‘Destined With You’ Review: A Masterclass in Doing Too Much and Nothing at All
A cursed lawyer, a rookie civil servant, and a stalker walk into a drama… and somehow it’s still boring.
Korean Drama Name: 이 연애는 불가항력 (This Romance is Irresistible)
Where To Watch: Netflix ← *Click for direct link*
Average Rating: 8.1/10 (Mydramalist)
My Rating: 6.0/10
One Sentence Description: A love story where the spells don’t work, the stalker comes too late, and toxic relationship dynamics soar.
Trailer:
Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion — I’m not here to hate, just to share my thoughts! Also, SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution if you haven’t watched yet. Watch it, come back and let’s see if you agree. Let’s keep the discussion respectful and fun! 💕
Simple Description
Destined With You kicks off with a premise that’s part fantasy, part fate, and part “oops, wrong guy.” A civil servant accidentally gives a love potion to the wrong man, only to discover they’re tangled in a web of past lives, curses, and eventual romance.
⚠️Length Note: This post includes a detailed (and long) story breakdown. Want to skip straight to the review? Jump to the Review
The story begins with our female lead, Lee Hong Jo, a civil servant, at a construction site apologizing for the noise—when suddenly, a construction worker falls from the building and dies. What a way to start.
We quickly switch over to Jang Sin Yu, a lawyer handling the case related to the worker’s death. Sin Yu suffers from a strange illness where he hallucinates a bloody hand brushing against his face. He calls it “Red Hand.” Creative, I know. He begs the hand to stop before heading to the hearing and successfully proving the incident was staged.
Following the case, Hong Jo is transferred to a new department. The silver lining? She gets to admire her one-sided crush, Kwon Jae Kyung, during his lunch strolls. But things take a darker turn when a vlogger dies at an abandoned shrine. Hong Jo volunteers to investigate and push for its demolition.
At the shrine, she encounters Sin Yu. Mistaking him for the Grim Reaper, she promptly faints. He snaps a photo of her and leaves her there. While Hong Jo wants the shrine gone, Sin Yu is already planning its restoration. Turns out, it’s his family’s shrine.
Sin Yu’s health spirals. His hands tremble, and a doctor confirms he has severe, untreatable brain damage. The prognosis is grim: eventual paralysis on his right side and slurred speech.
Meanwhile, Hong Jo is still determined to demolish the shrine. She traces its ownership to Sin Yu, confronts him about leaving her at the haunted site, and explains the vlogger’s death. He’s unmoved and sends her packing.
Determined, Hong Jo digs into the shrine’s history and learns about a shaman who once lived there. She visits the woman and gets her permission to proceed. When Sin Yu hears about this, he visits the shaman himself, still skeptical. She tells him he killed a woman with the Red Hand in a past life and that’s why he’s cursed. She also reveals that Hong Jo was the true owner of a mysterious chest and the only one who can open it.
During the shrine’s demolition, Sin Yu finds said chest. Remembering what the shaman said, he brings it to Hong Jo. She takes it home but doesn’t open it right away. The next day, Sin Yu becomes increasingly desperate and starts calling her every hour to see if she’s opened it yet. She hasn’t.
Meanwhile, Jae Kyung recruits Sin Yu to work as a lawyer for City Hall, unknowingly pulling him deeper into Hong Jo’s orbit.
After injuring herself trying to fix a light, Hong Jo notices the box has finally unlocked. Inside is a Book of Magical Spells that once belonged to a shaman named Aeng Cho. She tells all this to Sin Yu, and after doing some research, he finds out Aeng Cho was a shaman from the Joseon Dynasty who was killed by a man named Jang Mu Jin.
Later, Hong Jo gets rejected by Jae Kyung and decides to make a love potion to give to him. She completes the potion and the spell just as Sin Yu suggests that he and his girlfriend take a break. Weird…
Soon after, Sin Yu takes Hong Jo to Mount Jiri to gather ingredients for a healing spell. He’s unusually attentive during the drive, and starts questioning his growing attraction to her. Hong Jo gathers the ingredients and performs the spell but still isn’t sure if it worked.
Sin Yu’s feelings for Hong Jo only grow stronger, leaving him confused and increasingly uncomfortable. To figure out what’s going on, he checks the City Hall CCTV and realizes the truth: he drank the love potion by mistake instead of Jae Kyung. Uh-oh.
He confronts Hong Jo and demands a reversal. He’s falling deeper in love with her by the day and he doesn’t like it. She agrees to consult the shaman, but the visit ends in disappointment. The shaman does say something, but Hong Jo refuses to share it.
Eventually, after holding out for a while, she tells him: the shaman said they’re destined to be together and nothing can change that. Great.
