a wax sculpture of him in madame tussauds had his exhibition on september 8, 2017 in beijing. on september 17, 2017, it was confirmed to be or protagonist of drama "the golden eyes", announced in a pre-release conference. on september 22, s.m. entertainment revealed a teaser image about his upcoming comeback. on september 25, he released the song "i need u (需要 你)" as a pre-release track for his first studio album "lay 02 sheep", digitally released on october 7, 2017, along with the title track "sheep (羊)".