On the morning of the 11th, actor Cha Hak-yeon sat down for an interview at a cafe in Palpan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, to talk about the Coupang Play series ‘Absolute Value of Romance’ (written by Lee Min-ju, directed by Lee Tae-gon and Kim Jun-hyung).
‘Absolute Value of Romance’ is a teen comedy series following high school student Yeo Ui-ju (played by Kim Hyang-gi), who writes romance novels featuring handsome teachers. Her life takes a wild turn when she encounters them in real life. Cha Hak-yeon takes on the role of Ga Woo-su, a math teacher known as a genius and a Mensa member with an IQ of 156.
Discussing Ga Woo-su’s unique reaction to reading Yeo Ui-ju’s web novel, Cha Hak-yeon shared, “I laughed a lot. I think the scene where Ga Woo-su is reluctant to be the second male lead makes him even more charming, so that’s a part I really like.”
In the series, the character Sion from the web novel (also played by Cha Hak-yeon) caught everyone’s eye with a striking visual transformation, featuring long bangs reminiscent of the 90s and a bold red leather coat.
He added with a laugh, “From that point on, both I and the costume designer were so excited. We rented various outfits and even brought in collection pieces. We only brought clothes that we truly thought were cool.”
Before its release, ‘Absolute Value of Romance’ faced some concerns from some quarters because it is a teen romance involving a teacher and a student. Regarding this, Cha Hak-yeon stated, “Actually, I didn’t have those worries. I was told that it would only be to the extent of a student admiring a teacher, and the actors were aware of that while working on the project, so we acted without any concern.”
He further emphasized, “In reality, I didn’t act with those romantic emotions. That kind of emotional line is not planned to appear from start to finish.”
When asked if filming reminded him of his own school days, Cha Hak-yeon replied, “There were no cold teachers like Ga Woo-su. I remember my 12th-grade PE teacher a lot. I used to help him catch friends escaping night self-study, and we’d eat jajangmyeon together. When I contacted him while working on this project, he told me I caused a lot of trouble. I remembered myself as a model student, but apparently, I wasn’t!” He added with a laugh that his teacher hasn’t watched ‘Absolute Value of Romance’ yet.
