Thank you, Missvictrix. Now how about telling us how you really feel? 😉 I want to like it, but I’m not feeling it yet. I esp agree with your line, “everyone feels like their acting”.

Even though comparing it to Search: WWW is doing that show a disservice, the central romance started so similarly that it's hard to ignore it. Maybe that's why it felt like the actors were sleep-walking through their interactions?

Sadly nothing else is at the same level. If they wanted to portray SHK as a strong career woman, they shouldn't have had JKY swoop in to save her multiple times in the first week. Nor should the central focus of the show be how this super competent woman continues to withstand continuous humiliation for...a promotion? If she's so good at her job, she should move on.

The dialogue also really does feel like it's been written by a teenager imagining what adults talk about. The scene where SHK meets up with her friends was so cringe - apparently all 30-something women talk about is how old they are and how important or unimportant men are 🙄. And let's not talk about how every other character is a caricature esp. the parents.

I thought it was just meh for me as well but when I was pulling weeds later, the show came to mind and really got on my nerves! Like . . . 2 Korean people IN Korea meet and get along so well that they have sex immediately and yet the entire interaction is . . . in French 🤔 (and pretty bad French I’m guessing)(And don’t get me started on Monsieur Bangs le Designer). I hate her friend/boss, I don’t like his fashion PR friend, I don’t like the parents. And guess what, I looked it up and even the Chanel quote at the beginning is wrong 🤣 She actually said:
“I don’t do fashion, I AM fashion.”
And
“Fashion changes, but style endures.”
And
“Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
And a number of other really witty things, you can look it up 😁

The series is a PPL monster.

For a woman focused solely on her career, and secretly mourning her decade dead BF, hormonal one night stands lacks character depth from the writer. SHG's cold acting style does not help.

The first feel....Youngeun is a cold hearted woman. She doesn't feel and leaves any feelings.
It's great if the character is cool. But cold is not cool. How do you like a drama if you don't like the character(s)?
Second, Song Hyekyo needs to learn from Han Sohee when it comes to bed scene. Cmon, production team, this is not how you do a sexy 19+ rating. You don't start with zoom in kisses and showing some muscular back.
Create a setting, start exchanges of smoldering gaze, slight but intimate touch THEN zoom in kisses follows by hot sexy bed scenes.
Nevertheless, a trainwreck that it is, at least do some much more believable hot scenes.
Jang Kiyong is a good kisser, but Song Hyekyo....*sigh*....
And why do I see she frowns all the time? I've been seing that from Boyfriend days.
The only interesting thing in first 2 episodes is the cutthroat fashion business depiction. And the outfits at the fashion show is supercool.

Yeah, this wasn’t it for me either. No sex scenes can cover up the fact that their interactions were depressingly clichéd and done a million times before in other dramas. Also, the scene didn’t need a 19+ rating at all. There was no real steaminess or chemistry there. Dal-li and Gamjatang had a much more exciting make-out/fade-to-black sex scene and I’m pretty sure there was no 19+ rating involved.

Maybe it’s time for dramaland to realize that women can be career-driven *and* interested in love. These traits aren’t mutually exclusive. Let our heroines get laid without adding in some weirdly-inserted trauma from another man. And while we’re at it, let them be competent without being needed to be rescued professionally every other minute. I’m so tired of this.

Watching a woman ignore a successful man is somehow a trope I don't get tired of watching. Plus, Young-eun being dismissive of J was enjoyable. I'm not sure how the 1st episode was 19+ because I recall Her Private Life having steamier make-out scenes and it wasn't.

Its interesting to see the hidden cost fallacy with Yong-eun's job, the President really appears to have shaped her into being the daughter's stooge. I wanted her to toss the papers back in the President's face. It would be satisfying to see her proceed to get a different job who wouldn't hold her back and make her clean up after her not-friend. But to her its the same thing she's been doing for over a decade. (It would be interesting if they show this habit get deconstructed.) Its funny that I'm realizing this is similar to a few c-dramas I've watched lately. Its like overtime & job loyalty PPL.

Song Hye-gyo and Jang Ki-yong also fit better together than I was expecting. His character didn't give me a red-flag alert which, yes this is a low bar, but it was a relief. I don't think he's smitten yet, just intrigued there is someone not falling over themselves to access him.

To be honest, this drama last only 15 minutes before my eye——even Lovers of the Red Sky last longer then this. The Pusan Fashion Week is shot elegantly, people are beautiful, but what is the point for watching all these?

Honestly, unlike @missvictrix, I don't mind to have a one-night-stand at the beginning of the show. The problem is: what is the purpose of having this in the beginning? Sorry to be frank, if I want to see a sex scene just to arouse my animal instant, I will go straight to PornHub, not this K-drama.

In terms of telling a story through a sex scene, the best I watched so far is a 2007 movie called Lust, Caution. The movie has 3 sex scenes, and every time they make love, their relationship is getting more intimate, yet more painful, and that drive the story to the final climax. This is called a good sex scene in a story.

