Ha Seok Jin and Hani Preview Second-Chance Romance in Love on the Menu

Ha Seok Jin and Hani are setting the table for a sentimental second-chance romance. The upcoming Korean drama Love on the Menu has released a new poster that frames the two actors’ characters at the brightest point of their shared past, giving viewers a clearer sense of the emotional memory that will shape the story when the series premieres later this month.

The drama follows Kim Moo Jin, played by Ha Seok Jin, and Han Gyu Rim, played by Hani, as two former lovers who meet again eight years after a painful breakup. Their reunion is not presented simply as a romantic reset. According to the preview details released with the poster, the story will also follow how the pair begin to gather the broken pieces of their families and build a warmer life around food, care, and the ordinary rituals of eating together.

A Poster Built Around First Love

The newly released image leans into the memory of first love rather than the tension of separation. Kim Moo Jin, described as a restaurant owner-chef, appears beside Han Gyu Rim, who works at a market side-dish shop. The poster places them in a wedding-like visual language, with Gyu Rim wearing a veil and the pair holding a bouquet together while smiling. It suggests a moment that is less about a formal ceremony than about the emotional certainty of two people imagining a future side by side.

That choice matters for the tone of the drama. Instead of selling Love on the Menu only as a breakup-and-reunion story, the poster highlights what the characters once believed they could become. The warm light, flowers, and bridal imagery point to a romance that was sincere and hopeful before time, family wounds, or personal choices got in the way. For a series built on an eight-year gap, that contrast gives the upcoming reunion a built-in ache.

The production team’s message also positions the poster as a kind of emotional snapshot. The image is meant to capture the period when Moo Jin and Gyu Rim were happiest together, while the drama itself is expected to explore what remains of that feeling after years apart. The poster tagline, which points to the idea of eventually shining again even after returning to the past, reinforces the drama’s interest in healing rather than simple nostalgia.

Food, Family, and a Reunion After Eight Years

The restaurant and side-dish shop details give Love on the Menu a grounded setting. Korean family romances often use shared meals as a way to show affection, conflict, apology, and reconciliation without turning every emotional beat into a confession. Here, the title itself suggests that food will not merely be a backdrop. It is likely to become the everyday language through which Moo Jin and Gyu Rim relearn each other.

Ha Seok Jin’s casting as a chef-owner gives his character a practical, adult rhythm: someone who works with timing, preparation, and service. Hani’s role as a market side-dish shop employee places Gyu Rim in a similarly intimate food culture, closer to home kitchens and neighborhood routines. Together, those details create a world where romance can be expressed through labor and caretaking, not just grand declarations.

The family element may be what separates the drama from a more straightforward rekindled-love plot. The preview describes both characters as working through fragments of broken families, which suggests the central relationship will be tied to broader questions of belonging. If the drama follows through on that premise, Moo Jin and Gyu Rim’s reunion will not simply ask whether they can date again. It will ask whether two people changed by family pain can create a steadier table for themselves and others.

Why the Preview Is Drawing Interest

For Ha Seok Jin and Hani, the project offers a character-driven romance built around maturity, regret, and repair. The first poster does not reveal major plot turns, but it gives viewers a useful emotional map: the drama will begin with the glow of what was lost, then move toward the harder question of what can be rebuilt. That is a familiar K-drama framework, but the culinary and family setting gives it room for quieter, more textured storytelling.

Love on the Menu is scheduled to premiere on July 25 at 8 p.m. KST. Until then, the latest poster functions as a promise of tone: soft, reflective, and centered on two people whose happiest season may not be as far behind them as it first appears.