Park Sung-hoon Returns to the Small Screen as a Chaebol After 3 Years Since 'I Live Alone'

Actor Park Sung-hoon, who has been rarely seen on broadcast since stepping down from the MBC variety program 'I Live Alone', is returning with a drama after three years. Having become familiar to the public through his easygoing charm on variety shows, he will now lead a romance drama by transforming into a prickly chaebol. Interest is focused on what new face he will show in his long-awaited return to the small screen.

MBN's new Thursday-Friday drama 'What a Boss Wants' is scheduled to premiere on the 11th of next month. On the 8th, the production team released the first teaser video capturing the first meeting between Park Sung-hoon and Oh Se-young, raising expectations for the work. Based on the web novel and webtoon of the same name on Naver, this work is a fake romance that unfolds when Kwon Do-hyeok, a chaebol with no personal tastes, meets Lee Eun-chae, who lives as an ordinary office worker during the day and an indie band vocalist on stage.

Kwon Do-hyeok, played by Park Sung-hoon, is a chaebol who deals with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. He is a character who prioritizes logic and data over emotions and has a tendency to judge all matters rationally. The released teaser begins with a scene where he receives instructions from his father, Kwon Tae-ung (Park Jeong-hak), to revive Oh Yes Entertainment. With funeral wreaths lined up in front of the company, a distressed Kwon Do-hyeok contemplates how to normalize the company, saying, "I must create one. A celebrity who doesn't cause trouble." This part stimulates curiosity about how a chaebol who has jumped into the entertainment industry will solve the problem.

Lee Eun-chae, played by Oh Se-young, is a character who lives a completely different life during the day and at night. She usually works as a telephone counselor, but when she steps on stage, she transforms into Su, the vocalist of the indie band 'India Red'. While she endures an ordinary daily life at work while receiving criticism from her boss and colleagues, she reveals her own individuality on stage wearing a red wig and a dress. She is a character living different identities between her real name and her stage name, and between social life and music.

The connection between the two begins at an unexpected moment. Kwon Do-hyeok, who happened to encounter Lee Eun-chae while she was wearing a doctor's gown, later discovers Su's appearance on the album cover of India Red. He cannot hide his surprise, saying, "What, the thing I created actually exists?" and visits the performance venue himself. In that Kwon Do-hyeok, who tries to understand the world through logic and data, moves to confirm the existence of a person he did not know, their meeting goes beyond a simple coincidence and becomes the starting point for a full-scale change in their relationship.

However, the atmosphere between the two when they meet again outside the performance venue is not smooth. Kwon Do-hyeok suspects Lee Eun-chae's identity, and Lee Eun-chae confronts him, who followed her, by asking, "Are you a stalker?" After discovering a red dress in Lee Eun-chae's bag, Kwon Do-hyeok interrogates her, saying, "Lee Eun-chae, what on earth is your identity?" As Lee Eun-chae's double life—living as a telephone counselor by day and an indie band vocalist by night—is caught by Kwon Do-hyeok, tension and curiosity are formed simultaneously between the two.

The end of the teaser contains a scene where Kwon Do-hyeok hands a contract to Lee Eun-chae, saying, "The period is 3 months from now." The two people belonging to different worlds become entangled through the contract. The combination of a chaebol who tries to control everything according to plan and a free-spirited musician is a familiar setting in the romance genre, but the observation point is what kind of events the devices of a fake relationship and a double life will lead to. In particular, interest is gathering on whether Kwon Do-hyeok's own standards and emotions will be shaken during the process of learning Lee Eun-chae's identity.

The production team stated, "Kwon Do-hyeok, who has judged everything with logic and data, and the free-spirited Lee Eun-chae will meet to complete a unique romance." Park Sung-hoon has been tasked with showing a charm different from the image he became familiar with in variety shows through his long-awaited drama return. Oh Se-young must also convincingly express the two faces of an office worker and a singer on stage through Lee Eun-chae, who has a large gap between day and night.

Park Sung-hoon, who made an impression on viewers with his friendly daily life and honest talk during his appearance on 'I Live Alone', takes on a new challenge as the chaebol Kwon Do-hyeok in this work. Whether his presence in variety shows can lead to the success of the drama, and what changes he will show in the romance genre upon his return after 3 years, is drawing attention. 'What a Boss Wants' premieres on the 11th of next month.

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