Wild Romance

Wild Romance, or Aggressive/Rambunctious Romance, (Hangul: 난폭한 로맨스) is a 2012 KBS2 Korean Drama starring Lee Dong Wook and Lee Shi Young.

Park Moo Yul (played by Lee Dong Wook) is the arrogant, notorious shortstop of the Red Dreamers. Yoo Eun Jae (Lee Shi Young) is a fiesty young woman who works as a bodyguard. Like her father and brother, she is a big fan of the Blue Seagulls, a rival baseball team to the Red Dreamers.

On her father's birthday, she drunkenly runs into Park Moo Yul at a noraebang and gets into a physical altercation with him. A video of the event shows up all over the internet, forcing Moo Yul's publicist to cover it up by hiring Eun Jae as his personal bodyguard and presenting a tale to the public that Moo Yul's life has been threatened. Unfortunately, Eun Jae and Moo Yul can't really stomach one another. But what are they going to do when Moo Yul begins receiving actual threats?

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Tropes used in Wild Romance include:

• A-Cup Angst:
  • Averted. Moo Yul offers Eun Jae one of the bras his fans sent, then mentions that she's too small. Instead of being offended, Eun Jae takes the opportunity to stare at his balls. (And not the baseball ones.)

Eun Jae: You looked first!

• • Then Played Straight. Eun Jae and Oh Suh Young argue over their breast sizes when they're in the hot springs.
• Actor Allusion: Eun Jae hits a punching bag regularly to air out her frustrations; Lee Shi Young is an amateur boxing champion.
• Answer Cut: Inverted.

Moo Yul: I didn't want to drag that person into it.
Eun Jae: Who!
Moo Yul: Jong Hee.
(Cut to Suh Yoon Yi's hospital room)
Reporter Go: Who is Kang Jong Hee?

• Bad News in a Good Way:

Jong Hee: Moo Yul, let's break up.

• Beautiful Dreamer: Moo Yul
• Berserk Button: Insulting Jong Hee will make Moo Yul fly in a rage.
• Blatant Lies:

Eun Jae: I didn't drink ... much. (Beat) Just one or two. (Beat) Three or four. (Beat) Beer ... and soju.

• Broken Treasure: After Eun Jae leaves Moo Yul's chain in a hotel room, they spend most of an episode trying to retrieve it from Yoo Mi Jin, gold digger extraordinaire.
• Boyish Short Hair: Eun Jae
• Call Back
  • Eun Jae watches Moo Yul tie Jong Hee's shoestrings. Later, when he grants her one wish, she asks him to tie her shoes.
• Calling the Old Woman Out: Eun Jae goes to her mother's flower store and buys chrysanthemums "for a funeral." After quietly telling her mother that her father has moved on since her mother threw him away, she leaves the chrysanthemums, saying that her mother had died a long time ago.
• Can You Hear Me Now?: When Moo Yul and Eun Jae get trapped together in an abandoned farmhouse, Eun Jae can't get a signal.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Averted. Dong Ah and Mgr. Kim watch a porno together. So do Eun Jae and Moo Yul.
• Can't You Read the Sign?: During character training, Moo Yul is sitting right next to the "No Cell Phones Allowed" sign, furiously texting Eun Jae. Then she calls him.
• Cannot Spit It Out
• The Charmer: Moo Yul
• Cheerful Child: Jin Woo Hyeon, son of Jin Dong Soo and Oh Suh Young
• Chekhov MIA: Kang Jong Hee. Eun Jae's mother.
• Closet Shuffle: Moo Yul and Mgr. Kim have to hide when Yoo Yong Kil and Yoo Chang Ho visit Dong Ah's part of the house.
• Comically Missing the Point

Eun Jae: As his bodyguard, I have to keep (Moo Yul's secrets).
Dong Ah: Why are you telling me then?
Eun Jae: You don't go on the internet or have any friends. It's like talking to a wall.
Dong Ah: (to her puppy Kong) You heard? That was a compliment!

Eun Jae: Dong Ah, if you were a man, would you be attracted to me?
Dong Ah: Yes.
Eun Jae: To what exactly?
Dong Ah: It's an essay question? I thought it was 'yes or no,' so I guessed.

