Jeon Hye-jin and Sooyoung are a chaotic duo in Not Others

by solstices

A second teaser, a new poster, and more stills for a drama centered around a mother-daughter pair? I’m all ears. Adapted from a webtoon of the same name, ENA’s upcoming drama Not Others (previously Strangers) already looks like it’ll strike a perfect balance of heartwarming comedy.

Jeon Hye-jin (Uncle) stars as the single mother Eun-mi, who bore a child when she was still in high school. Having never married, the independent Eun-mi raised her daughter all on her own. Now, she’s a physiotherapist with a vibrant vivacity that far surpasses her age.

Meanwhile, her daughter Jin-hee has a completely opposite personality. Played by Soo-young (Please Send a Fan Letter), Jin-hee is as cool as a cucumber; her calm and collected demeanor makes for an amusing contrast to Eun-mi.

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Right off the bat, it’s clear that mother and daughter hold a lot of affection for each other. Jin-hee fondly describes her mother’s childish ways as endearing rather than immature, and Eun-mi proudly declares that Jin-hee is totally a filial daughter. Worried that her daughter may feel lonely, Eun-mi tries to play matchmaker; for the same reason, Jin-hee prefers to stay with her mother, helping out with the household chores.

However, their relationship isn’t just a bed of roses, since living under the same roof means that they inevitably butt heads from time to time. Fed up with her mother’s nagging, Jin-hee winds up shouting at her — except the young-at-heart Jin-hee yells right back, hah. Having had enough of each other’s antics, the teaser ends with the two ladies slamming their bedroom doors shut and declaring that they’d rather be strangers.

In case you can’t get enough of The Glory alums, Not Others will take over Lies Hidden in My Garden’s timeslot with Park Sung-hoon in tow. Playing the police chief Jae-won, he’ll find himself shaken up by Jin-hee in more ways than one. Ahn Jae-wook (The Empire) rounds out our main cast as Jin-hong, an ENT specialist who mysteriously appears in Eun-mi’s life one day. Ooh, is mom getting her own romance too? I can’t wait to see mother and daughter meddle in each other’s love lives — I’m sure the result will be nothing short of entertaining.

Directed by PD Lee Min-woo (Cinderella and the Four Knights) with scripts written by Min Sun-ae, Not Others premieres on July 17.