Split personalities and subterfuge in Love Song for Illusion

by Jenzy

Character teasers have dropped for our two leads of KBS’s historical fantasy webtoon adaptation Love Song for Illusion (previously Fantasy Sonata), introducing us to our tragic lovers Park Ji-hoon (Weak Hero Class 1) and Hong Ye-ji (2037).

The story follows the crown prince Sado Hyun (Park Ji-hoon). He’s an artistic and sensitive soul who moonlights as an anonymous fashion designer. But his double life isn’t his only secret: living in his head is another personality named Ak-hee. Ak-hee is everything Hyun isn’t: charming, seductive, and the total package with the caveat that whenever he touches someone he feels extreme pain. While the two have a tentative deal to take turns using Hyun’s body for three days at a time, it’s precarious tightrope to walk when they both fall for the same girl.

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Said girl is Yeon Wol (Hong Ye-ji), heir to the fallen Yeon dynasty. After her whole family was executed by the king under claims of treason, she swore revenge as a child and joined an assassin group under the new name Gye-ra. However, after her climactic plan to murder the king went awry, she wakes up one day as Hyun’s concubine with no memory of who she is. Something suspicious is definitely afoot, but will she and Hyun be able to untangle the events of that night?

The teasers do the absolute most to sell the ominous mood that hangs over this story. In the first one, we see Hyun and Ak-hee meet Wol, who clocks that Hyun’s gaze is different when he switches personalities. But while Hyun is all romantic falls and meaningful stares, Ak-hee’s approach to seduction seems to have a more menacing tilt as he opens a mysterious powder jar and deadpans, “You’re going to know that I’m real. You’re going to fall for me.” The teaser ends on the two fighting for control in the voiceover, wrapping with Ak-hee (or is it Hyun?) declaring: “You have to die for me to live. I’m going to take everything.”

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The second teaser focuses on Wol and the star-crossed nature of her connection with Hyun. We open post mind-wipe for Wol. While she seems to have no idea how she ended up becoming a concubine, it appears the people in the palace know about Gye-ra and her assassin background as they discuss it in the voiceover, culminating in Hyun (or is it Ak-hee?) musing that assassin life doesn’t seem to suit her. Of course, once she hears the rumors that there’s a demon living in the crown prince and said demon may or may not be responsible for her memory loss, she is certifiably pissed off and distrustful of Hyun. But she’s not the only one with a chip on her shoulder about their shared past, as the teaser ends on Hyun asking Wol with tears in his eyes, “Is your name… Yeon Wol?”

With the screenplay adapted by Yoon Kyung-ah (Oh! Samkwang Villa, A Moment at Eighteen) and directing helmed by Lee Jung-seob (Dal-li and Gamjatang, Seven Day Queen), Love Song for Illusion will premiere its first two episodes on January 2 on KBS.