Doom At Your Service: 5 Ways Its Viki’s New Must-Watch K-Drama (& 5 Tropes It Follows)

Viki has released a new K-drama that has fans on the edge of their seats waiting for new episodes. Doom at Your Service is the latest binge-worthy addiction, as it follows many major tropes. And this isn’t a bad thing, as these tropes make the K-drama a fun watch with a riveting storyline.

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The drama centers around Tak Dong-Kyung (Park Bo-Young), a young editor who is dealt a bad hand in life. After making a drunken wish on a shooting star, she meets Myul Mang (Seo In-Guk). Myul Mang is literally Doom, a messenger from the gods to humans who wants to fulfill Dong-Kyun’s wish. This K-drama has everything fans want and then some.

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Trope: The Female Lead Who Is Suffering

The lead of a drama needs something to make fans get invested in their story. It’s a common trope that the leads in K-dramas are often down on their luck, dealt a bad hand, or face unexpected turmoil. Doom at Your Service is no different, but it still makes Dong-Kyung a worthy character.

Dong-Kyung lost her parents when she was young but somehow came to accept it. As she grew up, her bad luck or fate only got worse. While visiting a client of her web novel company, she learns she is dying and only has three months to live. Surprisingly, she doesn’t cry, she accepts it. To make matters worse, she soon meets Myul Mang.

Must-Watch: A Familiar Lead Actor & Cast

Die-hard K-drama fans will immediately recognize many of the cast members. To start with, Dong-Kyung is played by Park Bo-Young. Bo-Young is famous for playing cute yet feisty characters, like in Strong Woman Bong-Soon and the supernatural drama, Oh My Ghost.

Fans also can’t help but swoon over the male lead, played by Seo In-Guk. Fans were excited to see the actor play a mischievous and cold-hearted role, especially with his jaw-dropping smirk and dimples. Alongside the main characters is another known actor and model, Lee Soo-Hyuk, who plays Dong-Kyun’s editorial team leader, Cha Joo-Ik. Fans will quickly fall for his sharp features and deep voice.

Trope: The Horrible Boss & Ex

Life isn’t easy, especially for the lead female character. Not only is Dong-Kyun facing her impending death but she soon learns that her long-term relationship is a sham. It’s common in K-dramas to see the main characters deal with a broken heart or a horrible ex. In this case, Dong-Kyun learns her boyfriend is married and his wife is expecting.

To top it off, she has a horrible boss. Fans see her get ridiculed by him for taking so much time coming back to work. It only intensifies as her boss finds a video of her encounter with her ex’s wife at a cafe. Fans will see red, as her boss doesn’t care for her being ill and just states that all women are the same.

Must-Watch: The Human-Fantasy Story

K-dramas are well known for their intense love stories, especially between a human character and a fantasy one. Doom at Your Service will have fans watching every episode, as they can feel the tensions and riveting dynamics between Dong-Kyun and Myul Mang.

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It makes for an interesting watch, as Dong-Kyung deals with the trials and tribulations of being human having to deal with her life and her diagnosis. Adding in a supernatural character, Doom himself, ups the ante, as Dong-Kyung is thrust into a new world she never knew existed. Fans get to see Myul Mung take control over her life and death, as well as a mysterious character that might be a god or a goddess.

Trope: The Unexpected Love Story

While the trope is the “unexpected” love story, there is a touch of irony in this, as in all K-dramas, fans can see the trope coming from a mile away. In fact, it’s one of the things that makes K-dramas so popular, as the two lead characters didn’t expect to fall in love but do anyway. In the drama, Myul Mung is intrigued by Dong-Kyun and her willingness to accept her fate.

At first, he only wants to use her for his own agenda of bringing doom upon the world. But over time, he starts to feel sympathy for her – something he’s not meant to do. Dong-Kyun starts to see him as her security blanket, but she soon vows to fall in love with him to change her fate.

Must-Watch: The Emotional & Dramatic Moments

If there’s one thing that K-dramas do well, it’s being dramatic and emotional. Doom at Your Service does both incredibly well from the start. Fans start to sympathize with Dong-Kyung over her acceptance of her impending death. This leads to certain moments being incredibly emotional. For example, she gets her portrait taken and asks the photographer to put it in a black frame – customary for funerals. The photographer quickly realizes why.

Fans will also feel heartache over Dong-Kyun’s inner monologues about how her life has gone and coming to terms with it. And along with the emotional comes the dramatic. Seeing as Myul Mung is Doom, fans see him do his job. He arrives at the hospital to stop the death of a killer who tried to end his own life. Myu Mung forces him to live in order to feel pain.

Trope: The Cold Male Lead

Being the messenger between gods and humans isn’t an easy job. Myul Mung is Doom himself and only brings chaos and destruction in his wake. It’s common in K-dramas to see a male lead character be cold, heartless, and a bit cynical and Myul Mung fits the trope perfectly. Myul Mung is tired of his fate and that he simply exists in order for everything to fall to ruin.

He also dislikes humans and their two-faced personalities. He becomes tired of existing simply for the sake of humans. This leads Myul Mung to often ridicule Dong-Kyung and he tries to teach her about the reality of the world she lives in. He also refuses Dong-Kyung’s plan to fall in love with each other, stating he wasn’t created to love or care.

Must-Watch: There’s A Second Storyline

Fans are hooked on the relationship between Myul Mung and Dong-Kyung, but there’s another storyline that takes place a the same time. Dong-Kyung is friends with one of her company’s writers, Na Ji-Na (Shin Do-Hyun). The show soon weaves in her story, as she remembers her first kiss.

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The said person is a supporting character and close to the Dong-Kyung. As the story unfolds, another character is brought into play, as Ji-Na still laments her first love who has ties to the person who stole her first kiss. It’s the makings of a dramatic second-lead couple and story.

Trope: The Big-Catch/Fate

In K-drama storylines, there’s always an issue that threatens to be detrimental to the main characters. It’s the crux of all drama that occurs in the storyline. In Doom at Your Service, Dong-Kyung signs a contract with Myul Mung that’s to last until the day of her death.

Dong-Kyung must wish for doom upon the world before or on her final day. If she doesn’t, the person she loves most will die in her place. Because of this clause, Dong-Kyung hatches a plan to love Myul Mung so that when the day comes, she has nothing to lose. But K-drama storylines are never that easy and fate can’t be cheated.

Must-Watch: The Comedy

While fans become enthralled with the evolving love story and fantasy in the series, they will also love its comedic aspects. A lot of the dialogue will have fans doubling over in laughter and will be highly remembered. For example, Myul Mung stops Dong-Kyung’s ex from harassing her by calling her “yeobo,” which translates as “honey.”

Dong-Kyung is so shocked by what she just heard, she repeats the word, and Myul Mung whispers “husband.” Myul Mung later uses the word “jagi,” which can be translated as “sweetie.” To make things even more comical, Dong-Jyung’s brother arrives and starts chasing her married ex with a broomstick.

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