The 28-year-old cover star shows his fascinating charisma in Gucci ensembles.

There&rsquo;s something about the way Kai moves that mesmerizes the audience. His presence makes us believe life can be peachy against all odds. His silky croons make us feel things. As he summons the drumrolls and racks up standing ovations, the 28-year-old performer proves that he&rsquo;s not only physically nimble&nbsp;&mdash; he&rsquo;s also a versatile solo artist whose talent can effortlessly run the gamut of emotions from soft to intense, from tame to rabid, from hot to cold, from fire to ice.

Born in 1994, Kim Jongin grew up in a time when western boybands thrived. Little did he know that decades later, he will be among the few who will flip the fate of pop culture and sway its gaze to the east. The South Korean performer, who goes by the mononym Kai, is famed for being the main dancer of the K-pop group EXO. If stage presence is any indication of what&rsquo;s to come in his solo career, then there&rsquo;s no doubt that Kai has cemented himself as one of K-pop&rsquo;s most formidable forces ever since he wore a red suit and danced like there&rsquo;s no tomorrow to the chart-topper, Love Shot.
As the famous internet adage goes&nbsp;&mdash; that image lives rent-free in many a fan&rsquo;s hearts and minds. No wonder he was recruited by SM Entertainment to form the supergroup, Super M, along with fellow EXO member Baekhyun and other boy band stars like Taemin from Shinee, Taeyong and Mark from NCT 127, and Ten and Lucas from WayV.
When Kai is onstage, he&rsquo;s on fire and aware of the full power he wields, but with the release of his recent recording, Peaches (2021), he peels away the layers and reveals a vulnerable side. In the eponymous title track, he confesses that it &ldquo;feels good to be the bad guy.&rdquo; The composition feels like a quiet storm that sustains the seductive heave of Mmmh from his debut EP, Kai (2020). Whereas in Blue, he&rsquo;s lovestruck and full of longing as he sings, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even know who I am anymore.&rdquo;

Much like the duality that exists in his work &mdash; Kai, the person, also presents glaring polarities. One moment, he comes off as an untouchable icon revered for his sex appeal, then the next second, he transforms into a doting uncle cherished for his warmth.
Perhaps, that is the magic of Kai. He can smoothly operate between two extremes. From sporting suits to cropped tops and exploring thematic narratives from historical to futuristic&nbsp;&mdash; Kai guarantees that he&rsquo;s never just a one-note spectacle.
In this interview with L&rsquo;Officiel Malaysia, Kai gets intimate and talks about his dance rituals and how he chose to build a life in pursuit of happiness.

Hi Kai, how are you?
I&rsquo;ve been meeting fans quite often through various overseas shows. I&rsquo;ve also been working hard preparing my new album.
&nbsp;
To jumpstart the interview, what are the songs you&rsquo;ve recently played on your phone?
My most recent ones are songs off my album. [Laughs] Apart from those, the last one I listened to was Addicted by Jon Vinyl.
&nbsp;
You&rsquo;re known for your stage presence and killer dance moves. What&rsquo;s on your mind when you&rsquo;re dancing? Do you have rituals before the shows to get you in the right mood or do the beats just take over you?
The first thing that comes to mind is &mdash;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m happy&rsquo; especially when dancing onstage. I think that&rsquo;s the most fun and that&rsquo;s when I&rsquo;m the happiest. The next is, I pay attention to how I&rsquo;m feeling that day. I always dance in a way to fit the mood or theme of every performance, but my dances also capture my feelings on that day. At concerts, I try to look into the audience&rsquo;s eyes and see how they&rsquo;re feeling. For example, if they look like they&rsquo;re enjoying then I try to show them a cool show. A performance to me is just a show, but I think of various things outside of the stage and let things permeate into what I do, which is why I&rsquo;ve been able to really have fun lately. I tend to laugh when I&rsquo;m nervous. So, I laugh on purpose before going onstage. It&rsquo;s like my own routine. [Laughs] That&rsquo;s how I get excited and frame my mindset to enjoy the show.

Are you the type to plan everything or do you dance through the rhythm of life? What&rsquo;s your philosophy?
Lately, I tend to just go with the flow of life. Unlike when I work where things are planned, I think I have a strong feeling of &ldquo;Just Living&rdquo; in general. [Laughs] I don&rsquo;t mean &ldquo;Just Living&rdquo; in a negative way. Whenever I had concerns or things to consider, my older sister told me to approach things lightly... that influenced me a lot. I&rsquo;m trying to focus on living a life where I enjoy what I can. That&rsquo;s what makes me happy, and it really eases my mind
&nbsp;
You&rsquo;ve represented brands such as Gucci, YSL, and Bobbi Brown. Have you always been aware of your own beauty or visuals?
I&rsquo;ve never thought of that. [Laughs] After debuting, I naturally started to like dressing up. I also started to look into fashion because it helps a lot in expressing what I want. There are parts that I make the effort for, but I&rsquo;ve been able to work with various brands because many people recognized the characteristics and charms of &ldquo;Kai.&rdquo; I don&rsquo;t think my visuals are beautiful or outstanding.
&nbsp;
Have you ever realized that you have something special or unique like your charisma and talent?
I think I have great concentration, whatever the time or situation. It&rsquo;s a strength of mine that I can enjoy anything I do. Dancing, for example &mdash; because I can concentrate well &mdash; I can dig deeper and learn faster even if I am learning the same moves as others are.

