Comfrontational flawed leads daring to love again — the misunderstanding trope strikes once more
Business as Usual (adapted from Moscareto’s web novel of the same name, also known as Eul’s Love) tells the story of Kim Min Jun (Chae Jong Hyeok) and Chae Jin Hwan (Seong Seung Ha), first lovers who fall apart, only to meet again eight years later at the same publishing company.
Back then, Min Jun’s insecurities and a spiral of jealous misinterpretations turned their romance toxic. Now older but not necessarily wiser, he faces the man who broke his heart or maybe the man he never stopped loving. Jin Hwan, meanwhile, is determined to prove their story isn’t over.
Director Min Chae Yeon (Happy Merry Ending) and writer Kang Rim cleverly weave past and present, showing how time changes people and how it doesn’t. The series doesn’t glamorize love, it digs into self-doubt, miscommunication, and fear of abandonment. But it also offers second chances and the possibility of healing.
On the surface, Jin Hwan seems overconfident, even manic in the way he hides his bitterness and sadness. Min Jun, quiet and withdrawn, appears to be the more vulnerable one. Yet, like in the original novel, the series flips this expectation.
Behind the façade, Jin Hwan is the sensitive one, deeply in love but trapped in a constant fear of rejection. Min Jun, meanwhile, is consumed by paranoia, convinced that someone as “pathetic and unlikeable” as himself could never truly be wanted by someone as magnetic as Jin Hwan.
This dynamic pushes Jin Hwan into the role of the submissive, always clinging, always chasing, doing whatever he can to preserve even the faintest hope of being “more than friends.” It’s this love reversal that forms the emotional core of their story.
Carried by the chemistry of its leads, Business as Usual embraces the “misunderstanding trope” once again, but with enough raw honesty and emotional weight to make it feel fresh. At heart, it’s about two flawed people daring to confront the past and maybe, just maybe, love again.
Back then, Min Jun’s insecurities and a spiral of jealous misinterpretations turned their romance toxic. Now older but not necessarily wiser, he faces the man who broke his heart or maybe the man he never stopped loving. Jin Hwan, meanwhile, is determined to prove their story isn’t over.
Director Min Chae Yeon (Happy Merry Ending) and writer Kang Rim cleverly weave past and present, showing how time changes people and how it doesn’t. The series doesn’t glamorize love, it digs into self-doubt, miscommunication, and fear of abandonment. But it also offers second chances and the possibility of healing.
On the surface, Jin Hwan seems overconfident, even manic in the way he hides his bitterness and sadness. Min Jun, quiet and withdrawn, appears to be the more vulnerable one. Yet, like in the original novel, the series flips this expectation.
Behind the façade, Jin Hwan is the sensitive one, deeply in love but trapped in a constant fear of rejection. Min Jun, meanwhile, is consumed by paranoia, convinced that someone as “pathetic and unlikeable” as himself could never truly be wanted by someone as magnetic as Jin Hwan.
This dynamic pushes Jin Hwan into the role of the submissive, always clinging, always chasing, doing whatever he can to preserve even the faintest hope of being “more than friends.” It’s this love reversal that forms the emotional core of their story.
Carried by the chemistry of its leads, Business as Usual embraces the “misunderstanding trope” once again, but with enough raw honesty and emotional weight to make it feel fresh. At heart, it’s about two flawed people daring to confront the past and maybe, just maybe, love again.
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