Jang Ki-yong and Ahn Eun-jin’s “Kiss for No Reason” leads to a dopamine rush, with a viewership rating of 4.5% for their “Natural Disaster” level kiss.
[OSEN = Reporter Choi I-jung] In “Kiss for No Reason!”, Jang Ki-yong and Ahn Eun-jin fall in love after a dramatic kiss.
On the 12th, SBS’s new Wednesday-Thursday drama “Kiss for No Reason!” (written by Ha Yoon-ah, Tae Kyung-min, directed by Kim Jae-hyun, Kim Hyun-woo, produced by Studio S, Samhwa Networks) premiered. The show, described as a dopamine-exploding romance, begins with a kiss between the hot 2025 actors Jang Ki-yong (as Gong Ji-hyuk) and Ahn Eun-jin (as Go Da-rim), which had already attracted attention before airing.
The first episode of “Kiss for No Reason!” recorded a promising start with a viewership rating of 4.9% in the metropolitan area and 4.5% nationwide, according to Nielsen Korea, with a peak rating of 6.3%. The romance chemistry between Jang Ki-yong and Ahn Eun-jin began in earnest towards the end of the episode, raising expectations for increasing viewership.
The lead characters Gong Ji-hyuk and Go Da-rim lived polar opposite lives. Aspiring job seeker Go Da-rim struggled to endure each day, while her only sister, embarrassed by her unemployed state, gifted her a trip to Jeju Island to prevent her from attending her wedding. Conversely, Gong Ji-hyuk was a successful man with a flair for major projects but didn’t believe in love.
The two visited Jeju Island for different reasons: Gong Ji-hyuk hoped to recruit Kim Jung-gwon (played by Park Yong-woo), while Go Da-rim wanted to avoid her sister’s wedding. However, Kim Jung-gwon was Da-rim’s ex-boyfriend who once compared her to “boiled spinach” to end their relationship. During her trip, Go Da-rim bumped into Kim Jung-gwon and his partner, whom she met with a friend, and feigned a relationship with a fictitious boyfriend out of insecurity.
Later, Go Da-rim mistakenly believed Gong Ji-hyuk was about to leap off a cliff and hugged him from behind to stop him. Startled, Gong Ji-hyuk caught the stumbling Go Da-rim, leading to their unexpected fall. He left Go Da-rim at the hospital while she slept, burdening her with paying for his medical treatment, leaving her broke.
The next morning, Go Da-rim bumped into Gong Ji-hyuk at the hotel restaurant, where her friends also appeared. Pretending to be Gong Ji-hyuk’s girlfriend out of pride, she clung to his arm and lied again. Seeing a chance in this act to recruit Kim Jung-gwon, Gong Ji-hyuk proposed to Go Da-rim to pretend as his girlfriend, transforming her in a Cinderella-like makeover and putting a ring on her finger.
Kim Jung-gwon was astonished by Go Da-rim’s transformation and doubted that she could be dating someone as impressive as Gong Ji-hyuk. Go Da-rim, nervous about being caught in the lie, impulsively kissed Gong Ji-hyuk when Kim Jung-gwon approached, marking the kiss as a “natural disaster” moment. For Gong Ji-hyuk, who didn’t believe in love, the kiss was an explosive revelation.
Gong Ji-hyuk asked Go Da-rim nonchalantly if they should do it again, emphasizing the impact as he confidently kissed her again. “That night, we were like nitroglycerin and sulfuric acid, and our kiss was dynamite,” narrated Gong Ji-hyuk, ending the first episode on a high note.
The premiere episode of “Kiss for No Reason!” effectively captured the tangled first meeting and the progression to their “natural disaster” kiss with a vibrant storyline and dynamic direction. The performances and chemistry between Jang Ki-yong and Ahn Eun-jin, utilizing the bright and lovable character of Go Da-rim to its fullest, shone brightly. Notably, the cameo appearances by Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu were a delightful surprise.
The second episode airs on the 13th at 9 PM.