ATEEZ recently opened up about the intense conflicts they faced with their agency prior to their official debut.

ATEEZ Confess They Once Ran Away During Trainee Days

During their appearance on the JTBC variety show Knowing Bros, the members were asked if they had ever wanted to run away during their trainee days. They confessed that while they dreamed of making their debut in the debut team, the company kept postponing the timeline, which eventually drove them to run away.

Member Yunho shared, “The company delayed deciding the debut team for five months. I felt like we needed to flip this situation. All eight of us went to Mingi’s house instead of going to the company.”

Mingi Explains the Plan to Stay United

Mingi added, “When you share a single mindset, you must not betray each other. I thought we needed to keep the members confined so no one could betray the group. We collected all eight cell phones. The company calls trainees in order of their entry dates. You shouldn’t pick up, right? If someone is alone, they might answer the call. The rest of us would get cut. We agreed not to answer the calls together and lived at my house for a week.”

Seonghwa recalled the baffling situation, saying, “I had only been in the company for six months, and I heard the guys were running away. When I asked about it, they told me we had to share one single mindset.”

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Turning the Crisis Into a Debut Opportunity

Choi San explained how they ultimately turned the crisis into an opportunity, stating, “We got heavily scolded. At the time, we had monthly evaluations—we took them five times a month. We were told to take responsibility for our mistakes. We later heard behind-the-scenes stories that the company didn’t think we could pull it off. We gritted our teeth and spent two sleepless weeks working on it. That was when the company finally made up their minds,” revealing that this pivotal moment allowed them to finally debut.