The Time We Were Not in Love (2015)

Ladies, if a male friend confesses his feelings to you, and you to do not return them, the best thing you can do is to tell him to “F--- off!” Do not sugar coat it, be as blunt as possible. The worst thing you can do is tell him that you want to be “JUST FRIENDS!” Those are the two words most young men dread to hear (they are the ultimate kick in the nuts The only phrase that hurts more is “You’re like a brother to me.”)  This may seem harsh, but you will be doing him a favor in the long term – he can move on with his life and it will save you from being put in an awkward situation later on. Just keeping him around can give him false hope that you might change your mind.

The Time We Were Not in Love is simultaneously a fascinating and frustrating romantic comedy that highlights the problems of being “just friends” with the woman you are in love with. Ha Ji-won and Lee Jin-wook star as Oh Ha-na and Choi Won, two best friends since high school, who live next door to each other, and are both 34 years-old and single. Oh Ha-na leads the marketing team of Tandy, a shoe company.  Choi Won is an airline attendant and trains all the new hires. Oh Ha-na still lives with her parents and younger brother while Choi Won lives with his older cousin, Choi Mi-hyang, who is the head attendant at the airline.

Choi Won has been in love with Oh Ha-na for seventeen years but has never confessed his feelings, for various reasons which I will get into later. He has settled on being “just friends” with her. The problem is that his entire world revolves around Oh Ha-na – his blind devotion to her has sabotaged potential relationships with other women and career opportunities. One of those potential relationships is Lee So-eun, a young, pretty airline attendant who takes an instant liking to Choi Won. She throws out all the signals, but Choi Won just shrugs her off. Initially it seems that Choi Won might give Lee So-eun a chance – they go on a few dates together – but eventually his devotion to Oh Ha-na gets in the way.  In fact, the few times So-eun and him go out together, he spends most of the time talking about Oh Ha-na. This is a good example of “this happens because the script says so” logic – the only reason Choi Won rejects Lee So-eun is because the script needs him to be single for the story to play out. Even after Oh Ha-na gets back together with her ex-fiancé, Cha Seo-hoo, Won still ignores Lee So-eun. It is irritating!  “I must be there for Oh Ha-na just when she gets hurt.”

He is also given a golden opportunity to advance his career – he is selected to do overseas training that will likely result in a promotion. The catch – he will be gone for two years. His immediate response after hearing the news, “What about Oh Ha-na?” ARRRRRGHHHHHH!!!  Again, this is a golden opportunity to advance his career and since Oh Ha-na is getting googly eyed over her ex-fiancé there is honestly no reason for Choi Won to stay in South Korea. His cousin, Mi-hyang, even points out his moronic behavior but he won’t listen to reason and rejects the offer. This leads to conflicting emotions – he can’t leave Oh Ha-na because he loves her so much, but he also can’t be with her because…uh…..reasons. In high school, he flat out told Oh Ha-na that he would never fall in love with her, which naturally confused the teenaged Ha-na. I initially believed that there would be one of two reasons for this rejection – he was about to confess his feelings to Oh Ha-na when he overheard her talking shit about him to her female friends, or it was due to “noble stupidity.” It turned out neither was the answer – Won told Ha-na he “would never love her” as a form of punishment. In high school, one of his best friends, Dae-yeon, fancied Ha-na and asked Won to give her a letter. Won agreed to deliver the letter but his jealousy got the better of him and he kept it in his backpack. His best friend was later killed in a car accident and Won was so consumed with guilt that, as penance, he vowed never to get romantically involved with Ha-na. MORON!!!  

One, it is stupid of Won to spend nearly two decades punishing himself over an immature act he did in high school. It never occurred to him that by constantly pushing away Ha-na he was also hurting her feelings. Two, it is extremely inconsiderate and rude of Dae-yeon to use Won as his own personal delivery service. He is also taking advantage of Won's friendship with Ha-na to hook up with her. This is the logic that is at work, “If Won, Ha-na's best friend, gives her my letter, she will believe I am an alright guy.” Plus, Dae-yeon could have bypassed the middleman and just gave Ha-na the letter himself.

 Personate note: When I was in college, I was working at North Shore Cinemas, and this female customer gave me her phone number and then asked me to give to it to my handsome co-worker. In a span of a second, I went from being elated (“A GIRL GAVE ME HER NUMBER!” to being completely destroyed. After she walked away, I tossed it in the garbage. I should point out that my handsome co-worker was in a happy relationship with an attractive girlfriend, who he later married and had kids with. The female staff at North Shore also had the hots for my handsome male co-worker and, because they knew I was friends with him, they would frequently walk up to me and asks me questions about him. I would always shoot them down by saying, “He has a girlfriend!” They would then bash his girlfriend (who they didn’t know) and say things like, “He could do so much better!” So, I can actually relate to Won in this scene – it always annoyed me when people tried to use me as the middleman for their workplace romances.

This begs the question: If the goal was to punish himself, why the hell did live next door to Ha-na for the last seventeen years? There is the old saying “Out of sight, out of mind.” Won could have easily moved to another part of the country and put Ha-na out of his mind. Hell, he works at an airline, which means it would be easy for him to transfer to another airport.  Instead, he opted to live next door to the woman he has deep feelings for (but won’t confess them) and allow his jealously to get the better of him when he sees her with another man. He can’t be with her, but he can’t live without her. IDIOT!!!!  Don’t listen to movies/television, there is nothing romantic about unrequited love. It is painful!

Though, Oh Ha-na is no better! It should be obvious to her that Won has feelings for her, but she is either stupid or deliberately chooses to ignore them. What’s worse is that she is totally dependent on Won - every time she encounters any hardship, she immediately runs to him. She knows everything about Won, except the fact that he is in love with her. In the seventeen years they have been friends, it has never occurred to her set boundaries with Oh Ha-na. Like when he gets involved in her love life, maybe tell him to mind his own business. 

It is established early on that Ha-na is a poor judge of character – especially when it comes to men.  In the first episode, Ha-na finds out that her boyfriend (and co-worker), Yoo Jo-hoon, is two-timing her with another co-worker, Yoon Min-ji. He tells Ha-na that he is going to marry Min-ji, because he got her pregnant. This shatters Ha-na’s world but rather than use this as a chance to self-reflect, she almost immediately jumps into another relationship. Won and her make a bet with each other – whomever gets married before the age of 35 owes the other one five thousand dollars. The opportunity for both of them to find a significant other immediately presents itself – Won meets So-eun and Ha-na finds herself attracted to an intern, Ki Sung-jae, who is nine years her junior. They even become the subject of rumors in the workplace – Ha-na’s co-workers accuse her of seducing Sung-jae. She invites Sung-jae to go on an overnight business trip and it looks like they might spend the night together until Ha-na overhears him on the phone with his mother – it turns out he was only using Ha-na to get a full-time job at the company.  Ha-na is heartbroken and then calls up Won so he can take her home.

Won accurately points out that she falls in love too easily – all it took for her to fall for Sung-jae was for him to get close to her, whisper a few empty nothings, and make the occasional chivalrous gesture (like offering her his umbrella during a heavy rainstorm).  If she hadn’t overheard the phone call, chances are she would have slept with Sung-jae that night. This leads to an interesting dichotomy between Ha-na and Won – she is too trusting, and he is too cautious, both extremes lead to misery. I also find it interesting that show abandons its initial premise – the bet between Ha-na and Won is immediately forgotten about. Again, this would be a golden opportunity for Ha-na to take a break from dating and figure out what she wants to do with her life, instead she decides to get back together with her ex-fiancé, Cha Seo-hoo, the man who abandoned her three years earlier.

The Cha Seo-hoo character is the absolute worst – he is a famous pianist, who has return to Korea for two reasons: to play a couple of show and to get back together with Ha-na. It turns out that Ha-na’s company is sponsoring the tour and, since she is team leader of the marketing department, that means the two of them will be working together. At first, Ha-na is adamant that she will not get back together with Seo-hoo, but eventually she can’t help fall for his charms, despite the best efforts from Won, and her female friends, to dissuade from going down that path. She decides to give him the benefit of the doubt and believes he is being sincere with his efforts. Cha Seo-hoo is the maestro of gaslighting – he even manages to blame Won for him abandoning Ha-na. Seo-hoo put Ha-na in an embarrassing situation – he failed to show up at their engagement party and this left Ha-na feeling dejected. Won, acting as a true friend, did his best to cheer her up. Well, it turns out that Seo-hoo did show up to party, but he was extremely late – by the time he arrived all the other guests have left, and the only two people remaining were Ha-na and Won. When Seo-hoo saw Won trying to comfort Ha-na this made him jealous, and he ran away. Yes, Seo-hoo cites Ha-na seeking comfort in Won’s arms as the reason he left. Of course, the only reason she was seeking comfort in the first place was because Seo-hoo failed to show up to their engagement party. Won did want any true friend would have done in that situation. Also, if Seo-hoo was going to be late for their engagement party, why didn’t he call Ha-na and let her know? It is implied that the reason he was late was because he was fooling around with his agent, Min Ji-soo. I say implied, because this plot thread is never truly resolved – when Seo-hoo is acting up, Ji-soo threatens to reveal the real reason he was late to his own engagement party, and that is last time we hear about it.

