Love in Contract

awkward situations will make you laugh!

today is october-9-2022, this drama is still airing and last aired episode is the 6th.
the story: SEun is a "professional wife": she gets hired to play the character of the wife for all the men who can afford her high prices and need to fake their marriage for social reasons.

*1st of all: you should watch this, it's really good.
*BUT, these are the conditions you'll have a good experience:

1- yes, PMY did surgery, but that's not the point here. let go off your memories of her old self and welcome the woman she IS right now.

2- don't use the skip button. what seems like unnecessary details at the moment will be crucial later. you don't know it, but I know. so, take it slow and watch carefully. I am now already rewatching the first episodes because... I messed up. don't do like me.

3- the Second Male Lead isn't annoying. he seems to be, but truth is, without him we'd have no view on FL's past. he put light on MML feelings, otherwise he'd probably never second guess his true feelings. I like to call the SML "my naive little dumby"!

4- in korea you have 2 different things: the marriage license which validate the marriage, and the marriage ceremony, which has no legal value. it's ok the hold the ceremony before signing the license (or even without signing it). as long as the license isn't signed and registered, the marriage isn't valid. people will believe you are married because they came to the ceremony, when actually you are not.

what I like and why I recommend:
the story takes unexpected turns, and I have never experienced so awkward feelings just while watching a drama. for the 1st time in my life I understood a character who wants to forget at all cost a drinking night.

after last episode: the drama has a huge rewatch value: first of all because everybody was tempted to skip scenes, and also because we all under-estimated some "tiny" details. rewatching it made me understand a lot of scenes differently.

Read More

Light Hearted RomCom

This was my second or third drama starring Park Min Young since I saw her in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, and I will always watch anything she's in.

While I did enjoy her in this drama I will say I was bummed out by her appearance. She was unbelievably, amazingly, beautiful and perfect in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, but it almost looked like she lost considerable weight since then and maybeeeee had some face work done, or maybe it's just because of the weight loss? She's still stunning but I was sad to see her seemingly so much thinner when she was already a knock out.

This was also my first drama with Kim Jae Young and Go Kyung Pyo. I loved how different the characters were and that they were able to make me really feel torn between the male leads. Most of the people I've seen discuss this show felt like she ended with the right guy and I'm not saying that's wrong, I'm just saying it was a tough call for me. lol

Read More

For me the best Comedy Romance since "What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim"

I've waited for a Drama just like that for quite a while now...Don't get me wrong, I've watched some of the recent Romance Comedies and I liked some of them but I didn't enjoy them as much as before. I watch KDramas from all kinds of genres so I am quite picky with Romance Dramas since it's not my favorite genre especially if they don't have a happy ending but I am always looking for some good feel-good romantic comedy and so far I've found exactly what I was looking for in this show. I am a little biased since I am a big fan of Ko Kyung Pyo and Park Min-young but I've dropped dramas from them if I didn't like them, so I wouldn't continue watching if I didn't like the drama overall. Since sad endings and law dramas are a big trend this year I am really happy that there is a light Romance Comedy Drama with (at least I hope) a happy ending. The Male lead is a judge so the law theme is somewhat also there :D
The chemistry is great, and the story is somewhat cliche but the characters are all entertaining and likable. I also think that they saved some unnecessary drama since the ML is very direct and even goes to some kind of therapy for his*SPOILER* childhood trauma so there are definitely scenes where you are just happy everybody communicates so well in this drama.
So far, I can really recommend it if you like Park Min-young dramas or the good old-fashioned Romance K-Dramas with a little less cliche.

Read More

Love in Contract had a good storyline from start to finish. The show had a lot of nice aspects, but there are also some parts that didn't quite go well with me.

The Good - I like how the plot was clean, there was no unnecessary or heavy conflicts that our main leads could not resolve. It was nice how both our ML and FL had their support groups backing them no matter what.
I also appreciated how the writer gave each character their own little moments to shine (e.g. Gwangnam, Haejin, and Miho). The character development for everyone at the end is amazing!

The Bad - I didn't like how every episode was packed with so much product placement, it kind of ruined the show a bit for me.
Next, I felt like the acting was lacking especially since most of the actors in our cast are quite known in the kdrama world already, maybe I expected too much, but it still felt odd and some parts cringey to me.
Last, the first half of the show was built up slowly and carefully making the viewers hooked with each episode, but I think it kind of lost its momentum at the last few. It felt like there are still some things happening but they are just fillers to keep the show going and end it in a way that is acceptable

Overall, it was still a good and fun watch, especially seeing Go Kyung Pyo acting sulky, cute, and just plain adorable.
It has also been quite a long time since we have gotten a fluffy kdrama romcom, and this one is something that could satisfy our cravings!

Read More

i liked it

I would recommend you to watch it, because the plot is very different from other dramas. and the two main leads are amazing actors who I've admired for a long time.

I loved the storylines of the two main leads, but I didn't like the storyline of ''Kang Hae Jin. I watched it reluctantly at first, but eventually I just skipped his parts because I didn't enjoy them, and his story had nothing to do with the main character's story, so I thought it was very unimportant and unnecessary to give him so much screen time.

I also disliked the last episode because I think what they did was very unnecessary.

but overall I enjoyed the rest of the drama, so I would recommend you to watch it, but do keep in mind that you may not like every storyline because I didn't.

