"Unintentional Love Story" is the latest Korean BL web drama that has had K-Drama and BL lovers' hearts fluttering. Starring Cha SeoWon, B1A4's GongChan, DoWoo, Won TaeMin, Lim HyunTae, Im JoonHyeok, and more, the drama has been gaining attention for its beautiful emotional narrative.
"Unintentional Love Story" tells the story of the falsely-accused Ji WonYoung who was suspended from his job after his superior was fired due to a corruption scandal. When he stumbles upon the chairman's favorite artist, he tries to use this as a means to get his job back. However, it's clear that the artist doesn't want to be found. WonYoung decides to try and find out what happened to Yoon TaeJoon (the artist) which leads to feelings he can't explain.
The webtoon was written and illustrated by PB and is known as "๋น์๋์ ์ฐ์ ๋ด" in Korean. You can read the webtoon in Korean here and in English here.
Although the webtoon and web drama are not exactly the same, none of the differences drastically change the story. However, you might find some of the differences interesting.
Today we'll take a look at the "Unintentional Love Story" BL drama and webtoon differences and how they've impacted the story. Here are 4 differences between the two formats.
Note: This article contains spoilers for the web drama and webtoon of "Unintentional Love Story".
Character Differences
1. How the Gangneung Locals Treated WonYoung/His Popularity
Detail: In the web drama, the locals of Gangneung are very kind to WonYoung and treat him really well. However, in the webtoon, this is on another level.
After WonYoung ends up working at DongHee's cafe, they shower him with gifts like food from their stores for him to eat at lunchtime. DongHee is even impressed at how much they want to take care of WonYoung.
Impact on the story: There's not much of an impact on the story. However, in the webtoon we can feel more of how helpful WonYoung's presence is in the seaside village he's staying in, as all the locals seem to want to repay his kindness. This also adds to why DongHee thinks WonYoung is the right fit to work at his cafe, as his popularity will benefit the store.
Potential theories for change: The reason why this treatment might've been taken out when adapting the webtoon to the drama might be because it's not really essential to the story. DongHee's need for WonYoung to work at the cafe was also expressed in a different way more focused on his skills benefiting the store than his popularity.
Storyline and Plot Detail Differences
2. The First Meal That WonYoung Has in Gangneung
Detail: In the webtoon, WonYoung goes to the fish market to find out how much sliced raw fish ('ํ' in Korean) costs. He exclaims at the price and ends up cooking himself ramen at his accommodation. However, the owner of the accommodation knocks on the door with a plate of japchae (a Korean glass noodle dish) and asks him to try some.
In the web drama, he arrives in Gangneung, goes to the beach, and then goes straight to his accommodation. When he lies down, he realizes his hunger when his stomach growls. He then gets a call from the owner of the accommodation asking him to come down and eat the sliced raw fish dish he had wanted in the webtoon.
Impact on the story: This has no impact on the story because it still leads to him breaking the plate and meeting Yoon TaeJoon. It might just change how we see his personality a little bit as he seems to be less of a planner in the web drama.
Potential theories for change: The reason for this change in the story might simply be to simplify the number of scenes that were needed to show him getting to eat from the owner's plate and eventually breaking it. For example, if the drama was filmed exactly like the webtoon, they would've had to film extra scenes where he visits a fish market and makes himself ramen. These are not super essential to the story so it makes sense to cut them out in a shorter drama format.
3. The Reason WonYoung Gets a Call About His Laptop
Detail: In the webtoon, someone called Deputy Section Chief Yang calls him to ask for the password of his laptop because the HR team wants to look into it.
However, in the drama, Director Jung is the one who calls him for the password to his laptop because he is taking over his work.
Impact on the story: In the webtoon, thereโs mention that the case against his superior is still being investigated and getting worse as more crimes are being discovered. So, one can assume that the seriousness of the crimes and WonYoungโs implication in them is far worse in the webtoon story than in the web drama.
Potential theories for change: The more serious WonYoung's implications in his superior's case are, the harder it would be for him to re-enter his company, and the more difficult it becomes for the audience to believe that he'd be given a second chance to work in that company. By removing tiny details like more crimes being discovered in the case, the pressure is taken off the situation a bit. This might also have added a heavier tone to the drama if it was portrayed in the same way as the webtoon.
4. The Way That WonYoung Ends Up Working At DongHee's Cafe
"Unintentional Love Story" by PB on Ridibooks / "Unintentional Love Story" Screenshot
Detail: In both mediums, after TaeJoon (aka JooHeon - his fake name) rejects for WonYoung to work at his store, WonYoung goes around the neighborhood helping out the elderly with their work and labor.
In the webtoon, TaeJoon and DongHee see this and DongHee compliments WonYoung's diligence - however, TaeJoon's distaste for him doesn't change. Eventually, DongHee approaches WonYoung and scouts him to work as a part-timer in his cafe.
This is unlike in the web drama where after failing to get TaeJoon to hire him, WonYoung goes to DongHee and convinces him to hire him as a part-timer. He shows him his skills as a barista and earns his spot working in the cafe.
Impact on the story: By making WonYoung get the job with DongHee himself, we get to see more of how desperately he wants to get on TaeJoon's good side.
Potential theories for change: Showing us this side of WonYoung proves how important it is for him to win over TaeJoon's trust and how hard he's willing to work/what extent he's willing to go to for his goal. This makes him a more admirable character. In the webtoon, a solution finds him - which makes him less of an admirable character in the eyes of the reader.
These are only a few of the web drama and webtoon differences for "Unintentional Love Story" that we've spotted so far.
Have you spotted any other differences between the drama and the webtoon for "Unintentional Love Story"? How do you think these differences impact the story? Let us know in the comments below!
If you would like to read about more K-Dramas that are different from their webtoons, check out this article.
Here are some other webtoons that are different from their K-Drama:
