She Cried for an Hour on the Bus When She Got the Role. How Kim Hyejun Nails Sleek Summer Style.

Picture this: You're waiting for a bus when the call comes through. You booked a role with a 500-to-1 audition rate. You cry on the bus for an hour straight. That's literally what happened to Kim Hyejun, and honestly? We get it.

Hyejun's the kind of actor who tears up at life things but channels ice-cold confidence the second a camera rolls—it's her whole vibe. She went from webdrama darling (Lily) to Netflix's Kingdom, where she played a scheming second wife and absolutely went global with it. Then came Liar Game's terrifying serial killer, and everyone was like, 'Wait, this actress can actually DO things.' Now she's double-dipping between cold perfection (Shopping Malls for Killers S2) and pure romance (My Colleague Has a Crush on Me), and we're all here for the character whiplash.

Here's what she's been wearing this summer, piece by piece.

Black & White Chic, Prada Raffia Edition

Right out of the gate, something shifts. Black sleeveless tank, white floor-length skirt, just those two colors and—boom—the mood gets lean. Almost anticlimactic how clean it is, which makes it hit harder. The contrast alone does all the work.

That Prada raffia tote is doing the actual work though. Black raffia, white logo popping against it, and it's somehow got both the textured summer thing AND the polished edge Hyejun's going for. She draped white sunglasses on the handle like a casual flex.

Silver headphones catch the neck. A short, choppy wave cut. The whole thing reads less 'trying' and more 'I woke up like this,' which—for a climber in a stairwell photoshoot—is honestly the move. This is the outfit template if you want to show up to a summer thing looking intentional without looking like you tried all morning.

Osaka Alley, All-Black Knit Mode

Total mood flip for the Japan leg. Black knit zip-up, black mini skirt to match, and the uniform-ness is kind of the point. Going monochrome stops it from feeling like a random athleisure grab—it actually looks HELD TOGETHER, even though she's slimmed it down to nothing.

The mini skirt pops with energy. The black keeps it grounded. Black backpack, grey socks, white Nike kicks, and suddenly this is an actual outfit. Ponytail, travel-casual vibe. The shot's in some narrow Osaka side street with telephone wires tangled everywhere, and it reads like a vlogger's natural travel moment, not posed. This is the blueprint if you're on a flight that involves a lot of walking and you don't want to feel frumpy about it.

Prada Beauty Event: Pinafore Goes Girlish

Wrap it all up with a callback to Sunday-school nostalgia. White collared shirt under a black pinafore dress—the simplest formula, and somehow the most complete.

That collared line meeting the pinafore's short hem creates a whole 'scholarly but sweet' field. Black knee socks and platform shoes bring the schoolgirl edge. A black Prada crescent mini bag adds the sophisticated counterweight. Long, loose hair with baby bangs finishes it off—total innocent energy, but the bag whispers that she knows better.

Photos from the Prada Beauty event and then from the Han River at night prove she's got range. One space reads like a whisper; the other feels like golden hour reflection. Same person, same bones, completely different rooms.

The Black Utility Test

All three outfits share a DNA even though they look like three different people put them together. The common thread? A person who absolutely gets what black CAN do.

Same color, different fabrics—some cut minimal, some voluminous, some delicate. She swaps the mood without changing the playlist. The first one (Prada tote, black and white, clean lines) is the one we'd stare at longest. That bag alone is the kind of summertime grab-and-go piece that makes any outfit suddenly look like it had a plan.

Thinking about what she wears next is honestly easier than waiting for the next role.