The rent was way too cheap. On day one, I had no idea my housemate was a centuries-old gumiho.
Episode 115 min 23 secFreeRice Cooking in an Empty HouseDoha spent his last savings on an old hanok he was told was empty, only to find its landlady, Haru, already living there and cooking far too much rice. There is just one rule: never enter the room at the end of the hall.
Episode 212 min 44 secFreeDear TenantDoha storms into the real estate office over one smudged line in his lease, ends up agreeing to stay a single month, and learns the missing word was the one Haru asked for herself: "together."
Episode 313 min 39 secFreeSunrye's Rice CakesDoha, who agreed to stay only a month, tags along on Haru's market run to pay his way, and comes home with a plea from the rice cake granny and a name stamped on a paper bag: Sunrye's.
Episode 413 min 09 sec20Good EveningAfter overhearing words behind the forbidden door and hiding in his room all day, Doha finally steps into the silent kitchen at dusk to say good evening. Beneath his list of house rules, Haru adds a single line in old-fashioned handwriting.
Episode 514 min 02 sec20The Washing MachineDoha teaches Haru, who has been hand-washing in freezing November water, to use the washing machine, and the two label every button in each other's handwriting. But at the end of the clothesline, in the persimmon tree's shade, hangs a very old child's jeogori.
Episode 611 min 45 secNew20The First DeliveryOn the first evening Haru cooks no rice, she reads Doha's single-serving receipts and places her very first delivery order. Two servings become ten bowls of jjajangmyeon, and the courier at the gate is the young man next door.
HaruLove interestShe owns the hanok at the end of the alley, and she's your housemate. Her hair is like moonlight, and her eyes are so calm they feel strange. She's kind, but there's something lonely about her. She always cooks enough rice for two, yet she's helpless in front of the appliances. And she keeps asking you, again and again, never to go into her room at the far end of the house.
DohaProtagonistYou play Doha, an ordinary young guy who saw rent too cheap to make sense and signed for an old hanok at the end of an alley without thinking twice. He thought the house was empty. It wasn't. Someone was already living there, and she isn't human. So begin his days sharing a roof with her.
The Rice Cake Shop GrannyAn old woman who runs a steaming rice cake shop in the alley market. She seems to have known Haru for years, and she looks at you like she knows more than she's saying. She presses a warm bag of rice cakes into your hands, and lets slip a bit of the neighborhood's old history each time.
The Young Man Next DoorA neighbor your age who lives across the alley. He always has a delivery bag in hand, and he's so easygoing that he's easy company when you've just moved somewhere new. Now and then he passes on what the neighbors say about the hanok and the woman who lives there.
The Real Estate AgentThe real estate agent who showed you that ridiculously cheap room. He hands over the lease with a smile you can't quite trust, and dodges any question about the house. He never gives you a straight answer about why the rent is so low.
The Night-Shift ClerkShe works the register every night at the convenience store where the alley begins, always looking bored. She remembers every strange combo the woman from that house buys each night: a whole raw chicken, soju, patbingsu. Then she brushes it off as "just what the regulars like." Nothing a customer buys gets a reaction out of her, but she never forgets to ask about reward points.
The Fortune-Teller's GranddaughterThe granddaughter of the old fortune-teller at the end of the alley. She hasn't decided whether to take over the business, so for now she watches the shop for her grandmother, like a part-time job. She's the only one in the alley who's noticed that the back of her neck goes cold every time she walks past that hanok. Still, all she'll say out loud is that "the energy's a little off."
