Team no one LOL
The formula for a successful clichéd rom-com usually includes:1. A strong, heroic male lead. (Not really.)
2. An appealing second male lead who gives viewers serious Second Lead Syndrome. (Also not really)
3. A cute side couple. (Still not quite there.)
4. Fun besties and scene-stealing sidekicks. (This was the closest thing to a success, but they barely got any screen time.)
I started this drama for Kim Hye-jun, since I've loved many of her previous works. Unfortunately, I didn't feel much chemistry between her and either ML, and the bromance didn't land for me either.
What I did enjoy:
The positive workplace vibes and supportive coworkers.
The Korean traditional knot-making scenes.
The touch on the darker side of sasaeng fan culture.
The OST.
Overall: Watchable and pleasant, especially if you're a Kim Hye-jun fan, but not a rom-com I'll be thinking about months later like Spooky in love (1st 1/2) or Business Proposal
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Leads are wasted.
First of all, I like the leads. But I just feel like they didn’t get much chance to show off their skills. Even thought there are 12 episodes. :) With this plot, they should have just made this a movie.The core plot is good, not heavy, it’s something fun to watch. As a fan of a kpop group, I really enjoy when they portrayed a fan girl’s feeling as "admiration" and not "love in a romantic way". But, they should have added something interesting and creative to stand out not giving just a typical one like idol noticing the fan girl for ages, ex returning back, finding the spy, going abroad and coming back. Come on, this is 2026! Don’t the script writers have any creative idea?
Tbh, I expected a lot for Kang Hoon after Dear Hyeri. But now, I am disappointed. Also, I heard this is first ro-com for FL. She is different in a good way and kinda gives me Park Bo Young vibe. I hope they both do more ro-com with good plots.
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A Little Too Soufflé
This felt a bit like a plain Japanese soufflé pancake: adorable at first, impressively fluffy, and full of promise — but ultimately a little too airy to hold its shape.That was pretty much my experience here.
The opening stretch is genuinely fun. The fangirl chaos works, the bias-chasing is cute, and the whole collision between idol devotion and office life gives the story a romcom setup that is easy to settle into. It understands that being a fan can look heartfelt, ridiculous, comforting, and just slightly unhinged all at once, which is probably why the early episodes are the most entertaining.
What surprised me is that underneath all that fluff, it occasionally brushes up against more interesting ideas: the point where fan devotion becomes uncomfortable, and the quiet sadness built into idol life itself. The story never really commits to exploring any of it, but it circles those themes just enough to make you notice what could have been.
The problem is that once the leads get together, the whole thing starts to sag a little. There is not enough tension, not enough escalation, and not enough fresh energy to keep it buoyant. It does not crash. It simply runs out of air and vibes, like a party that peaked at 9 and is now just people quietly finding their shoes. It does not deflate dramatically. It deflates apologetically. Which, honestly, may be the most soufflé pancake ending possible.
The supporting cast is perfectly likable, but none of them get enough material to really steal a scene or leave a lasting mark. They show up, do their jobs, and leave before anyone can become too attached.
The three leads do a lot of the heavy lifting. Cha Woo Min is very believable as a former boy band idol, and Kang Hoon actually manages to seem like a successful young boss instead of a man playing executive in a borrowed blazer, which is rarer than it should be. Kim Hye Jun is the one who really gives the whole thing its spark. She makes a character who enters the workplace through fangirl devotion, but gradually finding her own direction and sense of purpose, feel both charming and believable. And since a lot of her previous roles have been more intense, it is especially fun to see her in something this light and fluffy.
So no, I did not dislike this. It is cute, airy, and easy enough to watch. I just kept wishing it would either lean harder into the romcom sugar or go deeper into the more interesting emotional mess underneath. Instead, it stayed pleasant, pale, and a little too airy to leave much of a lasting impression.
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Nostalgic Charm and Great Chemistry, Held Back by Rush and Clichés
PROSLead Chemistry: Their connection carries the show. The male lead is a fantastic rom-com discovery.
Nostalgic Vibe: The cinematography evokes classic old-school rom-coms.
