No Gain, No Love 손해 보기 싫어서 [2024]

[mademoiselle]

 

• Drama: No Gain No Love (English title) / No Loss in Love / Because I Want No Loss (literal title)
• Hangul: 손해 보기 싫어서
• Director: Kim Jung-Sik
• Writer: Kim Hye-Young
• Streaming platform: Prime Video
• Network: TVING
• Episodes: 12
• Release Date: August 26 – October 1, 2024
• Runtime: Monday & Tuesday 20:50
• Website: Official | NamuWiki | MDL | Naver

 

Plot Summary

Son Hae-Young (Shin Min-A) is the type of person who doesn't want to lose money under any circumstance. When growing up, she had to share her mother's love with others. She often found her partners in relationships below her break even point. Now, Son Hae-Young faces the possibility of missing out on a job promotion at her workplace. To avoid such a loss, she makes a plan for a fake wedding. She recruits Kim Ji-Wook (Kim Young-Dae) to be her fiance. Kim Ji-Wook works part-time as a cashier at a convenience store. He is the type of person who can't ignore people in need and tries to do the right thing. He is smooth with every customer at the convenience store, except for one person. That person is Son Hae-Young. When she suddenly asks him to become the fake groom at her wedding, he somehow accepts her offer (source: AsianWiki)

 

Character Chart

 

[mademoiselle]

5 Mins Preview Trailer

 

Press Conference

Spoiler

 

 

Promotion

Spoiler

 

 

 

[mademoiselle]

Episode 1-2

 

Surprisingly fun to watch. Come join me, @ktcjdrama @JenL @Tofu @Alice Wonderland @Chocolate @UnniSara 

 

@abs-oluteM As you know, this drama is marriage contract, plus it has Lee Sang Yi.

 

I find the first two episodes fun and interesting to watch. It is engaging almost immediately. Shin Min Ah's character is calculative in life, but rather relatable. I like the directing and editing of how her past relationships come to play on screen. It's quite funny, even though I shouldn't laugh, because it is a realistic scenario. But I really enjoyed how it was played out. On the other hand, the male lead played by Kim Young Dae is a lot more mysterious, even though the Show already let us know of his birth background. He's brought up by grandma (cameo by Kim Hae Sook) and was born out of wedlock. Even though the male lead has a bad impression of the female lead, they seem to be similar type of people. He definitely resonated with her regarding her mother's situation and did not like how her ex treated her. The ex is one of those typical jerk we see in kdrama office romance went sour.

 

I quite like the set-up of two people married without love but then fall in love later as they get to know one another better, which is why I somewhat enjoyed The Princess Royal (Cdrama). Haha. Heh.

 

That said, I am genuinely curious whether Korean companies really give out so many incentives if their employees get married? Is it because the government is trying to encourage marriage/family? No matter how I see it, eventually it's a "loss" at our end since we're the one that has to take care of the children. Anyway, I just thought it's interesting.

 

Secondary leads (couple-to-be) are also interesting. The girl is an erotic novelist whose novels Lee Sang Yi's mother loves reading. LMAO. Not quite sure the weight of Lee Sang Yi's role is in this, but I think mainly as comedic relief type of character.

 

The casts of Strong Girl Nam Soon will make cameo appearances next week, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Byeon Woo Seok!

 

@SilverMoonTea, you can come here to swoon at Kim Young Dae. Oh my god, I just had a thought!!! See spoiler!

Spoiler

Could he possibly be Lee Sang Yi's half brother?! It's so possible, right?!!

 

Edited September 1 by mademoiselle

[SilverMoonTea]

@mademoiselle Thanks for the calling. I did try this drama because you said it's fun and it didn't dissapoint. It ranked high on my list now. Mainly I think because KYD's visual lol, I'm shallow and easy to please 

 

The FL rather unique, eventhough I can relate with her but I think she's a bit too wild lol. I was also cracked out when she checking in on the marriage list and she said one must be madly in love to go through all this 

 

The ML character quite up to my liking. He seems virtuous, mysterious and looked nerd 😂 

 

The other side characters also quite interesting. 

[mademoiselle]

@SilverMoonTea  What is in KYD's visual that Lee Do Hyun do not have?  I reckon I like Hae Young's practical mentality. She's calculative but also fair. BTW, I forgot to mention previously, she gave ~USD$300 for the wedding! That is insanely too much for an ex and co-worker. 

