If you are a Kpopmap reader, you would've noticed an ongoing weekly series called "Girl Crush" that explores women in the Korean industry that many admire and have a crush on.

Welcome to the twenty-second article of our weekly series "Boy Crush"! This series will appreciate the men in K-Pop and K-Dramas that we have a crush on based on anything from their style, talent, personality, overall vibe, etc. We will learn more about the most crushable boys in the Korean industry and their incredible achievements.

Check out the previous articles featuring the boy crushes that have already been covered here!

Readers voted for DAY6's Young K in our weekly poll to be featured this week.

Before starting this week's series, you can vote for who you want to see featured in next week's article. If you would like to see a different idol/actor (not mentioned in the poll) featured in the series, please leave their name in the comments and we will add them to the vote over time.

Important notice: the vote only decides who will be featured in the next article. Everyone in the poll will be featured in the series eventually. Suggestions will also be gradually added each week.

Back to this week's feature!

Let's get to know our crush, Young K!

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Young K is famous as a member of the fan-favorite band DAY6. DAY6 is known for its unique musical color and beautiful discography. Young K is known within the group for his captivating charisma and incredible work ethic on top of his talent.

This article will get to know more about My Day's (DAY6's fandom) gem and introduce Young K's charms to new fans who might just be learning about him.

If you are new to Young K, here is some basic information about him. He was born on December 19, 1993. Many fans who are just getting to know about him assume he is Korean Canadian. However, he was born and raised in Korea and only studied in Canada for 4 years. As he is fluent in English (he is well-versed in other languages, too), that is probably where the misunderstanding stems from.

His love for performing started from a young age. During his middle school days, he started doing performances in front of an audience and his dream grew from there on out. In fact, some fans may not know that he was part of 2 other bands before DAY6 named 3rd Degree and KMESS. KMESS was compromised of the original 3rd Degree members plus 2 other members.

Young K got invited to audition for JYP Entertainment through a video of him performing with KMESS. He aced the audition and then started his trainee period. He was back and forth between the band and dance team. This was the starting point of his all-rounder charm. He was even training by doing acrobatics at some point. During his trainee period, he gained recognition for his natural talent and being able to pick up new skills quickly.

He later joined the survival program "WIN: Who is Next?" with his fellow trainees and made a strong impression.

Young K debuted as a member of DAY6 in 2015. He later made his solo debut in 2021.

One of the interesting facts about Young K is that he has attached a lot of meaning to his stage name. He once said that the name 'Young K' is like a mask that he can put on to switch his persona. Young K is like his rock star persona that he feels shows the best version of himself. As a result, he prefers for people to use his stage name as it separates him from his real name (Kang YoungHyun) or his English name (Brian Kang), which are both different sides of him.

Many My Day believe that regardless of the name he is using, he is an amazing person and always his best self. Let's take a look at some of his best traits.

Young K's vocal and rap skills are exceptional. He not only has a superior understanding of music, but knows how to manipulate it to make his voice shine even more. He has a witty use of punchlines and knack for playing with the beat, too. Young K has a wide vocal range with stable vocals and golden falsetto. His high notes? They're effortless. His low tone? Authentic. There is nothing that he can't do with his vocal spectrum.

If you want to listen to one of his live performances that makes you feel as if his voice is dripping honey, we strongly recommend this performance of 'goodnight, dear'.

For an alternate vibe, this performance of 'Microphone' displays the groovy aspect of his voice. Pay special attention to how he utilizes his husky low tone to give the song contrast.

Both of these performances also highlight how unreal his voice is. How can the live performance possibly sound better than the recorded version?

To sum up how versatile his voice is, we'll use this comment by a My Day:

"He could literally sing me my grocery list and I'd probably cry." 

This speaks to his level of talent and sincere emotional delivery that you can feel in all of his music.

His ability to convey the pure emotions present in any song is partly due to his deeper understanding of lyricism and music production.

As a songwriter and the group's main lyricist, Young K's penmanship guarantees that the song will soon find itself on a loop in your playlist. He has writing credits for writing, composing, and arranging a number of songs for DAY6, himself, and other artists including GOT7, UP10TION, and more.

His hard work and strong work ethic can be seen clearly through their "Every DAY6" project in which he wrote songs for every month of 2017. It's no small feat to be able to produce such top-quality music so consistently, and he deserves praise for his efforts to connect with fans through the music. Even Eric Nam has commented on how this project was a hectic achievement because of the difficulties and technicalities behind making music.

DAY6 Young K's Instagram

We can't leave out talking about his instrumental capabilities. We got to see another side of his charm in the sub-unit EVEN OF DAY which debuted in 2020. Young K shows off his multitude of talents by playing even more of the bass and electric guitars.

Check out this live performance of 'Right Through Me' that shows off his skills.

Additionally, despite being in a band, Young K is an excellent dancer. Like we mentioned earlier, he initially trained under the dance team of JYP. Here is a K-Pop medley dance that he has done before.

He makes the moves look effortless, making us wonder what it would've been like if he had debuted in a dance-focused K-Pop group.

On top of all of that he also has great talent for entertainment activities such as radio, MCing, acting, and more. With all of these skills, it is safe to say that Young K is definitely an industry ace with all-rounder charm.

To reiterate, Young K is truly an ace at everything he does.

Even his enlistment in the military shows his knack for achievement. Young K became the first K-Pop idol to enlist in the Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA) and has even won an award for being the best warrior during his time serving.

If you're interested in seeing his interview about his life as part of KATUSA, watch this interview. He is expected to end his military service in April of 2023. We hope that he stays happy and healthy during his service.

However, despite this impressive list of talent, many people do not know a lot of these things about Young K for one simple reason.

He is incredibly humble.

Despite being overwhelmingly talented and having the ability to quickly catch onto any talent, he remains down-to-earth about his achievements. He puts in 200% effort into everything he does and it does not go unnoticed. He is well-known for being extremely sweet and charismatic, as well.

Young K is optimistic and acts as a source of inspiration to My Day who admire and look up to him. It is no doubt that he would be loved and receive love from everyone no matter where he is or goes.

DAY6 Young K's Instagram

Lastly, it would be a crime for us not to talk about his visuals.

Did someone say 'prince'?

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Young K is extremely handsome. His angular and sleek jawline, dark eyebrows, dimples, and fox-like features are all aspects of his charming visuals. He is very good at reacting and making cute expressions, too. Regardless of his facial expression, he exudes ethereal vibes, proving his multiplicity once again.

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What do you think? Do you have a crush on Young K?

Check out the other celebrities who have been featured in this series here:

Don't forget to check out our latest articles below: