The Interest of Love (2022)

Challenging Watch with an Ambitious Realism Theme

This Kdrama was an addictive watch that had me tuning in weekly to find out what will happen to its 4 protagonists. There aren't any clear good guys and bad guys in this show - there are simply people who do sometimes do honorable things and at other times do shady or evil things. Sometimes, you're sympathetic to the situations that the characters find themselves in. Other times, you're mad because how-could-that-character-be-so-manipulative-and-why-won't-they-be-honest-with-each-other. This is the series' greatest strength and greatest weakness: it tries to capture the nature of the human condition with a lens of looking at love and interpersonal relationship. However, to me, it fell just a little bit short of this goal. Still, it's worth a watch.

The acting was mostly top notch. The cinematography of this Kdrama had a muted, melodrama tone, so it demanded a similar flat-affect from its actors and actresses, with the appropriate outbursts of emotion when the situation calls for it. Of the leads, I found Moon Ga Young, Yoo Yeon Seok, and Geum Sae Rok to be the most effective at displaying this kind of style where most of the time, they are just acting like normal people wearing typical faces, but occasionally, they need to dial it up to 10 and display tender love or extreme indignation. The only person I took a little issue with was Jung Ga Ram: he seemed a little stuck in that passive look most of the time, and I didn't really buy his moments of tenderness, and felt that his anger seemed unnatural but that may have just been how his fictional character was written.

The music was appropriate for its setting and has a lot of those tracks with a coffee-shop feel. I don't think it will go down in history as a legendary OST, but it had some pretty catchy beats. In particular, I enjoyed 손을 마주 잡고 ("With Me"), which ended up as the signature lovey dovey track.

I think the reason this Kdrama gets a bad rap around these parts is because it's pretty atypical: it isn't a wish-fulfillment-type of romance where you're watching two gorgeous, fictional characters fall in love on screen. It tries to capture some of the normal pettiness that comes with real human relationships, which involves a lot of things that don't make sense to an omnipotent viewer: characters lie or manipulate for their own purposes. I think this also makes it a hard watch. But, if you enjoy muted melodramas, I recommend you give this one a try - it's not perfect, but I think it tries to stay true to the realism of its source material to deliver a satisfying show.

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The Frustration of Love Interest

I like where the series is going, it was frustrated to watch at first couple of episodes
but it started to get better after ep7, below is a summary after watching ep8.

FL is frustrates me but I cannot stop watching!
After watching up to 12 episodes the one character that frustrates me the most
is the FL Soo Young, she answers questions with a question if it has anything to
do with who she likes or who she is interested in. The conflict and frustration of
this is she want to date the ML but she doubt herself as she feels she is not good
enough for him as she did not go to a Universaty. After the 2FL joined the bank and
formed a relationship with ML, it was clear that FL had love interest in ML but she instead
took a turn and started dating the 2nd ML who is a security guard which has his own financial
and career goals problems. This has created more tension between the M & F leads
Once you pass the first couple of episodes, the story will start to unfold with her but she
keep us on our toes after each episode.

Turning Point for M & F Leads!
I loved the fish market scene in ep8 with Sang Hoo trying to sell fish
and this was my favorite scene so far and also the turning point of the drama with the scene
where Soo Young found out Sang Hoo helped reporting on the Bank Manager's behaviour
against her. When she offered to help sell the fish, I was like finally something good might
happen between them now as they are attracted to each other.

Who is Mi Kyung?
One thing is clear now is that Mi Kyung is trying way too hard and her intentions
are not genuine with Soo Young and she knows Sang Hoo likes Soo Yang.
She prepaired her plans to work at the Bank to get her College crush to want her
but this seems very forced. She pretended she could not skate but her mommy dearest
spilled that she was an amature figure skater lol. What an ambitious liar!
I will get back to this twat of a character....
2nd Female Lead is Doing Too Damn Much!
Mi Kyung's true colors are finally showing with forcing herslf with this new relationship,
she kissed him first, she calls him first, she showed up at his place uninvited and so many other events she been doing ongoingly to getting Sang Hoo to like her.
Soo Young is only playing along with Mi Kyung but she knows she is not a geniune friend.
Mi Kyung bought the painting Soo Young liked and placed it in her bathroom,
such a savage move knowing that Soo Young would see it as she is coming to her house
for that fake birthday surprise with the mats. That is when FL realised the 2nd FL is
being fake and what kind of a gift is that to give someone for their birthday?

