"My Mister," a television series about an unlikely friendship between a 20-something woman and her senior colleague in his 40s, has topped the weekly TV chart, data showed Tuesday.

Starring singer-actor Lee Ji-eun, better known by her stage name IU, and Lee Sun-kyun, the heartwarming drama on tvN wrapped up on May 17 with its highest ratings and to audience applause.

Its final episode garnered a score of 249.5 on the weekly Content Power Index (CPI) for May 14-20.

When the 16-episode drama started in March, there were voices critical of what was presumed to be a romance between a young woman and a married man. After all, the singer-songwriter had been embroiled in a controversy of using the Lolita complex for her 2015 EP "Chat-shire."

But the concern turned out to be groundless as the drama unfolded.

Lee Ji-an, played by Lee, has supported her sick grandmother on her own since she was six. She does whatever it takes to make money to repay her debt to Lee Kwang-il, the son of the cruel moneylender she accidentally killed when she was a middle schooler.

In her desperate attempt to escape from the deepening cycle of debt, she approaches Park Dong-hoon, played by Lee, a warm-hearted middle manager at the company she temps at. In spite of herself, she begins to feel sympathy for Park, who suffers the heavy weight of life in his own way.

Besides the main characters, there were not a few relatable, realistic supporting characters who all have a boy-next-door charm, as well as down-to-earth and self-deprecating humor.

Among them are Park's two helpless brothers, who do cleaning services and consider themselves failures -- for now -- but never give up on life. The three brothers, in a way, reflect the ordinary life of the country's middle-aged men or ajeossi in Korean, drawing audience support.

The oldest brother Park Sang-hun says, "How interesting it is that Korea went through so many different things for 50 years, but how I've achieved nothing for half a century."

"It is about someone becoming special to someone else," producer Kim Won-suk, also known for such hit series as "Misaeng" and "Signal," said at a press event in Seoul last month.

"This one is in line with my previous works, in that it also tells about life together and that life changes for the better, if only slightly, by meeting and interacting with others."

The CPI, created by CJ E&M and Nielsen Korea, measures the level of popularity, social media trending and influence on consumer behavior of entertainment TV programs aired on three major terrestrial networks -- MBC, SBS and KBS -- and seven cable channels owned by CJ E&M, including tvN, Mnet and OCN, during prime time. JTBC, another cable network that airs some highly popular entertainment shows and dramas, was not included in the survey. (Yonhap)