32

No Loss in Love with Shin Mina’s fake marriage

by solstices

It’s time to ring the wedding bells for TVING’s upcoming rom-com No Loss in Love, starring a pragmatic heroine who walks down the aisle to safeguard her career. As with any contract marriage worth its while, of course, sparks soon begin to fly between our protagonist and her pretend husband.

Shin Mina (Our Blues) stars as as Sohn Hae-young, whose name itself is a homophone for “You’re losing out!” Alas, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy; Hae-young hasn’t had the best lot in life, from an unloving mother to a two-timing ex. Worse yet, Hae-young soon finds herself at risk of losing out on a job promotion. For some inexplicable reason, marriage would improve her career prospects — ironic since it’s often the opposite in the real world — and so Hae-young resolves to find herself a husband.

Said groom is Kim Young-dae (Moon in the Day), playing the convenience store part-timer Kim Ji-wook. With his righteous spirit, Ji-wook spends his days helping others as a civilian officer, while stocking shelves and scanning barcodes by night. Ji-wook’s diligent work ethic allows him to handle customers with ease, save for one obnoxious regular — none other than Hae-young, of course. Though her baffling proposal catches him off guard, he eventually agrees to play the role of the groom, not wanting to cause her trouble.

At our heroine’s office, we have Lee Sang-yi (My Demon) as the CEO Bok Gyu-hyun. A cynical chaebol, Gyu-hyun doesn’t believe in the far-fetched fantasies of fated love. Needless to say, he’s even less inclined towards marriage. For all his anti-romance sentiments, though, Gyu-hyun doesn’t disavow it in fiction. In his free time, Gyu-hyun is an avid reader of a web novel, consistently leaving enthusiastic yet anonymous comments.

Amusingly, that web novel is a 19+ rated work by the popular author Nam Ja-yeon, played by Han Ji-hyun (Cheer Up). Writing under the pen name Yeon Bo-ra, Ja-yeon lives together with Hae-young, and the two share a bond that’s closer than family. One day, Ja-yeon accidentally gets entangled with Gyu-hyun — presumably through their mutual link Hae-young — and Gyu-hyun quickly realizes his heart is capable of fluttering after all.


Via News1, Sports DongA

 
RELATED POSTS

Tags: Kim Young-dae, Lee Sang-yi, No Gain No Love, Shin Mina

32

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Just between us, why in the world wouldn’t a strong and charming actor like Lee Sangyi be paired with Shin Mina as they had wonderful chemistry in “Hometown Cha Cha Cha”. Instead, this is what we get. Sigh.

14
14
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Agree!!
They would be perfect together. I am a huge fan of KYD but not with her. 12 year age difference is also not exciting. Hope we get a big surprise and Lee SangYi ends up with Shin Mina.

6
11
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I don’t want to harsh your joy but am not a KYD fan and I like it when the female actor is older as this is one trope which needs to be globally normalised given age differences of 7-12 years and often much higher are completely normalised when it comes to the male actor being older.

12
5
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Noona romances are fine, even tho I don't like them much (for reasons to do more with its common tropes than age gap itself). What's not fine is this ridiculous trend of casting actors from obviously different generations and expecting us to buy them as a same aged couple in a drama... Sorry, my vision and suspense of disbelief have their limits!

8
2
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Will they play it as a same age couple? They might be 12 years apart in the show. It still comes down for me that Lee SangYi would have been the better choice

4

@23new2kdrama I assume there isn't supposed to be any significant age gap written in the plot, because if there was, no way it wouldn't be mentioned already as per usual kdrama treatment of noona romances. Ofc show is free to prove me wrong)))

5

Yeah, I've seen KYD in a couple of things and he's just not particularly charming to me. Lee Sangyi is a lot more dynamic and I wish he'd get more chances to shine as a lead.

And I agree, it's pretty common to see men being older and people just assume that's what's normal and correct. I like it when the female actor/character is older because it's time to keep flipping that boring normalization of men being older in a couple. I think both leads being close in age is fine too, but it's a little odd that it's 2024 and a woman being older suddenly makes it a totally different genre of story somehow, instead of just an age difference.

9
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

It will be really fun to see how it all plays out. The best thing about Beanies is everyone is very different 😃

3
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

There's no big surprise happening. If I'm not mistaken, a spin-off of Lee Sang-yi and Han Ji-hyun as leads in their own love story is already approved and already in the works.

6
4
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I thought that also. I know I read that, and looked all over for it before I wrote that😂😂

2
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

The spin off is surprising given this show hasnt aired yet. Does that mean their story will not be fully explored here and saved for the spin off?

4
2
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I have absolutely no idea.

I do know this is a win for Lee Sang-yi fans who have waited so long for him to be a proper male lead, and a romantic one at that.

