Ah, YouTube algorithm, you know me so well. Thank you for repeatedly suggesting this drama special to me, because I ended up clicking on it – and loving it.

Honestly, this feels like a cute rom-com, condensed into just 1 hour and 8 minutes. I actually wish this were longer, coz I enjoyed it so much. ❤️

If you like your rom-coms a little earthy, and have an hour and 8 minutes to spare, I highly recommend checking out this one.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Do Hye (Jeon So Min) is a math teacher who’s also a bit of a klutz. Whenever she faces an embarrassing moment, she writes it down in her notebook so that she can reflect on her “wrong answer,” just like she tells her students to do, for math.

One day, Do Hye is selected to attend a camp for writing math college entrance exam questions, and there, she runs into Pil Seung (Park Sung Hoon), who, mortifyingly, is privy to some of her embarrassing memories from their college days.

STUFF I LIKED

1. Show has a good sense of its narrative.

What I mean is, even though our story is only an hour long, there’s a sense of progression and purpose, as we move through our story. Show even splits the hour into chapters, which helps give a sense of progression as well. I liked that.

2. Our story tone is light yet earthy.

I found this story very relatable and accessible (except for the math, which you guys know I suck at), and I also liked that our protagonist doesn’t beat herself up too much, even when she embarrasses herself.

It kinda feels like Show is saying, “It’s okay, we all embarrass ourselves, and we all live to see another day.” I thought that was nice.

3. The secondhand embarrassment is very manageable.

Given Show’s title, I was a little worried that the secondhand embarrassment might be a bit much (if you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’d probably know my threshold for that is a little low), but I needn’t have worried.

It’s not only very bearable, it’s mostly quite amusing, even.

4. Our characters are likable and easy to root for.

Which I’ll talk about next.

Quick spotlights:

Jeon So Min as Do Hye

I find Do Hye a very relatable and likable protagonist. She’s smart and capable, but has made mistakes, both big and small, in her life.

I’m sure we can all identify with her desire to put the embarrassing memories behind her, and move on to better and brighter days.

Park Sung Hoon as Pil Seung

After enjoying Park Sung Hoon’s adorkably melty turn in 2020’s Into The Ring, I couldn’t resist the idea of seeing him in this as another romantic leading man.

I was happily surprised to find that Park Sung Hoon’s possibly even more swoony in this – and it’s amplified by that black bomber jacket, his police uniform, and the matter-of-fact knowing looks that he gives Do Hye. 😍

Park Sung Hoon needs to play romantic leading man more often, seriously. He gives me feels and heart-eyes. 😍❤️

Do Hye and Pil Seung moments

I loved watching all the scenes between Do Hye and Pil Seung.

From the initial denial, to little sneaked-in demonstrations of care and concern, to meaningful looks, to growing hyper-awareness, it’s all very absorbing stuff, and I lapped it up with glee.

Who knew that so much romance could be packed into a 3-day math workshop? 🤩

STUFF I LIKED LESS

There’s nothing that I truly dislike about this little show, but here are a few things that I liked less:

1. Do Hye’s ex-husband Jin Sang (Oh Dong Min)

..can be pretty annoying – though he’s mostly harmless. (Ha, that description also fits his recent role in Into The Ring. If you saw Into The Ring, you’d know what I mean. 😉)

2. Teacher Oh (Song Ji In),

..the classic innocent-looking manipulator, can be quite annoying as well. But in the end, she’s pretty harmless too.

3. I did wish that Show’s production values were better,

..and the color palette, prettier.

4. Like I mentioned earlier, I wish Show were longer.

I think this would’ve been so great as a 6-episode mini series.

That would’ve given Show more time to flesh out our characters and tease out their relationship development.

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

I was mortified on Do Hye’s behalf, when Jin Sang drunkenly blurts out all the sordid details of their marriage and divorce, in front of all the other teachers at the workshop.

Ack. Worse, this is also in front of Pil Seung, and this entire thing seems to throw off the burgeoning romance that’s beginning to bud between him and Do Hye.

I can’t blame Do Hye for going straight to her room and not planning to come out again, until it was time to leave.

I thought it very brave of her to put herself out there, and let Pil Seung read her embarrassment diary, so that he could see for himself exactly how she feels about him.

I also found Pil Seung’s response very clever. I love that he enlists Jin Sang’s help to craft math questions that, when the answers are put together, would yield Do Hye his phone number. So perfect, for a math teacher! Smartie. 😏

And it’s just like him to give the diary back to Do Hye in such a deadpan fashion.

I can’t blame Do Hye for putting the diary in the freezer the minute she gets home, from the mortification of it all.

Thanks to Jin Sang, though, Do Hye finally thaws out the diary, sees the questions and solves them – and it isn’t long before we get smiles, giggles and happy hugs (and some cool fight moves from Pil Seung! 🤩), as Do Hye and Pil Seung finally get together for real.

Awww. They are adorable. 😍

I’m a little bummed that this show is as short as it is, but y’know, I can’t complain too much, because while it lasted, it put such a firm, goofy grin on my face. ❤️

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Sweet and cute, while being earthy and relatable.

FINAL GRADE: B++

WHERE TO WATCH: