VIXX's Cha Hak-yeon Discusses His Second BL Role in 'The Absolute Value of Romance'

Cha Hak-yeon, leader of the group VIXX and an actor, shared his thoughts on taking on his second BL (Boys' Love) genre role.

On the 14th, a press conference for the Coupang Play series 'The Absolute Value of Romance' was held at The Saint in D-Cube City, Guro-gu, Seoul. The event was attended by actors Kim Hyang-gi, Cha Hak-yeon, Kim Jae-hyun, Son Jeong-hyuk, Kim Dong-kyu, and director Lee Tae-gon.

'The Absolute Value of Romance' is a high-teen series where a high school girl, who writes BL novels featuring handsome teachers, encounters unexpected moments with them in real life, becoming the protagonist of a tumultuous school life.

Cha Hak-yeon plays the role of Ga Woo-soo, a math teacher with an IQ of 156 and a member of Mensa, known for his cold charm. He described his character, saying, "Woo-soo believes himself to be very rational and has a firm set of principles, but if you look closely, there's a clumsy side to him. The humor comes from his belief in his own perfection."

He also discussed the effort he put into the role. Cha Hak-yeon said, "My usual way of speaking is round and soft, but Woo-soo needed to have a sharper and more pointed tone, so I focused a lot on that," recalling, "I worked hard to show a way of speaking and acting that I don't usually use."

Having first ventured into the BL genre with the TVING short original 'The Killer Next Door,' he takes on the genre again with this project. Regarding this, Cha Hak-yeon commented, "This is already my second BL project, but rather than trying to differentiate it from the previous one, I aimed for a natural performance," adding, "In this work, the character has unique and fiery aspects, so I tried to express those parts more boldly."

'The Absolute Value of Romance' will be released on the 17th at 8 PM.

Se-yoon Jung, Ten Asia Reporter yoon@tenasia.co.kr