[Coming soon]
Notable Actors/Actresses
Han Ji-min: Kang Ji-yun
Lee Joon-hyuk: Yoo Eun-ho
Hangul Title Translation
My Perfect Secretary
Recapper: FanFanX
Recap Grade: A/B
First Impression: 4/5
First Impression: 4/5
Cast
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| Han Ji-min: Kang Ji-yun |
Lee Joon-hyuk: Yoo Eun-ho |
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| Kim Do-hoon: Woo Jeong-hun | Kim Yoon-hye: Jung Su-hyeon |
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| Lee Sang-hee: Seo Mi-ae |
Lee Jae-woo: Lee Kang-seok |
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| Park Bo-kyung: Kim Hye-jin |
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| Yoon Ga-yi: Na Gyu-rim |
Seo Hye-won: Oh Gyeong-hwa |
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| Gi So-yoo: Yoo Byeol |
Kim Tae-vin: Jung Seo-joon |
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| Heo Dong-won: Kim Yong-su |
Go Geon-han: Lee Gwang-hui |
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| Yoon Yoo-sun: Lee Jeong-sun |
Jo Seung-yeon: Oh Chul-yong |
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| Song Ji-in: Park Sung-kyung |
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Romcom / Romance Checklist
[In Progress]
How much of the plot is angst/romance?
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
The ML:
Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Tsundere / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /The FL:
Bold / Cold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / CEODescribe the Relationship (the tropes):
Annoying Love (F/M) Rival+++ / Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Friends to Lovers / Harem / Hidden Identity / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / School to Adulthood / Star-Crossed Lovers
Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):
Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 # of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Ending:
Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad / Rushed+++FanFanX: Starting off this year with a romance (finally!!) Flutters are here but my melo-dar is also ringing like crazy.
- Headhunter and CEO (of Peoplez) Kang Ji-yun is great at her job but not with much else... Her desk is a mess, she clumsily walks into her furniture, constantly gets paper cuts and loses her phone. Later, she complains to her friend (and CFO), Seo Mi-ae that she desperately needs a new secretary. Mi-ae tells her that candidate pool is running thin as so many have quit just this year alone.
- Ji-yun then tries to poach Kwon Hyuk from Hansu Electronics. But it's Yu Eun-ho's job to keep her from succeeding. These interactions don't go well as Eun-ho only succeeds in earning her disdain.
- Eun-ho was once the apple of his boss' eye... But at the peak of his career, he took parental leave, for the sake of his young daughter, Yu Byeol's health. My scene-stealing Gi So-yoo is back! His boss now makes him miserable at his post. On top of being an excellent single father, he's also a great cook, hyperorganized at home (and at work), kind enough that he'll save a fellow parent from a flying baseball at the park and courteous to all of the neighborhood ajummas and halmeonis.
- He's also friends with his neighbor, Jung Su-hyeon, a children's novelist, whose adorable son Jung Seo-joon is classmates with Byeol. Is she crushing on him?
- Kim Hye-jin (CEO of Career Way) has actually stolen the candidate from Ji-yun and Eun-ho. But Ji-yun is angry at Eun-ho who has nothing to do with this. Meanwhile, Eun-ho gets fired from his job.
- Later, Ji-yun passes out in the office and gets taken to the hospital. Her investor / vested employee, Woo Jeong-hun, rushes over to see what's going on. Dx: Overworked her brain aka stressed out! Workaholic syndrome.
- How does this prickly CEO destress? By reading endlessly at Dodam Bookstore, which is owned by Mi-ae's husband, Lee Kang-seok.
- The next day, whilst inside a packed elevator, Ji-yun sees Eun-ho at the back, who quickly turns to face the wall in an effort to his his face from her. She moves and he continues averting his face. (~1:15:00) ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Moving like an owl! Too late...
- She wonders why he's here but she gets off the elevator... as does he. A beaming Mi-ae happily greets them and then introduces them to each other – he's her new secretary.
- Byeol no longer needs to go to therapy, so Eun-ho takes her to see Kang-seok, who celebrates by letting her choose any book she wants. She quickly gathers a giant stack of books. ㅋㅋㅋ I was the same way at her age.
