*minor spoilers for Dr. Cha*

I found this drama because it was on a list of recommended Noona Romances and I'm dying for something to fill the void as I wait for more episodes of No Gain, No Love. I loved Uhm Jung-hwa in Refund Sisters and Dr. Cha, so I was excited to watch this. Considering how Dr. Cha handled the Noona romance aspect, I was surprised at how this one turned out and that the age gap was 14 years.

As someone who's actually younger than Park Seo Joon (irl and in this story) it was interesting to consider how it's treated like a commonplace thing for large age gaps when the man is older but so much is made of the woman being older in this story. I personally wouldn't date anyone under 30, but this story made me sort of root for these two. I saw the obvious reasons they probably wouldn't have lasted more than a couple years after the end of the story (btw, this is the first time I've seen a drama end basically hinting that the couple might not make it). However, I still think they were cute in some ways and I liked how they supported each other.

This show gives 2014 in the most obvious ways. Besides some backwards mindsets re: women, the black and white stripes and white skinny jeans REALLY took me back.

Pros:
- Uhm Jung-hwa is so charming. I'd watch her do just about anything. She's adorable and it's clear how far she's come in acting from this to Dr. Cha. I always appreciate a story with a career driven woman.
- Whether you liked the friendship or the romance, Yoon Dong-ha and Ban Ji-yeon had comedic chemistry. I enjoyed a lot of their banter (minus the baby voice that slips into every drama when the couple gets together)
- I liked Ji-yeon and Na-rae's friendship. I love Ra Mi-ran and it's always a joy to see her
- Park Seo Joon's acting was phenomenal! He sold every scene and when they showed behind the scenes of him singing for the OST, I became a fan. This is my first time seeing him in anything other than Running Man and I get the hype. He was great!

Cons:
- A lot of romcoms are made fun of for the women having jobs like running Christmas Cupcake Shops or being some sort of artist that rarely enters the plot. Ji-yeon's entire thing is being a reporter but the magazine was never handled in depth enough to be believable. It seemed everyone working there aside from Ji-yeon was incompetent. The subject matter seemed to waffle from reporting serious issues like embezzlement schemes and medical malpractice to ideas about women left at the alter? Confusing.
- The ex boyfriend was dreadfully boring. I think they gave him a cool job in attempt to give him something he could compete with Dong-ha in, but there was absolutely no chemistry between the photographer and Ji-yeon
- I personally never cared about Soo-chol's relationship with Eun Chae aside from being glad she was no longer chasing her dead sister's boyfriend...
- Ji-yeon is meant to be an ace reporter but the start of the show is her breaking into a school campus to get a picture of a married man visiting his affair child. Only for him to just deny it and the magazine then struggles to stand by their article. What was the plan here? Why would they think the picture was enough? It seemed so weird a whole team wouldn't see how little a picture would prove.
- Acting is a bit hammy at times.
- It was too long. A solid 12 episodes would've sufficed.

If this show was remade today, there are some obvious things they'd change. For one, instead of her getting attacked over revealing a lovechild, it'd be a murder plot that lasted the entire season because most shows have murder plots now - even nonsensical ones. There'd be an age gap but they'd probably age the younger character up a bit. They'd do more to show the FL's soft spot earlier on and, godwilling, it'd be 12 episodes instead of 16.

Tbh, I think these two broke up after about another year or so because it seemed YDH had some time before he graduated and BJY probably wanted kids. But who knows, maybe they married before he graduated and made it work.

Tentative recommend if you're looking for a Noona romance and love Uhm Jung-hwa nearly as much as I do. It's by no means perfect, but I laughed and enjoyed watching it.