No Gain, No Love | Recap and Review

A smart woman who hates to lose [money] finds a fake forgettable groom from her corner store.
Notable Actors/Actresses

Shin Min-a: Son Hae-yeong

Kim Young-dae: Kim Ji-uk

Lee Sang-yi: Bok Gyu-hyun

Han Ji-hyun: Nam Ja-yeon / Yeon Bo-ra

Director: Kim Jung-seok

Screenwriter: Kim Hye-yong

Hangul Title Translation
I Don't Want To Lose Money

Genres: Contemporary, Romcom, Contemporary Romcom

Year: 2024
Episodes: 3/12

Recapper: FanFanX

Recap Grade: A/B
First Impression: 3/5

Jump to: Remarks | Comments

Recaps: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] 

Cast

Shin Min-a: Son Hae-yeong	Kim Young-dae: Kim Ji-uk
Lee Sang-yi: Bok Gyu-hyun	Han Ji-hyun: Nam Ja-yeon / Yeon Bo-ra

Romcom / Romance Checklist

[In Progress]

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold– Lukewarm –Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /

The FL: 

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / 

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Bickering Start  / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 /

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Ending:

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

FanFanX: Fake contract marriage initiated by FL? ✋ Say no more, I'm all in for 12eps. 🤪

Mini Recaps

[Ep1] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Son Hae-yeong goes to her ex, Ahn Woo-jae’s wedding… and finds out that when she dumped him 6 months ago, but he’d been with his bride, Kwon Yi-rin for a year already. Here's a bird! They all also worked together at Kkulbee Education. 🐝 The other kind of bird.
2. Kim Ji-uk, a cashier at her neighborhood convenience store, is a darling angel (he is) to everyone – except her. He's now eaten the last bag of her favorite candies, Mustard Pang Pang Jelly, which was recently discontinued. 
3. Her besties / roomies: Sweet and sparkling Nam Ja-yeon [nom de plume Yeon Bo-ra] and loud and fierce Cha Hui-seong.
4. Bok Gyu-hyun is the typical CEO – a demanding workaholic and his not-so-secret nickname is ForkGyu. xD Yes, it’s really the other F-word. His parents have a strained relationship as his father once [more than once?] cheated on his mother. 
5. His poor assistant, Yeo Ha-jun wants to transfer out to coding but our CEO refuses. 
6. Hae-yeong demands the return of her 300k won (congratulatory wedding money) from her ex, or else she’ll reveal the true nature of their relationship to his dearly beloved wife. If I were her, I’d expose him anyway. Y'know what they say about cheaters... 
7. Due to a work contest, she needs to get married quickly. [Winner gets fast tracked to promotions but not for single women…]
8. Later she gets drunk outside the convenience store, and then asks Ji-uk to become her fake groom. 
9. Epilogue: Ji-uk feeds his stray cat, Agi [baby] as he overhears her talking to her ex. The latter is complaining about her having to take responsibility for her mother and whines about how there's really no one else besides her who can do this.  

[Ep2] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Eight years ago. Ji-uk's grandmother had told him to get married to a kind and modest woman. He'd replied that she'd forgotten the most important attribute: Not a smoker.
2. For the last six years, Ji-uk has watched Hae-yeong bicker / break up with countless boyfriends.
3. Hui-seong and Ja-yeon are actually Hae-yeong's foster sisters, who she used to resent because they [and the other kids] robbed her of her own mother's love and attention. 
4. Gyu-hyun and Yi-rin are friends. Oh? How are they related?
5. Hae-yeong's mother lives in a nursing home as she has dementia, which only two of three sisters know about. Hui-seong is the last to know. 
6. Ji-uk, who finally agrees to marrying her, on the condition that Agi can stay with her for a week post-spaying. 
7. Wedding dress fitting: She is wearing the most beautiful embarrassing dress. [His choice of word!] If a cake-topper comprised of petticoats came to life...ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 
8. HajunLove aka Seon-A [Gyu-hyun's mother] is Bo-ra's [Ja-yeon's] number one fan, and the two have a first meeting. However, both end up ducking and hiding when they each see Gyu-hyun and Ha-jun walking around nearby.
9. Ja-yeon has a crush on Ha-jun, who is the source of her web novel's ideal man. [The in-novel sequences are delightfully suggestive.]
10. Epilogue: Ha-yeong wants Ji-uk as her groom as he can't be too good-looking or else everyone will remember him later. Hehe. 

[Ep3] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Hae-yeong finally sees her dazzling, handsome groom to-be. Her first thought: She’s screwed. *snicker*
2. She later tells Ji-uk that he needs to propose to her. (~21:55) He says no and throws her out of the store. What's our girl do? Record herself. ㅋㅋ She's adorbz.
3. She buys herself a lovely ring, and rents his ring. 
4. Later she gets locked inside the dark convenience store – because he's proposing! (~31:00) Jelly cups and a toy train with a special delivery: a Mustard Pang Pang Jelly ring! Then he reveals an entire shelf full of the world's very last batch of MPPJ candies! He says she gets these plus him as a bonus. I'd yell yes and accept the bonus now!
5. Her sisters are watching via surveillance cam...and Ja-yeon notices that Hae-yeong's eyes are full of love. 
6. Wedding happens, and Hui-seong catches the bouquet. And her photographer boyfriend of ten years, Yun Tae-hyung, leaves right after the wedding is done. 
7. Ha-jun assumes that Ja-yeon is a children's novelist. Meanwhile, Gyu-hyun is getting worked up over her novel.
8. The newlyweds are forced spend the night together at the hotel (paid by the company), right next door to Woo-jae and Yi-rin.
9. She teasingly asks Ji-uk if he's going to be an angel or a dog tonight? They have a close moment on the bed but she ends up pushing him away. When he leaves to shower, she continues fanning at herself. 
10. Epilogue: At their wedding, he hugs her mother, who asks if he was her Ji-uk, her dear Ji-uk i. He replies yes. 

[Ep4] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep5] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep6] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep7] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep8] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep9] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep10] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep11] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep12] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

[Jump to: Top | Comments]
 

Remarks

by FanFanX

[First Impression (Ep1-)] Shin Min-a shines in this one. And the situations get so absurd that you can't help but just laugh. Kim Young-dae never seems to shake off his stiffness yet I can't seem to stop watching as he becomes softer. The sister trio are fun. 

[Cast&Crew] 

→ Shin Min-a: Son Hae-yeong

→ Kim Young-dae: Kim Ji-uk

→ Lee Sang-yi: Bok Gyu-hyun

→ Han Ji-hyun: Nam Ja-yeon / Yeon Bo-ra [Hae-yeong's sister]

→ Lee Yoo-jin: Yeo Ha-jun [Gyu-hyun's secretary]

→ Go Wook: Ahn Woo-jae

→ Jeon Hye-won: Kwon Yi-rin [Woo-jae's wife]

→ Joo Min-kyung: Cha Hui-seong [Hae-yeong's sister]

→ Director Kim Jung-seok Previous work: Strong Girl Namsoon, Work Later, Drink Now

→ Screenwriter Kim Hye-yong Previous work: Her Private Life

Cross-reunion for the leads. Shin Min-a and Lee Sang-yi appeared together in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, and Kim Young-dae and Han Ji-hyun were siblings in Penthouse. They've already announced a spinoff, The CEO's Menu [please change this title] for 2CP. [So does Lee Sang-yi finally get the girl?!]  

Cameos. 

→

 

[Behind the Scenes] 

[OST] 

[Ending]

[A Highlight] 

[Footnotes]

[Review & Rating]

Random Recommendation: 

Rating: /5