She Would Never Know

A breath of fresh air

I'm not gonna lie, I started this drama with low expectations. When i read the summary I was a little bit interested but the first episodes were a big a turn off to me. The whole "He's cheating on you, so why don't cheat him with me?" that the male protagonist throwed at the beginning was pissing me off, as I thought he should at least give some time for the female protagonist to digest the whole situation.
I decided to insist on it, and I was positively surprised. The drama managed to portray how this situations are handled in the real world, in a real workspace. Aside from the romance, they brought subjects that are often neglected when it comes to dramas that involve offices (like the dilemma that Song A faces in the last episodes, for example) and actually handled a serious matter in a responsible way (Jae Shin and Hyo Joo relationship).
The second paires weren't less interesting than the main one. Personally, my favorite side story was the drama between Yeon Seung and her husband Woo Hyun. That was one of the most unexpected developments for me, as I thought it would take a completely cliche route. Although I felt kinda bittersweet, I'm really glad by the way things were solved.
(Major spoilers ahead)
My main concern was the development of Jae Shin and Hyo Joo relationship. There's no secret that it was completely one-sided and that Hyo Joo was emotionally dependent on Jae Shin. Towards the last episodes, I feared that they would go back together and simply forget everything that happened. But again, thankfully, they took another route and it had a very satisfactory end.
I started hating Jae Shin but as the drama progressed, I felt more and more sad about his situation. I'm glad that he wasn't portrayed as a complete villain, but still got to pay for the things he done. Although I think that some of Jae Won actions towards him were a bit harsh.
(End of major spoilers)
Jae Won and Ji Seung dynamic was my absolute favorite, as they both were already experienced in the relationship field. They were very cute, and a great comic relief when the main story got heavy.
(Major spoilers about the last episodes)
Now, to Song A and Hyun Seung relationship. It started one-sided, but eventually Song A started to open herself and allow the feelings she had to come out. I have a little issue with the fact that it always seemed that Hyun Seung was the one who did everything in their relationship, the "only one" who was working to make it right. But I guess that Song A had her own way to express her love for him, as it was showed in the last episodes. I also really liked that they showed the struggles of long-distance relationships, that are often portrayed being perfect and without any issues.
(End of major spoilers about the last episodes)
To summarize, the drama had more ups than downs for me, and I really enjoyed how they decided to end it: no big "villains", just normal people who made mistakes and had to deal with the consequences of it. It was, as I said in the headline, a breath of fresh air to see a drama portray real situations and how they are most likely to be handled in the real world. Definitely recommend it.

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Lean on me

Honestly, this show was pretty good, there were points in the show where I couldn’t stop smiling. In the beginning, I really didn’t know how I felt about it. I saw there were like 16 episodes which made me feel off. But I could say it’s pretty good, a little drawn out but I loved the plot. I’m not going to lie there were moments that made me want to pull my hair out, but overall this show was cute. I wouldn’t completely go over the description that is on MDL as that isn’t the biggest problem. I thought that would be the biggest problem but seriously that’s not it, it’s a warm show. To put it together this is an office romance show, if you’re into that give it a try. I wouldn’t completely say that this is about older women and a younger guy, there are bigger issues in the show. Also on the MDL page, it says it’s a comedy, this show isn’t funny. Not saying that in a bad way, but rom-coms are different. This show is a more feel-good drama. Everything about this drama will make you want to continue watching. The first couple of episodes will get a bit boring but you just have to get through those get to the good part. The director picked great actors for this role, I’ve watched both of them in shows before and equally love them in these characters. I literally have the biggest crush on Rowoon and his character, this man is so fine and so tall, a scrumptious man. These two have great chemistry, it didn’t feel awkward watching them, also the side characters were great. I loved both of Hyunseung's sisters, their stories were great. And the plot for Song-ah I wished they went into depth with it, but like it was a moderate amount. The soundtrack not as memorable but I did listen to it after the show and it’s not bad at all. Episode 15 will put you on edge, but I 100% recommend this show.

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What is with the female lead?!

I have mixed feelings about this office romance. Rowoon as the lead was adorable and everything you want in a boyfriend, I also appreciated how he started as being obsessed with his crush but didn’t allow it to become stalkerish and gave her space. As for the female lead, she was fine as an actress. BUT as a character I wanted to slap her so many times for her selfish behavior, there were so many red flags. She chose her career over human connection and happiness. I don't know that she actually had much of a redemption arc, since she was always taking in the relationship.

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Messy Writing and Bad Production Ruined Potential

LIKES:
Music/OST
It was good, they even had Say Something by A Great Big World (and it was perfect for the scene unfolding). Also the music never overpowered the actor/actress voices, which means great editing.
PRODUCTION
Cinematography and colour palate were good, same with the lighting for night time scenes.
ACTING
Kang Ha Eun (Daughter of Yun Seung), she was a great character, well written and perfectly executed by actress Park So Yi. Also Actress Lee Joo Bin was good in the role of Lee Hyo Joo.
WRITING
The characters at work, actually were ‘working’ and not just focused on their personal lives.
The close family relationship of ML, two sister, was nice to see and how they were supportive of each other.

DISLIKES:
PRODUCTION
Shaky camera syndrome; they didn’t use a film stabilizer. If it was intentional, it didn’t add to the drama of the moment, just made it harder to watch.

DIRECTING
Somehow the FL comes across as annoying, the further into the series you get. Maybe it’s how they have her reacting to situations, not sure what it is. Maybe it’s because she’s supposed to be the more mature older boss and comes across as such.

WRITING
Homophobia very apparent with one of the storylines of the supporting characters. Considering this is a show from 2021, that was very disappointing. Later they tried to seem supportive, but it came across very fake.
Having the age gap being just 1 yr between the ABM Yoon Song Ah and Chae Hyun Seung was silly and didn’t pull off the “older female boss and younger male crushing on her” vibe.
Over the top, red flag, narcissistic sociopathic 2ML Lee Jae Shin character, made me fast forward his parts, as the series continued past 6 episodes.
The story itself was a mess in terms of execution and content. This made the pacing seem imbalanced, relying heavily on the usual trope and cliches.
Supporting Character Song Ah’s mother and Lee Jae Shin’s father, were over the top and annoying. They didn’t add anything to the characters of Song Ah or Jae Shin.
Also in the last five episodes, all the other couple storylines were more interesting than the FL & ML and the ending felt very thrown together just to achieve a “happy ending.”

OVERALL:
I won’t watch it again, but I will look for more dramas of the actors/actresses which I believe performed well. I wouldn’t recommend this, unless you are a fan of one of the actors/actresses.

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Not the most novel storyline but enough bright spots

There's a distinct lack of tension and intrigue to this show as its primary arc of the office romance between Ro Woon and Won Jin Ah sticks to checking the usual boxes. It's not altogether unwelcome though and even has some very nicely executed moments, particularly in later episodes. Ro Woon undoubtedly is effortlessly charming and has all the other attributes to carry a show as the central character. As a bonus, his sibling chemistry with Wang Bit Na and Ha Yoon Kyung (his older sisters) is marvelous.

The slow build of the pairing between Na's designer and Lee Kyu Han's chairman is a nice secondary storyline and the chairman provides some badly needed lighter moments. The most compelling secondary plot, however, is Ha Yoon Kyung's splintering marriage and this deserved far more screen time than it received.

Sadly, the show has limitations which ultimately cap its appeal as anything more than an amiable enough but not compelling production. Among them is Won Jin Ah who is a capable actor but not dynamic. The office crew around our main duo is present in many, many scenes, but they are rarely noteworthy. A strange subplot of a video channel run by a mask-wearing host appears, then disappears for almost the entire duration and then needlessly and distractingly pops up in a later show.

But the most serious flaw is the character of Lee Jae Shin and his portrayal by Lee Hyun Wook. The character is alternates from boor to bore. While it is theoretically possible to be a less sympathetic character without being an outright serial killer, it's a matter a relative degree. It's far, far beyond credible not only that three other seemingly bright and mostly morally upright characters would tolerate him and even have strong emotional attachments to him. Trying to shoehorn in a childhood broken family backstory to drum up sympathy only prolongs the discomfort. It doesn't help that Lee Hyun Wook's range is limited to sullen and petulant to sullen and irritable. The show would have been far more compelling to jettison his presence after the primary arc no longer required it.

What will stick (hopefully) is that Ro Woon should be in high demand to lead a show with a more complete package around him.

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An ensemble drama trapped inside an office romance, SWNK is filled with heart but lacks focus.

There is a lot to love about She Would Never Know. So much to love that at times I found myself frustrated that I had to see its glaring flaws. I wanted to give this a glowing review. I wanted to give this a score in the 9's. With some of the content and story lines found here, I wanted this to be an exemplary show and benchmark for Romance in the Kdrama world. This is honestly a story about how we all hate ourselves and how love fights to save us. It holds many lenses to society from family pressures, homophobia, divorce, ageism, success, to of course social strata and wealth. But to do this it employs a roster of characters that work outside of the main plot, and thus causes the story to constantly lose focus on its characters and main drive.

SWNK sells itself as an office romance, and even its poster plasters two sets of couples photo-shopped into this setting. In the beginning this is what the show delivers. You meet our female lead Song Ah (Won Jin Ah) a career driven, kind but hard, character who has garnered the respect of everyone that surrounds her, and her 1st year trainee Hyun Seung (Rowoon) a dashingly charismatic and handsome bright eyed follower. She is oblivious to his lovelorn stares and he is hopelessly lost in a secret love that consumes his every movement and thought.

Enter a third face from the poster, Jae Shin (Lee Hyun Wook) the BM (Business Manager? Never told to us through subtitles) or Head manager of the team they all work. He is revered as the greatest manager of the entire company, his team the strongest performers, and is best friends to the grandson of the conglomerate family that owns all their livelihoods. In the first episode our towering main male lead Hyun Seung discovers that his secret crush (FL Song Ah) is secretly having a relationship with Jae Shin, and his heart breaks.

But, his broken heart turns to anger when, by the episode's end, he discovers, through his sister's bridal shop, that BM Jae Shin is actually engaged to be married in a few months time to the granddaughter of the company they work for, (Our 4th face from the poster Hyo Joo (Lee Joo Bin)). And this is were our introduction to this world ends, and so does the first episode.

Everything seems inline with the MDL description, the poster matches this story delivered, and we come to love and hate the characters easily in the first go.

But then we get to the second episode and people are confessing hidden feelings already, the secret love affairs are laid bare to those involved, and almost the entire set-up from the first episode is resolved. What does remain is finished up by the third episode and what, you thought, was another love triangle you were going to have to sit through, is torn apart with our main lead Song Ah, building as much respect from you as a viewer, as she commands from those around her in the drama. She is broken behind closed doors, but steady and decisive in public to those that both confess their love for her, and those that confess their lies to her.

Within the first 1/3 of the series every character is on a different path and the push and pull of romances becomes peaceful. BM Jae Shin is completely severed from our main leads, and yet we keep spending time with him. We get his whole backstory, flashbacks and all, we meet his family, we learn everything as to why he is the way he is and how his life managed to get to this point, and you begin to wonder, Why?

Why am I still learning about him? Why does his character even matter at this point? Why am I spending so much time with him? You then realize you are spending just as much time with Hyun Seung's sisters and their lives. You are having entire stories of them making friends, falling in love, and working on rocky marriages. You are spending time with the grandson and director of the company, on his journey to find love, and discover the truths of his friendships. You are having an entire story in another town focused on the mother of our female lead, that seems just weird to have its own locations, extras, and characters.

And that is when you, or at least me, realized you have to switch gears. As much as the first episode set it up as a romance, as much as the poster and cast list claim this, and as much time that we do spend with out 2 main leads trying to fall in love and be in a relationship, this is NOT A ROMANCE.

This is an ensemble drama about these characters and the trials of their lives and their loves. It is a very different beast, than what it is trying to squeeze itself into. People want romances, they sell well and have a large audience, and so this story packages itself as such to garner views. But it really wants to explore many types of love, loss, and stages of life from many viewpoints and different characters.

When you switch to this mindset, you realize you want our main couple to get less screen-time. It isn't that you dislike them, I loved them, and it isn't that their romance isn't worth watching, it very much is, but it is that all these other characters and stories have a lot to say, some of them much much more to say, and the characters are just as interesting. If the drama is going to bring them up and have us deal with them anyway, then why not dig in and give us some real depth because they are worth it.

