It’s strange to get casting news about Seo Kang-joon’s next drama when his last drama, KBS’s Are You Human Too, hasn’t even premiered yet. That one was entirely pre-produced and won’t be out till later this year, but the actor has already signed on to his next project. He’s accepted an offer to be the leading man in the new drama Between Us, an adaptation of a friends-to-lovers romance webtoon by the same name.
The original webtoon by Lee Yeon-ji ran from 2014 to 2016 and is the most popular webtoon on platform Lezhin Comics to date, with 130 million views. It’s a romance set on a college campus, about a boy and girl who have been best friends since they entered high school. The heroine, Do Ga-young, is your average wallflower who stumbles a bit through the social aspects of college life. But she’s very outspoken around her best friend, Han Woo-jin, who’s a charming social butterfly with a classic cold-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside personality.
The webtoon starts out with Ga-young having to navigate her freshman year of college without her wingman, because while they were happy to get into the same school, he went straight to army after high school. Fast-forward two years later when he finally joins her on campus, and they easily fall back into their comfortable routine of doing everything together, to the point that everyone just assumes they’re dating. But of course, the line between friendship and romance begins to blur.
It reads like a slice-of-life campus drama much like Cheese in the Trap, which might explain why production company Eight Works, of tvN’s Cheese in the Trap adaptation, is behind this project too. I don’t think comparisons to Cheese will do this drama any favors though, especially with Seo Kang-joon starring, so hopefully this one steers clear of any similar production woes.
Based on the first few episodes of the webtoon, the hero is already pretty swoony—he’s prickly to everyone but the heroine, he’s always coming up with excuses to be around her, and he’s extremely protective of her. He also oozes charm, which often leaves the heroine all fluttery and confused. I can easily see Seo Kang-joon in the role, and I hope they cast someone good opposite him because I love a good friends-to-lovers drama and find this relationship cute from the start.
Between Us doesn’t have a broadcaster yet, but hopefully we’ll see it sometime this year.