Side Couples: Sweet and integrated without hogging screen time.
CONS
Rushed 12-Ep Format: Plot points are introduced only to be left underdeveloped (e.g., DNX).
Cliché Protagonist: Lazy writing keeps her predictable rather than fleshed out.
Weak "Triangle": The second male lead lacks drive, leaving the dynamic completely one-sided.
Marginalized Friends: Friend group interactions are pushed aside for the main couple.
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One Date Was All It Took
My Bias, My Boss is essentially every fangirl’s dream scenario with one important plot twist: you finally get accepted into your bias’s company, only to discover that your bias is no longer the person running the show.Nam Da Reum has been a fan of D.N.X for 12 years, with Lee Chan as her longtime bias. Chan co-founded APPELLO with his friend Kang Ha Gi, but by the time Da Reum joins the company, Ha Gi is the sole CEO while Chan is merely a director who only occasionally shows up. To make things even more complicated, Ha Gi initially suspects Da Reum of being a company spy, while she desperately tries to hide the fact that she is secretly Chan’s fangirl. From there, misunderstandings slowly turn into romance.
What got me interested in this drama was actually the opening script. Da Reum says, “It was his song that rescued me from my loneliness. Being a fan gave me friends when I was lonely. Most of all, I felt alive. But to him, I’m just another light among many.” As a fangirl myself, I felt seen. That line understood something that dramas about fandom do not always capture. Being a fan is not simply about liking a celebrity. Sometimes, it gives you a community when you have none, friendships when you feel alone, and something to look forward to when life feels a little dull. My Bias, My Boss understood that energy surprisingly well.
I especially liked that Da Reum started out as a loner but eventually found her best friends through the fan community, and those friendships lasted for years. There were plenty of fangirl moments, y/n moments, and little things that made me go, “Yep, that is so me.” In that sense, the drama felt like a small tribute to the fangirl life, and honestly, that was probably the part I enjoyed the most. That is why I was so curious about how the drama would handle its central dilemma. A fangirl, her bias, and her boss? That sounds like a recipe for delicious chaos. Unfortunately, this is also where the drama starts losing its footing.
The title promises a story about choosing between a bias and a boss, but there is barely any real competition between the two. From the beginning, it is obvious that Ha Gi is going to win. That alone is not a problem. We all know how romcoms usually work. The problem is that the drama gives us almost no reason to wonder what might happen in between.
Chan has very little going for him as a potential boyfriend compared to Ha Gi. Da Reum does give him a chance, but their first date quickly kills whatever romantic possibility there might have been. After that, she goes out with him almost half-heartedly and visibly uncomfortable. Even the fangirl spark seems to disappear. The drama basically cuts the cord between Da Reum and Chan before the love triangle has a chance to become a triangle.
I was hoping for the dilemma, the pursuit, the tension, the “Who will she choose?” moments. Instead, once Chan was out of the picture, the story shifted gears into a fairly standard office romcom. And because the outcome was so obvious and the journey lacked much conflict, things eventually became predictable and, unfortunately, boring.
Another issue for me was the emotional writing. I understood what the characters were supposed to be going through, but I rarely felt what they were feeling. Da Reum is introduced as an outcast, but the drama never really shows us why she became one. Was there something she did? Something she said? Was she simply singled out by the people around her? Being told that someone is lonely is not quite the same as making us understand their loneliness. I wanted to see the events that shaped her rather than simply being handed the label.
Ha Gi has also been abandoned by people around him, including his mother, but the drama often communicates this through absence rather than experience. People leave, we see that they are gone, and the script tells us that it hurt him. But the emotional aftermath is rarely explored deeply enough. As a result, his pain felt strangely bland despite supposedly being one of the foundations of his character.
Chan's struggles were even harder for me to understand. He seems hurt because he believes fans left him and D.N.X, because he has always felt like he loses to Ha Gi, and because he thinks Ha Gi does not treat him honestly as a friend. These could have been compelling emotional conflicts, but the drama never digs deep enough into any of them. His concerns are presented more like bullet points than wounds.
