SBS’s new Friday-Saturday drama "Human from Today" (written by Park Chan-young and Jo Ah-young; directed by Kim Jung-kwon) is a fizzy, fantasy-tinged romance about a Gen Z fox spirit who has zero interest in becoming human and a gloriously self-adoring star who upends her world. Kim Hye-yoon plays Eun-ho, a lifelong single gumiho who’s done everything but date; Lomon is Kang Si-yeol, a soccer idol whose fate flips on a single choice. What starts as enemies quickly spirals into an “it’s fate” entanglement.
It’s a buzzy pairing: Kim Hye-yoon returns about 20 months after "Lovely Runner," while Lomon continues his global rise after "All of Us Are Dead." Curiosity is especially high around Kim’s take on Eun-ho ― a gumiho who actively refuses to go human. She avoids even small good deeds in case they tip the scales, and steers clear of truly evil acts so she doesn’t lose a millennium’s worth of power. Then a curveball hits that rocks her fox life to its core.
Gumiho ― the nine-tailed fox of East Asian lore ― has appeared in countless screen incarnations, often as a seductive, fearsome figure. "Human from Today" remixes that myth for 2026 with one major twist: this fox doesn’t want to be human at all.
“Stories that get told a lot usually have real power,” writers Park Chan-young and Jo Ah-young said. “Gumiho are compelling ― that’s why they’ve been explored so much. But we kept asking, ‘If they’re so alluring as they are, why do they always want to become human?’ That question sparked this show. Through Eun-ho ― bold, a bit unruly, someone who lives on her own terms instead of the world’s ― we felt we could tell a new kind of gumiho story.”
In the series, Eun-ho blends into the human world on her own quirky terms: she grants wishes mere mortals can’t achieve, collects her payment, and revels in eternal youth and beauty. She’s the resident “problem child” of gumiho-kind ― bratty, charming, and impossible to pin down. Director Kim Jung-kwon, who signed on for the way it flips the usual gumiho narrative, explained, “Classic gumiho are scary, they seduce men, they’re after human livers. Our fox isn’t into any of that ― she flat-out refuses to become human. She’s a true Gen Z gumiho, and that’s the difference.”
The writers add, “If we had to label her, Eun-ho is a ‘little devil.’ She’s willful, prickly, and mischievous ― an antihero of sorts. But without meaning to, these gentle, vulnerable, deeply ‘human’ traits keep poking through. Because of that inner goodness, she can’t quite take that last step into real badness ― and that contradiction is her greatest charm.”
This gumiho breaks from cliche while staying instantly likable ― a fresh spin designed to draw viewers in. And Kim Hye-yoon’s transformation is front and center. “Eun-ho’s appeal is how simply she thinks and how decisively she acts,” Kim said. “She’s over 900 years old and brimming with power, so to capture how she toys with the people around her, I leaned into a more mature cadence ― little asides and a subtly commanding tone.” Expect a mischievous yet irresistibly lovable Gen Z fox from Kim.
"Human from Today" premieres Jan. 16 at 9:50 p.m. KST on SBS.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)