Thai K-pop idol Minnie, who is a member of girl group (G)-IDLE, has reflected on her days as a trainee and how she eventually made her debut.

In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar Thailand, Minnie talked about her journey as a musician and how she became a K-pop idol. Minnie revealed that she auditioned at a tutoring institute she had been attending and received an offer to train in Korea. With one year left of high school, she opened up about the dilemma she faced back then.

“At the time, I really wanted to go to university… That was my plan, to study at a Thai university. The idea of being a Korean artist wasn’t in my mind,” she said. Minnie called it a tough decision, as she was unsure whether she wanted to take the risk of going to Korea to become a K-pop idol.

“I can say that it was the biggest decision in my life. I didn’t know if this would work. I didn’t know if I would have a chance to debut,” she told Harper’s Bazaar Thailand.

However, the singer shared that her mother encouraged her to take the opportunity, as it was something that many others wanted. Her mother also assured her that she could always come home if she did not enjoy it. “So I tried it,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I liked it and I stayed there for a long stay.”

When asked about whether it was hard to be a trainee, Minnie simply nodded and laughed. “You can see it on my face,” she said. She went on to talk about some of the difficulties she faced due to the language barrier.

“At first, I couldn’t speak Korean at all. I couldn’t communicate […] I think language is the most important thing,” Minnie shared. “When I started to communicate and get along, I started to enjoy it.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the singer talked about some of the moments where she felt downhearted. Minnie also confessed that she cried everyday in her first three months as a trainee, nothing that she “wanted to come home. I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

However, she managed to motivate herself and continue training. “I have gone this far. I can be down but I can’t quit. I have to do something for myself,” she recounted saying to herself.

In other (G)-IDLE news, group member Jeon Soyeon is preparing to make a comeback as a soloist. However, her agency CUBE Entertainment also noted that a release date for Soyeon’s new music has yet to be decided, saying that “the schedule is still being worked out”.