- Rewind. Kang-seok begs Mi-ae to help his uni friend get a position at Peoplez. She’s unsure as she’s never met him. However, while she's at his house for dinner, she notices that his home is very organized, tidy, and there's a very well structured schedule for himself and his daughter. He also has cat-like reflexes when his daughter trips with her juice, as he manages to catch her and still hand his friend a bowl of rice. I only replayed this about 6 times… When Eun-ho learns who he's supposed to supporting though, he wants to say no. Mi-ae begs him to try it out for six months and guarantees that he'll have time off to see Byeol – and increases his salary by 50% to support Byeol’s dollhouse needs.
- Today, Ji-yun isn’t happy to keep him on. Our dearest chingu Oh Gyeong-hwa hands him a book: "The Courage To Be Hated." A disheveled Jeong-hun has quite the entrance: he spins into the room, and then runs to greet Mi-ae but trips into Eun-ho’s arms. I secretly want this CP (Eun-ho + Jeong-hun) to be real.
- Hye-jin continues making work difficult for Ji-yun, who continues ignoring Eun-ho. Mi-ae decides to give him pointers on how to win her over
a) Recognize who her main clients and candidates are.
At least his true boss, Byeol gives him her personal stamp of approval. 🥰
b) Make her schedule and travel times very efficient.
c) Keep her updated on the latest news.
All this is great except that… he didn’t staple the papers exactly the way she likes it – 45-degree angle. LOL This is too real for me!
d) Her coffee needs to be from her favorite shop in the alley and must be the exactly the right temperature (not too hot and not too cold) when it reaches her.
e) Keep an eye on her when she’s on the move in a hurry, as she'll walk into everything in her office and will tend to forget something. 🙋🏻♀️ Everymorningday and night.
f) Most importantly, he's to never show his smile. But he has such a sweet one with Byeol. - Everyone in the office adores Eun-ho except for Ji-yun, who continues to demand Mi-ae’s help. Finally, Mi-ae firmly tells her Eun-ho is her secretary and not her, and if she doesn’t like it, then she can do everything herself and end up back in the hospital like before.
- Eun-ho continues to follow her around even to the records room to keep her from injuring herself on the open filing drawers and doors. She finally asks him what he thinks a headhunter does, as she wants to have someone who at least respects what she does. (~36:00) Prior to his employment, he'd insulted her profession. He now apologizes and asks to be judged as her secretary. She returns to her desk and notices that on his paperwork, he’d taken paternal leave for his young daughter.
- Eun-ho continues studying at home and learning about the headhunter profession. He also finds a shortcut from her favorite coffee shop. Later he puts bumpers on her furniture, fixes her office door, and is able to go with her to meetings without any resistance from her. Byeol getting her dollhouse accessories?!
- Later, Su-hyeon pauses to watch Eun-ho chase around his daughter and her son at the playground. (~44:50) We're all pausing to admire his athleticism and the giggling kids.
- The death anniversary of Ji-yun’s father arrives, and she doesn't say anything to anyone about it but she looks quite pale and doesn't eat. Eun-ho gets her to go with him to a restaurant, and she asks him why he went on paternal leave before. He says that he wanted to see his daughter smile, and she has the sweetest smile. Then he adds it was because she needed him. Ji-yun suppresses her tears as she's reminded of her own single father and she abruptly leaves him there.
- Ji-yun finds out that Hye-jin continues to sabotage her candidates, so she barges into her office to confront her. But when she’s taunted about the past, she leaves looking even more worn out and on the verge of collapse. She walks out and then almost falls. Our office angel Eun-ho manages to catch her and keeps her propped up on his shoulder.
- Ji-yun is now hungry so they go to a stall where she orders some level 5 spicy tteokbokki. Poor Eun-ho can barely get through three bites as he can’t handle spicy food. So what does he do? Drink milk first and then stuffs his mouth with green grape candy like a chipmunk! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Su-hyeon meets Jeong-hun, and mistakenly calls him abeonim as he's peeking in through Haneul Kindergarten's doors. ㅋㅋ He loudly asks if she's really calling him that and then wonders if he's behind with his skincare. He's actually here to see the children's teacher, Park Sung-kyung, who is his former sister-in-law with a cake as it's her birthday today.
