Day 271: KDrama - Coffee Prince

This drama is made in 2007. Choi Han-kyul (Gong Yoo) is the grandson of chairwoman Bang (Kim Young-ok) of Dong-in Foods, a company that has a thriving coffee business. He has never had a job and does not care for responsibility. Han-kyul is hung up on his first love, Han Yoo-joo (Chae Jung-an), who only sees him as a friend. Go Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye) is a 24-year-old tomboy who is often mistaken for a guy. Her father died when she was 16 years old and since then she has taken over as the breadwinner in her family. When Han-kyul and Eun-chan meet, he, not knowing that she is a girl, decides to hire her to pretend to be his gay lover so that he can escape the blind dates arranged by his grandmother.

After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother, Han-kyul takes over a rundown old coffee shop, later renamed "Coffee Prince," to prove that he's capable, both to his grandmother and to Yoo-joo. In order to attract female customers, he only hires good-looking male employees. Eun-chan, desperate for money, continues to hide her gender to get a job at Coffee Prince.

Soon, feelings start to develop between Eun-chan and Han-kyul. As Han-kyul is unaware that Eun-chan is a woman, he starts to question his sexuality and is thrown into turmoil. When Han-kyul finds out that Eun-chan is a woman, he gets angry. But soon, they make amends with each other and the two fall in love again. Eun-chan eventually leaves for Italy to study to become a barista with Han-Kyul's support. They maintain a long distance relationship and she returns after 2 years having become an accomplished barista.

Reflection
There are a lot of Korean dramas I love, but if I had to choose my all-time favorite drama, this is one of the lovely drama that I enjoyed. I can’t pinpoint exactly what is so great about Coffee Prince because it truly is one of those well-rounded shows where the stars just seem to align and make magic. The casting is great, the writing is great, the acting is great, the subject matter is still relatively relevant even in 2021, and every element seems tailored-made for the production. It’s sweet, romantic, fun and funny, full of heart Kdrama.

The past and current Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun-hye I just realised Gong Yoo acted in Guardian! No wonder I find him so familiar.