The short-form drama "First Love of the Youngest Son of the Chief State Councilor's House" has topped the popularity rankings on global short-form drama platform Kanta within a week of its release, generating significant buzz.
CIX member Hyunseok takes on his first period drama role as the protagonist "Lee Kwon," earning praise for his deep gaze and restrained emotional performance. Co-star Seol Ji-won, who built her acting credentials through "Some My Way" and "Diva of the Deserted Island," delivers nuanced emotional portrayal as "Hong-yeon," a female lead carrying inner scars.
The series is a fusion period romance depicting a fateful encounter between a woman fleeing an arranged marriage and a young nobleman who has lost his will to live. The production combines the narrative density and cinematic direction characteristic of K-dramas while maintaining short-form pacing.
CAC Corporation, which produced the series, has emerged as a notable player in the short-form drama market. Its Korea-Japan co-production "Seoul One Night," released in the first half of the year, ranked No. 1 in Japan on both Korean platform Vigloo and global short-form platform DramaBox. The company also co-produced "The Man-Eating Swamp: The Grudge of Susalgwi" with MBC, adapted from the popular episode "Salmokji" of the late-night horror series "Simyagwoedamhoe," demonstrating the genre's expansion potential.
With its production capabilities recognized, CAC Corporation is currently developing additional Japanese content with Japanese short-form drama platforms. Over the past year, the company has placed various content in the top two rankings across multiple platforms, proving its IP development capabilities across Korea-Japan co-productions, horror, period dramas, and fantasy genres.
"We define short-form drama not simply as short content, but as a new format enabling deep storytelling and genre experimentation," CEO Park Jin-su said. "In 2026, we plan to fully target the Japanese market with Japanese original series and Korea-Japan co-production projects."
CAC Corporation plans to leverage expertise accumulated from producing over 100 branded content pieces, advertisements, promotional videos, web dramas, and documentaries to actively pursue multi-IP expansion into films, mid-form content, webtoons, and web novels.
"First Love of the Youngest Son of the Chief State Councilor's House" and "Salmokji" are exclusively available in Japan through Kanta, the global short-form drama platform operated by Ridi, and can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in Japan.
