KEY POINTS

  • Bang Chan and I.N were paired up in the latest "2 Kids Room" episode
  • I.N said he would have debuted with another band if it was not for Bang Chan's help
  • I.N said he could have become the leader of a younger boy group

Stray Kids' I.N and Bang Chan share a special bond and there is a reason for that. The younger band member says it is Bang Chan who helped him carve a musical career with the successful fourth-generation boy band when he was a K-pop trainee.

In the recent episode of Stray Kids' Youtube series "2 Kids Room," Bang Chan and I.N talked about their close friendship and how the Stray Kids leader feels comfortable opening up about his concerns to I.N despite the latter being the youngest member of the group.

"I feel pretty comfortable talking about my concerns to you," Bang Chan told 22-year-old Yang Jeong-In, also known as I.N.

"I'm a pretty good listener," I.N replied.

Bang Chan, 26, then playfully scolded his fellow Stray Kids member, "You don't talk about your concerns to me!"

As the pair discussed their friendship, the other Stray Kids members – Han, Changbin and Seungmin – huddled in another room and talked about the special closeness between the band's oldest and youngest members, which they likened to the bond between brothers.

"They have that vibe. Not like real siblings but like older and younger brothers," Han said. Hyunjin recalled that he saw Bang Chan practicing with I.N on a weekend after hearing that the latter was having a hard time learning a song's choreography.

I.N then discussed how Bang Chan helped him debut with the group in 2018 after winning a talent survival reality show from JYP Entertainment in 2017.

"When I was a trainee, I was on the kids' team, if it weren't for you, I might have been in a different group," the "Venom" singer said with a wide smile. "I could've debuted with the younger trainees. I might have been the leader there."

"When we were trainees, all the employees trusted you and counted on you so if I had stayed a trainee, I thought I might have turned out that way too," he told Bang Chan who was listening intently.

Bang Chan later quipped, "But in my opinion, if I.N had been the leader, I think he would have done a pretty good job. He would have been a stricter, scarier older brother than I was."

Stray Kids' latest album "Oddinary" debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 following its release on March 18. The seven-track album sold 110,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. by March 24.

"Oddinary" is still one of the top-selling albums in the U.S. this week, according to Billboard.

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