dangermousie | Birth of the Rich - Birth of the Funny, more like

The first new spring drama, Birth of the Rich, is out and it's a total delight!

Starring Ji Hyun Woo (Invincible Lee Pyung Kang) and Lee Bo Young (Save the Last Dance), Birth is a light story set in the chaebol world. (For those who do not know, chaebol is a term for both Korean family-owned large corporations and the family members who own them).

Our hero is someone who is a result of a one-night stand his mother had with a chaebol. Unfortunately, she has never gotten the man's name and (due to an accident) lost any means of getting in touch with him so Hero grew up fatherless, broke, hard-working, cheerful, and incredibly optimistic he is going to find his rich daddy some day. He is basically a male Cinderella - dead-set on living the life he knows he is owed. Currently, however, he is working as a bellhop in a fancy hotel because that is his means of meeting many a chaebol and trying to match a medallion he has (the only legacy of his long-lost Daddy).

Heroine is a chaebol's daughter. Competend and whip-smart, she is laboring against the fact that her father views women as unable to run a business - since she wants to inherit/run any business she can, she works extra hard. She is also someone who knows the value of money (a.k.a. stingy) - it's going dutch on dates, cheap vending machine coffee and meals made out of free samples.

Our hero and heroine cross paths and the story goes from there...

The first ep is out (you can watch it on viikii, it has no region restrictions) and it's a funny, breezy delight. It moves fast, it introduces you to its likeable characters in a great way, and it's just cheeky and smart and funny (the ep is worth watching for the scene of hero's mom and dad meeting as recounted by him, alone).

This was a drama I meant to check out but I had no expectations - I liked the cast but the story seemed so-so. But I am very very glad to be proven wrong.