''It's Okay, That's Love'' () is a 2014

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

starring

Zo In-sung Zo In-sung (, born July 28, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the television series '' Something Happened in Bali'' (2004), '' Spring Day'' (2005), ''That Winter, the Wind Blows'' (2013), ''It's Okay, Th ...

Gong Hyo-jin Gong Hyo-jin (; born April 4, 1980) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading role in the film '' Crush and Blush'' (2008), as well as for her popular television series '' Sang Doo! Let's Go to School'' (2003), ''Thank You'' ...

Sung Dong-il Sung Dong-il (; born April 27, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sung made his acting debut in theater in 1987, then was recruited at the 1991 Seoul Broadcasting System, SBS open talent auditions. He rose to fame as the comic, Jeolla dialect-speak ...

Lee Kwang-soo Lee Kwang-soo (, born July 14, 1985) is a South Korean actor, entertainer, and model. He made his acting debut in the sitcom ''Here He Comes'' (2008) and received further recognition for his roles in medical melodrama ''It's Okay, That's Love'' ...

, and Doh Kyung-soo. It aired on SBS from July 23 to September 11, 2014, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 ( KST) for 16 episodes.

Synopsis

Jang Jae-yeol is an author of bestselling

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

s and a radio DJ. Playful and a bit arrogant, he also suffers from

obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an ''obsession'') and feels the need to perform certain routines (''Compulsive behavior, compulsions'') repeatedly to relieve the dis ...

. Jang Jae-yeol was assaulted by his father when he was young and his mother accidentally killed his father, but he falsely testified that his brother killed his father. That guilt leads him to develop obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ji Hae-soo is a psychiatrist on her first year of

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

. Driven and ambitious with her career yet compassionate towards her patients, Hae-soo has a negative attitude towards love and relationships in her personal life. Once Jae-yeol and Hae-soo meet, there is much contention between them caused by their strong personalities and refusal to give in to each other. However, their bickering slowly turns into love and they begin to learn how compatible they are. Jae-yeol and Hae-soo attempt to heal each other's deep-seated wounds, but their fledgling relationship takes a blow when they learn that Jae-yeol's mental health issues are more serious than they initially suspected.

Cast

Main

as Jang Jae-yeol **

Sung Yoo-bin Sung Yoo-bin (born 25 July 2000) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Web series Awards and nominations References External links

* * * 2000 births Living people Male actors from Seoul ...

as young Jang Jae-yeol :A bestselling

mystery fiction Mystery is a genre fiction, fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains wiktionary:mysterious, mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually prov ...

novelist and radio DJ. Because of his troubled past and

, Jae-yeol can only sleep in his own bathtub. From his first meeting with psychiatrist Ji Hae-soo on a talk show, they have had a combative relationship. When noise from ongoing construction beside his house interrupts his writing, and he learns that Hae-soo is currently a tenant living in a building he owns in Hongdae, Jae-yeol temporarily moves in with her and her housemates because of his fascination with her. As the two fall in love, they must later come to grips with Jae-yeol's undiagnosed

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. *

as Ji Hae-soo **Kang Joo-eun as young Ji Hae-soo :A first-year

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

in the psychiatry department at a university hospital. A smart and compassionate doctor but not very affectionate. Hae-soo self-diagnoses herself as having

insecurity Insecure may refer to: * Lack of security, in an objective sense: ** Risk ** Data security ** Computer security * Food insecurity * Insecurity (emotion), lack of confidence or self esteem Media * ''Insecure'' (TV series), a television series ...

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

issues, a

fear of commitment Fear of commitment, also known as gamophobia, is the irrational fear or avoidance of long-term partnership or marriage. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with commitment phobia, which describes a generalized fear or avoidance of commitmen ...

and sex phobia due to an incident where she saw her mom cheating on her dad with another guy. *

as Jo Dong-min :Hae-soo's senior colleague at the hospital and housemate, who also happens to be her first love. His wife and children are based in the United States, and he has an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and colleague, Young-jin. After he becomes the court-appointed psychiatrist to a convict, Jang Jae-beom, whom he later finds out is Jae-yeol's brother, Dong-min sets out to find the truth behind the crime. *

as Park Soo-kwang :A cafe waiter with

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinkin ...