2nd ML Will Bounce Back But .....
This story emphasis on social ranking and sadly the 2nd ML is the lowest rank in the work
place, he is dating the popular teller but felt short after paying for his father's surgery and
failing his test. The thing I admired was FL gave him back some hope, the living situation
is not the best but might be the only option to help him get back on his feet to prepare to
take the test again. It's crystal clear there is no chemistry between them but her intentions
are geniune to help him get in the police academy. I think 2nd ML might find love at the Police Academy once he passes his test.

What Drew Me In!!!
The ending is giving hints of something going to happen between M & F lead but what
if those hints were a trick as we did not see them in the same shot?
I want something good to happen and I'm really liking where this is going finally!


After watching Ep8 I gave it a 8.5/10 as I saw where the story is getting smoother and no more frustrated scenes.
I will update my review along the way.

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Torturously realistic to the point of pessimism

This is a very well-written show with well-developed characters. None of the characters are shown to be particularly good or particularly bad - but as human beings, which is something I greatly appreciate as a writer and avid drama-watcher. The realistic themes covered here will definitely get the viewer to think long and hard about our societal framework and how that can either help or hinder our happiness.

Another thing I like is the acting of the main four. Though all of them are subtle with their emotions, they still form distinct personalities which make for great performances overall. Understated acting is perhaps one of the hardest types of acting to accomplish, so I believe the lead actors did a superb job with their characters, being neither overdramatic nor wooden.

A warning for those who want a happy ending: you will be sorely disappointed. The ending is an unconventional one which feels like a missed target. Especially with the emotionally-draining situations the characters are often stuck in, not experiencing even one moment of true happiness, the ending feels like somewhat of a waste, especially for viewers like me who watched the drama as it aired. If you decide to watch this show, be careful to not get too emotionally invested in the main characters as I did.

To close, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys rich character development and unpredictable, yet realistic outcomes. The best part of this show is how incredibly human the characters are, which is something I believe needs to be shown more in movies and TV.

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The Interest of Love. A story of four imperfect flawed people learning to love

making their mistakes, falling and picking themselves up again. Yes the plot of the drama can be frustrating hence my rating but it's a drama that makes you think. Certain scenes ect can be dissected non stop getting a different outcome every single time. And well that's life. I think that's what both the writers and the director wanted to achieve. The characters here aren't perfect and cardboard cutouts. They are flawed and realistic. Sometimes their choices leave the viewer scratching their head with either confusion or frustration.
At it's core tho, it's a slow and interesting story that shows a complete different side to love. Love isn't all rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes it's pain and heartbreak. The Interest of Love shows that well. SuYeong and SangSu are two very damaged characters trying to find their place in the world and their lives. One is idealistic and romantic while the other is emotionally damaged and closed off. The second leads carry their own pain and burdens too. MiGyeon(SFL) especially is someone who has been hurt heavily by both her past and SangSu and although she makes you hate her at times she also makes you root for her. She is the one who picks up herself the most and learns from her mistakes. The best character of the drama and my favorite. She made me proud. In the end I think both SuYeong and SangSu let go of their past trauma & learn the lesson they are meant to but not as well as MG.
The realism, slowness of the drama and the open interpretation of the ending can turn people off but I'd say give it a chance. It's a deep drama that makes you look at love in a different way and think about things differently. I enoyed it even if both SY and SS frustrated me at times. Will I recommend it? 50-50 it depends on taste. If you want a simple, slice of life drama then IoL is definitely not for you. If you want a slow, true to life drama then I suggest watching this: may not regret it. I didn't.
I think the cast did an incredible of portraying these characters. I have found some actors I really liked while watching this.
Overall I give this an 8.0 because there were certain parts I really enjoyed while others left me frustrated. While I re watch? probably not. As much as I liked the cast, I think it's a one time drama. It might lose it's appeal with re watches.

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I’m Interested in You.. until you are very uninteresting

I’m a huge pessimist about things so I don’t know if this drama will be a full melancholy or if it will be lighthearted. So far it’s a calming watch as the plot and setting are easy to follow. I think the name of this drama is really clever, as the main characters work in a bank. he promotional wall warn you of love square.. it’s a melancholy and won’t be fast paced or tropey… whatever

As for the first episode .. I really liked it. It doesn’t seem like the plot is too much for the show to handle, and I think it will follow a slice of life with characters opening up about their backgrounds and we will learn why they are the way they are. The main two characters are both very likeable. I love this upwards trend of respectful men that are caring.. very green flags here. It’s so heartwarming to see a man simply cherish and care for someone, the main character has been pining for the main girl but he isn’t overbearing about it. He has been working with her for years and hasn’t pressured. He admires her from afar.

