A return after roughly three years
Ahn Hee-yeon plays Han Gyu-rim, the eldest of five siblings, in the KBS2 weekend drama Love on the Menu. It is her first drama since Call It Love in 2023, making the gap approximately three years, and it is also her first attempt at the long-running weekend-drama format. The first episode aired on July 25, 2026. Nielsen Korea recorded an 11.7% nationwide household rating, placing it second among terrestrial television programs that day. That number belongs to the premiere and should not be treated as a guarantee of later ratings.
Ahn introduced the drama and her approach to Gyu-rim at the official production presentation on July 22. On the same day she joined co-stars Ha Seok-jin and Bae Jung-nam on KBS CoolFM's Park Myung-soo's Radio Show. KBS then released official clips from Episodes 1 and 2 after broadcast. Together, those appearances framed the return around acting rather than her stage identity as Hani: viewers were being invited to watch a performer settle into the everyday rhythm of a family story.
A character whose daily life comes before romance
Han Gyu-rim works at a side-dish shop and helps care for her four younger siblings. Years of putting the family's livelihood before her own needs shape how she responds to Kim Mu-jin. His kindness cannot be received as uncomplicated romance because Gyu-rim is used to measuring every decision against practical responsibility. The opening episodes show both her warmth and the exhaustion she keeps private. In Episode 2, she sets a clear boundary when faced with a sudden confession rather than allowing the scene to become an instant romantic resolution.
That distinction is central to the role. Gyu-rim's strength is not presented as a simple personality trait; it is a way of surviving a life in which other people have repeatedly come first. As Mu-jin moves closer, the drama can test whether she believes she is allowed to want happiness for herself. Ahn's task is to preserve the character's decisiveness while letting quieter feelings become visible through pauses, expression and the pace of a reply. The long-form family-drama setting gives that change room to be gradual, especially as the relationship passes through an 8-year separation and the circumstances of two families.
From Hani of EXID to an actor using her own name
Ahn was born on May 1, 1992, and was 34 on July 26, 2026. She debuted in 2012 as Hani of EXID and became widely known through the group's promotions, including ‘Up & Down,’ ‘Ah Yeah’ and ‘Hot Pink.’ For acting, she works under her birth name, Ahn Hee-yeon. Performance skills developed in music—precise timing, quick changes of expression and an awareness of how small gestures read to an audience—can support scenes in which a character does not explain every feeling aloud.
Her acting credits cited in the original Korean article include the web drama XX, Not Yet Thirty, You Raise Me Up, IDOL: The Coup, Hit the Spot and Call It Love. She also played a young person in a harsh situation in the film Young Adult Matters and appeared on stage in the play Three Days of Rain (literally, ‘3 Days of Rain’). Across those projects, the recurring direction has been away from a polished idol image and toward the material conditions of each character's life. Han Gyu-rim continues that path but adds a new challenge: sustaining a working-class family character over the extended pace of a KBS weekend series.