Girls' Generation's YoonA revealed the reason why she still speaks formally to her fellow groupmate and same-age friend, Sooyoung.

On December 18, a video titled "Girls' Generation YOONA and HYOYEON's Daytime Drinking" was uploaded to the YouTube channel 'Hyo's Level Up.'

During the video, Hyoyeon playfully brought up the topic, saying, "I heard that Sooyoung told you to speak informally to her once. But since Sooyoung naturally has a bit of an intimidating vibe, that didn’t happen, right? I should stir this up a bit," she teased. YoonA laughed and responded, "Yeah, that conversation has come up several times, ever since way back."

For context, Sooyoung was born in February 1990, while YoonA was born in May 1990. Despite only being three months apart, YoonA has been calling Sooyoung "unnie" (older sister) since their debut.

YoonA explained, "Since we were really young, she became friends with the '89-line unnies. I’ve always been pretty strict about following the 'early-year-born' age hierarchy." Hyoyeon added, "It’s lucky for Sooyoung that you aren’t so sensitive about this kind of stuff. These days, people don’t really follow the 'early-year-born' rule anymore."

YoonA continued, "But since I was already calling the '89-liners' 'unnie' and treating them as older sisters, it felt weird to start treating Sooyoung as a same-age friend. If I suddenly started speaking informally to her, I’d have to do the same with all the unnies, which would feel awkward." She added, "If Sooyoung had met me first and told me, 'Just talk comfortably with me,' then maybe we could’ve become friends. But by the time I met her, she had already become friends with the older members and was calling them friends."

Hyoyeon remarked, "People think there’s a huge age gap between us, but it’s actually just a one- or two-year difference. But since Seohyun says stuff like, 'Did you eat, unnie?' so formally,  it makes it seem like there’s a big age gap. At this point, you’d think it would have relaxed a bit. But YoonA is easygoing, so it’s fine." YoonA responded, "Ah, I see. From that perspective, I guess some people might think I should just start speaking informally, but I hadn’t thought of it that way."

Hyoyeon clarified, "It’s not like we insist on using formal speech. Absolutely not." YoonA agreed, "Not at all." Hyoyeon then added, "I think Seohyun’s just so used to it. Once we get older, it’ll probably ease up naturally." YoonA nodded, saying, "Yeah, you’re right. But it’s not as easy as it sounds."

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