She Would Never Know

Avoids most tropes. Nice balance Some parts are worth skipping

I was pleasantly surprised that this avoided most drama tropes & every time I thought it was heading into heavy drama territory it evened out nicely, which was a relief as there were already enough sober issues that get dealt with. I never did figure out what the title refers to. The height difference between the leads was often weird .
Even though I rated it highly when I re watch it I will need to skip some parts in order to have the drama I want !
There were 4 things I absolutely hated.
spoilers:
1) Female lead's actions.
Female lead feels bad about herself so breaks up with guy because SHE feels guilty. And later they trick us by making it SEEM as if female lead says she's not going to leave but then changes her mind and does.
2) Time Skip.
I loathe time skips & this one is done oddly.
3) Male lead's sister's husband is probably gay (but in denial) it's a bit is he or isn't he for most the series & the couple start to get along really well & both seem happy & at that point-they divorce ! UGH!
4) Not watching some parts definitely make the drama better
This series is totally rewatchable until the female lead decides to leave for __________. so I personally will stop before that ( as what follows really crushes the warm fuzzies you have for the main couple.
here are my notes for future rewatching:

Ep. 13
stop 57:24
right after he says "is it all right" [with 5:29 left in the episode]
Ep 14 pick up at 17:17 with 46:02 left (when he is outside leaning against car)
stop at 19:25 (rings)
pick up at Ep 16 making eggs 28:37
stop 31:35 holding hands
pick 54:42 I feel lucky and thankful (feeding him) (with about 6:04 left ]

so future me:
stop before she leaves for overseas in the time skip & skip right up until they are dressed for thier wedding at the very end .

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A Sweet “Noona” Romance

A dashing rookie employee boldly pursues his senior co-worker to turn an unrequited crush into a heart-racing office romance 💜

“But if you come to me, I’ll show you the most beautiful love ever.” How can you not fall for a ML who’s says such sweet things to you?! I’m not generally a fan of younger man/older woman romances but this one is really good. For one, the ML doesn’t act younger than the FL - he’s competent, responsible, mature, & independent. While his experience in the workplace is less since he’s just starting out, he isn’t a naive fool who’s constantly making mistakes, which I appreciated. He’s not there just to flirt - he takes his job seriously…and woos his leading lady while he’s at it 😉

This drama is filled with wonderful chemistry & a beautiful love story. There are so many memorable scenes as the ML’s steady devotion to the FL helps her heal from the SML’s betrayal. His constant care for & protection of her slowly win the ML his FL’s heart. 💕

The support characters stories are interesting too, so it doesn’t feel like a lot of wasted, filler scenes.

_________\\__________//________


-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-


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…


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The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.10💋
- Together : ep.10 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻
- BreakUp: ep.14 💔
- BackTogether : ep.16 ❤️‍🩹

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A little slow but worth a watch

My observations:

1) ML is an absolute cutie pie and pretty much perfect…although some might consider him a bit too obsessive in his pursuit of FL. However, in my opinion, FL doesn’t deserve this guy. It’s not that I don’t like her; it’s just that I don’t like how she treats him, especially at the end when she dumps him for her career. Honestly, I can’t believe this nearly perfect man is dumped twice: once by his ex-girlfriend for another guy and once by FL for her career. I agree with her mom – no career is worth leaving a man like this. He’s a once in a lifetime find. It’s really unfair of the scriptwriter to have him dumped twice. And, honestly, how realistic is it for a guy to be dumped twice, especially one as wonderful as this guy, but I suppose one can ask the question – how realistic is it for a guy like this to even exist in real life.

2) One reviewer I read said that ML’s motives for showing FL the truth about Jae-Shin were purely selfish in nature. Perhaps but honestly, she needed to know. If I were her, I’d want to know before I made a bigger fool of myself. Plus, ML took this course of action, knowing that she might hate him afterwards so was his motives purely selfish? He could have waited and let her discover the truth in 3 months, but of course, maybe Jae-Shin would have kept seeing her after his marriage, making the betrayal even worse. I think ML did the right thing despite the benefit he received in their break-up.

3) I didn’t like how FL wasn’t straightforward with Jae-Shin. She avoided telling him the truth as to why she was breaking up with him over and over again. Just tell him that you know about the fiancée instead of making him guess! This guessing game just didn’t seem to fit her normally straightforward character. Yeah, to her and ML, he was a jerk, but the viewer knows that Jae-Shin isn’t as bad as he seems. He’s a man being suffocated by his father, a woman who’s mentally unstable and her rich family. Instead of Jae-Won begging JS to accept his sister, he should have been making arrangements for her to be placed in a psych ward. No doubt JS’s relationship with FL was the one place he could go and BREATHE, which is why he didn’t want to accept the end of it.

4) I think Jae-Shin is an interesting character, probably the most interesting of the drama. On the surface, he appears like a typical cheating boyfriend, but I felt real sympathy for him and the life he was living. He clearly didn’t want to marry the Hyo-Joo (I despise people who threaten suicide to blackmail the object of their obsession) but felt he couldn’t resist because of his dad’s debt and the deal he made with Jae-Won as a teen. The best thing that happened to him was his dad’s death since it made it possible for him to break free from the toxic Hyo-Joo & Lee family. One of my favorite moments of the drama is when Hyo-Joo asks him later on (after she’s recovered from her obsession) if he ever regrets ending it with her, and he says, ‘Not once.’ Good for you, Jae-Shin! I’m so glad he was able to live free in the end, although, by that time, there was no hope of recovering the woman he loved. Just a side note: Hyo-Joo's outfits were ugly - too big on her and loud.

5) I liked FL's calm voice and manner. She behaved maturely except for the guessing game she put Jae-Shin through. However, I found it hard to like her when she leaves for Europe and eventually dumps ML. Clearly, ML loved her more than she loved him since he was willing to suck it up and wait it out until she returns, but she throws him away like something you once cherished but no longer have time for. Oh, sure, she cried – boo hoo - but the fact remains, that she chose herself over the man she claims to love. I guess, in the modern world, sacrifice is a dirty word, and now, it’s all about ME and MY dreams because you know, I don’t want any regrets. All of us regret at some point, no matter what choice we make. At least, when she comes back, she does acknowledge to her friend how shameless she’d be to expect ML to take her back. If I didn't prefer happy endings, I would have rooted for ML never to take her back. At the very least, he should have made her suffer longer than he did, but we only had an episode to get them back together, I guess. Just one question – why do all these FLs’ dreams involve studying aboard, working aboard? Can no one further their career in their own country, in their own city? And why do most of these dreams seem to be about acquiring power/prestige through career? Is furthering one’s career the only dream these days? I guess I must be showing my age because I still believe that relationships are important and shouldn’t be thrown away so casually. But I guess in the end, since she returned after only 3 years, she found out that her dream wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. That’s the dirty little secret dramaland doesn’t tell the young women watching these dramas – dreams aren’t always what you imagined them to be.

6) Jae-Won and Ji-Seong added a bit of humor, which this Rom-Com was seriously lacking. Uh, writer/director, this is billed as a Rom-COM, which means there should be some comedy involved. This relationship (thanks mostly Jae-Won), the little girl, Ha-Eun, and the coworkers were the only comic relief. For the most part, it was pure romance. I would have liked to see more of Jae-Won and Ji-Seong – it took forever for their romance to get off the ground, mostly because so much time was spent on FL rejecting ML, and ML looking like a lovesick puppy. I know FL was coming out of a broken relationship, but geesh, for the sake of viewer interest, could we move her romance with ML along a bit faster? Heck, why not send her off to Europe early on so she could get Jae-Shin out of her system and be ready for a new love? It would have been kinder to breaks ML’s heart before she actually started a relationship with him, but alas, this great guy is destined to be kicked around by the women in his life.

Overall, it was an ok drama, but I'm not likely to go back and watch again. If I did watch again, it would purely be in order to gaze at that Cutie Pie, Chae Hyun-Seong.

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Soo annoying

I felt like this is Chinese drama, the characters are the same, shameless ML and selfish FL who all the times most hurts the ML. The main annoying thing is the FL can love any number at any time and can do live happily without ML but ML only wants to be with FL even though she pushes away and rejects number of times and insults the most.
In this drama what I got annoyed is
1. till 10 episodes FL push away the ML and rejects all the times but ML always run towards FL. Every time when she scold ML not to annoy her he always tells that from now on I will definitely keep distance with her but again in next second whenever he saw her he shameless ran to her and again get scolded, this was repeated number of times
2. In most of the episodes they screened only ML and FL, by some how they happened to be in same place and he ran to her and both starts the boring conversation and the main drawback in this drama is in most of the time they are not in relationship and their chemistry is very poor.
In acting wise FL did her best but the ML I don’t know how he became main lead in drama without good body language and with that poor acting skills. I really liked ML’s elder sister she looks very beautiful and her acting skills are way up to the limit.

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A breath of fresh air

I wasn’t expecting anything serious from this drama. I was just grateful for the good looking characters and simple story line.
The story was a bit cliche but it wasn’t cheesy.
I loved the fact that there was no ‘bad guy’ no conniving work colleague, just simple and straight story with amazing characters.
They talked about cheating, unrequited love and breakup too. My favourite part of the entire series was towards the end. When it portrayed that, in a relationship, if the effort is coming from just one person, it’s bound to fail.
All in all, it was a pretty good drama. That’s if you’re looking for simple and sweet.

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Good lord another typical Kdrama romcom with stupid relationship actions. This had one of my most hated tropes...The forced relationship b/c the other person will harm themselves. Jeez. They never even explain why the female character in that relationships even likes the guy she's willing to kill herself for.

Anyway, the best part of this series is Wang Bit Na as Ji Seung and Lee Kyu Han as Jae Eun. Their relationship was so refreshing. I enjoyed them getting to know each other and falling in love. I also loved young actress Park So Yi. So expressive and had the brightest, biggest eyes. The other thing the series did well was the portrayal of the relationship between ML, his sisters and his niece.

7/13/23

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Zero star for the depressing female lead

I watched 5 episodes in bits and pieces for 2 years - and then completed the rest quickly.
How?
By forwarding every scene with the depressing female lead who has about two sorry expressions throughout and just drags the drama and every other character down with her.

So why not just dump the drama?
Because of all the stellar supporting cast and their interesting melodramas.

The poor ML.- of course his looks are off the charts, but he is so mismatched with the FL that even his noona's have more chemistry with him.

The storyline had some intriguing scenes - all well played by all the other actors.
But sadly too much emphasis on an ill-fitting female lead made this drama disappointing.

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Stay away from my girl, you bastard

This instantly became a drama I would place in the 'comfort watch' bucket. As someone else mentioned in their review, the plot isn't over complicated. This isn't a thriller or murder mystery folks. This rom com leans more into the melodrama space for me, although I will say the office staff did an excellent job of bringing in some comedy to an otherwise emo story.

I've seen some mention Hyun Seung was like a stalker but I did not get that vibe at all. If anything, he seemed a lot like me and my friends in our early 20s with our office crushed. Learning to love her 'strange' coffee order, stealing glances at her phone, being overly attentive to anything she did. It felt to me like more of a role reversal. Traditionally, females are the ones who tend to pick up the habits and likes of the person they are attracted to. Also Song Ah was easily one of the most clueless FLs I have watched. Your coworker sparks up a conversation about office romances (while looking at her with hearts basically coming out of his eyes) then proceeds to pretend your dating as a cover. It's no wonder Jae Shin was able to literally be engaged and she didn't have a clue.

I will say Hyun Seung has some of the sassiest dialogue in the early episodes. Homeboy was so ready to deliver that line at the end of E3 to Jae Shin. Their little passive aggressive rivalry was interesting to watch as Song Ha was paralyzed in her inability to process what was happening. By the time she caught up with the timeline, her self loathing and self sabotaging kicked in at full speed. How are you going to watch that man dance from pure happiness that you aren't going anywhere only to tell him 'I don't deserve the feelings you have for me.' Girl, pick yourself up off the floor!

I have a note from E8 that the 'eat a lot of Italian food.'

I totally understand why some people want to shake/slap/be violent towards Song Ah. I also get her trauma from her mom/dad deeply influenced her thoughts on love. She mentioned not being about to understand her mom and how she gave everything up for love. This seemed to influence her decision to go to Europe (at least for me.) When she was starting to really like Hyun Seung, she bolted.

E14 has one of my favorite endings or cliff hangers. The way he walks away *chefs kiss.* I need that cast and crew to know that I personally give that scene a standing ovation. So well done. I would have loved if they would have provided a look into how hard things were for Hyun Seung after the break up. It would have played nicely to the fact that 2 of his girlfriends commented that things are so easy for him. Having a true sad boy moment would have really helped shown even more growth/development in his character. I did love the scene with him and Jae Woon sharing a drink and talking. It made me want to know more about how some of the other relationships grew in the time jump. I had a soft spot for the older sister and CEO from the beginning. I found the younger sister to be unlikable so I was less invested in her messy marriage.

The ending is dreamy but I do agree seeing the wedding with the coworkers and family would have been great. The song from the last scene (which plays throughout the series) has been stuck in my head for days. Overall, I will most likely be re watching this one again as either a pallet cleanser or for the cozy vibes. Maybe even with a coffee from McCafe.

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I went into this thinking this would be a noona romance as it was labelled as such, but for me, a one-year age gap does not constitute a noona romance. For me, the difference would have to be greater than 5 years to be even called that. Despite this, it was enjoyable show because not only it centered on the romance, but also focused on different familial relationships. Rowoon is adorable as the patient trainee who was overeager to please his mentor. We see him struggle with his feelings and also with the knowledge that his crush has a two-timing boyfriend. Won Jin Ah isn't so shabby as the no-nonsense manager who was very private about her relationships, that she had wool over her eyes, if it weren't for Hyung Seung.

As for the other characters, the sisters of Hyun Seung stood out for me, and their relationship with their brother was endearing. While I find Lee Hyo Joo a cloying biatch who gaslights a spineless Jae Shin into a forced marriage, her odd-ball brother Jae Woon became more of a decent character as the show progresses. One setback for me was the numerous characters this drama introduced with the many side arcs, and some of which were predictable like I can spot the backstory of Yun Seung's husband from a mile away. Otherwise, a decent drama.

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An enjoyable drama

First: Other than Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) I have rarely come across an OST that catches my attention. But during this drama, I was surprised to find myself thinking, "That's a great song to put there" or similar thoughts. I mention this first, because it's so rare that the music impresses me.

Second: Rowoon. He's a good actor, and I am fascinated by how good looking he is. I hate the scenes where they put too much makeup on him....maybe the makeup didn't change but the lighting did. Idk. But he didn't need as much as they put on him most of the time.

Third: I enjoy Asian dramas, whether they be Korean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, etc. I like the good ones and the bad ones. I can confidently say that this was a good drama, because I've seen so many. It had a high production value, good acting, and decent chemistry among the cast. It had enough drama in it to be dramatic, but not so much that it was cringey. It was, over all, a feel-good drama, which is nice because dramas are an escape, and it's nice to fantasize that there are happy endings. I teared up a time or two, but I never had to break down sobbing for the characters, so that was nice. There's enough reason to sob irl.

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The complexities of relationships

I originally tried to watch this drama a while back, but dropped it because I wasn't sure about the female lead, and the story seemed like it wouldn't hold me, but I started to rewatch it because it was about to leave a streaming platform so I wanted to give it another try. I am so glad I did. The intimacy between the ML and FL took some time to get there but once it did, wow! I feel this was the most grown up kdrama about relationships that I have seen in this genre for a while. It tackled adultery, broken hearts, suicide, emotional manipulation, intense love both in bad and good ways. It even tackled same sex relationships, and the hurt it can cause yourself and everyone around you if you are not true to your sexuality. The only problem with this storyline is how thick the married sister was in not realising her husband's 'friend' was gay, or that her husband could be gay, or at least bi. Trying to set him (husband's friend) up with single girlfriends and even her husband saying he will be not interested and not interested in marriage, still didn'tmake the penny drop for her. Also how close he was to his 'friend'. Maybe it isn't an obvious thing in Korea to notice a man's sexuality, but I noticed from about episode 3 or 4 that her husband was in the closet, and really struggled with his sexuality. He just looked miserable throughout his marriage, even on his first date (the flasback/reminiscing scene) with his future wife he looked miserable. I found this storyline was more interesting that the FL and ML one. This main storyline was frustrating at times. The ML did all the chasing. The FL was cold at times, and was so selfish. I get she was hurt and betrayed by her boyfriend. A secret relationship for 2 years, I would have binned him after 6 months, but that isn't the point. His complex, and hurtful actions I think didn't help her open up, and because of her past trauma of seeing her dad's affair, and her mum's clinging behaviour towards her (which we find out later on was due to her own awareness of her husband's affair, and then subsequent death, had it's own complex issues). I loved how close she (FL's mother) became to the ML in the later episodes, and how when they (FL and ML getting back together. Never understood why she would leave him for 5 years, yet again FLs selfish behaviour), the FLs mother did not approve of them getting back together because the ML was to good for her daughter. Good on her. Calling her own daughter out for her selfish behaviour. Loved it. Overall I found this series enjoyable. Some good acting from some great actors. The various relationships that were going on around the main ML and FL were just as good. if not more interesting at times, than the main romantic storyline. I loved how the second sister found a deep and loving relationship with the brother of the 2nd FL. Their courtship, and subsequent relationship was the purest and most healthy out of all of the relationships that were going on in this drama. The 2nd FL I found irritating beyond belief. She used her attempted suicide to cling on to a man who everyone could see did not love her, but because she was obsessed with him, and only her obsessive (and oppressive) love mattered, a marriage was going to take place. I am glad he walked away in the end. She was irritating beyond belief. A spoilt princess. Hurghhh!! Nothing grates me more than those stereotypical girls in a drama. After her suicide she needed therapy to bring her back to reality, and sort out her complex ideology around love and relationships. The 2nd ML lead also needed therapy. After coming from parents who abandoned him in their own ways (who does that to a child, one parent a con-man always looking for money, and then leaves his son to pick up the pieces. I couldn't believe the people his father conned coming into his school and manhandling him in order to find out where his father was, and demanding the money back! Who does that!? The other just ups and leaves, and even after 25 years still shows not an ounce of remorse for leaving him with a feckless father who only brought pain and trouble to his door, and no emotion when he shows up, just tells him basically to not find her again!) No wonder he can't hold onto the one healthy relationship he had. He felt obliged to be engaged to the 2nd FL because of his past relationship with her brother and her attempted suicide, but the real relationship, the one where he could genuinely be himself, and I do believe he loved the FL deeply. Could not be real or open about because of his messed up relationship with his 'friend' and fiancée. I think it was fitting that he ended up alone. His messed up childhood and distorted ideas of what relationships are (he didn't believe that his fiancée's brother was genuinely his friend! That was so sad.) He needed to heal. He at least was honest with all his past girlfriends about how he felt, and how he dealt with everything. How wrong he was to not be honest with the FL and how he should never had agreed to the 2nd FLs brother's request to be by his sister's side forever. That is not a heathy way to live your life. Overall I really good drama. It looked all the complexities of relationships, be it friendships, sexuality, adultery, parental, romantic or long standing marriages it tackled everything, and it did not sugarcoat the darkness that some of these relationships can bring. It also brought the light when it comes to finding a good and honest healthy relationship. In the end the FL and ML got their happily ever after, and all the other relationships sorted themselves out. I was hoping that the divorced sister would find someone who loved her as deeply as she loved her ex husband. She poured her heart and soul into that relationship, and he was as cold as ice throughout. It took her acceptance of his sexuality and him finding peace with it for him to be truly happy, but I felt she could have done with a bit of love too. A deep love that was based on him wanting her, and her not chasing and clinging onto a ice cold relationship. I thought the 2nd ML might have been that. Giving him a family he never had, but I think that would have been a little to incestuous even for this drama. Some of the relationships were very close, and how they ended up together was mind-boggling at times, but overall it worked out for the best. A throughly enjoyable drama, and I was glad I found it again and gave it a second chance.

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