Viewers everywhere fell in love with the socially awkward Grim Reaper (Lee Dong-wook) and charismatic Sunny (Yoo In-na) from the drama, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. While they weren’t the main couple, their tragic love story left viewers longing for them to be reunited for their happy ending. It’s a no-brainer that someone needed to bring these two together again to reignite their natural chemistry. Dong-wook and In-na returned together in the romantic comedy, Touch Your Heart.
Unfortunately, the drama only achieved mediocre ratings compared to those of their former show. The show in itself isn’t as unique and intriguing as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. Instead, it’s a romantic comedy about a legal office that uses many tropes from basic K-dramas. However, as predictable as it can be, the drama paces itself well as it builds up the main romance while breaking up all that mushiness with some good old-fashioned legal cases.
Despite having these two together again, this isn’t a part-two of Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. The story centers around a no-nonsense lawyer Kwon Jung-Rok (Lee Dong-wook) who reluctantly accepts Oh Jin-Sim (Yoo In-na), a has-been actress, as his secretary. In the beginning, the show is misleadingly set up showing them as opposites that will always be butting heads. However, they quickly learn how to work with and balance each other out. Jung-Rok looks at things more logically and Jin-Sim provides an emotional outlook. It’s a nice change of pace to not see an overbearing and angry boss who is always belittling their secretary. Additionally, we almost immediately get to see their romance begin instead of it being awkwardly introduced half-way through the show.
The show plays a lot with “first impressions” and how nothing is what it seems. Oh Jin-Sim’s character, in particular, appeared like a dumb and superficial celebrity. Every line she spoke was done in a squeaky “aegyo” voice to the point that it was initially cringy. Luckily, In-ha dialed down the personality as her character took her new role as a legal secretary more sincerely. Jin-Sim takes her job so seriously that you’ll forget that she’s just an actress looking for hands-on experience for an acting role. Jung-Rok also appeared as he would never even try to get along with Jin-Sim, but he learns to appreciate her hard work and ends up relying on her like a partner.
For a legal drama, the show has many romances brewing about the office. Kim Se-Won (Lee Sang-Woo) and Yoo Yeo-Reum (Son Sung-Yoon) are the second-lead couple that always brings down the whole atmosphere of the show. While Jin-Sim and Jung-Rok bring brightness and excitement to the show with the beginnings of their relationship, Se-Won and Yeo-Reum are former lovers who left each other on bad terms. Down to the colors of their scenes, their gray and moody parts don’t really do anything to but add unnecessary filler to the show. Their entire plot line could have been left out and it wouldn’t have greatly affected the show’s main story.
On top of their broken romance, the show also follows the love lives of the members of Jung-Rok’s office. The multiple romances can be overwhelming at times, but the show spends just enough time on them to not overshadow the main couple’s romance. Unlike the second-leads, they bring more warmth and funny moments to the show that make more sense considering that it’s a more light-hearted drama.
To break up all that romance, the show is still a legal drama and presents a few serious cases throughout the show. As stated before, the show plays a lot with “first impressions” and we see a few cases that may look like they have straightforward and obvious answers. However, with the staff’s help, we find out that there’s usually a deeper story that creates more of a gray area.
One case that stands out is a girl who finds out her ex-boyfriend has been obsessively stalking her and had previously drugged her. This case delves into the entitlement of males who believe women should feel obligated to be with and submit to them. In today’s era, it’s a topic that is probably relatable to women everywhere. Jin-Sim relates to the case due to her own similar experience and how the public ostracized her due to what they perceived to be true. On the surface, she looked to be involved in a drug scandal, but really she had been tricked and drugged by a man who wanted to be with her. It’s great to see Jin-Sim tackle her previous trauma with a new perspective while also helping the victim in this case. The show did a great job in developing her character from a ditzy and failed celebrity to an intelligent and empathetic legal secretary.
Overall, this show has a great balance of genres with its mix of comedy, romance, and drama. Although it falls into a few tropes, it doesn’t take away from the chemistry of the main couple who continue to work out the kinks of their budding relationship. While it is a legal drama, this is still more of a romance and its main focus is always on the main couple’s relationship. The show paces itself well and shows us a healthy and balanced couple who also happen to work together to solve cases.
( AGB Nielson. Images via tvN)
