The First Night with the Duke

The First Night with the Duke
Promotional poster
Hangul	남주의 첫날밤을 가져버렸다
Literal meaning	I Took the Male Lead’s First Night
Revised Romanization	Namjuui cheonnalbameul gajyeobeoryeotda
McCune–Reischauer	Namjuŭi ch'ŏnnalbamŭl kajyŏbŏryŏtta
Genre	Romance[1] Fantasy[1]
Based on	The First Night With the Duke by Hwang Do-tol
Written by	Jeon Seon-young
Directed by	Lee Woong-hee
Starring	Seohyun Ok Taec-yeon Kwon Han-sol Seo Bum-june Ji Hye-won
Music by	Gaemi[2]
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	2
Production
Production companies	Studio N Monster Union
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	June 11, 2025 (2025-06-11)

The First Night with the Duke (Korean: 남주의 첫날밤을 가져버렸다) is a 2025 South Korean television series starring Seohyun, Ok Taec-yeon, Kwon Han-sol, Seo Bum-june, and Ji Hye-won. The series depicts the story of an ordinary college student's soul taking possession of the body of a minor character in a romance novel. It premiered on KBS2 on June 11, 2025, and airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 21:50 (KST).^[3]

A contemporary college student, known as "K," awakens unexpectedly inside her beloved historical romance book, upending her normal existence. Cha Seon-chaek, a minor noble character in the novel, is the person she has transmigrated into. Seon-chaek hails from a wealthy family and at first aspires to a simple, tranquil life, intending to watch the novel's plot unfold from the sidelines before eventually resuming her own life. But when she meets Lee Beon, the chilly, attractive, and seemingly compulsive male protagonist of the book, by chance while intoxicated, her intentions are utterly upended. Favoured by the King, Beon is a prince with royal ancestry who excels in martial arts. He has a tragic history as well. After this unanticipated "first night," Beon grows infatuated with Seon-chaek and demands to wed her. Given that Beon was meant to fall in love with Jo Eun-ae, the original female lead, this completely upends the plot of the original novel. Seon-chaek, still possessed by K, tries desperately to steer Beon back towards Eun-ae and restore the original plot, but no matter how hard she tries, Beon's affection consistently returns to her.

• Seohyun as Cha Seon-chaek/K

She is a supporting character who appears only in a single line in the protagonist's favorite novel; the second, a young woman who, due to an unfortunate incident, dropped out of university and whose only hobby in her grim daily life was reading a historical web novel.^[1][4] She is the original Ripley de Liverpool's counterpart.^[5]

• Ok Taec-yeon as Lee Beon, Gyeongseong-gun

He is the king's favorite nephew and the male protagonist of this world. He believes that if two people have spent their first night together, they should take responsibility for each other.^[4][1] He is the original Zeronis Inglide's counterpart.^[5]

• Kwon Han-sol as Jo Eun-ae, she is the true female protagonist of the novel.^[4][1]
  • Yoon Chae-na took on the role of young Eun-ae.
• Seo Bum-june as Jung Soo-gyeom

He is the youngest member of Hongmungwan, the son of a prestigious and highly educated family, and the epitome of the upright and caring male lead. Gyeongseong-gun's only friend.^[4][1]

• Ji Hye-won as Do Hwa-seon

She is a villain, who exacerbates the complex relationship between characters.^[1]

• Lee Tae-sun as Lee Gyu, Seonghyeon-gun

He is another nephew of the king.^[6]

• Seo Hyun-chul as Cha Ho-yeol, Seon-chaek's father and Deok-jeong's husband. He is an upright subject who does not hesitate to speak frankly even in front of the king for the good of the country.^[7]
• Yoon Yoo-sun as Yoon Deok-jeong, the lady of the Cha family, mother of Seon-chaek and wife of Ho-yeol. She is a dignified and tidy woman, but she never loses her strength in the face of a crisis, as evidenced when a man rumored to be her daughter's matchmaker appears.^[8][9]
• Lee Sang-woon as Cha Jang-ho, older brother by Cha Seon-chaek, Du-ho and Se-ho; eldest son of Ho-yeol and Deok-jeong.^[7]
• Kim Shin-bi as Cha Du-ho, the medicine-obsessed second son of the Cha family.^[7]
• Yoon Jung-hoon as Cha Se-ho, the third son of the Cha family, an unpredictable eccentric with a warm, caring brotherly side.^[10][11]
• Oh Se-eun as Bang-ul, a servant with high-level secretarial skills who follows Seon-chaek's every move.^[12]

