Song Ji-hyo plays a plucky film producer in 'Was It Love?'
K-drama heroines are often written as resilient and hardworking women, who overcome great odds to find success and happiness. The more a character suffers, the more viewers may wish her story a happy ending. Song Ji-hyo’s character in Was It Love? is no exception.
Song’s character, a single mom named No Ae-jung, has diligently worked her way up from an exhausting slew of part time jobs to become a movie producer. That achievement would be even more impressive if the company she worked for had any actual capital. Not only is she overdue for a paycheck, but the company is in debt to vicious loan sharks. The CEO ran off, leaving Ae-jung in an unexpected and very vulnerable position.
No amount of drive or working through the night will summon the cash she needs to pay off the loan sharks. Yet, finding that money is a matter of life and death. The loan sharks know where she lives and where her daughter goes to school.
Song Ji-hyo brainstorms how to save her company and possibly her life.
In the 13 years Ae-jung has been a single mom, she hasn’t devoted much time to dating, but just as she’s confronted with this impossible problem, her love life starts to look up.
As a reward for their patient suffering, downtrodden k-drama heroines are often gifted with not one, but two perfectly suitable romantic candidates. Although they must choose the best candidate, they can’t really lose.
There’s a saying that often comes up in Korean dramas to explain why some people are fortunate in looks, life and love. You must have saved the country in another lifetime, the saying goes, implying the person has earned the luck they experience in this lifetime. Ae-jung is certainly rewarded with suitors. She doesn’t just have two romantic candidates to choose from. She encounters four.
The first of the men, suddenly appearing in her life, is the heavily tattooed and menacing loan shark CEO, Koo Pa-do, played by Kim Min-jun. The second is her daughter’s homeroom teacher, Oh Yeon-woo, with whom she shares some past history. Yeon-woo is played by Koo Ja-sung.
The third is the actor Ryu Jin, whom she wanted to kiss when they were in school together. The actor, played by Song Jong-ho, may have been looking forward to that kiss. Finally, just to even things out, there’s the famous author, Oh Dae-o, that she hopes to work with, played by Son Ho-jun.
While she must one day make a choice, each of these men is in some way integral in her life. She needs Dae-o and Ryu-Jin to make the film that will save her company from Pa-do’s debt collectors. She needs Yeon-woo to protect her daughter.
Ultimately, Ae-jung will have to make it all work—with or without these men in her life—as she has for all the years she has been a single mother. Viewers expect nothing less than determination from k-drama heroines, even if they take time out for romance along the way.
Was It Love is Song Ji-hyo’s first TV drama in two years although she can also currently be seen in the psychological thriller film Intruder and in her regular variety show gig on Running Man. It’s Kim Min-jun’s first non-cameo role in a drama in four years. Three years ago he appeared in the film Miss Butcher. It’s Koo Ja-sung’s third drama, having previously appeared in The Secret Life of My Secretary and Misty. Song Jang-ho was last seen in the drama series Arthdal Chronicles and the 2018 film Broker. Son Ho-jun recently appeared in the drama Light In Your Eyes and the film Guy With Potential for Success.
