Lee Jae-wook talks about his viral kiss from Alchemy of Souls 2

Lee Jae-wook and Go Yoon-jung
Lee Jae-wook and Go Yoon-jung's kiss in Alchemy of Souls 2 Ep 7 went viral on Twitter (Image via Instagram/jxxvvxxk)

One reason Alchemy of Souls 2 amassed great interest from the public was because of the viral kiss between Lee Jae-wook and Go Yoon-jung. The two actors played the lead characters of Jang-uk and Nak-su, respectively.

The particular kiss was from the sequel show’s episode 7, which was released on December 31, 2022. The scene instantly went viral on all local and international social media channels and was even called a New Year’s gift by many fans.

Speaking to Wikitree in an interview, Lee Jae-wook shared how he and co-star Go Yoon-jung prepared for the scene. He revealed that he had discussed the scene for nearly a week with director Park Joon-hwa. As per the translation via Koreaboo, the actor said:

“First, director Park Joon-hwa wanted the kiss scene to be pretty. I spoke in depth about the kiss scene with director Park for a week. I tried to express details in the scene, such as nudging (Go Yoon-jung) against the wall.”

Lee Jae-wook reveals the preparation behind the viral kiss scene in Alchemy of Souls 2 episode 7

Alchemy of Souls 2 is arguably one of the most popular K-dramas currently. Although unexpected, season 1 of the show was incredibly successful and had a positive reception from the audience. This led to the production of a much-anticipated sequel, whose storyline has managed to keep viewers glued to their seats every week.

An unforgettable moment from Alchemy of Souls 2 was Jang-uk and Nak-su’s kiss in episode 7. Portrayed by Lee Jae-wook and Go Yoon-jung, respectively, the duo’s kiss scene went viral on Twitter, with 296.4k views in one tweet at the time of writing.

Lee Jae-wook spoke to Wikitree about the viral kiss, explaining the process behind it. He mentioned that his discussions for the right way to capture the moment continued for a week with the director.

He then added that the dialog nudged both him and Go Yoon-jung to carefully consider certain expressions and give their best. As per the translation available via Koreaboo, the actor said:

“The (character’s) dialogue before the kiss scene was about how the two won’t ever see each other again. (Therefore) we considered how we could best (express) the scene, and started by nudging (Go Yoon-jung) against the wall and started building the scene from there.”

"The best K-drama kiss": Fans express their enthusiasm on Lee Jae-wook and Go Yoon-jung's on-screen kiss

Multiple Twitter users wrote that the Alchemy of Souls 2 episode 7 clip have their posts sitting at tens of thousands of views. Fans’ reactions to the scene were enthusiastic, as it left them in awe. One fan even commented that it was “the best K-drama kiss.”

Meanwhile, another fan edit included co-actor Hwang Min-hyun’s TMI where he mentioned that the director gave Lee Jae-wook the title of ‘Master of Kiss Scenes’.


In other news, Alchemy of Souls 2 ended on its highest viewership with 9.6% nationwide ratings in South Korea, as per Nielsen Korea’s data. The show did cross double digits and raked in 10.6% viewership ratings in the Seoul area.

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Edited by Priya Majumdar