The Secret Romantic Guesthouse readies for lodgers

8 February 21, 2023March 8, 2023

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse readies for lodgers

by missvictrix

After teasing us early on and then making us wait, SBS’s upcoming fictional sageuk The Secret Romantic Guesthouse has started to drop more promo material. Previously known by its more literal translation — Flower Scholars’ Love Story — the drama follows our young boarding house manager Yoon Dan-oh, played by Shin Ye-eun (The Glory). (Incidentally, her career seems to be propped up by the recent success of The Glory, so it’s dang good timing for this drama to release shortly after The Glory Part 2 drops.)

Dan-oh has hosted scholars from across the country and is good at what she does, but when three “flower boy” scholars begin boarding under her roof, her life starts to change. Our three too-good-looking-to-be-real scholars are played by Ryeoun (Through the Darkness), Kang Hoon (Little Women), and Jung Geon-joo (Kiss Sixth Sense).

In terms of recent promos, SBS first dropped stills of our heroine, which were then followed by the first of our flower scholars — Ryeoun’s character Kang San (see below) — who’s noted as being stoic and determined in his martial arts schooling.

But more exciting than mere character stills is the drama’s teaser poster — it features our heroine in the tender embrace of a masked man (which begs the question: Which one is it from our Joseon F3?). The production has stated that the teaser poster is meant to match the atmosphere of the drama, and then they wax poetic about a touching secret romance, the wistfulness of love like that of flower petals, and the immersive nature of the drama. Well, I’m sold!

Though a mutual and meaningful romance seems to be what the drama has in store for us, the earlier video teaser also promises a lot of love square complications — I mean, one boarding house, one woman, and three flower boy scholars.

Written by Kwon Eum-mi (Woman with a Suitcase) and directed by Kim Jung-min (Queen: Love and War), The Secret Romantic Guesthouse premieres on March 20 in the Monday-Tuesday slot and will have 18 episodes.

Via Ilgan Sports, SBS News, News1

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1 Gikata

February 21, 2023 at 4:13 PM

Well, if other two guys aren't MILITARY scholars or secretly work in royal guard, that hanbok alone gives a huge hint about who's the ML here))) Btw, it seems like dreamy insta-filtered saccharine posters are all rage in youth sageuks - again. Meh. Makes more sense here than in OBY, I guess, but still - where are the strong colors and creative compositions?

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ar_arguably romantic

February 21, 2023 at 4:51 PM

Not feeling the poster here. It lacks a certain energy. I think a lady proprietor of a guesthouse should be more lively?

Also "secret romantic guesthouse"...sounds like sageuk love hotel....

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Gikata

February 21, 2023 at 5:54 PM

Yeah, the main premise of FL being in love polygon with 3 (!) of her tenants screams unprofessional at the very best. Imagine what reputation she'll end up having once word of this inevitably spreads...

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ssandulak

February 21, 2023 at 9:37 PM

Yeah the poster for OBY (and the name for that matter) really confuses me. They could have done a cool style ala their intro to stand out but nope...slap a filter on our lead staring off camera, and call it a day!

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Gikata

February 21, 2023 at 11:01 PM

Ah, that title... Korean one KINDA makes sense if you look at intro and promo-materials closely (the whole "walks and talks under the moon" thing is emphasized rather heavily), but still feels off since drama's primary genre ISN'T romance. Honestly, at this point I feel like the show was seriously mis-advertised(((

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2 miso

February 21, 2023 at 5:02 PM

I've just realised that my brain had conflated Kim Hye-yoon and Shin Ye-eun into the same person so when I saw this my first thought was "oh she's playing a Dan-oh again" 🤦‍♀️.
I'm getting Joseon Marriage Agency vibes from this show and not in a good way but will at least give it a try.

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3 aicaramba

February 21, 2023 at 6:07 PM

I can't wrap my head around Shin Ye Eun being a nice character here. I saw her for the first time in The Glory and she was so good as a villain!! Can't wait!