WJSN's Dayoung Thought Her Solo Debut Was a One-Time Shot, Then 10 Million Streams Changed Everything

Dayoung, a member of girl group WJSN (also known as Cosmic Girls), nearly walked away from solo music before it even had a chance to begin. "When I was preparing my first solo, I genuinely thought it would be my last," she told reporters at Starship Entertainment's Seoul office on April 2. "I had almost no expectation that I'd get to do it again."

That first single, Body, proved her fears wrong in a significant way. According to Starship Entertainment, the track peaked at No. 9 on Melon's Top 100 chart, surpassed 10 million cumulative streams, sparked a widespread dance challenge, and claimed the top spot on SBS funE's The Show. "Seeing so many people cover it and love it, that was the first time I thought, 'Maybe there's a next time,'" Dayoung said.

That next time arrives on April 7 with her second single, What's a Girl to Do. The release includes the title track alongside a second song, Priceless (kaching kaching), with Dayoung contributing to the writing and composition of every track. She described the record as a natural extension of the bold, energetic identity she carved out with Body, only pushed further. "If I gave 100% for Body, I gave 150% for this one," she said. "I barely slept. I was focused on nothing else."

The new single is designed to land without barriers. "I wanted the music, the story, and the dance to feel accessible, not overwhelming," Dayoung explained. "Rather than flashy production tricks, I wanted to express everything through three straight minutes of dancing and singing my heart out." It's a philosophy that informed her approach to Body as well, where she insisted on performing live on music broadcast stages. "When people said it had the feel of early 2000s K-pop, I was genuinely happy," she said.

Getting to this point took three years of quiet, deliberate preparation while still active with WJSN. Dayoung reworked her vocal technique, kept up English studies, and threw herself into songwriting, even flying to the United States to collaborate directly with composers for her debut album. "WJSN just hit its 10th year, but as a solo artist I'm not even one year in," she said. "It took three years just to prove to myself that I could do this. I was desperate."

Her solo image marks a visible shift from her WJSN days. The bleached hair and bronzed complexion that have become her solo trademark aren't reinvention for the sake of it, they're simply who she is. "This is actually my natural self. I've always loved bold makeup and dressing up," she said. "When I was in the group, I tried to fit the group's image as much as possible. My members told me, 'Finally, Dayoung is living as herself.' And for the record, it's not a tan. That's my real skin tone. Ultimately, what I want to show isn't sexiness so much as vitality."

Throughout the interview, Dayoung returned to one word repeatedly: happy. "I feel like I've been reborn," she said. She also shared that her parents have been moved by the response, her mother, she noted with a laugh, changed her messenger profile picture to a photo of Dayoung for the first time ever.

The happiness runs deep, rooted in a dream she has carried since she was four years old. "Being a singer was my dream from age four. When I was five, I drew a picture at an art class, it was me, mouth wide open, singing," she said. "The fact that I'm actually living that now still feels like a dream."

Dayoung also revealed that she already has around 10 solo songs written and ready to go, signaling a clear intent to keep building. "If this new single does well, the next activity follows," she said plainly. She read a handwritten letter aloud to assembled press at the showcase, closing with words that captured the weight of the moment: "This album holds so much of our time, our deliberation, and our sincerity. Today isn't just a comeback interview for me, it's a chance to express my gratitude for the journey that led here."