''Wonderful Life'' () is a 2005

South Korean television series Korean drama (), also known as K-drama or Koreanovela, refers to Korean-language television shows made in South Korea. These shows began to be produced around the early 1960s, but were mostly consumed domestically until the rise of the Korean Wa ...

starring

Kim Jaewon Kim JaewonThe actor indicates a preference of spelling his name "Jaewon" (without a space or hyphen) on hiofficial website. (born 18 February 1981) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for the television dramas '' Romance'' (2002), '' Liste ...

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

, Lee Ji-hoon,

Han Eun-jung Han Eun-jung (; born July 10, 1980), also known by her stage name Han Da-gam (), is a South Korean actress. She is known for '' Successful Story of a Bright Girl'' (2002), ''Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created b ...

and

Jung Da-bin Jeong Da-bin (; March 4, 1980 – February 10, 2007) was a South Korean actress. Best known for the popular television series '' Cats on the Roof'', she died through suicide in 2007 at the age of 26. Career Born Jeong Hye-seon in Seongnam, Gyeo ...

. It aired on MBC from March 7 to April 26, 2005 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55, for 16 episodes.

Synopsis

Han Seung-wan (

) travels to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

to visit his first love, Lee Chae-young (

). At the airport, he bumps into a young woman named Jung Se-jin (

), and they accidentally swap passports. While Se-jin is on her way to the address listed on Seung-wan's passport, she meets Min Do-hyun ( Lee Ji-hoon), who kindly gives her a piggyback ride. When Seung-wan and Se-jin finally meet at Chae-young's apartment, Seung-wan agrees to give back Se-jin's passport on the condition that she help him track down his missing girlfriend. To Seung-wan's shock, they discover that Chae-young is in a relationship with Do-hyun, whom she'd met in Australia. Heartbroken, Seung-wan goes drinking with Se-jin and turns to her for comfort, and they end up having a

one-night stand A one-night stand is a single sexual encounter in which there is no expectation that there shall be any further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single night performanc ...

in a hotel in

Sentosa Sentosa Island ( ), known mononymously as Sentosa, is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore's main island. The island is separated from the main island of Singapore by a channel of water, the Keppel Harbour, and is adjacent to ...

. The morning after, Se-jin tells Seung-wan that she'd been a virgin and that he should "take responsibility" for their sexual encounter. The immature Seung-wan leaves her, and returns home earlier than scheduled. Back in Korea, his father kicks him out of the house for spending too much money on liquor, and he contacts Se-jin again. She agrees to help him earn money to pay back his father, but soon realizes that her increased appetite and vomiting of late are symptoms of

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

. She buys a pregnancy test while in disguise, and runs into Do-hyun again. After confirming that she's pregnant, Se-jin tells Seung-wan that she's leaving Korea and study abroad in Australia. A year later, Se-jin's older sister crashes Seung-wan's father's birthday party, carrying his daughter, Shin-bi (

). Their parents force Seung-wan and Se-jin to get married for the baby's sake, but the two draw up a list of rules that they must abide by, including the freedom to pursue their own careers and individual love lives, as well as a possible divorce in five years' time. Unprepared for the twin responsibilities of a quickie marriage and young parenthood which were thrust upon them, the two bicker and gradually figure things out. Seung-wan takes a job in his father's construction business to support the family, but is forced to leave for

mandatory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

shortly after. Upon his return, the reunited Seung-wan and Se-jin face new challenges. While the former juggles chores due to his continuing studies to become a pilot, the latter struggles to find employment in a job market that discriminates against her for being a mother. Chae-young gets her an interview at the Kidsbear company where she works, though her assistance hides jealous intentions; aware of Do-hyun's feelings for Se-jin, Chae-young plots to regain her former boyfriend Seung-wan by breaking up the family. Se-jin gets hired by Kidsbear, but she and her husband continue to deal with relationship problems brought on by Chae-young's interference. But when Shin-bi is diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

and Seung-wan and Se-jin desperately search for a viable bone marrow donor, they realize how much they love each other and the family they've created.

Cast

as Han Seung-wan *

as Jung Se-jin * Lee Ji-hoon as Min Do-hyun *

as Lee Chae-young *

as Han Shin-bi *

Joo Hyun Joo Hyun (; born Joo Il-choon, ; March 1, 1943) is a South Korean actor, known for A Family (2004), Ballerina (2023) and Running Man (2013). Biography Joo graduated from Konkuk University in Seoul, where he majored in political science ...

as Han Bum-soo, Seung-wan's father * Sunwoo Yong-nyeo as Yoon Tae-hee, Seung-wan's mother *

Kim Hye-ok Kim Hye-ok (; born May 9, 1958) is a South Korean actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the ...

as Pyo Jae-kyung, Se-jin's mother * Choi Joon-yong as Han Seung-pil, Seung-wan's older brother * Yoon Hyun-sook as Baek Hyun-joo, Seung-pil's wife * Kim Hyo-jin as Jung Il-jin, Se-jin's older sister * Kim Seung-min as So Chang-myung, Seung-wan and Do-hyun's classmate at the flight academy *

Lee Hye-sook Lee Hye-sook (; born September 4, 1962) is a South Korean actress. She began acting in 1979, and has remained active in Korean cinema and television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sou ...

as Do-hyun's stepmother * Kim Hee-jung as Hyung-wook's mother

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

References

External links

''Wonderful Life'' official MBC website

at MBC Global Media * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wonderful Life (2005 TV series) MBC TV television dramas 2005 South Korean television series debuts 2005 South Korean television series endings Korean-language television shows South Korean romance television series Television series by JS Pictures