[TRANS] NYLON Korea Baekhyun Interview

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There are things everyone says about Baekhyun of EXO. “Cute”, or “lovely”. Everyone treats him like a cute younger brother, despite the fact that at 25 years old he is not that young after all. We wondered what it would be like if we put him in a sexy and dream-like setting. We couldn’t take the time to ask everyone, but 20 or so of the people on set seemed both excited and nervous. They thought the photo shoot might take a while. In the end, he lived up to all of our good expectations. Relaxing his eyes, and letting his limbs lay loose, but still having the sense to give a strong gaze to the camera every few shots. But he didn’t give off some overly masculine (”macho”) sexy feeling. He created his own space somewhere between being a boy and being a man, and let himself enjoy the photo shoot while moving freely within that space. The few hours of the photo shoot weren’t filled with exclamations from the staff, instead everyone just quietly watched him at play. Everyone was amazed by this new, unexpected side of Baekhyun. During the interview after completing the shoot, we asked him about any precious memories he never wanted to let go of. His answer was “right now”. “One day I suddenly realized something. In the beginning, I was really uncomfortable with everyone being interested in me, or taking pictures without my knowing. I felt like my freedom was being opposed upon. But I tried to imagine what I’d think of it when I’m thirty, and I’ve lost most of my popularity. I felt like I’d regret being uncomfortable with the interest everyone showed in me. At some point I just started feeling thankful for it.” He then thanked all of the people on the set for their hard work before continuing with the interview. Even that was cute, in its own way. The mysterious Baekhyun from the photo shoot was gone, and I was able to greet the cute Baekhyun we all know.

Watching you today, it seems like you enjoyed the photo shoot. All your poses and expressions are very natural.

It’s fun to wear a lot of different styles during photo shoots, and it’s cool to look at the pictures on the monitor after taking them, so I like it. It’s fun to be able to do something I’m not normally able to do.

Today the atmosphere was pretty much a bunch of people focused only on you. Do you like having the spotlight?

Because everyone is watching, I’ll joke around and say to not look at me, but (in reality) it’s not that much of a burden for me. I like having everyone’s eyes on me, haha. It means everyone is interested in me in that moment.

Is there any difference between you in a photoshoot or on stage and the real you?

I’m exactly the same. It’s all me. I don’t think there’s really anything I can call a “difference”.

So I guess there must not be anything you could tell us that would be a surprise, right?

I’m bad at hiding things. I think the people who really like me won’t have anything they don’t already know. I mean, they even know where all of my moles are.

Well, what is the most “Baekhyun-like” thing about you that everyone knows, then?

I guess it’d have to be the me on stage. Because I feel like I really try to show off everything I can do there. Even things I didn’t know I could do. The audience gives you this sort of energy, and I feel like once I have that everything just comes out.

Is that why you’re the main focus at the start of a lot of EXO performances? I noticed you have the first part almost all of the time.

Sometimes I wonder, too. It started with our song “Overdose”, and I kind of wonder if they kept giving me the first part because I did well. I think that, at least, haha. It’s interesting. Actually, originally the first part in “Lotto” is Kai’s, but he was injured and I ended up covering for his part. I think that’s part of why everyone thinks I always have the first part. It’s not a set rule or anything, just luck.

After only seeing you on stage singing and dancing, it was pretty different to see you acting in the drama “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo”. What was it like trying out acting?

It’s really hard. Nothing about it is easy, everything from understanding you character to even knowing how to pace yourself in lines.

Which emotion was the hardest to act out?

The crying scene. I really don’t cry much, but because Lee Jungi (sunbaenim) was taking in my acting and working off me, the tears just came pouring out. I learned a lot from working with him.

I thought you’d be a crier, that’s a bit of a surprise.

I don’t really cry often. I didn’t even cry when we won our Daesangs (*Grand Prize at year end awards). I only remember crying when we were trainees. There were four vocal training rooms at our practice room, and once a week our progress would be graded there. My training period was shorter than the others’, so I had a hard time catching up. I’d stay late at night until the early morning to practice, and I’d cry a lot then. Especially in rooms 3 and 4.

You must’ve practiced a lot. I heard originally you were one of the worst dancers, but practiced hard to be where you are now.

I got a lot better just by watching and learning from the good dancers in our group. My dancing didn’t improve right away. But practice won’t fail you, you get results that match how hard you worked. That makes it more fun.

Are you able to enjoy dancing now?

Not quite that much, but I like it. In the beginning, I didn’t even know how to move my body if there was some upbeat music on, but now at least I can move along with it.

