On MBC‘s ‘I Live Alone’, Park Na-rae, who is turning ‘40’, and Kim Sook, who is turning ‘Ji Cheon Myeong’, showed off their fiery ‘comedy’ friendship.

On the MBC ‘I Live Alone’ (directed by Heo Hang, Kang Ji-hee, Park Soo-bin, Lee Kyung-eun, and Moon Ki-young) broadcast on the 11th, Park Na-rae, who is turning 40, went on a birthday camping trip with her mentor and junior/senior friend Kim Sook, and actor Yoon Ga-yi visited Hwacheon, Gangwon-do to see her family for the first time in a long time.

According to Nielsen Korea, a viewership ratings research company, on the 12th, the household viewership ratings for the previous day’s ‘I Live Alone’ aired on the metropolitan area recorded 8.0%, ranking first in its time slot. It also took first place in the same time slot with 3.3% (based on the metropolitan area) in the 2049 viewership ratings, a key indicator for advertisers and a measure of channel competitiveness.

To celebrate her birthday week, Park Na-rae said that she would spend her 40s as a time of self-reflection, gourmet food, and healing in order to enjoy her next 40s, and visited the hideout of her beloved mentor and future diary, senior Kim Sook. Park Na-rae boasted about her special relationship with Kim Sook, saying that they can tell just by looking at each other‘s eyes and that they are called ‘Gag Twins’.

Park Na-rae enjoyed a birthday camping trip just for the two of them at the hideout of Kim Sook, the queen of camping. Kim Sook grumbled at Park Na-rae’s visit, but welcomed her by setting up various camping equipment. When Park Na-rae was curious about Kim Sook‘s fancy camping gear, she showed her pride as a camping expert(?) by saying, “You can’t buy it with your income, so don‘t even touch it.”

In particular, as expected from a meeting of the big shots of the comedy world, the scale of the camping was also extraordinary. Park Na-rae gave her a lantern(?) as a gift, and she opened the door to full-scale gourmet camping with smoked pork belly cooked in straw that Park Na-rae personally imported, and enjoyed a plate of polpo made with octopus from Tongyeong that Kim Sook personally caught, one per person. Even Koo Seong-hwan, who was on a diet, was impressed by their menu.



The finale of the camping was a birthday party. Park Na-rae, who was turning 40, prepared a surprise birthday party for Kim Sook, who was turning 40, and she amazed everyone by setting up a birthday table with a bucket full of seaweed soup, braised ribs, and a custom-made cake for each person. The visual of the cake printed with each photo and the 90 birthday candles in total caused shock and fear, but the synergy of the ‘Gagdungi’, blowing out the candles in one breath, garnered applause from the Rainbow members.

For Park Na-rae, who has many worries after turning 40, Kim Sook said, “Forty is such a pretty age... It’s an age where you can live as you want,” and gave her advice as a senior in life, saying, “At your age, I haven‘t even started,” and gave her words of courage and comfort. Park Na-rae then said, “I’m so anxious about my 40s, but it‘s also an age where I become curious,” raising expectations for Park Na-rae’s future activities in her 40s.

Meanwhile, Yoon Ga-yi met her family and had a perfect healing time. The mother and daughter, who look exactly like decals, surprised the Rainbow members. Even Jeon Hyun-moo, who is ‘same age as her, born in 1977’, couldn‘t close his mouth at the sight of Yoon Ga-yi’s young mother.

Yoon Ga-yi introduced ‘Sodo Village’, which was created by artists, and everyone was captivated by the mysterious birch forest and peaceful village. Yoon Ga-yi was surprised to see her having a picnic meal with her family like friends on a company trip, and leisurely resting in the fairytale-like nature with her little friend.

Yoon Ga-yi, who also said that her childhood dream was to be a painter, spent time with her painter mother, drawing pictures and sharing stories she hadn‘t been able to finish. Yoon Ga-yi’s mother‘s delight at the mention of her ‘same age friend’ Jeon Hyun-moo caught everyone’s attention. When her mother asked Yoon Ga-yi who the most surprising celebrity she had seen on TV was, she chose Kian84, explaining the reason as “he is too tall”. Here, Kian84 smiled happily and suddenly showed the side of his art senior, making everyone laugh.



Yoon Ga-i also enjoyed a campfire with the residents of the artist village. The sight of them roasting potatoes and sweet potatoes for snacks and singing along to the melody of the guitar was romantic itself. Park Na-rae said, “There is such a world,” and envied, “I understand why member Yoon Ga-i is so pure.” Yoon Ga-i said, “I often get tired from work, but when I come here, I feel like I can really rest,” and conveyed his affectionate feelings by saying, “The artist village is a sanctuary for me.”

Next week, Kian84 and Park Ji-hyun‘s ‘Meeting of the Hero Brothers’ and Code Kunst’s Parkour challenge are anticipated, raising expectations.

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