Su Ae (The Man Living in Our House) stars as a woman with ambitions to rise to the top in upcoming drama Artificial City (Korean title Gong Jak City). The drama is set against the backdrop of a museum funded by Sungjin Group, a conglomerate that has a stranglehold on the business world of Korea.
The character that Su Ae plays is Yoon Jae-hee, the second daughter-in-law of the Sungjin chaebol family. Her desire for and obsession with survival is unlike any other. In the posters featuring Su Ae, the caption reads: “The place that everyone craves, but where everyone is in danger.”
The teaser begins with an innocent scene of Su Ae in her bed asleep, but then her ominous monologue begins: “You were satisfied when you saw my failings.” She pours her wine out in the bath, and a family photo of her, her husband, and her son flashes by. Scenes of fighting and kissing are shown, and she suddenly says, “I don’t want to live like you.”
Her husband throws something and shatters glass as she flinches. The voiceover continues: “Your success shines even brighter when compared to my shabbiness.” A woman is shown drowning another, and Su Ae kneels on the ground in front of another lady.
A woman is dragged through a dark warehouse by her hair, and Su Ae continues: “My poverty only made your good deeds shine brighter.” Another woman points a shotgun directly at Su Ae, just feet away from her, and in the next cut, she’s on the floor. A tear rolls from her eyes, as the last comparison is made: “My darkness makes your world seem brighter.”
Suddenly, the scene changes to a sunny summer sky, and a reverse time lapse rewinds everything we just saw. In a determined voice, Su Ae says, “If I were going to give up at this pathetic moment, I would never have started.”
Directed by Jeon Chang-geun (Mystic Pop-Up Bar) and written by Sohn Se-dong, JTBC’s Wednesday-Thursday drama Artificial City begins airing on December 8.