• Conversational Troping: Romance writer, Kim Dong Ah
• Couldn't Find a Pen: After Short is killed, Jong Hee is seen drawing with lipstick.
• Covert Pervert: Kim Dong Ah has a whole collection of pornographic and erotic material.
• Creator Thumbprint: Moo Yul and Eun Jae share the same names as a couple of the main characters in 2007's Evasive Inquiry Agency. The two series share the same scriptwriter, Park Yun Sun.
• Crowd Chant
• Deathbringer the Adorable: Kong
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: The guy responsible for the death of Dong Ah's parents (in a car accident) left her with enough money that she never has to work.
  • Suh Yoon Yi basically explains this trope to Dong Ah, "Dead parents are better than parents who abandon their child."
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?

Eun Jae: Don't worry about it; I meant to say it in my head.

• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Mgr. Kim shows a list of suspects, which is basically limited to the main characters, to Reporter Go, who amusedly thinks the most suspicious one is Mgr. Kim.

Mgr. Kim: Mgr. Kim wouldn't have gone through all that trouble. He would have just let the press know of Park Moo Yul's private matters.
Reporter Go: So just tell me.

• Dudette, He's Like, Knocked Out on Cough Medicine!
• Elevator Failure
• Emotionless Girl: Kang Jong Hee, when she's going through her depressive moods, barely shows emotion.
• Eye Scream: Short's eyes are severely damaged by the suspect. It's not discussed whether or not the damage was done before Short was killed or not, but this still gets some Fridge Horror points.
  • Also, all the pictures of Moo Yul in the suspect's Room Full of Crazy have their eyes stratched out.
• The Faceless: Eun Jae's mother in their family pictures
• Fan Service: Moo Yul takes off his shirt quite bit. But then again, he is played by Lee Dong Wook.
• Feigning Intelligence: Moo Yul claims that if he has to leave Korea to be able to play baseball, he'll change his first name to Central. His last name is Park. And we already know that Moo Yul can't speak English.
• Female Gaze: See A-Cup Angst above.
• Frivolous Lawsuit: Moo Yul likes to say "I'll sue," for even the tiniest slight.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Reporter Go used to play baseball until a bicycle accident tore his right shoulder.
• Genki Girl: Kang Jong Hee, who has the hobby of biting people
• Genius Ditz: Eun Jae's best friend, Kim Dong Ah
• Gratuitous English: Eun Jae works for Captain Kevin's Cabin.
• Happily Married: Jin Dong Soo/Oh Suh Young
• Hearing Voices: Played for Laughs. After Moo Yul's bodyguard gets reassigned, he starts hearing Eun Jae's commentary in his head.

Fan girl: We always have to be near you!
Eun Jae's voice: (humourless) How enthusiastic.
Fan boy: When are you going for off-season?
Eun Jae's voice: Why do you need to know?

• Heterosexual Life Partners: Dong Ah/Eun Jae. The first thing Dong Ah does when she gets home after being beaten by Suh Yoon Yi and yelled at by Mgr. Kim is to crawl into bed with Eun Jae.
• Holding the Floor: Mgr. Kim knows the whole history of baseball in Korea.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Jin Dong Soo used to be a top baseball player in college. Now the team only retains him on the roster because he's Moo Yul's friend.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: When Yoo Mi Jin pretends that Moo Yul is a rapist, Eun Jae doesn't fall for the act for a second but instead lists Moo Yul's (bad) characteristics.

Eun Jae: He is selfish, mean, arrogant. He's stupid, has a bad temper, but ... never that.

• Hysterical Woman: Kang Jong Hee, who has the hobby of biting herself during her hysteria
• I Can Still Walk Down a Mountain: Eun Jae
• I Coulda Been a Contender: Reporter Go's issues seem to have stemmed from the early termination of his baseball career.
• I Didn't Mean to Turn You On
• I Was Quite a Looker: Moo Yul's housekeeper
• I'm Your Biggest Anti-Fan
• I've Heard of That! What Is It?

