“Is this insane? How did they even film something like this……?”
Shocked, I stared blankly at the back of my phone lying face-down pitifully on the bed.
Goosebumps had broken out all over my body, my hands and feet were trembling — and I wanted to gouge out my own precious eyes with my bare hands for having witnessed something this scandalous.
Isn’t this just an AI-generated video using Kwon Wookyung’s face? He actually knows how to make that kind of expression? That had to be pure acting, through and through.
“He… he really is a proper actor……”
I muttered reluctantly. That was the only compliment I could manage after watching that. Just as Choi Seonho had said, his acting had clearly developed enormously. Even back in school he wasn’t bad at acting, but I’d never seen him swap his face out like that — to the level of fully inhabiting someone else.
Having come back to my senses, I forced myself to ignore the paused video and read a few of the comments below it.
‘His eyes are literally dripping with honey ㅠㅠ’
‘He’s so freaking gorgeous hh’
‘1:42 look at Kwon Wookyung’s eyelashes trembling lolkㅠㅠㅠ’
‘Woo Kyeong is so sexy 🥵’
‘Are you two actually dating?? I’ll pretend I don’t know so just date already pleaseee…’
‘Guilty eyes. His lips won’t stop curling up hhhh’
Hundreds of comments like these. Ugh……
Among them, the comment ‘Are you two actually dating?’ had racked up 2,400 likes and had dozens of replies under it.
‘The way he looks at her so tenderly — how does that make sense if they’re not dating??’
‘Haven’t you seen the press conference video? The way Kwon Wookyung gazes at Jung Seowon — it’s the exact same look my ex gave me when we were in the talking stage;;;’
‘Kwon＆Jung forever💖💖💖’
‘The scandal didn’t come out of nowhere.. please just confirm the relationship already..’
‘They’re obviously together why won’t anyone admit it?’
I couldn’t make sense of all of it, so I ended up looking into the details further.
The video was a clip from a melodrama called <The Day My First Love Came Back>. The story was about two alphas falling for one omega, and the actress who played the omega role was Jung Seowon. The character Kwon Wookyung played was a side character who had unrequited feelings for the main omega — a minor role in Season 1. But the Kwon Wookyung and Jung Seowon pairing generated far more buzz, so his screen time was dramatically increased in Season 2, forming a love triangle — only to end without the two of them getting together in the finale. Their chemistry was so undeniable that a scandal had erupted both before and after the drama aired.
Even just skimming through the related article headlines, there was a distinct push toward fueling dating rumors — things like matching items they’d been spotted wearing, or sightings of the two of them eating together somewhere.
“Wow… Jung Seowon?”
I looked at a photo of Jung Seowon smiling brightly and was genuinely impressed.
She was a former child actress, so I knew who she was. She had a clean image with no controversies to her name. Perhaps because of her distinctly pure, delicate quality, she was often cast as omega roles in projects despite actually being a beta male.
Come to think of it, was this Kwon Wookyung’s type?
I’d never seen him date anyone, so I didn’t even know what kind of person he was drawn to.
We’d been practically inseparable almost every day, so there was no way he’d been secretly meeting someone behind my back.
Back in school, Kwon Wookyung was naturally popular. Every start of term, posts like ‘does that alpha in class X of year Y have a partner’ would reliably pop up on the school’s anonymous community board. The problem was that he turned down every confession without giving anyone an opening — so the rumor spread that he never accepted confessions no matter what, and even that popularity quickly fizzled out.
But things are different now, surely. At twenty-four, with the added aura of being a well-known actor — it didn’t seem likely he’d gone this whole time without dating a single person. Kwon Wookyung wasn’t that clueless about these things.
This drama had aired two years ago, and yet it was still enormously popular — there seemed to be plenty of fans who couldn’t let go of Kwon Wookyung and Jung Seowon’s chemistry. Related posts with recent dates were still being uploaded online.
‘Isn’t this basically Kwon Wookyung publicly confessing to Jung Seowon? (link included)’
Look at the part at 11:56 where Kwon Wookyung gets asked about his ideal type. Not just what he says, but look at his expression — doesn’t it seem like he’s thinking of someone specific while he answers?
He goes out of his way to add ‘doesn’t have to be an omega,’ and then Jung Seowon, who’d been sitting quietly, looks up in surprise. It’s obviously because Jung Seowon is a beta in real life;
And you’re still telling me this is just my imagination?????
I’d bet they’ve been happily dating for over a year now?????
The comments were split down the middle.
‘Come on.. it was an interview to promote the project so obviously they were playing up the chemistry. Have you even watched the drama’s one-day two-day?’
‘But honestly the vibe was kind of strange back then… didn’t they at least have something going on?’
‘Yeah no, pure delusion ㅇㅇ’
‘Let it go already.. haven’t you seen Kwon Wookyung’s new project? He looks at the female lead the exact same way. Are they dating too?’
