Overview of Destined With You

‘Destined With You’ is a South Korean television series starring Jo Bo-ah, Rowoon, Han Jun, and Yura. It consists of 16 episodes and was streamed on JTBC from 23 August to 12 October 2023. It was streamed at 22:30 (KST) every Wednesday and Thursday, the time previously occupied by ‘Miraculous Brothers’. Also, the drama is available on Netflix.

Profile

• Name: ‘Destined With You’
• Genre: Fantasy, Romance
• Starring: Jo Bo-ah, Rowoon, Han Jun, Yura
• Director: Nam Ki-hoon
• Screenplay: Noh Ji-sul
• Network: JTBC
• Episodes: 16
• Release date: 23 August – 12 October 2023
• Country: South Korea
• Language: Korean

Cast

Supporting

Synopsis

A hardworking civil servant Lee Hong-jo becomes the 9th-level civil servant in the Department of Greenery at Onju City Hall. Though she is talented and hardworking, her colleagues treat her as an outcast, making her eat alone during the lunch break and going to dine outside without inviting her.

As part of her work, she visits an old temple on the Mount Onju Trail and while examining the abandoned temple, she faints. Laying there half-conscious, she sees Jang Shin-yu standing in front of her. Thinking that he is the Grim Reaper, she asks him to accompany her to the afterlife.

It is to Jang Shin-yu’s family that the temple belongs, and he suffers from a mysterious illness due to his ancestral history, which is connected to the temple. Long ago, Shin-yu’s ancestor killed his lover, who was a powerful shaman of that time. It is her curse that haunts Shin-yu’s family and causes the mysterious disease, which ultimately leads to the death of the person.

The Past 

Hong-jo was a shaman in her past life and Shin-yu was the son of a reputed family. Due to this reason, their love relationship was offended by Shin-yu’s father. To make Shin-yu marry a girl from a similar reputed family, his father threatens Hong-jo and asks her to break up her relationship with Shin-yu.

After leaving Shin-yu, Hong-jo was summoned by the royal concubine to help her give girth to the king’s son by performing black magic. The power of Hong-ju’s spell gifts the concubine a child. After giving birth to the child, the concubine orders Hong-jo to perform a deadly ritual to kill the crown prince. When Hong-jo refuses, the concubine leaves that task for another shaman and blames Hong-jo for the death of the crown prince.

When the king’s men capture her, she casts the spell so that the man who kills her carries the curse for generations. Terrified by the power of her spell, the king refuses to kill her with his own hands but orders his swordman to behead her.

Later, Shin-yu rescues her from a well where the king’s swordsmen abandoned her. He takes her to the old temple, and while she sleeps, he takes her spell book away to keep it safe from the royal concubine. When Hong-jo wakes up, she learns that Shin-yu has been captured by the king’s man and runs to rescue him. Though she saves Shin-yu, he stabs her to death to save her from living the miserable life of an outcast.

Present

Later, Hong-jo meets Shin-yu at his office to discuss the demolition of the temple. However, he rejects the idea of the demolition and tells her that he is planning to restore the place. Nonetheless, Hong-jo sticks to her duty and continues to persuade him to agree with the temple’s demolition. One day, she sent him a video of an old lady whom Shin-yu respects, agreeing with the plan of the temple’s demolition.

Since the old lady agrees with the demolition, Shin-yu visits the temple and discovers a wooden box buried in the ground. He handed over the wooden box to Hong-jo as per the instructions of the old lady.

The wooden box contains the spell books that were written by Hong-jo when she was a shaman in her past life. After opening the box, she decides to test the book by performing the ritual written to cast a love spell. As said in the book, she prepares a love potion and pours the drink into the glass in the conference room, where her crush Kwon Jae-kyung is expected to sit and take a sip from the glass. Her expectation goes wrong when Shin-yu, who sits next to Kwon Jae-kyung, accidentally takes the glass and sips from it.

From that day on, Shin-yu becomes head over heels for her, though he does not want to be her boyfriend. However, realising the power of her spell, he asks Hong-jo to break the curse. As the duo searches for ways to undo Shin-yu’s curse, they fall in love with each other.

Her relationship with Shin-yu irritates the flower shop owner, a lunatic man who plans to soul-marry her through black magic. Though he kidnaps her, she escapes from his custody. Shin-yu finds her and takes her to the hospital. Later, the flower shop owner gets arrested by the police.

Theme

Fantasy, Love and Destiny

The story of the drama is constructed on themes like fate, fantasy, love, and destiny. The fantasy element helps in keeping the romantic relationship between Shin-yu and Hong-ju alive to the present. Also, it paves the way to their destiny. The sacrifices they make for each other’s well-being make their love unique and special.

Curse

Curse is another central theme discussed in the show. It helps in connecting the past to the present by applying logic to the events that happen in the walking lives of Lee Hong-jo and Jang Shin-yu. Since the drama shows both the events from the past and the present, the curse as a theme helps in the construction of the story and the character development when Lee Hong-jo and Jang Shin-yu meet in their present lives.

Also, it intensifies the emotions of the characters, especially Jang Shin-yu’s. As he is the one who is affected by the curse, it weighs him down from living a peaceful life.

Awards

No information is available.

Interesting Facts about Destined With You

1. The first still of Jo Bo-ah and Rowoon in ‘Destined With You’ was released on 17 January 2023 on Netflix.
2. The drama occupied the time slot that was once occupied by the drama ‘Miraculous Brothers’ (28 June – 17 August 2023).
3. It was streamed every Wednesday and Thursday from 23 August – 12 October of 2023.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of ‘Destined With You’?
   Nam Ki-hoon is the director of ‘Destined With You’.
   
2. When was the drama ‘Destined With You’ released?
   ‘Destained With You’ started streaming on 23 August till 12 October 2023.
3. How many episodes are there in the drama ‘Destined With You’?
   16 episodes.
4. Who are the main leads in ‘Destined With You’?
   Jo Bo-ah and Rowoon are the main leads in ‘Destined With You’.
   
5. What is the Instagram ID of Jo Bo-ah?
   @xxadoraa.
   
6. What is the Instagram ID of Rowoon?
   @ewsbdi.
7. Is the ‘Destined With You’ worth watching?
   ‘Destined With You’ is a perfect watch for you if you loves the romance fantasy genre.