Ice Adonis (Korean: 노란 복수초; RR: Noran boksucho; lit. 'Yellow Adonis'), also known as Yellow Boots, is a 2012 South Korean television drama series starring Lee Yu-ri, Hyun Woo-sung, Yoon A-jung and Jung Chan. It aired on tvN from February 27 to August 30, 2012 on Mondays to Thursdays at 09:45 KST for 108 episodes. The Korean title is named after the flower Adonis amurensis.
Contents
Synopsis
Yeon-hwa and Yoo-ra became sisters after Yeon-hwa's mother engaged with Yoo-ra's father, but there is an invisible distance between both of them, especially Yeon-hwa's lover is Yoon-jae, who Yoo-ra crushes on. Until one day, Yoo-ra's car accidentally crashes into Yoon-hee, Yoon-jae's beloved sister, causing her to die. Yoo-ra then, comes up with a plan to blame Yeon-hwa for the accident, with the help of her father; a judge, and a police officer Park, whom she and her father bribed. This causes Yeon-hwa to be sentenced in jail for three years. When Yeon-hwa heard the news that Yoon-jae and Yoo-ra are to be married, she manages to escape from jail and plans to show up at the wedding unannounced, and do something drastic to Yoo-ra to get her to confess. After knowing that Yoon-jae and Yoo-ra are now a seemingly happy couple, Yeon-hwa decides to focus on keeping her health strong, and gives birth to a boy named Tae-yang (she didn't know she was pregnant before trying to escape prison). Because she is in jail, she is only allowed to take care of her baby for 18 months, and the baby has to be sent away, where they can get picked up after their parent is released from jail. At 18 months, the baby is heading off to an orphanage. However, Yoo-ra finds out about the baby and decides to switch his identity with another baby and send Tae-yang to a different couple, who was looking for a kid to adopt.
Later on, Yeon-hwa is released out of jail earlier, and she decides to bring Tae-yang home, but she quickly finds out that Tae-yang is nowhere to be seen and that none of the kids found at the orphanage is her child. Devastated, she decides to go on a search for Tae-yang, as she starts to revenge on Yoo-ra, Choi In-seok, and police officer Park Chang-do, and prove her innocence. Her revenge goes through many hardships, but Yeon-hwa succeeds in her plans, and wins over the position as vice president of J Cosmetics, and gains the trust from chairwoman Julia, Yoon-jae's biological mother, who was once set up by Yoon-jae's stepmother, causing Yoon-jae to misunderstand that his mother was cheating when she really was set up. Yeon-hwa also starts a relationship with the president of J Cosmetics, Choi Kang-wook, who is also the stepbrother of Yoon-jae.
Cast
Main
Lee Yu-ri as Seol Yeon-hwa
A kind hearted girl, who happens to be Yoon-jae's girlfriend; later ex-girlfriend, Yoo-ra's stepsister/rival, and Kang-wook's later on fiancé. She was wrongly convicted of murder, set up by Yoo-ra. While being in jail, she gives birth to Yoon-jae's child, but because she is in jail, she is forced to send her child, Tae-yang to an orphanage when he is 18 months old. However, when Yeon-hwa is released from jail, she realized Tae-yang has been taken away. She goes on a search to find him, and starts her revenge in the people she believed to have set her up. Throughout her revenge quest, she starts a relationship with Kang-wook and gains the trust of chairwoman Julia.
Hyun Woo-sung as Ha Yoon-jae
The kind eldest son of J Cosmetics, who happens to be Yeon-hwa's boyfriend; later ex-boyfriend, Yoo-ra's childhood friend/long term crush, and Kang-wook's stepbrother. He truly and really loves Yeon-hwa and plans to marry her, but when Yeon-hwa was framed of killing his sister, he becomes upset and heartbroken, unaware that she was wrongly convicted. He then agrees to marry Yoo-ra. Later on, Yeon-hwa is released out of jail, and has reapplied to be an employee at J Cosmetics. Yoon-jae still believes that Yeon-hwa is the murderer, and tries his best not to care about her, but he still has feelings and protects her. He is the father of Tae-yang, and has no idea about it and Yoo-ra's evil plans. At times, he finds out about a few of Yoo-ra's plans to ruin Yeon-hwa, but has no idea Yoo-ra's plans years ago when the incident occurred, but he later found his wife suspicious and teams up with Kim Tae-il to find out if Yoo-ra is really the murderer of Yoon-hee.
