카페에서 전 여자친구와 다시 만난 순간

What does “식구” (sikgu) mean in Korean K-drama slang?

식구 (sikgu) is a Korean word that traditionally means “family member” or “people who eat together,” from 식 (sik, “to eat”) and 구 (gu, “mouth, person”). It’s an old, warm word for the people in your household. But Korean crime films and gangster K-dramas borrowed sikgu and gave it a second life: in those genres, sikgu means “crew” or “gang” in the mafia sense. Asking “너 어디 식구야?” (“which crew are you?”) is a classic K-drama gangster line.

This clip plays both meanings: a man runs into his ex-girlfriend at a café and the conversation slides into gangster-coded slang, including age-tag pairings like “팔팔” (a person born in 1988). The mix of sikgu and 88-er (palpal) places the scene in the world of K-noir.