As a team leader, Seo Lee Joon is anything but soft. A leader at So What Media, Lee Joon’s content production team is one of the company’s best but by demanding the best from his team, he’s developed a reputation as the company’s toughest team leader. Seen by all as an iron-clad man who’s set in his ways, everyone is surprised when it becomes apparent that the company’s new employee, Jeong Ha Ram, has started to get under his skin. A very straightforward type of person, Ha Ram hides nothing about himself, including his sincere beliefs about love. Skeptical of love himself, Lee Joon has a hard time understanding how Ha Ram can be so open about love. Even more confusing for Lee Joon is trying to understand the feelings that he seems to be developing for the company’s newest employee. Finding themselves in a bit of a push-and-pull relationship, Lee Joon and Ha Ram begin to understand each other better, as they slowly learn about each other’s past and present struggles. Drawing ever closer, will this unlikely pair learn to let go of the past and allow themselves the freedom to experience true love? (Source: Viki) Edit Translation
- English
- 한국어
- 中文(台灣)
- Українська
- Native Title: 러브메이트
- Also Known As: Reobeu Meiteu , 러브 메이트
- Director: So Joon Moon
- Genres: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Where to Watch Love Mate
Cast & Credits
- Cho Han Gyeol Main Role
- Cho Hyun Min Main Role
- Lee Sae BomJin Eun SeonSupport Role
- Lee Chan WooYoon Do KyungSupport Role
- Kim Min Kwang Support Role
- Im So Young Support Role
Reviews
Sweet boy love office romance
I really enjoyed this twosome. I loved their chemistry and the support and care shown by the junior office worker for the team leader, especially at the end. I just wish it were longer, but that's the problem with most underfunded Korean BL drams like this one. I don't fault the series for not having more time to pursue their relationship in more depth. It's a little overly dramatic at times, but not so much that it got in the way of me enjoying their cutesy "date mate" relationship.I loved the photobox scene where they start far apart but are quickly side by side. Plus, the photoshoot and fainting scene were pretty cute too. I liked the scared penguin and relentless polar bear analogy, where normally, those two animals would never meet, one being in the Arctic and the other being in Antarctica.
I just found this series to be an enjoyable, if not at times mindless, couple of hours well spent.
Near perfect in its simplicity
After reading some of the reviews, I think the whole issue of "not taking no for an answer" doesn't apply as much within a typical BL context. People have become overly sensitive to the idea of workplace sexual harassment. That's not what this is.One of the common tropes that this BL follows is for a cute guy, in this case, Jeong Ha Ram, to unabashedly pursue an emotionally shut-offed love interest, Seo Lee Joon, not letting their insecurities stop him from slowly but surely helping the other to overcome their insecurities. I didn't really get the impression Jeong overstepped his bounds with Seo. He understood how Seo had cut himself off from the world from the onset. Someone had to pierce Seo's bubble. Seo was going on three years of continuously having one-off meetups with guys, never once giving them a chance, as illustrated from the very opening scene.
Jeong mainly pursued Seo by teasing him and giving him small gifts, which is very typical in the BL genre. Also, the BL followed the standard arc of Jeong confessing to Seo, Seo reluctantly agreeing, then the inevitable third act break up, where Seo lets insecurities get the best of him, and Jeong gently reassuring, rather than pressuring, letting Seo come to the conclusion they are meant to be together and that he no longer needs to let his fears get the best of him. How can you not say that's a positive, love-affirming message?
I think too often on MyDramaList, people judge these BLs without taking into account how Korean and other Pacific Asian societal norms differ from Western ones, repeatedly applying misplaced Western "woke" values. Unless the BL conforms precisely to their expectations of the standard boy-girl love norms, these BLs are inevitably dinged, often unfairly, for violating Western sensibilities. Part of the charm of BLs is that they skip past a lot of the ho-humming you see in your typical straight K-drama romance, where the leads spend forever dancing around their mutual attraction.
In the case of Love Mate, in the short time it has, it follows a delightful romance between Seo and Jeong and their journey, keeping their bonding sweet and simple without getting lost in unnecessary plot elements. The two have remarkable, unforced chemistry where the lead actors use non-verbal expressions and body language to convey their feelings.
I give this BL a slightly higher score than it might deserve in response to all the unfair negative reviews. Honestly, if you let them dissuade you from enjoying this cute romance simply based on the misplaced argument that it is nonstop sexual harassment, which it isn't, you'll miss out on enjoyable two hours.