There I was. Expecting guts. Gore. Maybe a rogue zombie doing backflips. What I didn’t sign up for? A total emotional meltdown because someone tied a shoelace. I mean, I came for the apocalypse and stayed for the love story that dragged my heart across Seoul. So, is there romance in Newtopia?
Absolutely. And not the “I-like-you-let’s-hold-hands” variety.
This is the dramatic, swoon-until-you-faint, cry-into-your-cereal kind of love. The kind that makes you want to yell at your screen and then immediately text your ex.
Don’t do it. Just watch this instead.
The Calm Before The Chaos: Meet Our Doomed Lovebirds
Lee Jae-yoon (Park Jung Min). Soldier boy with more emotional layers than a winter puffer jacket. Calm, reliable, but emotionally constipated in the most poetic way. Kang Young-joo (BLACKPINK’s Jisoo)? Our everyday queen. Ambitious, overworked, and holding it together with caffeine and sheer force of will.
Their relationship? It’s like trying to FaceTime from inside a microwave. Choppy. Delayed. Frustrating. Not because they don’t love each other. But because life keeps hitting them like a rogue kimchi fridge on a downhill slope.
Jae-yoon’s stuck in military life. Young-joo’s drowning in office stress and adulting. The emotional WiFi? Barely one bar.
They argue. They doubt. They try again.
Then they pause.
But in K-dramaland, a pause isn’t a breakup. It’s just love going through a character development montage. Then bam. Seoul implodes. Enter stage left: the undead.
But in K-dramaland, a pause isn’t a breakup. It’s just love going through a character development montage. Then bam. Seoul implodes. Enter stage left: the undead.
And me? Blanket burrito. Emotional wreck. Rooting for these two like they paid my rent.
Long-Distance Love, Gomsin Pain, And That Shoelace Scene
Let me tell you about gomsin life. In Korea, being a gomsin (girlfriend waiting for her soldier boyfriend) is practically a survival sport. You wait. You wonder. You wear those metaphorical bear shoes until they’re emotionally threadbare.
Young-joo lives it. And then zombies show up to make sure it’s the worst long-distance relationship in history. Honestly, Cupid should’ve just sat this one out.
And then. That shoelace moment.
He ties her shoe. I tie my emotional stability to a falling star. Because in K-drama code, that’s not just footwear management. That’s love. That’s “I missed you through every monster attack and missed text” in one gesture.
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I paused. Sobbed. Whispered, “He’s the one.” Then hit rewind like a woman possessed.
How To Love When The World’s Ending (Literally)
This love isn’t painted with pastel lighting and falling cherry blossoms. It’s painted in survival mode. In blood. In hope.
Jae-yoon transforms. From boy-next-door soldier to man-on-a-mission. Haunted, hurting, but propelled by one goal—find her.
Young-joo doesn’t sit around waiting. She evolves. From worn-out worker bee to zombie-slaying warrior queen.
Young-joo doesn’t sit around waiting. She evolves. From worn-out worker bee to zombie-slaying warrior queen.
Her arc? Chef’s kiss. She finds her power. And that power is laced with love.
They get separated. Again and again. But their connection? Untouched. It simmers beneath every explosion. Every close call. Every second they can’t be together.
The flashbacks hit hard. A smile. A stolen moment. A shared dream. It’s enough to rip your heart out and serve it on a rice cake.
And yes, there’s a third wheel. Seo Jin-wook. Sweet. Persistent. The kind of guy your mom would love. But let’s be real—he’s background music in a symphony written for two.
Love In The Time Of Zombies—A K-Drama Dream Come True
Forget the horror. Forget the gore. This show’s real genre? Epic romance dressed up in apocalypse cosplay.
Every near-death moment? Love. Every desperate scream across a blood-slick alley? Love. Every reunion attempt thwarted by a zombie horde? Tragic, heart-wrenching, popcorn-flinging love.
They grow. Oh, do they grow. Jae-yoon learns to love out loud. Young-joo learns to fight like hell. And when they finally, finally meet again? Cue the ugly cry. The full-on, snotty, soul-cleansing sob.
So is there romance in Newtopia?
Oh sweet reader. There’s nothing but romance in a city full of zombies. Beautiful, broken, explosive romance. The kind that makes surviving the end of the world seem like background noise.
Oh sweet reader. There’s nothing but romance in a city full of zombies. Beautiful, broken, explosive romance. The kind that makes surviving the end of the world seem like background noise.
If you’re not watching it for the love story, what are you even doing?
If shoelaces now feel like Shakespearean declarations? You’re one of us now.
If you devoured Happiness, Sweet Home, or The Silent Sea and like your love stories with a side of sheer panic, welcome to your next obsession.
Drop a comment if you’re still rehydrating from your last emotional breakdown. Subscribe for more K-drama ramblings, passionate yelling, and the occasional shoe-tying swoon fest. We cry together here.
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