This vanilla story revolves around Seo Shiho, a gorgeous woman in her late 20s, recently divorced after 4 years of a gloomy wedding, and Gi Yoongi, a handsome man who is a few years younger than her and who has never dated anyone despite having countless fans admiring his handsome yet cold/distant/mysterious looks.
It's a story of healing for her and blossoming for both. In the beginning, they seriously need more cheerfulness in their lives. It's a kind of manhwa equivalent of sweet and light romantic Christmas movies: a cute romance involving succesful people, with a woman who wasn't born wealthy but worked hard and finally finds her prince, a story without any political or philosophical elements, but with hints of psychology and loads of affection and attraction.
Shiho was a kendo star until she badly injured her ankle during a tournament, stopped her career and got married to a rich fan she didn't love. Now that she's divorced and freed from her in-laws control, she's planning to open a kendo dojo (a martial arts training facility) for a small team of selected professional athletes. She's thinking of trying to recruit Yoongi first, since he is a kendo star and she was his senpai/senior in high school, when she was the kendo club president.
Shiho and Yoongi are a very cute pair. This story is light, pleasant and uplifting, somewhat childish and cliché at times, but always goodhearted and never dark. It's also a josei work with very good looking characters and onesided fan service: The sex scenes are only implied, often skipping from steamy kisses to the next morning, and Yoongi's abs are showed every once in a while while Shiho's body is never really shown. But she is elegant, gorgeous, smart, strong (as an ex kendo pro athlete) and cute.
Shiho needs to heal after her dreadful and short married life, and Yoongi, the male lead, is supportive, attentionate and affectionate at all times. Maybe even too much. He can be a bit annoying in the beginning when he tries to treat her like a baby and he demands to know every thing she's doing. Him being overprotective, needy and a bit insecure feels silly at times, especially since Shiho finally escaped the "prison" that her in-laws house was for her. So, when he orders her to always take his calls and always reply to his messages, it feels like she found another control freak, but he quickly chills and they find a good balance. Well, her marriage damaged her self confidence, so, she needs time to heal and grow and the way he expresses his support and affection apparently suit her. His somewhat childish but unconditional and unshakable feelings for her are seemingly something she can rely on.
There are some interesting thoughts about friendship, marriage, fame, hard work and success, teamwork, and even project management, but nothing too deep. The core of the story is this couple and the relationship they slowly build.
More about the story's unfolding:
Shiho goes back to her hometown and meets Yoongi, she tries to recruit him to join her dojo. He agrees with no conditions and quickly tells her that he has liked her since he met her in school. They get to know each other, kiss, hug, go on dates, become lovers. They have great chemistry and an ambitious project but their dates are never very detailed. They often jst stay at home, which isn't a bad thing, it's more realistic than most stories. Anyway, their fame and situation make it complicated to announce their relationship (her in-laws run a big company and PR is very important to them). It also makes it complicated to let this relationship evolve into a very serious one. 60 chapters are needed to face difficulties, improve the communication between them and reinforce their bond. Her rich ex husband and his mom cause complications from time to time, but that dude isn't a bad person per se, more of a delusional one. There is no unnecessary drama, partly thanks to their cute buddies who also support them. Shiho and Yoongi seemed to have zero friends at first, but it turns out that they do have a few nice people around them who are also going to join the kendo dojo. And after the last big kendo tournament maybe they could think of marriage... who knows... and have a cute kid... but in this story you'll find NO HAREM, NO OTHER COUPLE, NO BRAGGING, NO SHOWING OFF, VANILLA ALL THE WAY
That being said, good luck for finding a decent translation online! Also, to me, it was a bit annoying that Shiho goes from one Chaebol (a heir of a big company) to another, but it's refreshing that Yoongi's status as a chaebol is for the most part irrelevant to the story, as he is mostly a kendo athlete. Last but not least, of course they love eating meat, but fortunately it only happens once, not every 10 chapters like in some other stories. Well, maybe one day mangas and manhwas will introduce side dishes or even vegetarian options, who knows, one can dream, haha.
(-5)
