“Be Loved in House” is a 2021 Taiwanese 12 episode series that finished airing on July 29th, and I’ve been pushing writing a review, because I do not have very nice things to say about it. If it hadn’t been for the exceptionally good-looking cast and great production quality, this series would have been unbearable to watch.
Directed by Chiang Pin Chen, the story is about how a mean new director Jin Yu Zhen (Aaron Lai) takes over a small firm and puts up a rule that employees cannot be in a relationship. The place literally has only four employees and two of them are in love with each other, so obviously the new rule does not go down well with the team. So when Jin Yu Zhen moves to share a flat with his subordinate Shi Lei (Hank Wang), tensions brew between the two. But they eventually become friends and looks like it could turn into something more. Will Yu Zhen be willing to break his own rules for love? That forms the rest of the story.
The plot is pretty straightforward and even ridiculous at points – it seems the employees aren’t allowed to have romantic relationships outside of work either. That’s just bizarre. And throughout the show, very cliched tropes are used to carry the story forward. The two leads are absolutely adorable, Hank Wang who plays Shi Lei is such a ball of cuteness, that it makes complete sense for a cold boss to fall in love with him. But the whole old trope of ‘from enemies to lovers’ is quite cheesy, or at least the treatment is.
There is also a side-couple, whose story is easily the cheesiest of them all – cute student goes to the same coffee place every day and the owner falls for him. When cute student is kicked out of his flat, coffee-shop owner takes him in and their romance feels more like an adult man adopting a pet. Everything is predictable in this series, except for an interesting twist towards the ends that involves an ex-boyfriend. Even that flashback comes with a some ‘cringe cringe’ script.
Watch it only if you like to watch fluffy romances with good-looking leads. A lot of us don’t mind that once in a while I suppose. Aaraon Lai and Hank Wang look like a power-couple, their chemistry is sizzling, and one can only hope to see them again as leads, but with a better script.
It’s a 5/10 from me for “Be Loved in House”.