Love Next Door, highly anticipated as the next K-drama to rope in viewers after Queen of Tears, did just that. Its first episode on August 17 drew a modest 4.9 percent. The following night, ratings climbed to 6 percent.
This Jung Hae In (Choi Seung Hyo) and Jung So Min (Bae Seok Ryu) starrer has what it takes to be the next “most avidly followed drama.” JHI, adorable charmer, noona slayer (who can forget him in Something in the Rain?), with the boy-next-door vibe, is paired with the winsome, pretty, and smart JSM, whose appeal hasn’t dimmed since her breakout role in Playful Kiss 11 years ago. Then there’s Jung Hae In’s role as single father in One Spring Night, and Jung So Min’s unforgettable portrayal in Because This is My First Life.
The two get able support from an ensemble of some of the best character actors, making LND a much-awaited weekend watch. LND got the top spot in its time slot on Saturday and Sunday. As Jung So Min and Jung Hae headed the list of Most Buzzworthy actors, the drama stayed in the top five of Most Buzzworthy dramas throughout its 16-episode run from August 17 to October 6. Its final episode had viewership ratings of 8.4 percent.
But just as viewers were getting ready to tune in for another weekend, by its third episode, there were comments from netizens that LND was not much different from Queen of Tears (QoT), Doctor Slump (DS), and Welcome to Samdal-ri (WTS).
So to get this out of the way—we do know that there are no new stories in the world, even in K-dramaland. But, why do we keep following one drama after another? The secret?
Certainly, Love Next Door uses tropes, and a K-drama wouldn’t be a K-drama if it didn’t. Here they are:
* Terminal illness or life-threatening procedure for a major character (QoT)
* A main character suddenly quitting a high-paying job in Korea or overseas for unexplained reasons (DS)
* A key player returning to the hometown to get away from a crisis in her career in the city (WTS)
*A younger sibling (usually a boy) being treated preferentially because he was sickly or nearly died as a child (QoT and DS)
* The older sister as major earner, the pride of the family, and burdened with high expectations (DS and QoT)
This may look like a long list, but the difference actually lies in how all three dramas, including LND, were written with very distinct story arcs and twists. In LND, writer Shin Ha Eun and director Yoo Je Won didn’t eschew these tropes, but used them to move LND in a totally different direction. It all had to do with the point of view.
The POV of LND is told differently from the other three dramas. Seung Hyo and Seok Ryu have lived next door to each other from childhood until Seok Ryu, always at the top of her class, leaves to pursue a blossoming career in the US. Seung Hyo stays behind and becomes an innovative award-winning architect.
Writer Shin Ha Eun and director Yoo Je Won didn’t eschew tropes, but used them to move LND in a totally different direction
Seok Ryu had a Korean fiancé, Song Hyeon Jun (Han Joon Woo), a lawyer, in the US whom the folks back home expected her to marry. Seung Hyo had a girlfriend, a potter who worked on huge jars, vessels for traditional sauces and condiments.
When Love Next Door begins, Seok Ryu has just returned home, jobless, her engagement broken. To the utter disbelief (and terrible anger) of her mother, she refuses to say why.
Into the picture comes Seung Hyo, who stands between Seok Ryu and her mother to parry the latter’s blows. He says, “When are you going to stop using me as human shield?” This, while staying in place to hold off the irate mother’s physical outburst in the middle of the street.
The early scene gives viewers an idea of how the childhood friends have always been each other’s best shield. They’ve been always there for each other, especially in critical times.
Living next door to each other until they parted ways to pursue their careers and forge other love relationships, these childhood friends have a bond that’s never been broken.
Further, their mothers Na Mi Sook (Park Ji Young) and Seo Hye Sook (Jang Young Nam) have been best friends for the longest time, two in a group of four that meets regularly (the original title of the drama is My Mother’s Best Friend’s Son). Seok Ryu’s mother Mi Sook has taken care of Seung Hyo in childhood. He was in and out of Seok Ryu’s house, ate his meals there, hung out in her room to share their favorite comic books.
Seung Ho’s mother Seo Hue Sook (Jang Yang Nam), a diplomat, was always going abroad on assignment, so he was left in the care of Seok Ryu’s mother. In childhood, the precocious girl Seok Ryu played protective sister to the shy Seung Hyo.
Although best of friends, the two moms are so different from each other. Seung Ho’s mother is the aloof, sophisticated, French-speaking diplomat who brought home for the group gifts of cosmetics from Paris. Seok Ryu’s mom is the nurturing one who prepared home-cooked meals but wasn’t above pummeling husband and daughter. She felt inferior to her friend.
Into this neighborhood mix we have Seok Ryu’s father Bae Geun Suk, owner and cook of a very popular tteokboki restaurant, and Seung Ho’s father Choir Gyeong Jong (Lee Seung Joon), an ER doctor in a big hospital. Both fathers champion their children in their own different ways. Moving in totally different fields, they end up getting drunk together as their wives quarrel fiercely and become friends again. Seok Ryu’s dad is there to cushion her mother’s very physical outbursts. Seung Ho’s father is quietly there for him, while mom is away on assignment.
