I met Lelush in his downtown hotel in Beijing. It has been hard to track where he is in since he's been kept busy.  

I asked him "what are you?" 

He answered timidly, "I think I'm more like an influencer than an idol." 

His real name is Vladislav Ivanov – better known as Lelush. That stage name is inspired by his favorite anime character from the show Code Geass. 

Lelush's rapid rise to fame came after he joined one of China's hit talent shows to find the country's next boyband in early 2021. He later found out that being a pop idol does not work for him. And he never hid this. His honesty won many people over, and he even broke into the final round. 

His dream finally came true to not make into the final 11 for the boyband to debut. But his fame carried on – Lelush is the hot word popping out trending on Chinese social media almost every day.

"Before they liked me, they just noticed me. I was just too different from the others. And then, through looking at my performances and listening to what I am saying. They started to know me more. And then they started liking me," said Lelush. 

Lelush has been thinking about his popularity. And before, he was confused why people would like him and vote for him.  

"I don't like dancing or singing. So it is not for me. That's why I was always afraid. But I never wanted to become famous. Because it is not that comfortable to be on the spot. It has good sides and bad sides. I have always understood that," said Lelush. 

And now, he said he would check online about his fans' comments on him every day. 

"Because there are so many funny memes. My fans are very humorous. I like that they do some funny pictures and some funny videos. I am OK with that if they find it funny. It can make them more happy. Why not?" added by Lelush. 

Despite his instant fame and huge following, it's still easy to spot Lelush casually strolling through some of China's most popular places. And every time he takes a walk, he's trending on Chinese social media. He said that he feels safe in China and his fans are polite.  

Lelush mentioned multiple times that he could see his rising to fame story to become a movie. In early 2021, he was teaching Chinese to two Japanese trainees who took part in Chuang2021 – Tencent's biggest boyband reality talent show. The show's director spotted him and encouraged him to join the show. Lelush, however, never had a heart for becoming an idol but more of a career in fashion. So the show's director said there would be many fashion shoots and there were – but also lots of dance classes and vocal training sessions as well.  

I still found Lelush very timid – and still surprised by his rapid growth in popularity. 

I went to the streets. Some are saying Lelush's handsome face triggered them to like him and others are falling for the Russian young man's charisma, but I think his honesty of being who he is and how comfortable he feels living in China helped him quite a lot.