This review may contain spoilers
The Trunk: I Came for the Mystery and Stayed for the Way Gong Yoo Looked at Her
I started The Trunk almost by accident after abandoning another drama because I was bored, and somehow ended up watching five episodes in one night. That probably tells you everything.
This is a slow drama, but I was never bored. And I think The Trunk helped me realise that there is a difference between slow pacing and a story with no momentum. Every episode gave me another question, another piece of someone's past, or something that changed how I understood what I'd already seen. The jumping between timelines worked incredibly well for me because I was constantly trying to piece everything together.
But somewhere along the way, I stopped watching just for the mystery and fell completely in love with the relationship between Jeong-won and In-ji.
Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun-jin's chemistry is incredible, and so much of it is in their eyes. These aren't two characters constantly telling us how they feel. Sometimes it's just the way he looks at her.
Jeong-won starts off almost bewildered by In-ji. She's so guarded and difficult to read, and you can practically see him thinking, Who is this woman? Then that curiosity becomes concern. He wants to know whether she's eaten. He wants to know what food she likes, what music she likes, just these ordinary little details about her that nobody seems to think matter.
And eventually you realise: he wants to know her.
That's what got me.
He isn't looking at her with simple lust. He's fascinated by her. He worries about her. He notices her. When she's in danger, his concern becomes almost frantic. And yet, despite how badly he wants to get through those walls, there's also this understanding that she has to choose to let him in.
In-ji, meanwhile, is so tightly controlled that I spent half the drama wanting to shake her and say, Woman, kiss that man! 😂 But her restraint makes sense. She's been hurt, she's carrying enormous emotional baggage, and she's spent years participating in marriages governed by contracts and rules. Jeong-won becomes something completely different: someone she might choose when there is no contract telling her to.
And I think that's ultimately what The Trunk is about for me. Two deeply damaged people don't magically fix each other. They simply create a place where the other person can begin to heal.
Even the ending worked for me. I actually support them separating and ending the marriage. Their relationship began under bizarre circumstances, when both of them were incredibly vulnerable. They needed to heal separately and discover whether what they felt was real or merely something created by their situation.
So when they eventually run into each other again and Jeong-won reminds her of his idea that if they meet twice by chance, it's fate, and she finally agrees and tells him they only need one more, I loved it.
It's open-ended without feeling unfinished.
And then there's the ex-wife.
Ma'am.
You arrange a contract wife for a husband you claim you don't want, have a gorgeous younger man of your own, secretly watch your ex and his new wife, and THEN decide you want your husband back because he has developed feelings for somebody else?!
That woman stressed me OUT. 😂
But even she was part of what made the story so compelling. The Trunk is full of people trying to control relationships—through contracts, manipulation, obsession, surveillance, rules, and then Jeong-won and In-ji quietly develop the one thing nobody planned for: genuine affection.
It's not My Mister or Hospital Playlist level for me. Those are sitting at the grown-ups' table. 😂 But I'd put The Trunk around my Queen of Tears tier: beautifully acted, emotionally engaging, mature, intriguing and memorable.
And yes, apparently I have fallen in love with Gong Yoo again.
Goblin Gong Yoo was one thing. The Trunk Gong Yoo looking at a woman like he's simultaneously worried about her, confused by her and completely fascinated by her?
Yeah.
That'll do it. 😂
This is a slow drama, but I was never bored. And I think The Trunk helped me realise that there is a difference between slow pacing and a story with no momentum. Every episode gave me another question, another piece of someone's past, or something that changed how I understood what I'd already seen. The jumping between timelines worked incredibly well for me because I was constantly trying to piece everything together.
But somewhere along the way, I stopped watching just for the mystery and fell completely in love with the relationship between Jeong-won and In-ji.
Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun-jin's chemistry is incredible, and so much of it is in their eyes. These aren't two characters constantly telling us how they feel. Sometimes it's just the way he looks at her.
Jeong-won starts off almost bewildered by In-ji. She's so guarded and difficult to read, and you can practically see him thinking, Who is this woman? Then that curiosity becomes concern. He wants to know whether she's eaten. He wants to know what food she likes, what music she likes, just these ordinary little details about her that nobody seems to think matter.
And eventually you realise: he wants to know her.
That's what got me.
He isn't looking at her with simple lust. He's fascinated by her. He worries about her. He notices her. When she's in danger, his concern becomes almost frantic. And yet, despite how badly he wants to get through those walls, there's also this understanding that she has to choose to let him in.
In-ji, meanwhile, is so tightly controlled that I spent half the drama wanting to shake her and say, Woman, kiss that man! 😂 But her restraint makes sense. She's been hurt, she's carrying enormous emotional baggage, and she's spent years participating in marriages governed by contracts and rules. Jeong-won becomes something completely different: someone she might choose when there is no contract telling her to.
And I think that's ultimately what The Trunk is about for me. Two deeply damaged people don't magically fix each other. They simply create a place where the other person can begin to heal.
Even the ending worked for me. I actually support them separating and ending the marriage. Their relationship began under bizarre circumstances, when both of them were incredibly vulnerable. They needed to heal separately and discover whether what they felt was real or merely something created by their situation.
So when they eventually run into each other again and Jeong-won reminds her of his idea that if they meet twice by chance, it's fate, and she finally agrees and tells him they only need one more, I loved it.
It's open-ended without feeling unfinished.
And then there's the ex-wife.
Ma'am.
You arrange a contract wife for a husband you claim you don't want, have a gorgeous younger man of your own, secretly watch your ex and his new wife, and THEN decide you want your husband back because he has developed feelings for somebody else?!
That woman stressed me OUT. 😂
But even she was part of what made the story so compelling. The Trunk is full of people trying to control relationships—through contracts, manipulation, obsession, surveillance, rules, and then Jeong-won and In-ji quietly develop the one thing nobody planned for: genuine affection.
It's not My Mister or Hospital Playlist level for me. Those are sitting at the grown-ups' table. 😂 But I'd put The Trunk around my Queen of Tears tier: beautifully acted, emotionally engaging, mature, intriguing and memorable.
And yes, apparently I have fallen in love with Gong Yoo again.
Goblin Gong Yoo was one thing. The Trunk Gong Yoo looking at a woman like he's simultaneously worried about her, confused by her and completely fascinated by her?
Yeah.
That'll do it. 😂
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