Of note, one of the strongest subplots revolves around one of Hyun Seung's sisters and her failing marriage. There was a sense of dread with this story line, as South Korea's open homophobia is well documented, and this single story could have made me really hate this drama. But it end up shining here, a beacon of what Kdrama's could give us, and yes, it brought tears to my eyes.

Unfortunately the series does cave-in to the whole Kdrama time jump for the last episodes which are set three years after the rest of the series. If you have read any of my other reviews, you will know my strong feelings on this now very over-used plot device. Here the series handles it a little better than most, BUT it still is an unneeded venture. All the characters are in the story lines they were in before the jump, something unrealistic considering some of the plots in play as its been 3 years of stale-mate. It does work more for the main 2 leads and their tale, but they were at a certain point before the jump, and well basically spend the last 2 episodes trying to get back to that same point.

Maybe if the story would have been told better over the time frame such as half set in 1 timeline, and the second half in the other. Or if there were three divisions of time. The start of it all, the middle and Europe, and then the end and each given equal weight. I actually would have enjoyed more of the reversal in roles we got at the end, and would have enjoyed watching the characters fight against themselves, but as it was delivered, it is just superfluous and dead weight.

Thus, in the end, the series doesn't fully work. It can't decide what it wants to be. A love story of two people and just stick to them and their tale while trimming all the fat around them to bare necessity. Or if it wants to be an ensemble drama which would require trimming the main couple and giving a bit more to the side stories. It doesn't trust itself enough to write their tale in the here and now and not need to give us tropes and plot devices that viewers have come to expect and rely on. And it leaves some subplots and side characters unfinished. Did Song Ah discover why the mascara was drying out? Did anyone find out why Jae Shin was asking for stock reports no one wanted? Are Hyun Seung's parents alive and how wealthy is his family? Did the chef come to simply break up the marriage and is evil? What happened to the other manager and his plot and backhanded dealing? Will he continue to work at the company with what Hyun Seuyng knows about him now that their families are intertwined? The list goes on.

But what it does deliver is fantastic. The acting strong. The characters painted with detail. Rowoon, shows that if he truly wants to dedicate himself to the craft of acting he could really end up something special. And many of the stories you do get to experience are worth their screen time. As such, I can't give it the marks of 8 and 9s that I want. Yes, personally I loved what was here. But I also can't be blind to what it lacked and what didn't work. 7.5/B/3 3/4-stars. It shows its flaws but remains strong and will likely be enjoyed.

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Too Sweet for Life!

First I would say I'm in love with the two leads, Hyun Seung & Song Ah are just the perfect couple. Their story is completely makes you feels like you're also in love. Both of the lead chemistry so real that they manage to take you on their love journey.

This drama, even if it's focused on the HS & SA, didn't left of all the supporting character stories, which makes it so special and complete in my view. The relationship between Ha Eun and Hyun Seung, Yun Seung & her husband, and how she deals with her family matter is something that's heartwarming and shows her true feeling for the family and for the husband, it is true love for her. Surprisingly I also enjoyed Ji Seung and Jae Woon story, it's pretty fresh and funny.

I like that I don't find many cliche and draggy story, I can enjoy the whole ride of this drama with many emotions, and a lot of laughs. It's a good drama to watch on Sunday with a hot choco or tea in a cold weather, it just has that vibes.

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The Chae Family Chronicles.

I expected something subpar by seeing the MDL ratings. This drama is perfect for viewers as a palate cleanser… if you are not much bothered by office banter and business. I have zero idea about how a cosmetics company works, but seeing a fictionalized portrayal of it through this drama was engaging.

The story as a whole does not belong to the main characters alone. Chae Hyung Seung, a marketting trainee under the guidance of Yoo Song-ah (his sunbae), knows his emotions well: he has a terrible crush on his Sunbae. Her lack of awareness about his feelings doesn't deter him from giving hints nevertheless, but his hopes are dashed after he finds out that the object of his affections already was in a secret relationship with the Branch Manager, Lee Jae Shin. Hope springs eternal when he discovers that the BM had a skeleton in his closet too: he was engaged to Hyo Joon, the granddaughter of the company's chairman. With the help of his sister, Chae Ji Seung, who makes wedding dresses, he forces Song-ah to witness her partner's back stabbing at Ji Seung's store.
A broken Song-ah is desperate to break off her sincere emotions, and Hyung Seung decides to veer fate in his favour, despite the endeavours he would have to go through, both personally and officially.

I was slightly creeped out by how absolutely persistent Hyung Seung was in chasing his Sunbae. (I'll just use that term.) I did find his feelings to protect her quite sincere, despite how trenchant he sounded while warning her against pursuing Jae Shin. He slowly grew out of it once he knew his feelings were out in the open. While he was a more lighter character, both his sisters stories are explored just as thoroughly as his. His second Noona and her 7 year old daughter were some of the scene stealers.

It was suprising to see Hyung Seung's entire family in the spotlight, which was why I decided to title my review as mentioned.

Song-ah aka Sunbae had a lot going on in her plate. Her repressed emotions got the best of her at times and her crying scenes were heart breaking -- Kudos to Wo Jin Ah for that!
But, I did wish that I got to see some of her mother's point of view. Her slowly growing to learn about Hyung Seung was interesting to watch and I loved how open she was about her thoughts. I found her romance with Hyung Seung quite calm, warm and healing.

Now... Jae Shin was an idiot. As the story progresses, I could see why Sunbae fell for him -- he had the potential to be a male lead, but threw his chance into the trash can right in the very first episode.
Although, I admire his perseverance in the business field, romance wasn't good for him.

The office gang was a surprising highlight of the drama. The rapport and support among it's members were delightful and heartwarming. I adored Lee Jae Woon's comedic moments.

The OST was absolutely beautiful, particularly the BGM at the end of EP1 and the end of EP16.

"She Would Never Know" is the most suitable title if we view it from Hyung Seung's point of view since he is the one who gets the ball rolling -- his Sunbae would suffer utter despair and humiliation if she doesn't know about what was going on behind her back. But, I find the original title more endearing and incites
A sense of curiosity: "Sunbae, Don't Put on That Lipstick".

Well, I discovered why he said that. It was a warm drama and I'm sure that I would probably rewatch it once again when I'm in need of a refreshing change.

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one of the worst

I have no idea why this relatively new drama got such a high rating. It's one of the few that really annoyed me and got me angry even, - which is rather hard to accomplish. Here is why:

1. The male lead: So, who is this guy? He is supposed to be quite younger than the female lead, has just started his job more or less and he goes home into his house which obviously is in the most expensive area of the city, with probably 300 sqm, two story with galeria and a Zen garden outside, and which probably costs a silly fortune to rent let alone to buy. So how exactly does he get to have this house? Is he a Chaebol son born into immense riches? We don't get to know, he just has thta hyper fantastic home for the sake of it, - seriously?

2. So he falls in love with his female boss. Ok. But what he does is not ok. He has extreme stalking tendencies, immediately obsessive in a sick way for me. All of those rating this so high, could you do me the favour and just imagine for a moment that this guy does not look like Ro Woon but let's say he is a short, overweight creep guy with a balding head, greasy rest of hairs, yellow teeth and bad breath? Still so appealing that he keeps no distance, suddenly starts this ' I am very protective'-stuff, totally overstepping any personal boundaries, following the female lead around where ever she goes? Still fine, he aggressively steps into her private life and private relationships? Just think about it for a moment with a very different guy and if you'd still find this so lovely?

3.the female lead: Ah it's a pity really. I actually like Won Jin-A, she has a supercute look and face, a beautiful smile, a lovely deep speaking voice, I like all these things. Problem is, I don't think she is a very good actress. I saw her in three different dramas now and she is always acting the very same way, there is no variation - at all.
Secondly, she never has chemistry with the male leads. I know that most K-drama kisses are fake of course, but she makes it so fake it's hard to watch. She hardly ever moves her lips, or her head even, mostly looking scared and shocked like a rabbit in front of the slaughhterhouse. Why? And not only with the first kiss, it remains like that until the last episode. It's very obvious that she does not want to kiss the actors.

It was pretty much the same in 'just between lovers' - a bit better though, and it would have been the same in 'melting me softly' if Ji Chang Wook wouldn't have totally thrown her off guard which was rather obvious in that shower scene.
Here now we are supposed to believe she is a self confident modern woman on the one hand, having a secret ongoing affair with her boss and sleeping with him regularly for quite a while, and on the other hand she is not able to normally kiss thet new lover like an adult woman. Instead she acts like a 12-year old girl, anxiously not knowing what to do? What exactly did she do with her boss then all the time? A round of knitting together?
I do wonder why she would take on romantic roles if she has such obvious problems kissing her counterpart actors every single time? In this drama though there was no chemistry between her and Ro Woon AT ALL, it was just awful watching them.

4.. There is no backstory to the characters. I earlier mentioned the expensive house such young man owns without explanation. But also his character is like a flat sheet. Where does he come from? Why is he so obsessive on the one hand , and so totally unbelievably patient and almost asexual on the other hand? What else does he do in his life other than obsessing and following a woman? Does he have no other life? How creepy is that?

5. Totally unrealistic dialogues: again, the male lead acts like a saint without hormones or reproductive organs - no young man in his 20s would act like that, especially none who is so aggressively obsessive on the other hand. All this ' I will accept that you treat me like a trash bin, thank you, it's all ok for me as long as I can see you like this, and spend some time with you, or just look at you bla bla' and being all calm and smiles? No way!

6.The female lead is rather a unlikable person for me. She enjoys all the attention and treats both men like her puppets although it might look differently. I stopped watching when there was like the 50th scene with her then former lover. He for the 50th times asks her why she dumped him and she does not say why? Why does she not just tell him the reason? It really drove me crazy and made her character look weak and immature once again, totally contrasting to that self confident business woman thing the writers actually wanted to sell.

I gave up after 10 episodes because all this got me really angry, and I seriously do wonder how in 2021, they would produce such a badly written and acted drama with male and female leads going down the totally wrong road concerning many behaviours.
I was just thinking about that last real stalker case in South Korea some few months ago, where such obsessed sicko killed his former work colleague in a subway toilet room. I don't want to see this kind of stalking obsessive guys in K-dramas, not if t is nont shown in a critical way but instead selling this as desirable positive relationship. There is NOTHING to idealise or enjoy about this.

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Enjoyable drama, mature romance and relatable

I personally enjoy this drama a lot. It is very different from other on going dramas, it displays the true nature of human relationships, sibling support and warmth of your friends.

Songah and hyunseung relationships is a mature relationship. This couple story shows us the sad truth of long distance relationships, the harsh truth of breaking up and the pain of loving someone unconditionally. Songah character is very strong, career woman which every woman would dreamed to be, while hyunseung is innocent, patience and hard working. It is very interesting to watch them slowly build their relationship.

The side characters story is worth watching too, especially woohyun and yeosung's story! It's heartbreaking, selfless and emotional everytime i watched their scene. I cant hold my tears when it comes to them. Their story is very close to what happened irl, so it is very relatable.

Another thing that is good with this drama, is the character development. The writer and the director did a very good job in delivering every single character development. We did not stuck with some plain character through out the drama.

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A slice of "Work"

From episode one, I knew this show won't offer me anything special which would touch me and make me reminisce about it months later. A very usual work romance story which goes down the predictable path.

Just that this one is less of romance and more of work. The amount of work culture depicted makes me wonder- is it worthy to just watch people working. Yes, there are other super shows which portray leads facing challenges in work and overcoming them, but here, both leads are super hardworking, super competent, overachieving and the challenges are oddly super realistic. So I wasn't super invested to know whether they would succeed. (lol, no points for guessing if they did!)

If not for the sub story of two sisters of ML, I would have definitely dropped it in 4 or 5 episodes. One sister's cute romance story made me squeal more than for the main couple. Another sister's marital issues touched me emotionally more than the leads' problems.

No matter what, I couldn't get interested about the main couple probably because of its web novel origins. They felt very ideal characters. Oh and don't even get me started about the mandatory pre-finale break up. I'm like oh, we are here in 2021 and they are still doing 2010s' things. And this is not a spoiler, don't tell me you didn't see it coming. ('Cause what else could even fill up the show with?! I would have earnestly rated it a little higher if not for it.)

The production was so good, everything looked so pristine. I don't know how they convinced their producer to invest. Was this a PR for Makeup industry work life?! I don't remember any tunes and I won't remember this show in few weeks except from Lee Hyo Joo's super awesome closure.

I would never know why She Would Never Know turned out to be so bland.

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