Well, this is some lightning-fast casting; not that I’m complaining, especially if these are the results. Only a day after reports announced that Lee Min-ki (Shoot Me in the Heart) was considering a leading role in the new tvN drama Because This Life Is Our First, his side has since confirmed his participation in the show, and we also have a heroine in Jung So-min (Father Is Strange).
The drama will be a fresh and fun take on the struggles of this generation’s youths, and how they view jobs, relationships, and marriage. There’s also a disheartening moniker for the youth in Korea that seems to change every time I hear it: the N-po generation. The “po” is for the Korean word pogi, which means to give up, and so while I first heard it as the 3-po generation (giving up love, marriage, and children), it has since been upgraded to the 5-po generation. Because This Life Is Our First will depict the lives and tribulations of this N-po generation, which would sound like a big downer, if not for the “fresh and fun” vibe the producers are promising.
Lee Min-ki will play the “house-poor” Nam Se-hee, who is described as rational and a sworn bachelor. He will become housemates with Jung So-min’s Yoon Ji-ho, who has had to give up on relationships in order to scrape by financially. This realistic setup, with two roomies who share a living space for financial reasons and no contract anything to keep them there, sounds pretty true to the producers’ promise to keep this show relevant to today’s youths. And while I can’t imagine Jung So-min getting all romantic with someone other than Lee Joon at the moment, I can see her and Lee Min-ki being super adorable as housemates-turned-lovers.
Because This Life Is Our First will follow Argon in tvN’s Monday-Tuesday slot sometime in October.