A wind of mystery blows over Daechi-dong: the young actress Oh Ye-ju has just been announced as the female lead in the upcoming fantasy drama Awakeningin which she will star opposite Lee Jun-hyuk. Airing on SBS in 2026, this series is already shaping up to be one of the most intriguing supernatural thrillers of the coming year.
In AwakeningThe story takes place in the heart of an elite high school in Daechi-dong, a district well known for its extreme academic pressure. Oh Ye-joo (most recently seen in Love Your Enemy) plays Gong Ha-ranga recent high school transfer who'll do anything to succeed. But after taking stimulants to boost her grades, she begins to hear voices... those of the dead. Her daily life is transformed into a waking nightmare, with strange visions and secrets buried within the school walls.
Facing her, Lee Jun-hyuk campera Antonioan exorcist priest sent as a school chaplain. Underneath his calm teacher's exterior, he hides a dark past and a much darker mission: to purify the premises of the evil presence lurking there. The actor, recently seen in the romantic drama Love Scout and Mercy for Nonehad expressed his desire to turn to roles involving the supernatural. With this mysterious exorcist character, he seems to have found the perfect playground.
It will be one of the first leading roles for Oh Ye-joowho is gradually gaining recognition. His association with an experienced actor like Lee Jun-hyuk is already raising expectations. All the more so as the duo could well be responsible for a plot that straddles the genres of school drama, psychological thriller and occult horror.
Little information has been released about the rest of the cast, but the dark universe and dramatic tension promise a heavy atmosphere a la The Guest or Priest, in a setting that's very much rooted in reality: that of fierce school competition.
Between possessions, hallucinations and truths suppressed by social pressure, Awakening could well become the next phenomenon on the Korean small screen. Scheduled for broadcast 2026exclusively on SBS.
