‘Because This Is My First Life’ is a 2017 South Korean television series starring Lee Min-ki and Jung So-min as main characters. The drama focuses on different points of view on love, careers, relationships, and marriage.

Unlike many other K-dramas, this drama addresses issues that modern career-oriented South Korean adults often face in their 30s when they move away from their parent’s homes and are busy building a financially independent life.

Profile

• Drama: Because This Is My First Life
• Director: Park Joon-hwa
• Writer: Yoon Nan-joong
• Network: TVN
• Episodes: 16
• Release Date: October 9 – November 28, 2017
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

Main

• Lee Min-ki as Nam Se-hee
• Jung So-min as Yoon Ji-ho

Supportive

• Esom as Woo Su-ji
• Park Byung-eun as Ma Sang-goo
• Kim Ga-eun as Yang Ho-rang
• Kim Min-seok as Sim Won-seok
• Moon Hee-kyung as Jo Myung-ji
• Jeon Hye-won as Lee Eun-sol
• Yoon Bo-mi as Yoon Bo-mi
• Kim Sun-young as Kim Hyun-ja

Synopsis

‘Because This Is My First Life’ begins with Nam Se-hee, an eccentric computer designer working in an IT start-up who is an organized personality. At almost 32 years old, Nam Se-hee is totally uninterested in getting married and he prefers to live with his beautiful white cat whom he calls Kitty.

Nam Se-hee has spent his life’s savings to buy his own house. While his finances are in a bad state and his job as an IT employee provides him with little to no spendable income and he owes a lot on his mortgage. Nam Se-hee is thinking about whether he should take in a tenant in one of his rooms so that he can get help with the expenses.

Later, Se-hee’s business director and his close friend, Ma Sang-goo finds him a tenant, Yoon Ji-ho, a homeless writer in her early 30’s who hardly makes enough to feed herself. Yoon Ji-ho got expelled from the home she shares with her brother because of her brother’s wedding and pressure from her father. She felt like a third wheeler in the house, so she decided to leave.

Nam Se-hee was looking for a roommate but had peculiar demands on the agreement. Since those demands fit Ji-ho’s requirements, she moved into Nam Se-hee’s house and they both became housemates. Neither Nam Se-hee nor Yoon Ji-ho’s families were aware that they were living together.

The series also follows the lives of Se-hee’s friend Ma Sang-goo and Ji-ho’s friend Woo Su-ji. Woo Su-ji is a self-guarded woman working in a well-paying position at a corporate office where she is often troubled by sexual harassment. Sang-goo crosses her path, even though Su-ji and Sang-goo are very different personalities, they make a lovely pair.

Later, one-day Se-hee’s mother visits him and things get complicated hereafter upon finding Ji-ho living in the same house. Nam Se-hee and Yoon Ji-ho then had family pressures and ended up deciding to enter a marriage of convenience where they will part ways after two years. Along the way, both of them had emotional struggles, though quite predictably ended up falling for each other.

However, Se-hee’s life turned upside down when Ji-ho decided to leave because she realized that she lacks inspiration and self-improvement. When she walks away suddenly, Se-hee couldn’t get in touch with Ji-ho which made him a love-lorn person.

Later, when Ji-ho is back, she shifts to the old apartment of her friend, Ho-rang and his girlfriend without knowing that Se-hee sold his own house and he is also living in the same apartment.

The couple finally reconciled after crossing paths once again. They both decided that all of their marriage contracts would be on a yearly basis. Besides, they didn’t have any practical spells in the marriage contract, except promising to love each other hereafter.

Theme

‘Because This Is My First Life’ has three couples at its core and it effortlessly guides the audience along the various paths of love. The storyline of the drama revolves around a glimpse of real-life responsibilities, dreams, marriage and relationships. There is a clear picture of the contrast between the love pairs, and, however, with appropriate communication and understanding, they overcome the circumstances they have to face.

The drama explores a bunch of relevant relationship issues in modern society regarding dating and marriage. Some of the significant subjects are how women are treated in their workplace and what the so-called society expects of men and women in a marital relationship, which are perfectly tackled in the story.

These harassments towards women have a huge impact on their professional and personal life as well. The drama succeeds at bringing these sensitive subjects to focus and bringing them out in a genuine and relatable way. Relatable stories which are both presentable and enjoyable bear in viewers’ minds even after the drama has ended.

Awards & Nominations

• Annual Soompi Awards (Nominated) 2018
  Best couple (Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki)
  Drama of the Year (‘Because This Is My First Life’)
  Actor of the Year (Lee Min-ki)
  Breakout Actor (Lee Min-ki)
  Actress of the Year (Jung So-min)

Interesting Facts about ‘Because This Is My First Life’

1. The drama focuses on issues faced by career-oriented South Korean adults in their 30s.
2. Sexism and stereotypes are clearly depicted in the K-drama ‘Because This Is My First Life’.
3. The drama has many dialogues or rather quotes for people who enjoy reading quotes and write-ups.

FAQs

1. Is ‘Because This Is My First Life’ worth watching?
   The drama is a fun exploration of love and is worth watching since it deals with social issues such as workplace harassment, societal pressures etc.
2. What is the genre of the drama ‘Because This Is My First Life’?
   The drama falls into comedy, romance, and life drama genres.
3. Who is the director of the drama ‘Because This Is My First Life’?
   The drama is directed by Korean director or creator Park Joon-hw.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Lee Min-ki?
   

   m.m.minki is his instagram ID.