, and housemate of Hae-soo and Dong-min. He is particularly close friends with Dong-min, who often calms him down during his panic attacks. Soo-kwang is unlucky in love and keeps getting dumped by girls, but the one he can't quite get over is So-nyeo, who is not only a

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

but has several boyfriends at the same time.

Supporting

* Doh Kyung-soo as Han Kang-woo :A high school student who's a big fan of Jae-yeol, and aspires to become a famous author like him. Kang-woo constantly bugs Jae-yeol to read his manuscripts, and follows him around. He and his mother are frequently beaten by his

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

father. Kang-woo is later revealed to be more than just a fan to Jae-yeol. Jae-yeol first saw Kang-woo three years ago, ever since Jae-beom stabbed him. *

Jin Kyung Jin Kyung (; born March 27, 1972) is a South Korean actress. Early years Jin learned piano as a child. She graduated from Seonhwa Arts Middle School, and entered Daewon Foreign Language High School. Her interest at acting started when Jin wat ...

as Lee Young-jin :A

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and Hae-soo's immediate boss at the hospital. Young-jin still has unresolved feelings towards her ex-husband Dong-min, since the breakdown of their marriage was partially caused by her decision to focus on her career and not have children. *

Yang Ik-june Yang Ik-june (born October 19, 1975) is a South Korean actor and film director. He is best known for the 2009 film '' Breathless'', which he wrote, directed, edited, and starred in. Career Born in Seoul in 1975, Yang graduated from the Departme ...

as Jang Jae-beom ** as young Jang Jae-beom :Jae-yeol's older brother who served eleven years in prison after being found guilty of killing their abusive stepfather. His defense attorney at the time found the

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

and sentence needlessly harsh, which came about due to a tough-on- juveniles judge and an ambitious prosecutor. Jae-beom has maintained his innocence through the years, but after being released, he repeatedly stabs his brother, and gets sentenced to another 30 months in jail. Violent and unstable, Jae-beom can't wait to get out of prison and get his revenge on Jae-yeol, whom he believes is the real murderer. *

Lee Sung-kyung Lee Sung-kyung (; born August 10, 1990) is a South Korean model, actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in Korean drama, television series ''Cheese in the Trap (TV series), Cheese in the Trap'' (2016), ''The Doctors (2016 TV series) ...

as Oh So-nyeo :A troubled girl with behavioral problems who was expelled from high school and was also abandoned by her mother. So-nyeo works at a cafe alongside Soo-kwang; she takes advantage of his feelings for her and uses him to give her money and buy her things, even though he knows she's seeing someone else. So-nyeo eventually falls for Soo-kwang and begins dating him exclusively, then decides she wants to become a psychiatrist like Hae-soo. *

Jang Ki-yong Jang Ki-yong (; born August 7, 1992) is a South Korean actor and model. He began his career in the modelling industry and debuted as an actor through a guest appearance on ''It's Okay, That's Love'' (2014). He gained popularity with ''Confessio ...

as Sam : So-nyeo's boyfriend. *

Cha Hwa-yeon Cha Hwa-yeon (; born January 25, 1960), birth name Cha Hak-kyung (), is a South Korean actress. Career Cha made her acting debut in 1978, and became best known as the heroine Kim Mi-ja in the 1987 television drama In film and television ...

as Ok-ja :Jae-yeol and Jae-beom's mother. She and Jae-yeol have a close, affectionate relationship. Her older son Jae-beom believes that Ok-ja gave false testimony against him at his trial in order to save Jae-yeol. But as Dong-min later learns from Jae-beom's defense attorney, Ok-ja was the true culprit, setting fire to her unconscious husband after one of her sons non-fatally stabbed him (the man's

cause of death In law, medicine, and statistics, cause of death is an official determination of the conditions resulting in a human's death, which may be recorded on a death certificate. A cause of death is determined by a medical examiner. In rare cases, an ...

was

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

). The psychologist who examined her at the time diagnosed Ok-ja as suffering from

dissociative disorder Dissociative disorders (DDs) are a range of conditions characterized by significant disruptions or fragmentation "in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior. ...