Given how I have spent the last few paragraphs dunking on the two leads, you would probably believe that I disliked the characters and the show but, I assure you, that is not the case. Most of my complaints are reserved for the first half of the series, because in the second half the characters, and the show, manage to redeem themselves. The event that triggers the change is when Won decides to take a month’s long vacation overseas. He finally works up the courage to tell Ha-na how he feels about her, but she basically rejects him. The timing is all wrong – at this point in the series Ha-na has a lot on her plate – Seo-hoo has come back in to her life and her work has been complete chaos; a project that she had spent years working on has been taken away from her, and she is constantly bickering with the design team, whose team leader, Hwang Bit-na, keeps spreading rumors about Ha-na. So, it is not surprising that she is overwhelmed by Won’s confession. Won, to his credit, realizes he has put her in an awkward situation and then suggests they spend a month apart from each other, so they can clear their thoughts and figure out things for themselves. When Won comes back a month later, he learns that Ha-na has gotten back together with Seo-hoo. In one of the oddest decisions made by the showrunners, Ha-na and Seo-hoo get back together offscreen. I think the writers recognized their relationship wasn’t very convincing and resorted to the good old “time jump” trope to explain Ha-na and Seo-hoo’s reconciliation. Also, it seems the real reason Ha-na got back together with Seo-hoo was that she was lonely and, on impulse, believed it was better to be with Seo-hoo than be alone.

Nostalgia also plays a role in her decision to get back together with Seo-hoo - she openly admits that when Seo-hoo came back into her life, she could only remember the good times they had together. Their relationship is doomed from the beginning – Seo-hoo believes that they could pick up from where they left off but then is shocked to learn that Ha-na is a different person. In their previous relationship, she had a slavish devotion to Seo-hoo, this time she is more assertive and calls him out on his bullshit. Seo-hoo constantly goes behind Ha-na’s back – he shows up at her house and begs her parents for their approval. He even tells him that he plans to marry Ha-na. Her parents, and her younger brother, are less than thrilled that she got back together with Seo-hoon, so imagine their shock when they learn he wants to marry their daughter (after abandoning her for three years). Despite Ha-na’s insistence to her friends that she is happy, her facial expressions and body language tell a different story. She always looks uncomfortable around Seo-hoo, but rather than admit that it was a mistake to get back together with him, she tries to force herself into loving him, which makes her even more miserable. She finally comes to her senses and breaks it off with Seo-hoo – largely because she, rightfully, resents him trying to interfere in her life. Plus, it is apparent that she truly loves Won – the look of joy on her face after he comes back from his month-long vacation says it all.   

Seo-hoo resorts to one last Hail Mary to win Ha-na back – Ha-na is given the opportunity to train in the Paris branch of Tandy for one year. This would take her one step closer to her goal of being a global marketer. This also comes after Won and her have officially become a couple, so she is hesitant to go, but Won encourages her to go – as he says, the most important thing is that they have finally revealed their feelings for each other, and they can afford to be apart for year (after waiting seventeen years to get together). Plus, they can always talk with each other online and, since Won works for the airline, he will be able to visit her frequently. It seems like Ha-na is going to leave for Paris when she learns, from Seo-hoo’s agent, that the only reason she was considered for the Paris training is because Seo-hoo recommended her to the company. When she confronts Seo-hoo about this, he admits it. Seo-hoo lives, and first met Ha-na, in Paris and hoped that by separating her from Won, he could win her back by appealing to nostalgia. Even though this is golden opportunity, Ha-na turns it down – because this is opportunity was not earned but given to her. She still has pride and doesn’t want handouts.  This is the final nail in coffin with her relationship with Seo-hoo.

Won returns from his vacation a changed man – he  gives Ha-na her space and, even though he doesn’t approve of her dating Seo-hoo, he doesn’t try to talk her out of it, either. He realizes that scolding Ha-na will not make her change her mind – it is best she figures things out for herself.  Won is a film buff and his original aspiration was to be a film director – he gave up this dream when he realized he didn’t have the talent for it (though, there is plenty of evidence that refutes his claim). Though, I did find it odd that a film buff like Won would have the poster for the 1998 remake of Psycho hanging on his wall – one of the greatest abominations in cinema history. He has other Hitchcock memorabilia hanging on his wall, so how could a film fan like him not know the difference between the poster for the original film and the 1998 remake?

Any ways, back to the review…. In high school, Won wrote a scenario for one of his classes that was heavily praised by his teacher. The scenario was based on his relationship with Ha-na – it was about the first time they kissed, albeit accidentally. The lights had gone off in the library and Won, while trying to find Ha-na, accidentally kissed her on the lips. This made her heart flutter. Won never finished the scenario – he ended it on a cliff hanger (“I will never love you.”)  He bumps into the teacher on a flight and his teacher tells Won that he still has the scenario. The teacher later dies from cancer and Won, Ha-na, and their other high school friends, show up to pay their respects. The teacher’s son is grateful for the kindness Won showed his father during the flight and he returns the scenario to Won – he also gives Ha-na and the other students pictures that his father took of them during their high school years.

Won tells Ha-na about the scenario and she asks to read it. Meanwhile, Won is inspired to finish the scenario and starts to write again. After she finishes reading Won’s script, she finally understands why Won rejected her in high school. Ha-na has always loved Won but his constant rejections left her with no choice but to seek affection elsewhere. The two of them are FINALLY on the same wavelength and confess their love for one another. This makes all the people around them happy – Ha-na’s parents spent years trying to convince her to marry Won. Ha-na was initially hesitant to get romantically involved with Won – one, she was still getting over her break up with Seo-hoo and she needed time to sort out her feelings. Two, if her relationship with Won fails, there is that risk of losing her best friend. However, after reading Won’s scenario and thinking it over, she realizes that he is the only one for her. There is even a nice pay off for Won’s scenario – Ha-na’s younger brother, Dae-bok, comes across the scenario in his older sister’s room and adapts it into a webtoon, and it becomes a huge success – to the point that is being adapted into a movie.

I mentioned before how Won believed that he didn’t have the talent to be a movie director, but the all the visual evidence proves quite the opposite. In fact, the reason why Dae-bok was inspired to adapt Won’s scenario into a webtoon was because Won encouraged him to start drawing again. Dae-bok spends most of the series living an aimless existence – he spends most of his time playing video games and lazing about the about the house. After he falls in love with Hong Eun-jung, who is Ha-na’s subordinate at Tandy, he is determined to change for the better – he initially gets a job at a convenience store, but the pay isn’t very good, and he wants to be financially secure before he marries Eun-jung. After Won’s encouragement, he drops everything and spends days working on the webtoon – he is so focused on the webtoon that he misses Eun-jung’s calls. After endless hours of hard work, he emerges from his room triumphant. The webtoon becomes a hit and he makes amends with Eun-jung, but had it not been for Won’s encouragement, he probably would have continued working at the convenience store.

Won is also well liked at the airline, especially by the trainees – he is incredibly patient with all the new hires and communicates with them in a clear, straight forward manner. Later, he takes part in a training program in Paris and shows that he is adept at communicating in different languages. He is able to diffuse tensions on the airplane – an obnoxious woman passenger keeps insisting to So-eun to let her antsy dog out of its kennel, even though it violates regulations. The woman keeps berating So-eun and even plays the “Don’t you know who I am?” card. So-eun is still wet behind the ears and doesn’t know what to do – she is about the open the kennel but Won intervenes. He is able to silence the dog by picking up the kennel and walking it around the airplane, while talking to it softly. This pleases the woman passenger and the day is saved. At another point, an obnoxious male passenger who insist So-eun pat his bald head to bring down a fever but Won intervenes and tells So-eun she is need somewhere else. He saves So-eun from an awkward situation without it devolving into a huge scene. Later, he is invited to attend Alumni Day at his old high school. He has a lively Q & A session with the students and offers advice and words of encouragement. All these examples I have listed prove that Won would have been an ideal film director – he not only knows how to give instructions, but also how to make people feel comfortable.

There are the usual “B” and “C” subplots that solely exist to pad the show’s running time. The romance between Dae-bok and Eun-jung is pleasant enough. It gives Dae-bok a nice character arc and the actress who plays Eun-jung, Bae Woo-hee, is extremely cute. It’s not groundbreaking television but it doesn’t get in the way of the proceedings, either. The “C” plot – the romance between Choi Mi-hyang and Seo-hoo’s mentor, pianist Park Jong-hoon is less successful. The problem is that Jong-hoon is introduced so late into the proceedings that he barely registers as a character – there are multiple incidents where he popped up on screen and I forgot who he was. Mi-hyang isn’t aware of his existence until she sees him in concert. The two of them later bump into the street where Mi-hyang, in a half-awake state, acts rude to him after he accidentally bumps into her. Later that afternoon, Jong-hoon is giving out autographs to fans and Mi-hyang shows up – he immediately recognizes her and ribs her about their encounter earlier. He autographs her CD and writes his number on the inside of the CD.  The relationship is defined by Jong-hoon’s devil may care attitude and Mi-hyang constantly getting annoyed with him. These scenes might have worked if more time had been spent on developing their relationship, but it feels contrived – the writers desperately needed to something to do with Mi-hyang, so they introduced Jong-hoon and got her pregnant. I like the actress who plays Mi-hyang, Jin Kyung, but she is often let down by the material given her (she was better served in The Innocent Man).

There are a few clever directorial and writing touches scattered throughout the series; there are multiple times there is a close up of Won and Ha-na's feet and they are in step with one another - the perfectly foreshadows the ending of the series when they finally confess their love for one another. They also have a habit of bumping into each other at the popular hang outs. They later make a pact with each to avoid familiar places for a week and walk in different routes; the idea is if they bump into other then it is fate at work. Won even walks in the opposite direction of Ha-na and he still manages to bump into her at a park. In East Asian culture, it is believed that two people destined to be lovers are bound together by an invisible red thread; this seems to be the case with Ha-na and Won - they always find one another regardless of the distance that separates them. They are inevitable. 

