r/ATEEZ

I’ve been thinking a lot about Choi San’s growth recently, especially with all the viral reels during Ice On My Teeth and BAD, and it honestly makes me so happy and proud to see where he is right now versus where he started.

Until a few years back, the amount of scrutiny and hate he faced for his aggressive, boundary-pushing dancing style was intense, to say the least. It absolutely breaks my heart remembering how he felt the need to shield his own parents from the online noise, asking them not to search his name because of how cruel people were being.

But despite all that hate? He 👏 never👏 toned it down.👏

Instead of conforming or playing it safe in an industry that often expects perfect, doll-like looks and pretty, safe expressions, he leaned into exactly who he was. He perfected his craft, adapted his style to different concepts, stayed resilient, and completely redefined what a "master of performance" looks like.

Now, the exact things people used to criticize and question him for are the very reasons everyone is completely obsessed with him.

He has become a role model to so many younger idols and even has baddies like Chase Infiniti biasing him!

Seeing him get praised for his intensity, being dubbed the "Duke of the North," for IOMT and now getting his flowers on such a massive scale for his mesmerizing performance for BAD is just so deeply satisfying to watch for me as ATINY. 🥹

Lately, I've been so happy seeing him in the likes of so many of the BAD reels that pop up on my Instagram feed. It means he knows he's going viral for all the right reasons. His family doesn't even need to search him up, he's literally taken over everyone's feed!!!