Series / Fated to Love You

The series was first broadcast on Taiwan TV in June 2008, and was nominated for six awards at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan. It was awarded the 2008 Best Television Series and Best Marketing Program. It is the first part of a trilogy; the second installment, Drunken to Love You, aired in Spring 2011.

Chen Xin Yi is the Butt-Monkey of an attorney's office, performing dozens of menial duties and frequently doing the work of her coworkers, who usually ignore or ridicule her. She plans and pays for a romantic love cruise, hoping to lose her virginity to and thus keep her current boyfriend.

On the same cruise is Ji Cun Xi, the wealthy sole heir of a cleaning products company, who was planning to propose to long-time girlfriend and ballet dancer Anna. Anna chooses a lead role in a production of Swan Lake at the Lincoln Center in New York City, over Cun Xi, and never boards the cruise liner.

In a huge misunderstanding Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up spending the night together, only in the morning realizing the mix-up.

Although they vow to forget about the incident and continue on with their individual lives, Xin Yi soon finds out she is pregnant and the news reaches both Cun Xi and his family. Cun Xi's grandmother is ecstatic over having a grandchild and forces the two to get married.

In 2014, the series was remade into a Korean Drama. It's alternative title, You Are My Destiny, is not to be confused with an older K-Drama of the same name.

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The original series contains examples of:

• Beleaguered Assistant: Xin Yi, who has the moniker "Sticky Note Girl" because people constantly ask her to run errands and stick notes on her person as a reminder. This nickname becomes even more poignant when Xin Yi confesses that it makes her feel like a throwaway person.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Xin Yi refuses Cun Xi's second marriage proposal, when she is told she is infertile. Her reasoning? He is the sole heir to the Family Business and he needs a heir.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Stephen Zhou, who wants to buy the factory on Jiang Mu Island to secretly bury mercury spoils there under the guise of running an incinerator.
• Dance of Romance: Cun Xi and Xin Yi do the tango in Episode 14.
• Death of a Child: Happened to Xin Yi's unborn baby in Episode 12.
• Delivery Guy: Cun Xi for Feng Jiao.
• Eiffel Tower Effect: Tapei 101 building shows up by Episode 6.
• Exact Eavesdropping: While Xin Yi and Cun Xi are looking for their lost dog, several bystanders talk out loud about a local shop with a lot of barking dogs.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack: When Cun Xi sees Xin Yi, damp from a shower and still wearing a towel.
• I Want Grandkids: Grandma even prayed at the family shrine for Cun Xi to knock up a girl and create an heir.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cun Xi has Xin Yi sign an open-date Divorce Agreement on the first day of their marriage. Luckily, he gets better.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Evoked no less than three times in the series.
• Long-Lost Relative: Anna turns out to be Dylan's long lost sister.
• Maternity Crisis: Xin Yi's older sister's water conveniently breaks just after the bad guys are vanquished.
• Mister Muffykins: Baby Ji, who is a cute, little fluffy ankle-biter in various fashionable attire.

• Nosebleed: When Cun Xi (who is supposedly blind at the time) gets an up-close-and-personal look at Xin Yi's chest.

• Pool Scene: Cun Xi doing the butterfly stroke in Speedos...
• Screaming Birth: Xin Yi's older sister Feng Jiao gives birth in a warehouse.
• Shotgun Wedding: Cun Xi, basically within hours of agreeing to the marriage, surrounded by Jiang Mu Islanders.
• Shout-Out:
  • Cun Xi tells Xin Yi that she apologizes constantly just like Sanzo, the gun-toting priest in the anime/manga series Saiyuki.
  • His assistant Anson states her glasses are bigger than Nobita's, a character in anime/manga series Doraemon.

• "Shut Up" Kiss: When Xin Yi yells at him to stop being nice to her, he kisses her in the art gallery in episode 9.
• Surprise Pregnancy: The main event in the series.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Grandma shows up with a cup of hot tea right after Xin Yi gets drenched with hot water.
  "I wasn't spying on you guys. I wasn't eavesdropping either."
• There Is Only One Bed: Leading the couple to take turns on the sofa in the bedroom.
• Wham Episode: Xin Yi gets hit by a car on episode 12.
• What Did I Do Last Night?: Ah, that night on the cruise ship...
• What the Hell, Hero?: Cun Xi gets this, combined with "The Reason You Suck" Speech, from Dylan, Xin Yi's sisters AND his grandmother over his poor treatment of Xin Yi.

The Korean remake contains examples of:

• Adaptation Expansion: Mi-Young, the protagonist in this version, starts off the show with a best friend who supports her.
• Affectionate Nickname: Gun refers to Mi-Young as "The Snail", which at first was meant to be an insult.
• Apologizes a Lot: Mi-young, to the point where Gun keeps telling her not to, since she mostly apologizes for things that are not her fault.
• Aside Glance: In Episode 10, while Gun and Mi-Young are in bed. It's not explained what Gun is referring to.
• Bastard Bastard: Gun's half/step-brother. He and his mother try to get Gun removed as CEO so he can be a potential heir, though he later has a change of heart.
• Batman Gambit: Mi Young's brother-in-law and Company President Park convince the security guards chasing after them that the footage they took of Gun and Mi-Young is lost by throwing the camera in the water. This is after the president discreetly removes the card that holds the data on it.
• Beautiful All Along: Some people remark how "plain" Mi-Young looks. Her makeover/dressing up mostly consists of better clothes, fixing her hair up a bit, and removing her glasses that make her look even younger than she already looks.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Gun thinks Mi Young is one when he finds out he must have been drugged, but once he spends time with her, he realizes she is genuinely a nice person.
• Career Versus Man: Se Ra put off marrying Gun because of her ballet career. When she finds out about the divorce contract, she risks her career to try to get back together with Gun.
• Character Development: Mi Young tries to be a stronger person for her child, and a few episodes in, she is already getting better at standing up for herself.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Mi-Young wins a trip to Macau, which is where she and Gun have their one-night stand.
  • The bottle of drugged water meant for Gun gets lost, but Mi-Young ends up finding it in a fountain and drinking it.
  • The lollipop which triggers Gun to regain his memories.
• Chewing the Scenery: Gun, especially his first scene.

• Contrived Coincidence:
  • Gun suspects Mi Young is in on the plan since they keep meeting each other accidentally. He thinks it's too convenient to be coincidental.
  • They both also have the same birthday, as they are "destined"/"fated" to be together.
• Crash-Into Hello: Mi-Young and Gun's first meeting at the mall.
• Cruel to Be Kind: In episode 12, Mi-Young's mother doesn't let her stay with them when she moves out of Gun's house because she doesn't want her to think about the fact that she just lost her child.
  • The same episode also has Gun try to distance himself from Mi-Young because he is starting to have symptoms of his disease and he doesn't want her to end up alone and sad if he ends up dying in the future.
• The Cutie: Mi Young. Gun even talks about it and says that when she came home late without calling, he couldn't stay mad at her because of it. At first, Gun thinks it's just an act.

• Didn't Think This Through: After Gun gets amnesia, they try not to shock him by telling him what's going on. While he's in the hospital, he looks up the news on his smartphone.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: There are so many reasons that this happy ending is earned. Gun and Mi Young are conspired against by alternate lovers, parents are fraught with angst, and the specter of disease, they work together to overcome them all.
• Either/Or Title: Fated to Love You or You Are My Destiny. A few lines of the Paul Anka song "You Are My Destiny" are sung by Gun's assistant in an episode.

• Establishing Character Moment: In the first episode when Gun appears while they are filming the commercial. He walks in dramatically, pours water over his head, dips his head in the water, flips his hair around, and rips open his shirt. All because the actress hired for the shampoo commercial wasn't doing it right.
• Evil Laugh: Gun is known for laughing dramatically for no reason, though a few times when he is doing something bad or wants to intimidate someone. He does it when he sells off the island property to a company planning to use it as a place for dumping toxic waste.

• Evil Matriarch: Se Ra's mother. In the episode where she is introduced, she berates Se Ra for leaving New York and slaps her in front of everyone.
• Expository Hairstyle Change:
  • Gun and Mi-Young at the end of episode 12 following a Time Skip. He has an Important Haircut while her hair has a reddish color to it.
  • Averted with Daniel, who suddenly had black hair that episode. There doesn't seem to be an in-series reason for this, it's assumed by some viewers that the actor is preparing for military service.

• Foregone Conclusion: The men in Gun's family died young (around Gun's age) because of Huntington's disease. He is in his thirties and starting having symptoms of the disease. It is incurable and always ends in eventual death.
• The Glasses Gotta Go: Mi-Young's makeover and any time she dresses up for a special event.

• Green-Eyed Monster: Gun got jealous whenever Mi Young spent time with Daniel.
• Heel–Face Turn: Gun's step-brother after Mi Young includes him as part of the family and he begins to warn up to her.
• Heir Club for Men: Gun is pressured to get married/produce an heir by the Chaebol (business conglomerate) and his grandmother. He keeps asking for more time, but the company threatens to fire him if he doesn't hurry up.
• Identical Grandson: Gun's house has a wall of portraits of the men in his family (father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.) who all look exactly like him.
• Incoming Ham: Gun's first scene. He loudly snaps his fingers and walks in dramatically while everyone watches.

• Is There a Doctor in the House?: Discussed when Gun asks the question while Mi-Ja is going to labor while they're on a yacht. No one answers, and he complains that it doesn't make sense because in movies, there's always someone who says yes.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Mi Young doesn't want to get in the way of Gun being happy with Se Ra, though this started before she fell for him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gun, who is a jerk to Mi-Young at first because he misunderstands the situation.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Gun's stepmother, who was a mistress, warns mi-Young not to get attached because she doesn't know what could happen in the future. This is even before she finds out about the divorce agreement.
• Karma Houdini: Mi Young's brother-in-law and Company President Park never get caught. The brother-in-law even accepts money from Gun to open a family restaurant in Seoul.

• Like Brother and Sister: Daniel says he sees himself as a brother to Mi-Young, which is why he's so protective of her.
• Locked in a Room: Mi-Young's mother locks Mi-Young and Gun in the shed outside so neither of them would be able to escape their Shotgun Wedding.

• Malaproper: Mi Young's mother, particularly when one of her daughters tries to explain to her that she's using the term "one-night stand" wrong.
• Mama Bear: Mi Young's mother is especially protective of her because she knows that Mi Young is too nice and an Extreme Doormat so everyone takes advantage of her.
• Midseason Twist: In episode 11, Gun becomes an Amnesiac Lover. This did not occur in the Taiwanese series. In episode 12, the baby dies, which did happen in the Taiwanese series.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • The show is dramatic, but has a lot of Slapstick, and over-the-top hamminess.
  • The first Wham Episode follows a few light-hearted, romantic episodes.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Gun, upon finding out what the company who bought the land is planning to do. By that time, he is already starting to like Mi-Young and her family and realize that they are good people.

• No Periods, Period: Averted. Ji-Yeon asks Mi Young for a pad while they're at work, which prompts Mi Young to look at her calendar and realize that she might be pregnant.

• Morning Sickness: Mi-Young, though there's an instance in which Gun feels sick as well.
• Odd Name Out: Daniel Pitt, as he was adopted by an American family.
• One-Steve Limit: Mi Young mentions that one of the reasons she doesn't feel like she stands out is that many other women seem to share her name. There are at least two Mi-Youngs at her office.
• Overly Long Gag: The first episode when Mi Young and Gun slip and fall, which is played in slow-motion.
  • Also, when Gun's step-mother keeps opening the refrigerator door to trigger their shared morning sickness before closing it again.

• Parental Substitute: Gun is thrilled about the fact that Mi-Young's mother thinks of him as a real son, since his own mother died when he was young.
• Pair the Spares: In the final episode, many of the supporting cast are being romantically linked with others. Most of them were developed during the series.
• Piggyback Cute: In Episode 19, when Gun carries Mi Young on his back as they are trying to convince Mi-Young's mother to bless their marriage.

• Red Herring: Daniel is looking for his sister Mi Young. Though there are many women named Mi Young, but not the one he's looking for. Se-Ra has a scar similar to the one he described his sister having, and is revealed to be his sister.

• Separated at Birth: Daniel, who was adopted abroad, is looking for his sister named Mi Young.
• Shotgun Wedding: Gun's grandmother and Mi Young's mother force them to get married at the last minute on the island.

• Soap Opera Disease: The men of Gun's family usually die of a hereditary illness in their thirties. He frequently sees his family doctor, who takes brain scans to track the progress of the disease, which had not identified until later on in the series (Huntington's Disease).

• Theme Naming: Mi-Young's sisters are named Mi-Ja and Mi-Sook.^note This is a common tradition in Korea.
• There Is Only One Bed: Gun makes Mi Young sleep on the couch of their suite, since he is angry at her and refuses to give up his bed. He eventually realizes she should get the bed since she is pregnant and feels about giving her the couch, especially after he sleeps there himself and realizes how uncomfortable it is. He fakes an injury so that they can both share the bed.
• Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: Gun and Mi-Young have fraternal twins in the one-month Time Skip in the final episode, and we see them playing with their children in the epilogue.
• Visual Pun: When Gun and Mi-Young are in bed for the first time, there is a partly-animated scene of them pounding rice cakes together (a euphemism for sex). The second time the Official Couple are playing games with one another, and a pair of rabbits are pounding rice.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Gun had about one shirtless scene per episode during the first two weeks of the show's airing. They were less frequent after that.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 10: The divorce contract is leaked to the media and Gun is in danger of being fired, then he collapses and is taken to the hospital. Se-Ra is shown to have the scar that Daniel described his sister having.
  • In episode 11, Gun is revealed to have Amnesia. This did not occur in the original series.
  • In episode 12, Just as Gun regains his memories, Mi-Young gets hit by a car and loses the baby, which also happened in the original Taiwanese series. The episode ends with Mi-Young going to and coming back from France.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gun when Mi-Young and her sister hear about him selling the island property. Her sister doesn't give him a chance to explain and starts yanking his hair before going into labor.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Mi Young decides to give the baby the "fetus" (temporary) name Dog Poopie, pointing out that her mother gave her the same one, in hopes that it will bring the child luck. A few people comment on how ridiculous it is, even Gun, who just goes along with it.

• The Wonka: Gun is quite odd, but a good CEO.
• Wrong Guy First: Mi-Young goes on her vacation with Lawyer Min, who turns out to be a jerk who is using her just to go on the vacation to Macau. He also hooks up with another woman in Mi-Young's hotel room while she's with Gun.