# Marriage Contract (2016)

> A widowed mother and a wealthy executive with a sick mother enter a contract marriage that slowly turns into something real.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/58033

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 64 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Kim Jin-min, Jeong Yu-gyeong
- Network: MBC
- Cast: Lee Seo-jin, Uee, Kim Yong-geon, Park Jung-soo, Lee Hwi-hyang, Kim Young-pil, Shin Rin-a, Kim Kwang-kyu
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5525778/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: heartfelt, tearjerking, wistful, tender, melodramatic

## Synopsis

Marriage Contract (2016) is a South Korean television romance drama created by Kim Jin-min and Jeong Yu-gyeong for MBC, a single-season limited series of sixteen episodes. Lee Seo-jin plays Han Ji-Hoon, a wealthy business executive whose sick mother needs comfort and whose household needs stability, and Uee plays Kang Hye-Soo, a poor widowed woman determined to support her seven-year-old daughter. Their engine is a contract marriage: a practical arrangement struck out of financial need and family obligation, with each partner guarding their own reasons while daily life under one roof slowly wears those boundaries down. The story is built from domestic negotiations, family pressures and the weight of illness hanging over the household, so each episode moves the couple closer to honesty while the surrounding family makes every step harder. Supporting roles from Kim Yong-geon, Park Jung-soo and Lee Hwi-hyang fill out the in-laws and rivals around them. Set in contemporary urban South Korea, the series is a heartfelt, tearjerking melodrama with a warm, wistful register and a strong focus on sacrifice and tenderness. Fans of Crash Landing on You, Boys Over Flowers and My Mister will find resonance in its class-crossed romance and emotional intensity.

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