- At the bookstore, Byeol meets Ji-yun and calls her ahjumma when she doesn’t yield to her as she wants the book that Ji-yun grabbed from the top shelf. So the two bicker until they're interrupted by Su-hyeon. (~28:00) Hahaha. It’s so cute. Well, she can’t read the fine print on the book: It’s a picture book for adults… Ji-yun was right, that she can't read it just yet. Byeol's expression. ㅋㅋㅋ
- Eun-ho returns home to another boss, Byeol, who doesn't want to see him because she's too busy studying hard so she can read in front of that ajumma next time.
- Due to rumors of their new candidate, Chef Han, being in a relationship with his sous-chef, Chef Yu, Ji-yun decides to place Chef Han only. But Eun-ho suggests that they ask them directly. Chef Han actually wrist issues stemming from a 9-year-old surgery, which Chef Yu has been helping him keep a secret. So that's why he was insistent that the two of them be hired together.
- It's not enough that Eun-ho has completely reorganized and overhauled Ji-yun's office space, but he's also taking care of her papercuts and resting schedule (letting her nap longer as he drives around in circles on their drive home).
- Chef Han gets hired by Ji-yun's client, but without Chef Yu. She's beside herself as she isn't sure she'll be able to survive on her own. She tells Eun-ho about all of her fears, wondering about what will happen to her now. Eun-ho calmly tells her that nothing is kept a secret forever, and the same goes for relying on others. So she needs to believe in herself… or else she’ll never enjoy it anywhere else either.
- Byeol's waiting at the bookstore for Ji-yun to appear, so she can show her that she knows all of her letters now. She then reads a book to Ji-yun. (~58:00) Kyeopta to the max!
- Chef Yu becomes Ji-yun's new candidate, who is interested in becoming a food scientist. She's quickly placed at the food research institute, where she won't need to be in the kitchen but her research as a cook will be very useful in this new environment.
- Afterwards, Eun-ho tells Ji-yun that they should go before it rains. She scoffs as she looks up at the bright sun. Seconds later, droplets start coming down and then he quickly whips out a pink cat umbrella from his briefcase. She laughs and he joins her. (~1:05:40) ㅋㅋㅋ Appa is always prepared!
- Eun-ho takes her to a pyeon-uijeom and gets her to eat as "filling your stomach also fills the heart." Once she's done, he leaves to grab the car, and already had sneakers ready for her walk... which becomes a basketball game with some schoolboys. (~13:00) Hearteyes galore for his smiles.
- From Mi-ae, he learns about Ji-yun’s history with Hye-jin. Career Way had been scammed by a paper company, and Ji-yun had asked for an investigation. CEO had left a will before committing suicide. Hye-jin then took over while kicking out Yi-jun as the scapegoat for causing all of this negative news.
- Gyeong-hwa has been working hard for a month with a candidate but unbeknownst to her sunbae, Kim Yong-su, also reaches out to him for a different position as he's helped place him brefore. Ji-yun overhears the two arguing and tells them to figure out which position is best for the candidate's career and then decide who will be in charge. In the end, Yong-su decides to let Gyeong-hwa place him, and looks for another candidate for his job opening. Things remain awkward between the two, so Mi-ae and Jeong-hun come up with the idea to have a welcome party for Eun-ho, so they can all drink. Ji-yun agrees to allowing this but she refuses to attend.
- Su-hyeon actually calls Eun-ho “Daddy Yoo” and has him saved as such on her phone. (~30:00) ㅋㅋㅋ Su-hyeon is actually raising her nephew Seo-jun as her son… Her sister and husband died when he was young. ㅜ^ㅜ
- Jeong-hoon’s father, Chairman Oh wants Ji-yun to date Jeong-hun. But she has no interest, especially as she's immune to his charms. Methinks it's a one-sided crush...
- This drinking party does the trick as the Gyeong-hwa and Yong-su make up as she's the only one who laughs at his octopus [dad]joke! 🐙
- Outside, Eun-ho has flashbacks to a fire when he sees a firetruck and an ambulance driving by. He’s interrupted from his reverie by Ji-yun who suddenly appears. They're interrupted by their drunk group as she's taken away to their next spot for another round. She’s then plied with drinks until Eun-ho finally drinks in her stead, and his eyes remained glue to her for the rest of the evening.
- Later, Kang-seok sweetly meets his drunk wife with a pair of comfortable shoes. Eun-ho finds Ji-yun where Mi-ae said she’d be – back at the office. When he sees her passed out on the couch in her office, he covers her with a blanket. She later wakes up and finds him sitting up and asleep next to her. She moves to gently stroke his face which stirs him from his slumber. She drunkenly says that he's handsome –
- She leans over as if to kiss him, but instead she falls asleep on his shoulder. When she wakes up in the morning, she’s alone and nursing a hangover. She can’t quite recall if something happened with Eun-ho last night… and had he been there? She later asks him about this and he denies this.
- Outside the bookstore,
ajummaeonni and kiddo meet again and discover that they both enjoy mint chocolate. - Jeong-hoon is at the publisher’s and has another run in with Soo-hyeong… he recognizes her as the woman who thought he was an appa and also the author of the children's book in his hands. So he asks for her to sign his copy of her book and then loudly encourages her to do what she's doing.
- Eun-ho needs to help Lee Gwang-hui find a new appraiser candidate for the luxury brand company client and gently guides him into looking for a top-notch repairer. They find Ms. Cho Young-sook who has been doing this work for 37 years and knows how to tell counterfeits from the real thing with a single touch. However, she’s uncomfortable with this offer as she’s not formally educated to work. Ji-yun tells her that the value of the time she’s spent is worth it, as she learned to do it naturally.
- Ji-yun finds the missing sticker from Eun-ho’s phone under the coffee table… and realizes that he had returned to the office after the company party. So she asks why he’d pretended to not. remember and how much he remembers. He replies how much does she want him to remember. She says just like now, like it never happened. Meanwhile, Byeol has placed a new sticker on his phone.
- Byeol is going on an overnight trip with her classmates and doesn't seem worried about her poor dear father. When he asks if she'll miss him, she replies that he should get himself a girlfriend. (~41:00) ㅋㅋㅋ
- Later, Mi-ae wrangles an invitation to Eun-ho’s house to enjoy his cooking, and drags Jeong-hun into coming along. She also extends this invitation to Ji-yun who isn't too keen on going... but she ends up showing up late with a cake in hand. It turns out that it was canceled as the others couldn't make it. But he convinces her to stay.
- Guess who falls asleep on his couch until morning? Unfortunately, he has to hustle her out of there before his daughter returns from her trip. Of course the two ride the elevator together and the doors open to Byeol (alongside Seo-joon and Su-hyeon), who cheerfully greets her father. (~1:04:00) Main CP has so many elevator encounters...
- Epilogue: In her sleep, Ji-yun cries and pleads for someone to not leave her. Eun-ho reaches over and holds her hand to comfort her. So she returns to sleeping peacefully.
- Flashback. Ji-yun’s father had gotten her outside of their burning building. But he'd insisted on returning inside as he’d heard someone screaming for help. She’d desperately begged him to not go but he’d assured her that he’d be right back… He'd gone inside and then never returned alive. ㅠ^ㅠ This was the memory she’d been reliving in her sleep at Eun-ho’s…
- Back to Eun-ho's place: She wakes up and steps right on Eun-ho’s hand as he fell asleep where he was. ㅋㅋ And in the elevator, when Byeol greets her father, he starts hiccupping. Ji-yun quickly leaves while hiding her face with her hair… Byeol wonders out loud why she looks familiar, and now her father looks away. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ This man needs a new move. He says no but continues hiccupping away. ㅋㅋ Later, Ji-yun and Eun-ho share another awkward elevator ride at work. (~9:30) Our man strikes out in the elevators...
