Sweet Stranger and Me ~ Gold-Digging Gigolo or World’s Best Dad?

“Sweet Stranger and Me” is a 2016 Korean drama series, based on the webcomic “Woorijibe Saneun Namja”, with 16 episodes, and categorized as a Romantic Comedy (Rom-Com).

♦ My Stepdad is Young Enough to Be My Boyfriend? NO WAY!!

In “Sweet Stranger and Me”, Hong Na-Ri is a stewardess who has been engaged to Jo Dong-Jin for almost 10 years. Her father had abandoned them both for another woman when she was young. They never kept in contact with each other. She lost her mother in a tragic car accident.

For almost a year after her mother died, Hong Na-Ri worked very hard. It was a part of working through her grief. However, she ignored her boyfriend assuming he would understand her feelings and patiently allow her to come to grips with this devastating loss. It’s not easy to lose your mother. But Jo Dong-Jin was not understanding. He started having an affair.

Do Yeo-Joo is also a stewardess who works with Hong Na-Ri. She is fully aware of the loss of her mother and the fact that she has plans to get married. Nevertheless, she begins a secret relationship with Jo Dong-Jin. The affair is discovered and Hong Na-Ri wants to call off the wedding and end the relationship. Her father ran off with another woman and she was not about to go through the same thing in her life.

Jo Dong-Jin is wishy-washy. He is practically dominated by “the fiery fox”. That’s what all the stewardesses, fellow workers, call Do Yeo-Joo. A better name would be “maneater”. Jo Dong-Jin is spineless, and selfish, and wants to have his cake and eat it too. In other words, he wants to stay in the relationship with both women. Hong Na-Ri warns both of them to stay out of her face or else! NO MERCY!

Hong Na-Ri visits her mother’s grave to talk and tells her about all her troubles and the decisions she will make for her future life. She meets a man there and wants to know what he was doing at her mother’s gravesite. He does not tell at that moment.

Later on, when Hong Na-Ri goes to her childhood home, she finds that same man living in “her house”. His name is Go Nan-Gil and he promptly informs her that she is living in “his house”. He married her mother and he is her stepfather. So she should show some respect.

WHAT? Hong Na-Ri and Go Nan-Gil are almost the same age. Not only that but her mother never told her she got married. Go Nan-Gil shows proof that he did indeed marry her mother and now all of her mother’s property belongs to him. He intends to stay in the house, run the restaurant her mother ran, and maintain all of the property that the mother owned UNTIL HE DIES!!

Hong Na-Ri is shocked AND furious!! A young man has taken advantage of her mother and grabbed all of her assets when she died. He must be a GOLD-DIGGING GIGOLO!!

Go Nan-Gil objects to that characterization. He is not and was never after her mother’s possessions AND the mother was not forced into a relationship with him. She willingly agreed to the marriage for him to inherit her property and to make sure that her daughter, Hong Na-Ri was taken care of.

Hong Na-Ri finds the whole story preposterous! Why did her mother never even mention this man??? Go Nan-Gil is her stepfather?? That gold-digging gigolo dared to present himself to her as if he’s World’s Best Dad??? NO WAY!

♦ I Need a LAWYER!

What’s the best way to go up against a gold digger who has all the papers to prove ownership? Get a lawyer. Enter: Kwon Duk-Bong.

Kwon Duk-Bong does not actively practice law but he knows enough about the law to help Hong Na-Ri investigate the relationship between her mother and the man who claims to be her stepfather. He freely offers Hong Na-Ri his legal and counseling services and she accepts.

But Kwon Duk-Bong has an ulterior motive. He wants to build a resort on the property that Go Nan-Gil says he owns. Go Nan-Gil REFUSES TO SELL!! If Kwon Duk-Bong and Hong Na-Ri can prove fraud has occurred, she can take back her mother’s property and kick that gigolo to the curb!!

If only. If only what? If only Go Nan-Gil was a gold-digging gigolo who took advantage of an older woman. If only ..??? … that were true. Is it true? As time goes on the investigation into his background and his relationship with Hong Na-Ri’s mother begins revealing some complicated details about the mother’s financial affairs.

The father who had abandoned her and her mother tried to use the assets to pay off his debts. Because of their own stupid actions, the father and the uncle, her mother’s brother, were both tied up with gangsters. Hong Na-Ri might need more than a lawyer to tackle this matter! These are nasty guys.

Kwon Duk-Bong agreed to work with Hong Na-Ri and help her straighten things out. But he did not hide that his primary motivation for assisting her was to acquire her mother’s property so that he could build a resort. He just needed her to sign the papers.

Go Nan-Gil refused to sign any papers. He assured Hong Na-Ri that he was trustworthy and that he had no selfish intentions or ambitions; and that what he was doing with the property, her mother had approved before she died. Go Nan-Gil said that he also promised Hong Na-Ri’s mother that he would take care of Hong Na-Ri and see to it that she inherits what is rightfully hers.

As Hong Na-Ri and Go Nan-Gil continue interacting with each other and she uncovers more and more details about what happened with her mother before she died, she starts to think: Maybe he is the World’s Best Dad.

Main Characters:

• Hong Na-Ri (played by Soo-Ae)
• Go Nan-Gil (played by Kim Young-Kwang, “Mission: Possible”)
• Kwon Duk-Bong (played by Lee Soo-Hyuk)
• Do Yeo-Joo (played by Jo Bo-Ah, “Destined with You”, “Tale of the Nine Tailed”)
• Jo Dong-Jin (played by Kim Ji-Hoon, “Love to Hate You”, “Ballerina”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 6.7 out of 10 stars (Listed on IMDb as “The Man Living in Our House”)
• My Drama List: 7.4 out of 10 stars
• Amazon customers rated this series: 4.2 out of 5 stars
• Public reviews shared via Google: 4.7 out of 5 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series: 9.2 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.

I confess that my main reason for wanting to watch“Sweet Stranger and Me” was because of Lee Soo-Hyuk. I have been a loyal fan ever since he played the evil vampire in “Scholar Who Walks the Night“. He won the Best New Actor award for that mini-series at the 2015 MBC Drama Awards. Been following him ever since.

He was mesmerizing as a grim reaper in “Tomorrow” and I also liked his character in “Doom at Your Service”. The thing with Lee Soo-Hyuk is that he is usually not cast as the main male lead; yet you remember him. He has charisma.

At any rate, Lee Soo-Hyuk’s performance in “Sweet Stranger and Me” did not disappoint and neither did any of the other actors. But it was the storyline that hooked me. When the young guy said he was the young woman’s stepfather, I wondered, WHAT IS GOING ON??

The plot was an atypical Korean rom-com. KpopStarz described it as a “bizarre story”, and while South Korean audiences lost interest, international audiences were intrigued. I must admit that “bizarre” is probably a better description than “atypical”.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Review – Man Living at My House / Sweet Stranger & Me | subtitledreams
• ‘Sweet Stranger and Me’ fail to reclaim lost viewers in South Korea; Unique story captivates international audience | KpopStarz
• Good Ol’ Review: Charming Cast and Familiar Story Make “Sweet Stranger and Me” an Enjoyable Escape | DryedMangoez.com
• 10 K-Dramas Starring Lee Soo Hyuk | Preview.ph

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Korean Drama. “Sweet Stranger and Me Korean Drama Full Teaser 2016.” YouTube Video. YouTube, October 20, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJEhGnEoG1Q.‌