I’m such a fan of reincarnation love stories, so I’m really happy that they’re becoming more popular in dramaland in these days. Gyeryong Fairy Tale is a new drama in the works that puts a spin on the classic folktale of the fairy and the woodcutter, about a 699-year-old fairy who’s lived through a couple of dynasties while waiting for her reincarnated husband. Kang So-ra (Revolutionary Love) is currently being courted to headline as the fairy, and Yoon Hyun-min (Witch’s Court) has been offered the role of her husband.
The drama is an adaptation of a webtoon by the same name, about a fairy from Gyeryong mountain who has lived from Goryeo to the present day while waiting to reunite with her husband. She’s 699 years old and appears like a grandmother to most, but special people can see her true form, as a beautiful young woman. She runs a strange little coffee shop tucked away in the mountains that serves hand-ground coffee (think Three Meals a Day mortar-and-pestle-style) named funny things like “Tears of the Deer,” “No You Can’t, Princess,” and “Black Water.” She talks to animals and plants, and some of the animals around her seem to be people reincarnated in different form.
I’m not sure how much Yoon Hyun-min’s role in the drama will differ from the source material, but in the original webtoon, his character is a biology professor at a university. He suffers from very severe insomnia and is undergoing clinical trials and therapy just to find a cure, and is your general prickly, smartass, handsome young man, though probably a notch crabbier than most because he gets no sleep. He’s forbidden from drinking coffee but can’t live without it, and the hijinks begin when he breaks down and has to have coffee in the middle of nowhere, and lo and behold, there’s a coffee shop right there in the middle of nowhere.
In the first few episodes of the webtoon, he already gets a peek at the fairy’s true form and thinks she’s putting LSD in the coffee to make him see things, so I’m expecting a comedic bent to the overall story. Yoon Hyun-min fits the profile well, and I think he’d make an adorable couple with Kang So-ra, especially if they both get to play up their comedic sides.
Gyeryong Fairy Tale is currently being considered for a tvN slot later this year.