I almost didn’t watch this Cdrama because of the title. It smacks of self-entitlement.

At first watch, the hero, Xia Ke, appears to be that stereotypical narcissistic boss found in these workplace dramas. He expects preferential treatment all because he’s superior from the rest. He’s a successful game developer and CEO of his own company which he built from scratch with the heroine, Xing Yun. She was his first hire.

He demands her to handle tasks for him which should have been delegated to other staff like his accountant or personal assistant. Not only does he rely on her too much, he also takes delight in inconveniencing her…which leads me to think that he’s unaware of his real feelings for her.

Yes, he’s the type to insist that the world owes him a first love.

But the reason I stuck with it is because I sensed that the title was actually referring to the heroine, Xing Yun.

Again, at first watch, she’s someone who needs to be validated. In the manner she tries to please him first, puts up with his inconvenient demands, or even runs to him like a puppy (ugh!), it’s obvious that she needs to be admired and adored. In other words, she does these things for him because she expects him to be grateful for all the good deeds she’s done for him. But just like he’s unaware of his feelings for her, she too is unaware of her feelings for him. She’s boxed him in as an employer so she expects his gratitude for her services to be repaid with a hefty paycheck or monthly bonus or year-end bonus, rather than “in kind” or a return favor or a bit of care and tenderness.

As it stands in the first episode, their relationship is blindingly one-sided.

That’s actually the reason I stayed to watch this Cdrama. The world may not owe HIM a first love, but the world definitely owes HER a first love.

Note: after having watched a few of these Cdramas, I’ve decided to view their pacing of the story from a different standard which I apply to Kdramas if I was to give Cdramas its due justice. To use parenting as an analogy, a wise parent knows that each child is special and accepts each child’s progress as uniquely his own. There are some things that I would allow in Cdramas that I wouldn’t allow in Kdramas. Plot cohesion or tightness is one of them. I expect my Kdramas, especially those written by veteran screenwriters, to be concise. Since the script of a kdrama is limited to 16 episodes, I expect a kdrama writer to hit the ground running.

In kdramas, the first episode should already introduce the conflict and hint at the resolution. For instance, in the recently concluded “Tale of Nokdu,” the hero was first seen swimming in the sea and hunting for fish to eat. He was in his natural elements. That was a clue for me that, in the ending, after all the turmoil about his royal identity, he would return to that idyllic island. It was his paradise lost and regained. That was his natural setting, not the royal courts.

With Cdramas, on the other hand, I don’t expect such plot tightness. If a Kdrama with its 16 episodes is like a short story, then a Cdrama with its 24-, 30-, 50-episode run is like a novel. Because there’s no limit to its length, a Cdrama can extend tangents that don’t do anything to the couple’s romance and meander through side stories that bear superficial relation to the main plot.

Thus, it was with this forbearing attitude that I began watching “The World Owes Me a First Love.” I fast-forwarded through the subplots and the side characters’ drama. The romance of the hero’s sister and his best friend pushed the same moral lesson anyway, that is, love’s true worth is keenly appreciated when love’s almost lost.

And now, let me break down this Cdrama…because I know this is why you lurrrrvvve me.

1. Xia Ke’s dependence on her

It was evident from the start. On his way to work, his secretary gave him a run-down of his busy day’s schedule. He has a conference call at 9am, a report from the Planning Department at 10am, a meeting with Technology at lunch, and a meeting with his advertising company at 2pm at the racetrack. Then, his secretary simply asked him, “Are you going to bring her?” With hesitation, he answered, “Of course, I will.”

“Her” is Xing Yun.

As it turned out, he would need her help earlier than 2pm. On his way to work, he got into a car accident and he called her to resolve it for him. When Xing Yun caught up with him after fixing his car situation, she chided him, “Next time, you can directly find someone from the Administrative Department or another male co-worker. They all understand cars more than I do.” He ignored her reproval, saying, “You were closer,” meaning she was nearer to the accident site. And he smiled secretly at her nonplussed look.

This wasn’t true, of course. Since the accident happened just outside their office building, anybody could have come down to attend to his car problem. But he called her up first a) out of habit and b) because he knew that she’d be most capable of shooing away his fangirl who caused the accident and wanted his phone number.

More than anybody, Xia Ke relied on her to smooth things out in his life.

2. Despite this, she sees him in a good light.

In a voiceover, Xing Yun introduces herself like this, “My name is Xing Yun. My English name is Lucky. This year, I’m 24 years old. Beside me is my boss, Xia Ke, the CEO of the famous mobile game company, TIG. This fellow has a lot of strong points. For example, having a discerning eye and good at managing people.”

Flashback to that time when he hired her because her name sounded auspicious.

lol. There’s actually another side story, shown in a later episode, on why he chose her. (Spoiler: she didn’t know that he had seen her at a pet store.)

She continues, “He’s very amiable. Often inviting employees as guests to his house.”

