'Undercover High School' Seo Kang-joon and Jin Ki-joo have drawn young viewers aged 20 to 49 to their televisions.
On the afternoon of the 8th, the broadcast of MBC's Friday-Saturday drama 'Undercover High School' (written by Lim Young-bin, directed by Choi Jung-in) saw the start of a collaboration, which was not actually a collaboration, between Jeong Hae-seong (played by Seo Kang-joon) and Oh Soo-ah (played by Jin Ki-joo) after their identities were revealed in episode 6. The viewership rating recorded on this day was 7.1% based on Nielsen Korea's data for Seoul metropolitan households and 6.7% for nationwide households. In particular, the ending scene, showing Hae-seong sharing an umbrella with Soo-ah in the rain, raised the viewership to 10%.
Furthermore, the key indicator of channel competitiveness and buzz, the 20-49 viewership rating, was 3.3%, securing the top spot not only during the broadcast time but also among all programs aired on Saturday. It was the only channel to record a 20-49 viewership rating in the 3 range, significantly increasing from the previous record of 2.8% and proving to be a hot topic drama that captured the young demographic with buzz for two consecutive weeks.
In the previous broadcast, there was an incident where the security guard Mr. Kim (played by Koo Min-hyuk), who was supposed to meet with Hae-seong, fell to his death after a fight with a mysterious figure on the rooftop. Hae-seong, who arrived at school to meet Mr. Kim, found him collapsed and checked his hand for the notebook of his missing father, Jeong Jae-hyun (played by Oh Ui-sik).
At this point, Hae-seong chased after a man who was watching him and headed to the rooftop. While he was grappling with the mysterious man, a noise came from outside the rooftop door, and in that moment, Hae-seong turned in surprise, allowing the assailant to escape. A while later, it was revealed that all of this was planned by Seo Myeong-joo (played by Kim Shin-rok) and Park Jae-moon (played by Park Jin-woo), shocking viewers at home.
After the situation settled down, Hae-seong went to see Director General Kim (played by Lee Seo-hwan) with the notebook. He grabbed Director General Kim by the collar, inquiring about the reason Mr. Kim had possession of the notebook, and realized that his missing father's last mission was the same as his own. Hae-seong was also outraged at the concealment of these facts regarding his father's circumstances who went missing while on a mission.
Meanwhile, Hae-seong went to the student council room to uncover the secret contained in the grandfather clock. When he opened the clock and combined the keywords written in the notebook, the school anthem of Byeongmun High School began to play from inside the clock. Just as Hae-seong was about to leave the student council room after recording the clock's sound, Soo-ah appeared, raising the tension.
Soo-ah, witnessing Hae-seong on the rooftop on the day of Mr. Kim's death, made viewers' hearts race as she expressed her suspicions about his identity. In response, Hae-seong revealed to Soo-ah that he is a National Intelligence Service agent and disclosed his infiltration purpose, sparking curiosity about where the future developments would lead.
On another note, Hae-seong investigated the third ghost story related to a grand piano. Thanks to Soo-ah, he learned that a grand piano from the 1950s was in the chairman's office, and he decided to infiltrate the chairman's office using the school event 'Byeongmun Night'. However, as Hae-seong could not participate in the event due to accumulating penalty points, Soo-ah submitted Hae-seong as a promotional model candidate to offset the points, which brought laughter throughout the scene.
Towards the end of the broadcast, the meeting between Hae-seong and Soo-ah thrilled viewers. The two came outside after drinking at Soo-ah's mother's shop, and amid the sudden rain, Soo-ah's mother called out, 'Oh Bong-ja! Umbrella,' while handing over an umbrella. Hae-seong could not hide his surprise as he recalled his childhood friend Bong-ja. The two were sharing an umbrella, and when a motorcycle passed by, Hae-seong pulled Soo-ah closer to shield her from the splash, tickling viewers' hearts.
Episode 6 of 'Undercover High School' continued with a dynamic development as Hae-seong's identity was revealed to Soo-ah. Additionally, as the two began to collaborate to uncover the truth behind the ghost stories, curiosity was piqued about what events they would undertake next.
[Photo] Captured from MBC broadcast screen.
[OSEN = Sun Mi-kyung, reporter]