Holy CRAP has it been a while since I've written something like this! I can't believe it's taken me this long to finish a drama I wanted to review. It feels good to be back! Marriage, Not Dating follows the story of Joo Jang Mi (Han Groo), a woman who has been unlucky in love despite her intense desire to get married. On the night she plans to propose to her boyfriend Lee Hoon Dong (Huh Jung Min), Hoon Dong calls in the help of his best friend Gong Gi Tae (Yun Woo Jin) to sabotage the proposal and get him out of the relationship. Obviously Gi Tae and Jang Mi don't get along from the start, but when Gi Tae's mother accidentally overhears them talking about a "proposal" and assumes Gi Tae has rebuffed Jang Mi, Gi Tae gets an idea--turn Jang Mi into the worst daughter-in-law ever, so that his mother finally stops trying to set him up with women and allows him to live alone forever. If you're looking for a kdrama without the angst, this is definitely the drama for you. Most of Marriage, Not Dating is hijinks - Jang Mi and Gi Tae pretending to be in a relationship despite not liking each other at all. Jang Mi even gets a crush on Hoon Dong's employee Han Yeo Reum (2AM's Jinwoon), and has to hide that relationship from Gi Tae's family and her own. It's silly, ridiculous, and all over the place. But angsty it is not. I love the slow burn of this series in terms of the relationship between Jang Mi and Gi Tae. They really do become friends first - because they're not really dating and don't care what the other thinks of them, they find themselves being totally and completely honest with each other in ways they can't be with anyone else. It's adorable to see them basically become best friends before realizing they would also, maybe, kinda, like to make out. Marriage, Not Dating is one of the few kdrama where the Second Male Lead and Second Female Lead aren't unbearable, either. Yeo Reum has an adorable smile, and is completely aware of what's going on the whole time. He knows when to step back and when to push, and the fact that he has a mancrush on Gi Tae and ends up living with him for a good part of the show just makes for more and more hilarious hijinks. The Second Female Lead, Kang Se Ah (Han Sun Hwa), could've been terrible if it weren't for the fact that she knows exactly what she wants and is the only realist of the bunch. She and Gi Tae used to be engaged, but when she tried to push her worldviews onto Gi Tae, he pushed back and they broke up. She's exactly what Gi Tae's parents want in a daughter-in-law, which is exactly why they can never be together. It's simple, straightforward, and by the way - Gi Tae and Se Ah are actually great friends, too. They're both doctors, they're wickedly smart, and would be terrible together. I like that the show is also heavily about family. Gi Tae's family appears great on the outside, but is actually a mess behind closed doors. For Jang Mi, her parents fight constantly, but really, truly love each other. The reason Jang Mi agrees to the outrageous fake-dating plan in the first place is because revealing the relationship to her parents makes them get along for the first time in years. And while at first Gi Tae wants his family to disapprove of Jang Mi, he finds himself getting defensive of her actions (often stuff HE told her to do) and finally capable of speaking up about all the fake family business he's had to deal with his whole life. Marriage, Not Dating is just a breath of fresh air. The main couple is ADORABLE and you can actually see why they're so good together. Their friends are actual friends, not just plot devices in a love quadrangle, and their families aren't two-dimensional Romeo-and-Juliet-style enemies. Plus, no angst! (Well, a little angst. But not much!) Definitely a must-watch.