Hueningkai

* Korean
* Japanese

**Hueningkai** (휴닝카이) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and producer under Big Hit Music. He is the youngest member of the boy group TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

## Professional History

### **2016-2018: Auditioning & Trainee Period**

Kai and his older sister Lea would often audition for music agencies as a duo however they had not met much success doing this so they decided they would try one last audition before giving up. Although the duo never heard back from this final audition, one the staff present at the audition later went on to get a job at Big Hit and reached out to Kai to cast him.

After passing his audition, Kai started his two and a half year trainee period. Initially Kai just wanted to become a singer-songwriter, however Big Hit suggested he just 'try' dancing which eventually lead him to debut as an idol in a K-pop group.

### **March 2019: Debut with TOMORROW X TOGETHER**

On January 15, 2019, Hueningkai was introduced as the third member of TOMORROW X TOGETHER with the release of his teaser video on YouTube.

The group debuted on March 4, 2019 with their first mini album The Dream Chapter: STAR.

### **October 2019: First KOMCA credits**

Hueningkai helped in the writing and composition of the song Roller Coaster off TXT's first studio album The Dream Chapter: MAGIC, which made him the youngest K-pop idol to be registered under the Korean Music Copyright Association KOMCA.

### **January 2021: Listen**

On January 4, 2021, it was announced that Hueningkai and his group member Taehyun would host the EBS Radio show *Listen*. They hosted the show from January 10, 2021 up until May 2, 2021.

## Personal life

### Early Life

Hueningkai was born on August 14, 2002, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, under the birth name Kai Kamal Huening. He is of mixed ethnicity, with a Korean mother and a Brazilian born German-American father. Kai is the second child of his family; his older sister Lea was a member of the disbanded girl group VIVA, and has since debuted as a soloist. Kai's younger sister Bahiyyih has made her debut as part of the project group Kep1er formed through the survival show Girl's Planet 999 where she ranked 2nd.

Despite being born in Hawaii, Kai spent a lot of his childhood in China where his father was a TV personality and singer; the family stayed there for 8 years until they eventually moved back to Kai's mother's home country of South Korea.

### Education

Hueningkai attended Lila Art High School until he transferred to Hanlim Arts High School where his bandmates Beomgyu and Taehyun attended.

During his time at Hanlim, Kai was a student of the Practical Dance Department.

On February 9, 2021, it was announced that Hueningkai graduated from the Hanlim Arts High School.

## Credits

◯ = *Participates as writing/composer/producer*, ✖ = *Not participated as writing/composer/producer*

## Trivia

* **Education:**
	+ Yongmun Middle School (Graduated)
	+ Lila Art High School (Transferred)
	+ Hanlim Multi Art School (Practical Dance Department)
* His 1st video entitled **Introductory Film - What Do You Do?** has the morse code **DREAMING**.
* His 2nd video entitled **Questioning Film - What Do You See?** showed his animal symbol is gecko, with the morse code **SECRET** and the symbols of ♥.
	+ His TMI says:
		- Family: Father (German-Brazilian), mother (Korean), 1 older sister (Huening Lea) and 1 younger sister (Huening Bahiyyih).
		- Hobbies and specialties: playing instruments and video games.
		- Nickname: Hyuka, Ningning
		- He has triple eyelids but when he's sleepy it becomes a six-folds eyelids.
		- Loves egg tarts.
		- Loves skinship, especially touching Soobin's belly.
		- He's a music genius, he can play the piano, guitar, drums, etc.
		- He has a collection of plushies.
* He lived in China for 12 years.
* He was the third member to be announced.
* He can speak 3 languages: English, Korean, Japanese.
* His older sister was a former member of VIVA. And his younger sister, nowadays is a member of the girl group Kep1er. All three siblings hold American passports. For Huening Kai, this means he isn't obliged to serve in Korean Military.
* He is the first foreigner to debut under Big Hit.
* His Spotify playlist was officially released on March 19, 2019.
* He has perfect pitch. *Ability that only around 1 in 10,000 people are thought to possess.*
* He was interested in music since a young age and wanted to inspire people from it (Debut showcase).
* Hueningkai's representative animal is a penguin 🐧.
* Hueningkai is a skilled instrumentalist; he can play guitar, piano and drums. He also has perfect pitch.
* Due to his all-rounder abilities, Kai has earnt the nickname '4th Generation Diamond Maknae'.
* He is half Korean (mother) and half German (father). He also has Polish and Scottish descent from his father’s side.
* He likes mint chocolate chip ice cream (Fanmeeting 030619).
* His favorite foods are seafood and pizza (Spotify K-Pop Quiz).
* His favorite global artist is Bruno Mars (V-LIVE).
* His love for plushies made him friends with the creator of Molang, who is a cartoon character who has a huge popularity in South Korea.
* He has long legs and arms (TALK X TODAY Ep.1).
* He likes penguins and otters (TALK X TODAY Ep.5).
* He was in South Korea for kindergarten for a short time (Fansign 150319)
* His favorite movie is ‘Begin Again’ (Fansign 150319).
* His favorite colors are green (Fansign 150319) and black (Spotify K-Pop Quiz).
* He loves cats and said how he would love to raise one in a future. (Vlive).
* His solo fandom name is NINGDUNGIE (Fansign).
* His perfect home where he wants to live in one day is a cozy house with a yard (Vlive).
* His MBTI is ISTP.
* He doesn't have an ideal type, but one thing he likes is people with shorthair.
* The animal he's most compared to is the penguin.
* His outstanding and extraordinary beauty has given him the name of CGKAI by the netizens.
* He's the MAKNAE (youngest) of the group.
* He made a band with his friends during middle school, where he was the vocalist.
* He prefers the second male lead in series or movies than the male lead. (Vlive)
* He likes to call his groupmates "Oppa". (Weverse)
* His favourite season is winter.
* He thinks "I like you" it's more heart-fluttering than "I love you". (Weverse)
* He made a handmade cake for his mom on her birthday. (Vlive)
* His sisters said in different occasions that they really never fought because Huening kai is a very kind brother who always makes sure to take care of them. Even Taehyun, one of his bandmates and bestfriend, said in Weverse that Kai's relationship with his siblings is as if it came out of a fairytale.
* Huening kai is also knows by the name of "Netflix boy" by the netizens for his looks that reminds them of the male protagonists of Netflix series.
* He said someday wants to have the opportunity to visit his birthplace, Hawaii. (Vlive)

## References

1. ↑ Weverse Magazine Interview
2. ↑ ‘Introduction Film - What do you do?’ - 휴닝카이 (HUENINGKAI)
3. ↑ Soompi: TXT Chosen As New DJs For EBS Radio Show
4. ↑ Soompi: TXT’s Huening Kai And Taehyun To Step Down As DJs Of EBS Radio Show
5. ↑ Allkpop: Fans celebrate TOMORROW x TOGETHER's 'Hanlimz' graduating from high school by sharing their adorable yearbook photos
6. ↑ Spotify: #SpotifyxTXT Quiz
7. ↑ 5 REASONS THAT MAKE HUENING KAI THE DIAMOND MAKNAE OF TXT.
8. ↑ HUENING KAI AND HIS TOP 5 PLUSHIE MOMENTS
9. ↑ Hueningkai Reveals He’s Attracted To Someone With Short Hair
10. ↑ Knetz choose TXT Huening Kai as a idol who will really suits as the male lead in Netflix high teen drama!