She Would Never Know (2021) [/]
Apr 24 2024
She Would Never Know is a South Korean romance drama set in the small marketing department of KLAR, a higher-end cosmetics brand. Chae Hyun-seung (Rowoon) is a first or second year employee still under the guidance of third year Yoon Song-ah (Won Jin-ah), who he's been attracted to since meeting her at a college recruitment event.
Unfortunately Song-ah is having a secret affair with department head Lee Jae-shin (Lee Hyun-wook) but then Hyun-seung sees Jae-shin with his fiancé Lee Hyo-joo (Lee Joo-bin). Hyun-seung hides it for a bit but soon shows Song-ah the truth which she actually doesn't really appreciate and at first she rather she didn't know. But eventually shock turns to hate and she breaks it off with Jae-shin without revealing she knows for several episodes. Instead the excuse is she found a new boyfriend in Hyun-seung (which is what he wanted and she didn't want to do but a situation kind of forced it on them).
It takes a few episodes of them pretending to be a secret couple before she starts to like him. Then there's happiness for a while and the rest of the team at first realizes something is going on and then the truth is revealed and they're happy for the couple. Unusual, there is never a romantic rival for Hyun-seung's affection and there's never like parents or family that is against their relationship.
Episode 13 is a twist as she decides to take a job in the new Europe branch for five years and they commit to keeping their love alive. But episode 14 starts three years later with her returning to Korea early and apparently they had broken up a year before. So the last episode and a half is Song-ah trying to woo Hyun-seung and fortunately there's a happy ending.
Several subplots
Hyun-seung's oldest sister Ji-seung (Wang Bit-na) catches the eye of Jae-shin's manager Lee Jae-woon (Lee Kyu-han) who is the grandson of the company's owner. Jae-woon spends a lot of effort trying to be mysterious and cool to impress Ji-seung until she falls for him.
The middle sister Yeon-seung (Ha Yoon-kyung) is married with a cute daughter. There's a bit where maybe she's getting to friendly with her husband's best friend. But then a dark secret is revealed that sends her marriage spiraling down.
Jae-shin's impending marriage is almost against his will. He owes Jae-woon a lot and Hyo-joo is so in love with Jae-shin she tried to commit suicide when he didn't reciprocate. So he's marrying her because there doesn't seem to be another solution but he still loves Song-ah and his deadbeat dad keeps asking him for money. All in all Jae-shin starts out the most troubled in the story but manages to carve out a somewhat happy life for himself by the end.
Comparison
When I read the description of this show I thought it would be more like The Rational Life which I loved. In that show the age gap is 12 years which becomes quite an obstacle. Also the romance moves slower so it's more like half-way through the series that the woman realizes the man likes her. That series has more ups and downs while this one is a gentle rise until the rollercoaster drop in episode 15. So unfortunately this series was a bit disappointing even though it's still an ok story.
Unfortunately Song-ah is having a secret affair with department head Lee Jae-shin (Lee Hyun-wook) but then Hyun-seung sees Jae-shin with his fiancé Lee Hyo-joo (Lee Joo-bin). Hyun-seung hides it for a bit but soon shows Song-ah the truth which she actually doesn't really appreciate and at first she rather she didn't know. But eventually shock turns to hate and she breaks it off with Jae-shin without revealing she knows for several episodes. Instead the excuse is she found a new boyfriend in Hyun-seung (which is what he wanted and she didn't want to do but a situation kind of forced it on them).
It takes a few episodes of them pretending to be a secret couple before she starts to like him. Then there's happiness for a while and the rest of the team at first realizes something is going on and then the truth is revealed and they're happy for the couple. Unusual, there is never a romantic rival for Hyun-seung's affection and there's never like parents or family that is against their relationship.
Episode 13 is a twist as she decides to take a job in the new Europe branch for five years and they commit to keeping their love alive. But episode 14 starts three years later with her returning to Korea early and apparently they had broken up a year before. So the last episode and a half is Song-ah trying to woo Hyun-seung and fortunately there's a happy ending.
Several subplots
Hyun-seung's oldest sister Ji-seung (Wang Bit-na) catches the eye of Jae-shin's manager Lee Jae-woon (Lee Kyu-han) who is the grandson of the company's owner. Jae-woon spends a lot of effort trying to be mysterious and cool to impress Ji-seung until she falls for him.
The middle sister Yeon-seung (Ha Yoon-kyung) is married with a cute daughter. There's a bit where maybe she's getting to friendly with her husband's best friend. But then a dark secret is revealed that sends her marriage spiraling down.
Jae-shin's impending marriage is almost against his will. He owes Jae-woon a lot and Hyo-joo is so in love with Jae-shin she tried to commit suicide when he didn't reciprocate. So he's marrying her because there doesn't seem to be another solution but he still loves Song-ah and his deadbeat dad keeps asking him for money. All in all Jae-shin starts out the most troubled in the story but manages to carve out a somewhat happy life for himself by the end.
Comparison
When I read the description of this show I thought it would be more like The Rational Life which I loved. In that show the age gap is 12 years which becomes quite an obstacle. Also the romance moves slower so it's more like half-way through the series that the woman realizes the man likes her. That series has more ups and downs while this one is a gentle rise until the rollercoaster drop in episode 15. So unfortunately this series was a bit disappointing even though it's still an ok story.