Based on the popular fantasy and food webtoon, "Mystic Pop-Up Bar," also called Ssanggap Pocha in Korean, will be JTBC's first-ever prime-time Wednesday-Thursday drama. The story revolves in the mysterious pojangmacha (outdoor drinking establishment) ran by Hwang Jung Eum and BTOB's Yook Sungjae and Choi Won Young. It magically appears and serves food and drinks to both living and dead customers.
The former member of the K-pop group "Sugar" Hwang Jung Eum, who is married to Lee Young-Don, the CEO of Geoahm Steel, is the lead actress to play the role of the pub owner, Wol Joo.
Wol Joo, shocks first-time customers with her powerful aura, rough speech, and ill-tempered attitude. Yet she still welcomes and serves the customers delicious snacks and drinks. Besides being the owner of the pub, she's also the counselor of people between life and the afterlife. She needed to do this to atone for her sins from her previous life. She has to lessen the pain of 100,000 people but left with 10, unluckily.
BTOB's Yook SungJae as Han KangBae, is a part-timer at Mystic Pop-Up Bar. Wol Joo said she could help him with his problem, so he followed her and got the job. He can confess people's secret by touching them.
Choi WonYoung will play the role as the Manager. He will be in charge of Wol Joo and will be a part of the Afterlife Police Station Detection. As the manager, he has the responsibility of doing all the chores in the pub.
Mystic Pop-Up Bar opens on the rooftop of a building every night only. The customers magically talk about themselves, their hopes, and their fears, while drinking alcohol and eating dishes serve by Wol-Joo. Wol-Joo and Han Kang-Bae will then give solutions to their problems to help them move forward by entering their dreams.
The newly released stills disclose Wol Joo working at the pojangmacha wearing a striking hanbok, a Korean traditional clothing and binyeo, a Korean traditional ornamental hairpin. Since she has difficulty getting customers these days, she resorts to giving out business cards in the streets to improve her success in counseling and be able to fill in the last ten people she needs to counsel to reach her quota.
Due to little customers coming in the pub, Wol Joo spends more days drinking alone rather than counseling. After all, waiting is such an exhausting thing to do. This scene adds to the viewers' curiosity whether Wol Joo will be able to finish her task knowing that she already has 500 years of experience.
The production team hopes for Wol Joo's counseling to give viewers a sense of satisfaction and realization. Hwang Jung Eum has properly caught on to the distinct feature of Wol Joo's character, including her quirky hanbok style, rousing speech, and a hundredfold relatable ways of satisfying people's regrets. Her transformation is what the production team hopes the viewers should be looking forward.
Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Corporation (JTBC) is slowly starting to become more of a favorite when it comes to high-quality K-dramas.
The webtoon fantasy drama is directed by Jeon Chang-Geun and the screenplay by Bae Hye-Soo.
Also, according to BtoB Twitter account, there is a possibility that "Mystic Pop-Up Bar" will be available to international viewers on Netflix and would usually be available in all regions.
With an initial plan of 12 magical episodes, "Mystic Pop-Up Bar" is set to premiere on Wednesday, May 20, at 9:30 p.m. KST, on JTBC
