Super Junior's Lee Dong-ha, 7-year long-term relationship with Lee Seol, "We make video calls often"

Lee Dong-hae and Lee Seol play the role of a couple in a long-term relationship of 7 years.

On the 26th, the production presentation for Channel A's new Tuesday drama 'A Man and a Woman' was broadcast live online. Actors Lee Dong-hae, Lee Seol, Lim Jae-hyuk, Choi Won-myeong, Kim Hyun-mok, and Park Jeong-hwa attended the event.

'A Man and a Woman' is a work that tells the realistic and relatable love story of young people wandering in love and boredom, who encounter each other in front of a motel elevator on the night of the 7th year since they met, while they were next to another person of the opposite sex.

Lee Dong-hae and Lee Seol played the roles of Jeong Hyeon-seong and Han Seong-ok, a long-term couple in a seven-year relationship. Donghae revealed the reason for his choice, saying, "I haven't seen the original webtoon. I came across the webtoon after receiving the script, and as soon as I saw it, I felt like I would regret it if I didn't do it."

Lee Seol "I was a fan of the original work. When the offer came in, I said I didn't want to read it," he said. "There's a lot to talk about. Couples in long-term relationships, couples who can't forget their first love, and couples who develop from friends to lovers are so realistic that it'll be fun. “I thought,” he said.

Lee Dong-hae said, "The filming period felt like seven years. I ate together with actor Lee Seol every day on set and talked a lot."

Regarding her chemistry with Lee Dong-hae, Lee Seol said, "He has good sensitivity. He laughs and cries easily. He is honest about his feelings. It was fun to see him like that. He was a good partner."

When asked if it was difficult to set up a 7-year long-term relationship, Lee Seol said, "It was my first time in this genre, so it was very unfamiliar. Senior Donghae was on a world tour, so he wasn't in Korea a lot. So we made a lot of video calls. While making video calls, I wrote the script. He said, “I led the way.” Lee Dong-hae expressed his gratitude, saying, “Seol prepared a lot of references. I received a lot of help.”

Lim Jae-hyuk takes on the role of Oh Min-hyuk, a friend of Yoon Ye-joo (played by Kim Hye-ryeong) who has been friends for 15 years. Lim Jae-hyuk said, "I saw the webtoon while in the military. After breaking up with my girlfriend at the time, I came across the 'Man and Woman' webtoon. From then on, I became a huge fan. I heard it was going to be a drama and I really wanted to do it."

When asked if there were any stories of his own among the contents of 'Man and Woman,' Lim Jae-hyuk added, "I think it was a little mixed. I remember crying while watching it."

Lim Jae-hyuk said about Oh Min-hyuk's character, "There are a lot of things that are similar to me. I work part-time and live with only the money I need. I don't try to make more money than that. I was like that too," and "The difficult thing was when my friend of 15 years suddenly appeared to be the opposite sex and started dating. “It was about acting out the time I was going through. I talked to myself a lot and screamed at the convenience store, and I was greedy because I wanted to be good at that,” he said.

Choi Won-myeong played the role of Ahn Si-hoo, the younger man in an older-younger couple. Choi Won-myeong said, “It is a character with a temperature difference between the past and the present. I expressed the change by making subtle differences in hair styling, facial expressions, and dialogue tone.”

Kim Hyun-mok played the role of Kim Hyeong-seop, Hyun-seong's best friend, and Park Jeong-hwa played the role of Ryu Eun-jeong, Seong-ok's best friend and sportswear model.

Kim Hyeong-seop, played by Kim Hyun-mok, is a person who was single from birth due to a complex about his height. Kim Hyun-mok explained, "I have been preparing for a short stature since birth. My height is less than 170 cm, but I am a little over 170 cm," and "Kim Hyeong-seop has a shortcoming due to his short stature, so he is intimidated when it comes to dating."

Regarding the charm of the character, he said, "He is the son of the owner of a dim sum franchise. Because he has a lot of money, Hyeong-seop always does the calculations when we sit down with friends. What was wrong was that I ended up paying a few times on set." When Lee Dong-hae added, “You’re actually Rich,” Kim Hyun-mok made people laugh by saying, “Are you going to buy Channel A?”

Park Jeong-hwa said, "When I came across the drama, I looked for the original work. I really like the romance genre, and since it is the number one romance work in the webtoon world, I thought I should jump in without hesitation just because of that."

Park Jeong-hwa practiced soccer for the film. He said, "In terms of visual aspect, I am a clothing model by profession, so I thought my hair should be long, so I put on hair extensions. I also took care of it to make it look skinny. Since I have a friend who was a promising soccer player in the past, I took soccer classes diligently from summer to fall. “I did. It’s a little disappointing that my skills didn’t come out as well as I wanted, but I hope it comes out well on the air,” he said.

Regarding synchronization, he said, "We are very similar in the areas where we speak directly and do not return expressions," and "We are about 75% similar. There are many similarities when it comes to outward appearances. Eun-jeong is a cooler kid than me. Even when it comes to work, there are many similarities." "It's challenging. I tend to take a long time to make decisions. When it comes to love, Eun-jung tends to avoid it. I'm the type of person who holds on to my concerns and overcomes them until they are resolved," he explained.

‘Man and Woman’ will premiere at 10:30 pm on the 26th.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr