Sunbae, Don't Put On That Lipstick (2021)

Stay away from my girl, you bastard

This instantly became a drama I would place in the 'comfort watch' bucket. As someone else mentioned in their review, the plot isn't over complicated. This isn't a thriller or murder mystery folks. This rom com leans more into the melodrama space for me, although I will say the office staff did an excellent job of bringing in some comedy to an otherwise emo story.

I've seen some mention Hyun Seung was like a stalker but I did not get that vibe at all. If anything, he seemed a lot like me and my friends in our early 20s with our office crushed. Learning to love her 'strange' coffee order, stealing glances at her phone, being overly attentive to anything she did. It felt to me like more of a role reversal. Traditionally, females are the ones who tend to pick up the habits and likes of the person they are attracted to. Also Song Ah was easily one of the most clueless FLs I have watched. Your coworker sparks up a conversation about office romances (while looking at her with hearts basically coming out of his eyes) then proceeds to pretend your dating as a cover. It's no wonder Jae Shin was able to literally be engaged and she didn't have a clue.

I will say Hyun Seung has some of the sassiest dialogue in the early episodes. Homeboy was so ready to deliver that line at the end of E3 to Jae Shin. Their little passive aggressive rivalry was interesting to watch as Song Ha was paralyzed in her inability to process what was happening. By the time she caught up with the timeline, her self loathing and self sabotaging kicked in at full speed. How are you going to watch that man dance from pure happiness that you aren't going anywhere only to tell him 'I don't deserve the feelings you have for me.' Girl, pick yourself up off the floor!

I have a note from E8 that the 'eat a lot of Italian food.'

I totally understand why some people want to shake/slap/be violent towards Song Ah. I also get her trauma from her mom/dad deeply influenced her thoughts on love. She mentioned not being about to understand her mom and how she gave everything up for love. This seemed to influence her decision to go to Europe (at least for me.) When she was starting to really like Hyun Seung, she bolted.

E14 has one of my favorite endings or cliff hangers. The way he walks away *chefs kiss.* I need that cast and crew to know that I personally give that scene a standing ovation. So well done. I would have loved if they would have provided a look into how hard things were for Hyun Seung after the break up. It would have played nicely to the fact that 2 of his girlfriends commented that things are so easy for him. Having a true sad boy moment would have really helped shown even more growth/development in his character. I did love the scene with him and Jae Woon sharing a drink and talking. It made me want to know more about how some of the other relationships grew in the time jump. I had a soft spot for the older sister and CEO from the beginning. I found the younger sister to be unlikable so I was less invested in her messy marriage.

The ending is dreamy but I do agree seeing the wedding with the coworkers and family would have been great. The song from the last scene (which plays throughout the series) has been stuck in my head for days. Overall, I will most likely be re watching this one again as either a pallet cleanser or for the cozy vibes. Maybe even with a coffee from McCafe.

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I went into this thinking this would be a noona romance as it was labelled as such, but for me, a one-year age gap does not constitute a noona romance. For me, the difference would have to be greater than 5 years to be even called that. Despite this, it was enjoyable show because not only it centered on the romance, but also focused on different familial relationships. Rowoon is adorable as the patient trainee who was overeager to please his mentor. We see him struggle with his feelings and also with the knowledge that his crush has a two-timing boyfriend. Won Jin Ah isn't so shabby as the no-nonsense manager who was very private about her relationships, that she had wool over her eyes, if it weren't for Hyung Seung.

As for the other characters, the sisters of Hyun Seung stood out for me, and their relationship with their brother was endearing. While I find Lee Hyo Joo a cloying biatch who gaslights a spineless Jae Shin into a forced marriage, her odd-ball brother Jae Woon became more of a decent character as the show progresses. One setback for me was the numerous characters this drama introduced with the many side arcs, and some of which were predictable like I can spot the backstory of Yun Seung's husband from a mile away. Otherwise, a decent drama.

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Romance de oficina. Personaje masculino 10/10

Amo a los personajes. Pero sobre todo al protagonista masculino.
En este drama vemos una relación muy sana, que lucha por su amor y que tiene altibajos por situaciones que se les van presentando.
Valoro positivamente las actuaciones porque hicieron que me conectara en cada capítulo, desde la historia de los protagonistas, hasta la de los personajes secundarios.
Me permitió pensar en el amor propio, y hasta donde debemos llegar por amor, porque sí, hay límites. A veces se deben tomar decisiones que parecen difíciles en un principio, pero en últimas, es lo que más nos conviene.
Por personajes como Chae Hyun-seung es que sigo soltera jajaja

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An enjoyable drama

First: Other than Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) I have rarely come across an OST that catches my attention. But during this drama, I was surprised to find myself thinking, "That's a great song to put there" or similar thoughts. I mention this first, because it's so rare that the music impresses me.

Second: Rowoon. He's a good actor, and I am fascinated by how good looking he is. I hate the scenes where they put too much makeup on him....maybe the makeup didn't change but the lighting did. Idk. But he didn't need as much as they put on him most of the time.

Third: I enjoy Asian dramas, whether they be Korean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, etc. I like the good ones and the bad ones. I can confidently say that this was a good drama, because I've seen so many. It had a high production value, good acting, and decent chemistry among the cast. It had enough drama in it to be dramatic, but not so much that it was cringey. It was, over all, a feel-good drama, which is nice because dramas are an escape, and it's nice to fantasize that there are happy endings. I teared up a time or two, but I never had to break down sobbing for the characters, so that was nice. There's enough reason to sob irl.

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Yes this is real life

Eventually I thought the FL , Yoon Song Ah was written and directed as a very selfish and heartless person but it did seem that from her upbringing, she would turn into one of those grown-ups who create mayhem in their relationships, wherever they go. She was destructive of everything and everyone.
The male lead, Chae Hyun -soung was like a redeemer but no he chose to love this bomb waiting to go off and pretended he was brave and unaffected. And yes he was too forgiving, forgiving too many times, giving too much in return.
It sounds an unlikely storyline but how many of us know people like that? Anyone who thinks it's not the real world only has to visit an office where there are romances, scandals, fall outs. Many of us have been there. Perhaps we don't remember all those idiotic decisions we made years ago - moving jobs, falling in love with an idiot. Being an idiot ourselves.
Acting was uniformly very good especially Rowoon and Park So Yi (The Atypical Family). The script must have been difficult to play with more information about their upbringing coming out later. This was not a shouty drama, nor oceans of tears. Well done, writer, direction and cast and crew.
The ending was not a gushy explosion. Just well time did have to go by for people to heal and it was not a jackpot.
100% recommend to you to watch.

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A well written plot with really good character development.

This is a drama where I felt like I understood where all the characters were coming from and I couldn't hate them for the decisions they made, despite how stupid these decisions may be. This was a really well written drama and focused really well on several very different, somewhat out there (for a Kdrama) couples:
- A married couple consisting of a queer potentially gay or bi man and a heterosexual woman.
- A really unexpectedly adorable couple where a man who seemed like a player turned out to be the most down to earth and also faithful character.
- A really toxic engaged couple consisting of an obsessed woman and a cheating man.
- The main couple which was sort of a slow burn office romance that grew from the ML's long time crush and genuine admiration of the FL.

There were some characters that I really disliked, like the FL's mother or the SML, but everyone had really good character development. By the end, I actually liked all the characters. There was a time jump towards the end of the drama, and though I didn't really like it, it was needed in order to conclude all the storylines. Everyone had their own happy ending, and you can say some of the characters had an open ending. Not all the happy endings went "and they lived happily ever after", they were real endings where everyone was happy with where they were and where they were headed.

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Sunbae

This is one of my favorite kdrama I have ever watched. I love the story plot. Because of this kdrama I fell in love with Won Jin Ah. This is my first time watching a kdrama that Won Jin Ah leads and right now I'm becoming crazy and lying in my bed thinking of Won Jin Ah (HAHAHAHAH so awkward). The love story speaks in a reality where as we grow older we kinda think practically on the things that are around us. This kdrama gives me post-series depression right now I still cannot accept that I have finished watching it I even felt loneliness and emptiness in my heart after watching this.

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You can watch it but you don't need to

It's interesting to see how a makeup company works. The story itself is pretty simple and I think what could have been a great drama ended just being ok. Don't get me wrong I think if you like a really good pretty boy chasing the girl that he likes and protecting her this drama it's made for you. To be honest I really enjoyed the side stories of the ML sisters and their acting than the main couple. It's watchable but doesn't expect great things out of it.

The first drama I watched of both Rowoon and Won Jin Ah. Both have decent acting but I found it hard to connect with both characters.

I can relate to what ML wants and his reasoning and actions and I like how the FL is portrayed on the situation that she's in.
But I felt SML was completely plain and bland, I can't understand his background and story and on top of that, I think it drowns the best acting in the show which is from Lee Joo Bin. I think she nailed that character and how it should be played but when both are in the same scene it was like she was all alone.

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Worth revisiting for Rowoon and Romance...

