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Jinyoung shares he almost left GOT7, fans feel 'another level of sadness'

Jinyoung explains his 'stern' personality made it difficult for him to fit in with GOT7's image and that his actions felt dishonest

There had been fake rumors that GOT7 left JYPE because the old agency did not want to renew its contracts with all of the members. But it seems that we indeed almost lost one member. Idol actor Park Jinyoung who is now a K-drama favorite from starring in the likes of ‘Yumi’s Cells’ to being cast in the Netflix hit film ‘Yaksha’ recently revealed that he almost thought of leaving GOT7 and the entertainment industry, especially in 2021 after the boys parted ways from JYPE.

2021 was a good year for Jinyoung’s fans as we got the special single ‘Dive’ and several K-dramas like ‘The Devil Judge’ and ‘Yumi’s Cells’. The GOT7 star was also busy with his movies from ‘Yaksha’ to ‘Christmas Carol’ in which he plays twin roles. Ahgases (GOT7’s fandom) were also touched due to his commitment to the roles as Jinyoung who is not known to experiment with his hair got a buzz cut for ‘Christmas Carol’. And he has been more than happy and active during GOT7’s latest comeback.

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Jinyoung was unhappy

However, during a group interview with GQ Australia, Jinyoung shared that his stern personality made those around him uncomfortable. The idol actor explained, “You’ve seen me in the past few days, I’m very light and playful with my members…that’s what’s changed. Before, when we went overseas or had schedules, I'd be the quiet, stern one. I just felt like I had to be that person. I was too, too serious.” He added that while he had his funny moments on camera he felt that he was different off camera and even when he was trying his best he wasn’t being honest.

Jinyoung revealed that since GOT7 has an image of being loud, talkative, and chaotic he was pressurized which made him 60-70% of the time unhappy. He explained that he wanted to leave and only stayed because his fans, family and GOT7 members believed in him, “By 2021, I felt so uncomfortable with my personality. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was about me and the way I looked at the world. I’d always blamed others — why did they do this or that? — and thought I wasn’t the problem, they were. But looking at myself in an unbiased way, I felt like, ‘I’m not perfect, I have my own flaws’. And when I realised that, I realised I had to change.”

He shares he changed during this comeback

Even during his ending statement at the latest GOT7 fancon, he had similarly said, “I always felt…is it possible to like me…just as we are? I think I doubted this a lot as well in the past…I wanted to show my good sides, in a certain way some actions may have been considered fake. And behind the scenes, it was tough for me and it made it tough for others as well.”

“For this team promotion, it’s such a period of happiness for me because now I know how to act towards the members. I feel more comfortable,” Jinyoung told GQ which is visible in how he joked and played around during their Naver Now and Twitter Blueroom schedules. He also felt alone without GOT7 as he shared with W Korea, “I've been a singer and actor in parallel before, but I've never been completely alone. It was only at the beginning of this year that I found stability.”

‘Tysm for staying with us’

Fans were truly sad that he had to struggle alone, “Mark & Jinyoung,my loves had thoughts of leaving the industry last year hurt my heart really bad. I didn’t even notice when they were suffering inside like that. Honestly,I don’t know what I gonna do without them? Just Tysm for staying with us, for everything.” One Ahgase tweeted, “Hearing jinyoung singing this part after knowing he once thought of leaving the industry completely because happiness is not with him at all is another level of sadness. he chose not to give up after that because he knows there’s still lots of people supporting him -.”

Another fan cheered him, “Each one of #GOT7 members went through a lot after leaving the company they have been for more than 7 years, they were so close together i cannot imagine how heartbreaking was for them to start their journey by themselves #JINYOUNG you're doing so good.” One commented, “I am so happy for Jinyoung wow he really had such an inner turmoil that he has been dealing with. I even remember how he made the song “My Youth” that was just showed us little bit of how he felt. It makes me so grateful to see his smile now these days laughing with his members.”