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In A Business Proposal Volume 4, we left Taemu and Hari dealing with their complicated feelings for each other, as neither one of them wanted to openly admit they liked each other. They were making their relationship more convoluted than necessary, but now it’s working as a stepping stone to reach their happily ever after… probably.
Hari now knows that Taemu has found out about her alter ego, and she’s willing to fake-date him to help him get his grandfather off his back. But that’s not the only reason for Taemu: he has fallen hard for Hari, and while she thinks it’s all a pretend game, for him it’s real as he has every intention of marrying her. As you can imagine, more misunderstandings pile up, especially when Hari finally meets Taemu’s grandfather and the pretending implodes.
If there is one thing they learn from this, it’s that they need to speak their minds more, so although Hari bans talk of marriage, the two start to officially date, in secret. There is a lot of sneaking away during office hours and office trips, but Hari is still not sure she wants to go public. She knows she likes Taemu, but she needs to be sure he likes her as well, and not just because he wants to marry her to fulfil his grandfather’s wish. But the hire of a new secretary for Taemu is about to complicate their relationship even more when the secretary falls for Hari.
On the other hand, Sunghoon (Mr. Cha) and Yeongsuh started out all lovey-dovey, but Yeongsuh’s father became an obstacle in their relationship, driving them apart. It’s the old trope of a rich father trying to stop his daughter from falling for a poor, orphaned man, and unfortunately Sunghoon falls for Yeongsuh’s father’s mind game. Thankfully, the two are more open-minded and willing to speak with each other, compared to their friends Taemu and Hari, so any misunderstanding gets resolved quickly.
The more I read A Business Proposal, the more it turns into a soap opera full of drama before the protagonists can develop their relationships and get the happy ending that they deserve and that the readers want to see. Every time Hari and Taemu take one step forward, something or someone makes them take three steps back. The fact that they are both somewhat naïve in their relationship doesn’t help either. Hari is kind-of childish. She doesn’t know how to process her feelings and worries in a healthy manner, so her mind always thinks of too many possible scenarios that will make them break up. She’s also a little bit needy and needs constant reassurance. She’s learning, and seeing Taemu respecting her wishes of not talking about marriage and not going public with their relationship helps her in processing her feelings and figuring out what she wants in the long run.
Taemu is also out of his depth in the relationship with Hari, but he’s growing as a person as well. He is used to obtaining everything he wants straight away, no matter the cost. Hari, though, makes him fight for things and doesn’t roll over whenever he calls. From a workaholic who only thinks about work and his company, he’s learning that things outside of work can take priority, and Hari shoots up to the first place on that list. He’s also getting a better grip on his emotions and figuring out what those new feelings are, such as jealousy.
I appreciate how Sunghoon and Yeongsuh also plays a huge part in the story and how much their relationship differs from Taemu’ and Hari’s. They are the opposite of each other, and although Sunghoon has his own inferiority issues that pop up here and there, he can handle his feelings better. Taemu’s grandpa also surprises the readers in these volumes in how he treats Hari and Sunghoon. He’s quite the character with not an easy personality, who also happens to be quite stubborn and adores his grandson(s) too much (yes, plural because stuff happens in the volumes). However, I appreciate how he ends up being supportive at the end and how he won’t let anyone, such as Yeongsuh’s father, get away with his mind games.
The story is narrated with illustrations full of bright and pastel colours to sustain the romance theme. The characters’ expressions are exaggerated at times to help bring a comedy aspect into the story, which also lightens the characters’ problems for the readers. Both volumes at the end of the story contain a glossary of Korean words that are used in the volume. I appreciate how the publisher decided to keep the Korean names for words that don’t have a simple translation or no translation at all, such as Korean games names, but I’d have appreciated even more if there was an indication in the story that a translation was available at the end.
A Business Proposal is written by Haehwa, illustrated by Narak and adapted by Perilla. It was published as a web comic on Tapas, and it’s being released by Ize Press in volume format in the English language. A K-drama for this series is also available on Netflix. Volume 7 is already out.
Our review copies from Ize Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
