Actor Ahn Jae-hyun opened up about a severe car accident he experienced in his 20s during a recent YouTube appearance.

On April 2, a new video titled "Ahn Jae-hyun's Secret to Not Gaining Weight! ...Let's Just Gain It l Spicy Stir-fried Eggplant, Mala Glass Noodles, Beijing Pork, Mineral Diet" was uploaded to comedian Lee Guk-joo's YouTube channel.

In the "Guk-joo's House" segment, Ahn Jae-hyun appeared as a guest alongside comedian Kwak Beom. Lee Guk-joo asked Ahn, "Were you always set on being a model from a young age?" to which he responded frankly, "I dreamed of being a rich dad. I didn't really care what the job was, as long as I could make money."

"But when I turned 20, I got into a car accident," Ahn revealed. "I was bedridden in the hospital for six months. I was sitting behind the passenger seat in a taxi when the crash happened. Two of my ribs were fractured, and when I opened my eyes, there were tubes in me. My lung had collapsed, I had a chest tube inserted, and I was lying there hooked up to IVs. That's when I started to seriously ask myself, 'How are you going to survive from now on?' At that time, I didn't think I had the visuals to become a celebrity," he recalled.

Kwak Beom reacted with surprise, asking, "You didn't?" while Lee Guk-joo playfully interjected, "He's making this all up now."

Ahn continued, "Listen, I'll tell you something interesting. One of my high school classmates was Lim Seulong. We were in the same grade, and he was insanely popular-on a completely different level."

He added, "So when I assessed myself objectively, I knew I couldn't be an actor or singer. But I thought, 'I'm tall, and my face is decent, maybe I could try modeling?' So right after I was discharged, I joined a modeling academy. They picked about 10 out of 20 male applicants, but I didn't even make it past the first round. Later, after I had made it in the industry, I asked them, 'Why didn't you pick me back then?' and they said, 'You looked really tacky at the time.' You know that kind of vibe people talk about."

Ahn also shared his financial struggles after debuting as a model. "I don't know if it's changed now, but back then I thought models made a lot of money. I graduated from the academy and did my first magazine shoot. Magazine fees were only around 50,000 to 80,000 won (approximately $40-$60)," he said. Kwak Beom chimed in, "It hasn't changed much, even nowadays."

"At the time, just being in a magazine was a dream come true," Ahn said. "Then one day, I landed a commercial. The main model was Lee Soo-hyuk, and it was displayed big on the Apgujeong Station billboard. I got filmed too, you know. But do you know how much of me actually showed? If he was front and center, I was just like... this much in the corner. If your face doesn't appear in the ad, they don't pay much. I think it was under 800,000 won (about $600)."

Lee Guk-joo exclaimed, "You went through all that trouble and didn't even get your face shown?" to which Ahn replied, "Well, it's all about recognition. And with modeling, you get paid three to six months later. Sometimes you even get paid in clothes. That was the sad part," he concluded.

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