There are K-Pop fans across the globe who share the same passion. But on online platforms, it is hard to know about each other’ stories and K-Pop life. Even if we are in the same fandom, it is hard to get to know each other. So at Kpopmap, we started the Kpopmap Fan Interview Project to get to know more about K-Pop fans from different countries: more about their K-Pop life and tastes and to give them the opportunity to share with our readers about their favorite group(s) and bias. Efan from Malaysia is the next fan to answer our questions. She is a fan of BAE173 and more particularly of Lee HanGyul! Check out how she entered the fandom, the songs and content she advises to new fans, and much more! Can you introduce yourself? Where are you from? Hi, I am Efan from Malaysia. How and when did you enter the fandom? To tell you how I started to have interest in them is through HanGyul and DoHyon because I watched “Produce X 101”. From there I kept on following their journey until now. What are the reasons why you love your favorite group? First of all, I love their music. Their debut track ‘Crush on You’ is a catchy song that matches so well with my type of music. I always love that kind of song. I am amazed how each of the members have different types of voices and can match and harmonize each other so well. Second, I am touched over the way they treasure fans over everything. They always think of ELSE first. I remember during my fancall event with them, they were very sweet and understandable over my broken Korean XD. Even though they are just a rookie group, their love toward fans is undeniable that it makes ELSE constantly feel their love. The last thing is that I am proud of the way their personality always brings positive vibes wherever they are. All 9 members have different charms and personality that makes the group more unique. Who caught your attention at first and why? First member that caught my attention was JunSeo. I fell for his sweet smile in the debut teaser video. Who is your bias, and why? Even if JunSeo caught my attention during the debut line teaser, my bias is HanGyul XD. I need to admit that I fell for his unrealistic handsome face but once I saw him dancing I have no words anymore. He shines the most when he dances! Also I really like his husky voice when he’s singing. The more I know about him the deeper I fall for him. I got to know about his life story and it makes me want to stay with him even more. He never gives up on his dreams and keeps on going for the sake of his own fans. These are the things that make me promise myself to stay no matter what happens to him. I didn’t know someone could be this perfect. The only weakness he got is that he is too kind for this harsh world T_T Also! his stage presence is no joke, he always looks so cool and charismatic that I can’t help but fall for him. But then I realized as days went by, my love towards other members also kept on growing. I can’t help but to fall for each member’s charm. Each one of them really has a special place in my heart. Can you recommend a title track and a B-side track for new fans? I would like to recommend the title track from their 2nd Mini Album ‘Loved You’ and the B-side track from their latest comeback album ‘Not Alone’. If you are a fan of rap song, ‘#Trace’, the 1st track from their 2nd mini album is for you. Can you recommend a fancam, V Live, cover video, cover dance, or individual content video of your bias to our readers? I would like to recommend the 2022.04.10 Inkigayo ‘JAWS’ HanGyul solo fancam. There’s a lot more fancam if you scroll down the recommendation videos but this one is my favorite from their latest comeback. If you want to see his new side as an actor I will recommend the web-drama “Love in Black Hole”. This drama is HanGyul’s debut drama. He is the main cast along with GWSN’s SeolA, BAE173’s Doha and SF9’s JaeYoon. “Love In Black Hole” (2021 Web Drama): Cast & Summary KDRAMA STORIES|Sep 13, 2021 He also got his own Instagram account ; lee_gyul_gyul , if you want to see his cute yet handsome photos ^^.
