This review is written by someone who usually doesn’t do romantic comedies. Horror, crime, and medical mysteries typically float my boat, but I needed a palette cleanser after finishing Juvenile Justice. Business Proposal still wasn’t on my radar, though—not until I saw people talking about the kiss scene. You know, that kiss scene. So, naturally, I had to check it out. If you haven’t watched it yet, be prepared for spoilers.  

If you’re looking for a drama that closely follows reality, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are looking for something lighthearted (mostly), funny, and absolutely insane, Business Proposal is just for you.

Shin Hari (Kim Sejung) is trying to get her life together. She works as a researcher at GO Foods and enjoys her job. Once she’s done with work, she helps at her family’s chicken restaurant. Hari enjoys spending time with her best friend, Jin Youngseo (Seol Inah), and fantasizes of being able to tell her crush that she likes him. Unfortunately, just when she thinks she’s making moves toward her goals, she gets into an altercation with someone and ends up owing a lot of money.

Youngseo tells Hari that she’ll give her the money, but she has to go on a blind date in her place first. They planned to destroy the image of Youngseo to offset the blind date—something they’ve done before. All bets are off when Hari realizes that the blind date is with GO Food’s CEO, Kang Taemoo (Ahn Hyoseop). Rather than running for the hills, Taemoo decides to marry Hari; only he thinks he’s marrying Youngseo. Hari tries desperately to get Youngseo to correct the mistake but every time she or Hari try to persuade Taemoo to leave her alone, he gets more insistent on marriage.

After ridiculousness and hilarity ensues, Taemoo finds out he’s been conned and sets out to make Hari’s life miserable. What’s surprising, or not if you’ve watched enough of these types of K-Dramas, is he starts to fall in love with Hari.

After hiding, the truth of their relationship comes out to Taemoo’s grandfather, Chairman Kang Dagoo (Lee Deokhwa), who wants them to break up immediately. He tells Taemoo there’s no way he can marry Hari, to which Taemoo angrily refuses. Hari spends the rest of the show trying her best to win over Chairman Kang.

One of the refreshing things about the drama were the second leads, Youngseo and Cha Sunghoon (Kim Minkyu). Youngseo was the reason this whole fiasco happened, but she was a fantastic friend to Hari throughout the series. Between speaking her mind and standing up to her father who wanted to marry her off like a business proposal, Youngseo was a breath of fresh air whenever she came on screen. Her interactions with Sunghoon were intense and fantastic as well. But, again, did you see that kiss?!

Another refreshing thing about the drama was the comedic relief that often seems to come. For example, Youngseo’s fear of bugs in her apartment, Jo Yoojung’s (Seo Hyewon) ridiculous attitude, and the TV show Taemoo’s grandfather was obsessed with. Be Strong, Geumhui mirrored what was going on in the chairman’s life, yet he didn’t see it. He gives excellent advice to the characters on screen, yet he’s dreadful when those same situations happen to him in real life.

Final Thoughts

Business Proposal is lighthearted, fun, and something to cleanse your palette if you usually watch heavier, darker K-Dramas. But is it the perfect romantic comedy? Unfortunately, no. Personally speaking, there could have been longer episodes with the second leads since their chemistry was so magnetic. The drama also seemed to try to fit too many tropes in the last two episodes. With car crashes, time jumps, and jealous girlfriends, things began to feel disjointed, which is disappointing.

Also, the last two episodes had too many plot holes, which was frustrating. Viewers didn’t even get to see a wedding for Sunghoon and Youngseo. Usually, however, drama watchers aren’t looking for perfection, just something that looks interesting and provides a distraction. This drama fits that bill. If this review has you curious, Business Proposal is available to watch on Netflix. If you’ve watched the drama but want a better ending, or at least a chance to fill in some plot holes, you can read the webtoon on Tapas.

Edited by Kelly Sipko