Always reliable and fun to watch Korean drama stars Jung So Min (Love Next Door, Because This Is My First Life, Soul Mechanic, The Sound Of Your Heart, D-Day, Bad Guy, Playful Kiss, The Red Teacher, Can We Get Married?, films Golden Slumber, Homme Fatale, Love Reset) and Choi Woo Sik (Melo Movie, Our Beloved Summer, Pride And Prejudice, Who Are You?, Rooftop Prince, films Parasite, Train To Busan, Golden Slumber) had marvelous chemistry together in this romantic comedy Would You Marry Me? (2025), which featured undercurrents of family and career suspense and tension that kept the audience guessing as to what the climax of the story would be, happy or sad.

Their characters seemed to face insurmountable odds while falling in love, and at the same time trying to resolve past romantic, family, and career problems successfully. The script by Lee Ha Na (Cunning Single Lady, The Time We Were Not In Love) was very inventive, though she did give us some typical romantic comedy cliches as well. However, the sparkling onscreen relationship between Jung So Min and Choi Woo Sik made even the cliches enjoyable.

The SBS drama airs worldwide on Disney+ / HULU and for some reason the uploading of new episodes was often delayed, so much so that I actually phoned HULU to ask why. I was told they were being delayed for "legal reasons". I knew that if this compelling, suspenseful romantic comedy, with its great cast, had streamed on Netflix it would have been the number one favorite Korean drama on that platform. Fewer K-drama fans sign up for streaming Disney+ / HULU so therefore the level of audience participation was smaller (although it approached 10% in ratings nationwide in South Korea for SBS).

The supporting cast was also beyond excellent. I especially enjoyed the performances of intense second leads Bae Na Ra (D.P.2) and beautiful Shin Seul Ki (The Haunted Palace). Their characters were both quite moral people at heart, despite some early bad decisions, and so I tended to hope they would end up together. Some definite poignant surprises were in store for their characters, one especially that made me grieve for Bae Na Ra's very serious character. I think I could count on less than one hand the number of times Bae Na Ra's character smiled during the whole series.

The two actors playing the main villain type characters accomplished amazing acting performances too, so much so that I wanted to scratch their eyes out so many times as I watched them manipulate people whom they desired to control! For instance, as soon as I saw actor Kim Young Min (My Mister, Beethoven Virus) appear in the drama (below) I knew immediately his character would be evil, even though he successfully convinced everyone around him for the longest time that he was an admirable, hard-working family man. After you've seen over 1200 Korean dramas like I have you simply can't fool that long term K-drama fan! :)

Most viewers seemed to dislike the other main villain even more, played by very young thespian Seo Bum June (Nevertheless). He played the fiance of Jung So Min's character but he was despicably cheating on her while he pretended to love her. His character was so blatantly flamboyant and immature that fan reactions against him online bordered on the hilarious! Any actor who can make you hate his character to that level must be doing something right! ;)

THE STORY:

We meet sweet and pretty Yoo Meri (Jung So Min) who is a professional artist / designer promoting client companies' various products with immaculate and stunning artwork. Her design work is in high demand because it makes their products visually appealing. She quietly plans a marriage with a younger man named Kim Woo Joo (Seo Bum June), having taken out a marriage license with him, but not yet holding a public marriage ceremony.

 

Soon enough she realizes that he is cheating on her with another woman and she considers a divorce as soon as possible. However, she suddenly learns that she has won a huge nationwide contest for a luxury townhome in a rich neighborhood! She can only keep this beautiful home if she can present herself as an official newlywed. She doesn't want her cheating "husband" to know she has won this contest. If he did find out she would be forced to share ownership with him of this beautiful property, and if she sold it she would have to split the profit with him as well. In the terms of the contract she couldn't take full possession of the luxury home for three months, to prove the marriage was on firm footing. Because her "husband" had caused her big financial hardship she feels it's not right he should benefit in any way from her winning the home.

 

By some amazing coincidence, after an evening of drinking to calm her nerves, she runs into (literally!) a man who has the same exact name as her errant "husband", Kim Woo Joo (Choi Woo Sik). After their amusing encounter (which entails her falling down upon a giant cactus, requiring a trip to the hospital!)  she comes up with the idea of asking this stranger with the same name as her "husband" if he would present himself as her husband so she could take ownership of the house she won in the contest. At first he thinks she's a total nutcase but slowly he becomes drawn to her, especially when he learns they had briefly met as children on the day he had lost his parents in a vehicle crash. She had showed compassion to him and he had never forgotten her.

 

This Kim Woo Joo is the son of a rich family that owns a popular national bakery called Myungsoondang. He works in the marketing division and is quite successful. The whole conglomerate is overseen indirectly by his Grandmother named Go Pil Nyeon (Jung Ae Ri, Lovers In Paris, Angel Eyes) and directly by an uncle named Jang Han Gu (Kim Young Min). The uncle presents himself as an upstanding citizen and husband of a loving wife Kim Mi Yeon (Baek Ji Won, Extraordinary Attorney Woo) and little son; however he is actually secretly involved with a long term mistress named Oh Min Jung (Yoon Ji Min) who works as his consultant. The uncle also engages in money laundering and tax evasion, and sometimes when he is about to be exposed by suspicious employees he conveniently gets rid of his enemies ... by murder! Arranged car crashes are one of his favorite ways of disposing of these potential troublemakers.

Then Kim Woo Joo #2 realizes his company owes money to Meri's marketing / artistic company for a project that had been completed awhile ago but never paid for properly. He decides to make up for that oversight by agreeing to pose as her official husband so he could facilitate her ultimate ownership of the luxury home. She is very grateful. They even pose for fake marriage pictures. They manage at first to fool some of the head honchos at the media empire who had held the townhome contest, but over time people begin to doubt their story, especially the quiet, serious executive assistant named Baek Sang Hyun (Bae Na Ra), as well as a female doctor friend of Kim Woo Joo #2 named Yoon Jin Gyeong (Shin Seuk Ki). She has had a crush on him for years but tries to reign in her jealousy about her secret crush, crushing now on someone else. The more she has personal encounters with Baek Sang Hyun the more she starts to grow compassion and interest in him, instead of Kim Woo Joo #2.

A Rare Smile From Baek Sang Hyun!
GRAB THE SCREEN CAPTURE! LOL!

Then Kim Woo Joo #1 finally figures out about the contest win of his "wife". He breaks up with his clandestine girlfriend and tries to make it up with Meri, but she isn't having any of his nonsense anymore. Both Meri and Kim Woo Joo #2 have to decide what they will reveal about themselves and their new caring relationship to the world. Meri has to deal with her impatient Mom (Yoon Bok In) and Kim Woo Joo #2 has to reveal the truth of his new feelings to his now sickly Grandmother. Also all the evil conniving of the rotten uncle is revealed which will tear apart his whole family. They all have to try and put into practice the wise old adage, "The truth will set you free." After so much deception will it even be possible to experience healing?

Would You Marry Me? is quite an hypnotic journey to take entertainment-wise; watching it helps you escape from the daily stresses of your own life at the end of a long day, to root for characters who need to make some wise but hard choices before they can possibly experience happiness. Disney+ / HULU this year 2025 has really outdone itself in bringing us addictive romantic dramas of excellent caliber, often even better than Netflix or Viki provides. Don't miss this one! Enjoy!

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