persona.

LEE DAEHWI the maknae of his group known for his flamboyant and carefree attitude, celebrating his femininity unapologetically, snarky but caring, independent but likes to be taken care of, laissez faire but observant

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history.

BEHIND THE MASK Daehwi is pretty proud that he is the same person on stage that he is off of it, androgynous in his everyday fashion. One side to him not commonly seen is his fear: fear of not being good enough, being rejected. But this is carefully tucked away behind his confident exterior, retreating into himself on days the mask feels more brittle,  protecting himself. Though maybe... sometimes... being protected by someone else might be nice... but he never dwells on that too much. His playful demands of being spoiled and cared for will only carry a hint of that wistfulness.  

I'ma let it Be myself all night.

HER His real secret though, one that he's even more afraid of getting out, is his second profession. It's one thing to be feminine on stage, dancing to female songs, and joking about the rumors about his uality. It's another thing entirely to be directly caught in the LGBTQ scene by doing drag. He's not sure when the idea first popped into his head; it feels like ever since he was a little boy he liked dressing up. His mother encouraged it, her little boy's artistic freedom, while of course keeping it hidden from his father. Throughout his teens he slowly started dressing more freely, and as an idol he was able to explore wearing makeup; wearing it in daily life instead of just for schedules. It seemed like a logical next step to style his hair differently to fit with his look, moving on to wigs when the limitations of his own hair became clear; he couldn't make serious alterations to his own hair when he was an idol constantly under a camera. He felt good when he dressed up completely for the first time. Powerful. And it served as a great disguise so that he could duck out of his idol persona some days and explore the bustling scenes of itaewon. It was on one of these trips that he met a drag queen who fawned over him, insistent on taking him under her wing. Daehwi loves music, loves how it makes him feel... but this, this was a new feeling that was equally as enthralling. Soon she began frequently, or as frequently as she could given her schedule, appearing at that club, sometimes performing but other times just dancing and enjoying herself under the cover of the night. Itaewon is her playground.

icon gallery.