Business Proposal

In-House Match • A Business Proposal, The Office Blind Date, In-House Confrontation, In-House Match, Confrontation in the Company, Sanae Matseon

Completed 12 episodes 2022

Genre : Office · Comedy · Drama · Romance
Broadcast : February 28, 2022
Diffuser : SBS, Netflix
Director : Park Seon-ho
Screenwriter : Han Sul-hee, Hong Bo-hee
Casting : Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Se-jeong, Kim Min-kyu, Seol In-ah, Lee Deok-hwa, Choi Byung-chan, Jung Young-joo, Kim Kwang-gyu, Song Won-seok, Bae Woo-hee, Kim Hyun-sook, Lim Ki-hong, Yoon Sang-jung, Seo Hye-won, Lee Ki-young, Lee Ki-hyuk, Yoo Eui-tae, Tei.

The Story

Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong), a researcher at the food company Go Food, agrees to replace her best friend for a fee Jin Young-seo (Seol In-ah) during a blind date. Her goal is simple: to act extravagantly enough to scare off the suitor. But he turns out to be Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), the new CEO of Go Food… and therefore Ha-ri’s own boss. Tae-moo, tired of the meetings arranged by his grandfather Kang Da-goo (Lee Deok-hwa), decides, against all expectations, that he will marry the woman he has just met. Ha-ri must then maintain her false identity while hiding the fact that she works for him. Meanwhile, the real Young-seo falls under the spell of Cha Sung-hoon (Kim Min-kyu), Tae-moo's secretary and close friend.

Amid fake dates, a "love contract," misunderstandings, and their professional lives, the two couples gradually grow closer, making the series a deliberately lighthearted office romantic comedy that plays with classic K-drama clichés.

Impact and Success

Business Proposal has been one of the most popular Korean romantic comedies of 2022, with particularly strong growth during its run. Starting with a national viewership rating of 4.9 %, the series surpassed 10 % as early as its sixth episode and reached a record high of 11.6 % in episodes 9 and 10; the finale attracted 11.4 % of viewers, according to Nielsen Korea. Its success also extended internationally thanks to Netflix, where the series established itself as one of the most-watched Korean productions of that period.

The drama's popularity stems in large part from its fast pace, its unapologetic humor, and, above all, the two couples Ahn Hyo-seop/Kim Se-jeong and Kim Min-kyu/Seol In-ah, both of whom won the Best Couple Award at the 2022 SBS Drama Awards. At the same ceremony, Ahn Hyo-seop and Kim Se-jeong each won the Top Excellence Award in the comedy/romance category, while Kim Min-kyu received the Excellence Award.

The series has thus helped significantly boost the international popularity of its four lead actors and remains a a modern classic of the Korean office rom-com, particularly associated with the tropes of the fake date, the boss-employee dynamic, and the contractual relationship.

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