How Soobin and Arin Raised the Bar at ‘Music Bank’
Screenshot from Music Bank
Soobin heard Arin’s bright, friendly laugh before he saw her.
He was at the WM studios, home of Arin’s group Oh My Girl, to meet his new co-host of Music Bank, the weekly music program that airs on KBS World. Soobin was nervous, not just because he is shy, but also because this would be his first time working with someone who wasn’t a member of his group Tomorrow x Together.
He struggled to find the words to complete a full sentence after a Music Bank producer asked him to introduce himself. He was distracted by the thought of meeting Arin. “We’ve never met before, so…” His voice trailed off as he heard a girl’s voice coming from down the hall.
“Oh she’s here?” He motioned towards the door and his eyes widened. Suddenly, Soobin took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. His blue hair, which would soon become iconic for MOAs (TXT’s fanbase), looked especially shiny under the studio lights.
And then, Arin walked in, appearing seeming magical with her boisterous laugh. After getting to know her, Soobin would learn that Arin’s laugh is what disarms guests, and here, too, with him, her laughter made him a little less nervous. They stood to introduce themselves, as Soobin shyly covered his face with his hands and said, “I look forward to working with you.” He then asked Arin to have a seat and waited for her to sit down before he joined her.
Arin didn’t know much about Soobin before he was announced as her co-host, but when she searched for him online she realized she is his senior. This was unique for Arin who is the macknae of Oh My Girl. She believed it was her role, as the older host, to put Soobin at ease. She could see, especially in this moment, how anxious he was.
“I’ll take good care of you,” she assured him. She let out another laugh, but she meant the promise.
“I get very shy with strangers,” Soobin told Arin about his decision to become an MC. “So I thought to myself that I should be more brave.”
When the pair began to rehearse for their Music Bank stages, I noticed that Soobin’s shirt endearingly read “I BELIEVE IN MYSELF”. He encouraged himself to join Music Bank and be brave — even if it was uncomfortable.
Variety shows like Music Bank are essential framework in the K-Pop machine. They’ve aired since the 90s and they are designed as a marketing tool to promote comebacks to the thousands of fans who tune in. Throughout nearly three decades, idols have hosted shows like Inkigayo, Music Bank and Show! Music Core as an added boost to their careers.
Yet no one cared about variety show hosts until Soobin and Arin became MCs at Music Bank.
They set the bar.
Every week for a year and a half the MC Akong’s (Soobin and Arin’s MC nickname) cheerful banter and absolute commitment to the absurdity of variety shows made Music Bank a joy to watch. It was their chemistry that made them so likable. They felt like real friends - first to each other and then to us. As we got to know them, their humor became like inside jokes to us. And as much as we loved them, their guests adored them. Whether it was Eunhyuk and Donghae teasing Soobin about going off script, or Jessi proclaiming that her dream collab was with MC Akong, Soobin and Arin made Music Bank a place for idols to feel deeply human to us.
Arin after messing up a pose in the opening of an interview with Mamamoo.
Soobin and Arin’s interviews allowed idols to joke around, mess up and show that they are just like us. In videos uploaded to the Music Bank YouTube page, Arin and Soobin would often be seen a few seconds before going live on air. In some videos, Arin would be so hysterical that she’d hold a cue card to cover her face as she regained composure before air time. Those kinds of moments made us relate to them. They felt so normal!
What I, and so many others, appreciated about Soobin and Arin was that they were unafraid of being imperfect. Instead, their authenticity came from their ability to laugh at themselves and then at each other.
They were so natural that you'd never know what a stretch Music Bank was for the introvert MCs at first.
Even by Soobin’s acknowledgment, Arin was the best prepared for Music Bank. She held four years of experience over her co-host as a member of Oh My Girl when she debuted in April of 2015 at the age of sixteen. But Arin is also an actress. In 2020 she made her film debut in the high school comedy “The World of My 17”, and has since starred in several dramas and movies.
There is a thoughtfulness and empathy to Arin that often came across on Music Bank. She could sense, for instance, when Soobin was nervous or a guest needed encouragement and it likely comes from her own nature. “I’m usually calm, and I don’t talk a lot. I like being alone too,” she told Esquire in 2020. “Usually, people think I’m cute and bright as the youngest member of the group, but I’m actually very different from that image.”
