Actress Seo Hyun-jin opened up about her family, her parents’ book café, and her still slightly awkward relationship with her father during her appearance on TEO’s YouTube talk show “Salon Drip: ‘You Think I’m Uptight? Let’s Clear Up the Misunderstanding’” released on December 9.

With a shy laugh, Seo Hyun-jin confessed: “When I’m alone with my dad, it’s a bit… stiff. I’m much closer to my mom. My dad jokes that he feels like he’s treated like an outsider at home.”

Seo Hyun-jin revealed that her parents currently run a book café in Gangwon Province. She helps out whenever she visits: “I go down sometimes and help with the dishes. When it gets busy, I serve customers too.”

Local customers don’t make a fuss about her celebrity status: “They just treat me like ‘the owner’s daughter.’ There’s no fan meeting energy at all.”

Because she had run out of storage space at home, Seo Hyun-jin sent all her old drama scripts to the café: “My mom suggested keeping them there. Now there’s a corner where all the scripts from my career are lined up like books. It feels like my journey is displayed on a shelf.”

Seo Hyun-jin offered honest insight into her family dynamic: “We respect each other, but we’re still a bit awkward. My dad was always busy working when I was young, so we didn’t spend much time together.”

As she grows older, however, she feels the relationship shifting: “At some point, parents start to look like individual people with their own lives. I’m at the age where I’m curious about my dad’s story too.”

Seo Hyun-jin shared that she used to be “overly agreeable”: “I was a total yes-man before. But then I realized there are situations where staying quiet hurts others.”

Now, especially when child actors are present, she feels protective: “When something seems unfair or unsafe, I speak up. Maybe it’s because I think like a parent in those moments.”

However, she clarified: “I don’t haze juniors or scold people for things like not greeting me. I try not to let my bad mood spill onto others. I always remind myself: ‘Don’t let your feelings become your attitude.’”

Seo also shared memories of her close friend Jeon Hye-bin, whom she met during a tvN drama.

The two once traveled together for a month-long trip: “We went to Antarctica, then South America, and ended the trip in France.”

Jeon Hye-bin made it her mission to boost Seo Hyun-jin’s alcohol tolerance: “She said she’d train me. We started from one drink, and by the last day, I could handle three.” She laughed.

Seo Hyun-jin expressed gratitude for the senior actors she has worked with: “Senior actresses like Ra Mi-ran, and actors like Gong Yoo when they say ‘Come out,’ I go.”

Her industry friendships have kept her connected even after projects ended: “Thanks to those relationships, I keep meeting people long after the drama is over.”

A self-declared hardcore “City Fisherman” fan, Seo Hyun-jin said: “I watch it so much that I can now guess fish species. The narration just sticks in my head.”

When she joined Gong Yoo and two directors for a real fishing trip, she caught three red sea bream: “The whole time, the show’s narration was ringing in my head like a hallucination. When the hook slipped or the rig broke, I finally understood why they call it ‘the taste of the catch.’”

In the end, Seo Hyun-jin’s candid stories from quietly helping at her parents’ book café to navigating her still-awkward but affectionate relationship with her father reveal a grounded, thoughtful actress who continues to grow both on and off screen.

Sources: Naver