[Seoul=RNX News] Reporter Kim Ye-eun = On July 7th (Mon) at 10:10 PM, the second episode of ‘We Are Not a Close Couple’ will air, introducing couples who appear happy on the outside but actually have significant conflicts leading to marital problems.
Choi Soo-jong surprises the studio by revealing that the troubled couple is his juniors, consisting of an actor husband and a musical actress-turned-show host wife, raising curiosity.
Featuring Korea’s representative ‘ideal couple’ Choi Soo-jong and Ha Hee-ra, who portray problematic couples in ‘We Are Not a Close Couple’, is a program where real marital stories are reconceptualized in drama form. Choi Soo-jong and Ha Hee-ra act genuinely from the perspectives of a husband and wife, providing subtle solutions to marital issues.
Before meeting the troubled couple’s story, Hwang Je-seong demands an explanation due to hot reactions after the first broadcast and rumors implying “Soo-ra couple frequently fights” along with conspiracy theories.
Ha Hee-ra replies “Now (Choi Soo-jong) is starting menopause…” causing Choi Soo-jong to react, and she further handles it by saying “(Due to menopause) he gets easily upset over usual words but calms down in 5 to 10 minutes.”
When Hwang Je-seong asks if it’s the rule for never fighting, Choi Soo-jong responds, “Apologies to everyone but because (my wife is) lovable…” revealing a cheesy conflict resolution trick befitting the nation’s exemplary partner, making the married Hwang Je-seong and psychiatrist Kim Ji-yong feel discouraged while providing laughs.
In the following mirror therapy drama therapy, Choi Soo-jong and Ha Hee-ra transform into a couple on the brink of severed marital relations due to financial hardships and fleeting misunderstandings, sparking curiosity.
Choi Soo-jong acts as an actor husband who, due to the impact of COVID-19, experienced three business failures and turned into a househusband, and Ha Hee-ra takes on the role of a wife who set aside her dream of being a musical actress to manage debts and sustain their livelihood as a show host.
The tension escalates due to the heavy debt accumulated from three business failures, leading to a conflict in the bedroom when the husband attempts intimacy, only for the wife to refuse by saying she’s tired and even slapping him, drawing attention to the heightened conflict.
Since that incident, the husband develops ‘Slap PTSD’ and completely rejects the wife’s attempts at intimacy, leading to a full break in their marital relations. This conflict, between a husband humiliated by the confrontation and a wife who barely remembers the incident, is expected to resonate with many real-world couples.
Additionally, there is ongoing realistic conflict arising from the differing roles where the wife handles finances and the husband takes care of childcare and household chores, along with a child learning to say “What will we eat now?” from continuously hearing financial grievances, shocking the husband.
Meanwhile, as the worried couple observes the mirroring drama of the Soo-ra couple, they express shock by saying “It’s just like us”, and continuously shed tears upon seeing their past selves reenacted, adding to the empathy.
Appearing in the love bird house, the worried couple shared “People around think we are a model couple, and we couldn’t show our issues, but now we have reached our limits and want to have an honest conversation and find solutions” as their reason for participating.
In the midst of the shocking event of ‘slap rejection’, the troubled couple facing realistic conflicts and issues like marital disconnect, financial struggles, and emotional estrangement is expected to gather much empathy from the viewers, with attention focused on the advice and solutions from ‘heart friends’.
The mirror therapy drama therapy ‘We Are Not a Close Couple’, featuring Korea’s model couple Choi Soo-jong and Ha Hee-ra with their bold acting as well as the appearance of an active actor and show host couple, will air today on July 7th (Mon) at 10:10 PM on tvN.
