In the new stills for upcoming JTBC drama Age of Youth 2, there are changes in store for our returning housemates Han Ye-ri, Park Eun-bin, and Han Seung-yeon, who have grown a little since last year. If the first season was all about the housemates finding their individual dreams, this second season will be centered around how the housemates learn to help and relate to the people around them.
Han Ye-ri’s character Jin-myung looks less haggard than she did in the first season where she was juggling three part-time jobs in order to make ends meet. The last time we saw her, she was going on an extended self-journey to China. Age of Youth 2 begins exactly a year later when she has come back from her trip, and will tell a completely different story about the housemates that live with her at the sharehouse Belle Epoque.
According to Han Ye-ri, we’ll see a change in Jin-myung’s personality because she’s taken some of the self-burden off her own shoulders. So she’ll smile a bit more and have a sunnier disposition than before, and her fashion has changed too. Because of the necessity of doing so many part-time jobs, she always looked for comfort rather than style, but after becoming employed full-time at a matchmaking company, she needed to gain more accessories and heels to match her work environment.
On the other hand, Han Seung-yeon’s character has become more withdrawn and reserved in comparison to her perky bubbly self last season. The main reason was her incident with the abusive ex-boyfriend, after which she took a leave of absence from school. Because of her traumatic experience, she’s grown fearful of strangers and interacting with other people outside her immediate circle. Thankfully, she’ll be romanced by a much kinder boy this time, played by Onew (Descended From the Sun). He’ll play an engineering student who’s never had a relationship and is clueless about love. (Oh, so he’s like the male version of Park Eun-bin’s character?)
The cast has grown as two housemates have been replaced, and their new respective romantic partners have been added. Kim Min-seok (Defendant) will be playing the landlord’s representative, and Ahn Woo-yeon (Circle) will be a failed K-pop idol whose band never got off the ground after debuting five years ago. Then there are some familiar faces like Shin Hyun-soo (Ruler—Master of the Mask) who became known as the popular “Ball-pen Sunbae.” He’s the ex-boyfriend of Ji-woo, who will replace the role of the maknae at Belle Epoque.
Sohn Seung-won (Person Who Gives Happiness) will continue to have the will-they-or-won’t-they friendship with Park Eun-bin, and they’ll continue to hang out together because they’re from the same department. Last but not least, Choi Ara has been added as the last housemate, a mysterious girl who will be known as the “tall one” because of her height compared to the rest of the four girls.
Age of Youth 2 will begin airing on August 25, after Woman of Dignity’s run ends.
