High-End Crush (고품격 짝사랑)
High-End Crush (고품격 짝사랑; Chinese: 高品格單戀, Gāopǐn'gé Dānliàn) is a 2015 South Korean-Chinese web drama, a romantic comedy in which Choi Se-hoon, an entertainment agency CEO who turns every rookie he manages into a top star, pursues Yoo Yi-ryeong, a pure-hearted young woman living in a remote mountain village who shows no interest in stardom or in his advances.1 • 2 It ran 20 episodes of about 15 minutes each, was jointly produced by Kim Jong-hak Production and the Chinese portal Sohu.com, and became one of the most-viewed Korean web dramas in China up to that time.2 • 3
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Web drama, romantic comedy; 20 episodes of about 15 minutes each2 |
| Production | Kim Jong-hak Production and Sohu.com; directed by Ji Young-soo, written by Shin Yu-dam2 |
| Cast | Jung Il-woo as Choi Se-hoon, Jin Se-yeon as Yoo Yi-ryeong, Lee Si-eon as Section Chief Heo, Yoon Bo-ra as Kang Min-joo4 |
| First release | November 14, 2015 on Sohu.com and Sohu TV in China; Korean VOD release from December 28, 20152 • 5 |
| Viewership in China | 62 million views within 8 episodes; 120 million views on Sohu TV as of January 7, 20163 • 2 |
| Later broadcasts | Japan on BS12 from January 14, 2017; South Korea on cable channel MBN from April 4 to May 2, 20182 |
| Ratings | 9.1/10 on Rakuten Viki (about 68,000 ratings); 7.2/10 on IMDb1 • 6 |
Spoilers
Premise and cast
The story follows Choi Se-hoon, described in Korean press coverage as a next-generation "city guy" CEO with the Midas touch: every rookie entertainer he takes on becomes a top star.5 He meets Yoo Yi-ryeong, a woman living in a mountain village far from city life, and falls in love for the first time; the drama follows his struggle to cast her as a talent while she repeatedly turns him down.2 • 5 Korean reports variously place her home in the Odaesan area5 or near Jirisan,7 a discrepancy that runs through the contemporary coverage.
Jung Il-woo was cast in the lead role in June 2015, while the project was announced under the working title Nobody Knows High-End Crush (아무도 모르는 고품격 짝사랑); his agency described Se-hoon as a prickly city man who lives comically through absurd situations.8 Jin Se-yeon played Yi-ryeong, with Lee Si-eon as Section Chief Heo and Yoon Bo-ra, then of the group Sistar, as Kang Min-joo.2 • 4 Members of the group Monsta X appeared as themselves.6
Release and reception in China
China-first release. The first two episodes premiered at midnight on November 14, 2015 on Sohu.com and Sohu TV, a schedule of two new episodes every Saturday and Sunday at midnight.7 On its first day the drama reached 4th place among trending topics on Weibo, and within 8 episodes it had passed 62 million views; a Sohu representative said its growth rate was comparable to the Chinese releases of Healer and The Producers on the same platform.3 Early Chinese viewer response included a 9.3 rating on Sohu TV with more than 1,900 comments.7 By January 7, 2016, Sohu TV views had reached 120 million.2
Korean distribution and later runs
The drama reached Korean audiences from December 28, 2015, through cable VOD and online services including Naver, GOM TV, Tving, Cinefox, and others, with simultaneous release on the IPTV platforms of SK, KT, and LG Uplus from January 2016.5 • 2 Kim Jong-hak Production framed the multi-channel release as an attempt to overcome the distribution limits that had constrained earlier web dramas.5
Monetization experiment. In late 2016 the production company moved the drama behind a paywall, an early attempt to improve revenue from web drama content that was otherwise funded by indirect advertising.9
The series later received conventional television runs: in Japan it aired on BS12 from January 14, 2017, with DVD rental from October 2016 and a DVD box set in January 2017, and in South Korea it was broadcast on MBN from April 4 to May 2, 2018.2 It is currently available for streaming in South Korea on Watcha.6
Soundtrack and novelization
An OST album of 19 tracks was released on April 7, 2016 through Universal Music Korea, produced by Kim Jong-hak Production; the title track "Catch Me" and the song "고품격 짝사랑" were performed by the singer inkii, and the album also includes "An Elegant Boy" by Jeon Se-jin.10 • 2 Screenwriter Shin Yu-dam adapted the drama into a novel of the same title, published on June 10, 2016, expanding the story across 30 chapters plus an epilogue.11
References
- High-End Crush, Rakuten Viki
- 고품격 짝사랑, 오늘의AI위키
- 타올라라 소년 & 고품격 짝사랑, 중국 인기↑, 뉴시스 (2015)
- 고품격 짝사랑, TheTVDB.com
- 웹드도 고품격 시대…'고품격 짝사랑'은 뭔가 다르다, MBN/매일경제 (2015)
- 고품격 짝사랑 스트리밍으로 보는 곳, JustWatch
- 한중 합작 웹 드라마 '고품격 짝사랑' 첫 공개, 영남일보 (2015)
- 정일우, 웹드라마 '아무도 모르는 고품격 짝사랑' 주연, 연합뉴스 (2015)
- 모바일 동영상 콘텐츠 보고서, KISDI
- 고품격 짝사랑 (웹드라마) OST, 벅스
- 고품격 짝사랑 (소설), 신유담, 예스24
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Cr to In
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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