Flashback of him locking her in his study until she finished editing the drafts.

She says, “He carefully and considerately takes care of his staff.”

Flashback to when he ordered all spicy food and he gave her water to wash it down.

At this point, I don’t know if Xing Yun is delusional or sarcastic. She goes on, “He has a good temper and never gets angry.”

He’s seen throwing a report and ordering an employee to redo it.

And then, she admits, “Okay, I take that back. In any case, within 2 years, TIG has already created the game that is the industry’s phenomenon, “Limitless Unknown Love,” becoming the mobile game company with the most potential in the industry. Xia Ke really is the talented boss that appears once every hundred years. As for us, the employees who have been thrown onto an express cruise ship to achieve our dreams, what qualifications do we have to harbor complaints about him?”

Later, her co-workers will note that she was the “first employee in TIG, the loyal follower that helped him conquer the world.”

Then, at the 2pm racetrack appointment, it becomes clear that she’s well aware of his true colors, but she likes him anyway. She overhears a couple of girls gushing over Xia Ke, and she muses, “Wake up, ladies. In these days, there are no longer any princes and knights. There’s only one type that rides white horses; a beast in human clothing.”

And then she spots him in white jodhpurs and starts smiling for no good reason.

She even simpers a compliment. “Boss, you’re the most handsome. Which would you like: iced pickled plum juice or coffee?” Ordinarily, I would have raised my hands in disgust and judged her to be a nitwit. Why would she carry around two bottles of his favorite drinks for him to choose from?

But I think I understand her character.

There are two good reasons she puts up with him. One, despite his bad temper, she likes working for him. As his longtime employee, she knows that his bark is worse than his bite. Whenever she’s with him, she speaks her mind easily.

Two, she actually has a crush on him, but she’s long accepted that he isn’t going to fall in love with her. Being a loyal devoted employee is her way of suppressing her more affectionate feelings for him.

3. The horse and his challenge

Normally, too, I would have thrown a hissy fit if a hero compared the girl to a racing horse, but I understood what he meant. (lol. Do you see now what I meant when I said I gave this Cdrama a lot of leeway?)

He said, “I never look at the amusing antics, just like when selecting horses. My horse might not have a shiny coat, and his figure might not be the best, but I can see that he stubbornly refuses to lose an ounce of personality from his body. He always helps me achieve victory in competitions.”

The advertising CEO challenged him to a race to test his words, and he won. His horse ended up beating the other horse.

That’s why he likes Xing Yun. He doesn’t care about appearances. Similar to his plain horse, she has funny hair and wears sloppy clothes.

The horse:

Xing Yun: lol

But he likes working with her because he sees her as essential in achieving victory. She’s his personal “good luck” charm.

After their meeting at the racetrack, she asked him if she could submit a project proposal for a new dungeon game. (Aha! I learned this from “Memories of the Alhambra.” A dungeon is a setting in the game where players can go on adventures like looking for treasures and fighting enemies.) She rifled through her bag for the draft of her proposal to give when a car appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed her to avoid getting hit and she ended up in his arms.

Her instant thought was, “Did you have to use this kind of idol drama pose to save me?” Of course, the pose looked straight out of a Kdrama.

While she was feeling awkward about their position, he prosaically asked her, “Weren’t you looking at the road?”

She thanked him but continued to wonder, “He isn’t going to confess or something, is he?”

To me, this moment confirmed that she liked him. This was HER wishful thinking, of course. She would have liked it if he proposed. But she knew she was just his employee. She didn’t dare expect anything beyond an employer-employee relationship between them because she knew he was out of her league. She was a realistic girl.

In fact, in Episode 2, she would voice this. She would say that he was too handsome for her.

Seeing her discomposure, he teased her. He grasped her to make stand still and listen to her. He told her, “You’re my fortunate little Lucky. Of course, I’ll protect you well at all costs.”

Then, he flicked her forehead.

Xing Yun: Ouch!
Xia Ke: (suddenly changing topic) Have you ever dated?
Xing Yun: Don’t you already know?

Meaning, no, she hadn’t dated. She was too busy establishing the business with him that she didn’t have time to date. But HE understood her answer to mean that she was bragging that she was such a good catch, she could date anybody IF she had the time to date.

Xia Ke: (scoffing) Tsk. Overestimating yourself.
Xing Yun: Hey! What does me having dated or not dated have to do with work? I’m very passionate about this game. I can dedicate all my time to this game. I feel that—(bumping him)
Xia Ke: (issuing a challenge) If you want to know the details of the project, then first you have to find a man willing to go on a date with you.
Xing Yun: Huh? (he walks off) Isn’t it just a date? What’s the big deal about a date?

To me, there were three ways to interpret his challenge. Xing Yun understood it literally, that is, she had to first go on a date and then he’d let her in on the game specs he wanted included in the dungeon program.

Xia Ke meant it rhetorically, however. How would she know how to design the dungeon program about dating if she had never experienced dating herself? He was surprised to learn that she actually went on a blind date for work.

