Gu Family Book / The Love Story of Kang Chi (2013) (K-drama) Complete Series (hardsubbed)

After their nobleman father is unfairly accused of being a traitor and killed, Yoon Seo-hwa (Lee Yeon-hee), her younger brother Jung-yoon (Lee David) and their maid, Dam (Kim Bo-mi) are sent to a gisaeng house ("gibang"). Refusing to work as a gisaeng, Seo-hwa agrees after witnessing the brutal beating of her brother. It is soon announced that her first "patron" will be none other than Jo Gwan-woong (Lee Sung-jae), the same man who betrayed and killed her father.

Just before meeting him, Dam swaps clothes with her so she can run away in the middle of the night, while Dam is raped by Gwan-woong, who sends men to find Seo-hwa. Gu Wol-ryung (Choi Jin-hyuk), a mystical forest protector and gumiho, notices a disturbance in the forest and finds her unconscious. He falls in love with her and protects her from Gwan-woong's men by revealing his mystical powers. When Seo-hwa wakes up, she too falls in love with him and marries him after being told that both Dam and Jung-yoon were able to run away and are safe. In actuality, Jung-yoon had been hanged, whereas Dam had committed suicide. Wol-ryung, unable to tell her the truth, had lied to her and did not tell her that he was a gumiho.

Wol-ryung decides to become human in order to be with Seo-hwa. To do so, he must live 100 days without showing his true form to a human, without taking a life (animal or human), and must help anyone that needs aid. But if he fails, he'll lose any chance of ever becoming human, and will become a demon for the next thousand years. Wol-ryung successfully lives most of these days following these rules, but one day, Gwan-woong's men find Seo-hwa alone in the forest. Wol-ryung rushes to help her, and reveals his true form, massacring the soldiers. Seo-hwa, horrified, leaves him, who is later killed by the righteous soldier Dam Pyeong-joon (Jo Sung-ha), who had been told that the gumiho was murdering innocents. Seo-hwa soon discovers that she is pregnant with Wol-ryung's child and gives birth to a son. Realizing that the baby isn't a monster and truly regretting her betrayal to Wol-ryung, Seo-hwa entrusts the baby in the care of a monk, Sojung (Kim Hee-won). She then confronts Gwan-woong, but is killed.

The infant is found in a basket by the river, and adopted by nobleman Park Mu-sol (Uhm Hyo-sup). He grows up as Choi Kang-chi (Lee Seung-gi), ostensibly the son of Lord Park's servant Choi (Kim Dong-kyun), but raised as part of the Park family. Though Mu-sol's wife Lady Yoon (Kim Hee-jung) never warmed up to him, Lord Park loves Kang-chi like his own son, and he is close to the siblings Tae-seo (Yoo Yeon-seok) and Chung-jo (Lee Yu-bi), whom he loves even though she is betrothed to another. Kang-chi is notorious in the village as a troublemaker, but he is good-hearted and loyal, and beloved by the servants at the Hundred Year Inn, which the Park family runs.

However, Jo Gwan-woong returns to the village. He believes the wealthy Lord Park has hidden treasure inside the Hundred Year Inn, and in his scheme to take over the inn, Lord Park is killed defending Kang-chi. Gwan-woong throws Tae-seo and his mother in jail, and Chung-jo is sold to the gibang and convinced by the head gisaeng, Chun Soo-ryun (Jung Hye-young), to survive and by using her beauty and wiles, someday gain power and revenge. After Kang-chi promises Lady Yoon that he will take care of the Park siblings, she makes a futile attempt to stab Gwan-woong and is killed. Meanwhile Gwan-woong becomes intrigued by Kang-chi and his seemingly super-human strength. He uses magic to place Tae-seo under a curse that makes him believe that it was Kang-chi who murdered his father and caused the family misfortune.

Dam Yeo-wool (Suzy) and Gon (Sung Joon) had been dispatched to the village by her father, now-martial arts master Dam Pyeong-joon, to investigate a series of murders they suspect Gwan-woong is responsible for. Yeo-wool runs into Kang-chi: because of the way she's dressed and her skill in martial arts and archery, he initially mistakes her for a man. Yeo-wool witnesses the events that befall the Park family, and instinctively helps Kang-chi when he is hunted by Gwan-woong's soldiers. During a fight, a soldier slices off Kang-chi's beaded bracelet, which was used to contain his powers. Kang-chi transforms into a half-human-half-beast and easily defeats his enemies. Sojung later tells Kang-chi the truth about his origins, including the mystical and elusive Gu Family Book, which holds the secret to becoming fully human.

Kang-chi is rescued from a death sentence and taken under the wing of Yi Sun-sin (Yoo Dong-geun), a naval commander. Yi Sun-sin, Master Dam, and the late Lord Park were part of a secret group protecting the Joseon nation against foreign invasion. Yi places Kang-chi in the martial arts school run by Master Dam, and there he is trained physically and mentally and learns to control his transformations. Kang-chi and Yeo-wool gradually fall in love. But several obstacles remain in their way: the continuing villainy of Gwan-woong; the knowledge that it was Yeo-wool's father who killed Kang-chi's father; the reappearance of Wol-ryung, who has turned into a soul-sucking demon with no memories who can only be killed by his son; and Sojung's warning that Yeo-wool is fated to die if she stays by the side of the man she meets beneath the peach blossom tree under a crescent moon, which is none other than Kang-chi himself.

CAST

Main Cast
Lee Seung Ki as Choi Kang Chi
Jung Joon Won (정준원) as child Kang Chi
Bae Suzy as Dam Yeo Wool
Jo Min Ah (조민아) as child Yeo Wool
Lee Sung Jae as Jo Kwan Woong
Jo Sung Ha as Dam Pyung Joon
Yoo Yun Suk as Park Tae Seo
Lee Yoo Bi as Park Chung Jo
Sung Joon as Gon

Kang Chi's Biological Parents
Choi Jin Hyuk as Gu Wol Ryung (Kang Chi’s father)
Yoon Se Ah as Ja Hong Myung / middle age Yoon Seo Hwa (Kang Chi's mother)
Lee Yeon Hee as Yoon Seo Hwa

Extended Cast
Kim Hee Won as Monk So Jung
Uhm Hyo Sup as Park Moo Sol (Chung Jo’s father)
Jung Hye Young as Chun Soo Ryun
Son Ga Young as Wol Sun
Yoo Dong Geun as Lee Soon Shin
Jo Jae Yoon as Ma Bong Chool
Lee Do Kyung as Teacher Gong Dal
Kim Hee Jung as Lady Yoon (Kang Chi’s adoptive mom)
Nam Hyun Joo as gisaeng house's chief maid
Park Joo Hyung as Han Noh
Kim Ki Bang as Eok Man
Kim Bo Mi as Dam Yi (Seo Hwa's maid) (ep1)
Lee David as Yoon Jung Yoon (Seo Hwa's brother) (ep1)
David McInnis as Kageshima
Kim Dong Kyoon as Choi Ma Reum
Song Young Kyu as Pil Mok
Kim Sung Hoon as Wol Pae
Jin Kyung as Yeo Wool's teacher
Lee Hye In as Gob Dan
Yum Dong Hun
Jo Woo Jin (조우진)