Netflix original: Business Proposal

The series was anticipated by many, including myself. I only saw Hyo-seop Ahn once in Abyss and I really liked it, so Business Proposal had to be on my screen the moment it came on Netflix! Rarely do you get dramas where both the primary and secondary couple have such interesting stories and you wish the episodes were stretched to the max to see more sweet moments between them. I don't know which couple I adore more! 😍😍

Quick stop for the synopsis:

Shin Ha Ri is a single woman and works for a company. She has a male friend, who she has had a crush on for a long time, but she learns he has a girlfriend. Shin Ha Ri feels sad and decides to meet her friend Jin Young Seo, who is a daughter of a chaebol family. Jin Young Seo then asks Shin Ha Ri to take her place in a blind date and even offers some money for her time. Shin Ha Ri accepts her friend's offer. She goes out on the blind date as Jin Young Seo, while having the intention to get rejected by her date. When she sees her blind date, Shin Ha Ri is dumbfounded. Her blind date is Kang Tae Mu. He is the CEO of the company where she works.

Kang Tae Mu is the CEO of a company that his grandfather founded. One day, his grandfather informed him of an upcoming blind date that he set up for him. Kang Tae Mu is a workaholic and he is annoyed that his grandfather sets up blind dates for him. He decides to marry the next woman whom he meets at a blind date, so he won't be disturbed from his work anymore. That woman is Shin Ha Ri, but pretending to be Jin Young Seo.

It starts traditionally. He is beautiful, rich, with a trauma and a defective family. She's rather average, with a student loan to pay off, a loving father, a crazy mother and a raging little brother. And of course, by complete coincidence, their fates are more intertwined than they would like 😆

The screenwriters (Han Sul Hee, Hong Bo Hee) did a great job of transporting webtoon to screen. But cuting the drama into 12 episodes only made me dissatisfied 😭 I prefer the series to have more episodes and give depth to the characters than to be cut and underdeveloped. That's why I can't give Business Proposal more than 6/10 because it ended too soon. On the other hand twelve episodes do not allow plot to slow down or take away the happiness from lovers but still I was expecting something more.... it gaves me exactly the same vibe as Noble, My Love and Mysterious Love. No aproval. 

As I mentioned in the introduction - I already know Hyo Seop Ahn from another series. I really liked him in both, but here, you could see that he has matured as an actor. His behavior is more adequate to the role, well thought out and beautifully acted. I would rate his skills in Abyss at 6 and in Business Proposal at 7/10. So the question is - if the male lead's acting is better, why is Abyss 20 points higher than BP in my ranking? 😬😜 The story of Abyss was way more unique and imprinted itself stronger in my memory. Despite that, Business Proposal is a very enjoyable romantic drama. They use every possible clichés and stereotypical elements of the genre but it sells. Oooh it sells! Drama has ended sometime ago and people are still raving about it 😅

Moving on to female lead. Shin Ha Ri is not a boring scientist who devotes herself to her work. She becomes recognizable thanks to her achievements, which makes it easier to believe that in a large corporation she has a chance to stand face to face with the president 💖

Secondary love story .... Cha Sung Hoon and Jin Young Seo were so so so so soooo great together! I was dying for their love and I wished they had more screentime. It's been a long time (if ever) since I was so drawn to the love story of secondary characters in the series. They were so sweet and crazy that I was getting pure pleasure from watching them approach each other 😍

To sum up quickly - Business Proposal is a weave of all possible romantic comedy stereotypes, which, thanks to the power of Netflix, became a huge hit. I don't assume there will ever be a second season, but the platform is moving in the right direction when it comes to Korean productions and I'm curious what will be next!