Adapted from the webtoon Biuidojeog Yeonaedam by Phobe, Unintentional Love Story is the sweet unintentional romance I didn’t realize I needed.

Starring Cha Seo Won as potter Yoon Tae Joon and Gongchan as salaryman Ji Won Young, it tells the story of a wrongly accused young man trying to be reinstated by his company. To do so, he must find his boss’ favorite artist, Yoon Tae Joon.

In the process, he falls in love.

The whole ‘I need to use you for my own gains, but I end up finding myself instead’ trope isn’t new. But Unintentional Love Story not only captures the beauty of unexpectedly falling for someone, it also captures the essence behind why we unintentionally use the people we love.

We live in a world built on using the things and people around us. From using books to learn from to the contacts we make to move up in the workplace, one of the first things we learn growing up is how to use. And it’s apparent in everything we do. From the names we must provide on our resumes/CVs to the money we must make to pay our bills.

The same goes for love.

As a whole, Unintentional Love Story is a sweet story about learning to let go and realizing that we all use each other when we’re in love, but it’s 𝒉𝒐𝒘 we do it that matters. Love brings out the best in people and exposes the worst. It’s about using that to grow together.

Tae Joon learns how to let go of his past hurts, of the painful experience and the trauma being used by an ex-boyfriend left him with. Won Young learns that accepting himself and loving someone is much more enriching than the company he works for. He also realizes that standing up for himself means not letting himself or the ones he cares about be taken advantage of.

By giving us a glimpse into Tae Joon’s past and a look at Tae Joon’s recent experiences with Won Young, the viewer is given two examples of being used, intentional and unintentional.

This is precisely how the world uses us, intentionally and unintentionally.

I don’t think Unintentional Love Story was written to provide a deep look into life or how the world works. It’s simply a sweet love story about two men overcoming a non-malicious untruth to find their soulmate. But I love that, in the process, it still captures the essence of how being used and using others is something we do without realizing it. It’s so ingrained into our lives we don’t notice we’re doing it. Unintentional Love Story contains an unintentional life lesson.

And yet, the heaviest story in Unintentional Love Story doesn’t belong to the main couple. It belongs to the secondary leads, Kim Dong Hee (Han Do Woo) and Go Ho Tae (Won Tae Min).

A café owner who’s been secretly in love with his best friend for years, Dong Hee is a man weighed down by his circumstances. Once abused by his father for being gay, he found an unintentional ally in his best friend’s mother, a woman who accepted his sexuality and helped him find strength in it. He doesn’t want to lose the ally he found in her, and he’s afraid he will if he lets himself have Ho Tae.

It’s a heartbreaking story because Ho Tae has also spent years trying to break free from the desire and need he feels for Dong Hee by being rebellious and dating numerous women. Once he finally accepts that his feelings for Dong Hee won’t fade, he fully commits to loving him. But Dong Hee fights it.

In the end, they conclude on a bittersweet note.

In two very defining moments, they say the same weighted words. At a Christmas Eve party, Ho Tae continuously drinks from Dong Hee’s wine glass, placing his lips where Dong Hee’s lips were, and says, “Let me at least do this.”

Later in the story, when Ho Tae embraces Dong Hee in a back hug, and Dong Hee doesn’t pull away, Dong Hee says, “Let me at least do this.”
It’s pivotal and heart-rending.

Dong Hee and Ho Tae’s story is heavy, beautiful in what’s unsaid about why Dong Hee keeps holding back and in the unspoken need evident in their bickering. I know why their story ends in Unintentional Love Story the open way it does because there’s too much to overcome and accept in a series where their screen time is minimal–the gratitude and guilt Dong Hee feels toward Ho Tae’s mother and the lines they would cross.

Secondary couples in Asian BLs tend to get the heaviest stories. But it also means they rarely get resolved. This is what makes them so easy to hold onto long after the series has concluded. I wouldn’t want them to rush an ending for Ho Tae and Dong Hee, but I fervently wish for a sequel.

Overall, Unintentional Love Story is a beautiful romance with gorgeous cinematography that is well-paced and well-acted with no huge unnecessary time jumps. While I realize the kiss scene leaves much to be desired, it’s reminiscent of many less risqué Kdramas, the ones made for a broad audience.

With a longer run time with half-hour episodes, I hope Unintentional Love Story and other more extended episode Korean BLs will become the golden standard, as most Korean BLs tend to fit their nuanced stories into a too-limited time frame. Seeing their stories being fleshed out more without limiting themselves is refreshing.

For a charming story about unexpectedly falling in love, check out Unintentional Love Story now on iQiyi.

Rating- 4.5 out of 5