• Song Young-jae as Haengrang-a-beom, a loyal servant of Gyeongseong-gun for many years.^[7]
• Yoon Tae-ha as Ma-yoon, a loyal follower and confidant of Gyeongseong-gun, to whom he swore loyalty. Following his orders, he pursues the mastermind behind the Black Death Group, a force that threatens the royal family.^[13]
• Joo Suk-tae as Seol-jong, the king in the novel, who was not originally in line to succeed to the throne and came to it after a purge.^[7]
• Nam Ki-ae as Dae-bi, the former king's first wife; when his only son, the crown prince, died, a bloody storm erupted in the royal family.^[7]
• Jung Hee-tae as Prime Minister Do Bae-myeong, brother-in-law of the Queen Dowager, father of Hwa-seon, for whom he is always worried.^[14]
• Jung Ho-bin as Jeong Moon-seok, a royal secretary according to the long-standing tradition of his prestigious family. He is conservative and controlling, and always disgruntled with his free-spirited son, Soo-gyeom.
• Kim Young-woong as Jo Byeong-mu, a wealthy merchant who took Eun-ae in, saved her life, and made her his adopted daughter, and whose businesses benefited from her cunning. Park Jeong-eon as the Queen Dowager Ji Mil-sang-gung.
• Lee Joo-won as Kkoma, a mysterious boy who appears in every dramatic moment Seon-chaek encounters.^[7]

• Kim Ah-young as Seol-gi, a shaman Seon-chaek often visits.^[7]

The series is written by Jeon Seon-young, directed by Lee Woong-hee, and co-produced by Studio N and Monster Union. It is based on the original Naver series web novel of the same name by Hwang Do-tol.^[1]

According to an interview with Xports News on July 26, 2024, Ok Taecyeon and Seohyun were considering the lead roles in the series.^[19] On November 19, Ji Hye-won was confirmed to join the cast.^[20] On the same day, Seo Bum-june was also confirmed to participate.^[21] Then, on November 28, Seohyun, Ok, Kwon Han-sol, Seo, and Ji were confirmed to appear.^[1]

On November 28, 2024 the production was in shooting phase. During the same Seohyun suffered an accident on a leg that forced her to carry a cane for a while: with it she went to present the KBS Drama Awards on December 31, 2024.^[22]

The day before, on December 30, 2024, architect Min Seo-hong visited Byeongsan Seowon, a Confucian academy in the vicinity of Andong where precisely the series was being shot. Three days after his visit he posted on his Facebook page that he had witnessed how the technical staff was damaging this historic site, declared a UNESCO World Heritage List, by fixing some ten streetlights with nails on the pillars. He later discovered that the Cultural Heritage Division of Andong City Hall had granted permission to film, but was unaware they were causing damage.^[23] The Korean Broadcasting System apologized after its staff hammered five nails into the complex's Mandaeru Pavilion to hang lanterns as part of shooting for a drama production.^[24] Subsequently, the city of Andong sued KBS for damaging cultural heritage and requested the destruction of all scenes shot in Byeongsan Seowon, before which the channel dismissed them. The incident likewise had criminal consequences for KBS staff. On February 10, 2025 the Gyeongbuk Andong Police Department announced that it had reported to the prosecutor's office three members of the utility team, accused of violating the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Utilization Act.^[24] Like consequence of this incident, the National Heritage Administration announced on the 20th the preparation of Standard Guidelines for Filming Permits in Nationally Designated Cultural Heritage Sites with which it is proposed to discipline use in future film or television shoots and prevent damage to heritage sites cultural.^[25] On June 11, a press conference to introduce the production was held in Sindorim, Seoul, attended by director Lee Woong-hee and actors Seohyun, Ok Taecyeon, Kwon Han-sol, Seo Beom-jun, and Ji Hye-wo. During the conference, the director apologized again for the damage caused to the Byeongsan Seowon historical site during filming and confirmed that scenes filmed there had been canceled.^[26]

The First Night with the Duke : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	1	532	579	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[27]

• Official website (in Korean)
• The First Night with the Duke at HanCinema

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