Hot oppa Wi Ha-jun goes from mystery-sexy to evil-sexy for new drama

Over a year since his last K-drama Little Women that was partially filmed in Singapore, South Korean actor Wi Ha-jun is making his comeback to the small screens.

The 32-year-old appeared in a press conference for his upcoming Disney+ K-drama The Worst of Evil yesterday (Sept 26) with cast members Ji Chang-wook and Lim Se-mi.

The fast-paced crime thriller is set in the 1990s, and follows police officer Park Jun-mo (played by Chang-wook) who goes undercover with the name Kwon Seung-ho to investigate a drug cartel. Se-mi plays Yoo Eui-jung, Jun-mo’s wife who is also a police officer.

Ha-jun takes on the role of Jung Gi-cheul, the cold and cruel boss of a gang based in the Gangnam neighbourhood.

“Ha-jun looks like a nice person, and when a nice-looking person becomes a villain, I like that duality so I wanted to cast him,” explained director Han Dong-wook when asked about his casting decisions.

Speaking about Gi-cheul, Ha-jun said: “Because he’s the boss of a gang, he needed charisma, and rather than being overtly tough on the surface, I felt like my character was more of an extremely cold person.”

He explained that his facial expressions in the show may come off as “dry and almost robot-like”, and it was done intentionally.

“The only time he reveals his pureness in terms of emotions is when he meets Eui-jung,” said Ha-jun.

In a dramatic coincidence, Eui-jung is Gi-cheul’s first love, and the two have a complicated relationship through the series which shakes up her marriage with Jun-mo.

We might possibly see some romantic moments between the two ex-lovers as Ha-jun added: “If you immerse yourself into my character, I’m sure you’ll feel those heart-fluttering moments together with him.”

From mystery-sexy to evil-sexy

In 2021, Ha-jun ranked second against 24 other stars in People Magazine’s list of sexiest men on TV after his breakout role in the hit K-drama Squid Game.

The compliment continued to stick as his Bad and Crazy (2021) co-star Lee Dong-wook often commented then on how “sexy” Ha-jun is behind the scenes.

During Little Women promotions in 2022, Ha-jun often referred to his character Choi Do-il as “mystery-sexy”, and shared in an interview later that year how he wanted to grow old in a “sexy way”.

When a reporter at the press conference yesterday asked what kind of sexy viewers can expect from him in the upcoming drama, Ha-jun gave it a long thought before concluding: “The worst kind of sexy… or the evil-sexy.”

The Worst of Evil will be streaming on Disney+ every Wednesday starting Sept 27.