, a

defense mechanism In psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes that protect the self from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and external stressors. According to this theory, healthy ...

which made her forget what happened and what she'd done. *

Tae Hang-ho Tae Hang-ho (; born July 22, 1983) is a South Korean actor known for his work in film, television, musicals, and theater. He started his career in a theater company in 2008 and made his debut in 2009 with a theater play. Tae gained recognition ...

as Yang Tae-yong :Jae-yeol's best friend from childhood and an employee at his publishing house. Tae-yong betrays Jae-yeol by giving Pul-ip a

galley proof In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tra ...

of his latest book, but Jae-yeol forgives him. *

Kim Mi-kyung Kim Mi-kyung (; born October 14, 1963) is a South Korean actress. She is most active as a supporting actress in television dramas. Kim has been a member of the Yeonwoo Mudae theater company since 1985. Personal life On December 8, 2023, it ...

as Hae-soo's mother :She takes good care of her severely-handicapped husband, but is also having a decades-long affair with another man, Mr. Kim. Hae-soo's aversion to physical intimacy stems from her knowledge of her mother's affair. *

Do Sang-woo Do Sang-woo (born December 25, 1987) is a South Korean actor and model. Do has been gaining attention after starring as Gong Hyo-jin's character's ex-boyfriend in the television series ''It's Okay, That's Love ''It's Okay, That's Love'' () i ...

as Choi Ho :The director ( PD) of a TV talk show, and Hae-soo's boyfriend of almost a year. They break up when she learns that he's been unfaithful to her. * as Ji Yoon-soo **Lee Chae-eun as young Ji Yoon-soo :Hae-soo's older sister and Soo-kwang's coworker at the cafe. * as Oh Do-deuk, Yoon-soo's husband. * as Editor Bae, Jae-yeol's book editor. *Myung Jong-hwan as Resident, Hae-soo's colleague. *Lee Seo-joon as Resident, Hae-soo's colleague.

Special appearances

* Yoon Jin-yi as Lee Pool-ip (Ep. 1–2) :A magazine journalist who goes after an interview with Jae-yeol because she's a fan of his work, and ends up becoming his girlfriend for three years. Pool-ip later steals his latest book and passes it off as her own, then publicly accuses Jae-yeol of plagiarism. *

Moon Ji-in Moon Ji-eun (; born March 1, 1986), better known by the stage name Moon Ji-in, is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her role in the 2016 SBS television series '' The Doctors''. Career On February 3, 2012, Moon signed an exclusive ...

as Min-young :Choi Ho's colleague at the TV station and the girl he's been cheating on Hae-soo with. *

Lee El Kim Ji-hyun (; born June 26, 1982), known professionally as Lee El () is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her Supporting character, supporting roles in the film ''Inside Men (film), Inside Men'' (2015), the television series ''It's ...

as Se-ra :A

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

who was beaten to near-death by her family. *N/A as Soo-bin, a patient with severe depression. * as Hwan-hee, a patient who draws

erotic art Erotic art is a broad field of the visual arts that includes any artistic work intended to evoke arousal. It usually depicts human nudity or sexual activity, and has included works in various visual mediums, including drawings, engravings, fil ...

