After ‘Middle-aged Dad is a Flower’Shin Hyun-joon successfully completed a commercial shoot with his children, he revealed his desire for a ‘second-generation celebrity family’, saying, “Shouldn‘t one of the three siblings be like ‘Ha Jung-woo’...”.

The 31st episode of ‘Middle-aged Dad is a Flower’ on Channel A, which aired on the 5th, showed the second part of the ‘Kimjang Feast’ where the ‘Flower Daddy Union’ Kim Yong-gun, Kim Gu-ra, Shin Sung-woo, Kim Won-joon, Shin Hyun-joon, and Kim Bum-soo invited their respective families and held a ‘Kimjang Party’. Also, ‘57-year-old flower daddy’ Shin Hyun-joon had his first ‘family commercial shoot’ with Kim Kyung-mi, who is 12 years his junior, and his three siblings Min-joon, Ye-joon, and Min-seo. As the only one with experience shooting pictorials and as a ‘father’, he struggled with his children’s poor physical condition, making us feel the ‘true power of a father’.

On this day, Kim Yong-gun, Shin Sung-woo, Kim Won-joon, Shin Hyun-joon, and Kim Bum-soo presented the second episode of ‘group kimchi’, following the last broadcast. They started mixing kimchi filling following the advice of their older brother Kim Yong-gun, who said, “Add kimchi filling as if you were dyeing your hair or combing it between the hair”, and chatted while reminiscing about the ‘kimchi-making sharing’ from their childhood. At the same time, the seven children started a ‘Dad Show Off Contest’ that they all did, and the flower dads who were watching the video late in the studio couldn‘t hide their delighted smiles. After the 50 bundles of kimchi were finished, the ‘Flower Dads’ enjoyed eating boiled pork, cabbage pancakes, oyster kimchi, fermented skate, and dried pollack prepared by Shin Hyun-joon’s wife Kim Kyung-mi. Soon after, Kim Gu-ra arrived after finishing his schedule, and the ‘Full Flower Dad 6-member Reunion’ came to fruition.

After the meal, the ‘Flower Dads’ put blindfolds on Kim Yong-gun and Kim Gu-ra, and began a blind test of the ‘Unique Kimchi’ that each family made with their pride on the line. After a cool-headed evaluation by Kim Yong-gun and Kim Gu-ra, who transformed into ‘Ahn Sung-jae’ and ‘Baek Jong-won’ respectively, the winner of the unique kimchi war went to ‘Kimjang Master’ Shin Sung-woo, who completed ‘Louis Vee X Water Kimchi’ with beets and colabi. Next, the ‘Tall Talent Showoff Contest’ of the ‘Middle-aged 2nd Generation’ began. Shin Sung-woo‘s eldest son Tae-oh transformed into ‘Harry Potter’ and performed a magic trick where a ball floated, and Shin Hyun-joon’s second son Ye-jun drew an enthusiastic response of “Let‘s sign a contract right now!” with a dazzling b-boying dance.

On the other hand, Shin Hyun-joon’s eldest son Min-jun showed off his talents while still half-asleep, and shed tears, saying “I don‘t want to do it”. Amid the adults’ whining that “Min-jun isn‘t old enough to be here”, when Kim Gu-ra offered a “large sum of pocket money”, Min-jun put on a “capitalist smile” as if he had never cried, and put on a “retirement talent show” that burned down the scene. Finally, the day’s talent show ended with a cute rhythm by the “youngest members born in 2022”, Kim Won-jun‘s second daughter Ye-jin and Shin Sung-woo’s second son Hwan-jun, and the event, reminiscent of a “holiday feast”, ended warmly with Kim Gu-ra‘s “pocket money offensive time” and the heartwarming “kimchi container sharing”. The flower daddies who watched all the footage in the studio laughed and said, “This is a memory I will remember for a long time”, “I don’t think I will ever forget Min-joon‘s retirement ceremony.”



Next, the group advertisement shoot of the “57-year-old flower daddy” Shin Hyun-joon’s family unfolded. Shin Hyun-joon said, “We‘ve received a clothing advertisement with children as the main models,” and while moving to the filming site, he earnestly told the children, “Since we received the appearance fee and stamped the contract, we must approach the filming responsibly.” However, the youngest Min-seo refused to put on makeup and change into her uniform during the preparation for the advertisement shoot, which led to the “first crisis.” Shin Hyun-joon, who was sensitive about causing trouble to the staff, disciplined Min-seo more strictly than usual. In the end, the situation was safely resolved with the ‘Teenie Ping toys’ prepared by the staff, and the children successfully finished the morning filming, radiating ‘positive energy’ thanks to Shin Hyun-joon’s ‘challenging’ reaction and their mother‘s warm support.

However, the children, who had changed five sets of clothes in the morning alone, suddenly became tired as the afternoon filming began. Min-joon eventually shed tears, saying, “This is hard”, and the filming had to be temporarily halted. Shin Hyun-joon eventually took Min-joon out separately and said, “This is what a dad does”, and after crying, “All the staff members on set look at me, so I have to always smile while working so that the staff members don’t get tired. I hope today‘s filming will be a valuable gift to you guys later”, giving advice that Min-joon could understand. As if his father’s sincerity got through to him, Min-jun gathered his strength again and went back to filming, and when the family was almost done filming, a ‘rainbow’, symbolizing Shin Hyun-joon‘s late father, appeared in the sky, adding to the emotion.

After many twists and turns, Shin Hyun-joon took the children to a restaurant called Baeksuk Restaurant, saying, “There’s food that soothes your mind and body when you‘re tired from an all-night shoot.” During the meal, Shin Hyun-joon asked the children how they felt about filming the commercial, and Min-joon confidently replied, “It was hard,” but also, “I now understand why Dad is late.” Min-joon then said, “If I’m given another chance, I want to do better,” and “I want to become a great person like my dad,” touching Shin Hyun-joon. Immediately after, Shin Hyun-joon said in an interview with the production crew, “I‘ve always envied teacher Kim Yong-gun, who is active in the entertainment industry with his son,” and expressed his ‘desire’, saying, ‘I think one of the three siblings should be ‘Ha Jung-woo’,“ making everyone laugh. A week later, Shin Hyun-joon’s family visited the brand‘s store to check the filming results, and gave each other compliments, saying “You did a good job”, and gave each other a warm hug.

Meanwhile, ‘Dad is a Flower Middle-aged Man’, which has brought warm laughter and emotion as a story of the ‘flower dads’ struggles to raise their children and reminded us of the meaning of family, will end its season with episode 31. ‘Flower Daddy Dad’, which has garnered sympathy and support from viewers for the heartbreaking love for their children and the adorable appearance of their children, including stars who became parents at a late age, including Kim Yong-gun, Kim Gu-ra, Shin Sung-woo, Ahn Jae-wook, Kim Won-joon, Shin Hyun-joon, Kim Bum-soo, Lee Ji-hoon, Jung Jae-yong, and Sa Yu-ri, ended its journey of approximately 10 months on this day by saying its final farewell, “To all the fathers in the world, I love and respect you.”

Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com reporter yyynnn@donga.com