Choi Ji-su's G-Dragon Photocard Factory Nightmare Left Her Seeing Mint Green for Days

Before she was winning hearts as the lovable Kang Nora in tvN's hit drama Undercover Miss Hong, actress Choi Ji-su was living an entirely different kind of drama — one that involved eight grueling hours of sorting idol photocards in a factory, a pair of burning eyes, and a mint-green afterimage of G-Dragon that refused to fade even when she closed them.

The actress shared the hilarious and surprisingly relatable story during a preview clip uploaded to the You Quiz on the Block YouTube channel on March 15, titled "Eight Hours Buried in Mint-Colored Hair From Hell." Her appearance on the full episode, set to air March 18 at 8:45 PM on tvN, has already generated significant buzz online, with fans of both the actress and the K-pop legend eager to hear the full account.

The Photocard Assembly Line

Host Yoo Jae-suk set up the story by noting that Choi had worked a remarkable number of part-time jobs even while pursuing her acting career. "I heard you did photocard work and that the pay was actually decent?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

Choi explained that the job required sitting in one position for eight consecutive hours, manually sorting photocards to ensure no duplicate cards ended up in the same pack. "At first it was fine," she recalled. "I'd see all these different idols and think, 'Oh, so these are the popular artists these days.' It was kind of interesting."

But everything changed on the day G-Dragon's photocards arrived at the factory. Unlike the unfamiliar faces she had been sorting through previously, the BIGBANG leader was someone Choi instantly recognized — and that recognition turned what should have been a routine shift into something approaching sensory torture.

"One day, these cards came through with someone who had mint-colored hair — it was G-Dragon," she said, her eyes widening at the memory. "Since he was an idol I actually knew, I was excited at first. I kept thinking, 'This is MY idol!' as I worked." The initial thrill, however, quickly gave way to physical discomfort. "After eight hours of staring at that mint-colored hair, my eyes were in so much pain," she confessed.

The Mint Green Afterimage That Wouldn't Stop

The real horror, Choi explained, didn't end when her shift did. As a self-described "pro part-timer," she had developed a routine of sleeping on the subway during her commute home after factory shifts. But on the G-Dragon photocard day, sleep proved impossible.

"When I got on the train and closed my eyes, the mint-green afterimage was still there," she said, drawing a burst of sympathetic laughter from Yoo Jae-suk and the studio audience. "You know that thing where you stare at something bright and then close your eyes but you can still see it? That was happening — except it was mint green, and it was G-Dragon's hair."

The aftereffects extended even further than that single commute. When G-Dragon eventually released a new album — likely the one associated with his iconic mint-green hair era — Choi found herself unable to engage with the promotional materials. "When his album came out, I honestly couldn't look at it," she admitted. "Because I'd been the one sorting all those cards, seeing them again was just too much. Even closing my eyes, that mint-green afterimage — you know what I mean, right?"

Yoo Jae-suk, ever the master of comedic timing, looked directly into the camera and quipped, "G-Dragon, are you watching this?" — a moment that has since been clipped and shared widely across Korean social media platforms.

The clip quickly went viral on Korean social media, with the preview alone accumulating hundreds of thousands of views within hours of its upload. Korean netizens flooded the comments section with their own photocard sorting memories, while BIGBANG fans expressed a mixture of amusement and pride that G-Dragon's visual impact was powerful enough to leave a lasting physical impression on anyone who spent extended time with his image. Several fan accounts reposted the clip with captions like "Even G-Dragon's photocards are too powerful to handle," turning the anecdote into one of the week's most shared entertainment moments.

From Factory Floor to TV Stardom

What makes Choi Ji-su's story so compelling is the stark contrast between her humble part-time work history and her current success as one of Korean television's most buzzed-about rising actresses. Her role as Kang Nora in Undercover Miss Hong has earned her widespread recognition and critical praise, transforming her from an under-the-radar performer into a household name practically overnight.

The You Quiz preview also highlighted Choi's reputation as a "pro part-timer" who had accumulated an impressive variety of side jobs throughout her career — the photocard factory being just one chapter in a long resume of unconventional employment. This willingness to take on unglamorous work while pursuing her dream resonated strongly with viewers, many of whom shared their own part-time job horror stories in response to the clip.

Co-star Hyeri, who also appears in Undercover Miss Hong, reportedly described Choi with the affectionate Korean term "ttongganaji" — roughly translating to "adorable little pup" — reflecting the genuine fondness the cast has developed for the actress's earnest and unguarded personality.

A Story That Connects Stars and Fans

Beyond the obvious entertainment value, Choi Ji-su's G-Dragon photocard story touches on something deeper about the K-pop industry's massive infrastructure. Behind every perfectly packaged album and carefully curated photocard set, there are countless workers performing repetitive, physically demanding tasks — and occasionally, those workers happen to be future TV stars with a story to tell.

For G-Dragon fans, the anecdote adds an unexpected human dimension to their idol's merchandise. Somewhere in a factory, years ago, a young actress-in-waiting was sorting through hundreds of his photocards, little knowing that one day she would be sharing the story on national television. And for fans of Choi Ji-su, the tale only reinforces the narrative of a hardworking actress who earned her success the old-fashioned way — one eight-hour shift at a time, mint-green afterimages and all.

The full You Quiz on the Block episode featuring Choi Ji-su is scheduled to air on March 18 at 8:45 PM KST on tvN, where viewers can expect to hear even more entertaining stories from her colorful pre-fame career.