Fans could always single you out because you&rsquo;re wearing eye-catching suits without shirts or cropped tops, among other unique items. In terms of personal style, what pieces attract you?
There are times when I like to dress neatly or wear street fashion. There are times when I&rsquo;m interested in the year&rsquo;s fashion trend or a specific brand. I like to dress differently depending on the situation. I don&rsquo;t wear clothes that are flashy or that stand out too much. I think there is a clear difference between onstage clothes and dressing outside of performances. I may wear cropped tops onstage, but it would be difficult to wear those on a normal basis.
&nbsp;
You travel a lot. Tell us about your most memorable trips.
Going to Cebu with friends is probably the most memorable. Going snorkeling and having that feeling of freedom still holds a special place in my memories. When my friends and I&nbsp;talk, the topic of our Cebu trip always comes up. I&rsquo;d love to go back if I ever get the chance to.
&nbsp;
Has fame changed you? In what way?
Oh, of course, it has. In a way, it has made me a better person. Fame and one&rsquo;s personality are different things, so I know a &ldquo;good person&rdquo; is different from a &ldquo;cool person&rdquo; that people admire. Fame has made me look back on myself, so it makes me work harder to not be too carried away by it.

K-pop is getting bigger these days. Where do you think is it headed?
I think the K-pop industry is getting more opportunities as time goes by. In the past, Hallyu existed when our seniors were active, but the development of the internet allowed us to communicate with more people around the world through K-pop. I think there will be more opportunities for me and many other artists to meet fans all over the world.
&nbsp;
You&rsquo;re known for your duality: the fierce performer and the doting uncle Kai. Where does the stage end and where does home begin?
Kai as an uncle comes out when I see my niece and nephew. Actually, I invite them to concerts and show them a lot of performance videos, but they see me as an uncle more than a celebrity. So, I think there is a clear distinction between the stage and the house, but I think I&rsquo;m always the same uncle in front of them.
&nbsp;
Is there a clear distinction between the stage and home?
Yes. I think distinguishing between the two is a healthy thing and is good for focusing on your work. I can refresh my mind and gather energy for performances throughout my
life off-stage.
&nbsp;
How does your family help you stay rooted?
It&rsquo;s given me a lot in terms of inspiration and help. It&rsquo;s because of my family that my personality is the way it is, and why I ended up choosing this job. My family is the biggest part of my life. When I have concerns, I ask for advice from my mother and sisters. I feel like I&rsquo;m living a peaceful life when I&rsquo;m with my family, so I live close by and meet them often.
&nbsp;
What are your favourite activities to do outside of the job?
Going to Han River. I can refresh my mind when I go there and look at the view. I also like building with Legos. Lately, I&rsquo;ve been enjoying my 3-D pen. It&rsquo;s difficult to use but it&rsquo;s fun.
&nbsp;
For someone who&rsquo;s always been called sexy, who or what do you find sexy?
People have different definitions of being sexy. But I find people who work hard or those who have their own opinions sexy. You know, those people referred to as someone with a &ldquo;sexy brain,&rdquo; like people who live healthily &mdash; I find those people sexy.

You&rsquo;re a Capricorn rumored to have an INFJ personality type. Do you relate to the attributes associated with these labels?
The moment I got my MBTI results when I tried it, I thought, &ldquo;This sounds about right&rdquo; or &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t me&rdquo; but there are parts of it that are different from my personality. There are times when I&rsquo;m a planner, then there are times when I&rsquo;m not. There are times when I&rsquo;m more logical than emotional. It&rsquo;s fun but I don&rsquo;t take it to heart too much.
&nbsp;
How would Kai describe himself?
I&rsquo;m an easy-going and relaxed person. That&rsquo;s the kind of person I want to be. I want to continue living that way.
&nbsp;
What makes you happy?
A lot! [Laughs] Shoots like today, getting enough sleep, and eating tasty food from time to time makes me happy. Going to Han River and listening to music or even just playing with Legos. Those things make me happy. Many things make me happy so it&rsquo;s hard to name just one. I worked hard to be able to feel happiness and gratitude even about the little things.
&nbsp;
In a previous interview, you mentioned that if one wants to be happy, one should let go of greed. What experience made you reach this conclusion?
I remember that interview. Back then, I was also trying to find happiness in the small things. There were a lot of things I wanted to do, but I felt like I didn&rsquo;t have enough time. Looking back, I think it was my greed. I felt relieved after letting go of my greed. It applies not only to work but also to my daily life. Since I&rsquo;m often on a diet, there used to be so &nbsp;many ordinary dishes that looked so delicious to me, so I&rsquo;d order two servings even when I was eating alone. At first, I&rsquo;d eat, thinking I&rsquo;d finish it all but then I&rsquo;d get full, so there&rsquo;d be so much food left. Now I&rsquo;ve let go of my greed, so I just order one serving. [Laughs] Letting go of those little things makes you happier.
&nbsp;
If you were to give advice to someone who is in search of happiness, what would it be?
Happiness is always around us. It sometimes takes effort to feel happy, and you have to set your mind to becoming happy.
&nbsp;
You&rsquo;re not the type to ask for advice from anyone but in the rare moments that you do, who do you consult and why?
My family, of course. I&rsquo;m the type not to easily get stressed or worry too much. When I am, it doesn&rsquo;t show much. But my family can sense when I am, and oddly enough, they approach me about it first. Then I end up naturally talking about things and listening to their advice.

Photography: Sang-Hun Lee Styling :&nbsp;Danyl Geneciran Hair: Naejoo Park Makeup:&nbsp;Yunsu Hyunpp Words: Tin Dabbay All clothing and accessories: Gucci

EXO's Kai fronts L’Officiel Hommes December 2022/January 2023 issue

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