Jung Yong Hwa and Hong Seung Hee’s new romance drama “Oh! My Guard” premieres tonight, October 24, at 10:50 p.m. KST on Lifetime, opening its run with a fateful encounter that the production team promises will send the two leads’ relationship in an unexpected direction.
Newly released premiere stills show Uhm Tae Bong (Jung Yong Hwa), a global top star, sitting beside the hospital bed of Oh Hae Ra (Hong Seung Hee), who lies fast asleep without stirring at the sound of anyone approaching. In the stills, Tae Bong pores over a script with a serious expression — as if rehearsing lines in the last place anyone would expect — and aims a deep, melodramatic gaze at the sleeping Hae Ra, sparking curiosity about why he came to her hospital room and what is quietly flowing between them.
The production team teased the premiere, saying, “From the very first episode, Uhm Tae Bong and Oh Hae Ra, who live in completely different worlds, keep getting tangled up with each other. In particular, the fateful situation in which Uhm Tae Bong comes to meet her in a hospital room drives their relationship in an unexpected direction.”
“Oh! My Guard” (Korean title “Mitdo Kkeutdo Eopsi, Neoda”) centers on an unprecedented and unpredictable romance between Uhm Tae Bong, a top actor with a fatal flaw, and Oh Hae Ra, a mysterious woman who believes she is the heroine of his drama. Tae Bong is a global top star renowned as a master of romance dramas — confident in his striking looks and acting skills, with a knack for witty banter and a playful side that emerges unexpectedly. He has one firm rule: he never films kissing scenes, and the reason is a secret he cannot reveal to anyone.
Hae Ra’s world turns upside down after an accident leaves her convinced that she is Cha Hong Doo, the female lead of Tae Bong’s drama. Believing she has stepped into the world of the show she loves, she tracks down the star, volunteers to become his secret bodyguard, and even boldly confesses her feelings to him.
The cast also includes Park Yoo Na as Song Na Ri, an actress and girl group member accustomed to working alongside Tae Bong who gradually finds herself developing genuine feelings for her co-star.
The drama is co-directed by Yoon Jong Ho, who led the syndrome behind “Lovely Runner” and showcased stylish direction in “A Bona Fide Killer,” and Lee Seung Hoon of “Doctor Shin,” with the script written by Byeon Sang Soon. It is provided by A+E Global Media and produced by SYN&studio and People’s Story Company. Notably, the series was filmed back in 2021-2022 — before Yoon’s “Lovely Runner” became a phenomenon — and is only now reaching viewers.
Jung Yong Hwa, the vocalist of the K-pop band CNBLUE, takes on the role of Tae Bong, continuing his parallel acting career that has included the drama “Brain Works.” Hong Seung Hee, a rising actress, plays the dual-sided Hae Ra, switching between bold confidence and innocent cheerfulness.
The drama’s playful tone was set early by its two main posters, released on September 21, which show Uhm Tae Bong inside a television screen while Oh Hae Ra stands outside, hugging the TV with a happy smile. The bright pink and yellow palette and the tagline “Her very strange(?) world has come to me” capture the moment Hae Ra’s unusual reality spills into Tae Bong’s life. A third teaser released on October 14 underlined her devotion, with Hae Ra declaring, “I’d even risk my life to protect you,” before boldly confessing, “I really like you!”
Before the accident changed everything, Hae Ra was a reclusive chaebol heiress who rarely left her house, even to meet her celebrity crush. She endlessly rewatched the romance drama in which Tae Bong plays a handsome lead protected by a female bodyguard — wishing she were its leading lady. When she finally gathers the courage to seek him out, the accident leaves her with a strange kind of amnesia: she remembers the plot of her favorite drama and comes to believe it is her own backstory.
“Oh! My Guard” will air as a 16-episode Saturday-Sunday drama on Lifetime, with global streaming on Viu in select Asian markets. The series has already been licensed in 83 countries, making it one of the more widely distributed Korean dramas of the season.
Viewers can catch the premiere tonight at 10:50 p.m. KST.