Jin Dong Soo: Jong Hee is a bit bipolar.
Eun Jae: (gasps) That's ... (Beat) Isn't that for men? (She's thinking of preejaculation.)

• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode is named after something in baseball. Episode one is called The Playball that No One Wants, episode two The Worst Keystone Combination.
• Imagine Spot
• Important Haircut
• Internet Counterattack
• It Runs in The Family: The entire Yoo family are obsessively fanatic.
• Jaded Washout: Jin Dong Soo longs for his Glory Days. Subverted, as he's more compliant--but unwilling to let go--than jaded.
• Karaoke Box
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Kang Jong Hee loves her cat, Short. However, this is not limited to cats, because her apartment is decorated with dog figurines.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Eun Jae/Moo Yul
• Loony Fan:
  • Yoo Eun Jae, her father Yoo Yong Kil, and her little brother Yoo Chang Ho
  • Moo Yul has his share of these as well.

Moo Yul: Thank you for your fan letters and gifts. Please stop sending me women's underwear. I don't need them; they're too small.

• Love At First Sight: Kim Dong Ah falls for Mgr. Kim the first moment she sees him.
• Love Confession
• Love Hurts:
  • Jin Dong Soo thinks his love for baseball is like unrequited love.
  • Eun Jae's father, Yoo Yong Kil
• Mad Artist: Though her mental disorder doesn't make her work particularly malicious, Kang Jong Hee has bipolar disorder.
• Memento MacGuffin: Moo Yul wears a ring around his neck on a chain.
• Mindlink Mates: Played for Laughs and Played for Drama several times between Mgr. Kim and Dong Ah.
• Missing Mom: Eun Jae's mom left her father for another man.
• Mistaken Confession: When Eun Jae tries to talk Jin Dong Soo out of killing them all by talking about the affect her mother's cheating had on her father, he mistakenly thinks that she's talking about him resigning from baseball.
• Mistaken for Cheating: Moo Yul/Oh Suh Young
• Mistaken for Gay: When Reporter Go asks why Moo Yul has a female bodyguard, Moo Yul recalls an earlier incident where he went shopping with a male friend and was Mistaken for Gay.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Eun Jae thinks that Jin Dong Soo knows that his wife is cheating with Moo Yul ... and plans to kill them--and commit suicide.
• Motive Rant: Suh Yoon Yi
• Music at Sporting Events: My hearts runs blue...
• My God, What Have I Done?: Reporter Go never says the exact words, but the look on his face after Suh Yoon Yi's Motive Rant is explicit.
• Nice to the Waiter: When his housekeeper is injured, Moo Yul drives her home himself.
• The Nicknamer: Moo Yul calls Eun Jae "bulk head," and she constantly changes his name in her phone.
• No Hero to His Valet: Moo Yul is no superstar to his housekeeper.
• Not So Stoic:

Dong Ah: The robot got angry.
Eun Jae: Did you fight with Mgr. Kim?
Don Ah: We didn't fight; he just got angry.

• Old Shame: Porn actress Yoo Mi Jin played the part of "Girl Who Dropped off Letter" in one of her first movies. (Ironically, not a porno.)
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Eun Jae and Jin Dong Soo. Eun Jae thinks they're talking about cheating spouses. Jing Dong Soo thinks they're talking about baseball and judo.
• Only Friend: Eun Jae/Dong Ah
• Onsen Episode: Bonus points for the characters actually traveling to Japan!
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Eun Jae would be better off not talking.
• Opposing Sports Team: Red (Dreamers) vs. Blue (Seagulls)
• Opposites Attract: Kim Tae Han and Kim Dong Ah
• Out-of-Character Moment: When Moo Yul says 'thank you'

Eun Jae: Huh? What is wrong with my ear?

