"...making my heart boil"- A Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Review

Originalname:	꽃미남 라면가게 | Ggotminam Ramyeongage
Also known as:	Flower Boy Ramen Shop
Release Date:	31. October - 20. December 2011
Director:	Jung Jung Hwa
Writer:	Yoon Nan Joong
Cast:	Jung Il Woo, Lee Chung Ah, Lee Ki Woo, Park Min Woo, Jo Yoon Woo, Ho Soo

Plot

Yang Eun Bi, a stubborn headstrong woman, is a teacher in training. She is waiting for her boyfriend to return from the army. When he returned, however, she went to the festival of their old school alone, because of him being too tired to accompany her.

She then accidentally meets Cha Chi Soo again. (Yes, they met before: it involved a very embarrassing scene in a public toilet) And she also meets her army boyfriend there and guess what, he is cheating on her. He tells her that she was being to clingy and that it scares him. She tells him angrily that she already has a new boyfriend, Cha Chi Soo, and gets into his car. They drive away.

Suddenly she starts crying and he tells her to get out, because she’d get his car dirty. (Our main love interest everyone! And guess what? He’s an asshole!)

No time to grieve, the next day is our teacher in trainings first school day. In which she figures out that Cha Chi Soo is in her class! (Remember: Age is just a number, jail is just a room…)

Cha Chi Soo, being the spoiled brat and heartbreaker that he is, decides to play a little bit with her feelings. (Why is it that no woman can resist him and that they lose all sense of reason when they’re with him?)

She eventually finds it out and of course is angry. So angry that she throws a volleyball at him. (Note: She was a volleyball player in her school days.)

Considering that it wasn’t anyone she hit but Cha Chi Soo and this school belongs to the Cha family she gets fired.

But that isn’t quite what Chi Soo wanted. So he wants his dad to bring her back.

After a few events later Eun Bi’s father, a ramyun shop owner, dies. She decides to completely give up on being a teacher and becomes the shop owner after a man named Choi Kang Hyuk convinces her to do so. With Chi Soo, Kim Ba Wool and Woo Hyun Woo the workers are complete. And Flower Boy Ramyun Shop opens his doors.

Chi Soo, who has already fallen for his teacher, tries to win her heart but he has found a rival in Kang Hyuk.

One day Kang Hyuk wants to go out with Eun Bi. They want to go the cinema and the date is going well. But he has to leave her for a short time. In this time, Chi Soo appears in the cinema, takes her out and kisses her in the front of the building. Guess who saw this. You’re right, it was Kang Hyuk. After Chi Soo kissed her, Kang Hyuk has to see, how Chis Soo and Eun Bi are driving away.

While Eun BI is trying to sort her feelings both of them have a battle for her heart. But Chi Soo seems to not get that money isn’t everything for Eun Bi and she tells him, that if he would only be a good man for her, if he learned how to cook ramen.

Chi Soo doesn’t want to lose her and so he asks Kang Hyuk for help, which he does. Chi Soo manages to make a bowl of ramen and begs her to try it. Eun Bi, being afraid of her feelings, doesn’t even want to try it. But she eventually gives in and they embrace each other.

Some days later Kang Hyuk catches how Chi Soo and Eun Bi were together in her room. He puts Eun Bi out, locks the door and announces Cha Chi Soo that they have the same mother. (*sniff* M. Night Shyamalan would be proud!)

But she hasn’t decided who she wants to pick. After an advice from her best female friend, she goes with both on a date. Yang Fatale is born. The date with Choi Kan Hyuk went really well, but the date with Cha Chi Soo was a disaster. He wants her to leave the shop and to work at the Cha Company. Naturally, she gets really upsets and heads home.

Cha Chi Soo who doesn’t want to lose her goes to the shop and wants to win her back. Eun Bi pretends to be sleeping because before Choi Kang Hyunk was there. When Chi Soo comes into her room, he lies down next to her and embracing her when she sleeps. After a short argue, she let him do this. But they got disturbed because of the suddenly appearing voice of Cha Chi Soo’s father who is talking to Kang Hyuk.

The BIG BAD PARENT say no, no to relationship and threatens to destroy the shop. Chi Soo finds out about this and decides to give up their relationship for the shop seeing how all those people need it.

Both Eun Bi and Chi Soo are sulking in their homes. Until Eun Bi snaps on the day of her best friend’s wedding and  goes, armed with a toilet plunger, to her true loves rescue . The mission succeeds but the shop has be closed down and all of them go separated ways. Even Chi Soo and Eun Bi since he has to do military service.

We leave the show with an Epilogue seeing that Eun Bi and  Chi Soo meet again after military service passed.

Conclusion

It’s not bad, but it isn’t that good, too. The story was well thought out and realistic. I mean, Mister Cha gave an ultimatum (son back or the shop gets closed) and he resists on this till the end. The shop gets closed when Cha Chi Soo decides to be together with Eun Bi. It isn’t a fluffy-puffy ending and that’s good so. It’s enough that everyone gets a happy ending of their own. Kim Ba Wool has his girlfriend, Woo Hyun Woo gets to know a woman on the toilet (and the story starts again with a new cast starring Woo Hyun Woo in the main role xD) and Kang Hyuk? Well, he speaks the epilogue because it isn’t known what he is doing (probably sleeping and dreaming of them).
The cast was also very good. They matched with their roles. Sadly I couldn’t really tell about the support characters in the plot but this is because they didn’t really support the main plot. They had a sort of an own main story. Yeah, Kim Ba Wool didn’t like Cha Chi Soo and wanted to protect Eun Bi from him, or he learned how to cook and to work in a ramyun shop, but that’s all. Very funny was the pairing Kim Ba Wool and Woo Hyun Woo. They reminded me sometimes of an old married couple.

But I had also my problems. Because of those problems I stopped for a while to watch this drama. My problems were that she was his teacher and he was her student. Call me old fashioned but on my opinion the man has to be older than the women. But yeah, I think that was a message from the drama. It  doesn’t matters who’s older is or how big the age gap is; it only matters that it is love.
One fact that wasn’t good, was the twist (“Cha Chi Soo, I’m your brother”). It suddenly appears (this isn’t that bad, it tensioned the story) but then there was nothing. It didn’t get developed. The two characters remained at the still same position they were before. That’s sad because I think this could have been a great sub-plot. But this had to come sooner and not at the end of the drama. So it looks like: “Oh we have one episode left. What do we want to do? Oh, let’s make them brothers but afterwards we don’t go in to it and leave it.” You understand?

  

Nonetheless, I would recommend it to people who are tolerant with this kind of relationship. And for those who aren’t but are into the story, you have to be patient because after some episodes you get used to it and Cha Chi Soo develops and gets more mature so it goes to okay. Just don’t watch it at once.