throughout the cover shoot for the June issue of ‘NYLON’, Girls’ Generation’s Jessica and f(x)’s Krystal looked more like friends than sisters. That’s because, despite their 5-year age difference, they connected on many things. From liking ddeokbokki and pasta, as well as liking natural stylings rather than dressing up. They are alike to the point where their voices become similar when they reach a certain range while singing. Also, from the way they guessed one another’s emotions during the interview that took place throughout the shoot, to the way they agreed and chatted about any reply, digressing from the interview, it wasn’t hard to see that they were both dear to one another. They both said, “There are people who mistake us for being arrogant and blunt, but we think it’s because we’re both honest. I think us being straightforward could make a person feel uncomfortable. However, through this photoshoot and interview, I hope the general public would see our sincerity.”
Once the photoshoot started, the sisters showed special chemistry. They leaned on one another’s shoulders and hugged, and even without special requests, the two showed gestures that they could only create when they’re together. Because of that, it was like seeing the two sisters’ usual selves, rather than a photoshoot. As soon as the shoot was over, they looked just like young girls, scurrying over to the US “NYLON” magazine’s editor-in-chief/photographer, Marvin, who they asked to take a photo and shake hands with.
Krystal complained cutely saying, “I think I struggled during the first part of the shoot. Korean photographers tell us a lot of things, but Marvin didn’t do any of that. I don’t think it’s a difference in the atmosphere of a Korean or American shoot, but preference. It was difficult to adjust at first. I struggled especially during my individual cuts, but it was a relief I was able to adjust to the atmosphere shortly after. I like all the pictures with my sister.”
He said they should review the photos together and gave considerate explanations. Everyone ought to have been exhausted with the shoot that carried on into 2 in the morning, but it was all thanks to the two sisters, who are more lovable than any sisters in the world, that the shoot was able to end with laughter.
Because they have good chemistry, they give each other advice about activities. The sisters had a warm appearance, saying how they can lean on each other whenever they’re going through a hard time without any burden. That’s why I thought it was natural for them to be doing the OnStyle reality program, ‘Cover Girl’, which will be airing in mid-June. Their daily lives that just looked as pretty as a picture. Their very ordinary lives, eating, drinking tea, and shopping. The sisters who only looked haughty and flashy. Jessica and Krystal, who live with their own rhythms, make us anticipate the fun in taking a look into their daily life.
