“Love on the Menu” Reveals Park You Na as Hani’s Practical Sister in New Stills

South Korean drama Love on the Menu has released new character stills featuring actress Park You Na, who will play Han Gyu Young—Hani’s character’s younger sister. The newly shared images spotlight a composed, goal-driven personality with a hint of hidden vulnerability, setting up a family-focused romantic narrative ahead of the series’ July premiere.

Park You Na steps into the role of Han Gyu Young

According to Soompi, Park You Na portrays Han Gyu Young, the younger sister of Han Gyu Rim (played by Hani). Though the characters are close in age—Gyu Young is portrayed as only a year younger—she is introduced as someone who has always looked out for herself and carefully planned her path forward.

In the story, Han Gyu Young works relentlessly toward professional achievement, eventually graduating from a prestigious medical school and becoming a salaried dermatologist. The released stills emphasize her self-assured presence: in polished attire, she appears poised and in control, conveying an emotionally guarded person who is used to mapping out her own future.

A realist on the outside, longing underneath

While the new photos highlight Gyu Young’s confidence, production materials also point to a deeper contradiction. One still captures her staring off into the distance, suggesting that beneath her cool-headed, pragmatic exterior lies a sense of emptiness or unspoken desire.

The creative direction described by the production team frames this as intentional character complexity. Rather than presenting her as purely driven or emotionally detached, they aim to reveal tension between how she performs strength and what she may still want—or feel she has not yet secured.

How the drama sets up its emotional stakes

Love on the Menu is described as a family romance drama centered on two former lovers who reunite eight years after a painful breakup. As the story moves forward, the characters are said to “piece together” fragments of broken family lives, forming a new sense of warmth and belonging—an emotional premise that aligns with the emphasis on inner conflict reflected in Gyu Young’s portrayal.

By positioning Han Gyu Young as both a planner and someone who may be quietly longing for something out of reach, the series appears to broaden its scope beyond a single romantic plotline. Her character could become a key lens on how adults deal with regret, responsibility, and the desire for stability—especially within family systems shaped by earlier fractures.

Production team expects a layered performance

In commentary shared alongside the stills, the production team said Park You Na will deliver “more emotionally layered” acting by delicately portraying the complexities of Han Gyu Young’s inner world. The goal, as framed by the announcement, is to let viewers feel the depth of her realism—along with the tension of her refusal to accept loss.

That phrasing suggests the character’s emotional arc may involve more than career success. Instead, it hints that her guardedness may be tied to specific vulnerabilities and relationships within the broader family narrative.

Release date and what to watch next

Love on the Menu premieres on July 25 at 8 p.m. KST, with Park You Na’s casting serving as a preview of the drama’s tone: confident surfaces, carefully concealed emotions, and a romance that grows alongside family reconstruction.

As additional teasers and episode details emerge in the run-up to broadcast, viewers will likely look for how Han Gyu Young’s “uncompromising realist” nature interacts with the show’s broader themes of reconciliation and healing—and whether her apparent self-sufficiency masks fears that will eventually surface.