Love and Secret

Okay...

The usual makjang drama nothing new nothing special. You stick around to watch them go mental and laugh at the absurdity. However, this one got a really unlikable male lead. The guy feels so out of place and had zero chemistry with anyone around him even himself. On the other hand, Shin So Yool was the female lead, she always caught my attention playing support roles so it was nice seeing her as the lead. She did good. The drama lacked a consistent plot line, even the main one was scattered and mostly felt as if there were no persistent goal and antagonist. At the same time, too many side plots ended up being underdeveloped and neglected later on, like the delusional FL's father one.

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"Love & Secret" is the story of a single mother named Ah Reum. She was studying in the US and got pregnant, but her boyfriend cheated on her and married another woman, leaving Ah Reum to take care of everything alone. Upon returning to Korea, she meets Sung Woon on the plane and their lives become intertwined as she gets a job at the company he works for.

Ah Reum tries to hide the truth from her family, but they end up finding out about Tiffany, her daughter. At first, they are against it, but after spending time with Tiffany, the whole family falls in love with her. The same happens with Sung Woon: he didn't like Ah Reum, but he falls in love with her easily, but since he has a fiancée, he keeps his feelings secret.

When Phillip returns, Ah Reum's family tries to get the two back together, and she does so by trying to forget Sung Woon, but it doesn't work and this is the first reason why Phillip became Ah Reum's enemy. She used him to try to forget another man and their relationship was ruined after that. Phillip was not a good person, he left Ah Reum for a rich woman and came back as if nothing had happened, but Ah Reum shouldn't have used him like that if she didn't have feelings for him anymore.

The romance between Ah Reum and Sung Woon is the weak point of the drama, because they have no chemistry on screen. The two fall in love too quickly, they haven't even known each other for long, and the drama also doesn't give them time to become a couple, everything about them is very confusing and rushed.

What really captivated me was Ah Reum's journey as a mother. Seeing this young woman struggling alone in a foreign country, giving birth with no one by her side and returning home afraid to tell her parents, fearing their reaction. The two scenes where Ah Reum's parents find out the truth are shocking; they just couldn't believe it, and it broke her heart. Ah Reum didn't have much time to be happy. She tried to stay with Phillip thinking about Tiffany, but she couldn't forget her feelings for Sung Woon. After that, Phillip tried everything to take Tiffany away from Ah Reum, even though the baby's life was at risk, Phillip only agreed to be the transplant donor in exchange for custody of Tiffany. Thank God that in the end, Phillip finally acted like a father and let Tiffany stay with Ah Reum.
This mother-daughter relationship is the reason why the drama is worth watching!

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