‘What do you mean the exact same way ㅋ? Get your eyes checked’
The whole situation — people going back and forth online about whether my friend was dating someone — was so funny that I spent a while reading the comments.
It’s an interview video so this should be fine to watch, right? My fingers trembled in fear that I might click the wrong link and end up seeing more of my friend’s “romance eyes” or “kiss scenes” that I had no desire to witness.
Thankfully, it was a video of the three leads and a host sitting quietly and having a conversation. I played it from 11:56 as the post mentioned, and the host threw out a question.
<So Kwon Wookyung, what’s your ideal type?>
<Hmm. I haven’t really thought about it much……>
<Oh come on, a lot of people are dying to know — give us something satisfying today. Do you perhaps, like Baek Jungwoo from <The Day My First Love Came Back>, prefer someone like Ihyeon…?>
When the host playfully referenced the character, Kwon Wookyung cast his eyes downward and smiled faintly.
<It’s genuinely because I haven’t thought about it. What comes to mind right now is… someone whose smile lights up the whole room around them. Someone a bright smile really suits.>
<Isn’t that a little too generic? Someone whose smile is beautiful is everyone’s ideal type, isn’t it? That’s a first love kind of image.>
<Everyone’s ideal type, a first love… that’s right.>
<And ‘Ihyeon’ in the drama is exactly that kind of character.>
<…There are similarities.>
When Kwon Wookyung nodded, Jung Seowon, seated beside him, gave his arm a light tap and smiled. It was a casual, easy gesture. Considering that he was the type to go stone-faced if someone so much as grazed a fingertip against him, it was clear enough that the two of them were on good terms.
<After this interview goes out, I have a feeling articles are going to pour in with titles like ‘Actor Kwon Wookyung’s ideal type: an omega with a beautiful smile.’>
<It doesn’t have to be an omega, necessarily….>
<Oh? So the secondary trait doesn’t matter? What about alphas or betas?>
<It’s not what’s important to me. Ah… I said something boring.>
Kwon Wookyung, who had been answering earnestly, suddenly laughed awkwardly and lowered his head, like someone who’d just realized he’d said something unnecessary.
<That’s alright. Kwon Wookyung’s face more than makes up for it……>
The host quipped lightly before redirecting the questions toward the main couple.
I paused the video and backed out of the post entirely. In the interview, Kwon Wookyung hadn’t seemed to be putting on a performance. In particular, the part about secondary traits not mattering — that was clearly a moment of genuine feeling slipping out by accident.
Were the two of them really dating? The thought of cold, standoffish Kwon Wookyung gazing at someone and saying something like “I thought I’d die from wanting to see you all day” made my stomach churn. That was a truly unacceptable line.
I’d been holding my phone for so long watching videos that my hand was starting to go numb. I set the device down and stretched my fingers — and just then, my older hyung knocked.
“Haehyeon, come down for dinner.”
“Okay.”
I called back loudly, got up, and headed downstairs to the first floor.
After dinner, I shared some fruit with Mom and Dad and we chatted warmly together. Dad suggested that once my body was in better shape, we should go on a family trip somewhere nearby — and we got so caught up listing candidate destinations that time flew by.
When it was time to sleep, I came back to my room and turned off the lights — and in the meantime, a text had come in on my phone. I switched on the lamp and checked the message.
Choi Seonho: thinking of letting the people i can reach know the news
Choi Seonho: ok if i pass on ur number?
Me: yy havent changed my number tell them
I sent the typo-riddled reply as-is and looked at Choi Seonho’s profile picture, now saved as a new contact.
The sight of him posing with a wine glass, eyes half-shut, was pretty funny. For his background photo he’d set a picture of himself standing next to one of his works and explaining something. The sheer overflow of self-love made it clear he was deep in the throes of the classic artist’s disease. Tsk tsk.
After scrolling through Choi Seonho’s various self-promotional photos in my pathetically short contact list of exactly two people, the other name caught my eye.
Kwon Wookyung — not even a profile picture.
My hand stopped over it.
This guy hasn’t reached out at all.
To be fair, even back then Kwon Wookyung rarely initiated contact. He was the type to reply maybe once for every ten times I reached out. Most likely, even now, if I didn’t reach out first, it would be a long time before I heard from him. And… the shock of the video I’d watched that afternoon was still lingering, so I didn’t particularly feel like contacting Kwon Wookyung. That image needed to leave my head first.
But the moment I turned off the screen — the phone in my hand buzzed.
Caller ㄱㅇㄱ
What perfect timing.
Since when does he call out of nowhere?
And this late at night, of all times?
It was such an unusual occurrence that I leaned back against my headboard and answered.
“Hello?”
– …….
“Kwon Wookyung?”
The caller had dialed me himself and yet said nothing for a long moment.
I was starting to wonder if the call had dropped and checked the screen — when a murmur, barely audible, drifted through.
– Haehyeon.
“Yeah?”
– I can’t sleep.
Ha……
Kwon Wookyung let out a heavy sigh.
