Jung Yong-hwa, Cha Tae-hyun star in new KBS drama 'Brain Cooperation'

$Actors Jung Yong-hwa, left, and Cha Tae-hyun, pose for a photo at the press conference streamed online Monday. [YONHAP]\$

Actors Jung Yong-hwa, left, and Cha Tae-hyun, pose for a photo at the press conference streamed online Monday. [YONHAP]\

Actors Jung Yong-hwa and Cha Tae-hyun will play a brain scientist and a detective who end up in a bromance in the new KBS drama “Brain Cooperation.”

“Brain Cooperation” will be broadcast for the first time on Monday. It is a comedic investigative drama depicting the story of two men who cannot wait to take each other down but end up collaborating to solve a criminal case related to a rare brain disease.

Jung, a member of the K-pop band group CNBlue, plays the role of Shin Ha-ru, a genius brain scientist who has mastered his field both in Korea and abroad, while Cha plays the role of detective Geum Myung-se, who is righteous and kind to a fault.

Jung said at the online press conference for the drama on Monday that “since it’s the role of a genius, I read the script daily for six months to prepare for filming.”

“I was so immersed in the role that my Myers-Briggs Personality Test results changed because of the role,” said Jung during the online press conference.

Cha, who has played detectives in other dramas including “Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation” (2020) and “Police University” (2021), said that he chose the role because he was attracted to the comical script and he felt comfortable playing detectives.

“I do want to play more diverse roles, but I think I also tend to go for roles that I can play well,” said Cha on Monday.

Detective Geum is a grumbling middle-aged man who has to do all the dirty work at the police station and is stuck between his wife and teenage daughter.

“I tried to stick closely to the script instead of diverging too much by trying to be funny,” said Cha. “The script was so good that it turned out very comical.”

“Brain Cooperation” airs on KBS every Monday and Tuesday.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]