Ten

## Ten李永钦

* Personal Info
* Career Info
* SNS

Known by his nickname and stage name **Ten** (Thai: เตนล์; Korean: 텐) and his Chinese name Li Yongqin (Chinese: 李永欽), Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul (Thai: ชิตพล ลี้ชัยพรกุล) is a Thai dancer and singer of Chinese descent. He is the main dancer and center of the Chinese male idol group WayV He is one of the founding members of the South Korean-based male idol group NCT and its sub-unit NCT U. In 2019, he signed with Capitol Records as one of the members of the male idol group SuperM. He is also part of WayV's second sub-unit WayV-TEN&YANGYANG.

## Early life

He was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand and is part of a Thai-Chinese family. He studied at Shrewsbury International School.

During the start of the Hallyu wave in Thailand, Ten's grandmother was amazed by the performance of Super Junior and their hit song *Sorry, Sorry*. Because of this, she encouraged Ten to learn dance and enrolled him in a dance school. Around the same time, He was also encouraged to dance as a hobby after watching the move "Step Up 2: The Street".

Ten won the Thai television show *Teen Superstar* in 2011, under the stage name TS7 TNT. He visited Korea for two days as part of his training in that program, since it was a joint venture between Korea and Thailand. Through this program, he earned the opportunity to sign a contract with Starship Entertainment, but ultimately refused. Before appearing on the audition program, he passed the audition for YG Entertainment, but he also did not join the company. It was because YG Entertainment recommended that he should come to Korea after finishing high school and his family opposed him going to Korea because he was too young at the time.

On August 30, 2013, he joined SM Entertainment after passing the global auditions held on March 30-31. His parents initially didn't want him to go, but his grandmother recognized it as the company of Super Junior and encouraged him.

## Career

### Pre-debut

Ten was introduced as a member of SM Entertainment's pre-debut training team SM Rookies on December 23, 2013. In 2014, Ten and other future NCT members participated on the show *EXO 90:2014*, hosted by their labelmates EXO, where they remade K-pop songs from the 90s.

### NCT

*For specific activities by NCT, please visit the main article.*

In April 2016, SM Entertainment confirmed Ten alongside other members to debut as members of NCT's first subgroup, NCT U, with the single, *일곱 번째 감각 (The 7th Sense)* and he participated in Mnet's dance program *Hit the Stage*.

In January 2017, he joined the cast of SBS's program, *Elementary School Teacher*, which shows idols from foreign countries improving their Korean language skills as well as becoming more accustomed to Korean culture.

On March 24, 2017 S.M. released a teaser for Ten's first single through *SM Station Season 2* titled "夢中夢 (몽중몽; Dream In A Dream)". The song was released on April 7. It was announced on the same day that Ten is the new member of SM Entertainment's performance team, SM The Performance.

Ten concluded the project album, *SM Station Season 2* with his single "New Heroes" on April 6, 2018, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard's Word Digital Song Sales.

"夢中夢 (몽중몽; Dream In A Dream)" was included in NCT's first studio album, "NCT 2018 EMPATHY" which also marked the release of the NCT U single "Baby Don't Stop", a duet which he recorded alongside NCT leader Taeyong. He also made an appearance in the "Black On Black" music video as a member of NCT 2018.

For the NCT 2020 project, he participated in the promotions for *NCT 2020 RESONANCE Pt. 2* double title songs "90's Love" and "Work It".

### WayV

*For specific activities by WayV, please visit the main article.*

The formation of WayV was announced through the group's official Weibo account on December 31, 2018, though the group's existence had been alluded to during the NCT 2018 promotions.

He debuted with WayV as the group's main dancer on January 17, 2019, with the digital release *The Vision*. This marks his first membership in a fixed unit almost three years after his initial debut with NCT U. He is the last member of the original NCT U lineup to debut in a fixed group.

For WayV's Rainbow V project, he choreographed and performed a dance with WinWin. The music they used was Billie Eilish and Khalid's "Lovely".

