At the age of twelve, he studied at Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand for a year and a half and moved back to the United States to finish his schooling at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California. After high school, he was a coach at Rosemead High School for their badminton team. There, he was scouted by a scout manager of JYP Entertainment at the Los Angeles Korean Music Festival.