My Secret Romance (2017)
Quick Take: My Secret Romance (2017), starring Sung Hoon and Song Ji-eun. 8.4/10. Fourteen 45-minute episodes.
Synopsis: After a one-night stand three years before, the two protagonists meet again. Cha Jin-wook (Sung Hoon) is the son of the chairman of a corporation and the de facto CEO, when Lee Yoo-min (Song Ji-eun) begins her new position as the employee cafeteria dietician. They have to work through feelings of hurt and betrayal from the past to create a relationship.
Review: My Secret Romance is a very superficial romantic comedy but Sung Hoon, the lead actor, is worth watching. The first episode is pretty terrible. Chairman Cha sends his obnoxious heir to work as a bellboy at a company resort for an attitude adjustment. There he meets guest Lee Yoo-min, a klutzy ingenue who repeatedly creates chaos by tripping, falling, spilling, etc. Meet-cute-times-five is not cute at all. If you just skip to the end when they’re on the beach, you’ll have missed nothing except his mysterious delivery of flowers to an older woman, presumably his mother. Oh, and the fact that Yoo-min’s mother was a famous adult film star, back in the day.
Even after the first episode, the production choices are distracting. The music is intrusive and often doesn’t match the mood. Cartoon sound effects are added to simple physical gestures — it’s just annoying. Each episode begins with cartoon renderings of major scenes so I guess that’s consistent. There are no over-arching themes or life lessons to be learned from this show. The target audience must be around 14 years old, which is fair enough.
Nevertheless, I persevered. The leads are both attractive, the acting is acceptable, the characters are sympathetic, the kissing is especially hot. Kim Jae-young (100 Days, q.v.) plays the obligatory best friend with a long-standing crush on Yoo-min.
The best thing about My Secret Romance is lead actor Sung Hoon. Surely he wandered into this series to pass the time between more worthy roles. He is good-looking but his face is more than that — more intense, more interesting. He would make an excellent villain, but he made a decent romantic lead, too.
Rewatchable - 3, Compelling - 3, Plot/ Story/Writing - 6, Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 8, Bonus - 4. Bonus for the lead actors, who save an otherwise mediocre production.
Notes:
Sung Hoon
was a university swim champion, specializing in the breast stroke. (That explains the pool scene.) See him also in Oh My Venus (2015), Love, Marriage, Divorce (2021), and Woori the Vrigin (2022). He is also a professional DJ and sings. Great hair.
Song Ji-eun
is best known as a singer and former member of the girl group Secret. She has been acting since 2010. See her also in Melting Me Softly (2019) and That Guys’ Voice (2021).
Kim Jae-young
has been acting since 2012, mostly in supporting roles. See him also in 100 Days My Prince (2018), Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life (2019), Reflection of You (2021), and Love in Contract (2022).