AHOF's Cha Woong-gi: Six Survival Shows Later, a K-Pop Debut That Stuck

"A lot of people told me, 'Why are you still clinging to something that isn't going to happen?'" Cha Woong-gi said. "I just never believed it wouldn't."

Eight years after first walking into a trainee room, the AHOF member finally feels like he is where he belongs. K-POPIT recently sat down with him at its office in Seoul.

Cha has been moving nonstop since AHOF debuted in July. He said he practices until 2 a.m. before heading to the makeup shop by 6 a.m. He doesn't seem to mind.

"Even with no sleep, I like working. It puts me at ease," he said with a smile. "Maybe because I never got to be this busy before, being busy feels good. I think it suits me."

His path to AHOF runs through nearly every major K-POP survival show of the past several years. Cha first debuted in 2020 with TO1 after appearing on a survival program, but the group never gained major traction. He later competed on Mnet's "Boys Planet," where he was eliminated before the final lineup. Although he did not make the debut group, his skills and positive energy left a strong impression on viewers. He returned to the survival format through SBS's "Universe League" and this time secured a spot in the final lineup, debuting again as a member of AHOF.

AHOF's start has been anything but quiet. The group's debut album surpassed 360,000 copies in first-week sales.

"I checked the numbers every day," Cha said. "My last group's debut album sold around 8,000 copies in its first week, if I remember correctly. I never expected results like this. It's overwhelming."

The group has also picked up several music show trophies. When AHOF was announced as the winner for the first time, Cha broke down in tears on stage. "Honestly, I cried even more after it was over," he said. "I didn't think we'd win. It was a moment I'd waited a long time for. I'm not the only member who re-debuted. A lot of us had been waiting for that moment, and when our name was called, the tears just came. The trophy is heavier than I expected, but I was so happy I felt like I could juggle it."

The moment carried extra meaning because Cha helped write the song. "It's a track about chasing a dream with everything you have," he said. "I tried to put the feelings I had during 'Universe League' into it. I'd write until sunrise, erase everything and start over. I was already two days past the deadline. Then around 4 a.m., I finally had a version I liked. I knew it was rude, but I messaged producer El Capitxn right then. He checked it immediately and said he loved it. I got teary lying in bed because I felt like I'd done it."

Cha has now appeared on six survival shows. Many people around him told him to give up on becoming an idol.

"Friends tried to stop me. I said negative things to myself too," he said. "I'm 24 in Korean age. That's old for a rookie idol, isn't it? But I kept thinking that if I gave it one more proper shot, I could make it. If it didn't work this time, at least I wouldn't have any regrets. So I worked harder. For my 'Universe League' profile photos, I didn't drink water for almost 30 hours because I wanted to look good. I trained a lot. I couldn't show up the same as before. I wanted to come back better, both in skill and image."

Asked what he would tell younger contestants now that he is a survival-show veteran, he thought back to "Boys Planet." "When I was eliminated, people kept telling me, 'If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be,'" he said. "They weren't wrong. But whether it works or not isn't for other people to decide. That's up to you."

He still remembers hearing his name called for AHOF's final lineup. "The fans in front of me were crying," he said. "Of course, I'd waited to stand on a stage like that, but the fans had waited even longer. I was happy, but part of me felt sorry that I'd made them wait."

The difficult years, he said, shaped him. "Having my mood swing thousands of times a day because of a single ranking was really tough. I can't say I enjoyed 'Boys Planet.' I was anxious the whole time. I couldn't breathe."

But he said "Universe League" felt different. "I actually got to do what I wanted to do and enjoy it. Now that I've been through all of it, I feel like I can handle anything. If my company told me tomorrow to go on another survival show, I could go in and have fun with it," he joked.

AHOF also has a storyline fans have followed closely. Cha and Zhang Shuaibo first met on "Boys Planet" in 2023, where they ended up on the same team and clashed while preparing for a performance. They reunited on "Universe League" and eventually debuted together in AHOF.

"After the show ended, we stayed on good terms. It was a nice goodbye," Cha said before laughing. "I really thought I'd never see him again."

Now, he said, they share a room as roommates. "We talk about things we're worried about. We're really close. It made me realize you never know how life is going to turn out."

Having usually been the youngest person in the room, Cha now finds himself taking on an older-brother role. On Nov. 30, just two months after AHOF's debut, the group held its first fan-con at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila in front of around 10,000 fans.

"I've been around longer than some of the members," he said. "When I'm with them, I feel like I should be the brave one. I felt like I had to look after the younger members, so I didn't show it much, but inside I was really nervous."

Before going on stage, he watched the crowd through a backstage monitor. "I saw the venue packed with fans, and when I actually walked out, there were even more people than I imagined. I was drenched in sweat during the show, but I was just happy. I thought, 'This is what I love.'"

"In the end, we're getting good results, and I'm in a really happy place right now," he said. "Maybe there was a reason it took so long. Maybe I was waiting for this moment."

From his first day as a trainee to his first fan-con, eight years had passed. Several survival programs were airing when "Universe League" began, and Cha said he received offers from more than one. "My choice was 'Universe League,'" he said. "I just had a feeling. Cha Woong-gi of AHOF, not some other group. It fits, doesn't it? People around me say the same thing."

Cha began his career as a child actor. He has acting credits, an interest in songwriting and composing, and ambitions beyond the stage. "I want to be good at a lot of things," he said. "When I introduce myself, I say I'm a 'multi-talented all-rounder.' I want people to say, 'Wait, he does that too? Why is he showing up there?'" If he has his way, that all-rounder reputation is only getting started.