Following aespa Karina's chilling portrayal of "Sarah" in TVXQ Yunho's "NEXUS" reality show, the male icon revealed why he chose his junior idol to play that significant role.

TVXQ Yunho's 'NEXUS' Reality Show: Short Film's Storyline Explained + aespa Karina's Role as 'Sarah'

TVXQ U-Know Yunho's short film "NEXUS" is a hot topic among K-pop fans!

On August 7, the K-pop icon dropped his short film, "NEXUS," on SMTOWN's official channel simultaneously with the release of his third mini-album, "Reality Show." This album will showcase feature high-quality stories, colorful actions and performances throughout its promotion.

To kickstart his return to the music scene, a 13:46-minute short film was released, featuring his junior from aespa, Karina.

Based on the storyline, the film is set in the future era where one can go back and forth between reality and the virtual world. There are only two main characters Noah (Yunho) and Sarah (Karina) who are deeply immersed in the metaverse called "NEXUS," where anyone can be anything in reality.

The story starts with Noah (Yunho) a reclusive loner in reality, who can transform into various characters in line with the concepts through the game, "NEXUS."

He became a game player, a circus leader and even penetrated the warship map – Noah can literally be anyone and do whatever he wants in this world.

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Throughout his quests, an AI Guide called "Sarah" (Karina) has been with him to accompany and support him but due to big data errors, while updating, Sarah built a desire to become a human and maximized the tension of the short film by luring Noah to make the fantasy his reality and confine him in the metaverse world.

However, Noah gave Sarah a reality check by saying that she's only a bit of data.

However, in the last part of the video, Yunho was seen with a lot of wires connected to his body, decorating the ending and gave a deeper aftertaste with an open ending that allows viewers to make various interpretations of the short film.

U-KNOW Yunho Reveals Why He Believed aespa Karina Fits the Bill

With the short film, TVXQ U-Know Yunho officially opened a metaverse worldview with aespa Karina who are both under SM Entertainment.

On the same day, Yunho then attended a press conference which was held at Megabox COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul to commemorate the release of his third mini-album, "Reality Show," along with the title track, "Vuja De."

Here, U-KNOW talked more regarding Karina's appearance, and he said:

"Previously, actors Hwang Jung Min, Lee Junghyun, and Shin Ye Eun helped me (in my previous releases). I thought it would be nice if someone with a really strong impact came out in this short film."

Thinking about the role "Sarah," Yunho personally chose Karina for her AI-like appearance, narrating:

"I happened to see an article by Karina that said, 'She's more like AI than AI.' I thought (Sarah) would look so good on her. So, I personally requested her appearance from the producer."

She continued to praise Karina by saying:

"Actually, there were other actors and there were so many candidates. But Karina proved herself by memorizing a lot of lines and her voice diction is stable and very good. I felt like she was transformed into a real AI.

Through the short film, you will be able to see a new side of Karina. I wonder what the reaction will be like. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Karina."

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Written by Eunice Dawson.