The show, thankfully, avoids the mistake of waiting until the end of the very last episode to couple up Won and Ha-na – the final two episodes are devoted entirely to Won and Ha-na being a couple, and they are easily the two best episodes in the entire show. They are so good that they nearly redeem the entire first half of the series. This is because of incredibly chemistry between Ha Ji-won and Lee Jin-wook. In fact, the ending is bittersweet to me – why did we have to endure so many awkward episodes of Lee Seo-hoo dating Ha-na, when we could have had more of Won and Ha-na?  In my alternate universe, Ha-na kicks Seo-hoo to the curb after Won confesses his feelings to her, and the second half of the series centers entirely around her relationship with Won. Along with Shin Min-ah (who I will talk about in later review) Ha Ji-won is becoming one of my favorite actresses. She has the ability to adapt to different genres – she has acted in romantic comedies, historical dramas, disaster spectacles, actions movies, and suspense thrillers, and never misses a beat. She also doesn’t age; she was 37-years-old when she made this drama but convincingly plays a teenaged Ha-na in flashbacks. I will also point out that many of the projects she has starred in are often unworthy of her talents, but her presence livens up the proceedings (the Charlie’s Angels knock off, The Huntresses, is a great example of this).

This is the third time that I have written about Lee Jin-wook (he also appeared in I Need Romance 2012 and Doona). Like Ha Ji-won, he is becoming another favorite actor of mine. Though, Won is very similar to the character he played in I Need Romance 2012, Yoon Seok-hyun. Both characters live next to door to lead female; have been in love with the lead female since they were teenagers; and push away the lead female because of a stupid personal reason. The only difference is that Seok-hyun actually dated Yeol-mae while Won keeps his feelings hidden from Ha-na. A show that best showcases Lee Jin-wook’s talents is the time traveling drama, Nine. It is a terrific series but I’m hesitant to write a review because it would be the length of a novel.  I also enjoyed The Time We Were Not in Love significantly more than I Need Romance 2012; the lead characters often make questionable decisions, but they didn’t annoy me as much as the characters in I Need Romance 2012.

If you plan on watching The Time We Were Not in Love, I recommend you forward through the Ha-na/Seo-hoo scenes (except when she breaks up with him) and soak in all the Ha-na/Won scenes. Seo-hoo will annoy you (though, I’m sure there is a fringe element out there that ships Ha-na and Seo-hoo), while watching Won and Ha-na together will bring a smile to your face. The one downside to this show is that it might give a false sense of hope to a poor bastard who has been friend zoned by a female. He will watch the show and think, "Well, Won waited seventeen years for Ha-na and the two of them got eventually got married. If I just wait patiently by Vicki's side, I will eventually be given my turn." DON'T FALL FOR IT!!!! Once a woman has imprisoned you in the FRIEND ZONE, you will never escape it. It is extremely rare for a woman to change her mind. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than you have of a woman releasing you from the Friend Zone. If you look like Lee Jin-wook, then you might have a chance. 

Cast: Ha Ji-won (Oh Ha-na), Lee Jin-wook (Choi Won), Yoon Kyun-sang (Cha Seo-hoo), Choo Soo-hyun (Lee So-eun), Jin Kyung (Choi Mi-hyang), Shin Jung-geun (Oh  Jung-geun, Ha-na’s father), Seo Ju-hee (Kim Soo-mi, Ha-na’s mother), Lee Joo-seung (Oh Dae-bok, Ha-na’s younger brother), Kang Rae-yeon (Kang Na-young), Bae Woo-hee (Hong Eun-jung, Dae-bok’s girlfriend), Kim Myung-soo (Ki Sung-jae), Choi Jung-won (Joo Ho-joon, Ha-na’s two timing boyfriend), Go Won-hee (Yoon Min-ji, Ho-joon’s wife), Woo Hyun (Byun Woo-sik), Hong In-young (Hwang Bit-na), Park Doo-shik (Eun Dae-yoon), Seo Joo-hee (Kim Soo-mi), Park Tam-hee (Min Ji-soo), Lee Ah-rin (Jung Mi), Jeon Jae-hyung (Chang Soo), Park Jong-hoon (Pianist Park Jong-hoon), Choi Dae-chul (Mr. Yoon, Seo-hoo’s manager).

Director: Jo Soo-won
Writers: Jung Do-yoon, Lee Ha-na. (Based on: In Time with You by Mag Hsu)
16 episodes ~ 60 minutes

Doona! (2023)

 

One of the biggest inconveniences to befall humanity is the inability to control who you fall in love with. We are often haunted by the "what ifs" and lament "the one who got away."  But you can’t help who you fall in love with, even if that person might prove to be a bad match for you. In Doona, college sophomore, Lee Won-jun, would probably been better off dating Kim Jin-ju (his high school crush), because they not only have a shared history but the same values.  However, while he likes Jin-ju, she no longer makes his heart flutter and, instead, he falls hopeless in love with Lee Doo-na, a former idol who went into hiding after a disastrous performance with her girl group, Dream Sweet.

Doona often feels like the second season of a series – it begins when Doo-na has reached her lowest point. The first season would focus on her rise and fall, and the second season would focus on her redemption. We get a few flashbacks to Doo-na’s time as an idol – she was the face of the girl group, Dream Sweet, much to chagrin of the other members. She also carried the group – when the remaining members attempt a comeback without Doon-a, it ends in complete failure. The pressure of having to carry her group, and having to deal with the media, fans, and haters, eventually proved to be too much for Doo-na and she had a panic attack onstage. She lost the ability to sing. The anti-fans used her meltdown as useful ammo and successfully turned the public against her. It also didn’t help that her mother was busted defrauding fans out of millions of dollars. Her agent (and crush) Park In-wook puts her up in a share house and tells her to lay low until he can contact her.

The anti-fans are one of the fascinating (and toxic) elements of K-pop. These are people who are more dedicated to bashing a group they don’t like than supporting their favorite group. They will often troll the fan sites and leave all sorts of derogatory comments. They will often scour the internet in hopes of find some dirt on their hated group and post an out of context video that supposedly show these idols behaving badly (the most famous incident were the videos that allegedly show T-ara bullying Ryu Hwa-young). 

It just so happens that Won-jun moves into the share house – he is an engineering major, who is in his sophomore year of college, and moves to Seoul so he no longer has to commute from home. His best friend from his hometown, Song Tae-rim, runs a seafood restaurant and is a huge fan of Lee Doo-na – he has her picture hanging from the rearview mirror in his car.  When Won-jun moves into the share house, he recognizes Doo-na but can’t quite place her face. This leads to multiple occasions where Doo-na catches him looking at her and she, understandably, believes he is a stalker. Therefore, Won-jun’s first few interactions with Doo-na are not pleasant ones. When she isn’t accusing him of being a stalker, she flat out dismisses him. He finally puts two and two together and promises Doo-na that he will no longer look at her – he even puts up curtains in the window of his second-floor room to avoid the temptation of looking down at her (she lives on the first floor). 

Doo-na is a hot mess – she spends most of her time chain smoking, eating junk food, staring at her cellphone, waiting for In-wook's call, and watching television. She lacks direction in life and is on the path to self-destruction. One night, Won-jun comes home from the university and finds Doo-na sitting outside in the cold, without a jacket and in sandals with socks, staring at her phone. When he tries to get her back into the house, she passes out. It is his quick action (he calls an ambulance) that ends up saving her life. While Doo-na is in the hospital, he looks after her and even buys her a pair of socks for her to wear. After this incident, it is Doo-na who starts stalking Won-jun – she always knocks on his door and asks if he wants to get something to eat. She even shows up at his classroom, sits next to him during a lecture, and asks him if he wants to grab something to eat. Won-jun’s classmates recognize Doo-na and this leads to all sorts of gossip.

Won-jun’s feelings towards Doo-na are conflicted – it is obvious that he is interested in her (most dudes would be) but he still has feelings for Jin-ju, who has come back into his life. They attend the same university and Woo-jun runs into her at the bus station. Jin-ju was Won-jun’s high school crush. They were the two top students at their high school and were inseparable – to the point where their classmates suspected they were secretly dating. Finally, after months of speculation, Won-jun finally confessed his feelings to Jin-ju and…she rejected him (well, kind of). After he told Jin-ju he liked her, she cut off all communication with him. However, it turns out that Jin-ju didn’t reject Won-jun, she just didn’t have the courage to act on her feelings. She had a huge crush on Won-jun and when he confessed his feelings to her, she was initially elated. Her euphoric state quickly transformed into absolute dread, because she was afraid of her father’s potential reaction. What further sealed the deal for her is when she got home, she walked in on her strict father chopping off her sister’s hair, because he found out she was seeing a guy. To avoid the chopping block, Jin-ju decided to cut off all communications with Won-jun. Her father is the type of man who would scold his daughter for “fooling around with guys” and then later scold her for not giving him a grandchild. It is a “damned if you and damned if you don’t” situation. She always regretted her cowardice in the face of her douchey father.

It's only after she escapes her father’s tyrannical grasp that she can confess her feelings for Won-jun. Doo-na hits it off with Jin-ju after a night of drinking and later, when she is looking for a roommate, invites Jin-ju to move in with her.  Jin-ju accepts this offer because it kills two birds with stone – it allows her to move away from home and gives her direct access to Won-jun. However, by the time she confesses her feelings to Won-jun, it is too late – he has fallen in love with Doo-na. To Jin-ju’s credit – she handles his rejection well. She is disappointed and, understandably, tells Won-jun that she needs some time away from him to get over being rejected. She wastes no time moving out of the share house and into a one-bedroom apartment. This is the correct reaction! After a few months have passed, she is ready to be Won-jun’s friend. She also doesn’t bear an ill will towards the Doo-na (the two of them remain friends). There was that part of me that wanting to see Won-jun end up Jin-ju. She is not high maintenance like Doo-na, and she has more in common with Won-jun, but unfortunately that window of opportunity closed some time ago. For Jin-ju, Won-jun is the one who got away.

