Yet Another Huge Age-Gapped Couple? New K-Drama Faces Backlash After “Setting Up” For Romance
A new JTBC K-Drama is now facing backlash for springing a “love line,” or romantic plot, on the viewers.
Beyond The Bar, also known by its Korean title Esquire, premiered on August 2, 2025 (KST), and only a handful of episodes have been released. In the latest episodes, however, the main characters shared a moment that hinted at romance…
어제 석훈이랑 비맞은 거 떠올리고 얼굴 빨개지는 강효민? 아니 이거 완전… 러브라인…플래그를 자꾸만..꽂아버리네…
왜…? pic.twitter.com/k2MuufBqSR
— 화석 (@notfossil379_) August 10, 2025
Kang Hyo Min blushes as she remembers getting caught in the rain with Seok Hoon the night before…? Is this not totally… a love line…? They just keep… hinting at romance… But why…?
— @notfossil379_/X
어제 비 맞으면서 석훈이가 진정한 정의구현 해줘서 효민이는 조금 심쿵했던건지 어제를 떠올리고 얼굴 빨개짐 -> 굳이 얼굴 빨개진걸 언급 후 감기 걸린 거 아니냐며 윤석훈 너스레 떰 -> 효민이 도주 -> 윤석훈 피식 웃음 -> 효민이 마음 자각 못함
이게 러브라인 흐름이 아님 뭔데요..? https://t.co/LhrRaePEVF pic.twitter.com/M9iLxE4kPp
— 화석 (@notfossil379_) August 10, 2025
So, Kang Hyo Min is thinking about what happened in the rain yesterday. She starts blushing while remembering how Seok Hoon truly served justice and maybe it made her heart skip a beat or whatever. And then, after mentioning her blushing, Seok Hoon jokes that she might’ve caught a cold after being caught in the rain with him. She runs off and he smirks about it. The interaction ends with her still unaware of her feelings.
If this ain’t the flow of a love line, then what is…?
— @notfossil379_/X
…and this new development is not sitting well with the viewers—especially given that the male lead, actor Lee Jin Wook (Lee Jin Uk), is 16 years older than the female lead, DIA member-turned-actress Jung Chaeyeon.
As of late, K-Drama fans have expressed general distaste for romance between cast members who have a significant age gap.
Because Beyond The Bar did not explicitly promote workplace romance as one of the running themes—and so the “plot twist” feels random and forced—viewers are adamant about not seeing any love interest forming between the leads.
- “If you’re going to include romance, at least make it believable. I hate it when they just shove it in there like some random kiss scene from an American TV show. And what, are they being threatened that the show won’t air unless there’s romance? Honestly, it’s so boring.”
- “Forget about the age gap… Literally who gets butterflies over their boss at work? You’d just want to go home early. If she’s a lawyer, she probably worked hard to keep up her grades at a good university, struggled through law school, passed the bar, and now works under a boss doing tough professional work. Yet in the end, she’s just blushing at a simple gesture from her boss? Because she’s a woman, I guess. In reality, women hate it when they’re paired with older men at work, not taken seriously, and only seen as potential love interests.”
- “So there is romance in this? Sigh.”
- “The stuff that sells well is rom-coms that advertise themselves as such, not shows from other genres or episodic dramas with romance mixed in. Aren’t there more people who dislike that?”
- “I think I read that the scriptwriter for this show is an actual lawyer—is that right?”
- “Isn’t Jung Chaeyeon’s co-star old enough to be her uncle?”
- “I’d be OK with the romance if they’re developing it with different people.”
- “This age difference is…”
- “A 16-year age gap and you’re calling it romance???”
- “Wait, there was an article saying this drama had no romance, but there is romance?”
Previously, the K-Drama also received some spotlight as lead actress Jung Chaeyeon’s acting skills triggered mixed responses. Read more about what the viewers were saying here:
Idol-Turned-Actress Receives Mixed Responses About Her Acting