 

The wedding dress

 

I swear, is it a real wedding dress for people to choose? Hahaha!

 

---

 

@gilaswan this is another drama you should check it out.

 

Edited September 1 by mademoiselle

[SilverMoonTea]

10 minutes ago, mademoiselle said:

@SilverMoonTea  What is in KYD's visual that Lee Do Hyun do not have?  I reckon I like Hae Young's practical mentality. She's calculative but also fair. BTW, I forgot to mention previously, she gave ~USD$300 for the wedding! That is insanely too much for an ex and co-worker. 

 

@gilaswan this is another drama you should check it out.

Haha KYD more pretty! I have watched couple of LDH drama and never fell for him (yet -> never say never) lols. 

 

Yes I also think it was nice of her to think that she prefer him to go lowkey and unnoticable, so that people won't think he's a married man and she worried about his future. Actually she's quite nice person to everyone around her, despite she always proclaiming herself as calculative.

 

So seems KYD will join her company for whatever reason, I think it's going to be fun. Do you think he was the small boy that being brought up by HY's mom, since his family life also tumultuous. 

 

And I was surprise so seems the erotic novel writer loveline will be with LSY, I thought she will be with that eye candy secretary. 

[mademoiselle]

@SilverMoonTea Yes! It crosses my mind that he may have been one of the foster children her mother brought home. It's definitely possible. I forgot what his academic background is now, but I'm now thinking surely it has something to do with what she proposed about the AI learning project. And possibly that is why he's needed by her, and also because of their marriage status. Hehe.

 

Yeah, the erotic novel writer seems to know the secretary. I think the flashback showed they were classmates.

[SilverMoonTea]

 

[Alice Wonderland]

I found this one by accident, so I tried and it was so boring at first 5 mins. But then it became fun and interesting. And I was shocked by the hairstyle of KYD here 🤣

[mademoiselle]

 

 

 

 

[Tofu]

@SilverMoonTea was selling this drama to me by telling me Kim Young Dae is in it. She should have just told me that Lee Sang Yi is in this drama! 

[gilaswan]

On 9/1/2024 at 6:47 PM, mademoiselle said:

@SilverMoonTea  What is in KYD's visual that Lee Do Hyun do not have?  I reckon I like Hae Young's practical mentality. She's calculative but also fair. BTW, I forgot to mention previously, she gave ~USD$300 for the wedding! That is insanely too much for an ex and co-worker. 

 

The wedding dress

 

I swear, is it a real wedding dress for people to choose? Hahaha!

 

---

 

@gilaswan this is another drama you should check it out.

 

Hahaha... awright. Will check it out. But that dress... uh...

[mademoiselle]

3 hours ago, gilaswan said:

Hahaha... awright. Will check it out. But that dress... uh...

Hahaha, she had a reason wearing that hideous dress. You'll find out in episode 2.

17 hours ago, Tofu said:

@SilverMoonTea was selling this drama to me by telling me Kim Young Dae is in it. She should have just told me that Lee Sang Yi is in this drama! 

Yes, but Lee Sang Yi won't keep you to the end of the drama.

[mademoiselle]

E3 is another great and enjoyable episode!

 

Love the comic style flowery CG for Ji Wook when he was trying all sorts of tuxedos and suits with two girls swooning at him. The show made Kim Young Dae into the most beautiful man in the world in this drama, though I know he's actually not. It's so funny and nicely done. Haha.

 

I also love it that the cheater ex was dumbfounded and had heart eyes at Hae Young in her wedding dress! Ha! But in all honesty, his wife isn't bad looking herself.

 

And praises to the proposal in the convenience store. To be honest, I thought rom-com would have run out of ideas by now, but this is pretty innovative, especially the "MARRY ME".

 

I was tearing up that she gave the bride's room to let all the guests and her foster children take photos with her dementia Omma! And ahhh, Ji Wook is also one of her foster children! He was in hiding the whole time during reception, but here is me hoping he was in the bride's room with Omma the whole time. I still think Ji Wook might be the illegitimate child of Sang Yi's father, what his mother said is enough as a hint.

