Netflix K-drama Romance in the House: Ji Jin-hee, Kim Ji-soo reconnect in family romcom
Lead cast: Ji Jin-hee, Kim Ji-soo, Son Na-eun, Choi Min-ho
Latest Nielsen rating: 5.18 per cent
There is nothing like having a roof over your head. But how much leeway would you give a bad partner who does at least ensure you keep your head dry?
This is the question thrown up by the unusual family dynamic in Korean romantic comedy drama Romance in the House, at least in its early episodes.
The roof in question belongs to the rented flat of Geum Ae-yeon (Kim Ji-soo, High Class) and her daughter Byeon Mi-rae (Son Na-eun, Ghost Doctor). It is not the nicest flat in the world but both work very hard to make sure they can stay there.
Mi-rae works as a junior executive for a supermarket. She is full of innovative ideas and is so committed to her work that she occasionally dozes off on the bus on the way to work and even collapses from sheer exhaustion during a floor inspection.
Illustrating just how suffocating her work life is, the show begins with a dream sequence in which she enjoys a run along the Han River on a sunny morning, only to run straight into a mob of zombies that morph into a gormless horde of commuters.
Ae-yeon, who has always tried to provide for her family where her husband consistently failed to, works as a saleswoman in the same supermarket.
Mi-rae’s younger brother Hyeon-jae (Yoon San-ha, Crazy Love) also lives with them but since he is not a breadwinner he does not get much of a look-in.
When a fire breaks out in their building during the first episode, mother and daughter are beside themselves when they realise someone might still be inside, but that someone turns out to be their dog, rather than their flesh and blood Hyeon-jae, who rescues the pup from their flat in his underwear.
Ae-yeon’s husband is Byeon Moo-jin (Ji Jin-hee, Move to Heaven), who tried his hand at many business ventures and failed at every one until he was ultimately kicked out by his family 11 years ago. A decade later, he died penniless in a motorcycle accident.
The fire that breaks out in Ae-yeon’s building claims the life of their landlord. When a mysterious person buys the building after his funeral, she is at her wit’s end worrying about whether or not they will be kicked out.
However, on the very night that they hold ancestral rites to commemorate the first anniversary of Moo-jin’s death, Moo-jin himself appears in their doorway, to their great shock.
Not only is he alive, he drops the even bigger bombshell that despite all the failed businesses that ruined their family life, he has since become rich enough to be their landlord.
Romance in the House promises plenty of pent-up family drama with this set-up, but romance is also in the air for several of the show’s characters.
Ae-yeon is not exactly thrilled at Moo-jin’s return but, given some time and a little effort, perhaps these former lovebirds will be able to find their way back to the feelings that initially brought them together.
Meanwhile, though the perennially exhausted Mi-rae claims to be too busy to entertain romance, at some point she will have to open her eyes to Nam Tae-pyeong (Choi Min-ho, The Fabulous), the hunky supermarket security guard and former Taekwondo athlete who keeps coming to her aid.
Bright and accessible, the series bolsters its family and comedy elements with a neighbourly atmosphere. Moo-jin’s family are not the only people surprised at his return, as most of their long-time neighbours at the Family Villa also remember him from before.
Much like the group of modest entrepreneurs that surround the protagonists of Vincenzo, or the local residents of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, the villa characters here add some colour and comic relief to the proceedings.
Beyond the community around the family, JPlus, the supermarket corporation that employs half of them, is also setting up to be a major part of the show, both for the potential romance between Mi-rae and Tae-pyeong, but also something involving its corporate structure.
Romance in the House does not breathe new life into its familiar components but it offers a tidy package and is led by an engaging ensemble cast. The question now is: will Moo-jin be able to keep his family under the same roof?
Romance in the House is streaming on Netflix.
