Career Anxiety And Working At A Café — Jeon So Min’s Life After Leaving “Running Man”

In October 2023, actress Jeon So Min officially left SBS‘s popular variety show, Running Man, as one of the permanent cast members. More than a year later, the actress got unexpectedly real about her life after the departure.

On December 13, KST, Jeon appeared as a special guest on her Running Man castmate Ji Seok Jin‘s YouTube channel, along with her Sorry Not Sorry co-star Choi Daniel.

While Ji Seok Jin and Jeon So Min caught up with one another, he brought up her departure from the show, clearly expressing his sadness at the decision even a year later. 

Jeon protested softly, saying it would be better to call it her “graduation” from the show.

Ji agreed and asked if she was bored without her former castmates around. Jeon responded, agreeing that only they could match her otherwise “very high standard for comedy.” 

When Ji Seok Jin nudged her again, asking how she had been since Running Man, she replied that her schedule got busier than expected after leaving the show. “Filming started sooner than expected. We filmed the movie about 3-4 months after it finished,” she explained, adding that she was also filming her K-Drama, Sorry Not Sorry. However, she revealed that after Running Man, she was worried about her career.

Jeon shared that she didn’t have any plans in place after Running Man and had financially “overexerted” herself by shifting her home again. She was “wondering how [she] could survive in a difficult industry” and ended up taking a part-time job at a friend’s café.

Jeon was working at a popular café in Sangnam-dong, on the second floor of the Studio Dragon building. The actress mentioned that whenever people saw her working there, they would assume it was for some TV show and look for the camera.

When Ji asked why she worked without covering her face, Jeon revealed that it was a part of her employment contract since her friend had hired her for publicity.

Jeon got paid the same hourly wages as the normal workers and even bought food for them despite not being compensated for meals.

The experience was enriching for the actress, as it took her back to her younger days when she worked part-time at a coffee shop. “I was recharged with energy as if I was back in the old days,” she added.

Meanwhile, Jeon So Min’s six-year stint on Running Man came to an end on October 30, when she had her final recording session. Her latest K-Drama, Sorry Not Sorry, marks her return to acting after a year-long hiatus.

You can watch the full video of Jeon So Min with Ji Seok Jin here: