Once again looking around for a short drama to watch, as I waited a long week for two sixteen episode dramas' updates, I stumbled on this 2016 web drama What's With Money? starring boy band VIXX idols N (Tomorrow Boy) and Lee Hongbin (Wednesday 3:30 PM) and cutie pie actress Jung Da Bin (I Need Romance 3, The Manny). I watched with other fans' comments turned on as the show ran, and I could tell a lot of them were confused about this drama, all about supposedly extra-talented high school students concentrating on money management and how finances work in the real world. I say supposedly because none of them truly seemed to be geniuses in how to handle money at all! When there were early scenes of a coy teacher at their school actually singing and dancing, trying to keep their attention in the classroom, and the fan commentators all started to write: "I want a teacher just like that too!", I knew I was in for some silly mediocrity in this teen interest themed show, and I was not far wrong. The study of money was never really the main thrust of the drama, but rather the contrasts of the different personalities of the students at the school.

Geum Son (N) and Shi Hwan (Lee Hongbin)

The Story: Dedicated student Na Bo Ram (Jung Da Bin) is a perky and pretty girl at a private high school whose teachings supposedly concentrate on money management and wealth attainment, and with her upbeat attitude she attracts the interest of two quite different boys: Choi Geum Son (N), who comes from a poor background but who tries to gain lots of financial knowledge to hopefully attain success in life, and Jin Shi Hwan (Lee Hongbin), the son of a wealthy family, who has always had everything handed to him on a silver plate in life, and who thinks it will be a slam dunk to graduate from this school. Little do they know how far they will have to go before attaining success in their chosen topic of study! As the story progresses there develops some natural rivalry between the two boys, but it never gets too serious.

Bo Ram (Jung Da Bin)

Bo Ram also becomes the jealous target of another schoolgirl Geum Hye Ra (Chanmi), the arrogant student council president, who comes from a rich family and spends money like it’s going out of style, all to fill a void in her heart that is lacking in her broken home with a domineering mother controlling her life. Bo Ram tries really hard to be nice to Hye Ra, but Hye Ra is having none of it, and keeps coming up with ways to have Bo Ram shamed in front of the rest of the school body.

Then Hye Ra decides that to really destroy Bo Ram she should pretend to be nicer to her and loan her money, and when Bo Ram can't pay it back with interest right away soon enough Hye Ra lets that fact be known to all the students and faculty at the school. Bo Ram is mortified.

However, with the help of level headed poor student Geum Son, she is able to find a way to pay back what she owes -- even if it means entering a school contest guaranteeing prize money to the winner - a contest that in some weird way reminded me of a teen version of The Liar Game K-drama. LOL! All that scene needed was Shin Sung Rok to walk out on stage and I would have given this drama an automatic A: that's how big a fan of his I am. Alas, such was not to be the case, so I can only award this pretty silly drama a C+.

Hye Ra (Chanmi)

Still, if you like the cast, it might be worth it to you to watch it. Just don't expect brilliance. It's very short, so you won't have to suffer for long. ;) I did like the young actors, they made the superficial, silly script more tolerable than one would expect going in. Still, I was glad when it was over. :)  I liked N far better in Tomorrow Boy anyway, and Hongbin in Wednesday 3:30 PM much better too. Check those short dramas out if you like them.

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