In Love With Loving You (沉靡)

Opening

2/5 ⭐⭐

I knew pretty quickly what my biggest problem with this drama was going to be:

The FL needs acting lessons. 😭

And I mean that with love—or at least as much love as I can give somebody while staring at the screen wondering why her face has not moved in five minutes.

But let me give In Love With Loving You credit where credit is due:

THIS DRAMA IS SPICY. 🌶️🔥

Like, aggressively spicy.

The romance starts physically almost immediately, and these two are doing things most C-drama couples would need 35 episodes and a near-death experience to work up to. 😂

Unfortunately, spice alone cannot save everything.

The Female Lead: Somebody Please Get Her an Acting Coach 😭

My biggest issue is Xiao Yu as Ji Xuan.

Ji Xuan herself is not actually a bad character.

She is supposed to be capable, relatively levelheaded, and able to deal with problems without turning into a helpless idiot.

So this is NOT one of my usual:

“Why is this FL so stupid?!”

complaints.

My problem is the acting.

She is SO stiff.

There are scenes that are clearly supposed to have tension, longing, seduction, anger, emotion—SOMETHING—and I am sitting there staring at her face waiting for a signal that she received the memo. 😭

Sometimes she looks like somebody yelled “ACTION!” before she was emotionally prepared.

The character has more personality on paper than Xiao Yu gives her onscreen.

🌶️ But Good LORD, This Drama Is Spicy

Now THIS part?

They understood the assignment. 😂🔥🔥🔥

Ji Xuan and Song Zhaoli do not spend 17 episodes accidentally touching hands and then acting scandalized.

These are grown adults who are very obviously attracted to each other.

Their reunion leads to a one-night stand almost immediately, and the physical relationship continues well before they become an official couple.

So if you are here for:

• kissing
• skinship
• sexual tension
• implied sex
• adults actually acting attracted to each other

then yes.

The drama absolutely delivers. 🌶️🔥

This is easily the strongest part of the entire show.

Unfortunately, a spicy scene only works so well when half of the couple looks like she has been starched. 😭

Song Zhaoli

Song Zhaoli is much easier for me to buy romantically.

His feelings for Ji Xuan are not just the result of their present-day physical relationship.

He had already cared about her and quietly helped her long before she fully understood his involvement in her life.

That gives the romance a little more substance than:

“We slept together and now apparently this is love.” 😂

Once his feelings become more obvious, he has that devoted, secretly-in-love ML energy I usually like.

And yes, obviously that helped.

I am predictable. Leave me alone. 😂❤️

The Romance Structure Makes Me Laugh

Here is what kills me.

These two are physically involved almost immediately.

They sleep together.

They flirt.

They get jealous.

They are emotionally entangled.

They even go through fake-couple territory.

And yet…

THEY DO NOT OFFICIALLY BECOME A COUPLE UNTIL EPISODE 22 OF 24. 😭

Excuse me?!

Physical relationship: ✅

Sleeping together more than once: ✅

Fake relationship nonsense: ✅

Jealousy: ✅

Pining: ✅

Basically behaving like a couple already: ✅

Actually saying they are boyfriend and girlfriend:

Episode freaking 22.

Sir.

Ma’am.

You have done EVERYTHING ELSE. 😂

It is one of the funniest romance timelines I have seen because this drama somehow manages to be extremely fast physically and ridiculously slow with the actual relationship label.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In Love With Loving You had one very obvious thing going for it:

🌶️ IT WAS SPICY. 🌶️

And I appreciate the service. 😂🔥

But spicy scenes only work so well when one-half of the couple looks stiff enough that I am wondering whether somebody yelled “ACTION!” before she was ready.

The story gave Ji Xuan a capable personality, Song Zhaoli had the devoted-secretly-in-love thing going for him, there was plenty of skinship, and at least the main couple got their happy ending.

But Xiao Yu's acting kept taking me out of it.

I cannot give a romance drama a good rating just because everybody is attractive and keeps ending up in bed. 😭

Although apparently 2 stars worth of me can be bribed that way.

⭐ 2/5

Final verdict: The FL needs acting lessons.

But very spicy. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 😂