Seventeen’s The8 is applauded by fans for his take on interacting with fans

The8 from the K-pop group Seventeen is being applauded by his fans for his view on interacting with fans outside of his official schedules. The idol surprised his fans by holding a surprise live broadcast on Weibo on August 10.

He spoke to his fans about what he has been up to and brought up how he feels when he realizes someone is staring at him, but also acknowledged that it’s likely because they feel too shy to approach him.

“I can feel that you’re staring at me at least 90% of the time. But maybe a lot of people feel shy, or maybe there are other reasons…”

He claimed that he and the other Seventeen members don’t mind if a fan comes up to greet them and also addressed people who film idols without their consent. “People secretly look at you, secretly film you…it’s not that I think you can’t do this, but if you know who I am, or if you like me or my group, then just simply say hi.”

He added that if someone does begin to film him and refuses to greet them, he would be forced to hide from them. “If you’re afraid of disturbing me and don’t say hi, but you’re secretly filming me, then I’ll have to hide from you. If I hide from you, then you would come find me. If you find me, then I would feel uncomfortable. I think that just becomes a vicious cycle.”

Fans quickly took to social media to applaud the idol for his honesty with one user writing: “We need more honest idols like minghao who puts their fans in their places, idols who act like they're in a relationship with their fans are also okay but ONE idol like minghao is a need to every fandom cause at the end of the day, you're still a fan and they're an idol you stan [sic].”