Between Steps (연애박사, also known as Love Doctor) drew attention from the moment it went into production for one simple reason: it was an Ahn Pan-seok drama.
Then, on August 12, just two months before its premiere, director Ahn Pan-seok passed away suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage. That turned the series into something more than just another new K-drama. Between Steps became Ahn Pan-seok’s final work.
Who Was Ahn Pan-seok?
If you’re new to his name, you’ve probably still heard of his work. Ahn Pan-seok was one of Korea’s most respected drama directors. He earned acclaim for sharp dramas about power and society, such as The White Tower (하얀거탑) and The Art of Negotiation (협상의 기술).
But for many viewers, myself included, he is best remembered for his romance dramas: Something in the Rain (밥 잘 사주는 예쁜 누나) and One Spring Night (봄밤). Both were known for their quiet, realistic take on adult relationships, and both are worth watching if you enjoy slow-burn romance.
So naturally, I had expectations for a new Ahn Pan-seok romance. Now that I’ve finished all 12 episodes, my feelings are a little complicated.
Where to Watch Between Steps
Between Steps is a 12-episode ENA drama starring Choo Young-woo and Kim So-hyun, and it streams on Disney+.
A quick note on the title: in Korea, the drama is called 연애박사 (Yeonae Baksa), which literally means “Love Doctor.” So when I started writing this review in English, I assumed the international title would be something like Doctor of Love. But when I checked, the official English title turned out to be Between Steps. If you’re searching for the show outside Korea, that’s the name to look for.
This review contains no major spoilers.
Honestly, It Was Frustrating at Times
Let me be honest: there were many moments that frustrated me.
The characters can be frustrating, and the pacing is slow. Again and again, the story builds tension as if something big is about to happen, and then the moment passes without much happening at all.
This is very different from many recent K-dramas, which create conflict quickly and keep the story moving with one twist after another. I can easily imagine some viewers giving up halfway through.
I also think the platform may have played a role. In Korea, Disney+ has a smaller audience for local dramas compared to Netflix or TVING, Korea’s major local streaming service. If Between Steps had been released on one of those platforms, I suspect far more people would have watched it, and far more people would be talking about it now.
But After Finishing It, I Felt Differently
Here’s the interesting part: after finishing all 12 episodes, my opinion changed.
The characters who frustrated me early on slowly grew on me after the halfway point.
At first, I kept asking myself, “Why would they act like that?” and “Why make that choice?” But the more I watched, the more I started to understand them.
And at some point, a thought hit me:
“I acted just like that when I was their age.”
These aren’t people with special talents or enviable lives. They do silly things, fail to say what they really feel, and hold on to their pride when they shouldn’t. What first felt frustrating started to feel deeply human.
Have We Gotten Too Used to Dramatic Stories?
I think this may also be why Between Steps didn’t get a bigger response in Korea.
Real-life romance is never as dramatic as a TV drama. No one swoops in to fix everything, and a relationship rarely transforms because of one big event.
In real life, people hesitate even when they like someone. They hurt each other, regret it, and still can’t take the first step. They misunderstand each other again and again.
That’s very close to the kind of romance Between Steps shows. Depending on the viewer, it can feel frustrating. But seen another way, it’s an unusually realistic portrayal of love.
It made me wonder if we’ve simply grown too used to dramas built on constant shocks and twists.
Kim Se-jin: The “Villain” Who Changed My Mind
The character I changed my mind about most was Kim Se-jin.
At first, he seemed almost like a villain, someone who existed to get between the main couple and create conflict.
But past the midpoint, my view started to shift. At some point I found myself thinking, “Yeah, guys like him really exist.”
That doesn’t mean everything he does is justified. But once I stopped looking from only one side, I began to see things I’d missed before. Eventually, instead of resentment, I mostly felt sympathy for him.
I think this may be one of the things the drama wanted to say: you can’t judge someone by first impressions, and even a person who looks like a villain may have his own story.
The Professors, However…
Not every character won me over. The professors’ behavior was hard for me to understand, even to the end.
The students’ mistakes felt like the mistakes of youth, the kind that made me think, “I was like that too.” But the professors are older and hold real social positions, which made some of their choices much harder to accept.
In the end, the most realistic people in Between Steps were the imperfect young characters.
Choo Young-woo and Kim So-hyun
The two leads, Choo Young-woo and Kim So-hyun, were excellent.
Neither overplays their emotions. Instead, they portray their characters’ feelings with calm restraint, which suits the tone of the drama perfectly.
In a series without big events or explosive emotional scenes, small details matter most: facial expressions, tone of voice, the way two people look at each other. Both actors handled those moments beautifully.
Is Between Steps Worth Watching?
Even after finishing all 12 episodes, I can’t simply say, “It was really fun.”
It was frustrating. It was slow. More than once, I thought, “Something has to happen by now.”
And yet, strangely, frustration isn’t what stayed with me. By the end, I had grown attached to those frustrating characters, and I found myself thinking:
“People that age can be like that.”
Maybe that’s the drama’s biggest strength. It isn’t a love story about perfect people. It’s about flawed people who sometimes make foolish choices, who like each other, hurt each other, and keep finding their way back.
Watch it if you enjoyed Something in the Rain or One Spring Night, or if you like slow, realistic romance.
Skip it if you prefer fast pacing, big twists, and dramatic conflict.
A Final Farewell to Ahn Pan-seok
This series now carries one more meaning: it is Ahn Pan-seok’s final drama.
It’s heartbreaking that he passed away just two months before the premiere and never got to see his last work reach audiences.
Between Steps may not have been a massive hit, but I hope it will be remembered as Ahn Pan-seok’s final story about the connections between people.
At first, I struggled to understand why the story moved the way it did. But after finishing all 12 episodes, one thought remains:
“Maybe this is just what life is really like.”
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