A Business Proposal | My favourite manhwa to date.

While “Daytime Star” was my first, “A Business Proposal” is my all time favourite. if you’re looking for a manhwa that is the most fantasy, fairytale like; while keeping a modern world view. Then I think “A Business Proposal” is the manhwa for you. Allow me to share my thoughts on what quickly became my favourite manhwa to date, maybe ever.

In an attempt to ward off yet another one of Jin Yeong-seo’s suitors, Shin Ha-ri goes on a blind date in her best friend’s place with the goal of ruining the meeting. Arriving in a thick layer of makeup, a ridiculous pink wig, and a seductive outfit, Ha-ri is prepared to scare the man away so badly that Yeong-seo’s father will be forced to stop setting his daughter up on blind dates. However, the handsome young man who appears in front of Ha-ri is none other than Kang Tae-mu, the newly appointed CEO of the company she works at.

Despite Ha-ri’s attempts to act as crazy and undesirable as possible, Tae-mu remains indifferent during their date and even proposes to Ha-ri—whom he still believes is Yeong-seo. Caught in a web of deceit, Ha-ri must find a way to reject the oddly persistent Tae-mu or risk being exposed and losing her job. However, the more Tae-mu pursues Ha-ri, the more she begins to question her feelings toward him.
A Business Proposal
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The characters

Obviously we have Tae-mu Kang and Ha-ri Shin the people the story revolves around, but we also have Yeong-seo Jin and Sung-hoon Cha who are equally as interesting and important.

The biggest issue anyone will ever have with Tae-mu is his persistence. It’s almost intimidating, like for thirty chapters all he does is try to purse Ha-ri. Trying to get her to marry him without giving her much choice, atleast Tae-mu was able to figure out the real identity ‘Miss Kim Shin’ (who ise Ha-ri) by the end of chapter 24. It made everything that happened afterwards not so bad because from that point on he began to toy and tease Ha-ri. Which ultimately led to him falling more and more for Ha-ri.

Luckily though, apart from that, Tae-mu as a character is a heartthrob. Is he a perfectionist? Yes. Is he a workaholic? Yes. However, as time goes on and as we see Ha-ri and Tae-mu grow together the more we see this hard outer shell, break and turn into someone who has fallen head over heels for the love of his life. It’s quite the transformation and it’s something you can see change over each chapter.

Then we have Ha-ri who does everything in her power to repel Tae-mu with all her might. But through the persistence of Tae-mu they find themselves spending time with one another. As I’ve mentioned, with time comes understanding and in Ha-ri’s case. He goes from disliking Tae-mu for constantly harassing her, to loving him in his entirety.

I liked Ha-ri as a character a lot because on the exterior she’s a very bright and vibrant. But on the inside, she lack confidence and you see that play out throughout the manhwa. She’s an employee who is dating the CEO of the company she works for. They live in two entirely different worlds that is the route of all her insecurities.

Often times whenever she’s indecisive it’s because she is unsure of herself. As the chapters progress and as they call more for each other Ha-ri is constantly having to battle her own feelings. Is this really acceptable? Am I able to satisfy Tae-mu? Am I able to make that next step? Does he only really doing all this because he had already said to himself before hand that Tae-mu would marry whoever showed up to that blind date?

This is probably the only time when Tae-mu’s persistence comes in handy because throughout all this. Tae-mu’s affection for Ha-ri is unconditional and unwavering; it has been since the first chapter. Not to mention, Tae-mu becomes more human-like with each chapter to the point where when it matters most, this guy is the most caring and loving individual you’ll ever see. It’s crazy just how well Tae-mu and Ha-ri fit.

Now moving onto Yeong-seo Jin and Sung-hoon Cha. They are what Ha-ri and Tae-mu could never be. They are straightforward and are 100x more intimate with each other right off the bat. Furthermore, this was a ‘love at first sight’ sort of deal. So right from the get-go we hit the ground running.

If you want a pure hardworking, gentleman then look no further. Sung-hoon is the man for you. The man is as innocent as it gets, the purest soul and is someone who cares deeply. Not only for Tae-mu as his Secretary but also for his significant other, Yeong-seo.

Sung-hoon’s biggest flaw is that he is obedient to a fault. A lot of his fights with Yeong-seo are due to his loyalty to the person he grew up with Tae-mu. As such, whenever Tae-mu demands something of him, Sung-hoon will always deliver because that’s who he is. He’s also very delicate, I think that’s because he cares too much. Whenever there was a misunderstanding or things like that, he seemed to like hole himself up or put all the blame onto himself.

Apart from that though, Sung-hoon is pretty much perfect in every way. I do find it a little disappointing that we didn’t learn more about him. I mean they do provide a lot of context about this character and his upbringing which is great. It’s just one of those things where I wished they did a deep dive into Sung-hoon. Still a wonderful character regardless.

Last but certainly not least we have Sung-hoon’s counterpart, Yeong-seo. Who is your power woman. Personally, I loved her because she’s very direct but also is the most intimate character out of the bunch. Which makes for a great read. Whatever she wants with Sung-hoon she gets and I love that type of power character. Yeong-seo is also insanely entertaining because she’s very over the top so a lot of the scenes we see with her happen to be very funny and will almost always suit the theme of the chapter.

We cannot go without mentioning her fatal flaw of course and that’s… Sung-hoon. Yeah, you read correctly, she loves Sung-hoon a little too much. It’s almost like an addiction for her and that’s what makes it very enjoyable. Image having a significant other that you’re literally head over heels for, to the point where your love for them plays a major role in how you act and what you say. That’s Yeong-seo in a nutshell.