"She Would Never Know" is a drama I had to revisit after putting it on hold. I enjoyed watching this when it aired, but the slower pace made it easy to forget about, and more fast-paced and addictive dramas stole my attention. This is ultimately an office romance story with a realistic feel. If you like to have more time to get to know and feel invested in a drama romance, then this pace may be perfect for you. If you like mature and imperfect love stories then this drama has some interesting couples and non-idealistic relationships. If you don't like the leads together, then this drama is pretty much a waste of time since the plot revolves around relationships more than events or particular storylines.

I loved the chemistry between the leads, but they were more cute together than exciting and more real than sexy. Won Jin Ah plays Yoon Song Ah, an ambitious cosmetics marketer with a poker face when it comes to her personal life. She is matched with Rowoon who plays adorable Chae Hyun Seung. He can't hide his crush on his work mentor Song Ah. The alternative title of the show (and apparently webtoon) "Don't Put That Lipstick On" speaks to an office drama that ends up connecting the two leads, but this drama doesn't really rely on love triangles too much. It's more about the dynamics between the characters. From pure love to truly toxic love, the couples throughout this story have a range and the cast plays all aspects of these relationships well. Overall this is a great and believable ensemble cast but there are no major breakout performances besides the Swoon-worthy Rowoon who is charming in every single scene he is in. He was enough to keep me watching, but there are no weak actors in this cast.

The story however is not always as strong as the cast. I think along with the slower pace a lot of the things that happen start to feel repetitive. Some of the surprises in the story are pretty obvious, and some of the ways things are resolved seem a little too neat, especially toward the end. As I started to care about the characters more the pace started to bother me less. Some of the characters are extra frustrating, almost to the point of being nonsensical, but at least there's some character growth that becomes what drives the story. There also aren't too many tropes in this story (besides a major time jump) even though the plot does often seem pretty generic. This drama also isn't a romcom, even if there are a few funny moments, this isn't a very emotional story either, which may be why it falls flat at times.

Would I watch this again? Maybe. Some of the best moments are flirting scenes between the leads, and there are a lot of rewatchable flirting moments fueled by Rowoon's cuteness. The other stories were fine to watch once but I wouldn't have any interest in watching them again. Did I mention how cute Rowoon is in this? lol! That explains my 'higher than it probably deserves' rewatch score.

Overall, "She Would Never Know" is a drama for people who like traditional romance but don't want heavy emotions spoiling the mood. If you like a love story with a satisfyingly clear beginning, middle, and end, this drama delivers. All of the character relationships have a statisfying resolution, even if I didn't agree with some of the character's choices. This drama explores how love can empower and break us. Included in that is self-love, and although every story isn't happy, this drama felt inspiring in how it showed the way both good and bad relationships can impact our lives for the better. Binging also helps with this drama's pacing, and although It's far from a favorite, I'm glad I gave this one a second chance.

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Tumbleweed fest

The catchcry for this is a woman rebuffing the advances of younger men. This isn't true. It's not about the age difference. It's the fact that she doesn't want to date with another colleague again as this age issue is resolved within the first couple of minutes in the series where we discover she's only a year older than him. That's right. A YEAR. Shows some insecurity issues for the ppl who actually promote and produce this webtoon and series if they think a year's diff between a woman and a man is a huge deal.

That aside, this show is a huge WTF for Rowoon. It doesn't showcase his full abilities at all and as a character Hyun Seung was flat and without personality. What does he like? Whatever Soon Ah likes. What makes him happy? Whatever makes Soon Ah happy. What's his favourite food? Whatever is Soon Ah's favourite food. *facepalm* It's quite a change watching him play a doormat in this whole series where nothing really happens. I stayed with it till the end because the cosmetics industry insides was interesting to watch and I love series where you get a good idea of an occupation from the characters' lives and She Would Never Know delivers on this at least. But the unlikely pair of older sisters that Hyun Seung has, and the going-ons of their love life was just a whole bunch of fantastical BS on display. Ji Seung, the older sister who is a successful entrepreneur and gorgeous is single. She is courted by Soon Ah's big boss, Jae Woon, who is a chaebol heir and single and is interested in her to the point of stalking her. He says the most weirdest things to her and she is all submissive and accepting of his behaviours because Korea and women apparently *rolls eyes*. Yun Seung, the oldest sister I think, is the "successful" woman and person of them all because she's married with a kid. She tries to match her siblings off asap and has trained her daughter to be focused on only appearances and boyfriends. Excellent. No need to educate the little girl, just prance her off to some escort service since men and skin beauty is prioritised highly in her metaphorical books. Those industries like the girls young and vacuous anyway.

