Rivalry, food, and attraction come together in the Korean BL drama My Sweet Dear to offer viewers a sweet but complicated romance tempered with heat.

Starring Jang Eui Soo as Choi Jung Woo and Lee Chan Hyung as Yoon Do Gun, My Sweet Dear delves into the highly intense world of cuisine, focusing on the competition required to stay at the top of the game in the restaurant industry.

From the very first episode, I was intrigued. I have a soft spot for love/hate stories, for rivalry romances that end in triumph. My Sweet Dear not only offers that, it also offers two very different men with very different approaches to their lives and their careers. And yet, both are also struggling. Yoon Do Gun has settled into life, living comfortably day to day without pushing the envelope or trying new things. He lacks color in his life. Choi Jung Woo, however, lives in the moment and harbors a less-than-stellar reputation. I was captivated by their differences.

Despite this, I also went into the first two episodes of My Sweet Dear with reservations. South Korea is beginning to change the way they offer their BL content. We are getting longer episodes and series with promises of second seasons. The ten-minute-long mini-dramas are fast falling victim to the transition, offering up appetizer-sized stories in between more extensive, fuller productions. When My Sweet Dear opened, I admit I was worried it would fall prey to this. It did not.

If anything, it excelled in it.

The first two episodes mainly focused on the rivalry between the chefs, which was expected but also a little disconnected. However, by the third episode, My Sweet Dear flourished, unveiling a brilliantly beautiful story about two hearts needing and understanding each other. The bitterness, doubt, and attraction nurtured in the first two episodes exploded as the series began drawing more on what made these men vulnerable to themselves and each other.

The wrong foot these two started out on became the shared path they ended up walking together.

I was impressed. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Choi Jung Woo, and although we get hints of his character and possible past, who he is remains somewhat shuttered. Typically, this would bother me, but I love what this symbolized in this series.

This symbolism brings me to the way the series was resolved. I like how they brought Choi Jung Woo and Yoon Do Gun together. While candid communication is essential, sometimes the heart understands us better. These were two men who needed shaking up to discover who they are and what they’re capable of, one to step up and the other the push to move forward.

Deep down, Yoon Do Gun knew that Choi Jung Woo was a remarkable man with a good heart who needed direction and love. By forgiving Choi Jung Woo without demanding answers, the series showed that it isn’t our past that defines us but the choices we make moving forward. I completely fell in love with this. It’s the first series I’ve seen in a long time that resolved a show without needing to pull apart the main leads’ secrets. And somehow, I found myself completely satisfied by this.

My Sweet Dear felt longer than what it was. It covered all of its bases and fanned the flames that the chemistry between the two leads had already ignited. My Sweet Dear kept it simple but also managed to make it feel complicated, and that’s magic when it comes to a short series.

In the end, this drama touched my heart and soul. It did a fantastic job of using two characters to bring color into each other’s lives, inspire and love each other, and push each other to be bigger and better than they already are.

I will miss Yoon Do Gun and Choi Jung Woo. If you haven’t watched, I highly recommend checking out My Sweet Dear on Viki or WeTV.

Rating- 4 out of 5