Chae Jong Hyeop Runs Into His First Love Kim So Hyun After 10 Years In New Drama "Serendipity's Embrace"

Jul 05, 2024

tvN’s upcoming drama “Serendipity’s Embrace” (previously known as “Is It Fate?”) has shared a new glimpse of Chae Jong Hyeop in his starring role!

Based on the popular webtoon of the same name, “Serendipity’s Embrace” will tell the story of young people finding true love and their dreams after accidentally running into their first love from 10 years ago. Kim So Hyun will star as Lee Hong Joo, an animation producer who is afraid of love due to painful memories from her previous relationship—and who undergoes an unexpected change after running into Kang Hoo Young (Chae Jong Hyeop), who witnessed some of her lowest moments from her past.

Chae Jong Hyeop will star as Kang Hoo Young, a handsome and highly intelligent financial planner living in the United States who never needed to work hard to achieve great results. Bored with his dull and meaningless life, Kang Hoo Young finds his heart fluttering again when he returns to Korea for the first time in a long while and unexpectedly reunites with Lee Hong Joo, his first love from high school, after 10 years.

Although Kang Hoo Young has never experienced failure, the one thing in his life to which he could never figure out the correct answer was his first love. In one still from the upcoming drama, the teenage Kang Hoo Young looks puzzled as he holds a love letter he’s just received at school, seemingly experiencing an unfamiliar emotion for the first time.

In contrast to his innocent high school self, the 29-year-old Kang Hoo Young exudes a slightly cynical aura in his sunglasses and stylish clothing. However, his softening gaze as he looks at someone suggests that he will once again undergo a major change after his forgotten first love finds him once again.

Recalling his initial impression of the script, Chae Jong Hyeop remarked, “While reading the script, I was curious about and entertained by the idea of coincidentally running into your first love again. I think the drama’s charm is how these bubbly and vivacious characters happen to discover and experience the emotion of love.”

The actor went on to describe his character by saying, “The character of Hoo Young may appear bland and prickly. But Hoo Young is just someone who’s bad at expressing his feelings and doesn’t show his emotions to other people.”

He added, “I spent a lot of time pondering how to portray the transformation in Hoo Young as he gradually comes to discover the feeling of love.”