Following the massive success of Queen of Tears, tvN‘s new weekend K-Drama also gained attention for casting a hot rising actor, Wi Ha Joon, alongside veteran actress Jung Ryeo Won (also known as Yoana Won).

Set out to be a Melancholia-esque romance with the forever controversial “student-to-lover” pipeline, The Midnight Romance In Hagwon (also known as Graduation) sparked concerns as soon as the cast lineup was announced.

Veteran Korean language teacher Seo Hye Jin (Jung Ryeo Won)’s stable and pressure-free life is unsettled by the return of her former pupil, the one-time troublemaker Lee Jun Ho (Wi Ha Joon).

A decade ago, she helped him gain admission to a prestigious university. He secretly fell for her then and has admired her from afar ever since. In the pursuit of love, he gives up his job at a major company to become a Korean language teacher—and be closer to Hye Jin again. Will his plan work? And could this former teacher and student find love, despite their sizable age gap?

— Viki

Now, with three episodes in, the significant dip in the viewer rating for the show is speaking for itself.

Some viewers called out “the non-existent chemistry” between the leads…

• “A lot of the times, I can’t understand what Jung Ryeo Won is saying because she has terrible pronunciation.”
• “I mean, even if the plot is cliché, people will watch if the leads have good chemistry. But I feel like the characters clash… and the leads’ acting styles don’t really work together.”
• “I had no idea who directed this until I watched Episode 1. I knew right away it had to be An Pan Seok. LOL. He uses the same supporting actors every single time.”
• “I knew this would happen. I stopped watching after Episode 2, too. Haha. I figure I’m not a fan of An Pan Seok’s works.”
• “It’s not horrible… But with the same old supporting cast and the same old directing… This offers nothing new, which is a bummer.”
• “WDYM…? I’m having so much fun watching this…”

…while others blamed the Production Director An Pan Seok and his tendency to “duplicate his own works” with cliché mise-en-scène and “the usual, same-old directing (and casting).”

• “I like An Pan Seok’s directing, actually. So I looked forward to this, but the leads have zero chemistry.”
• “Personally, I enjoyed Jung Ryeo Won’s acting in this. I thought the chemistry with the male lead was just fine, too. Hwaiting.”
• “One Spring Night is one of my favorite K-Dramas, though. Sure, it’s not exciting. But Jung Hae In and Han Ji Min had excellent chemistry. In fact, I realized how good of an actor Jung Hae In is watching One Spring Night. That said, I was looking forward to this show, but…”
• “Yeah, I started watching because I really liked One Spring Night, too. But there’s nothing romantic about this one.”
• “I was OK with Jung Ryeo Won’s acting. But the male lead is lacking. I feel like it would’ve been a lot better to cast someone with more chemistry to offer.”
• “I like it.”
• “I stopped watching mid-Episode 1. Something about the leads feels meh.”
• “I’m so sick and tired of seeing the same old people in An Pan Seok’s K-Dramas. And I hate how he shoots all of his K-Dramas in the dark. It’s hard to watch because the dimness is frustrating.”
• “It’s just not that good.”

Despite the online opinion, the leads have been nothing but “steamy” on and off the show. Will the viewer rating pick back up as plot thickens and sparks start flying?

K-Drama fans stay tuned.

Source: theqoo