Song Hye-gyo is another person who offended me. No doubt she is beautiful, but she has only one facial expression (Gianna Jun in Jirisan is another good example of such acting). A beautiful face may be a plus, but not an excuse you can have bad acting. Park Eun-bin may not be stunningly beautiful, but every time I see her in a drama, I feel for her characters' highs and lows (in The King's Affection, and in Do You Like Brahms? which is an old drama I am visiting now). This is call ACTING.

For someone who like the drama, I may be too harsh, so I say sorry in advance. Obviously Now, We Are Breaking Up is not my cup of tea.

Someone else on the Internet summed up this drama pretty aptly using Aretha Franklin's iconic shade towards Taylor Swift: "Great gowns, beautiful gowns."

That's what this NWABU is. A whole lot of nice clothes, makeup, jewelry, visuals, and that's it. I think all the clothes and N19+ rating were to cover for the fact that there's nothing else to this drama.

Jang Kiyong has little to work with so he's just standing around looking nice.

Song Hyekyo. Man, where to even start? SHK has never been a strong actress, but she's never been this bad. Her scenes have me wondering if she is reading her lines off a teleprompter. She gives ZERO facial expression. Like lady, move your eyes, your mouth, your nose, move something! I don't know if she got too much Botox and she can't move her face, or she's unwilling to move her face. I really think she lost what little acting skills she had during her hiatus. Watching her is maddening.

Story is going nowhere. None of the supporting cast is appealing. I'm going to give this one more episode before I rage-quit.

hmmmm... jury's still out.

It's cathartic reading all the comments. It also relieves me of having to say anything critical about SHG. That and the fact I was so irritated by Encounter tempered my reaction to her in this. It's terrible to say she/her character was so lacking in Encounter that she seems almost animated in this, still cold, but I'm sure she did smile a couple of times.

But what really bugged me was the character:
1. Her refusal to acknowledge him the morning after
2. Her refusal to be gracious about his standing in as a photographer
3. Her lack of recognition of him as a famous photographer in an industry she's in
4. Her being on the phone at the dinner table (how rude)
5. Her inability to thank him (and complete lack of curiosity) for arranging the stand-in celebrity
6. Her cold dismissals of him again and again
I know it's all underpinned by her self-protectiveness, but it's so damm rude and vulgar.

And this is not about the acting but the writing. If you want to convey a character who has closed off the possibility of a relationship with a man, is this the only way to show it?

I couldn't pass the first 30 minutes. Shall I continue? Need advice here, Beanies...

I am a Jang Ki-Yong fan so I had high hopes for him in this drama. Sorry to say I think his chemistry with SHG is negligible. I agree with a pervious poster that SHG is so blank most of the time. I must be getting used to her bland acting since I've seem most of her dramas.

On a side note I don't like her make-up on this show. The dark coloring ages her. Since she is a natural beauty, she doesn't need those dark eyebrows and lipstick. It was distracting to me.

Wish JKY had a better drama showing now that he's in the military. I'll just be patient and wait for his return when hopefully his next drama will be with an actress better known for her acting than her looks.

I really like this drama so far. I think that people are having way too high of an expectation because its SHK first drama since Encounter and JKY first drama since his military service. However, I wasn't expecting anything different or special. I loved the opening scene especially the elevator scene was hilarious.. but I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary so I like the pace and things so far. JKY really is good looking by the way ( Ironically, he was offered the lead in REcord of Youth originally I hear). Speaking of which, I am getting more a Record of Youths vibes than WWW Search except its ROY the grownup version. I am actually looking forward to see the mystery unfold as well and what happened with his brother.

Now, my other thoughts. SHK is getting slammed a little on the message boards which is unfair. I think people wanted a Vincenzo style drama or something big because they are low key acting like she is in competition with her Ex husband and that annoys me. I even heard that she had to fight to get this role because they wanted to go with another actress. So I hope people stop that nonsense and unnecessary hate and just enjoy the drama... SHK Fighting!!

I have nothing against a one stand night to start a drama but they should have showed us their strong attraction before and made a little more steamy than that... They rated the first episode 19+, there are so many hotter kiss scenes in dramas that weren't rated like that...

And why they spoke in French after? They both had a very strong accent, so cleary neither of them was French or French speaking...

SHG sounds and acts like her last dramas characters, there is nothing new and it's boring.

The story wasn't so bad. But at least, in WWW she didn't let people taking advantage of her. The SFL let her doing all the job when she's the boss...

I am sorry to Kdrama fans I have to agree with this thread!
I just could not feel the first episodes yet. I really feel like actors are "just" acting.
I am watching Red sleeve cut at the same time too and I immediately feel the atmosphere and stories and the acting are "really" acting...What I meant is that they really immerse into the stories which I thought be be romantic only but unpredictably also very emotional, humorous, light, and charismatics! I will watch Red sleeve first, leaving Now we are breaking up behind and watch it later when I am bored. So sorry, this feeling happened to Song Hye Kyo previous dramas with Park Bo Geum too...It's just beautiful but I don't feel anything! What a pity! They are supposed to act, not to look awesome on screen! Maybe I expected from them a lot!

