Dear X (친애하는 X) by VANZIUN is a psychological, drama-thriller webtoon about Baek Ajin, Korea's most beloved actress - beautiful, successful, and adored by millions.
But behind her flawless smile hides a sociopathic void built from trauma, manipulation, and the relentless cruelty of the entertainment world.
The story explores how fame, love, and pain intertwine, revealing that every perfect image hides a secret - and every "Dear X" is a letter to the lies we tell ourselves.
Themes:
The cost of fame
Psychological trauma and moral corruption
Media manipulation and identity
Love versus control
Baek Ajin (백아진) - The Sociopathic Star
Role: Protagonist / Anti-heroine
Occupation: Top actress and model
🪞 Personality & Traits
Outwardly elegant, charming, and adored.
Inwardly cold, manipulative, and emotionally detached.
Masters the art of acting not just on screen - but in real life.
Sees relationships as transactions rather than emotional bonds.
💔 Backstory
Grew up with an abusive father and a broken family.
Learned early that vulnerability only leads to pain.
Built her fame by fabricating innocence and perfection.
Keeps everyone at arm's length, terrified that the "real" Ajin will destroy her career.
🔥 Character Arc
Ajin's story is about exposure - as the truth about her personality, lies, and crimes begin to leak, she's forced to face what she's become.
Her journey is less about redemption and more about self-realization - accepting the monster within and the system that made her.
🕊 Symbolism
Ajin symbolizes the modern obsession with image - a warning that when you live only for the camera, you lose your soul off-screen.
Heo In-gang (허인강) - The Mirror and the Wound
Role: Male lead / Actor / Ajin's love interest and counterpart
🌑 Personality & Traits
Intelligent, composed, emotionally repressed.
Carries trauma from his violent and neglectful father.
Hides behind discipline and control - perfection as armor.
💢 Relationship with Ajin
Their connection starts as rivalry and curiosity - both see reflections of their pain in each other.
Their relationship turns intimate yet destructive: love mixed with psychological manipulation.
He sees the real Ajin and doesn't run away, but that truth binds and breaks them both.
⚖️ Symbolism
In-gang represents the dual nature of empathy - how love for a broken person can either heal or destroy you.
He's Ajin's mirror: two souls hiding their pain behind different masks.
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Yoon Joon-seo (윤준서) - The Past that Won't Let Go
Role: Ajin's longtime friend and emotional anchor
💬 Personality & Traits
Kind, loyal, protective - the "normal" one among chaos.
Has known Ajin since childhood; still sees the innocent girl she once was.
Struggles between loyalty and disillusionment as Ajin changes.
🌫 Relationship with Ajin
Represents the part of Ajin that still craves genuine affection.
He knows she's manipulative, but his compassion keeps him tied to her.
His pain lies in realizing that his love can't fix her - it only feeds her dependency.
🌹 Symbolism
Joon-seo is the human conscience of Dear X. He stands for the audience's question: Can someone like Ajin ever truly love?
Kim Do-hon (김도헌) - The Puppeteer of Fame
Role: CEO / Producer / Antagonist-figure
🧊 Personality & Traits
Brilliant but heartless strategist.
Understands how to "build" stars and destroy them when needed.
Cold-eyed realist - believes emotions have no place in business.
🎭 Relationship with Ajin
Discovered Ajin and helped craft her public persona.
Treats her like a valuable asset, not a person.
Their interactions are tense: she needs him for survival; he needs her for power.
🧠 Symbolism
Do-hon represents the industrial corruption behind celebrity culture - how people are molded into brands.
He is the embodiment of the entertainment machine that consumes souls for profit.
Seong-hee (성희) - The Lost Friend
Role: Supporting / Ajin's former friend
💖 Personality & Traits
Sincere, kind, empathetic, and idealistic.
Represents everything Ajin lost: innocence, honesty, and emotional connection.
🕊 Relationship with Ajin
Once close friends; Seong-hee supported Ajin before fame changed her.
Eventually becomes collateral damage in Ajin's rise.
Her disillusionment with Ajin marks one of the story's emotional turning points.
🌸 Symbolism
Seong-hee embodies the purity that fame destroys.
She's not perfect - just human - but her normalcy is what Ajin fears most.
Lena (리나)
An idol-turned-actress working in the same industry as Ajin.
Pretty and ambitious but insecure, jealous of Ajin's fame.
Represents competition and the industry's obsession with perfection.
Baek Ajin's Father
Emotionally and physically abusive.
His control and manipulation shaped Ajin's inability to trust love.
The café scene where he meets Heo In-gang to warn him about Ajin shows how his influence still poisons her life.
Reporters / Public
Play the role of society's "judges."
Their hunger for scandal parallels the audience's obsession with exposure.
They mirror how easily people dehumanize celebrities.
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🕯 OVERALL MESSAGE
Dear X isn't just a story about a star - it's a dissection of the human mask.
It asks:
> "If the world only loves your lies, will you ever dare to show them the truth?"
Through Ajin's rise and fall, Dear X shows that fame is both a crown and a curse - and that sometimes, the most dangerous person isn't the villain on screen, but the one smiling in the mirror.
Authors note
I am so excited to see the drama of dear x which will be released on November 6th 2025. The story that have been created and written by vanzuin . The whole credits go to her . As she depicted every emotion and character sp depth that I started to cry while reading it . This is really one of the masterpiece i should say .
Every episode and the story moulds upon the thrilling and suspense .
I should say that i really want to continue the story somehow but i don't know should I do or not yet .