# Love Song for Illusion

Love Song for Illusion (Korean: 환상연가) is a 2024 South Korean television series starring Park Ji-hoon, Hong Ye-ji, Hwang Hee, and Ji Woo. Based on a Naver webtoon of the same name by Vanziun, it is about the romance and fierce obsession between a man with two conflicting personalities and a woman with a dark past. It aired on KBS2 from January 2 to February 27, 2024, every Monday and Tuesday at 22:10 (KST). It is also available for streaming on Wavve in South Korea, and on Viu and Viki in selected regions.

## Synopsis

Yeon Wol hides her identity and becomes an assassin to avenge her family. Her mission is to assassinate the king but fails when she falls into a trap set by an unknown person. She wakes up the next day with no memory of her past, and is appointed as the crown prince's concubine.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Park Ji-hoon as Sajo Hyun / Ak-hee
** Lee Joo-won as young Sajo Hyun
** Sajo Hyun: the intelligent and multi-talented crown prince who works as a fashion designer at a downtown boutique while hiding his real identity.
** Ak-hee: Hyun's alternate personality who is charming but is cursed to feel extreme pain whenever Yeon Wol touches him.
* Hong Ye-ji as Yeon Wol / Kyera /Consort Eun-hyo
** Kim Soo-ha as young Yeon Wol
    The royal descendant of the fallen Yeon dynasty and the only daughter of Yeon Pung-hak who becomes an assassin called Gye-ra.
* Hwang Hee as Sajo Yung
    Sajo Hyun's half-brother.
* Ji Woo as Crown Princess Geum-hwa / Jin Chae-ryun
    Sajo Hyun's first wife who goes to any lengths to satisfy her desires.
* Kim Tae-woo as Sajo Seung
    Sajo Hyun's father and the king of Asatae who overthrew the Yeon dynasty, and ascended to the throne through rebellion.
* Woo Hee-jin as Consort Cheong-myung
    Sajo Seung's concubine and Sajo Yung's mother.
* Kang Shin-il as Jin Mu-dal
    Jin Chae-ryun's father.
* Hwang Seok-jeong as Chung-ta
    A mysterious shaman with various personalities.

### Supporting
#### People around Sajo Hyun

* Woo Hyun as Eunuch Neung
    Sajo Hyun's closest eunuch.
* Han Eun-seong as Ji Jeon-seo
    Sajo Hyun's bodyguard.

#### People around Yeon Wol

* Kim Dong-won as Yang Jae-i
    Leader of the assassin group Baramkal.
* Lee Joo-an as Ha-rang
    A member of Baramkal.
* Shin Gi-hwan as Hong-gun
    Yeon Wol's gungnyeo.
* Oh Ji-ho as Yeon Pung-hak
    Yeon Wol's father.
* Choi Yoon-young as Eun Mi-so
    Yeon Wol's mother.

#### People in the royal court

* Yoo Hyung-gwan as the minister of finance
* Kim Kyung-ryong as the minister of personnel
* Lee Kwan-hoon as the minister of war

#### Others

* Jo Han-jun as Gi-chul
    Sajo Yung's loyal right-hand man.
* Moon Yu-bin as Noh Ri-sa
    Geum-hwa's gungnyeo.

## Production and release

The first script reading of the cast was held in mid-March 2023, and filming was scheduled to begin in May.
Originally, the series was scheduled to broadcast the first two episodes consecutively on January 2, 2024, from 21:45 (KST). However, its time slot was changed to 22:10 (KST), and the broadcast of the second episode was pushed back to January 8.

## Viewership

| Season | Season | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number |
| Season | Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| | 1 | 727 | 505 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Average TV viewership ratings :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea) | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea) |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | January 2, 2024 | 4.3% (15th) | 4.3% (13th) |
| 2 | January 8, 2024 | 2.8% (20th) | 3.0% (20th) |
| 3 | January 9, 2024 | 2.3% (25th) | N/A |
| 4 | January 15, 2024 | 2.4% (22nd) | N/A |
| 5 | January 16, 2024 | 2.0% (27th) | N/A |
| 6 | January 22, 2024 | 2.5% (25th) | N/A |
| 7 | January 23, 2024 | 1.8% (29th) | N/A |
| 8 | January 29, 2024 | 2.4% (21st) | 2.4% (19th) |
| 9 | January 30, 2024 | 1.7% (29th) | N/A |
| 10 | February 5, 2024 | 2.1% (27th) | N/A |
| 11 | February 6, 2024 | 1.7% (29th) | N/A |
| 12 | February 13, 2024 | 1.4% (34th) | N/A |
| 13 | February 19, 2024 | 1.9% (32nd) | N/A |
| 14 | February 20, 2024 | 1.9% (26th) | N/A |
| 15 | February 26, 2024 | 2.1% (27th) | N/A |
| 16 | February 27, 2024 | 2.3% (22nd) | N/A |
| Average | Average | 2.2% | — |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes ratings that were not published. ||||