Normally, the premise of a rube falling in love with an idol would be a romantic comedy, but the relationship between Doo-na and Won-jun is played entirely straight. There are occasional humorous moments, but most of them come courtesy of the character, Choi I-ra. The structure to Doo-na is a bit awkward at times – I-ra is one of the main characters, but she doesn’t first appear until the middle of the series. Even her introduction is a bit awkward, Won-jun and Jin-ju witnesses her publicly breaking up with her Brazilian boyfriend. Won-jun recognizes her and walks away before she can see him. His housemate, Yun-taek, talks Won-jun and their housemate, Jeong-hoon, into going on blind group date with three college girls and Won-jun gets paired up with I-ra. She immediately recognizes him – though, he, at first, denies knowing her. It turns out they have a long history together – they were born in same hospital, on the same day, and their mothers decided to arrange for them to get married. They spent the majority of their childhood hanging out together – something that Won-jun dreaded. Won-jun describes her as being his “greatest enemy,” but the truth is their personalities didn’t gel – Won-jun was a timid, introverted child while I-ra was an extroverted, bossy child. She always managed to talk Won-jun into doing things he didn’t want to. She is also really loud.

At the age of eleven, she moved to Brazil with her family and Won-jun was convinced that he was rid of her. It turns out that she is a fashion major at the university that Won-jun is attending. Won-jun is apprehensive towards her at first, but he eventually warms up to her and the two of them become close friends. She also becomes romantically involved with Jeong-hoon who, like Won-jun, initially find her annoying, but eventually is charmed by her upbeat demeanor. She also befriends Jin-ju and Doo-na. In fact, she immediately forms a bond with Jin-ju, because they grew up in the same town and were both involved with Won-jun.  She also moves in with Doo-na – after she broke with her boyfriend, she needed a place to say and Won-jun told her that Doo-na was looking for a roommate. There was also the other part of me that hoped Won-jun would end up with I-ra.  Either Jin-ju and I-ra would have been better matches for Won-jun

A feeling of uncertainty hangs over the entire series. In the first half of the series, Won-jun’s relationship with Doo-na is defined by uncertainty – they both like each other but neither of them really wants to make a move. Their early interactions are awkward and often intense – one minute they will be getting along, the next minute Won-jun will say something that will cause Doo-na to snap (she cusses up quite a storm).  There also a few interesting stylistic choices by the director to emphasize the tension – in early stages of their relationship, the soundtrack is dead silent. In most K-drama, when the two romantic leads are together there will be a love ballad blaring on the soundtrack – this is used to signify their feelings the two leads have for each other.  In fact, the love ballad can be overbearing at times, to the point that it drowns out the dialogue (it also is played ad nauseum throughout the series).  There is a love ballad in Doo-na and it is played ad nauseum, but only during montages or scenes where two leads are separated. Whenever, Doo-na and Won-jun exchange dialogue, the only sound we get is diegetic – it comes from within the world of the narrative. The lack of a soundtrack helps add to the uncertainty – without the overbearing love ballad to clue us into the characters feelings for one another, we are not certain what Doo-na’s feelings are towards Won-jun, or if their relationship will work out. 

The moment that casts the biggest doubt on Doo-na relationship with Won-jun is when her agent, Park In-wook, walks into the picture. Won-jun and Doo-na have gone on a romantic getaway – they are staying at a beach house that Doo-na owns – and are walking down a road, holding hands, when Doo-na notices In-wook’s car parked in front of the house. When he gets out of the car and looks at Doo-na, she immediately let’s go of Won-jun’s hand. He begs with her not to go, but she ignores his pleas and drives off with In-wook, and leaves Won-jun all alone, in the middle of nowhere.  However, the reason she goes off with In-wook is to set the record straight and give him a good scolding. When she gets back to the house, Won-jun has left and taken a bus to his hometown to visit his friends and family. When Won-jun returns to the share house, she tells him that she didn’t know who she would miss more – In-wook or Woo-jun. It is only when she was with In-wook that she realized how much she missed Won-jun.

The question is: Does Doo-na really love Won-jun or was he just at the right place at the right time? Doo-na has been alone for months and Won-jun is the first person, in quite some time, to show genuine concern for her, so it’s not surprising she would have feelings for him. However, is that enough to sustain a relationship, especially given their different goals in life.  Won-jun wants to live an ordinary life, but Doo-na would never be content with an ordinary life – show business is in her blood.  The show never really answers the question. It ends on a rather ambiguous note – I won't completely spoil the the series, except to say that there are multiple interpretations of the ending 

I don’t know if I would recommend Doo-na, it is a fascinating but ultimately frustrating experience. The two leads, Bae Suzy and Yang Se-jong, are solid and have great chemistry, but the writing often lets them down. Bae Suzy was certainly well cast as the title character – like Doo-na, she was an idol, who debuted at young age, sixteen (in American years), and was essentially the face of the girl group, MissA – she is  regarded as being one of the most beautiful women in South Korea (if not the entire world). There are a lot of good moments scattered throughout the series (Jin-ju is given a nice character arc) but the parts are greater than the actual sum and end result is kind of a letdown. 

 

Cast: Bae Suzy (Lee Doo-na), Yang Se-jong (Lee Won-jun), Ha Young (Kim Jin-ju), Kim Do-wan (Goo Jeong-hoon), Park Se-wan (Choi I-ra), Kim Min-ho (Seo Yun-taek), Lee Jin-wook (Park In-wook), Kwon Han-sol (Song Tae-rim),  Kim Sun-young (Doo-na’s mother), Kim Yoo-mi (Agency rep), Bae Ji-hye (Eun-joo), Go Ah-sung (Im Ha-yeon), a member of Dream Sweet), Simeez and Rian of Lachica as members of Dream Sweet), Kim Hyun-mok (stalker).

Director: Lee Jeong-hyo
Writer: Jang Yoo-ha (based on The Girl Downstairs by Min Song-ah)
9 episodes (~40 – 45 minutes)

I Need Romance (In Need of Romance) (2011 - 13)

 

The I Need Romance series are a simultaneously fascinating and frustrating look at the different dating philosophies of women in their thirties. The first two series follow the same formula – three females friends try to navigate dating in their thirties, which leads to surprising results. I Need Romance is a much different beast than the other K-dramas that I have reviewed on this blog – it was made with an adult audience in mind (specifically women in their thirties) and features frank discussions on sex and steamier love scenes (at least by South Korean standards) – the show was clearly inspired by Sex and the City.  The biggest hurdle the series has to overcome is, unfortunately, the characters themselves – these are some of the most self-absorbed people you will ever meet. They are the kind of people who begin a sentence with, “I think” and “I want”, but rarely consider the feelings of person they are talking to. At least in I Need Romance 2012, the main character, Yeol-mae, acknowledges this as a character flaw and works to improve on her personality. This is an instance of where I like the actors far more than the characters they portray – Cho Yeo-jong (the star of the first series) and Jung Yu-mi (the star of the second series) both have appealing screen presences and really sell the material they have been given.

However, as I mentioned before, I am not the demographic that this series was targeting, and it is more than likely that women in their thirties will have a significantly different (and more favorable) reaction to the series. In fact, if you want to read a woman’s perspective, I recommend you check out Dramabeans reviews of the series – her reviews are incredibly thorough with a lot of interesting insights. The website has been incredibly helpful to me when I need to refresh my memory.  The first two series are not only connected by themes but characters as well (Tae-woo, a minor character in series one, has a more prominent role in I Need Romance 2012, while the juvenile leads of series one, Hyun-joo and her fiancé Deok-soo briefly appear in I Need Romance 2012. Also, the lead male character of the first series, film director Sung-soo, is referenced multiple times throughout the second series).  I Need Romance 3, despite sharing similar themes and plot points, often feels like an entirely different beast – it may be the only entry in the series that gives its main protagonist, Shin Joo-yeon, a satisfying character arc. It could be argued that the female protagonists in the first two series, In Young and Yeol-mae, actually regress by the series end – they are in the same place they were at the beginning of the series.

In the first two series, the three female characters all have found successful careers – in season one, In Young is the concierge manager at the posh hotel; Seo-yeon is the editor of a lifestyle magazine and also models on the side; and Hyun-joo is a lawyer.  In season two, Yeol-mae is a music director (she produces music for movies) and composer; Jae-kyung is a shoe designer who is married to a popular news anchor; and Ji-hee (the most likable of the six women I have listed) is the vice manager at a popular movie theatre. 

In Young and Yeol-mae have been involved with the same man for over a decade – In Young has dated the film director, Sung-soo, for ten years and has known him since middle school, and Yeol-mae has had an on and off relationship with Seok-hyun for twelve years and has known him her entire life (they are even next door neighbors – and their houses are connected by an outdoor extension).  In Young and Sung-soo’s relationship comes to an abrupt after he cheats on her with the young actress, Yoon Kang-hee, who is the star of his upcoming movie.

When I Need Romance 2012 begins – Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun called it quits three years ago but have remained friends. It is revealed that their last break up was incredibly painful – the two of them got into violent argument in a marketplace, which resulted a trip to a jail. However, Yeol-mae is still attracted to Seok-hyun and, more importantly, is incredibly horny. She suggests to Yeol-mae that they do the whole “friends with benefits” things until they start dating another person. Seok-hyun agrees, as he has no intention of being in a full-time relationship with Yeol-mae (though, it is later revealed there is a specific reason why he keeps pushing her way. Hint: it is your typical “noble idiocy” that plagues so many K-dramas).  At first, things are all peachy keen – Yeol-mae’s sexual desires are being fulfilled and Seok-hyun likes the “no strings attached” part. However, Yeol-mae doesn’t just want to be sex partners with Seok-hyun, she wants to get back together with him permanently, and he tells her in no uncertain terms that this isn’t going to happen.  She is, naturally, heart broken by his rejection and spends the next few days in complete stupor.