When Seung Hyo and Seok Ryu realize their feelings have progressed from that of just being childhood friends, the complications appear
When Seung Hyo and Seok Ryu realize their feelings have progressed from that of just childhood friends, complications appear. No longer able to maintain the easy banter and familiarity with each other, they decide to keep their romance a secret. The drama takes very hilarious turns, and often the couple’s hijinks border on childish play. JSM and JHI are able to carry these scenes with their superb comic timing and charm. I love how they open their windows—directly opposite each other’s house—at night to talk. During awkward moments, they open and close their windows alternately, never in synch. But when things are going well, they are smiling at each other from their windows across the small gap between their houses.
Now, what else is there to love about LND?
We have here one of the most endearing second lead couples. Jung Mo Eum (Kim Ji Eun) is the paramedic who is best friends with our leading pair. She isn’t a third wheel in this case. She is privy to their secret. She knows what is in Seung Ho’s letter in the time capsule they buried as teeners. She dug up the capsule one night and kept the secret well. Playing opposite Mo Eum is bespectacled reporter Kang Dan Ho (Yun Ji On), with his precocious orphaned niece Kang Yeon Du (Shim Ji Yoo) whom everyone initially thought was his daughter. Their love line develops in a cute way that isn’t cloying at all.
But there are some things about LND that are simply over the top. First, Seok Ryu’s mother is portrayed as much too violent physically to her daughter and husband. That turned off some netizens. Park Ji Young is one of the best character actors. Writing her role this way is a disservice both to her and the viewers.
Second, the mothers—Seok Ryu’s and Mo Eum’s Do Jae Sook (Kim Keum Soon)—insisting on setting up their daughters on blind dates is a very Asian thing, but for goodness sakes, the two girls are in their thirties.
However, these negatives are offset by Love Next Door‘s portrayal of the exes of both Seok Ryu and Seung Hyo. Both are written as decent people who really loved our OTP. They are not the stereotypical scheming and vicious exes who want their lovers back.
Seung Ho’s ex Jang Tae Hui, wonderfully portrayed by Seo Ji Hye Ye—a rare treat, considering her usual roles and her personality—wants to go back to Seung Hyo, but seeing how the latter obviously loves Seok Ryu, whom she’s grown to like, she graciously gives way, her goodbye gift a hand-sculpted bowl for him to give Seok Ryu in their wedding.
The ex of Seok Ryu, the lawyer Song Hyeon Jun (Han Joon Woo), who returns to Seoul to win her back, makes his last phone call to Seok Ryu before taking the return flight to the US. Telling her to take care of herself, Seok Ryu tearfully wishes him well even as he admits that he loved her but couldn’t do it well enough. He was with her in the US when she was very ill, but couldn’t handle her depression. He then messages Seung Hyo about his time of departure. The latter, without any explanation, drives Syeok Ryu to the airport, and gallantly gives the ex-lovers the time and space to bid each other goodbye.
This is one of the most heartbreaking goodbyes I’ve ever seen in K-drama
After a final wave as he turns his back, Seok Ryu breaks into tears. Seung Hyo takes off his coat, to cover her face with it as she cries, then patiently stands a decent distance behind her. This is one of the most heartbreaking goodbyes I’ve ever seen in K-drama, but also the sweetest scene that will not be forgotten in a long time.
Here are some of the best hugot lines from Love Next Door. (Warning: SPOILERS coming!)
Seung Ho’s doctor-father massaging his ex-wife’s ankle—they have just registered their divorce—after bringing her back from the woods where she suffered a fall: “I missed you when you went to Africa. I missed you even when you were home. I will never leave you. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, we made a vow.”
In episode 9, Seok Ryu to Seung Hyo, when she first rejects his proposal: “I can’t live off of love. I need space. What’s left of my stomach can’t even hold my dream.” Seung Hyo replies, “For one more day, a week, a month, a year… I will always be beside you.”
Then in a flashback, we see that Seok Ryu breaks her engagement because she has been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. She’s had surgery that removed 70 percent of her stomach—reason she went back to Korea but couldn’t tell her parents, worried about how they would come to terms with it. We then get a close-up of Seung Hyo almost in tears, sorry about not having known and that he couldn’t even be with her then.
In one vital episode, we see Seok Ryu finding her dream—she has always wanted to cook. Without telling her, Seung Ho submits her recipe in a contest for healthy dishes; she wins second prize. Used to being the achiever always at the top of her class, she grabs this chance and tries to gain more followers to her blog on healthy cooking. Seung Hyo thrives in architecture, bagging one project after another, while staying committed to his mission of preserving the community and heritage.
Jung Hae In and Jung So Min wrapping up the filming of ‘Love Next Door,’ posted in Jung Hae In’s official IG
Love Next Door does not end like a typical K-drama rom-com. Seung Hyo and Seok Ryu don’t march down the aisle, but we know that childhood friends can indeed transition into lovers, even after much interference. Their love story is no fairy tale, is not rekindled after a miraculous cure like that in Queen of Tears, but it is grounded in reality and hilarity.
Finally, we view the closing frames of Love Next Door happy in the thought that their love will endure long after the credits roll.
