Character Arc
Kim Mi-kyung is the heart of The Potato Lab, a dedicated and slightly eccentric researcher whose love of potatoes borders on obsession. Working at a research institute set deep in a mountain valley, she leads with warmth, instinct, and an almost familial affection for the soil, seedlings, and colleagues around her, treating the lab less like a workplace and more like a community. [flag: character details corrected against published cast listings; the original brief named this lead 'So Baek,' which does not match the sources.]
Her settled rural rhythm is thrown into chaos when So Baek-ho, a rigid corporate director from the parent retail company, arrives determined to impose efficiency and rules. Mi-kyung repeatedly butts heads with him, defending her people-first approach and the value of the unhurried, hands-in-the-dirt work she believes in. Their clashes are the comic engine of the series, but they also force her to articulate what she truly cares about.
Over the course of the season, Mi-kyung's openness gradually wears down Baek-ho's armor, and what begins as exasperation softens into respect and affection. Her arc is one of staying true to her warm, grounded values while learning to meet a very different person halfway, anchoring the show's gentle opposites-attract romance.