And he purposely nixed her blind date by ordering her to return to the office ASAP to edit her work.

But the third way to interpret his challenge is to see it as a game-changer. Their whole employer-employee dynamics suddenly changed when he issued this dating challenge to her, without thinking. He didn’t foresee how this would change his established relationship with her.

He didn’t know that he had dug himself a hole.

4. The cat and his anxiety

First, there was a horse metaphor. Next came the cat metaphor. To me, these animal analogies signified that he regarded as some sort of pet. She’s not yet fully a person in her own right, but a pet animal to be coddled and indulged. It would be interesting to see this perception of her change as their romance progressed.

He was peeved when Xing Yun went out dating. Although he challenged her to date someone, he wasn’t expecting her to take up the challenge. He didn’t like the idea that she was dating and voiced his opposition. “Recently, our company adopted a stray cat but now it only cares about playing, even bringing another cat.”

When he was told that “stray cats actually aren’t very easy to raise. But there’s no need for you to be troubled because of this.”

He replied, “It’s quite lucky, not only does it bring wealth, it’s also very capable. It’s like this. If it brings back another cat, then it’ll become even more playful. Even bringing back a group of buddies later on.”

He was petrified when he saw a vision of Xing Yun eating out with her daughters.

Of course, he was only projecting his fear onto an innocent mom eating out with her children. He realized he was hallucinating and breathed a sigh of relief.

To me, this moment indicated that he saw Xing Yun as a permanent fixture in his life. After four years together, he’d gotten used to her by his side, and he never had to worry about losing her to another fellow.

He thought that he successfully stopped her from dating when he ordered her back to the office. She was waiting for him in the office when her coworkers came and told her that their boss was just paying her back for leaving work early to go on the blind date. (That wasn’t true though because he was really on his way back to meet her.)

Xing Yun: But as a boss, how can he be so childish? No way! I’m going to call him. (she calls him and he’s already in the lobby about to go up the elevator)
Xia Ke: Hello?
Xing Yun: Hello, CEO Xia. I’m at the company.
Xia Ke: I know:
Xing Yun: Then, may I ask where you are?
Xia Ke: I’m almost there.

Remember that story about the boy who cried wolf? The moral lesson there was if you play a practical joke too often, you’ll lose the trust of people when you need them to trust you the most.

Xing Yun: Stop trying to deceive me, okay? How much longer do you want me to wait here? Yiyi and the others said there was no such thing and that the data planner got off work ages ago. It was incorrect of me to leave early. You can dock my pay! Don’t you think doing this (i.e., breaking up her date to punish her) is too much?

Xia Ke: Why are you so angry? Did your blind date fail?

How devious!! He made sure it was going to fail when he interrupted the date!

Xing Yun: You knew I went on a blind date, and deliberately messed with me?

His smug smile said it all.

Xing Yun: (continuing) Sorry to disappoint you. I’m solemnly declaring to you that I absolutely have the confidence to challenge the Dating Dungeon Planning Project because I’m in a relationship!

Although the news made him immediately stop dead in his tracks, it was obvious, too, that her announcement was said in the heat of the moment to get back at him, and she regretted blurting it out soon afterwards.

That night, Xia Ke had a nightmare. He dreamt that Xing Yun was slowly going to LEAVE him (literaly), beginning with a request for LEAVE of absence for a honeymoon, then a maternity leave, followed by a breast-feeding leave of absence, and a second maternity leave, until finally there’s the dreaded a resignation letter.

He had no defense against her attacks and he was knocked out cold.

5. So, why did I stick around to watch this show?

Three reasons:

One, the lion on her phone case. She was a graphic artist and she chose the lion phone case. I suspected it had a special significance, so I waited to see what it was.

It did….but I’m not telling you. pwahahaha.

Two, the actors didn’t annoy me. Bai Lu who played Xing Yun was cute without being cloying sweet, and Xing Zhao Lin who played Xia Ke reminded me of a poor man’s version of Yang Yang.

Here’s Yang Yang. There can only be one Yang Yang.

And last, Xia Ke was actually sweet on Xing Yun; he just didn’t realize it early on. Although she was an unlikely game designer because of her lack of experience, he selected her project proposal because he saw her potential. He gave her a chance because he believed in her.

He and his best friend passed by a wall with a graffiti of his famous game. (Later we’d find out that it was conceived and drawn by Xing Yun when they were first started to develop the game.)

lol. The wall graffiti was actually a foreshadowing of their relationship: Xia Ke, his best friend, and Xing Yun. You only have to look at their clothes to guess who’s who on the graffiti.

Anyway, his best friend asked him why he decided to go with an unknown individual. Without naming her, Xia Ke said that she was unique and was worth waiting for.

And that was a good enough reason for me. I too wanted to see if the story was worth waiting for.

 

Edited to add the lion for @agdr03.

From Episode 22 at 22:22.