Yay for some forward planning: MBC has already scheduled a drama for its spring 2018 lineup, which will be an adaptation of a popular web novel called Love Watch (as in “thunderstorm watch”). The title is a rough translation: The Korean title is literally Heart Flutter Watch, which doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as easily.
The story sounds like a fun, light rom-com revolving around a popular, talented actress and a handsome dermatologist who won a Hippocrates award for providing free treatment to patients with burn scars otherwise unable to afford it. Many of the keywords being thrown out in the plot description sound pretty run-of-the-mill for a rom-com: The heroine is a romantic while the doctor doesn’t believe in love, they’ll have a childhood connection, and because of some unexplained circumstances, the two leads will enter into a contract relationship. Done right though, this drama could be really cute and engaging. And goodness knows I’ll never say no to a contract relationship drama.
Love Watch doesn’t have a director or any actors attached to it yet, but Kim Shin-hye, whose credits include Immortal Classic and The Family Is Coming, will be penning the script. I haven’t watched either of those dramas so I’m not sure what to expect, but she has some pretty good source material to work with: The web novel consistently topped the charts on its platform Yes24 during its 46-chapter, four-month run (web novels in Korea usually release several chapters each week).
MBC has confirmed that Love Watch will premiere in March of next year. In the meantime, I’m just going to be over here making a list of dream rom-com pairings I’d like to see headline the show.