On August 17, 2021, with YangYang, Ten debuted as a member of the sub-unit WayV-TEN&YANGYANG, with the digital release *Low Low*.
### SuperM

*For specific activities by SuperM, please visit the main article.*

On August 8, 2019, it was announced that Ten was to be a member of SuperM, a "K-pop supergroup" created by SM Entertainment in collaboration with Capitol Records. The group's promotions began in October of the same year, and are primarily aimed at the American market.

## Other activities

### Song collaborations

*For a complete list of song collaborations, please visit Ten/Discography.*

For SM STATION, Ten is the first member of NCT to participate solo, and the only NCT member with three solo works to his name. His first work "몽중몽 (梦中梦; Dream in a Dream)" was released in April 7, 2017, and his second work "New Heroes" on April 6, 2018. Ten will release an SM STATION single titled "Paint Me Naked" on August 10, 2021.

On May 31, 2020, GINJO released a single titled "The Riot", which featured WayV's Ten and Xiaojun.### Variety shows

*This page only shows programs wherein the member is a permanent cast member. For a complete list of variety show appearances, please visit Ten/Filmography.*

As part of SMROOKIES, Ten appeared in *EXO 90:2014*.

Ten participated in Mnet's *Hit The Stage* as a contestant, ranking 4th place in episodes 1-2, 8th place in episodes 3-4, 1st place in episodes 5-6, and 3rd place in episodes 9-10.

From July 16 to August 21, Ten was the host for the PPTV program *Food Truck Battle*, a Thai cuisine duel variety show in Thailand.### Radio shows

## Personal life

His family is composed of his father, mother, and younger sister. He is a 4th generation Chinese Thai, with his great grandfather being Chinese. Both his parents are Chinese, and their roots can be seen through their Thai surname Leechaiyapornkul, which contains their Chinese surname Lee. His younger sister Tern Kulisara is a designer, and runs a fashion brand called K7 and a perfume brand ENLEE, the latter of which Ten helped launch.

In 2018, he received an official exemption from mandatory military service due to knee injuries.

## Profile pictures

For a more complete list of photos, please go to *Ten/Gallery*.

## Trivia

* Assorted
* Preferences
* Promotions
* WayV YouTube channel
* NCT 2020 ENQUETE
* WOW 大牌 TMI