Time passes, and the will-they-won’t-they tension continues. Jae Kyung suddenly confesses that he has feelings for Hong Jo, Hong Jo botches an anti-destruction spell by misspelling a word, and Sin Yu is still hopelessly into her (but fr fr this time). Eventually, Sin Yu discovers that Hong Jo has a stalker that is the local garden shop owner, Na Jung Beom.
Sin Yu also starts to question whether the spells actually work after learning he hasn’t been cured. It was all in his head. He tells Hong Jo the truth, and she leaves, discouraged. Meanwhile, Jung Beom, her stalker, tries harder to get close to her, but she keeps her distance.
Eventually, Hong Jo admits she has feelings for Sin Yu too, but continues to avoid him. She decides she no longer wants the chest, and it ends up with Sin Yu. He chooses to bury it at the shrine, and Hong Jo joins him. While there, she discovers a second spell book—this one filled with black magic.
Time passes, and Hong Jo stumbles upon the Love Destruction Spell that may have cursed Sin Yu and caused his illness. We finally learn a bit about how they’re connected through past lives: Sin Yu was Jang Mu Jin, and Hong Jo was Aeng Cho. Their story begins at the house where Mu Jin’s mother died. Aeng Cho helps him find a letter left behind by his mother, and the two slowly grow closer.
Aeng Cho, gifted with foresight, sees that Mu Jin would die if he followed in his father’s footsteps and became governor. Before we can continue the story, we’re pulled back to the present. Sin Yu promises to break up with Na Yeon and asks Hong Jo not to fall for anyone else in the meantime. She agrees, but grows frustrated as the breakup drags on.
Jae Kyung continues to pursue Hong Jo, but she’s still emotionally tethered to Sin Yu. Sin Yu takes her to the beach and confesses his feelings. They kiss, but when Hong Jo touches his cheek, Sin Yu is jolted by a vision of the Red Hand and pushes her away. He covers with a lie, and they officially start dating.
Sin Yu begins to investigate Jung Beom more seriously and even suspects he may have killed his own wife. When skeletal remains are discovered in a park that Jung Beom designed, things start looking even more suspicious. Later, Hong Jo goes to investigate a pit deep in the woods, only for Jung Beom to push her in and start burying her alive while claiming he loved her. Thankfully, Sin Yu senses something is wrong and rushes to find her. He gets there just in time and rescues her.
Eventually, we see the full extent of Aeng Cho and Mu Jin’s tragic past. Aeng Cho was forced into becoming a shaman and coerced into casting spells—one of which was meant to kill the king’s heir. She pretended to do the spell but the baby actually ended up dying. The king blamed her and she was tied up and left to die in the freezing cold. Mu Jin finds her, saves her, and takes care of her, but she remains physically and emotionally broken. While trying to protect her, Mu Jin is stabbed and nears death. In her pain, Aeng Cho believes he only loved her for her spellbook, blaming him for its destruction.
Seeing her suffering, Mu Jin makes the ultimate sacrifice—he kills Aeng Cho himself to end her misery. But by doing so, he activates the curse: whoever kills her will be haunted (by her Red Hand) and die young. The curse will continue through the generations until the last born male dies. His act of love sealed his entire bloodline’s fate—hence, Sin Yu.
After learning the truth, Hong Jo breaks up with Sin Yu, unable to watch him suffer for something he didn’t choose. He tries desperately to win her back, but she stands firm. Jung Beom reappears and continues trying to get close to Hong Jo. At one point, he even reaches through her window to grab her. Sin Yu insists she stay at his apartment for her own safety. She hesitates but eventually agrees.
Soon after, Sin Yu spots a suspicious car and realizes it belongs to Jung Beom. He leaves Hong Jo alone in the apartment to investigate, only to realize too late that Jung Beom is already inside the building. Sin Yu rushes back, but Jung Beom finds him first—and stabs him.
Terrified that everyone who gets close to her will die, Hong Jo begins to isolate herself from everyone around her. But, of course, that doesn’t last long. She ends up reconnecting with Sin Yu, who insists the curse is over since he technically died momentarily when he was stabbed. With that logic, Hong Jo agrees to be with him again.
Time passes. Hong Jo is assigned bodyguards to protect her from Jung Beom. They’re eventually proven useless when she’s kidnapped and taken to a cave, where Jung Beom prepares for their twisted wedding. While Sin Yu and the police search for her, Hong Jo stalls for time. She manages to pepper spray Jung Beom and escape, but he catches up, knocks her out, ties her up, and waits for nightfall to begin the ritual.
When she refuses to marry him, Jung Beom poisons her and declares that if he can’t have her, no one can. The police arrive just after and arrest him. A little late, but sure.
Hong Jo is rushed to the hospital and survives. With the threat gone, things finally settle. Jae Kyung moves away, and Sin Yu and Hong Jo move in together. The series ends with Sin Yu taking her to the beach, proposing, and burying the chest with the spell book—closing the chapter on curses, past lives, and chaotic love once and for all.
The End.
The Review
The Good
The side characters were a delight
Even though Hong Jo’s coworkers could be downright mean, they were also hilarious. I still can’t get over Son Say Byeol’s facial expressions—they were comedic gold. The side characters brought a lot of charm and personality to the show, and the casting for them was spot-on. This was a genuinely strong supporting cast.
The Bad
This Show Was All Over the Place
The stalker plot? Random. The mom and the boy? Random. The girlfriend’s history with Hong Jo? Random. The manager and the boss? Also random. The stalker, in particular, didn’t really matter until the final episodes, and even then, his presence felt like a last-minute “oh right, we have a villain” move. What was the actual plot of this show?
I thought it was about curing Sin Yu’s curse, but instead, we got endless detours. It was like the writers had a dartboard of subplots and just filmed whatever it landed on. The result? A show so scattered it turned boring fast.
SO Much Filler, SO Little Payoff
This show was like 90% filler and not the good, character-developing kind. It was painfully noticeable. Even my recap ended up feeling scattered, but that’s because everything in between the major plot points added nothing to the actual story. Every side plot felt like it was shoved in just to keep things moving: the Mayor, Na Yeon and Hyung Seo’s drama, the kidnapping subplot, even Jae Kyung’s sudden crush—it all felt random.
Honestly, it didn’t seem like the writer fully decided what kind of show they wanted to make. Instead of pausing to figure it out, it feels like they just rolled the cameras and hoped for the best.
Then the constant back-and-forth between Sin Yu and Hong Jo was exhausting. Hong Jo’s endless “I like you but I don’t” paired with Sin Yu’s “I want you but I still have an annoying girlfriend” got old fast. How many times can you run away from each other only to make up five minutes later? Just end it and get together already. We were all tired.
Where Was the Love?
One of the biggest missed opportunities: we never actually got to see Sin Yu fall for Hong Jo. The spells didn’t work, which means he apparently fell in love with her after, like, his third meeting with her. What? Instead of drowning us in filler (especially all the endless mom scenes), they should’ve shown us moments of them genuinely getting to know each other.
So when Sin Yu told Jae Kyung that he’d liked Hong Jo “first… since the Joseon Era,” it landed with a thud. It didn’t make sense because we barely saw them connect in the present. And honestly, how did Hong Jo not lose interest after realising he was more hung up on Aeng Cho than her? I thought I’d love every fated-love story until I watched this one. This is how you rush it and do it wrong.
Hong Jo Liked Jae Kyung… But Also Really Didn’t
Hong Jo’s feelings for Jae Kyung made zero sense. She liked him enough to make him a literal love potion, but the second he returned her feelings, she was basically sprinting in the other direction. He was asking her out while she was ducking and dodging him—literally a week after she’d been pursuing him.
She didn’t even like Sin Yu yet at that point, so what exactly was stopping her from being with the guy she supposedly wanted? The romance in this show was a tangled mess that never quite worked, no matter how many longing stares they threw in.
What Was With Jae Kyung’s Switch-up
Speaking of Hong Jo not liking Jae Kyung—why did he suddenly start liking her? I can’t stand when characters reject someone and then magically start liking them the moment someone else does (looking at you too, Business Proposal). Jae Kyung went from, “I don’t want kids” and his whole sad trauma backstory, to tossing that out the window as soon as Sin Yu got interested. How did both he and Hong Jo change their feelings at the exact same time? And more importantly… What did this add to the plot? (Spoiler: nothing.)
This was another classic case of the random second love interest who never stood a chance. Except in this case, he actually did have a chance—she liked him first! But instead of adding tension, it just added unnecessary jealousy and insecurity for Sin Yu. If the female lead never has genuine interest, it’s not a love triangle. It’s just a waste of screen time.
Sin Yu Still Had a Girlfriend / Toxic Central
Yes, Na Yeon was annoying and a cheater, but she was still Sin Yu’s girlfriend. There’s no way the writers thought we’d swoon over a romance that was literally just cheating. “Oh, but she needed him for that project thing.” And? So now cheating is fine if it’s for work?
Sin Yu telling Hong Jo to wait for him—and not see anyone else—while still actively dating Na Yeon was wild. Then he got mad at her for talking to Jae Kyung? Sir, you are literally eating lunch with your girlfriend while telling another woman to stay faithful to you. Get out of my face.