Read More

Weird mix of romcom elements with dark childhood trauma but it works

I never write reviews of airing dramas but this drama has gotten a lot of bad word of mouth and I want to counter that for anyone who's undecided about watching it. Just know going in that the marketing for this show has been very misleading. Someone on Reddit described it as Business Proposal meets Flower of Evil meets Pretty Woman and that is very accurate. Yes it's often very funny (a dinner scene in episode 4 made me scream laugh) but it's also very heavy and sad in a lot of ways.

It has what may be the weirdest first episode of a drama I've ever seen. You are dropped directly into the story after the leads have been contract married for five years. Their entire relationship to that point has consisted of her meeting him three days a week for dinners he's cooked for her and that they eat in total silence because the ML suffers from crippling social anxiety and struggles to make connections with other people. Despite that, the FL is starting to catch feelings for the ML because he feeds her and gives her a quiet safe space and makes no demands on her, unlike her other clients who constantly have to be managed.

The FL was raised by a shady woman contracted by a corporation to groom the perfect chaebol wife so she could be married off to the eldest son of another chaebol family. The FL refused to go through with the marriage and uses the skills she learned to run a business as a wife for hire. She's been divorced 13 times and has had many more fake relationships that were never made legal. She sends all of her money to the shady woman who treats her coldly but is the closest thing she has to a mother.

The 2ML is the youngest brother of the man rejected by the FL. He's never forgotten her and even though he's become a famous actor he's named his beloved cat after her (it's a one sided love since the cat hates him). There's a big development in episode 4 that I won't spoil but this is definitely not your typical 2ML.

The FL's roommate and best friend is a gay man she fake married (later divorced) to get his homophobic sisters off his back. We first see him with the hot young man he's spent the night with but he dreams of moving to Canada so he can be openly out and attend the gay pride parade in Vancouver. It's great to see an LGBT character in a Kdrama who isn't stereotypical and has his own story arc.

The actors are all excellent but I want to give a special shoutout to Go Kyung-pyo as the ML. I've always liked him but he's a revelation in this drama. The character requires him to veer from dark and scary to endearingly awkward to sexy and smitten to panicked and jealous. He's good at all of it and I also have to mention he's in the best shape of his life and looks amazing in suits. He and Park Min Young have fantastic chemistry but she does that with all of her costars.

Whether or not you'll enjoy this depends a lot on your tolerance for drastic changes in tone and odd plotting (episode 1 felt like episode 10 of a normal drama). It's not like any other drama I've seen. I'm loving it and looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds. I hope it doesn't fall apart in the end but I think it's very much worth checking out.

Read More

Surprisingly super good

Okay at first when I heard of the show I thought it was pathetic and stupid. But then I watched it and after the first ep, I was proven wrong. It was art. I love the 2nd lead so much. The main lead just is annoying to me. At times the second lead does cross the line. He is a little over-comfortable with her and she dislikes it. The main lead is just awkward. He does do some awesome things but just bugs me sometimes. He also slips up a lot.

The female lead is crazy but so entertaining. She goes wild and I love it. She slays every day. She is so pretty and talented.

Overall it's a really funny and entertaining show so far. It is worth your time. I can't really say much since it's not completed. TBH I just want the Female Lead and her roommate's best friend to go to Canada. Just let them live their lives. The main lead and second lead just keep holding her back. Just let her retire.

Read More

This deserves more praise

So I've seen some people here being disappointed but I really loved this drama. I was so excited for new episodes every week and I loved the characters! There's some real couple goals in this one and I'm not necessarily pointing towards the main story. The character Gwan Nam is such a great representation for the lgbtqia community. His personality doesn't revolve around being the gay one or being feminine solely because he's gay. There's also a depiction (even though it's brushed over at times not to make it too serious) of the struggle of being a gay man in Korea. I was glad by the character he was.

So if you like dramas with romance, some mystery and humor I would really recommend this one. It's definitely worth a watch. And stop judging women for their looks. You never know what a person goes through, reviewers. okay thanks. Go watch it! 🥰🥰

Read More

Contract romance shrouded in mystery

Love in Contract has an intriguing storyline with good dose of romance and mystery.

The FL - Choi Sang-Eun is a professional wife-for-hire with stylish good looks, brains, an amazing wardrobe and an array of talents. Whether you need a trophy wife to boost your self-esteem during a class reunion, a proficient golfer wife to help you land a business deal, a wife to hide the fact that you are gay and to get your family off your back, or provide reassurance to your grandmother so she can pass away peacefully — the FL is there to help you out for a fee, and that includes extras if you need her to go through the whole nine yards to register the marriage. Twelve divorces down the line with enough of an egg nest to pursue her lifelong dream, the FL is pretty much at the verge of retiring except for her lingering ties towards her long time attractive and well to do albeit quiet client (Jung Ji-Ho) of 5 years. Their contract arrangement is simple, every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the ML prepares a fanciful scrumptious dinner for the FL and they dine together at his home. Ji-ho seems to be the perfect husband to FL, except that he seems shrouded in mystery...

There is a second male interest to the FL - Kang Hae-jin. He is a famous celebrity who hides his identity as a chaelbol. He has a crush on the FL for a long time and there is a back story on why he ended up being enamoured of the FL.

There is also mystery surrounding the FL.'s identity and reason for her career choice as wife-for-hire.

After only 2 epsodes, I'm totally hook on the show! Can't wait for the next episodes to be screened.

In summary, my first impressions are:

Fantastic storyline, not merely the usual romcom
Great FL and acting skills!
Love the FL stylish looks, getups and personas in her different wife roles,
High quality production
Must watch!!!

Read More