How To Buy A Friend depicts the life lesson and problem that every teenager could relate to. It has both a romantic and bitter love story from each character. In the midst of their problem, two students teamed up to overcome their teenage life problems albeit their contradictory characters. In this article, Channel-Korea will talk about drama How To Buy A Friend. So stay tuned!
‘How to Buy a Friend’ Review
How to Buy a Friend is a webtoon adaptation mini-series that aired from April 6 to April 14, 2020. The drama is adapted from a webtoon called Friendship Contract by Laad Kwon. After his supporting role performance in Crash Landing on You, Lee Shin-young earned the male leading role in this romantic comedy and coming of age drama. IOI member, Kim So-Hye, performed as a beautiful and smart female leading role. She is currently the new rising star in Korean drama, having starred in popular dramas such as Poetry Story and Kang Deok-seon’s Love Story. The plot revolves around the mystery behind the unfortunate death of a high school student. Her boyfriend tried to discover the truth behind her suicide. During his search for evidence, he cooperates with an awkward student in the school. How to Buy a Friend has an average rating of 2.0% and consisted of 8 short episodes. Since it’s airing on KBS2 station, a terrestrial TV station, How To Buy A Friend gained average ratings of 2%.
The characters of each role and the main story behind the drama are perfectly shown in this short clip.
‘How to Buy a Friend’ The Casts
Lee Shin-young as Park Chan-hong
Park Chan-hong is the most normal type of high school student. He has no special talent. There is nothing special about his appearance and his looks don’t stand out. He has a tall frame but an average weight. He doesn’t have good grades either. Park Chan-hong’s nickname is the ninja. Every student doesn’t know that he exists and doesn’t know how to find him. He isn’t a popular student but he isn’t a bully or a bad student at all. Park Chan-hong loves writing poets. He is in love with Se-yoon and uses his feeling to write poetry. As soon as his hobby is discovered, Park Chan-hong suffers bullying from other students. He recruits Don-hyuk, one of the tough-looking and meanest students in school, as his bodyguard. Due to his hobby, he is caught in a series of events.
Shin Seung-ho as Heo Don-hyuk
He is known as Iron Man. Rumors on school circulated about the story of him about his fists and his fight against 10 men. He sent all 10 men to the hospital. Due to his delinquency, he entered juvenile detention. He enrolled in the same school as Chan-hong, Se-yoon, and Kyung-pyo. His fist is legendary among all high schools in the region; there are numerous rumors about his fist and fight. Heo Don-hyuk’s girlfriend, Seo-jung, died suffered from a mysterious death. People mock Don-hyuk because of her weird death and he despised people for the reason. After leaving detention, he enrolled in high school to investigate the death of his girlfriend. He makes friends with Chan-hong and helps with bullies. He finds out clues about his girlfriend from Chan-hong’s poems.
Kim So-hye as Uhm Se-yoon
The most beautiful and most popular girl in Gangpo City. She always ranks first in both appearance and grade. From kindergarten to middle school, she was the role model for female students. She has excellent grades with a smart brain and a warm personality. All the boys in school have a crush on her. Her appearance make every student feel unqualified to express their love. Even that all-male students have a crush on her, all of them feel no qualification to reveal their heart. However, it was all about outside appearance. Uhm Se-yoon loves art and dreams of becoming an artist. However, she feels hesitant to tell parents about her dream and passion. She is afraid that her parents will scold her upon finding out about her passion. Among all the male students in school, she has a crush on Chan-hong, apparently due to his poets.
Oh Hee-joon as Oh Kyung-pyo
Oh, Kyung-pyo has been Chan-hong’s best friend for 10 consecutive years. His uniqueness stands out from other high school students. Chan-hong suffers bullying to his normal character but Kyung-poo avoids bullying for being too awkward and weird. Oh, Kyung-pyo’s unique character makes people avoid him and avoids any relations or friendship with him. You can assign any negative behaviors like bad, obscene, crazy, dirty to explain Oh Kyung-pyo’s character. All of the students and citizens of Gangpo city know about his weird character.
Jo Yi-hyun as Shin Seo-jung
Shin Seo-jung is the art department senior. She committed suicide at school and made school gloomy and strange. She was close to Se-yoon and Mi-ra when they study in the same department. Shin seo-jung considered changing her name due to bad rumors about her. Due to bad rumors circulating about her, she became suspicious to close friends. Anonymous threats to her eventually led to her death. Her boyfriend, Don-hyuk, furious about her death and was determined to find out the truth.
Min Do-hee as Choi Mi-ra
Choi Mi-ra is Se-yoon’s best friend. She is close to Seo-jung while studying in the art department. She has an obsession with appearance and she is always jealous of Se-yoon’s beauty and brain.
‘How to Buy a Friend’: The Soundtrack
style=”width: 18.2471%; height: 49px;” width=”116″>It Was SpringMajor LeagueMajor LeagueJoo Ye-in3:48 2.It Was Spring (Inst.) Major League 3:482April 7, 20201My FriendNafla Kim Tae-san Nafla Nafla3:07 2My Friend (Inst.) Kim Tae-san Nafla 3:073April 12, 20201One & OnlyHa Sun-hoHa Sun-hoHa Sun-ho2:42 2One & Only (Inst.) Ha Sun-ho 2:424April 13, 20201I Saw You in My Dream Kangaroo Rhinoceros Crazy ParkLee Min-hyuk3:48 2I Saw You in My Dream (Inst.) Crazy Park 3:485April 14, 20201Still Love Major League Kim Dong-ha Major League Buzzer Beater A.C.E3:29 2Still Love (Inst.) Major League Buzzer Beater
5 Reasons Why You Should Watch ‘How to Buy a Friend’
How to Buy a Friend is a TV series based on a popular webtoon with the same name about high school students and their problems in adolescence. The plot is simple with a lot of twists between episodes. Here are 5 reasons to watch How to Buy a Friend. The main character, Chan-hong loves poems and loves writing poems. There aren’t many dramas that build around poems or arts. It is unfortunate that a normal high school student suffers from bullying due to his passion for poems. However, it was also poems that made Uhm Se-yoon fall in love with Chan-hong. How To Buy a Friend is an adaptation from a popular webtoon of the same name. Webtoon is a highly popular medium to express problems in society. Due to the popularity of the webtoon, the adaptation TV series usually receives popularity. Chan-hong and Don-hyuk are involved in a unique type of friendship. Don-hyuk needs a helping hand to uncover the mystery behind the death of his girlfriend while Chan-hong needs Don-hyuk to keep bullies away. At first, their unique friendship seems conditional but soon grows to a close and dependable friendship. Both of them have nothing in common. One of them is the normal and weak type of student while the other is the strong and bully type of student. The unfortunate death of Seo-jung provides the reason behind Don-hyuk’s quest for truth. In the search for truth, he became friends with the least expected form of aid in the form of normal and sentimental Chan-hong. Don-hyuk believes that Chan-hong could help him in uncover the mystery. The youth drama plot always has an unexpected twist and turns in its plot. Each of the characters are trying to find their personality. Choi Mi-ra and Oh kyung-pyo’s character is very entertaining to watch. That was all the information about come to age teenage TV series, How To Buy A Friend. It was a very entertaining and thrilling drama with stories revolving friendship, youth passion, mystery, and love story. It was a short mini-series that provide enough thrilling episode that made you stay at the edge of your seat. Be sure to watch How to Buy A Friend and leave your opinion on the comment section.