The whole Jae Shin and Hyo Joo arc is weird AF. If he was really interested in Soon Ah and not Hyo Joo his behaviours and actions would not have been as it was in the series. The Jae Shin character behaved that way solely because the execs wanted to drive through the point about him being a cheater but the implausibility of how he treats her and keeps her in the dark stretched the suspension of disbelief too much that I just dumped this whole character. I couldn't take him seriously at all. He was just a pawn to act in whatever way fitted the plot and not a real organic character that was believable. It's quite a common trait anyway in Korean writing to have things be plot oriented rather than character oriented, which makes for implausible characters behaving in implausible ways.

Anyway, the only blimp that happens in Soon Ah and Hyun Seung's r/ship was her having some attack of doubts in Paris when he visits her. All that is resolved when she returns to Korea after her Parisian assignment and decides she wants him after all. And like the doormat that he is, of course he returns to her. Predictable. Then there's a wedding in the end and that's it.

A lot of blahs in between but not a lot of real substance to this series. All the characters are dull, boring and flat. I felt like I was watching ppl going through the throes of life post-lobotomies, tbh. You could replace druggies with the actors and you'd get the same spaced out results playing surreal situations that go through a predictable trajectory.

Rewatch value is -10.

I really wouldn't even recommend anyone watching this unless they were interested in marketing, esp retail marketing, as this is portrayed well in the series. The characters are shallow and dull and the story is just a bunch of nothing. Watching grass grow would have a better rewatch value.

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Not a very memorable love story

The story was good but not too impressive. Plot was quite plain as there were no twists and turns. Even so there were some things that i enjoyed; like the bonding between klar team members and ML’s sisters and his niece.
There were also things that i disliked, and on the top of that list is the female lead. She started off as such a caring and sweet person but she was soo mean to her mother. She treated her mother soo poorly and her reasons were lame. From that point onwards i just couldn’t side with her even thou she is the main lead. She treated the ML based on her convenience and her feelings for him never seemed convincing enough.
The chemistry was off for some reason, especially from the FL’s side. . In order to fall in love with a drama, i first need to like the characters and if the characters aren’t that good or convincing enough then i can’t fall for their story. ML tried too hard and he seemed more in love than the FL. Hence there balance in the relationship kind of felt off to me.

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Went on too long

I thought the cast was great and the leads fit well together. Rowoon is an actor who's really growing on me. He is very good at playing gentle, thoughtful, yet no characters, but they aren't pushovers.
The friends, family and colleagues surrounding the MC were a diverse bunch with only a few stereotypes.
I loved Kwon Sung-yeon (played by Ahn Se-ha), a member of the Klar cosmetics team. I also liked Chae Ji-sung, 1 of 2 sisters of the ML, who was intelligent, considerate and pretty independent ~ also very classy.
I did feel for the FL, Song-ah. A strong and capable character who was deceived and messed about, but, after taking ages to make a decision, she then backtracked... she didn't seem to think anything through, or know what she wanted. My sympathy evaporated.
Characters I honestly had a major problem with, but were so well portrayed...
• The company director's sister, Lee Hyo-joo ~ utterly delusional. What she puts another character through and then complains to about their attitude, is eye rolling, to say the least. She totally needs professional help!
• Whilst I felt a little sorry for her partner, it was hard because although he is used and abused, he did also deceive others.
• FL's mother ~ The way this character was developed and handled, I found really weak and annoying too; it so played down the affects of her condition and personalities like that, on those closest to them and almost made it seem like that's just how it is, so put up with it.
• ML's other sister, Chae Yun-seung ~ married with a precocious daughter (fabulously played by a great child actress, Park So-yi), who spends all her time making snide, hurtful remarks and berating her siblings, telling them they need to marry EVERY TIME she's with them. She gets loud and petulant or plays hurt and childish, if she finds out they meet without her. She has a blunt, thoughtlessly nasty mouth with everyone, but is annoyingly enabled by those around her, as they just take it. How her character is developed, is just weird. It was like by making her acceptance of a situation, as though she was some open-minded saint, would make all the other stuff ok... nope. It did feel like divine retribution to be honest. I really like the actress who played her so convincingly, however (she's just been in See You In My 19th Life).
It was an OK watch. I wasn't blown away by it. Sometimes I just got so bored though and it took me ages to get through it.
The later story arc around the FL, felt a lot like it was just to pad out the drama.
I guess it's mostly about relationships (not just romantic ones, but familial, work and personal as well), following instinct, not being dictated to by society's 'norms'.
I didn't hate it and was happy to dip in and out as the mood took, but was so glad to finish it.

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