This drama was one I picked up because of my love for Kim Jae Wook, despite his continuing second lead status. An added benefit was that I had already seen Seo Hyun Jin in Another Oh Hae Young last year. Jo Boa, who played the female second lead had not exactly left an incredible mark in Shut Up Flower Boy Band, so I wasn’t very psyched about that. This was a show that I have incredibly mixed feelings about so here it goes.
Temperature of Love narrates the story of Lee Hyun Soo (played by Seo Hyun Jin) who is aspiring to become a screenwriter for dramas but is at a low point in her life. 28 years of age, she is still cleaning up messes of senior writers and being treated badly by those she works for, with no prospects of any success in the future. It is at this time that she meets On Jung Sun (played by Yang Se Jong), who is 23, works in a restaurant kitchen with hopes to eventually run his own restaurant one day. The moment the two actors share the screen, the scenes are on fire because of their constant banter and instant attraction towards each other. I think I developed a small crush on Yang Se Jong because of those initial episodes. After a very short time dating, Jung Sun’s career calls him to Paris, and Hyun Soo of whether she wants to date a man younger than her at a very indecisive stage of her life does not hold onto him and lets him leave.
In the meanwhile, she wins her first writing competition, which establishes her credibility as a writer and gets an offer from Park Jung Woo (Kim Jae Wook) to sign up with his entertainment company. Hyun Soo does not falter and agrees to it, however Jung Woo in fact, wishes to propose to her, to which Hyun Soo responds with a clear no because she’s already in love with the person she never held on to, meaning Jung Sun. Jung Woo, having tonnes of cash needs to invest in projects and unknowing of Jung Sun and Hyun Soo’s relationship, already approached Jung Sun before he had left Seoul with an offer to establish Jung Sun’s restaurant.
This is how these characters are connected and the romance, rivalry and friendship between the three formed the basic crux of the drama. However, there were a great many things that eventually did not work out for the show, in my opinion. Firstly, Jung Sun’s imminent return was as much celebrated me as possible, however, the character arcs of multitude characters went awry at that point. Hyun Soo’s indecisive nature was almost flippant and did not speak well about her as the older one in the relationship. She eternally considered herself to be the one in authority, which was just so so so unfair on Jung Sun’s character. Same goes for Jung Woo, after having painted him as a friend for all, the sudden makjang second lead jealousy that was brought up was one that Kim Jae Wook had trouble coming to terms with. The actor is incredibly seasoned, as is Seo Hyun Jin, and it felt unfair on them that their characters were so ill-defined. As for Jo Boa, I kind of already didn’t expect a performance that would be off the charts. However, again Ji Hong Ah (Jo Boa) could have been written better in order for us to possibly see some better acting by Jo Boa. One reason for such badly written characters was again, that 20 episode stretch. There was so much initial chemistry by the lead couple and so much gentleness but somehow it got mulled over for the most unhealthy dose of psychological angst.
My only comfort lies in the fact that P.O., or Pyo Ji Hoon of Block B got his first ever acting role in this drama and he’s already my bias in Block B. So seeing him being an adorable fluffball was so much fun. Here’s to hoping we get to see more of P.O. in dramas ❤
All About Asia 