'I ran hard because I was afraid RESCENE would disappear': Woni's candid video hits 9 million views in 3 days

Woni, a member of girl group RESCENE, has opened up about the struggles she faced early in her career and shared her honest thoughts on the popularity the group now enjoys, in a video that has gone viral.

On Saturday, a video titled "Woni's Update" was posted to her YouTube channel "Hello I'm Woni Nice to Meet You," which has about 1.93 million subscribers.

In the video, Woni performed a skit imagining her daily life as a top star in 2036, ten years from now. Fellow member Liv played the role of her personal assistant. Woni depicted the life of a celebrity — living on the 99th floor of Signiel Seoul in Jamsil and traveling in a luxury car.

As the two rode in the car, Woni and Liv reacted with playful, wide-eyed wonder — remarking that the door opened the wrong way, calling it amazing, and marveling at how smooth the seatbelt felt — all while staying in character.

When they passed by the area where the group had first lived together, Woni broke into candid reflection while still in character. "Isn't this where our first place was? It was tough. We really went through a lot," she said. "I ran hard because I was afraid RESCENE would disappear. I really ran with everything I had."

She also spoke about the pressure she had felt at the time. "The other members were still pretty young, so they worried a little less — but I had already become an adult and then debuted," she said.

When Liv said she thought of the members not as individuals but as family, Woni revealed just how close the group had grown. "We used to talk among ourselves — even if we completely flopped, let's do something else together," she said. "We even talked about pooling our money to open a cafe." Woni also credited the group's producer and their YouTube channel for their rise. "I wonder what our lives would have been like if we hadn't met the PD," she said. "It's true that this channel is what made us famous."

Still, Woni did not hide her anxiety about how long the current wave of attention would last. "This needs to keep going for a long time. Even just one more year," she said.

The video surpassed 6 million views within a single day. As of Monday afternoon, it had logged 9.04 million views and more than 28,900 comments.

RESCENE — made up of Woni, Liv, Minami, May and Zena — first drew attention on the channel with their reaction to "Geoje Yaho." Their 2024 single "LOVE ATTACK" subsequently charted on a reverse run, reaching No. 1 on Melon's Top 100 and topping a terrestrial music broadcast chart for the first time.

choigo@heraldcorp.com