CHUU Makes Drama Debut in Webtoon Hit Wild Eyes

CHUU, the K-pop star and LOONA alumna who has built a devoted solo fanbase since her independent debut, is making a surprising career pivot — and fans have every reason to be excited. The singer, born Kim Ji-woo, has been cast as the lead in Wild Eyes, a short-form palace romance drama being produced exclusively for Lezhin Snack, the global short-form drama platform by Lezhin Entertainment.

This marks CHUU's very first acting role in a drama, and she'll be joined by a cast that has already turned heads across South Korean entertainment media. Veteran actor Sung Joon takes on the male lead, while rapper and performer Swings — known offstage as Moon Ji-hoon — steps into an acting role himself. Rounding out the principal cast is seasoned character actor Kim Eung-soo.

The project wrapped principal photography on April 16, 2026, and is now in post-production. An exclusive release date through Lezhin Snack has yet to be announced, but the buzz around the casting alone has already made Wild Eyes one of the most talked-about upcoming short dramas of the year.

From Webtoon to Screen: A Global Hit Getting Its Moment

Wild Eyes — known in Korean as 광안 — is not a new story to webtoon readers. The original work, created by author Ra Hye with illustrations by Sora and script adaptation by Yuk Mi-hwa, has been a dominant force in the Lezhin Comics ecosystem for years. Since 2022, the title has held the number one spot in the romance genre on Lezhin US for three consecutive years, and it topped the romance rankings on Lezhin Comics in Korea for two years running as well.

That kind of cross-border consistency in a competitive webtoon market is rare. The story's appeal is built around a tightly constructed palace romance: Crown Prince Lee Hyeon, once celebrated as a war hero, has been exiled to the western palace after losing a brutal court power struggle. The woman sent to end his life — an assassin named Eun-woo, disguised as a court lady — finds herself caught between duty and something she didn't expect to feel.

KidariStudio, the parent company behind Lezhin Entertainment, confirmed that the drama adaptation preserves the core premise and emotional beats fans know, while enhancing the character dynamics and dramatic tension for the screen. A layer of comedic timing has also been added to balance the intensity, giving the series a tonal range that should appeal to viewers drawn in by both the romance and the palace intrigue.

CHUU as a Palace Assassin: Her Drama Debut Explained

For fans of CHUU, the casting news arrived with equal parts surprise and delight. Having spent years performing as part of LOONA under Blockberry Creative before striking out independently under ATRP, she has become known as one of K-pop's most energetic and charismatic performers. But drama? This is genuinely new territory.

In Wild Eyes, CHUU plays Eun-woo, the assassin sent into the palace to kill Crown Prince Lee Hyeon while posing as an ordinary court lady. It's a role that requires her to project both cold, calculated danger and an undercurrent of buried emotion as her character's mission begins to collide with something far more complicated. Director Jo Ba-run — who previously helmed the Lezhin Snack short drama An Impossible Neighbor: Vampire Boyfriends — reportedly said of the production: "Not a single character lacks purpose; every role plays its part fully."

CHUU's crossover into acting fits a broader trend of K-pop idols exploring dramatic roles. But what makes this one distinctive is the format: Lezhin Snack's short-form structure means the show will be designed for vertical viewing and episodic mobile consumption — a format that has been growing aggressively in global reach, particularly in Southeast Asia and North America.

Swings Makes His Palace Drama Debut — In a Sageuk

If CHUU's casting raised eyebrows, Swings' involvement raised them a little higher. The rapper, whose real name is Moon Ji-hoon and who has spent years at the center of Korean hip-hop culture, has been quietly building an acting portfolio. He appeared in the web film Boogwon, took the stage in the theatrical production Office Romance Report, and completed filming on the upcoming film Tazza: Belzebub's Song earlier this year.

In Wild Eyes, he'll play Nam Hyul, Crown Prince Lee Hyeon's fiercely loyal royal guard and longtime companion. It's a role that leans into physical presence and emotional steadiness — qualities that Swings, at 39, is apparently bringing with full commitment to acting as a second career.

He shared the news on his own Instagram with characteristic directness: "Filming ended a while back. I was with Sung Joon and CHUU, and many others. Please make sure to watch it when Wild Eyes comes out." He has been candid about his motivations elsewhere, noting that he started taking acting seriously at 39 and has embraced being at the bottom of a new field again. "As long as I haven't said I'm done, it's not over. I'm having a lot of fun and working hard — momentum comes from showing up," he's said.

Sung Joon and Kim Eung-soo: The Anchoring Performances

The casting of Sung Joon as the male lead brings a familiar name to a new format. The actor, who has worked across multiple genres in Korean film and television over the years, takes on the role of Crown Prince Lee Hyeon — a man carrying the weight of a lost war victory and the bitterness of political exile. The character is described as living "in solitude and rage" beneath the surface of royalty, creating the kind of slow-burn tension that palace romance fans tend to respond to strongly.

Kim Eung-soo joins as Yeongsang, the powerful government minister who represents the court forces working against Lee Hyeon. A character actor known for his ability to inhabit antagonistic authority figures convincingly, his presence in the show adds a layer of credibility to the political conflict at the heart of the story.

Together, the four main cast members span idol performer, rapper-turned-actor, drama veteran, and genre staple — an unusually eclectic combination for any single project, short-form or otherwise.

The Rise of Short-Form Drama and What Wild Eyes Represents

Lezhin Snack's move to develop Wild Eyes fits squarely within a larger industry shift. Short-form drama — episodes typically ranging from one to ten minutes, designed for vertical mobile screens — has seen explosive growth over the past two years in both East and Southeast Asia. Platforms like Lezhin Snack, Kakao TV, and international entrants are investing heavily in original IP adaptations, particularly from webtoons with proven reader bases.

The choice to adapt a webtoon with Wild Eyes' demonstrated global appeal makes commercial sense. A story that has already proven it can retain readers across the US and Korea, across three-plus years of competition in a crowded romance marketplace, brings a built-in audience to any screen adaptation. It reduces the launch risk and starts the show's promotional cycle with fans who already know and love the source material.

KidariStudio's announcement frames this production as an "original" for the platform rather than a licensed adaptation, suggesting the company has full creative control over the adaptation and distribution strategy. For Lezhin Snack, which has been expanding its original drama slate — Director Jo Ba-run's previous short drama for the platform being one example — Wild Eyes looks like a flagship title in the making.

The exact release window has not been confirmed yet, but post-production following an April completion typically points toward a summer or early fall premiere. For CHUU's fans, Swings' growing acting audience, and anyone who has followed the original webtoon through its years at the top of the charts, the wait for Wild Eyes may not be long.