Zen Cho takes a 'K-drama detour' with swoon-worthy twists in her latest book

'I’ve always liked genre mash-ups; most of my books fall into this category, so after watching a load of K-dramas, I felt like I wanted to write my own,' says Zen Cho about her new book 'The Friend Zone Experiment'. Photo: Anna Rina

Author Zen Cho, widely recognised for her fantasy and speculative fiction, never anticipated venturing into the world of rom-coms. Yet, during the long hours of the Covid-19 lockdown, she found herself drawn to a new genre. The spark? A deep dive into K-dramas, with Crash Landing On You serving as her unexpected muse.

“That show was my gateway into K-dramas, which is such a fun, trope-filled way to tell stories. In Crash Landing On You, there’s a combination of geopolitical elements – it’s a love story between a South Korean heiress and a North Korean soldier – and it’s got humour and romance, plus corporate intrigue and there’s a bit of a military thriller,” says Cho, during a recent interview in Petaling Jaya.