Yoon A-jung as Choi Yoo-ra
The ambitious daughter of a judge, Yeon-hwa's stepsister, and Yoon-jae's childhood friend, whom she crushes on. She rivals Yeon-hwa, and does anything to get her kicked out of J Cosmetics. She believes that Yoon-jae likes her, but is jealous and angry to find out that her crush is the boyfriend of her one and only rival, and she starts a plan to break them up. One day, she accidentally hits Yoon-jae's sister Yoon-hee, causing Yoon-hee to die. Yoo-ra, scared that she will go to jail and lose the trust from Yoon-jae, decides to team up with her father; the judge, and a police officer, and frame Yeon-hwa, Yeon-hwa is then framed for 3 years. Yoo-ra marries Yoon-jae thinks she can finally relax peacefully, but only until she finds out that Yeon-hwa had given birth to Yoon-jae's son. Thinking that she will once again lose her husband, she switches the identity of the baby at the orphanage, and send him to another couple, without anyone knowing. Later on, she finds out that Yeon-hwa is released from jail. From then on, she tries many ways to ruin Yeon-hwa, but most failed. She then starts losing Yoon-jae's attention, until she gets pregnant, and uses this to rub it in Yeon-hwa's face, as Yeon-hwa gets a fake death report of her child. But not for long, she has a miscarriage and blames Yeon-hwa for the loss of her baby. She also slowly becomes to be suspected by her husband and he secretly starts setting her up and testing her.
Supporting
Min Ji-hyun as Seol Soo-ae, Yeon-hwa's sister
She has a small special-aid problem, and only listens to her sister and mother. She is scared of Jo Myung-tu, her step-grandma, and Yoo-ra. She believes in her sister's innocence, and helps her sister take care of her mother. Soo-ae also starts to have a close relationship with Kim Tae-il.
Kim Young-ran as Han Kyung-sook
The beloved mother of Yeon-hwa and Soo-ae. She becomes In-seok's wife and Yoo-ra's stepmother. She has evidence to prove that Yoo-ra is the true murderer and that her daughter has been wrongly convicted, and In-seok had contributions to the plans. Because of these evidences, Yoo-ra had kidnapped Kyung-sook 2 times, leaving her hospitalized and disabled, for a while.
Yoo Hye-ri as Jang Min-ja
The evil stepmother oh Yoon-jae and Yoon-hee, and the mother of Kang-wook. She was once a maid of the Ha family. One day, she sets up Joo Hye-ran, the wife of the Ha family, making it look like Hye-ran left her kids and husband for another guy. Thus, Min-ja seduces the chairman of J Cosmetics and becomes his wife and Yoon-jae/Yoon-hee's stepmother. She plans for her son Kang-wook to become the president of J Cosmetics. She also tries to win the trust of chairwoman Julia, who she has no idea that Julia is Hye-ran, coming back for revenge.
Shim Eun-jin as Ha Yoon-hee
Lee Jae-in as young Ha Yoon-hee
The beloved sister of Yoon-jae, the team leader of J Cosmetics, and the girlfriend of Kim Tae-il, and is pregnant with his child. Because of her relationship with Tae-il, her brother Yoon-jae strongly disapproves. One day, Yoo-ra hits her with her car, and Yoon-hee dies. Before dying, she points to Yoo-ra, saying that she was the murderer, but everyone mistakens that she pointed to Yeon-hwa, thus, making Yeon-hwa the murderer.
Kang Suk-jung as Kim Tae-il
Reception
Ice Adonis topped the rating chart amongst other cable programs for 18 consecutive weeks, which resulted in its original run of 100 episodes being extended by eight more episodes. Distribution rights were later sold to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia.