Upcoming suspense-mystery drama Elegant Friends is about how the death of one friend wreaks havoc on the peaceful, ordinary lives of a group of friends and their families. As a result, cracks begin to form in their 20-year friendship.
Yoo Joon-sang (What’s Wrong Mr. Poong-sang) plays the successful department head of a fried chicken franchise and a loving husband to Song Yoon-ah (Secret Mother, The K2). Although she looks like a chic, aloof career woman, Song Yoon-ah’s character craves love more than anyone else. Consequently, she’s an extreme perfectionist in both her work as a psychiatrist and at home as a wife.
Bae Soo-bin (A Pledge to God) plays a single divorcé whose emotions are difficult to discern. He’s an interesting character who hides his deceit behind an elegant smile. Han Da-gam (formerly known as Han Eun-jung from Touch) plays the first love of many men, including those in our group of best friends. Twenty years ago, her charms almost singlehandedly broke apart the group, and she appears again with a mysterious motive.
The dark teaser for Elegant Friends begins with beautiful nightscapes of Seoul accompanied by Yoo Joon-sang’s chilling narration: “My blood flowed backward. I couldn’t see anything or hear anything. Just the thought of protecting my loved ones was on my mind.” A group portrait of Yoo Joon-sang and his closest friends appears.
The screen says: “Everyone has secrets, especially from those closest to them.” A bloody bathroom is revealed, with a dead body inside. Bae Soo-bin, Kim Sung-oh (Hwayugi), and Jung Suk-yong (Never Twice) are present with Yoo Joon-sang, and they looked shocked at the horrific discovery. A flashback to the past shows a very similar scene unfolding with the four friends except the setting is in an office.
Yoo Joon-sang’s narration continues with a seeming confession: “Once I came to my senses, there was a dead person in front of me. The world was filled with the pungent stench of blood.” In the present, Song Yoon-ah clutches at her throat in her car, unable to breathe at a revelation. Han Da-gam appears at a dinner with the wives, and Song Yoon-ah throws wine at her face. The next scene shows Kim Sung-oh picking a fight with Bae Soo-bin.
Kim Sung-oh plays an immature husband to his older wife Kim Hye-eun (Soul Repairer). She’s a cool girl crush character. Meanwhile, the age difference goes the other way for Jung Suk-yong and his much younger wife, played by Lee In-hye (I Am A Mother Too). She’s twelve years younger than him, and perhaps his midlife crisis is a part of why they have such a PDA relationship.
Finally, the last couple consists of Kim Won-hae (Will You Have Dinner With Me), playing an indecisive civil servant, and Kim Ji-young (Good Casting), playing his wife who is a homemaker in the early stages of depression.
It looks like the entire group is under investigation, as a murder board contains all their pictures. Continuation of the flashback reveals a man lying in a pool of blood in front of the friends, and Yoo Joon-sang closes out his monologue by saying: “It’s just like twenty years ago.” And the teaser ends with a montage of severe portraits of the main characters.
Beginning July 10, Saturday-Sunday drama Elegant Friends will air on JTBC.