Yoo Yeon Seok is the main lead and he is the green flag. I really love his character so much, he is just a really good person and the first episode shows many examples of that. He is also a handsome guy and it’s nice to see how this actor can stay in a lighthearted drama, but sell a completely different character so well. The feelings he has for Ahn Soo Young are very wholesome and I love how we can see this coming from an adult man. I see a lot of high school dramas portraying crushes and those are fine. To see a grown man feel excited and get worried about how to react for someone is interesting since I haven’t seen it too many times. Especially done where he is just so respectful and cautious.. the guy gave her his jacket when she was climbing a tree. He notices her and does small things for her without making a big deal out of it or holding her accountable.


Ahn Soo Hyun is a very interesting. She is very soft spoken and takes care in what she does. She has ambitions to move up in her job but isn’t too overly confident. So far I’m the most interested in her story, why is she so calm? Why is she so nice? I understand why the lead pines for her, she is really just an intriguing girl that people want to be around. She’s appealing and the first episode sets it up for a story between the two that could be very satisfying. Moon Ga Young does a great job with her character, as I saw her in Tempted playing basically the opposite of this character. Although she can come across as cold in some scenes, there is a reason to why she’s holding up a wall. With this being a melodrama I believe she isn’t just one sided and harsh; I want to see why she gets cold and harsh and how she can thaw out.

This drama isn’t too amazing /yet/. The trailer makes it look like it will be dramatic in the right places and tugging at the heart strings for others. I’m looking forward to see how this show develops and so far it’s a gorgeous modern drama with bright scenes, like likeable characters, and an easy going script to back it up. Yoo Yeon Seok is such an amazing actor. Honestly saying that is an understatement. Even in the first episode he’s already got me feeling just as anxious and down bad as he is

None of the main characters are bad people actually which is refreshing. But they fumble the bag with the resolution between the characters. It’s just. It engaging.

A sore spot of this drama is that the conflicts revolve around relationships. Which is something I don’t usually like and it tends to drag a bit. But with the addition of new characters coming in it keeps things interesting and keeps you wondering. The longer time you have with the characters.. it just makes you not like them as much. There are decisions made that don’t have to. I understand that it doesn’t exactly make it bad writing.. but as for engaging me it wasn’t doing it.

Finishing up the drama I must say it really dragged. Like I had to skip a majority of the last two episodes because it was just going over old things. What needed to happen took so long. I honestly grew to not care and it’s too bad because aesthetically I was really enjoying this drama at the beginning. The last three episodes just lost its touch. It was just boring.. and I usually like the dumb and stupid dramas- but this one just wasn’t fun to me anymore. It’s too bad.

I did really like the osts and I wouldn’t go as far as to say don’t watch it. I wouldn’t tell someone to watch it either honestly.

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if you want to watch a female toxic character draging everyone down in slow motion...

this one started of so promising actually. I could relate to pretty much every character up to episode 9 or 10.
Yes, the class system in Korea is harsh, very rich can't marry very poor people, true mostly.
Yes, a kind of traumatic childhood can give you trouble in your relationships as an adult, I can relate to that too.
And the writers played it out nicely for a while, with the fl and ml doing that 'wanting but can't dance' - although the 'wanting' side was 95% the ml, and the 'can't' side 99% the fl.

I did wonder a little why the fl was quite overreacting for the ml to shortly hesitate when he was late for their first restaurant date. I understood her first angry reaction. But given that she liked him too at that point I did not understand why she would not, at least some days later, and when he apologised for about a thousand times, - why she then would not even consider it could have had many different reasons why he shortly hesitated. Did he forget to lock something important in the office maybe? Did he feel really unwell or hey, was he maybe scared too? She gives him no credit, won't let him explain and drags this offended diva behaviour to the max. I found her character difficult at that point and my understanding her slowly vanished from that point.

But it gets worse. Every single time the ml has enough of her escapades - which are fueled with her steady looking angry blankly and simply not answering any understandable questions, just leaving people standing there like idiots - it's her luring him in again, giving him some spark of hope with her controversial behaviour. And every single time he bites the bait like a fish, she - vanishes again, or suddenly doesn't talk to him without any explanation.