 

LMAO to Lee Sang Yi getting hooked on the erotic novel. And yes, I noticed the male lead's name in the novel is the name of his secretary. HAHAHA! She likes the secretary, so I wonder how she's going to fall for Lee Sang Yi instead.

 

The cameo of Kim Jung Eun (Strong Girl Nam Soon) is so random and unnecessary. Byeon Woo Seok's cameo will be in the upcoming episode tonight.

 

 

New stills

 

[mademoiselle]

Lee Sang Yi being traumatised by Omma reading erotic novels is absolutely hilarious! The man approaching Ji Wook at the end suggested it may be his biological father looking for him. Is it Lee Sang Yi's dad trying to make Ji Wook the heir instead? But the wife would not have agreed to this.

 

Byeon Woo Seok's cameo was lovely, and it made me LOL-ed at him innocently ask Hae Young whether she wanted the pack that would cause a stroke or the pack that would cause lung cancer.

 

BTS

 

[Chocolate]

This is not bad. I’ve finished the 4 episodes.

 

And agree that the start of Ep3 was hilarious what with the bed scene (mighty hot) and Lee Sang Yi’s extreme shock at his mum’s reading material 😅 That’s why I always say e-books are the best - no one knows what you are reading lol. When the relationship develops between LSY and the writer, he should be happy she is so “knowledgeable” in the bedroom hahaha.

 

I also think the ML is the illegitimate son, but it’s likely not going to be a boardroom fight.

 

The sister knows her boyfriend has affairs but is still sticking with him. So strange.

 

 

[mademoiselle]

Yay! Welcome, @Chocolate

 

I don't understand the relationship between Lee Sang Yi's father and mother. Who is the owner of the organisation anyway? The mother seem to have some "power" over the father. From the conversation, she seems to be the one that brought wealth to the family? When Lee Sang Yi was summoned, how come she didn't react? Did she not know it was directed at her favourite writer?

[mademoiselle]

Anybody left? I've lost @Tofu and @SilverMoonTea 

 

Episode 5

 

I still really enjoy the show, more so than Love Next Door, actually. I had thought Ji Wook entered the company because he was curious to find out about his father. Little did I know, he was "threatened" and delighted that he passed all the interview processes on his own without someone pulling any strings.

 

From the get-go, he had to be the illegitimate son of Bok Ki Ho. It seems quite obvious when Bok Ki Ho tried to get Bok Gyu Hyun to relinquish his rights to inherit the company. It seems too obvious he had a backup plan, but love the comical twist at the end where the wife put him in his place. Haha.

 

Cha Hee Sung's relationship with her boyfriend, Tae Hyung, has become more interesting. It gives food for thought when she said she loves him but doesn't want to marry him, which is fine in this era. There are many reasons these days not to marry, especially if she's from a broken marriage background, hence doesn't believe in marriage. The main question is she knows he's being unfaithful, but let him be. Obviously, I also question why he wants to marry her if he's cheating.

 

I'm not fully invested in the writer, Nam Ja Yeon and Bok Gyu Hyun's relationship. I can't decide if I like both their characters and where the show is trying to address/take us to for their story. I see that she's a victim of abuse and seriously traumatised by it, but it hasn't given enough to resonate with her.

 

Other than story/character development, I do love the comedy and comic-style cinematography. I could see heart-eyes from all the Omma when Ji Wook took the bee's costume head off and drank water. And then there's the smoke from the bus when Gyu Hyun was kicked off the bus. Hahaha!

 

I have a soft heart for Ji Wook's upbringing and look forward to learning more of his backstory. Grandma loves him, but seems to treat him unfairly (or blame his existence). Yet, he grew up to be a sweet, gentle, good boy.

 

@abs-oluteM Come watch this! It's good thus far!! @gilaswan How are you going with this? Keeper?

[abs-oluteM]

@mademoiselle Let me see if I can squeeze in. I am currently chasing a detective drama for my 2 chinese ge-ge called The First Shot. 

[mademoiselle]

Episode 6

 

I think this has become my top #1 drama now. I still am very interested and invested. ^ ^

 

It might actually be the first Kim Young Dae's drama that I like his character. Maybe because he's got that quiet demeanour I'm always drawn to for the male lead. I was moved by with his reason of liking Hae Young. His belief that his birth was unwanted and that he ruined his mother's life is heartbreaking. And, it's so KYAAA-worthy that he bought the wedding ring!

