Beautiful Gong Shim

Beautiful Gong Shim
Official Poster
Also known as	'Pretty Ugly'
Genre	Romance Comedy
Written by	Lee Hee-myung
Directed by	Baek Soo-chan Nam Tae-jin
Starring	Namkoong Min Bang Minah On Joo-wan Seo Hyo-rim
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language(s)	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Producer(s)	Lee Seong-hoon
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	The Story Works
Distributor	SBS
Release
Original network	SBS
Original release	May 14, 2016 (2016-05-14) – present
External links
Website

Beast's Beauty (Hangul: 미녀 공심이; hanja: 美女孔心; RR: Mi-nyeo Gong-sim-i; MR: Minyŏ Gongsimi) is a South Korean television series, starring Namkoong Min, Bang Minah, On Joo-wan and Seo Hyo-rim. It replaced Mrs. Cop 2 and airs on SBS on Saturdays and Sundays at 22:00 (KST) for 20 episodes from May 14, 2016.

Plot

Gong Shim (Bang Minah) always feel over-shadowed by her older sister Gong Mi (Seo Hyo-rim); due to the way the people around her treat the siblings. While Gong Mi always take the role of the "prettier" sister, Gong Shim, on the other hand, is the least fortunate. It starts in their household where their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gong, are always bickering about how the father could't give a proper living for the family of four. The complications continue as Gong Mi, who works at a top-notch law firm, becomes the breadwinner of the family.

Mr. and Mrs. Gong are showing favoritism towards Gong Mi, and made Gong Shim fell into self-loathe and sorrow as she thinks of her ugliness as the main cause of her failure in life. Adding more salt to the wound, Gong Shim had to use all of her money to rent a room on the roof top of the rented-house her family is living in. All because her previous bedroom is being used as Gong Mi's walk-in closet.

Having a plan of moving to Italy to pursue her dream of becoming an artist, Gong Shim rent her rooftop room for $250/month. This is when she met Ahn Dan-tae (Namkoong Min), a lawyer who works voluntarily for those in needs, despite his delinquent personality. Their first meeting didn't go smoothly as they're bickering over Gong Shim who accidentally dropped a plant and put Dan-tae in danger. Despite the tragedy, Dan-tae managed to rent the rooftop room and stayed for a few days.

As Dan-tae moved in to the rooftop room, the setting changed to a wealthy-looking Seok family in which the grandmother answered a mysterious phone call; mentioning the name of her long-lost grandchild, Seok Joon-pyo. In a shock, the grandmother's daughter, son-in-law, and grandson Seok Joon-soo (On Joo-wan) gathered. The four people bickered on how the elderly should've just ignored the phone call, as the possibility of Joon-pyo (who's kidnapped over 20 years ago) alive is almost zero. The grandmother got furious and blame her present grandson's, Joon-soo, past birthday party as the cause of her loss of her son, daughter, and Joon-pyo. Ending the argument, the grandmother ordered Joon-soo to find out about the source of the mysterious phone call.

Stressed-out from his grandmother's word, Joon-soo ended up getting himself drunk in a bar. On his way home, he bumped to a man and failed to apologize properly. The man, and some of his friends, got in Joon-soo's way in a parking lot. Upset at how Joon-soo acted earlier, he starts to beat Joon-soo for good measure. This is when Dan-tae, who got the call for a designated driver service from Joon-soo, stepped in and help Joon-soo by beating up all the men from the bar. Feeling thankful, Joon-soo started to befriend Dan-tae; and soon befriend Gong Shim as they live in the same building.

The conflicts add up as Gong Shim worked part-time at a gas station. While filling up a lady's car gas tank, Gong Shim asked her to turn the car's engine off. The lady refused to do as told and ordered Gong Shim to throw away some trash from her car instead, making Gong Shim whispered "This is not good (for the procedure)..." to herself. Angered by her own speculation of Gong Shim swearing under her breath, she throw the trash to Gong Shim's face. The lady continued the harassment by stepping out from the car and start yelling at Gong Shim. Powerless, Gong Shim stayed quiet as the lady pushed her to the ground and beating her up. The act was finally stopped by the gas station's manager.

Going home upset and bruised on parts of her body, Gong Shim told her parents about the harassment. Mrs. Gong was clearly upset, and told Gong Shim to sue the lady with the help of Gong Mi. Meanwhile Gong Mi, whose job is threatened due to her rejection towards an important person for the law firm, was feeling nervous and shook Gong Shim off. After calming herself, Gong Mi sent a text message to Gong Shim; telling the younger sister to gather all files needed to sue the lady from the gas station.

In surprise, Gong Mi found out the next day that the lady who harassed Gong Shim is the wife of the director of her law firm. Torn between saving her job and defending her younger sister, Gong Mi seek help from her parents to persuade Gong Shim to drop the case. The trio made a decision where Gong Shim should've just cancelled the sue, for the sake of Gong Mi promotion at the law firm. Upset at her family's unfairness, Gong Shim vowed to never drop the case; with or without the help of her family. This led to her meeting with Dan-tae as a lawyer. During her discussion with Dan-tae, Gong Mi called her and begged for her not to sue the lady. Falling for Gong Mi's plead and feeling burdened, Gong Shim finally decided to drop the case; although she said she's not forgiving the lady just yet. Later, Dan-tae managed to talk the lady out, until she personally apologized to Gong Shim.

As the case closed, Gong Mi got praised in her office. It all went up until the point where she easily gets promotion and even a TV appearance. Due to her "excellent work", the director told Gong Mi to accompany his wife (who bullied Gong Shim before) to attend a charity event held by Joon-soo's mother. In the event, Gong Mi realized that she is still a nobody as the wife of the director nonchalantly told her off because she will attend the event with her daughter. In the entrance of the place where the events were held, Gong Mi saw Joon-soo for the first time, and immediately fell for him.

