A former member of the group ZE:A (JeA), Kim Tae-heon, shared candid updates about his life.
On the 9th, a video titled "Quitting the Chinese restaurant and a new challenge… a ZE:A member met in Dongincheon" was uploaded to the YouTube channel "One Mic." Standing in front of the camera for the first time in a while, Kim Tae-heon introduced himself, saying, "I was active as a ZE:A rapper, and now I'm working hard at standing on my own."
He said he is currently staying in Incheon and added, "My agency is in Incheon, so I'm staying around here. I closed the Chinese restaurant I was running," sharing how his daily life changed after operating the Chinese restaurant.
He said, "I've put the restaurant business aside for a while and now I'm working part-time at a construction site. It's work a friend offered me, and doing it feels like mentally rearming myself," and explained, "I mainly do machine-sweeping (floor-smoothing work) and digging with a shovel." He added that he was originally scheduled to go to work that day but the schedule was delayed due to rain.
Kim Tae-heon candidly discussed the adjustment process after being an idol. "In the past, managers solved everything for me. I didn't know anything about society," he said. "So I wondered what I could learn and started the construction site part-time job. There I shared soju with people who work from dawn and learned a lot about society," he said.
He also mentioned his experience at a Coupang logistics center. He recalled, "When I moved and couldn't do the construction site part-time job, I worked at Coupang, and there were many people doing side jobs there too. Eating together and talking, I learned a lot about society."
He went on, "You have to do anything to make a living. Two and a half years ago, there wasn't even 1,000 won in my bank account," and added, "I also enjoyed running the Chinese restaurant. It was hard because I had to smile for eight to nine hours, but treating customers as fans and serving them became a fond memory."
Kim Tae-heon continues his music activities steadily. He said he released a new song he made while missing his mother, who recently died of breast cancer, and added, "After giving up the Chinese restaurant I was afraid and scared, but there are good people around me who give me strength."
[Photo] OSEN DB / YouTube capture
[OSEN]