Singer-turned-actor Im Si-wan has finally taken on his first-ever modern romance K-drama with his newest project Run On.

The 32-year-old star previously headlined The King in Love (2017), a period drama with bits of romance stemming from his role’s love triangle with Im Yoon-ah’s and Hong Jong-hyun’s characters. With romance taking center stage in its story, Run On marks his first foray into a romantic drama set in modern times.

Run On is JTBC’s last drama entry in the romance department this 2020. It stars Im Si-wan (Strangers from Hell) as Gi Sun-gyeom, a track and field athlete who had to leave the national team after an incident and works his way to become a sports agent instead. Starring alongside him is Shin Se-kyung (Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung), who plays the tough and hardworking Oh Mi-joo, a subtitle translator for films.

Choi Soo-young (Tell Me What You Saw) and Kang Tae-oh (Tale of Nokdu) also join the main cast as Seo Dan-ah, a sports agency CEO, and Lee Young-hwa, an art major student, respectively.

It is noteworthy that except for Shin and Kang, the two other main cast members—Im and Choi Kang—are all originally K-pop idols before venturing into acting. Im is a member of the boyband ZE:A, which debuted in 2010. Choi, likewise, is a part of the global sensation girl group Girls’ Generation, which debuted in 2007. Meanwhile, Kang is a member of the idol group 5urprise, the first-ever South Korean group that has actors as members, which was launched in 2013.

Run On‘s first episode, which aired on December 16, opens up as an introduction to both Gi Sun-gyeom’s and Oh Mi-joo’s daily lives. Sun-gyeom comes from a very influential and wealthy family, with each member a celebrity in their own field. Sun-gyeom is a famous athlete and model while his mother and sister are actresses and his dad, a powerful politician. Meanwhile, Mi-joo comes from the lower class and works hard as a foreign film subtitle translator, her life-long dream. While Sun-gyeom gets favoritism in the team because of his background, Mi-joo is often discriminated against at work because of her pretty face, and she often gets sexist comments. In two consecutive events, Sun-gyeom saves Mi-joo from trouble, making her feel like she was destined to meet Sun-gyeom. In an uncanny twist of fate, Mi-joo is then assigned as Sun-gyeom’s personal interpreter for his foreign interviews.

According to Nielsen Korea, the first episode recorded a nationwide rating of 2.1 percent, which is smaller than the 3.8 percent obtained by tvN’s True Beauty.

Run On airs on JTBC every Wednesday and Thursday at 9:00 p.m. KST. The series is also available for streaming on Netflix.

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