The Chuseok holiday feels like a bonus to office workers. This year's break, arriving after a brutal heat wave and paired with clear autumn weather, makes the anticipation even greater. Here are one drama and one song to help workers unwind over the holiday.
TVING Original "Lotto Winners Still Go to Work"
Team leader Gong, youngest ever promoted but shunned by his own team
A breezy office comedy set off by a jackpot win
Lines that strike a chord with office workers
They are TVING's original series "Lotto Winners Still Go to Work" and "I Quit (Narr. Kian84)," the title track of "Killer Life," the solo album that Soyeon of the girl group (G)I-DLE released after five years and two months. "I Quit" swept domestic and overseas music charts to reach No. 1 as an anthem for office workers, while "Lotto Winners Still Go to Work" has drawn wide popularity as a drama they can relate to.
"Lotto Winners Still Go to Work" is based on the hit web novel of the same name, with Lee Joon-hyuk, who gained popularity in "My Perfect Secretary," playing protagonist Gong Eun-tae. Gong was promoted to team leader at the youngest age ever on the strength of his diligence, but he is buffeted by office politics, saddled with every menial task and disrespected even by Yang Jun-ho (Seo Hyun-woo), an assistant manager who is both his subordinate and his senior in years of service. Yang leverages his seniority to keep the team's junior members in his orbit, effectively isolating Gong. He is unbothered by how it looks to have the team leader frozen out.
Then one day, a lottery ticket that Gong buys reluctantly turns out to be a jackpot winner. What he does with the prize money, after agonizing over it, has drawn reactions that mix disbelief with recognition. He does not trade up his car or buy a home. He lets himself get angry. Until then he had held his temper, whether his teammates cut him out or a dry cleaner lost one of his shirts. At some point he had stopped getting angry because cleaning up afterward was more trouble than it was worth. Sound familiar?
Gong does put the winnings in the bank and then comes to the office and erupts in a way no one has seen before. Yang, who had brushed him off, grows uneasy and backs down, telling him to stop, but Gong keeps going.
From there, Gong is reborn. The episodes that follow, as his attitude toward his job and his workplace changes completely after the win, deliver catharsis. A TVING official said the show "gets funnier as the episodes go on, and there are a lot of great lines."
"I only felt at ease when I had given it everything, no matter the result."
That line comes early on, and it suggested this was no ordinary drama, that a parade of lines Korean office workers would recognize was coming. It was.
Soyeon of (G)I-DLE releases solo album "Killer Life"
Title track "I Quit" becomes an anthem for office workers
Sweeps Melon and other domestic and overseas charts
"I quit. There's nothing I'll miss. I never planned to work this hard anyway. I stuck it out a long time. I held back hundreds of times. I'll pack up coolly and never look back — goodbye, everyone. So what if I regret it, I'm still young. I'm walking out that door right now. Nice weather. Nice breeze. In the end we'll all be old women, and looking back, today was It was a romantic day Romantic La la la la la la la la la."
Those are the lyrics of Soyeon's "I Quit." What do you think? Doesn't it ring true?
Quitting is something everyone has imagined at least once — or hundreds of times. It is remarkable that Soyeon, who has never held an office job, can tell a story that resonates this strongly with people who have. Some say the talent Soyeon showed from her trainee days, when she was known for standing out on skill alone, is finally getting its due.
The genre is rock and metal, drawing inspiration from Korean band music that was popular from the late 2000s through the 2010s. It also works as a driving song. It lifts the mood the moment you hear it and leaves you wanting to go somewhere. I hope you can unwind over the holiday with a drama and some music — hence these two recommendations. Enjoy the break.
Yeon Seung's Entertainment Talk
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