Plot
"The Heirs" depicts the friendships, rivalries and
love lives of young, rich heirs led by Kim Tan (Lee Min-Ho) and a
girl named Cha Eun-Sang (Park Shin-Hye). Unlike the others, Cha Eun-Sang is
considered ordinary and comes from a poor background.
18-year-old Cha Eun-Sang lives with her mother who is mute.
Her mother works as a housekeeper and Eun-Sang also works part-time jobs to
help out. One day, Eun-Sang's older sister (Yoon Jin-Seo)
calls from the U.S. and informs them that she will marry. Eun-Sang's mother
then asks Eun-Sang to send her older sister some money from her savings
account. Eun-Sang isn't happy with her situation and decides to go to the U.S.
herself to see if she can start a better life with her sister.
When Eun-Sang arrives in California she is in for a shock.
Her older sister lives in a filthy home with a deadbeat boyfriend who seems
violent. Her sister is also not getting married or going to school and works
full-time as a waitress. When Eun-Sang finally tracks down her sister working
at a beach front restaurant, she takes the money Eun-Sang brought for her
wedding and leaves without even saying goodbye. Eun-Sang's dreams of starting a
better life in America quickly vanishes and she crumbles to the ground in
tears.
Meanwhile, Kim Tan is not your typical high school student,
but a handsome and wealthy Korean heir to a large conglomeration. He is sitting
out on the patio of the beach front restaurant, watching everything unfold
between Eun-Sang and her sister. Kim Tan's American friend then sees a ziplock
bag with a powdery substance fall out of Eun-Sang's suitcase and runs over to
scoop it up. Kim Tan knows immediately that the ziplock bag doesn't contain
drugs, but rather powder grain to make traditional Korean drinks. Soon,
Eun-Sang runs off after Kim Tan's friend and Kim Tan goes to help Eun-Sang.
When the dust is settled, Eun-Sang walks out of a police station and her
passport is temporarily confiscated. With nowhere to go for Eun-Sang, Kim Tan
offers to let her stay at his home. Although they seem to come from different
worlds, they quickly develop a rapport for each other. But, when Kim Tan is at
school, Eun-Sang meets a girl named Rachel (Kim
Ji-Won). Rachel informs Eun-Sang that she is Kim Tan's fiance and she
demands that Eun-Sang leaves his home immediately. Eventually, Eun-Sang returns
to South Korea.
Kim Tan now feels nothing but emptiness after Eun-Sang's
departure. He decides to go back to Korea even though his older stepbrother Won
(Choi
Jin-Hyuk) strongly opposes his return. When Kim Tan gets back to his
luxurious mansion like home, he sees someone briefly that resembles Eun-Sang.
Kim Tan goes to his mother Ki-Ae (Kim Sung-Ryoung) and asks about the unfamiliar, but
familiar girl that he briefly saw. His mother tells him that the girl is their
housekeeper's daughter and her name is Cha Eun-Sang. She's also staying in
their home.
Cast
Additional Cast Members:
Jeong Dong-Hwan - Kim Nam-Yoon
Choi Won-Young - Yoon Jae-Ho
Park Jun-Keum - Jung Ji-Sook
Yun
Son-Ha - Esther Lee
Kim Mi-Kyung - Park Hee-Nam (Cha
Eun-Sang's mother)
Choi Jin-Ho - Choi Dong-Wook
Jo Yoon-Woo - Moon Joon-Young
Seo Yi-Sook - Hyo-Shin's mother
Choi Eun-Kyeong - Ye-Sol's mother
Ra
Mi-Ran - Myung-Soo's mother
Jung Chan-Woo - Kim Tan (young)
