Crash Course in Romance is categorized as a romantic comedy, which is why the murder mystery woven into the plot was so surprising. Face it! Math teachers are boring! How could a writer possibly make their life exciting and interesting?
This Korean drama series has 16 episodes and is streaming on Netflix. Where to Watch.
Image credit: Netflix.com
The main characters are:
- Choi Chi-yeol (played by Jung Kyung-ho) is a star math teacher at a prestigious private academy, The Pride; and
- Nam Haeng-seon (played by Jeon Do-yeon), is the owner of “Nation’s Best Banchan”, a side dish store in Seoul.
Choi Chi-yeol is a brilliant teacher who knows all about math but zero about romance. He needs someone with a generous heart like Nam Haeng-seon to teach him. He could benefit from a crash course in romance.
The first time they meet is crazy! Choi Chi-yeol guards his privacy and thinks someone is trying to take his photo without his permission. The photographer is Nam Haeng-seon's brother. But he wasn't trying to photograph Choi Chi-yeol. He only wanted a picture of the tiger that was on the jacket that Choi Chi-yeol was wearing. It leads to a misunderstanding and he tries to take the camera and run with it. Nam Haeng-seon sees this and chases after him. That's how they meet and this encounter leads the both of them to think that the other person is INSANE!
For years, Choi Chi-yeol has had a problem when he eats food. For some reason his stomach gets upset and he can not digest the food. But one day his personal assistant buys food for him from Nam Haeng-seon's Banchan restaurant. To his surprise, he enjoys the dishes. But when he realizes that the lady who owns the restaurant is the same lady who chased after him, he tries to disguise himself so that he can enter her place of business as a “regular old ordinary customer”. She eventually recognizes him.
The final encounter is what really connects them. The lives of the two main characters intersect because Nam Haeng-seon's daughter is one of Choi Chi-yeol's math students. She is so good that even when the ruthless moms connive and scheme to get her thrown out of The Pride academy, he is willing to tutor her privately. The time he spends tutoring the daughter spills over into time spent with the mother and them getting to know each other. A romance develops between the two of them, but there are many complications that occur in their lives that threaten their relationship.
“Crash Course in Romance” was exciting, interesting, and very entertaining. My personal rating for the K-drama series is 4.5 out of 5 stars.
