lilili

The description is wrong, she never has feelings for the 2ML and she's ride or die for the ML from ep 1.

🥹🫰🫶

Con is eps 10-12 which were super melo. I got very annoyed with the plot machinations. Pro is eps 13-14 which got the drama back on track. Really funny and sweet scenes with some emotional healing for our leads.

No, I wrote that comment after ep. 8. They got together the next episode.

I'm going to copy over a comment I made on Reddit:

Now that we're 8 eps in, I have to put in a pitch for folks to check out Love In Contract. A lot of people dropped after the first two episodes because they were expecting a standard Park Min Young frothy romcom but what we got was much weirder and sadder.

Yes, a lot of it is very funny (there's a dinner scene in episode 4 that had me laughing out loud) and there are lots of sexy, swoony moments as well. But all three leads are emotionally damaged and suffering from childhood trauma and the show doesn't shy away from going dark. Watching can feel disorienting but that's part of the appeal - you really can't predict where the story is going.

What works about this drama:

A great performance by Go Kyung Pyo and 🔥 chemistry between him & Park Min Young

Unconventional characters & a quirky sensibility. The ML is a deeply weird, socially awkward person who is endearing but sometimes borders on a little unsettling (think of a next level Se Hee from Because This is My First Life). The FL is someone who presents a beautiful facade to the world but is an emotional wreck on the inside.

The writers take risks. In the first episode you are dropped into the story after the leads have already started falling for each other. The show veers from LOL funny to deeply tragic but the tonal shifts somehow work (most of the time)

There's a major gay character who is a sexual person (we meet his hookup in the first episode) and has his own character arc and goals. He also kicks ass, literally. The show also calls out homophobia.

It's not a perfect drama for sure. There's a chaebol plot that feels too disconnected from the main couple and the slow burn romance is so slow that it's starting to become frustrating. But I really appreciate that the writers went for something different and that they are deliberately playing with and subverting romcom tropes.

When the show first aired a lot of people dropped after the first two episodes because they were expecting a frothy rom-com and instead got something a lot weirder and sadder. It definitely has extremely funny moments, especially involving Go Kyung-pyo who is great at comedy, and the romance is on point too. But there's also a lot of sadness around childhood trauma for all the leads and the plotting is downright odd. It's a polarizing drama and people seem to either love it or hate it. If you do try it I'd give it to at least episode 4 before you decide whether to continue and know that it's a messy drama but personally I really love it despite all its flaws.

A lot of it has to do with how the character is written, Jiho is complex: awkward, introverted, sometimes ridiculous but also intense and ardent and romantic. GKP really brings out all the facets of the character which is a very tough thing to pull off.

That's how I feel about this drama. I'm unreasonably attached to the characters and invested in their journey even though the plotting is messy. The main couple in particular, there's something about them that just makes me so happy to see them together.

I think you better brace yourself...

Yes! But only one of my podcast partners is interested in doing it with me. One dropped immediately after episode 1 and another one just decided to drop after episode 13. This has been a polarizing drama

Oh thank you so much! ☺️ Which one did you listen to?

I freakin' loved so much about ep 14 that it's going to take me a bit to compose my thoughts but I wanted to shout out the scene where Gwangnam gives Sang Eun sex advice, I was dying. Also it feels super progressive for a Kdrama to have a gay character explaining how to have sex with a man. It was nothing explicit but the implication was there and that's fantastic

Thank you and see my reply to jihos-wife above.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. You're right but I hadn't thought about it that way. I think it's written this way on purpose, Hae Jin is the kind of lead we're all supposed to want as drama watchers but it's quiet, weird, awkward but also loving and kind Jiho who gets the girl and it's never in doubt for one second in the drama. I'm not sure it quite works but I feel like there's a vision behind all these characterizations.

HJ is his father's favorite despite everything. Him retiring means he's a legit business threat to his brothers.

I gotta say I think the show is back on track despite tropey elements like the birth reveal and the chaebol bullshit. It started out being about people struggling to heal from trauma and I feel like we're finally circling back to the heart of the story.

To be fair to his coworkers he came across as rude at first, not intentionally but he couldn't help himself. It was only with the counseling and Sang Eun that his true personality was able to come out, still subdued, still introverted but warm and sweet as well. And that's when his coworkers could appreciate him, esp. when they saw him through Sang Eun's eyes.

You spelled it correctly! Also I love this: "Kind of a found family thing which is all the more great, because he never thought himself worth of being loved by others after how his aunt (actual family) and his ex treated him (one he thought as his family) and became closed off to everyone as result. Until Sangeun came along, that was." 🥹

You're the second person saying Jiho is giving 2ML vibes but I don't understand why. Would love to hear why you think so.

She squeezed his butt in one of the flashbacks so I think he groped or assaulted her when they were alone.