First Impressions: Shin Hyun Been And Moon Sang Min's "Cinderella At 2AM" Brings The Romantic Fairy Tale To Modern Times

Who doesn’t know this classic Cinderella story? The poor and kind girl who lives with her evil stepmother and stepsister, unhappy and mistreated, attends a ball with the help of a fairy godmother. There she meets her charming prince who falls in love with her at first sight. However, after midnight, her spell disappears, and she has to go back to her sad reality. But in the end, she gets her happily ever after and turns into a princess herself. There have been a lot of adaptations of this story throughout the times, even in K-dramas, but in this version, there’s a bit of a twist to the plot.

Warning: spoilers from episode 1-2 ahead! 

Set in modern South Korea, “Cinderella at 2AM” presents the story of Ha Yun Seo (Shin Hyun Been), a regular office worker who finds out that her boyfriend, Seo Ju Won (Moon Sang Min), is actually the son of the wealthy family after one and a half years of being in a loving relationship. And he’s not just from any rich family—it’s none other than the one that owns the company where she works. She suddenly turns into a real-life “Cinderella,” since in Korean society a chaebol (the term that is used to refer to these conglomerates) is the closer thing to a prince. 

As is natural in some typical K-dramas, the mother of the rich boyfriend opposes their relationship in hopes that her son will agree to a more advantageous marriage. And that’s exactly how the story begins, with Ju Won’s mother offering money to our heroine in return that she breaks up with him. But contrary to the typical female lead (the type who rejects the money out of pride or refuses to break up and ends up drenched in water), Yun Seo accepts the money and promises to finish her relationship within the following two months, understanding that fighting back will only make things harder for herself.

Though she is aware that it won’t be easy to do it—after all, she truly loves Ju Won—she faces her reality with resolution. She knows there’s much more than just his mother getting in between them. Their worlds might have collided and created a dream for both of them, but to Yun Seo, there are fundamental differences that make their relationship almost impossible despite all their happy memories together. So, she starts to distance herself from Ju Won, who immediately gets into high alert with her out-of-character attitude.

After some awkward and painful moments between them, Ju Won reluctantly accepts the break up, as he understands the situation his own mother has put her through, but that doesn’t mean he gives up on her. And what Yun Seo doesn’t see coming is that Ju Won won’t let her go that easily, deciding to cling to her with all his might even after knowing she took the money that his mother offered. Instead, he displays his power in full as a true heir of a large corporation and goes from being her subordinate to the new director in their team. Only, it’s under the condition that he must raise the company to No. 1 in the market within the next two years.

And so the game begins, between Cinderella, who tries desperately to run away, and the charming prince who doesn’t want to lose her love. Although in terms of plot there’s nothing much going on so far, the cute, fresh, and straightforward relationship between this sweet couple is enough to stay in front of the screen, watching them inevitably falling in love with each other again. However, this doesn’t mean there’s nothing to look forward to in this 10-episode K-drama.

For starters, there’s still much to discover regarding Yun Seo’s background. Although she appears to be an easygoing, open, and kind of clumsy woman, we can already see that she has a bit of a tale of woe with an abusive father.  In episode 2, we get a glimpse of how he used to mistreat her in her childhood and how that still hurts her. Moreover, we have yet to see how exactly she got out of that situation and how she ended up only living with her younger brother now. There’s still to be seen whether that unfortunate past will return to disturb her life in the future and how Ju Won will react to knowing this, in case he doesn’t know already. One thing is for sure, we can predict this will stir trouble in the forthcoming future.

Another charming element in this K-drama is the surprising fairy godmother, the person who will help Cinderella and her prince to find their happy ending. In this story, however, she turns into a he and takes the form of Ju Won’s older brother and vice chairman of the company, Seo Si Won (Yoon Bak). As he experienced being forced into an arranged marriage, it’s clear he doesn’t wish to see his younger brother go through the same misfortune, so he helps Ju Won to protect—at least as much as possible—his relationship with Yun Seo. With his quirky and goofy personality, he brings most of the laughs in these first couple of episodes. But we can still expect a lot of surprises from him and his mysterious wife, who will come back and probably surprise us with the development of their relationship.

Overall, this K-drama is up to give us the perfect combination of sweet romance, funny scenes, and a pinch of angst, at least so far. The chemistry between the leads and the supporting cast is a solid foundation for what’s coming in the next episodes. Plus, both lead actors display a lot of adorable traits and antics that will melt your heart in one way or another, so get ready to enjoy more of “Cinderella at 2AM” every weekend!

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Hey Soompiers! Have you watched the premiere episodes of “Cinderella at 2AM“? What do you think about them? Let us know all about it in the comments below! 

Andy zar is an avid drama watcher, from K-dramas to C-dramas, she believes any weekend is a good weekend to enjoy 12 hours of binge-watching dramas. She loves romance, web comics, and K-pop. She is a declared “Subeom” and “Hyeppyending.” Her favorite groups are EXO, TWICE, and BOL4.

Currently watching: “Bad Memory Eraser,” “Cinderella at 2 AM.”
Plans to watch: “Love Next Door.”