K-Drama Reaction: Temperature of Love

If you want a drama that promises to warm the soul and cuddle your heart, then Temperature of Love is definitely for you. The premiere looks very promising and the quirky characters will undoubtedly catch your attention.

Episodes 1-2 fairly overlay the plot of the show. With the looks of it, I believe Temperature of Love will play around the strings of fate, love at first sight and the struggles of fulfilling one’s dreams.

Rating-wise, Temperature of Love is off to a good start as it ranks first on the Monday-Tuesday time slot, surpassing The King Loves and Girls’ Generation 1979. With the leads’ charm, I believe the program will continue winning the ratings game.

Let’s now meet the characters, shall we?

Of Chopping-boards and Keyboards

Temperature of Love started with the main characters crossing paths again before having a flashback of how they met five years ago. The following character descriptions are those of who they were in their initial meeting.

Lee Hyun-soo (Seo Hyun-jin) – a struggling assistant writer using the handle-name Jane. She used to work at a large network but left thinking that it’ll be easier to achieve her dreams that way. She’s been working hard to debut and to get the recognition she wants but still hasn’t been able to do so. Hyun-soo is smart, polite, but is sometimes reckless and adorkable in her own way.

On Jung-sun (Yang Se-jong) – a handsome Michelin-starred chef who uses the handlename Good Soup. He is talented and straightforward, to the point that you might think he is arrogant. He has his own way of doing things. He is both charming and quirky. Oh, and he does not own a phone, haha.

Park Jung-woo (Kim Jae-wook) – a charismatic CEO who frequents the restaurant where Jung-sun works and is interested in hiring Hyun-soo.

Ji Hong-ah (Jo Bo-ah) – Hyun-soo’s pretty and rich friend, an aspiring writer and is the reason why she met Jung-sun. She seems nice but the kind that can turn into a frenemy if you take the things she “thinks” belong to her.

There are several recognizable faces in the supporting cast and let’s meet them as the story unfolds.

The Aligning of Stars

Do you believe in love at first sight? I don’t. But if a guy as hot as Yang Se-jong would ask me to go out with him during our initial meeting, I’ll be more than willing to take the leap of faith. So how did our two leads meet?

First, Hong-ah, Hyun-soo and Jung-sun are members of a running club, this gave the chance for our Hot Chef and Quirky Writer to meet online. Jung-sun was a little weirded out with Hyun-soo the first time they met not knowing that the latter was staring at him because of the tattoo and scar on his arm.

The two, along with Hong-ah, their friend Choi Won-Joon (Sim Hee-seop) and the rest of the club went for a run around the city. Hyun-soo was lost since she can’t keep up with the pace so Jung-sun, being the charming oppa that he is, went to find her.

The two were adorably bickering on their way back when a sudden shower occurred. I don’t know what’s with rain and K-Dramas but it always end up in heart-thumping moments. Jung-sun asked Hyun-soo if she wants to go out with him but the latter declined.

Jung-sun tried to reason out but Hyun-soo did not fall for the Hot Chef’s charms.

The next day, Hyun-soo was feeling upset since her work was not nominated and ended up getting drunk. Hong-ah left her when Jung-sun arrived and the latter subtly wants to accompany her home. Being terrible at directions undoubtedly works for our Quirky Writer since she ended up spending more time with oppa yet again. The Hot Chef tried to cheer her up by bringing her to the park where she thought of dancing if ever she’ll win a writing competition.

Tipsy Musings

This noona is no cinematography expert but I appreciate the director’s shaky camera technique during the scene where Hyun-soo and Jung-sun met again. It gave off the effect like you were personally seeing the moment as an observer and puts the audience in the shoes of someone inside the drama.

Temperature of Love Ep 1 Lee Hyun Soo meets On Jung Sun again

Temperature of Love Ep 1 On Jung Sun meets Lee Hyun Soo again

I’ve also noticed that the K-Drama genies are playing with the black and white effect, maybe to emphasize certain scenarios or feelings, but I’m still conflicted whether I like it or it makes me dizzy.

Tipsy Findings

Temperature of Love is based on writer Ha Myung-hee’s novel Good Soup Does Not Answer the Phone (Chakhan Seupeuneun Jeonhwareul Bakji Anneunda), which was published in 2013.

Temperature of Love is also a reunion between the two leads, Seo Hyun-jin and Yang Se-jong who previously starred in Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim.