Seo Kang-jun and Ahn Eun-jin's KBS2 Drama Hits 1.9%, Last in Its Slot

KBS2's Not Your Kind of Romance (Neodayeon) hit a series-low 1.9% in episode 8, and it sits dead last among its time-slot rivals. That is a rough place to be at the halfway mark for a weekend miniseries starring Seo Kang-jun and Ahn Eun-jin.

The 14-episode drama enters its second half with episode 9 on the 17th. The premise is a gamble: after a 10-year relationship, Nam Gung-ho (Seo Kang-jun) and Lee Mi-do (Ahn Eun-jin) each try "a month of different romance" with someone new. He gets Park Su-a (Jo Ah-ram). She gets Han Tae-seung (Lee Ju-an).

A slide that never really reversed

The drama opened on September 12 at 2.6%. Episode 2 brought a 2.8%, still its best, and the numbers have stayed in the low-to-mid 2% range since. Then episode 8 dropped to 1.9%, a new low.

The Korean coverage blames the story itself. The setup is bold, and the leads are the kind of pairing viewers usually trust. But the plot has been hard to relate to, the pacing slow, and the characters' emotions keep missing each other. Viewers drifted away.

What episode 9 is selling

The production is leaning on a four-way meeting. In the pre-release stills, Park Su-a cups Nam Gung-ho's face just as Lee Mi-do and Han Tae-seung walk into the same place. It looks like the awkward-collision scene the drama has been building toward.

The cast are pitching the back half as a growth story. Seo Kang-jun pointed to "the process of filling in each other's pain and gaps, growing, and deepening the relationship." Ahn Eun-jin asked viewers to watch "what kind of love, and what kind of partner, is needed at each stage of life." Lee Ju-an and Jo Ah-ram teased sharper tension and emotional turmoil.

Whether a love-quadrangle reveal can win back viewers who already left is the open question. Nothing in the numbers so far says it will, though a drama this thin on audience can still move quickly in either direction.