Third Time's the Charm

Wang Yibo

Wang Yibo was an idol, a superstar. To add to that, he was unique to the artiste industry. He had many interests, and boy was he talented at whatever he set his mind to. He had a passion for dance since he was young, and his loving parents were nothing but supportive of his interests.

When dancing was no longer able to satisfy him, at a young age of 12, he started to create his own dances, and then he thought, why not write his own damn songs to fit his dances. And so, singer songwriter dancer Wang Yibo was scouted to be in Uniq, a boyband along with Zhou Yi Xuan, Kim Sung Joo, Li Wenhan, and Cho Seung Youn.

However, contrary to his parents' unlimited belief, he did not start off with a bang. He was quiet by nature, he stuttered when he had to speak a few more words, and he was left behind by his members. When every member of Uniq rose in popularity, he was left behind. Like a shadow nobody noticed.

With fewer endorsements, he was left alone frequently. You know what they say, when one door closes, another opens. He was introduced to the world of bike racing. With his hardwork, effort and strong will, he won the championships.

His interests then later expanded to skateboarding, snowboarding, gaming, and he won every single championship.

When Uniq expanded their influence in China, he was surprised to find that he was no longer a shadow of his members. He was popular. He had a fan club and he was loved.
Suddenly, everyone loved him for being straightforward, for being cold, for being a man of few words.

As he progressed into many areas such as acting and show hosting, he was in demand. Everywhere! There wasn't a place in China and even virtually that you couldn't see Wang YiBo.

But Wang YiBo was not happy. He thought he would be, he thought he'd be ecstatic. He'd revel in his success. But he was not happy. Suddenly, he was stuck in his rental flat, he could not go out for a break just to feel the wind or the snow, or the rain. crap, he could not even go downstairs to the supermarket if he wanted a lollipop.

As time passed, his loneliness amplified and anxiety was eating him. He had no one he could trust. He could not trust his manager and agency whom he thinks they did nothing but milk him. He could not trust event organisers who always somehow cheated him into doing things he didn't like in front of the camera. He hated his fans and paparazzi who won't give him a moment of peace. He closed himself up from the world, he rejected his friends when they extended a hand, he rejected his parents who were constantly worried about him. He was exhausted, he was expanded, and he began to withdraw from the scene.

He stopped concert activities, bike racing activities, he chucked his skateboard to he can't remember where, he refused to take up new scripts and endorsement, but what made things worse was despite slowing down, he refused to go home. He would hole up all day in his apartment, alone and all he did was sleep. He'd wake up, go to the restroom, have a sip of water and continued to sleep.

What he didn't realise was, he was a real loving and pure boy. His agency loved him like a son. His manager Liu Hai Kuan especially, loved him like a younger brother. Even his members had not for a single day stopped trying to reach out to him.

One day, HaiKuan could not take it anymore. He stormed to YiBo's apartment, forced his way in and was distressed to see the state of the apartment. No longer neat and tidy, there were tshirts strewn on the floor, uneaten boxes of food packed with flies.

He marched to YiBo's room only to see a hobo? Wang YiBo had not shaved for god knows how long, he was so thin, he almost didn't spot him under the pile of blanket and pillows. And worst of all, he had a freaking stench, he was smelling so bad that he resembled the sewage system HaiKuan had to clean during his mandatory 2 year military service in the navy's tanker.

All sorts of emotions flashed through HaiKuan'a eyes, anguish, then sorrow, then sympathy, then empathy, and all within seconds, his eyes flashed with anger.