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.
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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