A post shared by 이한결 Lee Han Gyul (@lee_gyul_gyul) Can you also do the same type of recommendation for the group? I would suggest “Idol House” to new fans as you can see each members’ different personality in this show. This show is really fun to watch. Also for those who are starting to learn Korean, I suggest that you watch “Idol Korean Class with BAE173” on the IdolVillage YouTube channel. This is a perfect video for beginners because they teach Korean in a fun way so it’s easier to learn and understand. I also would like to recommend BAE173 Kpop Cover Dance Medley on 1theK Youtube channel. Trust me, you won’t regret it. They are so cool. Can you share with us one of your favorite lyrics? One of my favorite lyrics is from H&D album ‘Toward Tomorrow’ (H&D is HanGyul and DoHyon duo debut after X1 disband) “I thought I couldn’t get up I hate showing my hot tears I’ve been sick and alone Now I know People won’t know when you give up You can cry when you’re tired For a better tomorrow than today Toward the dream that I’ve kept I’ll go again I’ll keep walking…” This DoHyon part has a deep impact on me for some reason. I am thankful HanGyul and DoHyon still stick to each other until now. To hear that DoHyon is happy with BAE173 now really puts my heart at ease. Are there any words from the members you would like to share? HanGyul always reminds ELSE to always stay positive in whatever situation we are in without worrying much. He also said that even if our daily life cycle is the same, try to look at it prettily so we’ll find it interesting and how different actually our daily life is. Recently, he forwarded his mom’s message for us in one of chat apps. His mom is the one who taught and reminded him to always be positive so he did the same to us. I found this kind of act really heartwarming and inspiring. I can say that he is one of my biggest motivations when I’m having a hard time so I am always thankful for his existence. What is your favorite group/bias’ influence on your daily life? HanGyul’s hardwork really motivates me to keep on going with whatever obstacle I’m facing at that moment. The way he didn’t give up in pursuing his dreams encourage me to keep on living my life right now. His existence alone brings me so much happiness. I really wish that I can keep on seeing him for a long time. What is your favorite side of fangirling/fanboying? One of my favorite sides of fangirling is that I keep on getting new friends! Fangirling really brings people together. No matter where we come from but thanks to BAE173 we communicate so well. Besides, fangirling helps me in my social interests! Before getting into the K-Pop world, I had no interest in gathering or meeting people. Yet, it’s hard for me to talk to strangers. But after entering the K-Pop world I even became a crew member for a café event hahaha. I work together with a few Malaysian ELSE to hold the BAE173 1st café event. And we successfully did it! Fangirl also makes me work hard on saving my money. I managed to meet BAE173 through a fancall event thanks to my saving XD I really hope other ELSE get to meet them too someday. If you want to add more to this, you are welcome to. I would like to share about one of BAE173 members’ interesting hobbies. I don’t know if other people know about this but we got a fish professor in BAE173 XD His name is Bit. He really loves fish. He once worked as a part-timer at a fish shop before debut and now he’s raising fishes in their dorm. They have one section in their dorm that is full of different species of fishes XD You can watch BAE173 Vlog on their official YouTube channel if you want to see what kind of fishes they have. The members said Bit really takes care of his fishes and he even talked to them at night. Bit himself is already cute and his hobby just add points to make him look even cuter. But what funny is, even if he loves fish so much he still eats raw fish too XD There’s one time he ate the raw fish in front of the aquarium and he said to his fishes “please close your eyes for a while”. He was effortlessly so funny. For you, what is your bias’ best stage outfits until now? Please share a picture or fan cam. In my own opinion, HanGyul best stage outfit was during ‘JAWS’ Mcountdown comeback stage (220331). The outfit and braided hairstyle really looked cool on him. Can you recall a moment where you cried/laughed with your bias? I think the moment I cried the most because of HanGyul was when his name was called as 7th member of X1. I didn’t get my hopes up at all because I know there’s other trainee that got more fans and higher votes. So the moment his name was called I was stunned and cried so hard. Would you like to see your bias group in variety shows? What type of variety show would you like them to do? I would like to see them in a traveling show. I want them to use that opportunity for their emotional healing and eat as much as they want. What is your biggest dream for your favorite group/bias aside from being Happy and Healthy? My biggest dream for the time being is that I hope they can have their 1st fanmeeting concert in Korea. If you can spend a day with your bias, where will you go and what will you do? I want to take them around Kuala Lumpur as there are many interesting places that they might like such as Aquaria and Petrosains in KLCC. I also want to cook them delicious and healthy local food even though I’m a bad in cooking but I will try my best for that XD. Efan’s message to BAE173 and Lee HanGyul: First of all, I would like to thank KpopMap for this opportunity. To Leader Lee HanGyul, thank you for hanging in there when life is being hard on you. Your existence means a lot to me. Thank you for being my biggest strength and happiness when I need it the most. Thank you for teaching me not to give up in life. I might not be able to stay positive as you said but thanks to you I am able to stay until now. Being a leader might be a bit burdensome and stressful but I know you can do it. You have come so far so I believe you’ll be a good leader in the future. I promise myself to stay by your side till the end so let’s meet each other for a really long time. To BAE173, you’ll succeed one day! It might take time but we’ll let you walk through a flowery path one day. Let’s be with each other for a long time! Let’s promise to not let go of our hands if hard times come. ELSE will always be by your side no matter what happens. It’s okay to take it step by step as the time goes as long as we are together. You guys are doing good right now so let’s keep on going until the end. Thank you for answering our questions, Efan. If you are interested in joining Kpopmap Fan Interview Project, please get in touch with us at [email protected] Everyone is welcome to participate.
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