In the run-up to the premiere of KBS’s latest sageuk rom-com Tale of Nokdu, we’re getting a slew of new promos including a new poster, stills, and a video teaser of next week’s premiering episode.
The drama is based on a well-loved webtoon by the same name and takes place in a mysterious widows’ village where the titular character takes refuge, Jeon Nokdu played by Jang Dong-yoon (Dance Sports Girls). Due to his circumstances, he puts on the guise of a woman in order to stay hidden in the village. But, as it turns out, he isn’t the only one there with a secret. Namely Dong Dong-joo, played by Kim So-hyun (Love Alarm), a short-haired gisaeng-in-training who doesn’t want to become a gisaeng.
Of course, complicating their romance is Kang Tae-oh (My First First Love) who is also vying for Dong-joo’s affections. Described as a Joseon chef who knew Dong-joo from childhood, his character of Cha Yul-moo is one of a few new characters that were created for the drama’s adaptation of the webtoon.
In the newly released stills, we get a glimpse of the love triangle to come with both Jang Dong-yoon and Kang Tae-oh offering their hands to Kim So-hyun. Standing in-between them and their horses, Kim is left to decide if or who she wants to ride with. (Maybe one day we’ll see a drama where the girl rides by herself and the two boys ride together?)
Although most of the promo material features the main cast, we finally get to see some of the supporting actors in the new teaser which includes Lee Moon-shik (The Fiery Priest) and Yoon Yoo-sun (Abyss).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVXbv-M1YQ8
The teaser starts with Jang Dong-yoon explaining to a young girl that there’s something he has to do outside of the island that they live on. As the background music becomes louder and more dire, we cut to a wide shot of Jang standing with the girl and Lee Moon-shik on the left side of the screen. From the right, a woman runs in screaming: “Nokdu! There’s an emergency at your house!” The scene quickly changes to Jang Dong-yoon fighting off a group of uniformed men and we see one of them injured and running away. After the fight, Lee Moon-shik fervently whispers to Jang that they should work together to find them. There is a quick intercut of a man following another man through a forest at night before returning to Jang Dong-yoon who is stunned to arrive at a brightly colored village. As he asks why there are only women here, the camera pans around to show the women panicking that there is a man in the village. One woman taps Jang on the shoulder from behind, smiling at him, and he screams as she throws him out.
The music changes to a lighter and twinkly tune and we cut to Jang Dong-yoon disguising himself as a woman. In his new appearance, he approaches Yoon Yoo-sun and desperately asks if she can help him by letting him stay at her gibang (gisaeng house). Cut to a close-up of Yoon as she replies, slightly appalled, “Sorry, what?” The scene quickly transitions to Kim So-hyun who enters through a doorway and is shocked to discover Jang Dong-yoon inside one of the gibang rooms. She pushes Jang away from something and yells casually (in banmal), “What are you doing?” before switching to honorifics as she asks “Why are you in this room?” Hurt and dishevelled, Jang Dong-yoon replies that the head gisaeng (Yoon Yoo-sun) gave him permission to stay in this room. As the two actors glare at each other, the teaser ends with their joint voice-over: “Joseon rom-com Tale of Nokdu premiering September 30.”
Upcoming drama Tale of Nokdu will be airing in just a few days on September 30, and broadcasts Mondays and Tuesdays on KBS.