I was not planning to watch it but after a sleepless Saturday night, end up watching 2 episodes row. I was surprised that I did very much like it :) I am not a fun of SHK. I only watched Encounter and DOS and I didn't find her likable at both dramas. But She is amazing here :) My background was media and wow I have met so many women like her. She was so real! I still have friends like her . Working environment and pressure was exactly same that's why I quiet years ago. Plus I want everything that she was wearing there :) I also worked for magazines and this famous photographers were like pop stars then :) Looking forward to next episode .

I gave a try, it has famous name on it, but the writing, the direction and the robotic acting is just not for me. There is nothing from this drama that makes me want to go back. I thought it was just the first episode that was bad. But then I could not bring myself to finish the second one. It is bad. There is no motion and emotion on it.

I had fun watching the episodes.
Some things could be better (the rated scene, for example, as many beanies have already written) and the leads are a little stiff, but so far they work together (and I had my doubts about).
It was fun that she stayed at the blind date because she was hungry (and I'm glad the misunderstanding didn't last) and that, even if she seems to reject him, she is playing - and even enjoying - the same game (for example, sending the photo to him).

Episode 1 began with the same anonymous sex which was the reason I dropped US shows years ago. No need to waste more of my time, I'm dropping this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two episodes, and I think the criticism of the FL is unfair. People who are hurt protect themselves in different ways. Clearly, she has developed a way of dealing with life which isn't particularly attractive, but give her a break - it may not be "bad acting" - maybe that is how she manages to cope with the stresses and strains of the life she is leading. Anyway, I'm going along with that for the moment. I wasn't bored. I wasn't offended. I wanted to watch an intriguing drama with a good storyline and so far, so good. A one-night-stand is precisely that - an encounter with a stranger which begins and ends at a hotel door with no regrets. Move on!

I didn't expect a whole lot going into this but still felt disappointed by the end. That surprised even me. I didn't exactly mind the opening with a casual night with some guy you barely know. But I LOL'd at the fact that they structured the first episode with the plot of male lead being her mystery one night stand as a big AHA moment as if audience is soft brained. My mind immediately went to Grey's Anatomy pilot where Derek and Meredith meet the same way. But then the elevator make-out happens. I actually think that attraction that makes your skin feel hot that you can't keep your hands off each other would have been better direction here for story. I just don't get the whole setup around casual sex where there are zero sparks. I mean for all the fireworks outside, the scene was PG13 at best and I cringed at it. I felt no heat. And the tropes aren't helping anything. Its a lot of cliche and lots of good Samaritan hero saving the ultra qualified heroine who should not be in need of saving however subtle that may be. I will tune in next week....I am hoping there's more to this than pretty faces with passable, bland acting.

Dropped this show because of the rating 19+. If I want to watch 19+, I can find lots of US show that's rated 16+, to the point that I'm sick of it. The reason I'm switching to Kdrama is because it's subtleness; I love that most of kdrama's rom-coms are amazing to give strong feeling that makes my heart flutter, cry, feel strong jealousy that ache my heart or in so much excitement; all of these WITHOUT having to 19+ the content (or western show rate 16+)

But here I am dropping by just to read the storyline. Haha.

Was i the only one thinking they missed a gorgeous fireworks display?? 🤣
That wannabe influencer was so annoying i wanted to slap her..I dont get the issue with her not wanting to wear the clothes, dont they have contracts to follow?
Anyway ep 2 was definitely better so i’ll stick around for now.

I had considered giving episode 2 a chance, thinking my critique was too harsh on episode 1 but it doesn't sound like it improves much. My biggest quip with the drama is everything feeling so over-the-top and shallow. Real soap material. The FL is cold, rude and self-important and the ML seems high in confidence but low on self-respect seeing the way he lets her treat him while still keep coming to her rescue. Their relationship is bound to be toxic so at least I get where the titular break up is coming from.

@missvictrix This recap looks like it was written by old DB lords (Javabeans and girlfriday) because it is so snarky 😂😂😂

It has been a while since I wrote, disappointed by some reviews that I found incorrect. And I am here now in spite of myself to defend SHK. You're killing her by telling her that she can't act and that she's cold. Now, I don't know her very well, I have seen her in DOTS and Encounter and I liked in both. She is not immobile, it'is called measured acting. Her mistake in this new Drama was to accept a model as a main lead, who does not have an expressive face and who in my opinion does not know how to act at all, a bit like the much celebrated Hyun Bin who in CLOY was literally held on by the talented Son Ye-Jin. Now, if SHK will be able to do the same with this young actor I don't know, I honestly doubt.
The script doesn't start well, with a useless sex scene that we K-drama fans find useless, we leave some ideas to the Americans.
The plot already seems obvious, and I don't know if I will continue to see it, but it will not be SHK's fault, whose only fault was for her haters to have separated from her husband.
If Kim Jin Hyuk will come back, maybe I could see this drama again, but no, he is engaged in the navy. 😆 Sorry for my English.

Knowing how many men fell for SHK, I am not surprised the brother of her dead boyfriend has fallen for her, on serious note, I don't really think it was necessary to make male lead the brother of her previous love.