EXO's Park Chanyeol shot to fame while he was still in elementary school. The 23-year-old attained the celebrity status by becoming a trainee under SM Entertainment after winning second place in the 2008 Smart Model Contest.
Chanyeol revealed that he discovered self love after seeing other kids admiring him. During his appearance on KBS 2TV's Happy Together the singer opened about his thoughts on how he handled his popularity. He said: "In my school days, I was known [among the other students] as [an idol] trainee. Even during lunch time, while the kids ran [to get food], I would purposely head over leisurely as everyone queued. I'm normally chatty but I would deliberately talk less."
Chanyeol continued: "While I'm with my guy friends, I would joke around but if I felt anybody's gaze on me during break time, I would try to stay still. I began to really love myself from then on. I got into the habit of trying to look cool and looking in the mirror a lot. If there was no mirror, I'd get uneasy and use a watch to tidy up my hair. I couldn't help but pay attention [to how I looked]."
On asked upon unwinding the mystery on his nickname 3 minute 1 second, the singer revealed: "At the time the Growl MV came out, I appear right at the 3 minute 1 second mark and people said, 'Wow he's so good-looking.' I'm being dead serious. They would ask, 'Who's the guy at the 3 minute and 1 second mark?'"
And when asked to reveal the number of times he has watched the Growl MV, Chanyeol responded, "I've watched it 400-500 times. I just kept watching the part where I appear because that's the only scene where I appear."
