Boy Crush: We Looked Up 'Boy Crush' In The Dictionary And Found ASTRO's Cha EunWoo As The Definition

Welcome to the thirteenth article of our weekly series "Boy Crush"! This week's boy crush is ASTRO's Cha EunWoo.

Kay Sesoko, Kpopmap Editor
8 min to read · Published : Jun 6, 2022 · Updated : Jan 9, 2023

Boy Crush: We Looked Up 'Boy Crush' In The Dictionary And Found ASTRO's Cha EunWoo As The Definition

Fantagio Entertainment

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 thirteenth 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 get to know 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 ASTRO's Cha EunWoo 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.

Who would you like to see in the next "Boy Crush" article?

~ Jun 09, 2022

Ha SungWoon

0.6%
(88)

Park SeoHam

0.9%
(137)

Lee DoHyun

1.2%
(173)

Kang Daniel

1.2%
(184)

Stray Kids' Bang Chan

11.3%
(1,675)

GOT7's Jay B

17.8%
(2,642)

Song Kang

20.5%
(3,043)

ENHYPEN's Sunoo

46.5%
(6,911)

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, Cha EunWoo!

ASTRO Cha EunWoo's Instagram

Cha EunWoo is famous as a member of the trendy boy group ASTRO. He is also well-known for his other ventures in the Korean entertainment industry including variety shows, modeling, and acting. As one of the representative visuals in K-Pop, everyone knows him as a face genius. However, there is more to Cha EunWoo than just what meets the eye. Today we're going to take a deeper look at why Cha EunWoo belongs in the dictionary next to the term 'Boy Crush'.

For those of you who are new to Cha EunWoo, here is some basic information about him. Cha EunWoo was born on March 30, 1997. His birth name is Lee DongMin.

He is a global citizen and lived in the Philippines for a short time when he was young for language training. His English name is Felix.

He has always been known for having exceptional language skills and being very intelligent. He attended one of the most esteemed study academies during his middle school days and even placed 3rd in his studies out of his whole school. On top of that, he was also popular for his visuals during his school days. Despite, basically reaching celebrity status from a young age, he has remained humble.

In his third year of middle school, he was scouted by a Fantagio Entertainment employee at a school festival. At first, his parents opposed the idea of him entering the entertainment industry because he was so academically talented. Imagine a world without knowing who Cha EunWoo is? Actually no, let's not even think about it.

After much persuasion and persistence from the casting director, Cha EunWoo became a trainee a year later. He graduated from the famous Hanlim Multi Art School attended by many idols. He started modeling activities during this time.

Cha EunWoo made his acting debut in 2014 and debuted with ASTRO in 2016.

ASTRO Cha EunWoo's Instagram

Cha EunWoo deserves more recognition for his incredible vocal talent. He is known for his ever-increasing vocal range and pretty whimsical vocal tone. His tone can also be described as soft and voluminous.

Check out this live performance of 'Never Ending Story' where he got to collaborate with the Korean rock legends Boohwal and MMA fighter turned entertainer Kim DongHyun.

Fans often compliment Cha EunWoo on his vocal tone when he is just speaking, too. He has a calming tone that pulls you in with its alluring charm. Additionally, his musical talents are not just limited to his voice but expand to his ability to play the piano. He also has some experience in songwriting.

Here is his mini-performance of 'Together' which he co-wrote for his role in the web drama "Top Management".

We can't leave out his overall performance charisma either. There's something captivating about the way that he performs on stage that we just can't get enough of. He really knows how to utilize his facial expressions to put the cherry on top of any song.

This 'ONE' fancam shows off his broad range of performance talents.

Although Cha EunWoo's idol talent is impressive, he is also one of the most sought-after idol actors out there. His filmography is ever-growing and filled with great works. He has acted in the films "My Palpitating Life" and "The Great Battle" in a support role and small role respectively.

His K-Drama filmography is also no joke. All K-Drama fans are likely to have seen at least one of his popular dramas. Some of his most popular roles have been in the dramas "My ID is Gangnam Beauty", "True Beauty", and "Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung", to name a few.

Cha EunWoo has shared that he wants to break the stigmas surrounding being an idol actor and expand the genres that he acts in. This is why many are looking forward to his upcoming role in the drama "Island", which is a fantasy and action combined.

He has made quite the impression on fans through various appearances on a number of variety shows such as his time as a regular member on "Master in the House", to name one example. You can take a look at his best moments from the show here.

Naturally, we can't leave out talking about his visuals. Cha EunWoo and the word 'handsome' are basically synonymous. There is a clear reason why he is called a face genius. His visuals are ethereal personified. Many say that he is CGI-like or as handsome as a manhwa character.

His looks are acknowledged by his peers as well. When many celebrities are asked about other good-looking celebrities, his name almost always comes up. In fact, because of this, he has earned the nickname 최최차차 (romanized as choe-choe-cha-cha) which means, "Your bias is your bias, but Chae EunWoo is Cha EunWoo." It means that no matter who your bias is, Cha EunWoo is in a league of his own.

We'd like to describe him as a 'feel-good visual'. He has the kind of visuals that just make a person brighten up and his smiling face can easily boost your mood.

ASTRO Cha EunWoo's Instagram

Cha EunWoo is not only a handsome face but his tall height emphasizes his model-like proportions. He could easily be a professional model if he wanted to.

Here is a video of him walking down the runway for Seoul Fashion Week.

He can pull off any fashion look, including high fashion, too. Here is an article about how well he rocks the androgynous fashion trend.

In fact, Cha EunWoo is so holistically talented at modeling that we have even featured him in another series on our site called "Idol vs. Model" about idols who could be mistaken for professional models. Read that article here.

On a more personal note, many love Cha EunWoo because he is down-to-earth. Despite his success, he always stays humble and does everything sincerely with a hard-working attitude.

As a result of his hard-working attitude, the burden Cha EunWoo must feel to do well is probably huge. Many AROHA (ASTRO's fandom) acknowledge that. However, we hope he knows how much all of his fans notice and appreciate his hard work.

One episode from his time on "Master in the House" perfectly shows how much he must sometimes feel pressure. Cha EunWoo expressed his desire to one day get married and to have someone be on his side completely. Rather than focusing on the marriage part, many fans felt his sincerity in longing for someone who is on his team in every sense of the word and saw him in a new light after this. He was completely vulnerable and honest, sharing that he wants to be able to show his 'ugly' side to someone.

You can watch the full scene here.

However, one of his most admirable traits is that despite how difficult it must be for him sometimes, Cha EunWoo still smiles and is a source of light for many people. He is truly selfless. There is nothing more satisfying then seeing his smiling face. We hope that he despite everything, he knows that his fans will always be on his side no matter what.

In an interview, he shared that his biggest concerns these days are happiness, life, and health. He has't had time to pay special attention to these until now and wants to try harder to focus on them. This seems to go hand-in-hand with his motto, "You need to be thankful for what you already have to be happy."

He is often praised for his deep profound personality that complements his calm demeanor. Cha EunWoo really shows his poise in wholesome moments where he opens up to his fans.

An intriguing TMI fact about Cha EunWoo is that when he can't sleep, he eats melatonin-filled gummy sweets. However, he is generally known to be a heavy sleeper.

Another interesting fact about Cha EunWoo is his love for travel. Like we said in the beginning of the article, he truly is a global citizen. He has an adorable habit of collecting souvenirs such as fridge magnets from each of the places he has been, too.