Love in Time – First Impression (Ep. 1 run-down)

BRIEF RECAP

The drama begins with a lawyer (Yang Xuwen) who’s about to win a case for his client.

However, out of nowhere, the client refuses to go on, breaks down, and claims that all the evidence has been fabricated. This causes the jury to halt and the lawyer to go: what’s wrong with you, woman?

The firm he works for also suffers because of this, so they decide that he should start packing. They say that it is not only because of this case, but because of his behaviors all along. He hasn’t exactly been friendly to his clients or subordinates. Still bewildered yet unable to defend himself, the lawyer agrees to leave.

He moves to a different apartment and immediately starts complaining about how bad and outdated the appliances are. Maybe the people at the firm are right about his unfriendly personality after all, even though — it seems — they are jerks themselves.

But, if the young lawyer thinks that dust and the lack of an automatic toilet are his biggest problem in this new flat, he can’t be more wrong. That night, he wakes up to find his energy drinks become orange juice, toiletries he didn’t buy, and take-outs he didn’t order. On top of it all, it sounds like someone is using his bathroom. Creeeepy.

But the lawyer deduces that he must have been too drunk and stressed. He goes out to play video games with his friend the next day and they have a talk about rebuilding his life. And… he got drunk again.

That night, the strange things happen again. This time, he actually sees someone — a woman — walking around his house. He collapses in horror, thinking it’s a ghost. His conclusion, though, is quite funny: I seriously need to drink less.

But it isn’t a ghost at all. When the scene switches, we see a girl working on her computer and doing a facial mask in that same room. Following this girl’s story, we know that she is working far away from home and is also an excellent kickboxer

Here’s the deal: at 10 p.m. every night, a time/space overlap happens. A girl who lives in this same apartment in a different timeline would end up here, and the lawyer would find himself surrounded by her stuff on top of his. When the hour passes, things would become normal again.

The point is, they end up on the same bed the next time it happens, and both jump up and start throwing stuff at the other person. Why the girl doesn’t just wrestle the lawyer down right here, I don’t know, given her background in self-defense.

Needless to say, this is the beginning of a romance. A romance where each participating party only gets to see the other for more or less one hour every day. Is it too optimistic to hope for a happy ending? I wouldn’t.

COMMENTS

This is a quick and decent introduction to a romantic comedy with a few supernatural elements. A mash-up of Lake House and Just Like Heaven. If that’s your thing, have fun!

By the way, why couldn’t the translators let this drama’s title be exactly as it is in its Chinese form, which is My Secret Roommate (我的秘密室友)? “Love in Time” sounds like every single drama out there.