The scene was back to showing the journey of the grandmother of the wealthy family to find her long-lost grandson, Joon-pyo. One day, she was getting drove by Dan-tae (from Joon-soo's recommendation) to the temple to commemorate the day she lost her grandson. On her way, she stared at Dan-tae for a good measure; as if she's trying to recognize his face. Her good feeling towards Dan-tae led her to use Dan-tae's chauffeur service more in the future. She even used Dan-tae's skill as a lawyer to figure how to find Joon-pyo later in the future setting.

On the other hand, Gong Shim, who comically secure a job as a secretary in Star Group for being "ugly", is starting to get close to Joon-soo. She develops a crush on him, not knowing that her older sister also feel the same towards the young chaebol. Feeling jealous and threatened by the fact that Gong Shim is a step ahead as Joon-soo's friend, Gong Mi sabotage her way on getting close to Joon-soo and confessed her feeling first. The scene was cut where Joon-soo brought Gong Mi to the same restaurant where Dan-tae brought Gong Shim to cheer her up after a hard day at work.

Cast

Main cast

• Namkoong Min as Ahn Dan-tae / Seok Joon-pyo
  • Jo Yeon-ho as young Dan-tae

Ahn Dan-tae is the person who rents the rooftop room from Gong Shim. Despite his delinquent traits, he's actually a lawyer who owns a small independent firm. He works part-time as a designated driver at night for extra income. His will to become a lawyer appeared as a form of guilt; as his mother passed away as he's jailed for poor and unfair judgement during his school days in bullying case. He often shows a curiosity towards Gong Shim, and later develop a feeling towards the girl. His past, however, is still mysterious; as his father always try to tell "the truth" but being held back by his aunt.

• Bang Minah as Gong Shim

Gong Shim is always under pressure for "being ugly" for her whole life. She tried her best to get a job for two reasons: 1. To get away from her family (who prefer her older sister over anything), and 2. To pursue her dream of going to Italy to become an artist. Despite her unfortunate look, she always try her best to be kind and see the positive in every people. Her life starts to spice up as she met Dan-tae and Joon-soo; putting herself in a rather secretive love-triangle.

• On Joo-wan as Seok Joon-soo

Seok Joon-soo is the temporary heir of the Star Group. Despite his good manner and personality, his grandmother still despise him; having a thought it was his birthday party that cause her to lose her beloved son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. His friendship with Dan-tae led him to meet Gong Shim. It is still unknown whether he's really interested to Gong Shim or he's just being his nice-usual-self towards the naive young woman.

• Seo Hyo-rim as Gong Mi

Gong Mi is a typical get-away-with-everything-with-her-looks woman. The rule also applied at her workplace, where she's known for being a pretty lawyer. Being used of getting spoiled, she always find her way to get what she wants; even if it means sacrificing her own younger sister. This include her will of getting Seok Joon-soo as her future husband.

Gong Shim's family

• Oh Hyun-kyung as Joo Jae-boon
• Woo Hyeon as Gong Hyuk

Star Distribution Group characters

• Jung Hye-sun as Nam Soon-cheon
• Kyeon Mi-ri as Yeom Tae-hee
• Kim Il-woo as Seok Dae-hwang
• Kim Byeong-ok as Yeom Tae-cheol

Extended cast

• Kim Byung-se as the law firm representative, lawyer
• Lee Hye-sook as lawyer's wife
• Bang Eun-hee as Cheon Ji-yeon
• ko as petrol station's president
• ko as police
• ko as medical staff
• ko as secretary
• Sunwoo Yong-nyeo as Seok Dae-hwang's mother

Ratings

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

Episode #	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		TNmS Ratings		AGB Nielsen Ratings
		Nationwide	Seoul National Capital Area	Nationwide	Seoul National Capital Area
1	May 14, 2016	7.6%	9.4%	8.9%	10.4%
2	May 15, 2016	7.3%	8.9%	9.6%	10.9%
3	May 21, 2016	8.2%	9.2%	10.7%	12.0%
4	May 22, 2016	9.0%	10.6%	10.4%	12.4%
5	May 28, 2016	10.4%	12.0%	11.1%	12.8%
6	May 29, 2016	10.5%	12.0%	11.2%	12.8%
7	June 4, 2016	%	%	%	%
8	June 5, 2016	%	%	%	%
9	June 11, 2016	%	%	%	%
10	June 12, 2016	%	%	%	%
11	June 18, 2016	%	%	%	%
12	June 19, 2016	%	%	%	%
13	June 25, 2016	%	%	%	%
14	June 26, 2016	%	%	%	%
15	July 2, 2016	%	%	%	%
16	July 3, 2016	%	%	%	%
17	July 9, 2016	%	%	%	%
18	July 10, 2016	%	%	%	%
19	July 16, 2016	%	%	%	%
20	July 17, 2016	%	%	%	%
Average		%	%	%	%

Original soundtrack

OST Part 1

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Struggling To You (힘들어하는 너에게)"	Woo Ye-rin	3:44
2.	"Struggling To You (힘들어하는 너에게)" (Inst.)		3:44
Total length:			7:28

OST Part 2

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"My First Kiss"	Minah (Girl's Day)	3:16
2.	"My First Kiss" (Inst.)		3:16
Total length:			6:32

OST Part 3

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"My Face Is Burning (화끈화끈해)"	Choi Sang Yup	3:06
2.	"My Face Is Burning (화끈화끈해)" (Inst.)		3:06
Total length:			6:12

International Broadcast

In the United States, the drama airs in the Los Angeles DMA free, over-the-air on LA 18 KSCI-TV (channel 18) with English subtitles, Sat-Sun 8:50PM, from May 28 to July 31, 2016.