BL author Kim Hyang-gi writes Cha Hak-yeon into the Absolute Value of Romance
by solstices
More giggles, nosebleeds, and heart-fluttering butterflies are on the way with the latest teaser for Coupang Play’s Absolute Value of Romance, starring Kim Hyang-gi (Cashero) as the young writer Yeo Eui-joo. Alas, the only reader of her BL web novel is Eui-joo herself… until inspiration strikes elsewhere.
Four new flower boy teachers have arrived at Eui-joo’s high school, and naturally, their close friendship begins to take a different shape in Eui-joo’s eyes. Adding fuel to the fire, the pretty boy math teacher Ga Woo-soo — played by VIXX’s Cha Hak-yeon (You and Everything Else) — is now Eui-joo’s new homeroom teacher. With that, Eui-joo’s new novel begins to take shape. Of course, it’s a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Totally.
In Eui-joo’s BL-writing hands, Woo-soo transforms into the protagonist Joo Shi-on, the math genius with an attitude. The muscular P.E. teacher Jung Ki-jeon, played by Sohn Jung-hyuk (Love.exe) a.k.a. Demian, turns into the obsessive top Kang Tae-ha. And to round out the love triangle, the Japanese teacher Noh Da-joo — played by N.Flying’s Kim Jae-hyun (Half-Fifty) — becomes the foreign-educated second lead Han Jae-min.
Though from the looks of it, Tae-ha might just have a separate love interest that isn’t Shi-on. The gentle language teacher Yoon Dong-joo, played by Kim Dong-kyu (Moon River), plays a similar role in the novel as the soft-spoken Choi Yoon — and it’s Yoon’s lips that Tae-ha caresses gently with his thumb. It’s also Yoon whom Tae-ha pulls in for an almost-kiss. Oooh.
Thanks to her new muses, Eui-joo’s fingers fly across her keyboard. Against all expectations, her readership soars, leaving Eui-joo to stare in disbelief at the high praise in the novel’s comments. Alas, there’s one little stumbling block — in the midst of a late-night writing session in the school library, Eui-joo gets caught by none other than Woo-soo.
Hilariously, that winds up putting BL lenses over Woo-soo’s eyes, causing him to see his colleagues in a new light. Suddenly, Ki-jeon and Dong-joo chilling on the couch ends up looking like cozy canoodling, and Woo-soo hastily rushes to separate them. “My brain and my eyes have rotted!” exclaims a dismayed Woo-soo. HAHAHA. Hey, you’re the one still enjoying reading Eui-joo’s novel!
There are more trials and tribulations down the road for Eui-joo, though. On top of being found out by her homeroom teacher, it seems she’ll have even more trouble keeping her writing identity a secret. We don’t find out who the voice belongs to just yet, but a voiceover yells at Eui-joo to take her web novel down — or else. “I’ll make sure you’re expelled.” Oh dear. Will Eui-joo be able to keep both her place in school, and her position at the top of the BL web novel rankings?
Led by directors Lee Tae-gon (Bora! Deborah) and Kim Jun-hyung, with scriptwriting by O’PEN 2021 award winner Lee Min-joo, the drama was co-produced with Singapore’s national broadcasting network Mediacorp. Coupang Play’s Absolute Value of Romance is slated to premiere on April 17.
Via Coupang, Herald Muse
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