After In Young and Sung-soo break up, In Young has a total break down – in fact, she begins to harass and stalk Sung-soo – she calls him at bedtime for a week straight and then sneaks into his apartment so she can scold him in person. She can’t believe he is able to fall asleep with such relative ease after their breakup. Even though Sung-soo has done her dirty, she can’t stop thinking about him; this is entirely believable – the two of them have dated each other for over a decade, and have known each other since middle school, he has been her security blanket for all these years and the idea of not having him around is scary one. She doesn’t know who she is without Sung-soo – it’s like a part of her has died. Normally, this would be a golden opportunity for our heroine to do some soul searching and figure out what she truly wants in life, but instead she immediately jumps into another relationship with Bae Sung-hyun, who is the grandson of the hotels CEO and In Young’s junior by five years (this the only example of accurate casting in the entire series. As the actor Choi Jin-hyuk was, indeed, five years younger than Cho Yeo-jong).  This is a trope that all three series have in common – the three female protagonists become romantically involved with a younger man. The other trope is that the other man in their life is someone they have known since childhood. 

When Yeo-jong first met Sung-hyun, she trained him to be a concierge. The two of them worked together for a year, and she had no idea who his real identity was. The two of them did exchange a kiss, but Yeo-jong viewed it as being done in the heat of the moment. It was nice while it lasted, but it was also something to forget about – at this point, she was still dating Sung-soo. Yeo-jong just wrote it off as her junior harboring a high school crush on her.  When Sung-hyun quit his concierge job, Yeo-jong was disappointed but she also moved on with her life. 

 Her two best friends, Seo-yeon and Hyun-joo, have their own problems. Soo-yeon is not interested in long term relationships, she treats men like accessories - she will date a man for three months, dump him, and then move onto the next thing. She witnesses the pain that her two best friends have gone through in their long-term relationships and doesn’t want any of that. Her promiscuous behavior does, on occasion, create problems – she ends up having an affair with a married man, whose wife is pregnant, only to the find that the man’s wife is suing her for adultery.

 It feels like the series is going to do something interesting with this character -outside of the courthouse, the pregnant wife assaults Soo-yeon but begins to go into labor. Soo-yeon, still feeling bad about the affair, drives the woman to the hospital and acts as her guardian (she claims they are sisters). After the woman gives birth, Soo-yeon becomes attached to the baby boy – she looks after the baby while the mother is resting.  It is the only time in the series that Soo-yeon behaves in a truly selfless manner – she has found something greater than herself. She is heart broken when she is separated from the child – while the mother is grateful to Soo-yeon for looking after her, she still doesn’t anything to do with Soo-yeon. I initially believed that this brief narrative detour was set up for Soo-yeon becoming a mother in the final episode – it is written as a life changing moment for her. However, this minor subplot is nothing but filler – by the next episode is back to her old ways.  She is even more callous in her behavior – she starts seeing two men, Joon-yi (a photographer) and Alex (In Young’s co-worker and friend) at the same time.  In Young proves to be a rather terrible friend to Alex – she verbally objects to Soo-yeon dating him and is appalled when she finds out that Soo-yeon is cheating on him, but she doesn’t bother to give him a head’s up.  Alex is one of the two honest characters in the entire show – he is a straightforward person and is devoid of any agendas. He tries to understand Soo-yeon, but he can’t continue their relationship. Soo-yeon just coldly shrugs him off and regrets her actions after he has left Korea.  It is a credit to the actress, Choi Yeo-jin, that Soo-yeon comes off as sympathetic as opposed to being a cold-hearted temptress.

The third leg in the trifecta is Kang Hyun-joo – she is 33 years-old, an attorney and still a virgin. At the beginning of the series, she is engaged to Tae-woo, who doesn’t have any interest in sleeping with his future bride. Hyun-joo initially believes that Tae-woo is saving himself for marriage, but it turns out that the reason Tae-woo doesn’t make a move is because he doesn’t find her sexually desirable. On the day of their wedding, he leaves her at the altar. This devastates Hyun-joo, but she is determined to lose her virginity, and the man she chooses is Kim Deok-soo. The first time she met Deok-soo he was working for a small company called “Disposable Men” – they are hired to do specific tasks (clean, maintenance, etc.) and then be on their merry way.  Hyun-joo’s first interaction with Deok-soo is disastrous – she spills coffee all over his pants.  While she finds Deok-soo attractive, she is a disappointed that he is lacking in “book smarts.” She brings up novels she has read, but he has no idea what she is talking about.  When Tae-woo stands her up at the altar, she calls Deok-soo and asks him to stand in for her former fiancé’s place.  He agrees to go through with the marriage ceremony – Hyun-joo doesn’t register the marriage, so it technically (on a state level) doesn’t count. While she views Deok-soo as her intellectual inferior, he is the perfect one-night stand – all she has to do is seduce him.

 Deok-soo is the second genuinely honest character in the entire series – he has no hidden agenda and is very straightforward with Hyun-joo.  He is at the age where he wants to settle down, get married, and have a family, and sees Hyun-joo as a potential mate. He also owns a paddle ball club, which Hyun-joo finds embarrassing. The other thing Hyun-joo finds frustrating about Deok-soo is how content he is with his life – he is perfectly fine with owning a paddle ball club and being a pillar to the community. He is not interested in monetary gain – he just wants to make people happy. After Hyun-joo has successfully popped her cherry to Deok-soo, she tries to distance herself from him – to the point that she pays him to leave her alone. Her interprets that as her paying him for sex, loses his temper, and gives her a slap across the face. This will, undoubtedly, make western audiences uneasy – though, if the roles were reverses, there would be a lot of “Yes, Queen” cheers from the audience. Also, she deserved it! She is dismissive of Deok-soo’s feelings, uses him for her own agenda, discards him, and then is surprised that he is hurt. Deok-soo is a very lowkey character – he is not the kind of guy who has violent outbursts, but man, Hyun-joo really does a number one the poor guy.   

Hyun-joo’s mother tries to set her up on blind dates with prominent males – one of them is a lawyer and, like Hyun-joo, is extremely well read. It seems that she has found a suitable mate but, in true K-drama fashion, he is a total lech and forces himself on Hyun-joo.  Deok-soo just happens to be in the area and chases the slimeball away. I always find this type of writing contrived – Hyun-joo hooks up with a man who is too good to be true and, of course, he is a scum bucket.  It would have been interesting if he was a genuine good dude, who Hyun-joo doesn’t have any interest in (despite their compatibility).  The show Familiar Wife does this type of storyline to perfection. 

I have similar criticism of the resolution to In Young’s romance with Sung-hyun. The writers desperately want to get In Young back together with Sung-soo (despite his two-timing) and they paint themselves in the corner by making Sung-hyun the ideal mate for In Young (despite him being five years her junior).  The writers throw two monkey wrenches into their relationship. The first one being that Sung-hyun is in pre-arranged marriage with the daughter of a potential investor. Now, this is something that Sung-hyun could have explained to In Young (“My parents want me to marry this woman, but I am trying to break it up. Just bear with me for a little while”), instead she is blindsided by this revelation. His fiancée shows up at the hotel and unleashes her wrath on the employees.  Before his fiancée shows up, Sung-hyun says to In Young, “Trust me” and “pretend you don’t see or hear anything for the next week.” What the hell is that supposed to mean? How does he expect her to react when she sees his fiancée in person?  There are two things that annoy me in dramas – noble idiocy and a character’s inability to explain a problem that is easily resolved. Both of these tropes appear in all three I Need Romance series.  However, this only proves to be a minor speed bump in their relationship – Sung-hyun successfully breaks off the engagement and then proposes to In Young (who is initially ecstatic – even though they have only been dating for a few weeks).  

The second monkey wrench thrown into their romance proves to be fatal – Sung-hyun introduces In Young to his wealthy the parents and they agree to the marriage, but with that stipulation that Sung-hyun moves to United States, changes her name, and waits for Sung-hyun to join her (which would take about a year) after the scandal has died down. It’s no surprise that In Young can’t agree to this stipulation and she breaks up with Sung-hyun. This is a plot point that I just couldn’t buy – In Young’s and Sung-hyun’s relationship has survived all sorts of challenges, but when this inconvenience gets in their way, In Young immediately wants to end it all. There also the fact that Sung-hyun offers zero push back on his parents – he knows that demands are ridiculous but goes along with them, regardless. I don’t believe it! These two characters, as written in the previous episodes, would have just said, “Fuck the parents. Let’s get married without their blessing,” but, because the plot demands it, Sung-hyun turns into a quivering pile of jelly and really makes no effort to win back Sung-hyun. He resigns himself to the fact that their relationship is over. 

After having they have successfully disposed of Sung-hyun, this gives the writers the freedom to reunite In Young with Sung-soo (the two-timing dipshit).  Where do I begin with this?  It is interesting reading the comments section of I Need Romance recaps, because the fan reaction to In Young going back to Sung-soo is overwhelmingly negative.  Who can blame them?  Sung-soo is an extremely unlikable character – the writers try to give him a character arc where he sees the error of his ways, owns up to his mistakes, and tries to atone for his adultery, but it is to no avail.  Even if Sung-soo is a changed man, In Young is always going to have a lingering doubt about him. He is a film director who works with all sorts of young, attractive actress – the minute In Young sees a picture of Sung-soo with one of these starlets, she is going to assume the worst – that is one of the few constants of her character. It’s a tragic ending masquerading as a happy one. It is also incredible how quickly In Young gets over her breakup with Sung-hyun – the two of them were practically engaged and just weeks after the fact, she gets back together with Sung-soo.  Though, her relationship with Sung-hyun also escalated quickly – they only have been dating for, at best, a few months and she is already willing to marry the guy (despite knowing very little about him). 

