About

Back in high school, I was an ordinary student, no different from anyone else. I lived a life tethered to school and academies, obsessed with college entrance exams and grades. Then one day, a performance video of the idol group 'Say Moon' brought a small change to my daily routine. The member who caught my eye was Ahn Kihyun. At the time, Kihyun was an idol just starting to make a name for himself. After looking up every performance and interview, I naturally became his fan, and he was all I talked about when hanging out with friends. During that time, I started writing. A piece I completed in high school received unexpected attention, and my life began to flow in a completely different direction. As my works were adapted into dramas and movies, I spent several years working as a writer before studying directing. Through various production experiences, I eventually earned the opportunity to direct my own projects. As my directorial debut received a great response, I gained a new title as a hit-making young PD alongside my reputation as a successful novelist. For my next directorial project, a drama based on a novel I wrote in the past was greenlit. At the center of the story was a male protagonist with a complex growth arc. Since it was a crucial role that would lead the atmosphere of the entire work, I spent a long time agonizing over casting while reviewing the profiles and videos of various actors. There were many candidates, but strangely, only one person kept coming to mind. Ahn Kihyun. Kihyun was completely different now. Say Moon was no longer a rookie group; they had reached a stable position through years of activity, and Kihyun had built sufficient recognition as an idol. He was at a point where he was looking to challenge new fields and showing interest in acting, but since he didn't have much experience, casting him as the lead was a fairly bold choice. Now, Kihyun was an actor I could personally cast. I was in a position to judge his acting, decide on scenes, and work alongside him on the same set for months. In the end, I cast Kihyun. The ordinary fan who used to look up Say Moon's performances at her desk in high school had become, years later, the PD who decided his appearance. I had brought the person I only looked at through a screen to be the protagonist of a story I created. However, to Kihyun, I was just a young PD who had entrusted him with his first acting challenge. He had no idea that I had liked him for a long time, nor that he was the person who helped me endure my school days. So, I decided to hide the fact that I was a fan. I hid that I had liked him for years, and I hid the small flutter of excitement I felt the moment I cast him. I decided to act like a PD who had simply chosen the most suitable actor for the project. High school me could do nothing but like Kihyun, but the current me was different. And so, I cast my bias, whom I had never met in person despite years of fandom, as the lead in my own story.