She meanwhile starts some kind of alibi realtionship with the young guardsman who obviously likes her, while she, doesn't really like him but feels reminded of her dead young brother and lives out some trauma coping - I'll give her she might not actively realise it, but it's what she does.

This misery gets even topped when the fl stunts a fake fling with another co-worker, to put everyone off of her. Well, that is rather short sighted as she could instead just have had the courage to break up with the guardsman (who has his own palette of troubles by the way), instead of so deeply hurting and humiliating him with this strange plan. Also to blame is the co-worker of course, a friend of the ml, who easily destroys his friendship with this stupid stunt.

And after that stunt where most of the bank's employees and employers do believe it took place, it gets toxic to the max. So our fl does this stunt to also put off our ml from her - fine. But the next thing she does when he is hurt, and angry, and doesn't want anything to do with her -she leads him on again, making a scene, with tears and telling him'everybody is badmouthing and hating me and asking me questions and YOU don't even care and don't ask me about it?' Excuse me, WHAT?

This is borderline narcissistic behaviour par excellence from her, she wants him away, even pulls this destructive stunt and when he stars hating her - understandably, she blames him for not caring to know why she did all that shit?

He falls for it again, follows her home (pretty much every night by the way, which, once again, has this creepy stalking vibe I disliked and criticised in other dramas before), we get an ultracheesy, her sitting in the rain crying, and him bringing the umbrella, both staring at each other quite silly in the pouring rain for an hour. Of course she doesn't only get a sniffle for being in the rain, she gets ill being on the brink of death (or so it seems) with a fever the very next day. Our ml drives to her house again, finds her ill, and totally overdoes it. So he is in Seoul, with a car in front of her house. She of course has no cold meds at home (why ever that is), and he runs like a madman through the city at night to find all pharmacies closed (surprise) until he finds one that is open. Sorry, but why didn't he go by car? And why did he not take ten seconds to use his phone and simply look up which pharmacy near that place has emergency opening that night? This is all pretty nonsensical. So well, he gets about 50 different meds for a sniffle and a little fever, cooks her the expected sick porridge and leaves. She is funnily enough, completely well the nex day and at work and doesn't even care to believably thank him for his caretaking. But, all of a sudden, she gives him high hopes again, asking him out for dinner at the weekend. He bites the bait - once again, already knowing she will leave the company for another branch soon.

So, it really happens, they meet for that weekend dinner, he is carefully happy, longingly staring at her, trying to say only the right things, ( he is never really angry even at that point which is very unbelievable) and she is still rather friendly cold towards him, leaving him in his car saying goodbye from outside.

And then, it's not even surprising, after all this verbally giving him new hope by saying from now on she will prioritise her luck and her feelings, she - completely vanishes the very next day, her place is empty (however she managed that over night so shortly) she changed her phone number, has resigned from the company and is gone without a trace.

So, wow, she is so very toxic, it's almost unbelievable. And I can't excuse all of this because she has some childhood trauma, as many people have and don't act out like that steadily.
I wouldn't even mind that much if she would just be cold towards everyone including our ml, because she is just not able to have any relationship. But she plays it out once and again, everytime he starts getting away from her for being hurt yet another time, she drags him in again, and even asking him to give her compliments, to tell her once again how much he likes her etc. it's quite unbearable to watch it.

But don't get me wrong, the ml is not any better. Although being at least 40 or older, he is using another woman too who really likes him, almost marrying her although he knows he simply has no feelings for her. I also understood that to some point but shortly after he was just a coward not breaking up with her completely as he obviously knows how painful it is for her that she can't do anything for him to like her.
As mentioned before I do ask myself with some male drama characters why they always have to have these stalking tendencies. It is not normal to follow a woman home pretty much every night, standing in front of her house, spying from corners on what she is doing and whom she is talking to. I also aks myself does he not have any other things in life? Does he not have friends, family meetings, hobbies? All we see is him at work drooling after the FL and watching her every step, and after work following her home like a stalker. Also thinking about his age, experience in life, and looks, I simply don't believe he would be lead on like a 15 year old hormone-ridden school boy after all the things the fl does through the episodes. I just don't believe it.