 

Ji Wook is no fool, as well. He was quick to figure out Bok Ki Ho is likely his father, and their similarities—intolerance to alcohol was undeniable.

 

I was surprised Mum does know the writer Gyu Hyun left malicious comments was Ja Yeon, and she has no second thought squashing Ja Yeon for her son. Knowing her son knew she reads erotic novels, she makes no explanations. I kind of pity Gyu Hyun now.

 

BTS

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Chocolate]

@mademoiselle I’m still here! And you’ll be happy to know that I am enjoying it still. Ep 5 & 6 has some funny moments where I laughed. But the drama is so light, I can’t remember what those moments were 😂

 

The male lead is strangely quite interesting to watch. He’s not too expressive but his emotions do come through. It’s funny how the drama makes him out to be a hunk and women swooning over him - is it because his fringe is down or he is sweaty? Why did @SilverMoonTea drop this? Thought the ML was doing quite well lol. I am wondering if he has liked SHY since long ago in the 7-11 (because he noticed everything about her) or if it was because he had been a foster kid and knew her.

 

[mademoiselle]

10 hours ago, Chocolate said:

He’s not too expressive but his emotions do come through.

 

I've always liked a stoic male lead and enjoyed expressing emotions through the eyes and face. KYD isn't a strong actor, but he's gotten a lot better since I first knew him. He was pretty funny in Sh**ting Stars, if you hadn't seen that one. The Titanic BGM scene was the funniest, but you wouldn't hear Titanic if you watch from NF (copyright issue).

 

10 hours ago, Chocolate said:

It’s funny how the drama makes him out to be a hunk and women swooning over him - is it because his fringe is down or he is sweaty?

 

Hahaha IKR! It is hilarious. It's supposed to be his good looks in combination with the sweat. Imagine all the girls fawning over the Oppa when he plays basketball at the court. That is the type of scenario the drama is recreating (in a manga style). 

 

10 hours ago, Chocolate said:

I am wondering if he has liked SHY since long ago in the 7-11 (because he noticed everything about her) or if it was because he had been a foster kid and knew her.

 

I think it's a combo. I don't want to put a nail into the coffin, of course. There's definitely the reason of she's the foster mother's daughter, so he's grateful in general. Hae Young's high school role was played by the cute Crown Princess in Under the Queen's Umbrella, so I'm guessing Hae Young is a pretty girl herself, so he must have had a crush on her too. He made sure she never miss out on the most popular Onigiri at 7-11 speaks volume. However, I think he disapproved of adult Hae Young – having witnessed the interactions she had with her exes and everything he's learnt of her behaviours when she goes to 7-11. LOL. 

[gilaswan]

@mademoiselle Yes! Finally caught up! Been meaning to come online to post but September is just a crazy month for me. Sob.

 

I think I like the show for its somewhat ridiculous non-story sort of storyline. Doesn’t take much brainpower to watch this show, no stellar acting needed, every character is easy on the eye. I prefer “My mom’s friend’s son”… can’t remember the English title… oops.

 

The Chairman being the father seems to obvious I’m thinking perhaps he really isn’t. Could he be a nephew or something that the uncle has finally found? Why he disliked her even though he seems so indebted to her mum is still a mystery too. And if he was one of the many foster children mum brought home, how is it that the other foster kids at the wedding didn’t recognise him? I guess their paths never crossed…

[mademoiselle]

Original Soundtracks

 

OST 1 Sondia - Possible Love

 

OST 2 Kassy - Someday

Spoiler

 

 

OST 3 Hui - My Side

Spoiler

 

 

OST 4 Kim Jae Hwan - Falling Into You

Spoiler

 

 

 

OST 5 Cheeze - Another Story

Spoiler

 

 

Hi @abs-oluteM can you please pin this for me? Thank you.

[gilaswan]

I got to the point last night when it was revealed that her foster sister was in a polyamorous relationship and decided what-the-heck - I'm going to bed. How this show is rated PG on Amazon for all its themes, I do not know. But the writer sure is exploring all sorts of very off-kilter (especially to Korean mainstream culture) stuff on relationships in this series. I'm not sure where this story is headed or if there's a story in there at all. 

 

And then the guy for wanting to have both his cake and eat it wants to marry her? Why even?