That became my biggest issue with the writing and directing. The drama often feels like it is saying, “So this happened, and then this happened, and then that happened,” without spending enough time on the whys and hows. I knew what was happening, but I did not always understand why it mattered. Even the visual style contributed to that feeling. The bright, low-contrast, dreamy visuals gave the drama a soft daydream quality. Instead of showing how events unfold, it was more like I was watching someone's memory or a brief summary of what happened. It was pretty, but it also created a certain emotional distance.
The casting itself was one of the more pleasant surprises, particularly Kim Hye Jun and Cha Woo Min. Kim Hye Jun playing Da Reum was a refreshing change. She has played fiercer or quirkier characters as a lead before, so seeing her as a slightly awkward, enthusiastic fangirl in a light romcom felt different. And she absolutely understood the fangirl assignment. Her reactions felt familiar enough that I could recognize myself in them. Unfortunately, some of her scenes eventually crossed into cringe territory. For me, that was more a writing problem than an acting problem.
Kang Hoon also did well as Ha Gi. He brought the young CEO energy to the character, and I could see why Da Reum would eventually fall for him. However, some of the more emotional scenes did not land for me. There was one scene where Ha Gi told Da Reum about what happened to his mother, and I found myself more aware of the acting and camera work than the heartbreak he was supposed to be expressing. His gaze stayed on Da Reum for so long that instead of feeling like I was watching someone process pain, I was wondering why he was staring at her nonstop. A few changes in gaze, facial expression, or camera angle could have done a lot more to communicate his heartbreak and the feeling of being genuinely touched by Da Reum's words.
As for Da Reum and Ha Gi, their relationship was... alright. I could tell when and why they started falling for each other, and their relationship was cute without becoming overwhelmingly sugary. But I never really got the butterflies. Most of the time, I felt either indifferent or slightly embarrassed for them. The accidental kiss scene was particularly painful. Romcoms can ask us to suspend disbelief, but even within the wonderfully unrealistic ecosystem of K-dramas, that scene felt too forced. Their other romantic moments were fine, but nothing that made me want to replay them.
Cha Woo Min as Chan, meanwhile, was a fun surprise. I never expected to see him play an idol, although I was not surprised that he could pull off the celebrity aura. He has the soft, smooth, slightly suave presence that works well for a superstar character, and his whispery voice adds to that image. Ironically, though, his idol life mostly exists at the beginning and end of the drama. In between, he spends more time being an actor and celebrity than actually being an idol.
The ending was pretty much what I expected. The drama tried to give its major characters growth and closure, and while it was not painfully rushed, it was definitely quick. Everything wrapped up neatly enough, but there was no real surprise or wow factor. By the time the curtains rolled, I was simply... there.
Overall, I enjoyed My Bias, My Boss most when it was being a drama about being a fan. Unfortunately, the drama eventually lost its grip on the premise that made it interesting in the first place. There was potential for something much more fun hiding underneath all that fluff, but the drama never quite found it. If you're a fangirl, My Bias, My Boss might still be worth checking out for the relatable fan moments and y/n energy. If you're not, it can still work as a light watch, provided you have a decent tolerance for cringe. Just don't expect your bias and your boss to fight very hard for your heart.
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This show makes ripples rather than waves
This drama is a rom-com that aimed to please. Handsome ML's matched with a pretty, winsome FL should be an easy win, right? Sort of.Let's start from the top. The plot is serviceable. A mashup of idol romance and a tsundere boss plus a touch of Mary Sue. It went off with a literal bang.
It cruises along for a few eps on adrenaline alone. While it tries to build up the love triangle between the three main characters, we were left in no doubt who is going to get the girl. (Cough) Read the show title . .
I'm not saying the storytelling is off base. It is done competently. All the roles line up like little ducklings. All the twist and turns are mere window dressing. As there are no villains, just nice people who made mistakes. This largely dictates the overall tone of the show.
This is disappointing as the love triangle is not without merit. The SML ran through the standard rich guy dating playbook. It all seems a bit perfunctory.