Is there any music that really makes you dance?

I guess I’d have to say recently it’s hip-hop music that makes me move. All of our title songs are good, so I’ll leave those out, but I really like the dance for our song “Lady Luck”. “White Noise” and “El Dorado” are also a lot of fun to dance.

Is there anything you enjoy outside of singing, dancing, and acting?

Video games. I’m really into this one game recently.

What’s your level, then?

It’s pretty decent. I’m pretty good at it.

Are you competitive?

I’m not competitive. Sometimes you lose, and it’s not like you get anything from winning. I want everyone to just enjoy the game. If you start getting too competitive, sometimes something you started because you wanted to enjoy it gets a too serious.

What about at work?

Working is different. There are some things you have to really have drive for to make it through. There are a lot of idols, right? You need to be ‘competitive’ in a way to make something that makes you stand out.

Is there a sort of pressure to be like that still? Honestly, EXO is already the top idols.

Honestly, I wonder if that’s even true. People seem to think EXO is impressive, but if you start thinking about how many people really feel that way it’s hard to tell. I’d like to have more people, in a wider range of ages, know each of the EXO members and our traits. I want each of our members to be known just as well as EXO as a group is.

I still think that EXO, and you as Baekhyun of EXO, should be able to bodly try all the things you wanted to. So many things are possible just using the name.

It’s honestly not that easy. We’re still far from being able to spread our roots. That’s why I sometimes act, or take part in musicals, or host shows, but it’s hard to always show something new and different. First I want to show off what I can do as part of EXO, and when I have more time in the future I want to take the time to show what I can really do. Going solo or having a different unit would be fun. We have a lot of members, so there’s a lot of things we could do.

If you could make any unit you wanted, what would you want to show?

A vocal unit made up of all of us living on the same floor, Xiumin, Chen and me. We showed off something short in our concert already. I think it’d be nice.

You’re in the middle of your 20s now, 25 years old. How aware are you of your age?

I personally think I’m more mature than 25. I’ve already started being filial to my parents, and being in a position where I can’t just act however I want has made my thought process more mature. I think a lot about how I can not make mistakes and succeed as a celebrity. I think a lot more now than I used to. I feel responsible to the other members and my family, and try my best to do what’s right.

Do you sometimes regret that you’ve had to take up that responsibility a bit too early? You could just enjoy your youth as it is.

That’s why I still enjoy gaming, and meeting with my friends to just talk. Whenever I do that, I feel really young. Except for some times when I have to set myself straight, I think I’m living like a normal 25 year old.

Is there anything you were interested in when you were young that you’ve lost interest in now?

Going around/exploring outside. Like just going around for no reason. I used to like going out with friends even if we didn’t really have anything to do. I don’t really find that enjoyable anymore.

So now the opposite. Is there anything you’ve been drawn in by that you didn’t know about before?

Just being at home? Haha. I couldn’t just sit at home and watch a movie or lay around listening to music. I’d be itching to just move around. It felt like a waste of time, and I don’t know why but I enjoy all of that now. It’s not really that I grew up, I just started feeling more comfortable doing that.

What do you live for right now?

Everyone has their own colors. Their own scent. Either way, being a celebrity is like a fight between each of our own colors, and I think we need to work harder to find what our true colors are. I really think I have my own, unique color. It might be an illusion that only I have, though. (laughs) You could say my color now is my playful, comfortable self on stage, but in the future I want to be remembered as someone who was good at everything. That’s why I continue to kind of observe myself, to find something that’s truly my own, and to show more sides of me. That’s what gives me strength to keep living.

Let’s take it further. Why do you think you exist? The reason you, Baekhyun, exist.

Happiness. The world is so chaotic, and people don’t care anymore, so just having someone who is always bright around you can be a source of happiness, right? In school I was never the popular kid for being good looking, but I was the one who was friends with everyone in the school. I’m also good at picking up on things, so I didn’t tend to do anything that would upset people. I wouldn’t treat people based on stereotypes/prejudices, and people would be able to laugh and enjoy themselves thanks to me. Like, I was the kid who would be high fiving people going down the hallway. It was actually hard on me. (laughs) But that’s my personality, so I can’t help it. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was more people like that, though? I exist so I can give people that sort of happiness.

Do you think you’d be happy to meet someone just like you? Like a doppelganger.

Ah, that’d be… It’d be nice! It’d be interesting, but I feel like I’d also watch and find some things that I’d say I should never do. Haha. It’s always weird to be with someone with the same personality as you. I hope that person is living well somewhere very~ far away.