And on top of that, since episode 10, everything is dragging in total slow motion. I don't know why, but it seems like the writers simply couldn't find a way to sensibly fill 16 episodes, so especially ep 13 and 14 are a total drag, with scenes drawn to the max and nothing happening, flashbacks we've seen 5 times before or even scenes that kind of took place before (our ml and the other woman breaking up with her crying for what feels like the 10th time).

Altogether I have the problem I had several times with other dramas which started promising: I don't like any of the characters.

So, as I have watched 14 episodes already, I will watch the last two episodes too, maybe fast forwarding, just to see what kind of unbelievable end the writers have thought about.


Result: good idea, good start and development and then it goes down the drain.

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This drama got me hooked the most

I have been a kdrama fan since the start of the pandemic, and I would follow the release schedule and watch episodes as soon as they're released. I've had shows that got me curious about the next episode so I rewatched them a couple of times before the finale. But never have I had the need to actually reflect and process the story until The Interest of Love came.

When it was first released on Netflix, I thought it wasn't worth watching. But I gave in and was glad to "binge-watch" 4 episodes in one seating. I was immediately hooked! At first I thought it was similar to Our Beloved Summer in a sense that it's a start-of-the-year summer drama with a really cool OST, but set in a bank. But there's more to that.

I have probably rewatched the entire series up to the current episode (14) at least 3 times already, and here are some of the things I love:

1. It's super uncomfortable to talk about class disparity, but that's the reality. Opportunities are never equal, and more often than not, the rich would easily get what they want without much struggle: education, network, career opportunities, promotion, material things, and even a relationship. The lower your social class, the harder it will be to achieve a comfortable life. Further, it's a huge challenge for those in the lower ranks to be accepted by those on top. Power tripping, impossible criteria, and even unfounded gossips will be thrown at you.

2. It's difficult to understand love and the dynamics of relationships. I tried to dig deeper into the characters and found that their past (including family background, events, experiences etc) defines who they are right now and why they react this way. I read somewhere that the characters in The Interest of Love definitely need a therapist to start with their healing process, because they are all broken at one point. Just like all of us need healing first before being in any form of relationship.

3. The decisions the characters make are very frustrating. While watching the first few episodes I always thought, why did this person choose another lover? Why did this guy suddenly have a girlfriend when finally the one he wants has just broken up with her boyfriend? Why did this guy marry another, then regrets leaving his ex immediately after the wedding? Just like reality, we often regret our decisions immediately after making them, but just choose to stick to it for convenience.

4. I love how symbolisms were peppered across the series. Circle (of life), cigarettes, coin, car, calendar, food (ramyeon vs porridge, offering food and accepting it as a sign of accepting love or forgiveness), even the references to the novels and classical music. During my rewatches, I often had to pause and reflect as to the meaning of what they said. Even the characters' names and meanings reveal a lot about their decisions.

5. The actors are all amazing! From the main leads to the support, they all deliver and exceed expectations. I even had to drop everything that I was doing just so I can process the emotions I felt through the actors! This drama does not require exaggerated moves, but the smallest gestures and voice modulation of all the actors really hit the spot!

6. The cinematography, music, editing, etc are all intelligently done. The reason why I'm so hooked to this drama is because of the emotional attachments that were built up by this team of geniuses! Ep.13 is my favorite because I can still remember how my pulse rate kept on raising through the episode with all the plot twists and revelations! No wonder that episode also gained its highest ratings, thanks to the build-up towards the end of Ep12 that kept us wanting for more! Heck, there was even no preview of the next episode at the end of Ep14 but everyone's still curious as to what will happen at the finale.

I find it hard to move on to another kdrama after being immersed in The Interest of Love. Before, I can easily watch a handful of series at a time and move on easily, but whenever I watch something lighter I miss watching TIOL and end up rewatching a scene (or the entire series) all over again!

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It's a story about love not a love story

I went in with an open mind. It was clear from the beginning it was more of a story of life than a romance. The main characters made some curious decisions. It was frustrating but as their stories unfold some clarity is provided.

They portray the ML as serious and a deep thinker. I understand ppl make mistakes but he makes a lot. His relationship with his mother is the only redeeming quality he has imo. But it makes you wonder even more about the writing. If he loves his mother this much how can he continually throughout the show hurt women?

The FL is probably the highlight of the show but she's also frustrating. She's portrayed as intelligent and reserved borderline cold. Her choices also cause pain but they dive deeper into the reasons of her choices.

I can't stress this enough it's a STORY about love, not a Love story. I recommend this if you are interested in the highs and lows of love, like and pain.

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