 It is rare that I bring up the technical aspects of K-dramas – they are usually efficiently done that you don’t pay attention to the detail, but the editing in I Need Romance is extremely jarring at time – there will often a scene dialogue scene between two characters with the traditional shot/reverse shot set up, but then it cut to awkward two shot of the characters (shot from either a low angle or angle) and the color temperature doesn’t match – the scene will go from muted to colors to being overly saturated with color. An odd stylistic choice that all three series make is that a scene will often cut to a still shot of the character during a critical moment – it is incredible annoying (though, I Need Romance 3 dials it down significantly) and interrupts the flow of the scene. The first time this happened; I thought that the picture on television had frozen up.

I Need Romance 2012 often feels less like a follow up and more of a remake of the first series. It once again follows the lives of three female friends (Joo Yeol-mae, Woo Ji-hee, and Seon Jae-kyung) as they try to find love in their thirties. Yeol-mae gets caught up in a love triangle between Yeon Seok-hyun (a man who she has known here entire life and a screenwriter) and Shin Ji-hoon (a man two years her junior and the owner of a coffee shop).  Yeol-mae is a music producer (and composer) and lives next door to Seok-hyun (their mothers were best friends and after their fathers died, built the house two of them currently live in). Even though they live in separate houses, their two homes are connected with an extension, and they share the same living room.  Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun dated on and off for twelve years, and after their last painful break up, they decided to remain just friends.  The two of them have co-existed peacefully for three years, but Yeol-mae finds that she is still sexually around by Seok-hyun and suggests they go the whole “friends with benefits” route until they find a new partner.  At first, it feels like a win-win scenario – they both can satisfy their carnal desires without being bogged down by the pressure of being in a full-time. After all, their previous attempts at being a couple ended in disaster, because Seok-hyun often acted cold towards Yeol-mae (especially when writing) and Yeol-mae has a very short temper and would often berate Seok-hyun for not opening up to her. The two of them were always a trainwreck waiting to happen, so “friends with benefits” seems like a more ideal solution for them.

However, against her better judgment, Yeol-mae realizes that she still loves Seok-hyun and wants to get back together with him. Seok-hyun adamantly shoots this idea down (his reasoning proves to be lame, but more on that later) and his refusal stuns Yeol-mae. It doesn’t destroy their friendship, but it does make things awkward between the two of them.  This also is where I need to point out that both of the actors (Jung Yu-mi and Lee Jin-wook) are excellent and do wonders with the material that is given to them.  It is easy to relate to Yeol-mae’s increasing frustration with Seok-hyun and his unwillingness to confide in her. It’s not surprising that she finds him to be a cold person, because he constantly just brushes off her concerns. The last time they broke up was over marriage – Yeol-mae wanted to get married while Seok-hyun shot down the idea.  This is the trope of many K-dramas – the stoic male lead who is hesitant to reveal his true feelings for the lead female. These are plots that could usually be resolved if the male character just uttered three words “I Love You,” but usually spends most of the series either second guessing himself or coming up with nonsensical reasons why he can’t be with the lead woman.  The better K-dramas tend to avoid this trope, or if it is incorporated into the storyline, it is done so in a believable manner.  Unfortunately, I Need Romance 2012 is not one of the better K-dramas and Seok-hyun’s behavior becomes increasingly infuriating as the show progresses – to the point that I started to lose interest in the main storyline – this is an instance where I like the side characters more than the leads.

After Seok-hyun’s rejection, it is not surprising that Yeol-mae ends up in the arms of another man – in this case, it is Shin Ji-hoon. The two of them bond over vinyls (Ji-hoon owns a vinyl that Yeol-mae has been looking for) and coffee (he taught a coffee making class and Yeol-mae was one of his students). It also turns out that Ji-hoon attended a music class that was taught by Yeol-mae and has harbored a crush on her ever since.  The two of them hit it off and pretty soon Yeol-mae is spending the night at Ji-hoon’s house. At first, Seok-hyun tries to be supportive of their relationship – he even invites Ji-hoon over for a cookout, but eventually his more jealous nature begins to take over.  Both Seok-hyun and Yeol-mae have a habit of taking each other for granted, they just assume the other one will always be there regardless of their relationship status. When it looks like Seok-hyun might permanently lose Yeol-mae to Ji-hoon, he freaks out.  Even though Ji-hoon and Yeol-mae have just started, he is already talking about marriage and wants her to meet his parents to get their approval. Seok-hyun finally confesses his feelings for Yeol-mae, but she doesn’t believe him.  He believes that the window on their relationship has been closed forever and does the correct thing, by putting his house up for sale.  At this point, after making a public spectacle of himself, he realizes that he will be content with Yeol-mae being with Ji-hoon, as long as she is happy.

The question you ask: If Seok-hyun loves Yeol-mae then why did he initially reject her proposal that they get back together?  The answer: (oh boy) It turns out that his father and sister died of a disease that is hereditary and there is a 50/50 chance that he might develop it, as well. It turns out he loves Yeol-mae so much to allow her to suffer as he slowly disintegrates in front of her eyes.  He is making the noble sacrifice.  Where do I even begin with this?  The thing that irks me about the noble sacrifice in K-dramas is that deprives the lead female of making her own decision.  In Yeol-mae’s case, she has an unconditional love for Seok-hyun, but he just assumes she wants a more convenient relationship. If he gets sick, that could make things inconvenient for her, and he doesn’t know if she could endure it. UGH! He should tell her the facts and then allow her to make up her own mind. It doesn’t occur to him how devastating it would be for Yeol-mae to learn, after the fact, that her boyfriend died of a disease and that was the reason he broke it off with her. The main thought that will be going through her head will be, “If only I could have been there for him in his final days.” Also, he breaks it off with Yeol-mae over a hypothetical – “I might get this fatal disease.”  That’s akin to not going to work, because you might get into a car accident. What’s even odd is that this disease subplot is totally unnecessary, because the writers already provided Seok-hyun a legitimate reason for not wanting to get back together with Yeol-mae.  The two of them have been an on and off for over a decade, and their last break up was especially a painful one (that ended with them in the police station – they were in a marketplace and began to throw produce at one another. Their fight escalated so quickly that Seok-hyun even smashed a few of the vending carts).  After that last break up, it makes sense that Seok-hyun would be hesitant in wanting to get back together with Yeol-mae. They often bring out the worst in one another.

I also found it impossible to get involved with the Yeol-mae/Ji-hoon romance, because I knew it was ill fated.  It was akin to the Shi-won/Tae-woong romance in Reply 1997, where the writers laughably tried to sell us on the idea that those two might end up together – just like Shi-won and Yoon-je were destined to be together, the same applies to Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun. The two characters have known each other since childhood, have dated and broken up multiple times, and always returned to each other in the end. Ji-hoon is a likable guy, but he is nothing more than a rebound romance for Yeol-mae. When Yeol-mae learns about the death of Seok-hyun’s sister and his fear of inheriting that lethal disease from his father, she immediately goes back to him. Seok-hyun, to his credit, tries to do the noble thing by telling her to go back to Ji-hoon. His noble stupidity is annoying, but it is also understandable in this case.  He realizes how his irrational behavior has hurt Yeol-mae and believes the best thing he can do is remove him from her life.

I Need Romance 2012 also features another one of my least favorite K-drama tropes – the time jump. Seok-hyun decides to move out of his house and puts it up for sale and decides to spend his last day with Yeol-mae by going on a drive with her. He then tells Yeol-mae she should go back to Ji-hoon and that he will be moving out so she can move on with her life. She doesn’t respond well to either of these things and storms off in a rage and decides she is going to walk home. This leads to another absurd moment in the series – Yeol-mae walks cross country, by herself, for a week. She discards her phone so no one can get a hold of her, but it never occurs to Seok-hyun or Ji-hoon to notify the police about her disappearance. When she returns home, Seok-hyun has moved out (but he still hasn’t sold his house). Flash forward to one year later – Seok-hyun has completely fallen off the map (though his house still hasn’t sold) and Yeol-mae is still single (which is probably a good idea).  She feels guilty about breaking up with Ji-hoon, but she is convinced that Seok-hyun is her destiny. Also, one should never feel too bad about breaking off a relationship, especially if your heart wasn’t in it to begin with.  Ji-hoon, to his credit, doesn’t bear her any ill will and moves on with his life. Seok-hyun lives in a cabin that is located in the middle of nowhere and, somehow, Yeol-mae finds him. The two of them reconcile and officially are, once again, a couple – he even proposes to her this time around. It needs to be restated, both Jung Yu-mi and Lee Jin-wook are terrific actors (he is especially good in the time travel thriller, Nine) and have a great chemistry together, but the Seok-hyun/ Yeol-mae relationship gets very tiresome. Hell, though I like Lee Jin-wook’s performance – there was actually point where felt that Yeol-mae might be better off with Ji-hoon (despite the non-existent chemistry). It is difficult watching two characters treat each other so poorly. Ji-hoon is a laid-back guy and, to be honest, is too good for Yeol-mae. I initially believed Ji-hoon would hook up with Seok-hyun’s cute co-writer, Kang Na-hyun.