Speaking up for herself, too, was difficult, especially in the beginning of her time with Oh My Girl. “I usually don’t share my worries or feelings [with people], so in the beginning, my members were upset about that,” she explained. “A long time ago, we used to have a set meeting date, but I couldn’t really share my inner thoughts. I would always say I’m okay, so they were disappointed because they wanted me to tell them how I truly feel.”
Soobin mirrored Arin well. Quiet and observant by nature, Soobin recently said how proud he is of his growth since debut. “In the beginning, I was really introverted,” he told Paper. "I couldn't really say the things that I wanted to say. Now, I can't hold myself back anymore. If there's something that needs to be said, then I say it."
Soobin was always determined to be a singer. In ninth grade, he emailed an audition video to Big Hit despite his parents disapproval. But he was a huge fan of K-Pop and it was his dream to be an idol. “They wanted me to study," Soobin recalled. "They didn't want me to be a trainee, but they saw how much I wanted this and how hard I was trying."
Even though he’s in one of the most popular groups of the fourth generation, Soobin is still K-Pop’s biggest fans. In one video that went viral recently, Soobin played STAYC’s new track “Beautiful Monster” on V-Live.
“I love this song,” he said quietly. “But I don’t know all the words yet.” He tried to sing along anyway.
“Dolphin” was the first sign that MC Akong was going to succeed at Music Bank. Soobin and Arin debuted with three songs on their first day of the show: “Hawaiian Couple”, TXT’s “9 and Three Quarters” and, finally, Oh My Girl’s “Dolphin”. The latter became a smash hit.
What made this performance so brilliant and so unique is that Soobin and Arin embraced how uncool the stage could’ve been. Dressed in blue and white outfits with an aqua blue underwater set to match, the two MCs maximized the sweetness in the song. They made heart signs with their hands and mimicked the shape of a dolphin. Their willingness to perform aegyo, a style of Korean culture that emphasizes cuteness, with a totally straight face and not one trace of irony sold the performance. It also presented something that cannot be manufactured: They collaborated extremely well together. To date “Dolphin” has been viewed 32 million times on YouTube.
Screenshot from Soobin and Arin’s “Secret Garden” performance.
But my favorite stage is their final performance together of Secret Garden”, also by Oh My Girl.
For this stage, which is designed to resemble the garden of a sweeping white home, Soobin and Arin are costumed in formal black and white outfits complete with white capes. The choreography for this is one of my favorites. Soobin’s performance begins with a bow and I am always struck by how he never once tries to inject any masculinity into his performance. In fact, he seems to embrace the femininity of the choreography and sings in a high falsetto that pairs gorgeously with Arin’s light voice. The performance and set resemble the magic of a Hayao Miyazaki film. In this hidden world, we could be in Miyazaki’s Swept Away.
Late at night last year I would often come back to this performance and wish, just for once, I could visit this secret garden. Things looked happier there.
We would’ve been happy if they never left.
Music Bank did, in fact, make Soobin braver.
“My heart would pound like crazy before going live,” Soobin recalled in a 2021 interview near the end of their time as MCs. “But after a year and a half as MC, I haven’t felt nervous at all. Music Bank made my heart stronger.”
Arin agreed. “I’m the youngest of my group [Oh My Girl],” she said. “I never really had to speak long during interviews. But now other members give me a chance to talk.” She laughed as she recalled this. “I have definitely improved my speaking abilities.”
Soobin’s ease on air was almost all thanks to Arin. Over the past year she had stayed true to her promise: she was there for him and supported him at every taping.
“I usually blank and start free-talking if things don’t go as I planned,” Soobin said as Arin nodded and smiled. “When this happens, I make a rough guideline and start talking about whatever comes to my mind. And Arin immediately follows my lead. We understand each other perfectly now.”
“When we first started, I thought Arin settled in well because she was experienced as someone who debuted before and was an actress,” Soobin said. “However, in my case, I was constantly making mistakes.” But over time he improved. Arin helped. “If we can, we'd like to continue as MC’s for 3, 4 or countless years.”
Soobin and Arin’s last episode of Music Bank aired on October 1st. Good things never last forever, but we wished they could stay. Our Fridays were a little happier with Soobin and Arin here.
