Actor Cha Hak-yeon completed winning over viewers by oscillating between coldness and a surprising warmth.
Coupang Play's "The Absolute Value of Romance" is a high-teen series in which a high school girl who wrote BL novels about handsome male teachers becomes the protagonist of a turbulent school life after encountering them unexpectedly in real life.
Cha Hak-yeon captivated attention from the first episode in "The Absolute Value of Romance" as Ga Woo-soo, the new math teacher at Murim Girls' High School, an IQ 156 Mensa member with a strikingly handsome appearance.
In the Coupang Play series "The Absolute Value of Romance," which premiered on the 17th, Yeo I-ju (Kim Hyang-gi) embarks on a daring double life, writing the BL novel "We were friends" by using the four handsome teacher models, including her homeroom teacher Ga Woo-soo, the 'math obsessed' teacher.
Ga Woo-soo, who mistakenly believed Yeo I-ju had secretly filmed him, got into an altercation and broke Yeo I-ju's phone screen. But he left only a warning about distributing the video instead of an apology, showing a prickly side. Later, as Yeo I-ju's school math teacher and homeroom teacher, he received enthusiastic cheers from students for his perfect physique and visuals. The awkward relationship with Yeo I-ju made viewers look forward to the teacher-student chemistry that will unfold.
Meanwhile, the scene in which he is struck by pigeon droppings on his way to work and faints brought laughter. He and Yeo I-ju searched for the glasses he dropped when he fell but ultimately went to work without finding them. Because of the great inconvenience in his daily life, Ga Woo-soo got his glasses back through Yeo I-ju's younger sibling, but he realized that Yeo I-ju had lied because she was afraid she would be scolded for having damaged the glasses. Instead of scolding or demanding compensation, he suggested an after-school math class, revealing a warm twist to his charm.
A representative said, "Cha Hak-yeon freely navigated not only coldness but also surprising warmth and comedic elements to richly complete the character of Ga Woo-soo," noting that his portrayal, which is the complete opposite of the quirky, lively image he showed in the previous drama Oh My Ghost Clients, has been praised and asking for high expectations.
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