Seo In-guk and Park Ji-hyun interview: On ‘See You At Work Tomorrow’, and life at the K-Drama office

K-Dramas over the years have excelled not just in depicting the daily grind of the workplace, but also in getting their audiences interested in a myriad of lesser-depicted professions on screen. The rush of art auctioneering, the cutthroat world of headhunting, or even the tumultuous challenges in weather forecasting. 

In See You At Work Tomorrow, which is currently midway through its run, the lead characters, who work for a large electronics company, are tasked with perfecting a home spherical ice maker. Who knew there was so much that went into making crystal-clear ice? 

When we sat down for an interview with lead actors Park Ji-hyun and Seo In-guk ahead of the show’s release, the workplace experience, of course, came into discussion. A set and a sterile, shiny corporate office might be far removed from being on a set for the same. For them, however, there was much to learn about and to revel in. 

“I think I always fantasized about being a corporate employee because it’s something I have never experienced personally. I feel like I always envied people who went to work every morning, so being able to, albeit for a short while, live vicariously through my character— you know, live as a corporate employee and wear the office looks, so to speak - it was quite rewarding for me to pretend to be an office worker in that way,” says Park Ji-hyun. On the show, Ji-hyun plays Cha Ji-yoon, popularly known as the ‘clock-out fairy’, since she is as earnest about clocking out as she is about getting her tasks right.  

After supporting roles in K-Dramas like Love All Play and Reborn Rich, Ji-hyun burst onto the scene with Flex X Cop in 2024, where she played a no-nonsense violent-crimes unit detective, and more recently was nominated for her performance in the coming-of-age drama series, You and Everything Else.

Her co-star, Seo In-guk, might play the straight-laced and tsundere Kang Si-woo on the show, but the role, he said, is something he had immense fun playing.  “I also have a lot of colleagues, but I think belonging to a group and having people that have your back – I feel like that’s very encouraging and motivating,” he said. Portraying Kang Si-woo made him think about how it made sense for people to get off work and reward themselves with chicken and beer. “I also wanted to give a huge shout-out to everyone who has to go to work every day because I know that it must be very challenging, although I’m sure it’s also fun at times,” he added, laughing. 

Over the first six episodes, we follow the characters as they navigate workplace politics, meddlesome team leaders, an ensuing existential crisis about work, and, of course, relationship trouble. Ji-hyun, in particular, has much to deal with, given that she is coming out of a rocky, long-term relationship and also struggles with her unhinged boss before she finds her footing with the new task force.

”Once Ji-yoon has her mind set on achieving something, she will go all the way, and she will stop at nothing – that’s what I loved about her. The way she is so persistent and her integrity, whether it’s work or love or her personal relationships — Ji-yoon is a character who does not give up, does her very best, and I think this left a big impression on me,” said Ji-hyun.  

For In-guk, the crisis management skills of his character Si-woo and how quick he is on his feet were a big draw. “He puts what he thinks into action very quickly and can resolve the anxiety of people around him. That’s something I also want to learn from him,” he added.  

Manhwa (comic books or graphic novels) and webtoons have served as inspiration for long and lent themselves to K-Drama adaptations. See You At Work Tomorrow is based on the hit Kakao Talk webtoon Back To Work!, and we asked In-guk what it takes to embody a leading man from a romance that already has a strong fan base.  

“Honestly, there’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “This is my second drama series that was based on a webtoon, and these types of webtoons are created into a live-action series because there are so many fans who loved the original work, right? So I definitely am aware of the weight of the fans’ expectations and love.”  

Speaking about the writer’s role in adapting the webtoon into a live-action script (Kim Gyeong-min, for this show), In-guk said that his basic approach as a writer is to recreate the character from the webtoon exactly as is. “However, I always try to remember to express the particular elements that were loved by fans of the original work, while also trying to create these different characters that may be based on the original webtoon, but maybe exist in a parallel universe,” he added.  

See You At Work Tomorrow is currently streaming on Prime Video