It could be fully explored. But I'm guessing the full juice of their story will be saved for their turn as leads.

2

The second couple (or the actors) must have shown insane chemistry that warrants a spin off or there isn’t room in this drama to accommodate their scenes. Either way, the second coupling sounds promising.

6

Say it again!!

Lee Sang-yi is a legitimate talent (he is also a classically trained theatre actor, with a pretty great singing voice).

He is definately leading man material, now of only the casting directors coukd actually see that.

5
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I find Lee Sang Yi as the stronger actor as well. KYD has not had a good track record with his recent dramas

4
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Ooh, this sounds decidedly love-triangle-less, which would be great!

I hope they give KYD lots of reasons to be a funny dork, that is definitely where he is best.

16
4
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Throw in a reserved-at-first-but-then-strangely-welcoming neighborhood barista/best friend material, and I’m game. 😂🤓☕️
(Unlikely to be LSY’s role unfortunately, but hey, maybe they surprise us? 🤪)

6
1
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I hope so too.

2
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I enjoyed KYD in Sh*tting Stars - but a major part was a script that created a unique character. I've tried follow-up dramas with him and dropped all - primarily because of the script. 😥

THIS script looks fun. I know nothing about the other main cast member, but the overall premise definitely puts this on my watchlist.

7
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I hope they give KYD lots of reasons to be a funny dork, that is definitely where he is best.

Exactly what I was thinking. His role description is promising.

6
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

This sounds like an interesting watch.

4
0
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Getting married to improve one's luck sounds very much like something k-shamans would advice to their clients, so maybe that's the reason? Yunno, to balance yin and yang... Otherwise doesn't look interesting to me - better not to count how many years it's been since I liked SMA's drama, or herself in it.

5
3
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

You said it. Financial security for one’s family and then oneself was the reason most women were either forced to marry for millennia or if they had agency, to decide for themselves. Love marriages have largely been a luxury not accorded most women and still are not.

4
2
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I'm not sure what is exact reason FL needs to marry asap here - company's policy favoring married workers, perhaps? - but from the premise it doesn't look like she's being FORCED into it... More like she's 200% done with her rotten luck and decides to fight it by unconventional means.

7
1
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I am guessing a reason which wouldn’t make any sense in the RW. Notwithstanding this, I still wish Shin Mina and Lee Sangyi would’ve had another opportunity to act with each other especially because his character here seems a bit less saintly than in “Hometown Cha Cha Cha”.

1
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

After Hometown Cha Cha and Bloodhounds, I was looking forward to LSY getting a lead role. I love his emotional range as an actor. I think there's a spin off of somthing where he's been cast as a lead? I will wait for that.

I find KYD a little stiff but I think he *can* rise to the occasion so I will root for him in this one 😍 And of course, Shin Mina. She's fabulous.

9
0
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I like Shin Mina, but lost interest because of KYD.

1
1
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I shared this sentiment too at the onset. But somehow that sentiment has waned, for me.

I've not seen Kim Young-dae in a noona romance. All the ones I've watched burnt me so bad cause I cringed. But his character description is dorky and I hope it stays so. And I hope he doesn't have to act bothered by the fact that he's younger and simply act.

I find it that when the younger guy behaves like a regular human, as he always is instead of trying to prove that he should matter or be taken serious, it is at that point that the romance blossoms for me.

They should all take a cue from Lee Gyu-han and Wang Bit-na in She Would Never Know. That's the best noona romance I've seen in dramaland so far and I so cheered for them all the way.

2
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

This story sounds fun and I love Shin Mina so I will try it. I'm willing to give certain actors another try as some are maybe limited in their acting range, but when they get "that certain role, they will rock it. Plus, the other actors are really good and worth watching for. KYD, Hwaiting!

2
0
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Shin Min-ah and a contract marriage? I’m in.

3
0
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

I actually wanted Lee Sangyi be paired with Shin Mina as leads after we saw them in “Hometown Cha Cha Cha”.

3
0
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

While I'm on board with the premise - what's not to love about contract marriages - the love story of the secondary couple being greenlit for a spin-off casts a question mark on this drama. Will they fully resolve / give a HEA to the main OTP then concentrate on the HEA for the other couple in the spin-off or will both couples be left hanging in this drama and their respective stories will only be resolved in the spin-off.
Sigh, too confusing. Guess only the viewers will be at a loss.

1
0
reply

* Register or Login (Get credit for your great comments)

Required fields are marked *

Join our newsletter ♥

Editors' Digest

Currently Airing

PRIME-TIME DRAMAS THIS WEEK
Monday-Tuesday (November 18-19) Wednesday-Thursday (November 20-21)



    Script from Main Sidebar 2