The classic fairytale “Cinderella” features a poor little girl who is mistreated by her evil stepmother and two stepsisters. The 2010 KBS TV series “Cinderella’s Stepsister” seems to be a modern version of the fairytale with the same plot—a good-natured, unfortunate young girl and her cold, spiteful stepsister. But a little twist is added to the drama, in which the older stepsister plays the leading role as the contentious relationship between the two very different girls unfolds, interspersed with love, hatred and misunderstandings on their journeys to adulthood.

Eun-jo, the heroine, is dragged from one place to another by her greedy, manipulative mother. She finally gets a new family when her mother seduces a rich man who owns a rice wine brewery and remarries him. The man has his own daughter, Hyo-seon, who is the quintessential Cinderella. The cute, tenderhearted girl is loved by everyone. Hyo-seon and her father warmly welcome Eun-jo and her mother and treat them nicely from the bottom of their hearts. But Eun-jo just can’t accept their kindness. She has trouble opening her mind because of her unhappy childhood, although she is gentle and compassionate deep down inside. Instead, she finds a new friend, Gi-hun, a college student working at the brewery. When Eun-jo realizes she is in love with him and he truly loves her, too, the world around her that was once so cold and unpleasant slowly turns into a much brighter place. Also, she starts feeling an attachment to her kind stepfather little by little. But Gi-hun leaves the family to serve in the military, leaving Eun-jo a letter that she never receives.

Eight years pass. Jeong-u, the adopted son of the former boyfriend of Eun-jo’s mother, comes to the brewery to find Eun-jo, the first person to care for him when he was a child. At the time, he vowed to be with her all his life. Now he stays with Eun-jo to fulfill the role of a guardian for her. Gi-hun also returns to the brewery after completing his military service. During his absence, Eun-jo helped her stepfather in his traditional rice wine business. After the sudden death of the stepfather, however, the brewery business faces a crisis. The two stepsisters and Gi-hun join forces to save the family business, but they are often mired in troubles as Hyo-seon, who is no longer a pure-hearted little girl, has a crush on Gi-hun and comes to hate her stepsister. On top of the subtle relationships involving the four young people, the story unfolds their hope, passion and forgiveness.

Actress Moo Geun-young, who is famous for her innocent image, usually performed the roles of sweet characters in the past, as her nickname “the nation’s little sister” indicates. But in this drama, she played the dark, cynical character Eun-jo. By performing her first evil role successfully, she demonstrated her talents as a versatile actress. The TV soap also provided a venue for the successful drama debut of popular boy band 2PM member Taekyeon, who played the role of the selfless man, Jeong-u, who stays faithful to his first love.