Miss Night and Day

I'm not sure why, but Tastefully Yours hadn't tempted me back to watch another episode (maybe because the male lead seems like such a selfish jerk and I feel like if she knew what he was planning, she wouldn't forgive him? I dunno). I decided to try one that had interested me a while back: Miss Night and Day, as it seemed like it had humour, romance, and some drama. And it has some actors my age.

Lee Mi-Jin is in her late 20's and has been trying for 8 years to pass the civil service exam and get a job. She's put off everything else and worked hard, but she's got no luck. Then she gets taken in by a scammer (if it's too good to be true...). She's plucky but desperate. She winds up meeting a prosecutor (Gye Ji-Ung, played by Choi Jin-Hyuk who I've seen in some other things where he wasn't the main lead) who helps her out. 

But then things take a magical turn when a mystical cat (?) curses her (?) -- while wishing she could be someone else as she falls into a well after it. By day, she looks like a 50 something year old woman (the actress is 3 years older than me, thankfully) and she only looks like herself at night. That first day is traumatic as her parents think she's an intruder and she has no idea what's going on. 

Anyway, things happen and she winds up getting a job as a senior intern at the prosecutor's office. There's also her best friend (who is the first person to believe her when she sees the transformation for herself) who is a Beauty YouTuber/Streamer and a possibly disgraced but still worshipped Kpop Idol (who seems to be a decent guy and is likely to be the secondary male lead who probably gets paired with the best friend, if I had to guess) completing his military service as a civil servant in the office too.

And...there's the random serial killer who, it appears, killed the prosecutor's mother years ago and possibly had something to do with the disappearance of Mi-Jin's aunt (who's name and ID she's using as her 50 year old self). I swear, if you only watched Kdramas, you'd think there's an awful lot of serial killers out there and they all operate for large spans of time...

Anyway, I'm enjoying the disconnect between the 50 year old acting like an energetic 28 year old. I enjoy that actress anyway. And Jung Young-Joo and Jung Suk-Yong are her parents --- how many times have they played the parents in shows I've watched? I've lost count. But I like them, though they are generally always over the top (they are also 2 years older than me).

I've seen 3 episodes so far and it is moving along at a decent pace and I'm enjoying it. Will update later. I think the serial killer stuff will wear a bit thin, but it'll be okay.

Edit: I'm now around 10 episodes in. The romance between the leads is definitely slow burn and full of misunderstandings, though I didn't anticipate the Second Lead Syndrome that I'm seeing. Ko Won (the Kpop Idol guy) is actually very sweet and loyal and I honestly wouldn't have minded at all if the romance went that direction, though Mi-Jin, when she met him first as her "old" self" obviously feels kinda more maternal towards him? Maybe because her friend has been crushing on him for so long, how they met, and she'd already started to fall for Mr. Prosecutor. By the time Ko Won figures out what's going on (showing that *he's* paying attention, even if no one else does), the ship has already sailed. But I do actually very much like his character. He's done a lot for her and seems like such a sweet kid. But he does seem like a kid. Anyway, still enjoying the show, more than anything else I've tried in a while.

Edit: Okay! 14 September, but finally finished this one. I quite enjoyed it. It did have a couple of minor issues plus one surprise, but I'd definitely put this on the "good" list. Some notes, in no particular order:

• It took Male Lead approximately FOREVER to figure out the deal and he had to be just about hit over the head with it. Ko Won (the Idol) was done dirty in this show; he figured it out w-a-y before anyone else and was the greenest supportive always-a-bridesmaid green flag, but he was barely even in the last few episodes.
• And once ML did figure it out, his reaction was all mostly "why didn't you tell me" and O, woe, the effect on ME. I didn't actually think that was all that in character for him, to be fair, but it was annoying. Like, there was nothing from him on OMG, you've been going through a lot.
• The surprise was that best friend did NOT end up with the Idol she'd been crushing on forever; in fact, they never even met. But she did wind up with...drumroll...the comic relief prosecutor/investigator guy that worked with the ML who's gotta be 10 or 15 years older. Actually, I gotta look. Ok, Yoon Byung-Hee was born in 1981. And Kim A-Young in 1994. Yep, 13 years difference. They were truly the odd couple but also oddly endearing. I have no complaints, but I will colour myself surprised.
• The end did the we must break up for noble martyr reasons, then Female Lead must Improve Herself to then meet up again and immediately resume romance, with nary any contact in-between. I freaking hate that. And it was all in the last episode, so WHY do this anyway? What's the reasoning?

Anyway, I did enjoy it. I'm glad I watched it. I don't think I'd watch it again, but I would recommend it to people.