- Byeol wants her nails painted by her father, because she wants to show them to an amazing woman… He’s painstakingly painting her nails, and even pouts. (~17:00) ㅋㅋ She also insists that he needs his nails painted – the compromise: pink polish on a single nail. ㅋㅋ
- Their luxury brand client isn’t happy with their choice of candidate, Ms. Cho Young-sook. Suddenly, they have to deal deal with counterfeit rumors for one of their bags. So Eun-ho and Ji-yun encourage her to show the CEO what she's worth: After touching, smelling, inspecting the bag and its seams and texture, she concludes that it's the genuine product. The leather coating is what makes it easy to tell the real thing from a counterfeit, which is also the hardest thing to imitate. Later, the official appraisal arrives: the bag is confirmed to be the real deal, and CEO apologizes for doubting her skills, and gives her the respect and job.
- At school, Seo-jun pushes down another boy in class because he’d teased him. Byeol knows why he did this but Seo-jun doesn’t want tell his halmeoni about this in front of Byeol. When it's just him and halmeoni, Seo-jun tells her that the other boy teased them for not having a mom and a dad, and that they have half-families. :( These precious babies. He says he's okay as he has his grandmother and mother. But he'd pushed the other boy because Byeol was very upset about it. Awwww.
- Outside the bookstore, Byeol watches a kitten on the sidewalk. When Ji-yun sees her, Byeol greets her as eonni. The two then talk about how they don't have a mother. Ji-yun shares that her own mother passed away when she was little but “Love is about quality, not quantity. Having two parents doesn’t mean that you get loved twice as much. One person who loves you unconditionally is enough.” Suddenly, the kitten takes off and Byeol chases after it.
- Seo-jeon and halmeoni return to the bookstore and discovers that Byeol has gone missing. They let Eun-ho know, and not long after, he receives a call from Ji-yun telling him that Byeol crashed into a bike in front of the bookstore so they’re at the hospital. Eun-ho drives like a maniac to get to his daughter, who has a gash on her knee, and they're waiting on the test results. Byeol happily introduces her father to "the amazing woman from the bookstore". (~32:00) So sweeeeet.
- At the hospital, Ji-yun returns with food for Eun-ho and then comforts him by saying that he’s doing well. At least he’s always by her side when she needs him. She’s sure that Byeol knows her father is making an effort, so just like now, he's always staying by his daughter’s side.
- Later, Ji-yun once again tries to get into the wrong car.
YEH: We should probably put a sticker on the car.
KJY: I’m not a child. We don't need a sticker.
YEH: It’s better than not finding your car. What kind of stickers do you like? Glow in the dark? Glitter? I have all types. I can ask Byeol –
KJY: I don’t want one!
YEH: Okay… how about letters? Like one that says “Rookie Driver” on the back of the car. Except “Ms. Kang” in large font. She glares. I’m sorry. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ - Unable to sleep, Ji-yun decides that she wants the same couch as Eun-ho. She calls him but changes her mind and throws the phone away from her mid-ring... ㅋㅋㅋ How she flings it like it's on fire.
- Ji-yun has been going to the bookstore since her first year of high school, and before Kang-seok became its owner. She finds the smell of books to be quite comforting. [I was the same way!]
- Ji-yun and Eun-ho have their photo taken outside the recital. Their initial pose, there’s enough space for at least two more people between them. Well, the actual photo taken by a young girl, turns out to be blurry. ㅋㅋㅋ What were the girl's parents as they'd watched over her shoulder?!
- While Na Gyu-rim tells her colleagues that dating at work can be disastrous... Eun-ho becomes a distraction for Yi-jun as her eyes remain glued to him. She even mysteriously cracks a smile at work. But the next day, when she holds the elevator door for Eun-ho, she's quite terse with him. Unable to deal with it, she suddenly ask Mi-ae to promote him and get her a new secretary. She later tells Eun-ho that she likes him but it’s affecting her work and she needs more distance between them.