Just to fill the time, the series airdropped a bunch of relationship tropes and introduced a SFL. They are functional, but clinical. Angsty moments are mere ripples on a still pond.
Interestingly, this extends to their skinship. Their intimate moments feel more staged than spontaneous. They are nicely done, just lacks real passion.
Acting wise, everyone did a decent job. The FL is earnest if a little ditzy in the beginning. Both male leads are handsome. They are a little self conscious, especially the ML. I suppose that is par for the course. The support cast is an eclectic bunch. They don't have a lot to do. They make the most of it.
I won't lie, I enjoyed this show in small doses. It wielded the rom-com playbook like a blunt instrument. The sum total looks good on the storyboard, but it is formulaic . . unremarkable. Yes, that's the word I'm looking for. It is a solid filler. It will occupy a few hours of your time and then quickly forgotten. Peace.
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Between great chemistry and clichés, the charm didn’t quite work.
My Bias, My Boss had a really promising start. I really liked the concept, the light atmosphere, and especially the idol side of the story with DNX. The group brought a lot of energy to the drama, and I genuinely enjoyed seeing the members’ different personalities and their interactions with each other. The idol storyline gave the drama something fun and different, and I honestly wish it had been explored more throughout the show.
The cast was definitely one of the highlights for me. Kim Hye-jun was really charming as Da Reum and made her character feel both funny and relatable. Kang Hoon was also great as Ha Gi. Even though his character starts off as the typical cold and serious CEO, he slowly becomes much more endearing, and Kang Hoon did a great job showing that softer side. His expressions and reactions were honestly some of the funniest parts of the drama. I also really liked his chemistry with Kim Hye-jun; their interactions felt natural, and their little arguments and romantic moments were definitely some of my favorite scenes. Cha Woo-min also brought a lot of charisma to Lee Chan, while the supporting cast added humor and made the world of the drama feel more lively.
Unfortunately, the drama started losing me a little as the story progressed. The love triangle was interesting at first, but it eventually became too central to the plot. The constant misunderstandings, jealousy, hesitation, and predictable romantic clichés started to feel repetitive. I think the drama would have been much stronger if it had focused more on the characters’ development, the DNX members, and their careers instead of relying so heavily on the love triangle.
Overall, My Bias, My Boss was still a fun and enjoyable watch. It had a great cast, good chemistry, likeable characters, and a really promising beginning. I just feel like it didn’t fully live up to its potential, especially because the clichés and love triangle took away some of the charm it had at the start. Still, I’m glad I watched it, and I would recommend it if you’re looking for something light, cute, and easy to binge.
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Green Flag, Red Flag
When this was aired, I was already hooked with Spooky in Love and loving the chemistry of the two leads there. As it will come to an end, I looked for a drama without any fantasy and just pure human relationships.This drama takes us into another office romance, but the premise did not start in the office. It started with a fan named Nam Da Reum, a girl who had been a fan of one of the members of a boy band that disbanded quite some time. We may think she is an obsessed fan who eventually changed jobs just to see him.
At first, I was irritated by her fangirling. However, he became her inspiration. She did not fantasize over him, just supporting even if not seen. We may say she adored him, but not really knowing his full character.
Her bias - Lee Chan with Kang Ha Gi who is part of Appello. But since Chan focused on acting, the company has 1 CEO and that is Ha Gi. So, it must be a disappointment to Da Reum not to find Chan as her boss.
The characters have some good and bad sides, just like any human being. I would not find the writers at fault, since none of us is perfect. Da Reum may be returning to that high school fangirling, but she is hardworking and excels in her job. Her boss took notice of her, at first, thinking of her as a spy from a competing company. But when proven otherwise, Ha Gi became trusting. For the first half of the drama, Ha Gi managed to act as CEO in front of Da Reum. As for Chan, learning that her very loyal fan is Da Reum, he felt comforted and took it as a sign to date her. The special attention Da Reum received may have confused her but later realized it was not a romantic love but a fan's love.