The character of Kang Na-hyun is a peculiar one – Seok-hyun is adapting a screenplay that was written by her, and she is less than thrilled by the changes he has made to her script (at the studio’s behest). The two of them have a heated argument that ends with Seok-hyun kicking her out of his house. However, after he has had time to cool down, he approaches Na-hyun and asks her to help him with the screenplay. She ends up moving into Seok-hyun’s house, much to the annoyance of Yeol-mae. Even though Na-hyun is interested in Seok-hyun, he doesn’t return her feelings and only views her as a business partner. Though, the main reason he doesn’t make a move on her is because of their age difference (which isn’t all that extreme – she is 25 and he is 33).  Plus, he still is in love with Yeol-mae, even though he won’t admit it.  It is odd that it never occurs to him to date Na-hyun after Yeol-mae begins dating Ji-hoon.  But again – Na-hyun is really too good for Seok-hyun. She should have ended up Ji-hoon.

The storylines involving Yeol-mae’s two female friends are more compelling. Seon Jae-kyung is a shoe designer, who is married to a popular news anchor, Lee Jang-woo. However, their marriage is one of convenience – Jae-hyung uses him to hook her up with potential investors. Neither of them is faithful to each other – Jang-woo hooks up with various woman, while Jae-hyung is having an affair with Han Jung-min, her business partner and first love (who she broke up with so she could marry Jang-woo).  Jae-hyung’s plan is to divorce Jang-woo and reveal all of his infidelities to the press, but he beats her to the punch. He announces his divorce from Jae-hyung and sic's his journalist buddies on Jae-hyung, effectively turning her into public enemy number one.  He effectively plays the role of the wronged husband – he publicly cries about their breakup but wishes his ex the best of luck. The public can’t believe Jae-hyung would cheat on such a decent huma being and they brand her a harlot. This leads to huge boycott of her shoe business and all of her employees end up quitting, so they won’t be dragged through the mud with her – only Jung-min remains by her side. Eventually, the controversy dies down and Jae-hyung can get back to her life and restart her business.  Jang-woo’s credibility takes a huge hit when he is busted for illegal gambling. This storyline isn’t anything spectacular, but it didn’t annoy me as much as the main storyline.  Again, the performances are excellent.

The relationship I found myself rooting for the most was one between Ji-hee and Tae-woo. One of the more pleasant surprises of I Need Romance 2012 is that it gives a redemption arc to Tae-woo – the man who wronged Hyun-joo in the first series.  When the series begins, Ji-hee is dating a doctor but is less than satisfied with her sex life – he just doesn’t turn her on in the bedroom. She tries to bring this up him in the nicest way possible but can never find the right opportunity to talk to him about it. However, before she can bring it up, he beats her to the punch and publicly complains about how she is a dead fish in the sack. Their conversation is overheard by Tae-woo, who just happens to be sitting on the bench next to him. He is listening to headphones, but he hears everything. He is visibly appalled by the things the doctor is saying to Ji-hee.  He even takes the time to offer Ji-hee some words of encouragement – he is convinced they will never see each other again, so he figures, “why the hell not?”  

However, the two of them keep bumping into one another – to the point that Ji-hee suspects that Tae-woo might be stalking her (it is completely unintentional). The movie theatre that Ji-hee works at is getting a new manager and it turns out to be none other than Tae-woo.  At first, things are incredibly awkward between the two of them – it makes Ji-hee uncomfortable that he knows a lot about her private life. It is also revealed that Ji-hee used to date Deok-soo (who is currently engaged to Tae-woo’s ex-fiancée, Hyun-joo). They even run into Hyun-joo and Deok-soo at a restaurant. 

As Ji-hee gets to know Tae-woo better, she realizes that they two of them have a lot in common and that he is a man that she can depend on. Tae-woo’s problem is that he is not the most romantic of men – he very lowkey asks Ji-hee to marry him and it annoys her – she wants to be swept off her and he just casually brings it up while they are eating at a restaurant. There is also a sense that Tae-woo doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past – he still feels guilty over the way he treated Hyun-joo and doesn’t want to disappoint Ji-hee. Mercifully, he avoids falling into the noble stupidity trap – he just wants to make sure Ji-hee is on the same page as him before he commits to her. The two of them are easily the most likable of three main couples – neither of them has an agenda they wish to pursue, they just want a straightforward relationship.  Despite their minor arguments, they also accept each other’s idiosyncrasies.  Tae-woo is not the most obvious of suitors, but he is a perfect match for Ji-hee.

 I Need Romance 2012 has its issues, but it is step above the first series. The showrunners clearly learned their lesson from the first series and fixed a lot of the mistakes that hurt the first series. As annoying as the main characters can be in the second series, they didn’t piss me off as much as the main characters in the first series.  I genuinely was pissed when In Young got back together with Sung-soo, while Yeol-mae getting back together with Seok-hyun doesn’t bother me as much. The show does a good job of establishing that the two of them are destined to be together – it just takes them forever to realize it.

I Need Romance 3 is the best series out of the three – it has terrific leads in Kim So-yeon and Sung Joon, and much more satisfying character arc for its female lead. In real life, Kim So-yeon is ten years older than her leading man, Sung Joon, but there is no denying the two of them have incredible chemistry together.  The series also acknowledges this age disparity – in the context of the show, Shin Joo-yeon is six years older than her would be suitor, Joo Wan. Just like in the first two series, Joo-yeon and Joo Wan share a long history with each other – Joo-wan was actually raised by Joo-yeon and her mother until the age of nine. His mother was preoccupied with her business and hired Joo-yeon and her mother to look after her son. At the age of nine, Joo-wan and his mother moved to the States, and he was separated from his childhood crush. It is also interesting how Joo-won and Jo-yeon remember this time of their lives – to Joo-wan, it was the best time of his life. He has fond memories of Joo-yeon and the time they spent together. To Joo-yeon, she is reminded of a difficult time in her life – she lived in poverty with her mom and, despite being a child, she was often tasked with looking after Joo-wan. It has worn her out both mentally and physically.

 Seventeen years later, Joo-wan is back in his career – he is now a popular DJ and composer, and goes by the stage name, Allen Joo.  Joo-yeon’s mother offered to let Joo-wan stay at the family house during his stay in South Korea, but Joo-yeon vehemently opposes this. When Joo-wan calls her on the phone, she tells him she doesn’t want him crowding her space and to look for another place to stay.  She tells Joo-wan that she has a boyfriend and the sound of their lovemaking would make Joo-wan uncomfortable.

 Joo-yeon is the fashion marketing director at a home shopping channel – she is in charge of the new brands department. The best way to define Joo-yeon is that she surrounds herself with colleague but there is not a single person she can call “friend” – her team at work often talk behind her back and she, in turn, doesn’t feel comfortable when they talk about their personal lives.  She is a cold and distant person and avoids getting close to people. When her boyfriend breaks up with her (after she is expecting a proposal), she just shrugs it off and moves on with her life. She has had her heart broken so many that she has become desensitized to the breakup process.  In first two series of I Need Romance, the female lead had two best friends she could lean on, but in I Need Romance 3, Joo-yeon is on her own. When Joo-yeon was in college, her best friend, Oh Se-ryung, stole her boyfriend away from her. Oh Se-ryung has grown up to be a famous stylist and, more importantly, is the ex-girlfriend of Joo-yeon’s boss/mentor, Kang Tae-yoon. She is also close friends with Joo-wan (talk about a small world).  Joo-yeon and Joo-wan are reunited at a club, where he is DJing under his stage name, so Joo-yeon has no idea that Allen Joo is actually the boy she used to babysit. Joo-yeon gets into a verbal spat with Oh Se-ryung, and when Joo-wan finds out that this cold woman is Joo-yeon, he can’t believe how much she has changed.  The Joo-yeon he remembers was a warm and giving person, while this woman standing in front of him is a cold-hearted bitch. He is determined to change her back into her former self (even though, what he perceived as her former self was an illusion).

 The two of them become romantically involved until Joo-yeon finds out Allen Joo’s real identity – he is the bratty kids she used to look after. She believes he was trying to make a fool out of her, but he insists his feelings for her were genuine.  Joo-wan eventually moves into Joo-yeon’s house (he lives in the attic) and, at first, the two of them are at odds with one another.  Even though, Joo-yeon was initially attracted to the grown-up Joo-wan, once she finds out his identity, she no longer views him as a man but as the child that gave her a difficult time. She constantly uses their six-year age difference against Joo-wan. To Joo-wan’s credit, he doesn’t pressure Joo-yeon into dating him – at first, he is okay with being her friend.  What Joo-yeon finds so jarring about Joo-wan is his honesty – she comes from a world of brown nosers and backstabbers that when she encounters a genuine person she doesn’t know how to react – there has got to be a catch. 

The more interesting aspects of I Need Romance 3 is the gender role reversal – normally, in K-dramas it is the female protagonist who has a positive influence on the jaded male lead – he begins the drama cold and distant, but by the end, thanks to the heroine’s undying love, he is a changed man. Here, it is the opposite – Joo-yeon starts off as a cold-hearted bitch who transforms into a more open, and caring, individual, and this achieved due to Joo-wans unwavering love and support.  At first, the changes he makes to her life are minor – when he moves into Joo-yeon’s house, Joo-wan begins cooking for her. We can tell, just by her reaction, that it has been a long time since Joo-yeon has enjoyed a home cooked meal – her diet consists mostly of take out and eating out. The only item she keeps in her refrigerator is pouches of Red Ginseng – it is usually what she has for breakfast. Joo-wan also gives her house a thorough cleaning – to the point where she doesn’t recognize it. He also has a gentle way of pointing out her flaws – he doesn’t scold her but just tells the areas she needs to improve on in her life. 