* He can speak five languages: Thai, English, Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese.
	+ He uses his keyboard in five language settings on his cellphone.
	+ He thinks in Thai and English.
	+ For Mandarin, he is better at speaking as compared to reading and writing. He finds himself lost when hearing Mandarin in formal situations, but his brain works fast in casual situations, and especially when he is in the middle of an argument. In addition, Hendery says he often says unexpected words.
	+ As shown in NCT World 2.0, his Japanese is good enough to be able to read hiragana and katakana.
	+ WayV's manager gifted him a six-month course in Japanese language for their 2019 Secret Santa event.
* In the new dormitory, he has his own room, but shares the unit with Kun and YangYang.
* In the old dormitory, he shared a room with Hendery. Their room is the biggest in the WayV dormitory. As seen in the NCT 24hr RELAY CAM, their room is filled with cat towers and toys.
	+ The WayV dormitory auntie frequently confuses Kun and Ten for each other since they have similar names.
* Before moving into the WayV dormitory, he used to live in NCT Dream's dorm and has shared a room with Renjun and Jisung.
* He is the first and only Thai idol in SM Entertainment.
* The movie that cultivated his dream to be a singer was "Step Up 2", while the artist that cultivated his dream was Super Junior.
* Though his given name is Chittaphon, his nickname Ten comes from the Thai word for kingfisher, กระเต็น (kra-ten).
* Ten's family is speculated to be wealthy.
	+ According to Ten, his house is big enough for 100 people to sleep inside.
	+ The tuition fee for Shrewsbury International School is about 20,000 to 30 million won per year, and Ten and his sister are said to have been attending the school since kindergarten.
	+ In his childhood, he and his family would go to Switzerland in the winter for snowboarding and skiing.
	+ He donated all the money he won from *Teen Superstar*.
	+ His house is said to be a zoo, and they own a lot of animals that range from dogs to flying squirrels.
* In 2013, during an episode of *Infinite Challenge* where BoA was practicing for a song festival, Ten was caught on camera, walking in the background. He had just moved to Korea at the time.
* His MBTI result is INFJ.
* He did gymnastics until he was 13 and even won awards, but eventually gave up because he got heavier. So he quit gymnastics and joined the basketball team.
* He has a lot of predebut photos, even those that are not related to *Teen Superstar*. Some notable ones are:
	+ a mirror selfie that he took while his little sister was being scolded by their mother
	+ a photo of him shaving his head and eyebrows for his religion
	+ a photo of him next to Jackie Chan
	+ a photo set of him doing farm work in the field
* However, during a video call event, when a fan asked Hendery whether he watched Ten's predebut videos, the former says that Ten doesn't like it so he won't watch. Lucas also said that it makes Ten uncomfortable.
	+ The other NCT members, though, from time to time, reference his old performances and call him TNT.
* He is very close to his younger sister, and he teases her when he mentions her in interviews or videos. They have dozens of "couple items", including matching clothes, hats, bracelets, and rings. The two also have the same foot size, so they share their shoes too.
* Ten's mother made and gave bracelets to each of the WayV members.
* He is best friends with Johnny and were often together during trainee days. During promotions for NCT activities, they are usually seen together.
* The first K-pop song he ever danced to was Super Junior's "Sorry, Sorry."
* The first album he bought was Taemin's *ACE*.
* He uses an English workbook to learn Korean, and a Korean workbook to learn Japanese or Chinese. In his and Hendery's room, there is a bookshelf which contains several language and grammar books.
* The WayV members (and he himself) said that Ten spends a lot of time in the bathroom. Ten said it's because the bathroom is the most quiet place in the dormitory.
* Because he is a very neat person, he said that he became WayV's second dorm auntie with how much he cleans up after them and how much he takes care of the pets.
* His hobby is art, drawing, and designing. He took art lessons as a child because of his mom, who believed that studying art would help boost his IQ and improve his education as a whole. He didn't really like it at the time, until he took the Cambridge IGCSE exam and tested highly in art. Drawing is a source of solace, and it also helps him focus and find clarity on more existential matters.
* WayV has several merchandise that contain his designs:
	+ WayV Designed by TEN MD
	+ 假日 (Holiday)/假日 (Holiday) Official MD
	+ Our Home : WayV with Little Friends
* Ten released a collaboration with Represent called "What is ??? THE ANSWERS". He had long wanted to create a clothing brand, and when Represent approached him, he saw an opportunity to try something of his own.

- His favorite numbers are 10 and the lucky number 7.

- He prefers villain characters to hero characters, and even suggested it for WinWin's next birthday party cosplay.

- He does not like fruits. He used to be okay with it when he was younger, but he suddenly disliked it when he grew up. The only fruits he can eat are cranberry and coconut.
	* He doesn't like any cake or sweets that has fruit in it.
	* However, he can drink fruit juice without any problem.

- He loves chocolate and sweet things.

- His favorite Korean foods are tteokbokki, gimbap, soondae, eomuk, and tteokbokki. He likes the Korean snack "Chicken Pop".

- He prefers bread to rice. When eating plain bread, he tears away the edges. His favorite bread is cream cheese bread.

- His favorite Baskin Robbins flavor is cheese cake.

- His go-to Gong Cha menu is Earl Grey Milk Tea with white pearls, no sugar, no ice.

- He likes coffee. His go-to Starbucks menu is Cafe Americano.

- For religious reasons, Ten doesn't eat beef.

- He collects perfumes. He usually prefers sweet scents. His favorite perfume brand is Chanel.

- He is the only member of WayV who doesn't like playing computer games. He avoids playing because he would be competitive and do it seriously. He had previously said that he hated the sound of Jisung playing games when they were still roommates.

- However, he loves Pokémon. He used to go to a market with his grandma and buy Pokémon figurines, and he actually ended up collecting all 359 of them at the time. His favorite Pokémon character is Mew.