I also think that Yeong-seo is the most IMPORTANT character of the manhwa because without her sending Ha-ri in her place. We wouldn’t have gotten a Tae-mu and Ha-ri couple.

These two supporting characters play instrumental roles in the overall story and that’s what I love because without Yeong-seo and Sung-hoon there certainly is no Ha-ri and Tae-mu, that’s for sure.

The story

“A Business Proposal” is very similar to “Daytime Star” in that it’s very much a fairytale story. To me, it was something I was excited for because as I mentioned in my “Daytime Star” blog post, the latter will be what I compare everything I read to from now on and “A Business Proposal” was held to that standard. It did not disappoint.

Ha-ri and Tae-mu

We start off with Ha-ri going on a blind date for her friend Yeong-seo with the goal or scaring away the suitor so that Yeong-seo could live in peace. So, Yeong-seo dresses Ha-ri up in a disguise. Little did she know that the person she would end up meeting would be Tae-mu the CEO of the company that Ha-ri worked for. That’s the premise for the 100+ chapter adventure that view will find themselves on.

From this one encounter alone, Tae-mu makes it his mission to make Ha-ri (at first posed as Yeong-seo) to not only fall in love but marry him. Why you ask? Well, similar to Yeong-seo, Tae-mu too is being sent on these blind dates in the hopes that he find someone to marry because he’s the heir apparent to the Kang cooperation. How do you stop the chairman (your grandfather) from forcing you to go on all these blind dates? Well you decide right then and there, that you will choose to marry the person that showed up that blind date.

In this case, that’s Ha-ri posing as Yeong-seo.

From then on, through Tae-mu’s persistence and his pursuit of Ha-ri that we see a relationship start from nothing and turn into something worth fighting for.

The first couple of chapters were interesting because we see the lead up to this blind date and the events that happen after. With Tae-mu under the impression that he had met Yeong-seo, we see him calling Ha-ri asking her to marry him. It definitely felt like a cat and mouse beginning because as Tae-mu went about trying to court Ha-ri to marry him. Ha-ri, the mouse, was doing everything in her power to avoid him in large part because she thinks that Tae-mu would recognize her without the makeup and pink wing.

Yeong-seo and Sung-hoon

Yeong-seo Jin and Sung-hoon Cha’s story is a little more straightforward because unlike the latter. They already like each other and are pretty much dating by the time chapter 40 roles around. Not officially, but you can tell by how they act that it’s pretty much a slam dunk. Then it turns into watching a couple constantly in the honeymoon phase every time. Since Yeong-seo is the more, I’d say, adult of the pair a lot of their scenes tend to be a very spicy.

There are times when a certain someone sticks her nose in and tries to seduce Sung-hoon away from Yeong-seo. Which is the main source of conflict between the supporting cast member, but as you’d expect from a fairytale romance, their love trumps all and they go back to being even more spicy with one another. ]

I find it to be very complimentary of the latter couple because Sung-hoon and Yeong-seo come at you hot and fast. Like they’re going a million miles a second. While Tae-mu and Ha-ri are taking a little longer for their relationship to grow at mature.

It’s almost like if you’re not keen on waiting then Sung-hoon and Yeong-seo will be your couple of choice because it has already reach it’s peak. While Tae-mu and Ha-ri will ultimately be the more intimate couple simply because their relationship is taking its sweet time to develop and blossom.

At the end of the day, both relationships and their journeys are something pulled from a fairytale. As they grow closer and closer, the affection they feel for one another grows and grows to the point where it overflows. If you’re into romance, I think that “A Business Proposal” has one of the best romance storylines ever because without spoiling too too much, everyone you want to win, wins. It’s also a proper story too, with there being majors ups and downs, disagreements and arguments. Happiness and sadness and everything in between.

I love the story to bits, to be completely honest. What made each storyline special in my eyes was because it felt like I was watching relationships grow up and mature. I read every up and down in each storyline and for some reason it really connected with me. By the end of the manhwa, when it was all said and done I couldn’t help but smile at how far and well everything had progressed. Like, I was emotionally and physically committed to these characters and it’s story. It was wonderful.

These aren’t just the only two storylines there are a bunch of other ones scattered throughout that definitely earn their spot. It just so happened that I gravitated towards the romance side of things.

My Concluding Thoughts

Funnily enough, as I write this blog I am also re-reading “A Business Proposal“, simply because it’s that good but also I want to remember so I know what I’m talking about. As I get older, while my love for romance still burns strong, I’ve noticed that I find myself enjoying stories that relate to an adult cast and that happen within a workplace.

To me, there is something appealing about that because it feels relatable, it feels real even though the story itself is unrealistic and is very much a fairytale.

But as I’ve mentioned throughout this blog, it feels like I’ve grown with these characters. I’ve become deeply invested in them, their personalities and the storylines that surround all our characters. “A Business Proposal” has done an exceptional job at captivating the reader while also capturing their hearts with character that look and feel surreal.

One thing is for sure, I’ll probably end up buying the paperback version of this series simply because I love this story that much. I remember when I first stumbled upon this story on tepas.io. I spent so much money just to buy “ink” in order to read the chapters. All 124 chapters of it.

I do not regret it one bit and I certainly won’t regret buying the paperback version either. The only issue now is making sure I finish all my incomplete manga sets first. But I may forego that because my love for this manhwa is intense. Literally.