• Paparazzi: Reporter Go
• Parent with New Paramour: Who turns out to be an old paramour
• Pinch Me: Dong Ah pinches herself after Mgr. Kim asks her to be his girlfriend
• Poor Communication Kills: Why exactly did Moo Yul hit the waiter Suh Yoon Yi?
• Real Men Hate Affection: Mgr. Kim
• Record Needle Scratch: When Yoo Mi Jin shows up in Moo Yul's garage, the background music abruptly stops as soon as he notices her.
• Red Herring: Suh Yoon Yi
• Retraux Flashback: Wow, freshman-in-high-school Eun Jae looks suspiciously like Present!Eun Jae with hair decs
• The Rival: Eun Jae vs. Jong Hee
• Room Full of Crazy
• Rousing Speech: Eun Jae's boss gives one about how working for a high-profile personality like Moo Yul could lead to Kevin's Cabin moving into a building with elevators and temperature control. Hilariously, he starts out, "I have a dream ..."
• Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Subverted. After Eun Jae loses a bet and has to wear a dress, none of the characters are surprised that she can pull it off, though she looks quite uncomfortable. Moo Yul even tells her she looks pretty, but he doesn't treat her differently.
• She Is Not My Wife: Moo Yul gets offended in Japan when Eun Jae is mistaken for his wife.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Moo Yul and Eun Jae are having an argument over the internet, Moo Yul asks "Who are you?" Eun Jae promptly replies, "I am your father" as the Star Wars theme plays in the background.
  • Eun Jae's boss always wanted to eventually become Whitney Houston's bodyguard.
  • Eun Jae's ringtone is Over The Rainbow.
• Sidetracked by the Analogy: When Mgr. Kim tries to explain that the list of suspects (threatening Moo Yul) would be too long

Mgr Kim: Park Moo Yul is a star; he attracts attention. Cain killed Abel because Abel was more loved.
Moo Yul: Who are Cain and Abel? Baseball players?
Eun Jae: You're so ignorant!
Moo Yul: Who are they? You don't know either.
Eun Jae: (Beat) At least I know they're not baseball players.

• Slave to PR: Being a famous baseball player puts Moo Yul in the limelight quite a bit.
• Sleep Cute: Moo Yul/Eun Jae
• Sneeze Cut: Dong Ah tries to guess who Eun Jae has a crush on, and finally lands on 'Reporter Go.' Cut to Reporter Go sneezing.
• Spirited Competitor: Moo Yul. Eun Jae.
• Stepford Smiler: Reporter Go appears to be a generally nice guy--until you stand in his way for a story.
• The Stoic: Mgr. Kim, who Dong Ah nicknames "The robot"
• Stuffed Into the Fridge: Short
• Teens Are Monsters: When Jong Hee accidentally bumps into a teenager in a group, the group immediately starts to taunt Jong Hee until Eun Jae intervenes.

Eun Jae: Don't you know that kids at this age are the worst?

• Thinking Out Loud
• Those Two Guys: Moo Yul's two baseball hoobaes, one of which has a crush on Eun Jae
• Through Her Stomach: When Chang Ho cooks for Dong Ah, she promptly proposes marriage.
• Throwing Your Bat Always Works: Moo Yul throws his bat during the Korean (Baseball) Series. Justified because the pitcher was (maybe) throwing beanballs.
• Toilet Humour: Eun Jae's dad thinks it's a waste to fart alone.
• Tomboy: Eun Jae
• Twisted Echo Cut:

Eun Jae: (to Moo Yul) You say Jin Dong Soo is a good guy. In the end, good guys are the ones who hurt the most. (Cut to Yoo Yong Kil looking at an old family photo.)

• Two Guys and a Girl: Moo Yul, his sunbae Jin Dong Soo, and Jin Dong Soo's wife Oh Suh Young
• Two Scenes, One Dialogue: The opening sequence
• Unkempt Beauty: Kim Dong Ah
• Unnecessary Roughness
• Unprovoked Pervert Payback: Eun Jae tells the girl that Moo Yul is taking home to be careful to look for a "camera, women's underwear, and a weapon." What's in Moo Yul's backseat? A camera, women's underwear (sent by fans), and a baseball bat. The girl immediately thinks Moo Yul is a pervert and runs away screaming.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Moo Yul is the poster boy for this trope.
• Your Cheating Heart: Eun Jae's mother, which is why Eun Jae empathizes with Jin Dong Soo
• Why Are You Not My Daughter?: Oh Suh Young's mother likes Jong Hee better.
• Would Hit a Girl: Moo Yul. More often than not, he gets his ass kicked though.