YONGSEUNG is “so curious about stars and the deep night sky” that he once dreamed of becoming an astronomer. Now a member of VERIVERY, he still talks about the universe all the time and sometimes shares photos with fans where he’s looking at the Moon through a telescope. He also speaks with his fans with touching words that are beautiful and possess all the logic of the universe, saying things like, “We’re all pieces of stars, so we shine like them.” YONGSEUNG shines like a star when he dances on stage, and once he comes down, he calmly stares up into the black of the night sky. I was curious what he sees when he’s staring up there.

The origin of his fascination with space

YONGSEUNG: I never talked about this until this interview, but there was a picture book in my school library when I was in first grade that showed the planets in the solar system as a family, and I found it so interesting. I wanted to read it over and over but I had to return it eventually, so I even copied the whole thing into my notebook. So I would look at that notebook again and again. That’s when I started wanting to find out more, including about what’s beyond our solar system. I think I’ve been hungry for knowledge ever since I was a kid. We had a lesson in science club once where we made a simple telescope. After making the telescope, the first person to find and correctly identify a particular star would be the winner, but I had actually already seen the star in that location in a book. I already knew the name of the star without making a telescope, so I won without even making anything. (laughs)

From looking at stars to becoming one

YONGSEUNG: I was actually all set to go to a science high school when I was in middle school. I started taking dance back then so I could get some exercise, but the older boys at my dance academy were so kind and I liked them so much that my interest in dance kept growing. I was thinking about both a science high school and an art high school, but the application period for the art school ended sooner. I got accepted to the art school first so I spent a lot of time thinking it over and talking with my third-year homeroom teacher. But I was so curious what my life would turn out like if I went to the art school. Looking back now, I didn’t put a lot of thought into the final decision—it just sort of happened.

The universe is still changing

YONGSEUNG: If you watch documentaries or videos about the universe, they often end by saying that “we still don’t know a lot about” celestial bodies or cosmic phenomena. I felt like no one has come to any conclusions yet and that I somehow wanted to find them myself. A lot of stars have been discovered that are bigger than the ones that were thought to be the biggest when I first became interested in space. I thought we knew everything already but new things keep being discovered and a lot of things I expected them to discover still haven’t been. There’s still so much humanity doesn’t know about the universe and we’re learning new things all the time. I love how the universe is still changing.

The effect space has on YONGSEUNG

YONGSEUNG: One thing that I’m sure all astronomers would agree on is that we’re just a speck compared to the vastness of the universe and that our time here is just a blip in the history of it, but at the same time, thinking that way is a form of self-reflection and self-improvement. And there’s been times where there’s all these trivial things I keep worrying about even though my life’s so busy. When that happens, I get over it by thinking about the bigger questions that exist in the vastness of space. When I get lost looking into space, I feel like I get completely washed away by it. I think it really calms me down. Space is very quiet, of course. Actually, it’s a vacuum, so there’s no sound at all. (laughs) That could be the reason I tend to be calm and not get emotional over every little thing.

Gazing at the night sky through a telescope

YONGSEUNG: I remember I begged my mom for a telescope constantly when I was in elementary school. As I got older and went through middle school, I got better and better telescopes, then a fan gave me a nice one a year or two ago and that’s what I use to stargaze now. The sky looks almost the same through a telescope, to be honest. A small star is still small when you look at it through a telescope. (laughs) But when I point my telescope up at a star, it feels like it’s just the two of us, so I think that’s why I keep doing it.

Constellation tips

YONGSEUNG: First off, it’s fun seeing constellations you’ve seen in books or already know about in real life, so I think it’s a good idea to study up on what’s visible in a given season and with given weather. My favorite constellation is Orion. It’s really easy for beginners to find, too. Orion’s right in the middle of the sky and has lots of bright stars so it’s easy to see. Stars are easiest to see in winter and they look the best then, too! I think people can have fun stargazing in winter since there’s an abundance of bright stars then, including Canis Minor and Canis Major, which has Sirius, the brightest star for us on Earth other than the Sun. There’s also Gemini, my astrology sign, and Auriga, too.

How YONGSEUNG explores the universe

YONGSEUNG: There’s so many space videos on social media and video sites now that they come up all the time for me from the algorithm. I keep watching them so they keep popping up. (laughs) That’s one way I study about space. And while I don’t subscribe to them anymore, I used to pick up some of my knowledge through science magazines. As I mentioned, I wanted to go to science high school, but some of my friends really did, and I’ll talk to them and hear what they have to say. What I want to recommend to people who are getting their very first taste of space is to first make sure it’s accessible to them. I think your first impressions of the universe should be really interesting and fun, so for that reason I think it would be good to approach things lightly with something like a movie that’s got a bit of sci-fi in it. After that you can watch documentaries or any of the many educational channels that are around these days. For space-themed movies, I’d recommend Interstellar. I love it so much that I watched it at least five times!

Is there intelligent life out there?

YONGSEUNG: I think we really had to beat the odds for there to be life on Earth. The Earth’s axis is on a slight angle, it’s the perfect distance from the Sun, we have an ideal satellite situation with our Moon and we’re just the right size to support life. Given how absolutely huge the universe is, it’s doubtful Earth is the only planet that meets all these conditions. So I believe that there must be other planets with life on them but that we just haven’t found them yet. If there are aliens out there, the first thing I’d want to know is what they look like since they say that life looks different depending on a planet’s atmosphere and size. I’m curious about that as well as how they’ve developed and what they eat.

When you wish upon a star …

YONGSEUNG: I usually only trust things rooted in logic and facts, so I don’t believe you can make a wish come true by wishing on a shooting star. (laughs) But if it really were possible to get your wish granted by a shooting star, I’d say, “We’re so small compared to the rest of the universe and just a short moment in its history, but I hope we can be happy anyway.”

Winning first place for the first time—in terms of astronomy

YONGSEUNG: Winning first place on a music show just 1,415 days after debut—I feel like it’s just as meaningful as discovering that the Earth revolves around the Sun. (laughs) Just as we were able to learn more about the Earth and the whole universe after discovering that, I think our win will push us to keep pressing forward and I think it’ll give us many opportunities to move forward with our fans and with all our listeners. What I’m saying is our first-place win is just as big a breakthrough as those in astronomy. And I sort of thought we deserved to win by now, actually. I almost teared up when I saw VERRER in front of the stage crying. Talking about space is one thing, but there’s nothing quite like being happy.

We’re all pieces of stars

YONGSEUNG: I once told the fans on a live broadcast, “We’re all pieces of stars. We all shine.” In the beginning, the universe was nothing but hydrogen and helium. But then other elements came into existence as stars formed and exploded, and every bit of tissue our bodies are made up of all came from the elements that formed through that same process. It’s really awe-inspiring to think every single skin cell on our hands and faces all came from the stars. I said what I said because, when you think about it that way, we’re all star children.

VERRER in the YONGSEUNG’s universe

YONGSEUNG: Compared to the vast space of the universe, the VERRER I imagine is a cute little thing. A group of stars is called a cluster, and the way VERRER comes together like a cluster and shines and gives their support—it’s nothing huge, but it gives me a small amount of strength every day. I think that’s what VERIVERY and VERRER are for each other. So I hope we can be there for one another, shining away. Forever.