Chan isn't the obsessive type. He only thought that the good things he does for Da Reum would make her happy. On the other hand, Ha Gi had been attentive to Da Reum, didn't force himself to be liked, but eventually his kindness was noticed. Chan may have been shortsighted and lost the opportunity to be romantically involved with Da Reum, but that does not make him a bad person. Fame has a downside in SK, as we see in many celebrity news. Singers and Actors are open to criticism or praise, depending upon how media reflects them. In the case of Chan, it seems people around him make all the choices for him and he had not thought of what he considers priority in his life.
I had been rooting for Team Ha Gi and nothing against Chan. I just feel that Da Reum will be more secured with Ha Gi. He is a Green Flag Boss.
The chemistry of the actors is good. The places they went to were not particularly picturesque but somehow relaxing. I love the Korean knot and its meaning. It is good that they inserted a Korean tradition which should be passed on to the next generation. It is like seeing the hanbok in modern era as shown in the drama The Story of Park's Marriage Contract and partly in Spooky in Love. May there be more dramas featuring tradition coming alive and may be reinvented.
I like the creativity seen even in the last episode. I like how it ended - happy, fulfilled and knowing truly who makes one happy.
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bias vs boss, girl pls?
I read the webtoon a long time ago, so I went into this adaptation knowing it was going to be different—and honestly, I think that works better for a live-action with only 12 episodes. I originally planned to give it just the first two episodes during premiere week, but surprisingly, I got hooked because this drama feels quite refreshing in how it portrays fangirling. Nam Da-reum is honestly one of the most relatable fangirls out there: she loves Lee Chan enough to change her career path just to work at his company, but her feelings aren't simply “I want to date my idol.” That line about his song rescuing her from loneliness, fandom giving her friends, and making her feel alive? Yeah… that is painfully fangirl-coded. She loves the person she has built in her head, and the drama actually understands the difference between idolizing someone and loving someone romantically.BUT here comes my biggest frustration: this drama sold itself as a love triangle, but I don't think it ever really gave that premise a proper chance. From the beginning, Da-reum is already awkward and uncomfortable around Lee Chan, which honestly makes sense because imagine your lifelong idol suddenly knowing you, talking to you, and getting close to you… I'd malfunction too. Eventually, she realizes that she isn't really herself around Lee Chan, while being much more comfortable with Kang Ha-gi. So the supposed rivalry between “bias vs boss” never really felt like a competition. And thankfully, Ha-gi doesn't give me second-lead syndrome at all because Lee Chan never feels like a serious romantic threat. I really loved Da-reum’s character development, though—from someone who always hides her feelings and keeps her troubles to herself, to someone who finally learns to speak up about what’s bothering her and let people in. More importantly, she slowly discovers her own passion and finds meaning in the work she does, instead of having her entire life revolve around her bias. That part of her journey felt more meaningful to me than the romance.
Kang Ha-gi is probably my favourite thing about this drama. He's refreshingly human compared to the usual K-drama CEO who is apparently a chaebol heir, owns three buildings, and has never touched a spreadsheet in his life. Ha-gi runs a startup, actually works, interacts with his employees, and exists as a person outside of being the male lead. Maybe that's why his relationship with Da-reum feels more natural, even when the writing doesn't always give it enough room to develop. Sadly, the story itself isn't always that neat. There are quite a few plot holes and character-development shortcuts that make it feel like the drama has interesting ideas but simply doesn't have enough episodes to properly explore them.
Production-wise, it's very much a "fine" drama for me. Nothing particularly blew me away aesthetically—the directing occasionally felt off, the overall production was pretty mid, although the BGM was nice. But the one thing I will absolutely give this drama is Kang Ha-gi's wardrobe because HELLO??? Man is the CEO of a fashion platform and clearly came to work dressed like he had a personal stylist. What a feast for the eyes. In the end, I wouldn't say this an amazing drama, because the writing needed more depth and the romance needed better pacing. But it surprised me, and I appreciate that. It's a cute, refreshing take on fandom and the difference between loving an idol and loving an actual person—even if somewhere along the way, the drama fumbled the very love triangle it promised us.
