Welcome to Kdrama and Ramen!

Dam Yi was born as the twin sister of the crown prince.  But superstitions about twins being a bad omen cause her mother, Queen Jang Sun, to hide her existence and smuggle her out of the palace.  Years later, her brother is brutally murdered and she steps into the role of Crown Prince, pretending to be him.  Hiding her true identity from everyone, except her two most trusted servants, she lives her life in fear of being caught.  And when a handsome new tutor shows up at the palace, she struggles to hide her attraction to him.  Now she is forced to ask herself how long she can continue with this charade and what it will cost her.

Rowoon as Jung Ji Woon

Jung Ji Woon’s world collapsed around him the day he watched his father murder an innocent palace maid.  Crushed to discover the father he idolized was cruel and heartless, he left the country to study abroad.  Now that he has returned, he is a perfect candidate to become a royal tutor.  While working in the palace, he tries to find the young maid who stole his heart years ago, when he was a boy.  Little does he know that the stubborn Prince he is teaching is actually his first love.  

Jung Ji Woon is sensitive and intelligent.  As a tutor, he is devoted to learning and determined to teach the young prince how to understand the hearts of his people.  He is a skilled and kind doctor, who is determined to make up for the wrong-doings of his father.  Rowoon is charming and it was fun seeing him as a gentle, soft-spoken hero.  While this role didn’t seem overly challenging for him as an actor, it did give him a chance to show how comfortable he has become in the drama world, and I look forward to continuing to watch him grow.

Bae Yoon Kyung as Shin So Eun

Shin So Eun is the daughter of the Minister of Personnel.  She meets Ji Woon while he is working as a doctor in the countryside and falls in love with him.  Her feelings for Ji Woon create a problem when her father wants her to be chosen as a wife to the Crown Prince. So Eun is very honest about her feelings, even though Ji Woon continues to tell her he loves someone else.

♥ Role Reversal

Not only does this drama use the gender bender trope because everyone thinks Dam Yi is male, but they also do a fun role reversal of gender stereotypes with the lead couple.  While Dam Yi is blunt and always hides her emotions, Ji Woon is sensitive and gentle mannered.  I had to giggle when Ji Woon was wearing the flower behind his ear!  It’s always nice when a drama takes an outdated stereotype and turns it on its ear.  In a drama that sometimes seemed to struggle with finding unique content, this aspect gave it its own special flavor.

 ♥ Ji Woon and Inspector Jung

There was a nice honest beauty to the relationship between Ji Woon and his father.  Obviously, in the beginning, there were lots of past issues, and I liked that they didn’t just sweep those under the rug and ask us to forget the terrible things that Inspector Jung did for Lord Sangheon.  But they also allowed his character a bit of redemption in the end.  Ji Woon was able to make amends with him without excusing his heartless behavior and Inspector Jung died doing something noble.  

Queen’s Behavior

So, in all the sageuks that I have watched, there always seems to be strict rules about how royalty should act.  I just can’t imagine everyone would let the Queen run around acting silly and clueless without being reprimanded.  Ha Kyung constantly made me cringe with her childish behavior.  Sure, I felt bad that she was destined to be hurt by the whole situation.  But I still would have liked to see her learn to practice some decorum, as is fitting her role.  

“Secret” Door

Okay.  Bear with me on this one.  Maybe I’m being overly picky, but they expect me to believe that this secret door, that Ji Woon discovered within 5 minutes of his first visit to the palace, is never discovered by anyone else.  I know that the legend of it being haunted initially kept people away.  But with Dam Yi and Ji Woon coming and going so often, while they are being watched and followed by Prince Wonsan and his lackeys, this seems like a bit of a stretch.  Especially with Ji Woon hauling wagons full of flowers in.  

“The King’s Affection” comes down to the inevitable battle between Dam Yi and Lord Sangheon, with the backing of Prince Wonsan and their army.  Prince Wonsan, Inspector Jung, and Prince Jehyeon all die during the scuffle.  Dam Yi and Lord Sangheon meet for a final conversation.  Lord Sangheon plans to make her drink poison when they have finished talking, but Dam Yi is a step ahead.  She offers him a final cup of tea and he accepts, not knowing it has already been poisoned.  They both drink it and appear to be dying when Ji Woon finds them.  Later Dam Yi wakes from a bad dream to find Ji Woon at her side.  While she has been recovering, Hyun, as the only remaining heir, has become King.  He announces Dam Yi’s “punishment” for her years of impersonating her brother is to be erased from the royal records and sent to live with a new identity.  A flash forward has Ga On, now Commander Kang, living with Jil Geum and Young Ji, who are still running the clinic.  Ga On stops to flirt with Young Ji, which is very cute. Ha Kyung was sent out of the palace after Dam Yi finally told her the truth. She and So Eun are shopping together and Ha Kyung stops at a shop to look at something that would look good on the “King”, so she hasn’t totally moved on yet.  The drama ends with a final scene of Dam Yi and Ji Woon walking together on the beach.  They look happy and finally at peace.  And it ends with a happy reunion between the sweet couple and all their palace friends who stop in for a visit.