WinWin from NCT and WayV: how Chinese dancer’s lack of trust nearly cost him his chance at K-pop stardom

With three decades of experience in show business, South Korean super label SM Entertainment has shown it can make unknown performers into superstars. While most K-pop hopefuls would jump at any opportunity to potentially meet with the label, one of the company’s rising stars nearly lost out on his big chance over trust issues.

Here’s a rundown of Chinese star Winwin’s unusual road to K-pop success.

His early life

Dong Sicheng was born in the city of Wenzhou in China’s eastern coastal province of Zhejiang in October, 1997. The future star grew up interested in music and dance, learning to play guitar and specialising in traditional Chinese dance.

He was admitted to the historic Affiliated Secondary School of the Beijing Dance Academy, where he was a star student, ranking first among students in the classical-dance department. He also studied at China’s prestigious Central Academy of Drama.

Despite his early commitment to the arts, Winwin nearly missed his chance at K-pop stardom. When the then-teenaged student was approached by a casting agent for SM Entertainment, he was understandably wary and gave the agent a fake phone number.

Despite the initial setback, the recruiter found Winwin again and convinced him to meet for an audition – and this time he gave him his real phone number.

Winwin began his training and was later introduced as part of the company’s pre-debut training team, the SM Rookies. Before he was formally announced as part of any group, SM released a gorgeous dance video starring Winwin to show off his interpretative and acrobatic dance skills.

It was the third teaser video preparing fans for the 2016 debut of NCT, the ambitious boy band project from SM that boasted an unlimited number of members. It meant they were well aware of Winwin when he performed alongside other members of NCT at a 2016 Chinese awards show and in cameos in other NCT music videos.

His role in NCT and WayV

Winwin was announced as the fourth member of NCT’s Seoul-based boy band NCT 127 in 2016, acting as lead dancer and contributing on vocals. His dance skills and extreme flexibility were incorporated into different NCT 127 performances, with his flips and aerials helping establish the group as top-level performers.

In November 2018, Winwin recorded vocals for the group’s Regulate album, but revealed he would not be taking part in promotions due to scheduling conflicts in China. Those would soon be revealed as preparations for the China-based unit of NCT known as WayV, featuring Winwin alongside six new team members.

WayV entered the music industry in January 2019 with a Chinese version of NCT 127 single Regular. Like in NCT 127, Winwin focuses on dance and vocals with WayV, but also raps.

Winwin has spent most of his time with WayV. Though still an important part of NCT 127, who now have 10 members in total, he is not an active member and the other nine have continued to release music.

His image

Winwin’s talents are understandably in high demand, but the star has remained a loyal and emotionally integral part of NCT.

Ahead of the Regulate album release, Winwin appeared on a live-stream broadcast with NCT 127, who shared that they were sad he could not join them for performances.

He said: “I also think it’s a shame that I can’t do these promotions together with everyone. However, I’ll work hard and come back to see [our fans] NCTzen again so just wait a bit more. I’ll be cheering on the NCT 127 members along with all of you!”

Since he was born in 1997, Winwin is in the middle age bracket of NCT members. It makes him both someone the older members look after (helping him gain confidence when he was not sure of his Korean speaking skills) and a comforting mentor to the younger members, especially those who are also foreigners in South Korea.

During a memorable episode of NCT’s 2018 reality show Hot & Young Seoul Trip, Winwin gave advice to younger NCT and WayV member Lucas during an emotional dinner conversation.

In his own words

Performing is a constant in Winwin’s life, and he has shared how he uses the medium to better express the areas of himself he has trouble sharing.

“Dance is used to express your feelings with your body. Those feelings that can’t be conveyed through movement can be expressed through your sincerity and facial expressions,” he told the Chinese publication Nowness regarding a dance cover he did to Billie Eilish’s Lovely.

“I’m normally a free-spirited and passionate person. I’m going to try to express that through dance too.”

While he is fearless in dance, Winwin was recently inspired to face more creative challenges in his life.

He said: “When I meet other people, I feel that I’m really lacking. I want to bravely face these shortcomings. I don’t like to avoid [my problems] because I will face the same problems again next time, so I have to constantly improve myself.”