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I’ll be ruthless
Literally all my pet peeves with K-dramas collected in one single show 😭• A grown-ass woman acting like a toddler
• The classic annoying love triangle
• That one hyperactive character draining everyone's soul
Let's see if I can even finish this mess. Will update my rating and review later 💀
So yeah, for those three reasons, the show started off on a really weak note for me. These are my least favorite tropes, and without solid writing, they rarely land the ending. It went down pretty much as I predicted—flimsy writing that left the narrative feeling super shallow. First up: the 'grown woman acting like a toddler' trope... To be fair, the show somehow found its rhythm later on and I adjusted. Still, it breaks my immersion. A character who is supposed to be highly capable, confident, and driven in her career suddenly regression-bashing into a child who can’t articulate basic thoughts just feels deeply forced.
Also, the sasaeng accusation plotline was painful. I will never wrap my head around toxic stanning and how normalized it is over there. The irony of hypocrites accusing her of being a sasaeng while actively acting like total sasaengs themselves? Hello, is anyone else calling out this madness???
Anyway, the love triangle remains totally forced and mean-spirited. Why throw a wrench into a decades-long friendship over a girl? They damaged a dynamic that might never recover, and for what? There isn't even a grand, all-consuming romance to justify it. These two were practically coded as a couple because of how close they were, and now they’re wrecking their bond over the same crush? Please, give me a break.
For me, the drama finally found its footing after episode 8 once a legitimate conflict kicked in. Bringing in a figure from the past to disrupt both their professional and personal lives makes for way better television. I wish they had gone with this from the start and had the rift be about shared history instead.
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I hated it, I adored it then just tolerated it.
I planned to watch this only because I like the 3 leads a lot and desperately wanted to watch Kang Hoon as the lead in a romantic comedy.
I struggled for weeks to get through the first episode, look I am a fan girl I have been fan girling since I was like 6 and fell in love with Ricky Martin (still am 30+ years later) I fall in and out of love with celebrities all the time, fictional characters, real people, characters in manga, animated series, kpop artists etc. So I should feel represented but Nam Dareum is so exaggerated that I couldn't stand her I thought I would just drop it, but then one day I was bored and put this on. I struggled badly though episodes 1 and 2 but by episode 3 I got her, she's adorable I couldn't get enough of her I watched 6 episodes in one sitting without even noticing and happily looked forward to the next 6 to air. I adored Nam Dareum She was living my dream and for a while I was pretty sure my second male lead syndrome was going to get me again, but it didn't.
I Love how well the relationship between Lee Chan and Dareum is portrayed is so realistic yes she met her idol, he's fantastic and he likes her back but, it doesn't work, of course it would've worked because as perfect as he is (At first) he could never live up the image she had in her head. There's someone much better suited for her right there and I'm so glad she realized pretty early on.
Now the bad, what really disappointed me and almost made me hate it again is that they ruined Chan, him turning on his best friend like that, and purposely trying to hurt the girl he fought so hard to protect is so out of character or maybe it's my fan girl biased brain missing the point I just tried to make, he's human, flesh and blood with wants, needs and flaws like the rest of us, it's probably that, but I really wish they had kept him loyal to his friend and just accepted that it wasn't meant to be.
The ending was garbage, I am tired of the going abroad/breaking up for x amount of time and then reconciling trope, it's dumb unrealistic and way to overdone.
Overall I enjoyed it, I laughed a lot and had a pleasant time watching it, I may possibly recommend it, but I doubt I'd watch this one again.
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2026 is officially NOT the year for K-dramas
My Bias My Boss is yet another painfully clichéd story.I actually read the webtoon this was adapted from. Even the webtoon was pretty subpar, so I genuinely don’t understand the decision-making process behind adapting an already-mediocre story.
I don’t even go into these dramas expecting groundbreaking television
And can we PLEASE retire the annoying-female-lead trope?
It’s been done to death. The CEO trope has been done to death. The forced-proximity trope has been done to death. Literally everything in the show has been done to death
Still giving it a go coz I want to support Kang hoon in his 1st lead role.
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