A heartfelt drama that starts out as a contractual marriage that blossoms into everything and anything. So sweet and follows several couples navigating the social norms of people in their 30's in Korea.

-- Spoilers Below --

Yoon Ji Ho is a single, drama writer who is trying to live out her dream as becoming a lead writer on a show. She has worked and written for several, but hasn't gotten her big start in the scene yet. While working on one of her dramas, she's needing a cheap place to rent but cannot find any within her price range. Eventually, she's set up with someone else who is looking for a roommate to help pay for his apartment. She moves in, not knowing that she is sharing her now apartment with a man, and enjoys the space she now has. They run into each other and start becoming somewhat closer due to their shared liking of several things and her being an easy roommate. This leads to them starting a contractual marriage between the two because of his parents constant pressure due to him being older than 30. It's awkward and new, but new feelings begin to blossom between the two and Ji Ho slowly falls in love with the enigma of a man. Everything is going great, minus Nam Se Hee never speaking his mind or true feelings, but she gets put through the ringer several times. She quits writing because of one of her coworkers attempting to rape her one night while she was staying late. She gets offered a new job with amazing pay, but her boss is Se Hee's ex-girlfriend that took him forever to get over, and last but not least... Se Hee's parents try to bribe her with money to get her to stay home and have his children. They overcome all of this though, officially filing for their marriage and creating a new contract just for them. She ends up following her dream and writes her first big drama: Because This is My First Life.

Nam Se Hee's character is exactly like I said - an enigma. He is quiet, mild-tempered, and keeps to himself. His goal in life is to live peacefully with his home and cat. Se Hee finds it hard to find roommates that fit his exact needs and likes, but settles on Ji Ho after looking at all the pros and cons. They eventually contract marry and begin living together as such. He slowly realizes that he loves her, but finds it hard to truly accept that fact due to his past relationship. Se Hee and Go Jung Min were lovers who had moved in together during college. Jung Min eventually falls pregnant and the two promise to marry and live together as a family. Due to their age and See Hee's overall maturity and selfishness, they lose the baby and Jung Min leaves him. She curses that he'll never love again and doesn't deserve to, and he truly takes this to heart and blames himself. Slowly overtime, he overcomes those feelings and realizes that he does deserve love and that he truly loves Ji Ho. After she leaves him due to his parents giving her money for a baby, he finds himself in the same spot after Jung Min left. He sells his apartment they once shared and moves into her friends place not being able to be in the space him and Ji Ho once shared. They eventually make amends and confess their feelings to one another, officially becoming married and living happily together. He lets her pursue her writing job, just as he promised.

This drama also follows 2 sets of Ji Ho's friends. Ho Rang and Won Seok have been together for 7 years and are school sweethearts. The only problem in their relationship is Ho Rang's constant need for marriage and more. The first conflict is with her wanting a couple's couch that all the newlywed's are buying. Won Seok plans a huge thing with their friend Soo Ji, which Ho Rang see's and believes he's planning a proposal, to buy her the couch she wanted. When she gets home to see the surprise, she's devastated that it's not what she was expecting. This leads to more feelings of pressure on Won Seok and the immense feeling that he is constantly making Ho Rang unhappy. Se Hee tells him that he needs to be more honest with his feelings towards her. The two have a romantic dinner, Won Seok beginning the conversation with that he would love to get married, but doesn't see the difference between love and marriage at the moment. He also adds that he wouldn't want to get married until 5 years later. With this news, Ho Rang is devastated again (I really did not like her character at all) and tells him that she doesn't want to date for 12 years. While at play together after the dinner, her phone goes off when she's in the bathroom, and Won Seok finds that she had downloaded a dating app and was talking to a man on there. This leads to their actual breakup, which begins Ho Rang seeing the guy that she met on the app. The two realize that they are actually meant for and love each other and get back together, eventually marrying and having a baby.
The other friend that was my favorite was Soo Ji. A confident, yet intelligent woman who works amongst men in the corporate world. She navigates the mysogynstic, sexist workplace and never shows that she needs help from anyone. Her and Ma Sang Goo start up a flirt-mance, but she doesn't want to take it to the next level. With time her mind changes and they become more, but she still has a wall up that he cannot get past. While trying to get closer, he believes that she's cheating on him with another man. He races up after her and finds that she truly just lives with and takes care of her disabled mother. He learns that her mother is single and lived working to take care of Soo Ji. The two eventually tell her mom and Soo Ji accepts that she truly loves Sang Goo and doesn't necessarily need him around - but want's him around. I loved their romance so much and the stark difference between their personalities added such good comedic relief between all the heavy storylines that were going on.

A beautiful, well-written story that I could watch over and over.