Son Naeun on Missing Yoon Bomi's Wedding: 'My Support Has Never Changed'

Son Naeun had a good run with Chief Kim, and she knows it. The drama posted strong ratings throughout its run, and her role as Jung Sang-ah, a double agent working undercover at Sangsaeng Savings Bank while moonlighting as a special ops officer, earned her real attention as an action performer. "I had no idea this much love was coming," she said in a recent interview. "I'm just really happy."

The obvious question came up quickly: why wasn't she at Yoon Bomi's wedding in May? The A-Pink member got married earlier this year, and Son Naeun was absent. She addressed it carefully.

"We were in the final stretch of filming, and I had other schedules," she said. "But this is a team I spent my teens and twenties with. Whenever something good happens for them, I always want to celebrate. My support, as a fan, hasn't changed."

She was equally direct about carrying the idol label into her acting career. No deflection, no distancing. "The fact that I came from idol life is true, and it's what made me who I am," she said. "I don't want to deny it. I'm grateful for it. But working even harder because of it, that's my homework."

The action work in Chief Kim was genuinely new territory for her. Son Naeun trained at an action school and drilled choreography for the fight sequences. She gave herself marks for expanding her range but flagged one honest regret. "I want to give myself credit for trying action for the first time and widening my spectrum. But the scenes where a stunt double was used, those stick with me. Next time I want to train more and do it all myself."

On set, So Ji-sub apparently kept morale high in an unexpected way: he sent gold gifts to the entire cast and crew. "It came through my manager, and I genuinely didn't think it would be actual gold," Son Naeun said. "I was so grateful. What touched me was that he thought of everyone on set, not just the leads."

Co-star Yun Kyung-ho had made a public pledge at the show's press conference: if certain conditions were met, he'd observe 13 hours of silence. The pledge came due. Son Naeun found it worrying. "When he made the promise, I didn't think it would actually happen. I'm not much of a talker myself, so I figured I could handle 13 hours. But Yun Kyung-ho sunbaenim, I was genuinely concerned for him." The room laughed.

The drama's popularity even changed things at home. Son Naeun's father, by her description a stoic man from Gyeongsang Province who rarely watches TV, became a devoted Chief Kim viewer. He caught reruns. "That was the surprising part," she said. "The reruns."

As for how she rewarded herself after months of strict diet management during production: cup ramen. One full cup, eaten completely, photographed as evidence. "It was the first time I finished a whole one while doing Chief Kim," she said. "I took a picture of it. As a prize to myself. The staff were like, 'Unnie, you really ate all of that?' Normally I can't, because of the diet management."

She joked that she used up all her award luck in elementary school and has none left, then pivoted to what she actually wants: not a solo prize but a best ensemble or best teamwork award for the full Chief Kim cast. The loyalty to the group, whether that's A-Pink or a drama production, seems to be a consistent thing with her.

Son Naeun said she still has genres she wants to tackle: romantic comedy, melodrama, courtroom drama. She acknowledged that critical words have landed hard at times. "There were things said that stung," she said. "But I try to take in what's worth taking in and let the rest go." She sounded less bruised by it than settled into it, which is probably the better outcome.