The unique colors of JTBC‘s Wednesday drama ‘Prefabricated Family’ (written by Hong Si-young and directed by Kim Seung-ho) are attracting attention.

According to the production team, it stimulates a unique youthful sensibility by showing moments of Kim San-ha (played by Hwang In-yeop), Yoon Joo-won (played by Jung Chae-yeon), and Kang Hae-joon (played by Bae Hyun-sung) who shine more than ever when they are together. The production team analyzed that the beautiful video containing the three people running without umbrellas after encountering an unexpected rain shower at a bus stop by the sea is refreshing itself.

Director Kim Seung-ho said, “Of all the scenes, this was the most enjoyable and happiest scene that we filmed like children. “Kim San-ha makes a hand umbrella for Yoon Joo-won, and Kang Hae-joon carries Yoon Joo-won’s bag and runs with them. “Each of them has a heartbreaking story from their childhood, but the sight of the three of them relying on each other more brightly and bravely than anyone else makes me feel happy,” he said.


The scenes that capture Kim San-ha, Yoon Joo-won, and Kang Hae-joon, who are still together then and now, like decalcomania, are also met with reactions like looking at a family album. From children who sat side by side in front of a supermarket, sharing jellies, and playing, to warm youths who sympathize with and comfort each other’s pain in the same place, the video that captures the three of them who have always been together in a similar structure adds to the affection that is unique to ‘Prefabricated Family’.

However, the setting that suddenly progresses from a family drama to a romance is something to watch. The lighthouse scene where Kim San-ha’s long-standing unrequited love is shaken uncontrollably by an unexpected hug is the starting point of the romantic narrative. And 10 years later, the confession ending of Kim San-ha, who grabbed Yoon Joo-won, who had a date, and said, “Don‘t go,” announced the full-scale start of an unexpected romance narrative. The romance of these two, who grew up like siblings and loved a bond stronger than that of a blood-related family, to the point that the phrase, “Why is this family like this?” would not be awkward, is now beginning in earnest.

In particular, the reason the strange relationship between the three siblings and their two fathers, although they are strangers, was able to connect as one family, making the phrase, “Blood is thicker than water,” seem meaningless, is because of the character named Yoon Jung-jae (played by Choi Won-young), who is hard to find in this day and age. Would they have been able to become one family if it weren’t for Yoon Jung-jae? It‘s just the beginning to make viewers understand whether this ‘prefabricated family’, which broke this process and added romance again, was what Yoon Jung-jae wanted.


If it looks like it’s going to be like the original, then it‘s a happy ending anyway. The romance needs to be complete to be enjoyable. However, the plausibility is lacking. Although there were some subtle emotional lines, the scenes drawn so far were about the process of the three children growing into adults and the process of forming a family. It’s up to the director to decide how plausible the unexpected romance will be in this process. Some say you should watch a drama as a drama, but even within the work, there were already wild rumors about this family who aren‘t related by blood. And when romance is added, the rumors that will arise are not simply a matter of being beautiful.

Therefore, the homework of ‘Prefabricated Family’ will be how to tell the story with plausibility in the remaining portion.

Meanwhile, ‘Prefabricated Family’ airs twice in a row every Wednesday at 8:50 PM.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com Reporter projecthong@donga.com