N (엔)

Cha Hak-yeon — who performs and acts under the name N — has spent more than a decade establishing himself as one of K-pop's more deliberate crossover figures, carrying the leadership of boy group VIXX while steadily carving out a parallel identity on screen. Where many idol-to-actor transitions stall at cameos and supporting parts, N has pushed toward increasingly demanding dramatic territory, most recently taking on dual roles in a BL-inflected high-teen series for Coupang Play.

Leader of VIXX

N has served as leader, lead vocalist, and main dancer of VIXX since the group's debut under Jellyfish Entertainment. That combination of roles — organizational, vocal, and choreographic — is rare enough in a single member and helps explain his reputation as an all-rounder within the group. In early 2026, VIXX held their first full-group concert in seven years, a milestone N later described with evident warmth when discussing how the members had gathered ahead of the event. He also confirmed in May 2026 that he is preparing a 14th-anniversary event for the group, signaling that his investment in VIXX's collective identity remains active even as his individual acting career expands.

Acting career and the BL turn

N's screen work has grown more adventurous with each project. His role in the 2026 Coupang Play series "Absolute Value of Romance" marks his second consecutive appearance in the BL genre — a choice he has addressed directly and without apparent hesitation. At the series' production presentation, he noted that his return to BL-themed material felt "unique and fiery," and that there had been "no discomfort at all" during filming. The series pairs him with N.Flying member Kim Jae-hyun, and early coverage praised the chemistry between the two as exceeding expectations.

Within the same production, N handles a dual-role assignment — playing both a character and a version of that character — which director Lee Tae-gon described as so persuasive in its BL performance that it could be mistaken for the real thing. N's character, Ga Woo-soo, is a Mensa-level math teacher with an IQ of 156, a departure from the more conventional romantic leads he has taken on previously. The project also features actress Kim Hyang-gi in a romantic pairing that runs alongside the BL thread. When concerns arose publicly about a potential teacher-student romance angle, N addressed them plainly: "There are no such scenes." He described his reason for accepting the project as a direct response to "the power of youth" he felt reading the material.

Activities beyond VIXX

Outside the group and his drama work, N has been active across variety and entertainment formats under his agency 51K. His range across music, television acting, and variety programming is what the phrase "all-rounder" is meant to describe, and the 2026 coverage of his Coupang Play press circuit suggests he has grown comfortable handling promotional demands across multiple simultaneous projects — the anniversary event planning for VIXX, the dual-role drama, and the broader press cycle around his BL acting choices all overlapping in the same window.