And Hong Jo… girl. How were you okay being the other woman? Sitting around, waiting for a man to break up with his girlfriend so you can have your “happily ever after”? Doesn’t sound so romantic when I put it like that, does it? Their entire relationship was a mess from the start and normalised way too many things that shouldn’t be normalised.
Na Yeon Was a Piece of Work / Hyung Seo Was Just… There
Small note, but Na Yeon’s delusion was almost impressive. She was actively cheating on Sin Yu, while shaming him for being with Hong Jo, while trying to get him back. The audacity was so over-the-top it almost became comedy.
And speaking of Na Yeon, what was even the point of Hyung Seo? He was a totally random addition who contributed nothing to the story and had zero impact on the plot. But then again, adding random irrelevant plots seems to be this shows thing—so I guess I can’t be too mad.
What I Would Do
Let the Black Magic Work—with Consequences
If the story’s going to centre around spellcasting, then the magic needs to matter. In my version, Hong Jo’s spells would work—but only the dark ones. Love potions and healing charms? Useless. But curses and forbidden rituals? Powerful, and dangerous. And of course, there’s a cost: maybe every time she casts one, she loses a bit of her soul or shortens her lifespan. Now there’s a real dilemma. She could cure Sin Yu’s curse, but she’d be killing herself in the process. Neither of them truly wins, but both are desperate to sacrifice for the other. Instant tension, instant stakes.
Sin Yu Would’ve Genuinely Shown His Love
Forget the whole “I liked you because I liked Aeng Cho” nonsense. In this version, Sin Yu falls for Hong Jo, not her past-life echo. We’d see it happen—through shared moments, gathering spell ingredients, late-night conversations, and quiet vulnerability. If they’re fated, fine. But fate should feel earned, not assumed. Their love would build naturally, with magic as the backdrop, not the shortcut.
Jung Beom Would Have a Tie to Their Past Life
The stalker subplot was filler, plain and simple. But what if Jung Beom had a deeper connection? Maybe he was meant to marry Hong Jo (Aeng Cho), or wanted to, in their past life but never got the chance. Maybe he was the one who stabbed Sin Yu (Mu Jin), and now he’s back—watching, waiting, trying to rewrite history. He wouldn’t just pop in halfway through the series, he’d be there from the start— a silent presence in the background. Now, in this life they have to outwit fate and survive.
Maybe all this time he’s even been in love with Aeng Cho and goes through lives trying to get her back by sacrificing all the reincarnates. So when he kidnaps Hong Jo, prepares the wedding and ritual, it’s not random— he’s trying to bring Aeng Cho’s soul back. He’d also be desperate to kill Sin Yu to avoid him ending up with Aeng Cho. His obsession would be rooted in centuries of longing and regret, making him a tragic villain instead of a random creep. The show could’ve leaned into the thriller angle and made the romance feel like something they had to fight for. (See the vision? I feel like I could write a whole book on this idea, it’s just a shame I wasn’t in the writers room to make it a reality.)
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, Destined With You felt like a waste of time. The writers banked on two attractive leads and assumed that would be enough to distract us from the chaos underneath. Spoiler: it wasn’t. This was all filler, no plot, and the only things I genuinely enjoyed were the side characters and that one time Sin Yu sang. Everything else? A blur of skipped scenes and forced drama.
It’s crazy that they managed to stretch this into 16 episodes and even crazier that I actually finished it. This review’s on the shorter side because, truthfully, there wasn’t much to say. I knew it was going to be a mess when I found myself fast-forwarding through entire episodes just to find something—anything—relevant. This show didn’t take the time to think things through, and it shows. Next time I dive into a fated love story, I’m hoping for A Time Called You vibes—not “I like you because my past self liked you… Aeng Ch—sorry, Hong Jo.”
That’s a wrap on this review! What did you think of this review? Did you appreciate that it was shorter than the rest or do you enjoy the longer ones??
Next week we are doing a school drama that I didn’t like. I feel like I mainly do reviews on shows I didn’t like and that’s only because I have a lot more thoughts on the bad ones then I do with the good ones. I already have the next three dramas picked out for reviews and I only liked one of them 🤭.
Stay tuned for the next one and I’ll see you next week! 💕
Find Your Next Watch!
Main Cast
Jo Bo Ah as Lee Hong Jo / Aeng Cho
Ro Woon as Jang Sin Yu / Mu Jin
Ha Joon as Kwon Jae Kyung
Yura as Yun Na Yeon
Park Kyung Hye as Son Sae Byeol
Themes/ Genres
Curses and magic, Reincarnation and past lives, Love vs. duty, Healing and emotional growth
Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Drama
