‘Unconventional homosexuality’ Lee Hye-ri-Jung Soo-bin… “Cheeky characters + interesting emotions” [Photoshoot]

Lee Hye-ri and Jung Soo-bin, who engaged in a fierce college entrance exam competition in the drama ‘Friendly Competition’ produced by STUDIO X+U, presented a couple pictorial. In the pictorial, Lee Hye-ri and Jung Soo-bin caught the eye with their dreamy facial expressions as they faced each other with subtle expressions.

‘Friendly Competition’, based on the popular webtoon of the same name, is a mystery girl thriller about ‘Seul-gi’, a transfer student at Chaehwa Girls‘ High School, one of the top 1% in Korea, where a fierce college entrance exam competition takes place, and the friends who reveal their desires and the suspicious death of her father, who was a member of the CSAT selection committee. Lee Hye-ri played the role of ‘Yoo Je-i’, a top 0.1% genius that everyone admires, while Jung Soo-bin played the role of ‘Woo Seul-gi’, a transfer student who has all of her attention.

Lee Hye-ri, who acted in a sensational bathtub kiss scene with Jung Soo-bin, said about this production, “The character was really ‘untious’. It was fun to see her express her desires without hesitation, and I found it interesting because it was a sentiment that isn’t often portrayed in Korea.”

Lee Hye-ri, who has played bright and warm characters so far, said that this production was a huge challenge. Lee Hye-ri said, “The roles I‘ve played so far always had a warm side, but ‘Yoo Je-i’ is a sharp friend, so I worried a lot about how I could bring out a side of myself and show a sharp side. However, once filming started, many people told me that I suited the role well, so I thought, ‘Thank goodness’.” He raised expectations for the new side of himself he will show as ‘Yoo Jae-yi’, saying that he paid meticulous attention to even the way he counts his fingers for the character.

Jung Soo-bin explained, “Seulgi is a character that fits well with the keyword competition. She falls into a new world, learns the rules of that world, and struggles not to lose in the competition.”.

Jung Soo-bin added to the warm atmosphere by expressing gratitude to her co-star Lee Hye-ri. She said, “I don’t express my emotions well unless I‘m acting, but my sister told me, ‘Even if you’re not okay, it‘s okay to be not okay,’, so she was like a strong support group. I was able to keep my balance thanks to my sister whenever I wavered. Also, I didn’t know it at the time of filming, but there were many cases where the situation flowed stably thanks to Hye-ri’,“ expressing her sincere gratitude.

When asked about the relationships and psychology of the characters who go back and forth between trust and suspicion, Jung Soo-bin said, “That‘s why I think this work is fun. From a third party’s perspective, it may seem like a simple psychological warfare of deceiving and fooling each other, but from Seulgi‘s perspective, there is also a complex internal conflict about how much she should trust Jay and whether she can really trust him,” he explained.

The interview and pictorial with Lee Hye-ri and Jung Soo-bin can be found in the February issue of Singles and on the website.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.