- Jeong-hun notices the change between the two of them, and soon joins Su-hyeon as her unrequited love comrade. The two get drunk and apparently, Su-hyeon sends a drunk text to Daddy Yoo. While the message made very little sense to Eun-ho, Su-hyeon actually asks him out to see one of his favorite movies – without their kids.
- Kang-seok and Eun-ho have a discussion about life. One fears being an insufficient father, and the other doesn’t want to pursue someone because Byeol comes first. Kang-seok asks him what if the other person doesn't want his consideration and only his honest feelings?
- After a night of drinking, Gyeong-hwa saves Gwang-hui from tripping into traffic. 4CP-to-be? [3CP is Mi-ae + Kang-seok]
- Once again, our girls,Yu-jin and Byeol meet at the bookstore. But then Seo-joon introduces himself as Su-hyeon’s son and informs her that his mother is going to go on a date with Eun-ho tonight.
- Yu-jin runs to the movie theatre. When she can't see him, she calls Eun-ho to tell him to not watch that movie.
- Unbeknownst to her, he'd just canceled on Su-hyeon. But he tells Yu-jin that he’s watching… as he's standing on the other side of the street and looking right at her. Their eyes meet and he says that he’ll go to her. When he reaches her, he wraps his arms around her. And she reaches up to kiss him!
- Eun-ho goes home and asks Byeol what she thinks about him liking someone? She replies that she’d be happy as she likes seeing him smile. Of course, Ji-yun wants their relationship to be kept a secret at work… But then they're high-fiving, holding hands, and she's giving a peck on his hand... plus a wink! (~33:30) Eventually, they're actually holding hands inside the elevator! (~56:23)
- Besides unrequited love, Jeong-hun and Soo-hyeon have one more thing in common, losing an older sibling too soon.
- After working late one night, Eun-ho backhugs Ji-yun, who then turns around and gets him to sit down and then whispers into his ear that she’s.... hungry. (~39:00) ㅋㅋ His eyes are so full of disappointment that she gives him a tiny consolatory peck before walking away.
- One day, Mi-ae finally sees Ji-yun grinning up at Eun-ho inside the elevator. Later, Byeol tells Kang-seok that her father must’ve found someone he likes.
Her evidence:1) Looks at himself in the mirror a lot more often these days,
2) His phone stays nearby all day long, plus he's on it all the time, and
3) He's carrying another female’s hair tie. - New candidate, Lawyer Jang has new conditions for her placement – reduced hours plus two junior attorneys. She’s going through a divorce and fighting for custody of her son. She later decides to quit her job so she can take care of her son, instead of trying to do both as her son suddenly says that he wants to stay with his father. Suddenly, her young son shows up at Peoplez to ask Ji-yun for a favor. He’d overheard their conversation from last time, thought that he’d interfere with his mother's life. His mother tells him that she lives because of him. Result: They find her an in-house counsel position, which has shorter and more regular hours.
- Gyeong-hwa and Gwang-hui are also officially dating and think they're doing a great job of hiding their office romance. Yong-su and Gyu-rim already know and just want to make them tiptoe. ㅋㅋ
- Omo. This social event isn't going well as Chairman Woo tries to make Ji-yun stay like a dog. Eun-ho intervenes. But does she need his help?
[Ep10] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep11] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Ep12] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
[Extra] [Jump to: Top | Comments]
Remarks
by FanFanX
[First Impression (Ep1-)] A CEO drama where both FL and ML actually work?! Tickled by the appearance of Gi So-yoo as ML's adorable daughter.
[Cast&Crew]
→ Heo Dong-won and Go Geon-han, both actors known for portraying despicable villains are
actually showing their softer side as FL's employees.
actually showing their softer side as FL's employees.
→ Another The Good Bad Mother cast member, Park Bo-kyung, joins Gi So-yoo here.
→ Director Ham Joon-ho's previous works from 2018: Wok of Love and My Strange Hero.
→ Screenwriter Kim Ji-eun's previous work was 2024's Wonderful World.
[Behind the Scenes]
[OST]
[Ending]
[A Highlight]
[Footnotes]
[Review & Rating]
Random Recommendation:
Rating: /5