Love Spells And A Painful Curse — Is “Destined With You’s” Slow Build Worth The Watch?

K-Drama Destined With You just dropped the first two episodes. Starring SF9’s Rowoon and Jo Bo Ah, the visuals are guaranteed to be top tier. But eye candy aside, is the show worth a watch?

We’re not going to sugarcoat things. The first episode gets off to a slow build as we are made privy to the long backstory of the main leads. Jo Bo Ah plays Lee Hong Jo, your typical poor girl lead. She craves attention and kindness because she was bullied in high school for being poor. Her family has moved to the countryside and her beloved isn’t here anymore. She faces struggles in the workplace due to a misunderstanding between her and her boss, leading to her being outcast by the team.

no i honestly could feel her so much… and to actually listen those harsh words from someone who barely know you? nah i ain't taking that shit #DestinedWithYou #DestinedwithYouEP2 pic.twitter.com/RZTDJzW0ML

— liy (@kimyoungdaes) August 24, 2023

Rowoon plays the rich and cold lawyer Jang Shin Yoo. Shin Yoo is no better off, despite his material wealth. He’s plagued by a curse where a dark, burning hand caresses his cheek from time to time, driving him to pain.

Shin Yoo has to figure out how to stop this curse, and it seems like Hong Jo holds the key. The Jang family’s shaman advises Shin Yoo that Hong Jo is the owner of Mokdam, a wooden box buried at the family’s shrine. When Hong Jo finally opens the box, she finds a spell book written by a trivial shaman, Aeng Cho. From love potions to good luck, each spell can only be used once. How will she make use of the spells?

Hong Jo opening the box.

We are also introduced to the supporting characters Yoon Na Yeon (played by Yura)…

…and Kwon Jae Gyeong (played by Ha Jun). Hong Jo has the biggest crush on Kwon Jae Gyeong, a star player at the City Hall. On the other hand, Na Yeon has been in a two year relationship with Shin Yoo. She’s disappointed that he does not want to propose, but he’s occupied with his family’s curse. Na Yeon and Hong Jo used to be friends, but not anymore.

Kwon Jae Gyeong.

As the first episode is largely spent drawing out these four characters, it’s going to take some brain power to pay attention. But once you move to the second episode, things start to get a little exciting. Hong Jo decides to use the love potion spell to get Kwon Jae Gyeong to fall in love with her…

…but it looks like he’s not the only one who’s affected. Shin Yoo gets hit with a wave of burnt-hand-induced pain as soon as Hong Jo uses the spell.

The acting prowess of the cast might not be the most powerful, but it gets the job done. Rowoon’s sharp features and cold visuals help the viewers get into his role as a tsundere type of male lead. On the other hand, Jo Bo Ah has played plenty of bumbling poor girl types (see Shut Up! Flower Boy Band).

We’re a little on the fence with Yura, but if her role is kept small, it should not be too much of an issue. It seems like she’s been typecast into the mean rich-girl role, for she plays the mayor’s daughter this time too.

Despite the slow build, the little mysteries keep us tied to the show. It’s enough to make us want to continue investing our time, at least, for the next two episodes. How are the spell book and Shin Yoo related? Is Kwon Jae Gyeong more suspicious than he looks? Did Hong Jo’s ex-boyfriend die, or did he just leave her? So many questions are left to be answered. Looks like there’s only one solution — to keep watching!