. * as Yoon-chul, a boy band singer and Hae-soo's close friend. *Jeong Ji-yun as Hye-jin, Yoon-chul's wife who has

. * Ha Yeon-joo as Hyun-joo, Jae-yeol's crush in the past. *Kim Myung-joong as Hae-soo's father. *Kim Hwan as Talk show host (Ep. 1) *N/A as Dong-min's woman on bed (Ep. 1) * as Radio DJ (Ep. 16) *

Goo Hara Goo Hara (; ; January 3, 1991 – November 24, 2019), also known mononymously as Hara, was a South Korean singer and actress. She was a member of the K-pop girl group Kara, and had also appeared in television dramas including '' City Hunter'' ...

as Female fan (Ep. 16)

Production

Screenwriter

Noh Hee-kyung Noh Hee-kyung (; born March 21, 1966) is a South Korean television screenwriter and essayist. She is best known for her television dramas such as, '' That Winter, the Wind Blows'' (2013), '' It's Okay, That's Love'' (2014), '' Dear My Friends'' ( ...

and director Kim Kyu-tae said that by realistically exploring characters from a

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

standpoint, their drama also aimed to address the

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

and

social stigma Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...

attached to people with mental health issues and other minorities. This was Noh and Kim's fourth collaboration; actor ZJo In-sung had previously worked with them on ''

That Winter, the Wind Blows ''That Winter, the Wind Blows'' () is a 2013 South Korea, South Korean television romantic drama series broadcast by Seoul Broadcasting System, SBS. The series is based on the 2002 Japanese drama series and was previously adapted into the 200 ...

'' (2013), while actress

had starred in Noh's ''Wonderful Days'' (2001). The first

read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading of the screenplay or script is conducted around a table by the actors with speaking parts. In addition to the ...

was held in April 2014 at an SBS studio in

Ilsan Ilsan New Town () refers to a planned city occupying Ilsandong District and Ilsanseo District of Goyang. Ilsan is located northwest of Seoul. Like other satellite cities in the Seoul National Capital Area such as Bundang, Ilsan was planned in o ...

, and filming began shortly after. At 1:00 a.m. on June 19, 2014, the van Gong Hyo-jin was riding became involved in a three-vehicle

rear-end collision A rear-end collision, often called rear-ending or, in the UK, a shunt, occurs when a forward-moving vehicle crashes into the back of another vehicle (often stationary) in front of it. Similarly, rear-end classification of railway accidents, ra ...

with two trucks; she was on her way back to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

after filming in

Yongin Yongin (; ) is a city in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in th ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

. This resulted in a left arm

fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

, a knee injury, and scratches on Gong's face. After recuperating, she and co-star Jo In-sung later left for a shoot in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where their characters go on a romantic trip. Gong's fractured arm was incorporated into the story.

Original soundtrack

Reception

Despite boasting modest ratings, ''It's Okay, That's Love'' ranked third on the year-end Content Power Index. CPI, developed by

CJ E&M CJ ENM Entertainment Division (), formerly known as CJ E&M, is a South Korean entertainment and mass media division (formerly company) of CJ ENM. In July 2018, the company merged with the parent company's subsidiary CJ O Shopping, with the latte ...

and AGB

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, monitors non-traditional variables such as number of mobile and Internet

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

viewers and online "buzz" in

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. It also received praise for addressing the discrimination and social stigma attached to people with mental health issues and other minorities.

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

Controversy

When the 30-second teaser trailer for the drama was released online on June 25, 2014, netizens pointed out that it had been

plagiarized Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of anothe ...

from the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Olive Juice'' by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based video artist

Celia Rowlson-Hall Celia Rowlson-Hall is an American dancer, choreographer, and film director. She has choreographed numerous music videos and commercials, and has directed several short films. Her debut feature film, ''MA'', was released in 2015. Early life Rowls ...

. On June 26, production company GT Entertainment admitted the charge and apologized through a press release, after which the teaser trailer was deleted from the official website.

References

External links

* * * {{Noh Hee-kyung 2014 South Korean television series debuts 2014 South Korean television series endings Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas Korean-language television shows Television series by CJ E&M South Korean medical television series South Korean romance television series Television shows written by Noh Hee-kyung