When Joo-yeon’s co-worker, Lee Min-jung, gets pregnant, she needs someone to air out her grievances and concerns, but Joo-yeon completely shuts her down.  In Joo-yeon’s defense, Min-jung was doing this in the workplace and she doesn’t have time to deal with her co-workers personal. Plus, she finds the exchange awkward and doesn’t know what to say. When she tells Joo-wan about this, he chides her a little bit and then tells her that Min-jung wasn’t looking for advice, she just needed someone to talk to. The next time Joo-yeon and Min-jung are working together, when Min-jung starts talking about the difficulties she is facing, Joo-yeon begins to ask her questions, and this results in the two of them forming a sisterly bond.

 It is also Joo-wan who points out that Joo-yeon has feelings for her boss, Kang Tae-yoon. She notices that whenever she is around Tae-yoon that her heart seems to beat at a faster pace, but she doesn’t know why it is. She has become so jaded with life that she doesn’t know her true feelings about people. Joo-wan has to spell it out for her – at first, she is in denial but eventually realizes that this is true.  In theory, Tae-yoon is the perfect mate for her – he is her senior, they work in the same industry, he is competent at his job, and he is a handsome man.  The two of them start dating and Joo-yeon can’t help being disappointed – while it is true that Tae-yoon is a professional when it’s come to his job, he is at a loss when it comes to romance and often has a hard time separating his personal life from his professional life. He is also jealous of the fact that Joo-wan lives with Joo-yeong (actually, this is understandable) and insists that Joo-yeong kick out Joo-wan. This is something she is reluctant to do, because she has become fond of Joo-wan.

 

She also begins to develop romantic feelings towards Joo-wan but is in total denial over this fact – he is six-years her junior, after all.  Joo-wan initially supportive of Joo-yeon and Tae-yoon’s relationship, but even he can’t overcome the jealousy bug. It also doesn’t help that Joo-yeon keeps sending him mixed signals – she keeps insisting they are nothing more than friends and tells Joo-wan to keep his distance, but she is also all touchy feely with Joo-wan. Eventually he makes an ultimatum to Joo-yeon – it is either Tae-yoon or him. Joo-yeon doesn’t give him a straightforward answer but scolds him for being rude to Tae-yoon.  Joo-wan interprets this as her choosing Tae-yoon and he moves out of her house. It is only after Joo-wan moves out that Joo-yeon fully realizes her true feelings toward him. To quote the hair metal band, Cinderella, “Don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.”  While Joo-wan does love Joo-yeon, he will not accept until she can say those three words, “I love you.” 

Oh Se-ryung is an interesting character in her own right – in most shows, she would be set up as the irredeemable villainess, who would try to seduce the lead male away from the heroine. In I Need Romance 3, Se-ryung is actually a decent woman who make one critical mistake in her life.  She doesn’t bear Joo-yeon any ill-well, though she doesn’t show any remorse for stealing Joo-yeon’s boyfriend in college.  She has grown up to be a successful influencer and the station wants to hire Oh Se-ryung to promote their latest clothing lines -this means that two rivals will be working next to one another.  Joo-yeon, to her credit, can separate her personal life from her business life and agrees that hiring Joo-yeon is a good business move.  Oh Se-ryung does bring in the viewers and sales go up because of her endorsement, much to Joo-yeon’s annoyance.  Oh Se-ryung is Tae-yoon’ s ex-girlfriend and even though they broke up over a year ago, she still has feelings for him. She is naturally livid when she finds out that Tae-yoon and Joo-yeon are dating. Joo-wan tries to play the role of peacemaker between the two of them, but Se-ryung’s jealously gets the better of her – she tries to sabotage Joo-yeon’s team by breaking her contract and signing a contract with another network. When the deal falls through, she desperately needs her job back at Joo-yeon’s network but also refuses to swallow her pride. Joo-yeon also needs Se-ryung to promote her brands but won’t be the one to extend the olive branch. It’s a scenario where the two of them need each other, but neither one wants to be the first to yield. Min-jung recognizes how ridiculous the entire situation is and gets on her knees and asks Se-ryung to come back. After the ice has been broken, Se-ryung and Joo-yeon talk it out and bury the hatchet.  The two of them realize they function significantly better as a team than as enemies. Se-ryung still holds onto the hope that she might get back together with Tae-yoon but she doesn’t allow it to dictate her existence.  If it happens, great. If not, oh well!

Min-jung is having a fling with Ahn Min-seok, who is also younger than her.  The two of them hook up at hotels and to keep it a secret, when she meets him, she uses the name of her male co-worker, Lee Woo-young. Things go awry when Min-seok moves into the apartment next door to her and she does her best to avoid him. This proves to be impossible, and he not only finds out their neighbors, but her real name as well. To further complicate things, she becomes pregnant, and he is the father.  Min-seok goes through an interesting arc – he offers to provide Min-jung with financial support but wants nothing to do with raising the child. He believes that he is not ready to be a father. However, he is genuinely concerned about Min-jung, most notably her diet. He is appalled by the amount of junk food she consumes and puts her on a healthier diet. He then buys parenting books for Min-jung, but he is the one who ends up reading them. He then buys a life-like baby doll (it cries, pees, and poops) that they can use as practice. By the end of the series, he is excited at the prospect of being a father.  Min-seok decides to go through with the pregnancy, because the doctor told her that this will be her last chance at being a mother. She is given the character arc that Seo-yeon should have had in the first series.   

The most irritating of the couples are Jung Hee-jae and Lee Woo-young, co-workers who work under Joo-yeon. At the beginning of the series, Hee-jae is already in a relationship, but she drives away her boyfriend with her cold treatment and nonstop scolding. She is obsessed with him taking the civil service than she is in being his girlfriend. When she catches him doing charity work, she gives him a dressing down and tells him she is tired of living on a budget. He breaks it off with her and, to further rub salt into the open wound, actually passed the civil service exam but kept it a secret for her.  Lee Woo-young is able to catch her on the rebound and the two of them begin dating, in secret. Though, they are really bad at keeping secrets and all of their co-workers figure it out early on. The resolution to this relationship is truly annoying – Hee-jae decides she wants to find herself and decides to travel around the world for the next year, expecting the poor bastard, Woo-young, to wait for her.  She also informs him in roundabout way – she sends a text about her plans to Joo-wan’s radio show, and he reads it on air, while Woo-young and Hee-jae are listening on the radio.  Woo-young is, understandably, pissed off by this! She couldn’t tell him in private but rather aired her grievances out publicly, albeit anonymously. He eventually gives in and even buys Hee-jae a camera and supplies for her trip. This annoys me because there were plenty of opportunities for Hee-jae to travel around the world – namely right after she broke up with her first boyfriend, but she waits until after she starts dating Woo-young to have this revelation. It also is unfair to Woo-young – while she is traveling around the world, he is expected to hold down the fort and wait for her. If the roles were reversed, there is no way Hee-jae would have allowed Woo-young to make the trip.  Also, why does she need a year to travel around the world? She could easily take a few months off to see the world and come back refreshed – in fact, Joo-yeon even suggests she take a month off instead of quitting her job. It is one of the main gripes I have about I Need Romance 3, especially when comparing Joo-yeon’s relationship with Joo-wan.

The I Need Romance series is a mixed bag – the cast is uniformly excellent, but the writing often leaves a lot to be desired. Though, as heavily flawed as the first two seasons are, they are never boring…..frustrating, but not boring. Each episode is roughly 45 minutes long, which is the perfect length – they are other K-dramas that often struggle to fill their 60+ minute run time, but in series one the show runners figured out the perfect length for each episode. I Need Romance 3 was my favorite out of the three, and that’s largely because of I actually cared about the lead female, Shin Jo-yeon. The leading ladies in the first two series, In Young and Yeol-mae, were a bit too self-centered for my taste, and the fact that both of them are back to square one at the ending of the series was a bit disappointing (though, at least Yeol-mae goes through a period of self-reflection). However, as I stated before, I am not the demographic that the series was targeting. If you are a fan of Sex and the City, then you will probably enjoy I Need Romance.

Credits

I Need Romance
Cast:  Cho Yeo-jeong (Sun Woo In Young), Kim Jeong Hoon (Kim Sung-soo), Choi Yeo-jin (Park Seo-yeon), Choi Song-hyeon (Kang Hyun-joo), Choi Jin-hyuk (Bae Sung-hyun), Ha Yeon-joo (Yoon Kang-hee), Kim Hyeong-min (Kim Deok-soo), Lee Kwan-hoon (Seo Joon-yi), Ricky Kim (Alex), Heo Tae-hee (Ki Tae-woo), Lee Da-hee (cameo).

Director: Lee Chang-han
Writer: Jung Hyung-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes

I Need Romance 2012
Cast: Jung Yu-mi (Joo Yeol-mae), Lee Jin-wook (Yoon Seok-hyun), Kim Ji-seok (Shin Ji-hoon), Kim Ji-woo (Seon Jae-kyung), Kang Ye-sol (Woo Ji-hee), Kim Ye-won (Kang Na-hyun), Heo Tae-hee (Kim Tae-woo), In Gyo-jin (Han Jung-min), Gong Jung-hwan (Lee Jang-woo).

Directors: Lee Jung-hyo, Jang Young-woo.
Writer: Jung Hyun-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes

I Need Romance 3
Cast: Sung Joon (Joo Wan), Kim So-yeon (Shin Joo-yeon), Namkoong Min (Kang Tae-yoon),
Wang Ji-won (Oh Se-ryung), Park Hyo-joo (Lee Min-jung), Yoon Seung-ah (Jung Hee-jae), Park Yu-hwan (Lee Woo-young), Yoo Ha-jun (Ahn Min-seok), Jung Woo-shik (Han Ji-seung), Chae Bin (teen Joo-yeon), Jung Yeon-seok (young Joo Wan), Alex Chu (PD Lee Jung-ho, Joo-yeon’s ex-boyfriend).

Director: Jang Young-woo
Writer: Jung Hyun-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes.