Webnovels and Webtoons have taken over the K-Drama world over the last few years, and for this week’s review we are talking about another adaptation with top acting and a rather unconventional love story. This week’s review is about the 2021 JTBC drama ‘She Would Never Know’.
Senior, Don’t Put On That Lipstick
Based on the webnovel ‘Senior, Don’t Put on That Lipstick’ by Elise, ‘She Would Never Know’ was directed by Lee Dong-yoon and Ra Ha-Na and the script was written by Chae Yoon.
This story centers on the marketing team of a cosmetic brand, their work environment, tasks and even issues, but it mainly focuses on Yoon Song-ah and Chae Hyun-seung.
Yoon Song-ah (Won Jin ah) is a senior worker in the cosmetic company, she is well-known among her peers for her talent and dedication to work. On a personal side, she has been in a secret relationship with her work senior and boss Lee Jae-Shin (Lee Hyun-Wook) for two years, but she decides to end it after finding out a secret he kept from her.
Chase Hyun-Seung (Ro Woon) is the youngest and newest member of the marketing team. He is being trained by Song-ah, and even before he started working at the company, he had a crush on her after meeting her on the recruiting day at his alma-mater. He discovers the secret romance between his mentor and his boss by accident.
Hyun-Seung finds out that Jae-Shin is marrying after seeing him with his fiance at his sister’s atelier. He shows no intention of telling her the truth and he decides to take the matter in his own hands and show Song-ah the truth.
Slice of Life
Song-ah decides to end her relationship with Jae-Shin, but also lets Hyun-Seung know that she doesn’t want to be in any other relationship when she realises his feelings towards her.
She has to deal not just with work matters but also her broken heart, and family issues that make her life harder by the day. She tries to focus on herself and her relationship with her mother, but Hyun-Seung’s actions and constant display of affection makes her start having feelings for him.
Hyun-Seung is trying his best to be present in Song-ah’s life, and be a support when she needs it. He needs to face his own work challenges and at the same time be present for his sisters and niece.
Song-Ah and Hyun-Seung eventually decide to give it a go to their feelings, but new projects, challenges, and career opportunities put the relationship on the line. Will they choose love or success?
Family, work, opportunities
‘She Will Never Know’ also explores sub-plots related to Hyun-Seung’s sisters, their love life, and family issues being an aspect that felt very real and heartwarming. Nevertheless, this drama also had its fun moments, mainly related to Song-ah’s flatmate and her unique hobby, as well as, the cosmetic company’s CEO and his very odd way of romantically approaching one of Hyun-Seung’s sisters.
This drama also shows snippets of the characters’ past, which gives viewers a new perspective on the characters and the reason why they behave in certain ways.
If you are into slice-of-life dramas, with a touch of rom-com this one’s for you. The acting is incredible and the cinematography beautifully done, the characters are well-rounded and viewers can relate with at least a couple of things in some of them.
This drama is available on Netflix, and you can watch the trailer below.
