Amid the flood of sci-fi, rom-com and period dramas, director Chang hopes to draw viewers’ attention with a bizarre mystery thriller, “House of Lies.”

“I recognize that many Korean content creators produced terrific TV series in different genres, allowing viewers to see occult creatures and zombies. Our series is dealing with a rather realistic story in South Korea, the rising price of old apartments that are being redeveloped, director Chang said in an online press conference Tuesday.

Helmed by Chang, who was behind hit action thriller “The Target” (2014), “House of Lies” presents the struggle of a young woman Ji-na (played by Im Ji-yeon), who returns to an old apartment to find her missing sister.

The character comes into conflict with the building’s residents, who wish to keep the event a secret, hoping the disappearance of Ji-na’s sister does not lead to rumors that may cause the apartment prices to drop.

While Chang believes that the apartment building is something that is familiar to almost every Korean, he personally felt that the space to be cold and mysterious.

“When I was renovating my bathroom, I learned that I had to get the agreement from my neighbors, asking their understanding for the noise. I met my neighbors for the first time. Some were too nice and asked how I will change the interior, while others were angry and questioned why I was making such a fuss,” Chang said, explaining the inspiration for the upcoming series.

“Like my personal experience, the series presents different stances of the Rose Mansion (the apartment) residents on the redevelopment of the apartment,“ Chang added.

Making a TV drama comeback after a three-year hiatus, her last TV series was MBC’s “Welcome 2 Life” (2019), Im said that she felt a little nervous about playing a lead role in a thriller series for the first time.

“I had concerns about how I could lead the powerful story to its end. The mystery thriller has many different characters, so I spent a lot of time studying the script and understanding the characteristics of the residents. This was an exciting challenge for me,” Im said.

Playing Ji-na, Im was certain that viewers would enjoy the development of the fast-paced story.

“I was mesmerized by the exciting storylines and was unable to take my eyes off the script. Instead of thinking about how I should act and play my character, I simply wanted to know how the story ends, trying to guess who the real criminal is. I am confident that viewers will enjoy our mystery thriller, just like I did,” the actor said.

The 12-part series is set to premiere on May 13 exclusively on Tving. Four episodes will be released every Friday at 4 p.m.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)