- His favorite season is summer. It's because the winter in Korea is too cold.

- His favorite place in Korea is SM, especially the practice room.

- His favorite ride at Lotte World is Gyro Drop.

- He likes wearing slippers/slides. He started the trend of wearing it in the WayV dormitory.

- When he debuted, the Korean word that sounded the prettiest to him was "전자 레인지" (microwave oven). He also likes the word "세탁기" (laundry machine).

- From SuperM Midterm Exam:
	* His hobby is watching movies. Taeyong says that Ten has a lot of hobbies, like drawing and singing.
	* His favorite food is Italian food, and he dislikes noodle dishes that only have noodles.
	* His favorite color is black.
	* His role model is Rihanna.
	* He is afraid of ghosts.
	* The first thing he does upon waking up hug his cat.

- His member color in WayV is purple.

- His animal motifs are a cat and a fox.

- His jersey number was 10 during the 2019 WayV FANMEETING TOUR 'Section 1 We Are Your Vision' and NCT World 2.0.

- His number in "超时空 回 (Turn Back Time)" was 1010.

- His member code for NCT 2020 promotions was G10, with G signifying that he's the 7th member of NCT according to age order (excluding Sungchan and Shotaro).

- He has been part of 5 NCT U releases: "일곱 번째 감각 (The 7th Sense)", "Baby Don't Stop", "피아노 (Faded In My Last Song)", "90's Love", and "Work It".

- He wrote his signature as "TEN C. LEE" for the *NCT 2020 RESONANCE Pt. 2* ID and access cards.

- From [WayV-ariety] ✌This or That✌:
	* Shirt or **Hoodie**: Because if he wears a hoodie, it has swag.
	* Sneakers or **Slippers**: He wears sneakers when he dances, but when he has no schedules, he wears slippers.
	* Nose or **Eyes**: Because the heart can be expressed through the eyes.
	* Hair tied up or Hair tied down: He has bangs in the morning, but it's slicked back at night.
	* **Earrings** or **Necklace**: He wants both of them as these make him feel relaxed and stable.
	* Cooking or **Delivering food**: He doesn't like doing the dishes.
	* White soup or **Red soup**: He likes spicy food.
	* **Day** or Night: The sun is absolutely necessary.
	* **Coffee** or **Tea**: He drinks coffee in the morning and tea at night.
	* Starving for three days or Staying up all night for 3 days: It's bad for the health so he won't choose any of them. Because he loves the fans, he needs to be healthy.
	* **Ballad songs** or **Dance songs**: He's down for anything: listen to ballads when he wants to cry and dance songs when he wants to dance.
	* Piano accompaniment or **Guitar accompaniment**: When I was young, he used to like piano accompaniment but he likes guitar accompaniment these days.
	* Composing a melody vs **Writing lyrics**: He has a lot to say.
	* Mountain or **Ocean**: He lived in Thailand, and during the holidays he and his family would go to the sea to have fun.
	* **Summer** or Winter: Because he can wear less clothes.
	* **Puppies** or **Kittens**: Who doesn't like babies?
	* **Calling** or Texting: He doesn't like typing.
	* **Bed** or Sofa
	* **Movies** or Games: He doesn't like playing games.
	* **Muscle training** or Cardio workouts: He likes playing basketball with friends.
	* Writing or **Drawing** He usually draws on his Ipad and always draw animal designs.

* Translation by Hanippun

* Translation by Hanippun

1. ↑ 200120 WayV TEEN VOGUE interview.
2. ↑ 191223 WayV Morning News Channel 3 interview
3. ↑ 210318 Hendery Weibo live broadcast
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 210708 Ten TEEN VOGUE interview
5. ↑ 200918 SuperM Midterm Exam: ✏️LUCAS ✏️TAEMIN ✏️TEN episode

## References

1. ↑ http://tenasia.hankyung.com/archives/195321
2. ↑  https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8469964/k-pop-label-sm-entertainment-to-launch-china-oriented-nct-group
3. ↑ https://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2018/04/03/ncts-ten-officially-exempt-thai-military-release-new-solo-song