An “R U Next” Contestant Bursts Into Tears After An Unexpected Encounter With LE SSERAFIM

On a new episode of HYBE‘s girl group debut project R U Next?, a contestant got a surprise that brought her to tears.

FUNA | HYBE

R U Next? consists of 22 trainees who share the goal of being picked to debut as HYBE’s new girl group. Recently, they divided into groups based on their ranking, and each group was assigned a K-Pop song to perform. After one group’s assessment performance of LE SSERAFIM‘s “Fearless” in front of the coaches, they received feedback.

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YEWON was complimented by the coaches for her stable voice while singing high notes and dancing simultaneously.

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FUNA, on the other hand, was criticized as “not being memorable” because she failed to stand out amongst the group. She expressed her sadness of not even being recognized as good or bad—but as invisible.

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After the coaches’ feedback, the girls went right back to practicing. Suddenly, the show’s producer told them to watch a video of them practicing so that they could watch themselves and fix any errors. However, the iPad the producer brought over showed something completely unrelated that made all of them yell and cover their mouths in shock.

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The girls realized they were on a video call with none other than the five members of LE SSERAFIM.

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The contestants were so excited and honored to speak with their seniors. LE SSERAFIM’s Sakura asked if there were any non-Korean members in the group, and FUNA, a Japanese member, had a chance to talk with her role model. FUNA had mentioned that Sakura was her role model in the past, so this was a special moment for her that made her eyes water. They were happy tears, however, given that Sakura blew her a kiss!

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It was when LE SSERAFIM asked about FUNA’s difficult day that brought her to tears. Yunjin mentioned what happened earlier with the coaches’ feedback during their assessment.

I heard that you showed tears at today’s asessment… Why did you cry? It breaks my heart!

— Yunjin

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The LE SSERAFIM members advised the aspiring K-Pop stars; Chaewon told them not to get discouraged because it’s just the end result that matters.

Even if you get negative feedback during the assessment, I don’t want you to get too discouraged. In the end, if you rock it on the final stage, that’s all that matters. Hwaiting!

— Chaewon

Before they said goodbye, Chaewon cheered for them, shouting, “The one who holds out wins!” Yunjin reminded them to just enjoy and have fun.

The one who enjoys wins! Enjoy today!

— Yunjin

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LE SSERAFIM is a powerful group that sings about being fearless, and it appears they reminded the contestants to be fearless as well! They poured their love and encouragement for their juniors, making all their days—especially FUNA.

Watch the whole interaction here.