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South Korean actor Byeon Woo-seok allegedly caused Weverse to crash due to his massive fan following. The Lovely Runner star recently joined the fan communication software akin to DearU's Bubble. The actor started posting images and texts online on May 9, 2024 (KST).
Driven by his rapidly growing fan base, Byeon Woo-seok had over 100,000 new fans join his Weverse direct message in less than two hours. However, fans who had purchased the app's subscription reportedly criticized Weverse and its parent firm, HYBE, for poor service.
After attempting to reply to Byeon Woo-seok's posts since May 9, fans were irritated since the app server reportedly crashed nearly every time the actor sent a message and lashed out at HYBE on the Korean online forum, Theqoo.
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Byeon Woo-seok's raging popularity earned Weverse over 100k new subscribers
South Korean broadcasting network tvN released their time-slip drama Lovely Runner on April 8, 2024, starring Byeon Woo-seok (Strong Girl Nam-soon and 20th Century Girl) and Kim Hye-yoon (Sky Castle and Snowdrop). The drama became an instant hit among viewers both domestically and internationally, shooting Byeon Woo-seok to newfound glory.
The drama marked the 32-year-old actor's first ever lead role after debuting in the Korean entertainment industry as a model in 2014. Previously, he was seen in the 2023 K-drama Strong Girl Nam-soon, where he played the charming villain and conglomerate Ryu Shi-O.
Meanwhile, on the Korean online forum Theqoo, netizens expressed their rage towards Weverse and HYBE for having bad servers. Complaints such as slow loading of replies, delays in logging options, and more surfaced online. Some fans even compared Weverse to DearU's Bubble app, which is a private messaging platform for fans and idols.
Meanwhile, his latest and ongoing drama, Lovely Runner, showed Byeon Woo-seok as the 19-year-old high school student who later turns into a successful K-pop artist, the 28-year-old Ryu Sun-jae.
In one of the two timelines depicted in the plot, the actor plays a high school student who falls deeply in love with Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon). In the other, he plays Ryu Sun-jae, the K-pop idol who is still in love with Im Sol after fifteen years but ends up taking his own life.
Byeon Woo-seok rose to fame due to his impeccable acting skills, and his stunning visuals further added weightage to his fame. Despite having a part in popular dramas such as Record of Youth, Weight Lifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, Welcome to Waikiki, and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, it took the actor and model over a decade to land his first lead role in dramas. However, he did play Jeon So-nee's onscreen crush in the popular film Soulmate.
The drama has been surpassing its own benchmarks. Following the premiere of episode 9, which aired on May 6, 2024, Seoul's audience numbers (viewership rating) increased to 5.638%. Previously, with the release of episode 7, on April 29, they had earned a viewership rating of 4.459%, which was surpassed by episode 9.
Currently, the Lovely Runner star is also ranked No. 1 on the TV-OTT Drama Actors Popularity Rankings list on FUNDex on May 8, 2024, replacing Queen of Tears heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun. Lovely Runner also topped the TV-OTT general topicality with 24.19% on the Good Data Corporation FUNDex since May 8.
